Jain

Dear Yuletide Writer:

2020-10-12T10:53:12Z

Dear Chocolatier:

2020-01-01T12:52:54Z

Dear Yuletide Writer:

2019-10-29T09:02:39Z

Thanks very much for participating in this exchange and writing for me! Particularly relevant to Yuletide: I don't want any Christmas/Christianity-themed fic, regardless of the characters' canonical religions. If you want further details on my fic preferences, you can check out my general fic kinks and squicks post or browse my fic exchanges tag. Have fun, and I'm sure I'll love whatever you end up creating!

For your reference: I'm Jain on AO3.

England series - K. J. Charles
Fenella Carruth, Pat Merton

What I'm most interested in is post-Proper English fic about Fen and Pat growing into themselves and their relationship. They're heartwarmingly appreciative of each other's very different talents and personalities, and aware but accepting of each other's different backgrounds, but those differences leave a lot of scope for misunderstandings and (hopefully temporary) conflicts of interest. Especially since both of them are still finding their own places in the world and aren't entirely certain who they'll be at the end of that process.

I'd also be really interested to see more of their interactions with their families. Pat and Bill are close if not very demonstrative, but they've also been keeping important secrets from each other. How does their relationship change after the events and revelations in Proper English? Or how do Fen's father and Pat get along with each other when they finally meet? Or Fen mentioned asking to learn more about her father's work and being rebuffed, but in Think of England she has a more than basic knowledge of the telephone exchange; what happened in the intervening years to let her acquire that knowledge? Did her father come around, or did she learn it elsewhere?

Green Men series - K. J. Charles
Hugh "Barney" Barnaby, Max Isaacs

Slash, please. I'm a huuuge fan of tentacles. If you are, too, then I'd really love something focused on the (noncon? medically and ethically dubious?) process of giving Barney and Max tentacles in the first place, or how they feel about having tentacles/not being standard humans any longer, or how they use their tentacles in their work as Green Men, or just some nice tentacle porn.

Things I love other than tentacles: loyalty kink, WWI historical details, worldbuilding involving the magical AU aspects of WWI, characters struggling to remain human when they fear they're turning into monsters.

Incidentally, I headcanon Max as Jewish. You don't have to use that if you don't want, but I'd prefer that you not explicitly identify him as Christian.

Iskryne series - Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
Grimolfr, Hrolleif

Grimolfr and Hrolleif are the ultimate power couple, and I'd love to see more about their leadership of Franangford before Isolfr joins them: the day-to-day details of running a wolfheall, Franangford's relationship with neighboring towns and settlements and/or with other wolfhealls, troll fighting in the days when it's not an all-out war but just a dangerous and unceasing grind.

Alternatively, I'm very interested in the friends-to-lovers progression of their relationship, particularly Hrolleif's later assurance to Isolfr that a relationship didn't have to begin perfectly, because wolfcarls can be taught.

James Asher Vampire series - Barbara Hambly
Basilio Occhipinti, Antonio Pentangeli

Confession: I found the vampire ambulance horribly funny. (Genuinely horrible--as though wounded WWI soldiers didn't have enough awful shit in their lives already without vampires preying on them at their most vulnerable. But also funny in a horribly ironic way, and really quite clever of Antonio and Basilio.) I'd like to see more of the two of them being awfully amoral yet devoted to each other: how they fell in love, a slice of "life" fic, how they navigate the cutthroat world of vampire politics together...pretty much anything exploring their relationship prior to the events of Pale Guardian.

Alternatively, I'm intrigued by the suggestion that Basilio and Antonio were able to get revenge even after their deaths--that the small bits of their lingering consciousnesses were able to subvert Francesca from within--and would love to see that explored in greater depth. If you choose to write this prompt, then it's completely fine to write about just Basilio or Antonio, rather than both characters. Not too happy an ending for this scenario, please! I prefer the tone cast by canon: melancholic yet viciously satisfying.

The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge
Leda Hunter, Jane Vellet

I'm very fond of both women and their upstairs-downstairs romance, and I'd be interested in seeing that at any stage of the relationship: How did they initially become interested in each other, and how did their courtship progress? What do they do during their secret rendezvous? Do they ever move beyond those rendezvous to build a life together?

I'm also intrigued by Miss Hunter's comment that "a woman like [her] makes enemies." Both she and Mrs. Vellet responded with extraordinary calmness and competence when the Sunderlys were in danger. What personal experiences were they drawing on then? Have either or both of them encountered their own supernatural horrors, or have all their bad experiences been strictly mundane?

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott
Cordelia Frost

Miss Frost is hands down my favorite character in this series: competent, intelligent, highly sensible, and not quite what people expect her to be. I'd love a story about her university days, or her life outside of the office, or the progression of her career, or case fic in which she either solves the case by herself or is instrumental in helping Julian and Ned solve it.

Gen or Miss Frost/OFC, please. Based on things she's said in the books, I don't think Miss Frost had a female lover in university, but I'd be interested in first time fic in which she becomes romantically involved with a friend from her club, or with one of Julian's or Ned's clients, or perhaps with a woman whom she and/or Ned consults on a case. Background Julian/Ned is also very welcome.

comments

Dear Trick or Treater:

2019-09-16T20:39:54Z

I'm Jain on AO3. Trick or Treat is one of my favorite exchanges, and I'm very excited to be participating in it again. I hope you have a lot of fun, too!

My signup requests are all for fic, but I'm happy to receive art as a bonus gift. General art likes: clothing porn, especially pretty 19th/early 20th century dresses and nice suits; nudity/sex scenes; autumnal landscapes; candlelight and firelight; ghosts; magic.

You may ignore my Treat/Trick preferences for all my fandoms except The Room Video Games; I don't want anything too lighthearted or optimistic for that fandom.

Particularly relevant to this exchange: I like ghosts, witches, vampires, and werewolves, and do not want non-canonical zombies. Regarding Treats, I like anything from G-rated fluff to hardcore porn, but don't care for PWPs; I like some sort of character and/or relationship development along with my smut. If you want further details on my fic preferences, you can check out my general fic kinks and squicks post or browse my fic exchanges tag.

Also, some of my prompts below are much longer than others. Please don't read into this! Every single fandom, character, and ship I've requested would be an absolute joy for me to receive, even if I don't have as much to say about some of them.

Books of the Raksura - Martha Wells
Ember, Shade

Treat:
Ember: I'm open to so many Ember stories! Backstory about Ember as a young adult navigating the Emerald Twilight court; light angst about his being sent to Indigo Cloud and having to adjust to a very different milieu where he doesn't know anyone; Ember using his social skills and knowledge of court politics to Indigo Cloud's benefit when interacting with other courts; Ember's developing relationships with the people of Indigo Cloud, especially Moon, Jade, and/or Stone. (I'm not hugely interested in Ember/Pearl. It's a fine ship in canon, and I don't want it ignored or broken up in fic, but please don't have it be the focus.)

Ember/Moon: I'm a huge fan of consort/consort ships in general, and this is one of my favorites. Both of them are insecure in their own ways; both are impressively competent, also in their own ways; they start out wary (mostly Ember) and resentful (mostly Moon) of each other but grow to be allies and even friends; their personalities are almost diametrically opposed, but they really understand and appreciate each other despite their differences. Fic focusing on their relationship at any point in the journey from strangers to allies-turned-lovers would be great.

Shade: Anything dealing with Shade's Fell heritage and/or how he fits into Raksuran society and/or his sense of self would be amazing. I'm especially interested in an exploration of the emotional fallout from the noncon cannibalism.

Ember/Shade: I don't have much to say about this ship, but I love the idea of it. Ember inviting Shade to join him for tea in canon was incredibly sweet, and I find their particular similarities and contrasts intriguing. If you want to explore their relationship further, I'd love to see it.

Green Men Series - K. J. Charles
Hugh "Barney" Barnaby, Max Isaacs

Treat/Trick:
First, I ship the hell out of them, so definitely feel free to go there if you like. Second, and more importantly, tentacles! I'd love something focused on the (noncon? medically and ethically dubious?) process of giving them tentacles in the first place, or how they feel about having tentacles/not being standard humans any longer, or how they use their tentacles in their work as Green Men, or just some nice tentacle porn.

Things I love other than tentacles: loyalty kink, WWI historical details, worldbuilding involving the magical AU aspects of WWI, characters struggling to remain human when they fear they're turning into monsters.

Incidentally, I headcanon Max as Jewish. You don't have to use that if you don't want, but I'd prefer that you not explicitly identify him as Christian.

James Asher Vampire series - Barbara Hambly
Basilio Occhipinti, Antonio Pentangeli

Treat/Trick:
Basilio/Antonio: Confession: I found the vampire ambulance horribly funny. (Genuinely horrible--as though wounded WWI soldiers didn't have enough awful shit in their lives already without vampires preying on them at their most vulnerable. But also funny in a horribly ironic way, and really quite clever of Antonio and Basilio.) I'd love to see more of the two of them being awfully amoral yet devoted to each other: how they fell in love, a slice of "life" fic, how they navigate the cutthroat world of vampire politics together...pretty much anything exploring their relationship prior to the events of Pale Guardian.

Basilio and/or Antonio: I'm intrigued by the suggestion that Basilio and Antonio were able to get revenge even after their deaths--that the small bits of their lingering consciousnesses were able to subvert Francesca from within--and would love to see that explored in greater depth. Not too happy an ending, please! I prefer the tone cast by canon: melancholic yet viciously satisfying.

The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge
Leda Hunter, Jane Vellet

Treat:
I'm so fascinated by these two women, starting with their upstairs-downstairs romance, and I'd be interested in seeing that at any stage of the relationship: How did they initially become interested in each other, and how did their courtship progress? What do they do during their secret rendezvous? Do they ever move beyond those rendezvous to build a life together?

Trick:
I'm intrigued by Miss Hunter's comment that "a woman like [her] makes enemies." Both she and Mrs. Vellet responded with extraordinary calmness and competence when the Sunderlys were in danger. What personal experiences were they drawing on then? Have either or both of them encountered their own supernatural horrors, or have all their bad experiences been strictly mundane?

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott
Cordelia Frost

Treat/Trick:
Miss Frost is hands down my favorite character in this series: competent, intelligent, highly sensible, and not quite what people expect her to be. I'd love a story about her university days, or her life outside of the office, or the progression of her career. If you want to write a Trick, then Miss Frost having to deal with a mysterious supernatural threat of her own would be excellent.

Either gen or Miss Frost/OFC is very welcome. Based on things she's said in the books, I don't think Miss Frost had a female lover in university, but I'd be interested in first time fic in which she becomes romantically involved with a friend from her club, or with one of Julian's or Ned's clients, or perhaps with a woman whom she and/or Ned consults on a case. Background Julian/Ned is also cool.

The Magnus Archives
Karolina Górka, Gerard Keay, Jonathan Sims

Treat/Trick:
Karolina: I fell hard for Karolina during her statement--her self-possession and sensibleness and compassion. Anything exploring her further would be fantastic, but some burning questions I'm left with are: What does the dust she left behind in the Magnus Institute mean? Is she a follower of the Buried who wanted to see the Institute/the Archivist in person for some particular purpose? Or has she been marked by the Buried as a "future meal"? Alternatively, could Karolina's remarkable matter-of-factness indicate that she's lost her capacity to feel fear (either specifically when she's buried/trapped or in general) just as Georgie has? Gen and Georgie/Karolina are both excellent.

Gerard: Gerry's had a mostly shitty life, an unpleasant and too young death, and a completely shitty afterlife. Break my heart and explore any of those further, please; I'm especially interested in his relationship with the Eye and his experience of being a book. Or if you wanted to focus on a less depressing part of his life, I'm very up for a casefic-type story of him neutralizing a supernatural threat and/or saving somebody from one, along the lines of MAG 12: First Aid or MAG 48: Lost in the Crowd.

Jon: My absolute favorite part of canon is the two largely unrelated personal journeys Jon is on, in which he's becoming a better person--allowing himself to care for his assistants, recognizing that he has to be able to trust people and ask them for help when he needs it, empathizing more with people in general, etc.--even as he's losing some part of his humanity. Anything focusing on those personal journeys would be fantastic. I'm particularly interested in Jon's (platonic) relationships with Daisy, Helen, Basira, and Georgie and his (platonic or non-platonic) relationship with Martin.

Martin/Jon: The fact that Jon's getting closer to people just as Martin is pulling/being pulled away from them is kind of devastating...though the mirrored pining is excellent for my id. Things I'd love to see in fic: more unresolved pining; resolved pining; romance + plot involving whatever's happening with the Extinction and/or the Watcher's Crown and/or Jon's expressed desire to leave the Magnus Institute. In case it's relevant, I'm fine with fictional eye trauma as long as it isn't described in too much gory detail.

The Price of Meat - K. J. Charles
Mark Ingestrie

Treat/Trick:
I'd love fic about Mark in Alsatia doing his best to survive while human monsters are all around him, waiting for any misstep so that they can pounce. Or Mark back in London and trying to relearn how to live in a world that isn't actively hostile in such an all-encompassing fashion. Or Mark and Elias Jeffery rekindling their relationship and coming to terms with all of the terrible hurts they caused each other in the past. Background Johanna/Arabella is very welcome.

The Room Video Games
Maggy Cox, Abigail Lockwood

Trick:
Maggy Cox: The seance room was my favorite part of The Room 2, and then the slow reveal of what happened to Maggy afterwards in The Room 3 broke my heart. I'd love a story about her time as a medium, or her history with the Craftsman (I definitely don't believe above half of what he says in his notes, so the exact nature of their shared history is very much in question), or her experience of being put into a machine, or her determination to get revenge as best she can. No outside POV on Maggy's experiences, please; I feel like I've gotten enough of that from canon.

Abigail Lockwood: I have such a massive crush on Abigail. She's so brilliant and talented and clever and resourceful. (And also super hot.) I'm particularly interested in fic about her creeping realization of what's happening to her husband and home; or how she develops her ingenious plan; or how she deals with the aftermath, both emotionally and logistically, in the wake of her escape. Please go light on the Abigail/Edward shippiness, especially if you're focusing on the end of their relationship; that final puzzle where you had to keep reuniting Abigail and Edward felt so immensely squicky to me based on what we knew by then about what had happened to Edward and their marriage. It was actually a huge relief to discover that I-the-character-completing-that-puzzle had been a villain all along!

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Katsu

Treat:
When and why does Keita build Katsu? Or any cute domestic scene involving Katsu would be great: Katsu and the people he lives with, Katsu and socks, etc. I'm also amenable to fic in which Katsu moonlights as the world's most adorable sex toy.

Trick:
On his way home, Katsu encounters a Lovecraftian horror. No permanent psychological injury or character death, please!

comments

Dear Rare Male Slasher:

2019-05-25T17:30:26Z

Thanks so much for writing for me! For your reference, I'm Jain on AO3. You can browse my general kinks and squicks post if you want more details than can be found in my prompts. I hope you have lots of fun, and I look forward to seeing what you create!

Books of the Raksura - Martha Wells

Ember/Moon
I'm a huge fan of consort/consort ships in general, and this is one of my favorites. Both of them are insecure in their own ways; both are impressively competent, also in their own ways; they start out wary (mostly Ember) and resentful (mostly Moon) of each other but grow to be allies and even friends; their personalities are almost diametrically opposed, but they really understand and appreciate each other despite their differences. Fic focusing on their relationship at any point in the journey from strangers to allies-turned-lovers would be great. Light angst with a happy ending is a huge plus for this ship...or indeed for any of my ships. :-)

Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat

Ancel/Berenger
Despite the significant revelations at the end of "Pet" regarding Ancel's loyalties and Berenger's attraction to him, their relationship is still in a very precarious position. The degree to which Ancel is attracted to Berenger is still a matter of debate. I'd also be surprised if Berenger fully trusts Ancel at this point; it's far more likely that part of his motivation in keeping Ancel as his pet is to watch him for signs that he's changed his mind and decided to sell Berenger (and Laurent) out for social and/or monetary gain later. It's a difficult situation for both of them! How do they navigate it as their relationship develops into an actual romance?

Green Men Series - K. J. Charles

Randolph Glyde/Saul Lazenby
Saul's my fave, and I was a little sad to learn that the remaining Green Men books will focus on other characters, since I would be completely down for another couple of books all about Saul and Randolph battling evil together. I'd love to see more of Saul relearning how to be happy with Randolph's assistance; or learning how to be a Green Man and the Walker of Camlet Moat; or getting to know Barney, Max, Sam, and Randolph better and becoming an integral part of the motley crew at Fetter Lane.

Iskryne Series - Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette

Grimolfr/Hrolleif
Grimolfr and Hrolleif are the ultimate power couple, and I'd love to see more about their leadership of Franangford before Isolfr joins them: the day-to-day details of running a wolfheall, Franangford's relationship with neighboring towns and settlements and/or with other wolfhealls, troll fighting in the days when it's not an all-out war but just a dangerous and unceasing grind.

Alternatively, I'm very interested in the friends-to-lovers progression of their relationship and am particularly intrigued by Hrolleif's later assurance to Isolfr that a relationship didn't have to begin perfectly, because wolfcarls can be taught.

James Asher Vampire Series - Barbara Hambly

Basilio Occhipinti/Antonio Pentangeli
Confession: I found the vampire ambulance horribly funny. (Genuinely horrible--as though wounded WWI soldiers didn't have enough awful shit in their lives already without vampires preying on them at their most vulnerable. But also funny in a horribly ironic way, and really quite clever of Antonio and Basilio.) I'd love to see more of the two of them being awfully amoral yet devoted to each other: how they fell in love, a slice of "life" fic, how they navigate the cutthroat world of vampire politics together, scenes from earlier in the war...pretty much anything exploring their relationship prior to the events of Pale Guardian.

The Magnus Archives

Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
My absolute favorite part of canon is the two largely unrelated personal journeys Jon is on, in which he's becoming a better person--allowing himself to care for his assistants, recognizing that he has to be able to trust people and ask them for help when he needs it, empathizing more with people in general, etc.--even as he's losing at least some part of his humanity. The fact that he's getting closer to people just as Martin is pulling/being pulled away from them is kind of devastating (though the mirrored pining is excellent for my id). Jon/Martin fic exploring either or both of those themes would be fantastic.

comments

2019 stories

2019-03-19T07:20:20Z

The Magnus Archives: A Friend in Need (Jon & Melanie & Georgie); 561 words
The Magnus Archives: Halloween Party (Jon & Tim, Jon & Martin); 1084 words
The Magnus Archives: Out of the Fog (Martin/Jon); 851 words
The Magnus Archives: Ten Year Reunion (Georgie & Jon); 2019 words
Sins of the Cities: Cleaning House (Justin/Nathaniel); 1818 words

comments

Dear Chocolatier:

2019-01-06T19:44:43Z

2018 stories

2019-01-02T05:55:45Z

The Goblin Emperor: A Helping Hand (Cala/Deret); 2258 words
Lynes and Mathey: More Advanced Vices (Julian/Ned); 2463 words
The Magnus Archives: Bad Idea (Martin/Jon); 1627 words
The Magnus Archives: Human Condition (Danny/Tim); 1600 words
The Magnus Archives: Light of Day (Martin/Jon); 2502 words
The Magnus Archives: Mr. Spider Comes Calling (Jon); 655 words
The Queen's Thief: Dangerous Experiences (Kamet/Costis); 572 words
The Queen's Thief: Journey (Kamet/Costis); 1011 words

comments

Dear Yuletide writer:

2018-10-10T20:04:49Z

Thanks very much for participating in this exchange and writing for me! Particularly relevant to Yuletide: I don't want any Christmas/Christianity-themed fic, regardless of the characters' canonical religions. If you want further details on my fic preferences, you can check out my general fic kinks and squicks post or browse my fic exchanges tag. Have fun, and I'm sure I'll love whatever you end up creating!

For your reference: I'm Jain on AO3. Also, here are my comments to the Yuleporn and the Wrapping Paper challenge posts.

The Bone Key - Sarah Monette
Kyle Murchison Booth, John Pelham Ratcliffe

What is it?
A historical horror mystery short story collection set in interbellum America...though which wars and where in America are left ambiguous. A number of the stories are available for free online (search this page for Kyle Murchison Booth), though unfortunately not the story in which Ratcliffe appears.

Prompts:
Slash, please. I love their brief partnership in "Drowning Palmer": how Booth keeps reaching out for human connection despite expecting to be rebuffed every time, and Ratcliffe just takes the whole situation in stride and gives him the support and advice he needs (while indulging his own curiosity, of course). Does Ratcliffe ever pay a friendly visit to Booth afterwards? Do they find themselves brought together by work? Or does Ratcliffe get into a supernatural difficulty of his own and ask for Booth's help?

Hexworld - Jordan L. Hawk
Isaac

What is it?
A m/m historical fantasy mystery series set in an alternate history 19th century United States with witches and familiars (people who can transform into animals) and the magical soulbonds between them.

Prompts:
I know he's barely appeared in the series so far, but Isaac's my faaavorite. (What can I say? He's a queer Jewish character with an angsty past. Hawk would've had to work hard to make me not love him.) I'm especially interested in the disaster that was Isaac finding his witch; or friendship fic about Isaac and Cicero--backstory, future fic, or anything in between; or Isaac's POV on the events of Hexbreaker; or first time fic involving Isaac finding himself a newer, better witch--either Bill Quigley or an OMC, it's up to you.

James Asher Vampire series - Barbara Hambly
Basilio Occhipinti, Antonio Pentangeli

What is it?
A historical dark fantasy series with vampires and zombies, set in late 19th/early 20th century Europe.

Prompts:
Confession: I found the vampire ambulance horribly funny. (Genuinely horrible--as though wounded WWI soldiers didn't have enough awful shit in their lives already without vampires preying on them at their most vulnerable. But also funny in a horribly ironic way, and really quite clever of Antonio and Basilio.) I'd love to see more of the two of them being awfully amoral yet devoted to each other: how they fell in love, a slice of "life" fic, how they navigate the cutthroat world of vampire politics together...pretty much anything exploring their relationship prior to the events of Pale Guardian.

Alternatively, I'm intrigued by the suggestion that Basilio and Antonio were able to get revenge even after their deaths--that the small bits of their lingering consciousnesses were able to subvert Francesca from within--and would love to see that explored in greater depth. If you choose to write this prompt, then it's completely fine to write about just Basilio or Antonio, rather than both characters. Not too happy an ending for this scenario, please! I prefer the tone cast by canon: melancholic yet viciously satisfying.

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott
Cordelia Frost

What is it?
A m/m historical fantasy mystery series set in an alternate history Victorian England in which magic is commonplace.

Prompts:
Miss Frost is hands down my favorite character in this series: competent, intelligent, highly sensible, and not quite what people expect her to be. I'd love a story about her university days, or her life outside of the office, or the progression of her career, or case fic in which she either solves the case by herself or is instrumental in helping Julian and Ned solve it.

Gen or Miss Frost/OFC, please. Based on things she's said in the books, I don't think Miss Frost had a female lover in university, but I'd be interested in first time fic in which she becomes romantically involved with a friend from her club, or with one of Julian's or Ned's clients, or perhaps with a woman whom she and/or Ned consults on a case. Background Julian/Ned is also very welcome.

The Magnus Archives
Martin Blackwood, Jonathan Sims

What is it?
A horror podcast set in the modern UK, about a research institute that collects statements from people who've had supernatural encounters. Episodes can be listened to for free on the Rusty Quill website, on Youtube, or through the podcast app on your smartphone.

Prompts:
Slash, please. My absolute favorite part of canon is the two largely unrelated personal journeys Jon is on, in which he's becoming a better person--allowing himself to care for his assistants, recognizing that he has to be able to trust people and ask them for help when he needs it, empathizing more with people in general, etc.--even as he's losing at least some part of his humanity. Fic addressing those personal journeys in the context of a Martin/Jon relationship would be awesome.

Or how Jon and/or Martin feel about the various scars Jon's been collecting. Or Jon is trying to find a better work-life balance in response to Georgie's wakeup call, and Martin is a surprisingly helpful source of support in this endeavor. Or Martin and Jon have yet another argument about spiders.

Alternate prompts:
I requested just Jon and Martin for ease of matching, but if you're interested in writing about Karolina Górka instead, then that's also an option. You don't need to include Jon or Martin in the fic if you choose to write about Karolina (though you certainly may if you like).

I fell hard for Karolina during her statement--her self-possession and sensibleness and compassion. Anything exploring her further would be fantastic, but some burning questions I'm left with are: What does the dust she left behind in the Magnus Institute mean? Is she a follower of the Buried who wanted to see the Institute/the Archivist in person for some particular purpose?

Alternatively, could Karolina's remarkable matter-of-factness indicate that she's lost her capacity to feel fear (either specifically when she's buried/trapped or in general) just as Georgie has? Gen and Georgie/Karolina are both very welcome. Just please don't make Karolina evil, even if she's not quite what she seems.

The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Kamet, Costis Ormentiedes

What is it?
A young adult fantasy series set in an early modern alternate universe Greek peninsula.

Prompts:
Slash, please. Post-canon first time fic, set either in Attolia or their house in Magyar, would be fantastic. If the story's set in Magyar, then alt!Hungary worldbuilding is a huge plus.

One of my favorite things in canon was the very different sets of expectations that the two of them were working with, and I would love to see more of that--anything from a simple comparison of their different perspectives on a situation to full-blown cultural misunderstandings. Other possibilities to explore: Kamet finally gets glasses; Kamet and Aristogiton get to know each other; Costis and Kamet find danger (or it finds them) in Magyar.

comments

Dear Trick or Treat writer:

2018-09-18T11:03:19Z

Trick or Treat is one of my favorite exchanges, and I'm very excited to be participating in it again. I hope you have a lot of fun, too!

My signup requests are all for fic, but I'm happy to receive art as a bonus gift. General art likes: clothing porn, especially pretty 19th/early 20th century dresses and nice suits; nudity/sex scenes; autumnal landscapes; candlelight and firelight; magic.

I mostly have a preference for Tricks involving scary supernatural threats that are soundly defeated by the protagonists for a happy ending. The major exception is the James Asher Vampire series, in which my requested characters are a scary supernatural threat. (I also have some trouble seeing a happy ending in The Magnus Archives as anything more than the calm before the next apocalypse, but I'm definitely on board for a happily-for-now ending or for a happily-as-possible-given-the-circumstances ending.)

Particularly relevant to this exchange: I like ghosts, witches, vampires, and werewolves, and do not want non-canonical zombies. Regarding Treats, I like anything from G-rated fluff to hardcore porn, but don't care for PWPs; I like some sort of character and/or relationship development along with my smut. If you want further details on my fic preferences, you can check out my general fic kinks and squicks post or browse my fic exchanges tag.

The Bone Key - Sarah Monette
Kyle Murchison Booth, John Pelham Ratcliffe

Treat/Trick:
I love their brief partnership in "Drowning Palmer": how Booth keeps reaching out for human connection despite expecting to be rebuffed every time, and Ratcliffe just takes the whole situation in stride and gives him the support and advice he needs (while indulging his own curiosity, of course). Does Ratcliffe ever pay a friendly visit to Booth afterwards? Do they ever find themselves brought together by work? Or does Ratcliffe get into a supernatural difficulty of his own and ask for Booth's help? I ship the two of them, but intimate gen with a canonical feel is also very welcome.

Hexworld - Jordan L. Hawk
Isaac

Treat/Trick:
I know he's barely appeared in the series so far, but Isaac's my faaavorite. (What can I say? He's a queer Jewish character with an angsty past. Hawk would've had to work hard to make me not love him.) I'm especially interested in the disaster that was Isaac finding his witch; or friendship fic about Isaac and Cicero--backstory, future fic, or anything in between; or Isaac's POV on the events of Hexbreaker; or first time fic involving Isaac finding himself a newer, better witch--either Bill Quigley or an OMC, it's up to you.

James Asher Vampire series - Barbara Hambly
Basilio Occhipinti, Antonio Pentangeli

Trick:
Basilio/Antonio: Confession: I found the vampire ambulance horribly funny. (Genuinely horrible--as though wounded WWI soldiers didn't have enough awful shit in their lives already without vampires preying on them at their most vulnerable. But also funny in a horribly ironic way, and really quite clever of Antonio and Basilio.) I'd love to see more of the two of them being awfully amoral yet devoted to each other: how they fell in love, a slice of "life" fic, how they navigate the cutthroat world of vampire politics together...pretty much anything exploring their relationship prior to the events of Pale Guardian.

Basilio and/or Antonio: I'm intrigued by the suggestion that Basilio and Antonio were able to get revenge even after their deaths--that the small bits of their lingering consciousnesses were able to subvert Francesca from within--and would love to see that explored in greater depth. Not too happy an ending, please! I prefer the tone cast by canon: melancholic yet viciously satisfying.

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott
Cordelia Frost

Treat/Trick:
Miss Frost is hands down my favorite character in this series: competent, intelligent, highly sensible, and not quite what people expect her to be. I'd love a story about her university days, or her life outside of the office, or the progression of her career. If you want to write a Trick, then Miss Frost having to deal with a mysterious supernatural threat of her own would be excellent.

Either gen or Miss Frost/OFC is very welcome. Based on things she's said in the books, I don't think Miss Frost had a female lover in university, but I'd be interested in first time fic in which she becomes romantically involved with a friend from her club, or with one of Julian's or Ned's clients, or perhaps with a woman whom she and/or Ned consults on a case. Background Julian/Ned is also cool.

The Magnus Archives
Georgie Barker, Jonathan Sims

Treat/Trick:
Georgie: Anything exploring Georgie's lack of fear would be fantastic. You can go supernatural (obviously) or mundane (how does someone adult without a sense of growing dread forcing them to deal with unpleasant but necessary tasks?!). I'm also interested in the possibilities were Georgie to meet Karolina Górka, the remarkably self-possessed young woman from Episode 71: Underground. Assuming that Karolina isn't a follower of The Buried--though she's obviously been marked by it at the least--could she have lost her capacity to feel fear just as Georgie has? Gen and Georgie/Karolina are both great.

Jon: My absolute favorite part of canon is the two largely unrelated personal journeys Jon is on, in which he's becoming a better person--allowing himself to care for his assistants, recognizing that he has to be able to trust people and ask them for help when he needs it, empathizing more with people in general, etc.--even as he's losing at least some part of his humanity. Fic addressing either or both of those personal journeys would be awesome. Or how Jon feels about the various scars he's been collecting. Or for something more humorous/lighthearted, Jon takes an obviously prank statement on Halloween.

Georgie/Jon or Georgie & Jon: I don't ship them as an endgame pairing, but I enjoy their canonical relationship and would love to see more of it. Perhaps some backstory exploring how they started dating and/or why they stopped. The one thing I really don't want to see is "She wanted sex; he didn't; they broke up." Though the related version that goes "She wanted sex; he didn't and was really fucking terrible at talking about what he did want, both physically and emotionally; they broke up" is potentially very relevant to my interests. Or maybe they broke up because of something else entirely, e.g. philosophical differences in their attitudes towards the supernatural--that would also be awesome!

Alternatively, I'm interested in how they reconnected and became friends again after their apparently unpleasant breakup. They're so obviously comfortable with and fond of each other, and I'm curious about how they got to that place considering 1) the aforementioned unpleasant breakup, and 2) how awkward and undemonstrative Jon is with everyone else, particularly at the point in his life when we got introduced to Georgie.

Martin/Jon: My endgame Jon ship. :-) I'd love any of the Jon solo prompts from above with added Martin/Jon shippiness. Or Jon is trying to find a better work-life balance and Martin is a surprisingly helpful source of support in this endeavor. Or Martin and Jon have yet another argument about spiders.

ETA: After listening to Episode 120, I don't really have much to add to my above requests. You can address the events of the finale directly in your fic if you like, but it's also fine to set your fic sometime in the not-so-immediate future, when at least some things are back to normal. (For a certain value of "normal.") And as I said before, you should definitely feel free to write canon-divergent fic branching off after Episode 118 or 119 if that works better for you.

The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Kamet, Costis Ormentiedes

Treat:
Kamet: Backstory about his time as a slave; you can focus on the good parts, e.g. his justified pride in his accomplishments and/or his friendship with Laela, or on the bad parts, or a mix. (No het and no rape, please, though canonical levels of creepiness from Nahuseresh is okay.) Or Kamet finally gets glasses. Or Kamet and Aristogiton get to know each other. Or Kamet makes himself at home in Magyar...and if you wanted to focus mostly on alt!Hungary worldbuilding, that's cool, too.

Costis: I'm oddly charmed by Costis the naturalist--even if he has an ulterior motive in developing that interest--and would like to see more. Or Costis's reactions to more Ennikar and Immakuk stories.

Kamet/Costis: Post-canon first time fic, set either in Attolia or their house in Magyar, would be fantastic. One of my favorite things in canon was the very different sets of expectations that the two of them were working with, and I would love to see more of that--anything from a simple comparison of their different perspectives on a situation to full-blown cultural misunderstandings. Also, getting to see Costis's thoughts on Kamet would be great, since Thick as Thieves focused so strongly on the reverse.

Trick:
Obviously, Kamet or Costis or both have to encounter a real ghost. :-)

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Grace Carrow, Katsu, Keita Mori, Thaniel Steepleton

Treat:
Grace: Grace doing science in Japan! Does she ever make a breakthrough discovery and establish her scholarly reputation?

Katsu: When and why does Keita build Katsu? Or any cute domestic scene involving Katsu would be great: Katsu and the people he lives with, Katsu and socks, etc. I'm also amenable to fic in which Katsu moonlights as the world's most adorable sex toy.

Keita: If you're up for a challenge, I'd love to read a story from Keita's POV. Outsider POV or a loose 3rd person POV are also perfectly fine, though. I really like Keita's building clockwork and am especially intrigued by the locust clock; what was its original purpose and does it get repurposed as something important post-canon?

Thaniel: I'm interested in Thaniel's time as a telegraph operator: the work itself and/or the social dynamics in the office.

Keita/Thaniel: Post-book fic focusing on their relationship would be the best. Maybe more about how Keita's abilities affect their lives together. Or domestic fluff involving Keita and Thaniel forming a family with Six (and optional Katsu when he returns).

Trick:
(Note: Katsu's the only one of my requested characters for whom I'd like a Trick in this fandom.)

On his way home, Katsu encounters a Lovecraftian horror. No permanent psychological injury or character death, please!

comments

Dear Chocolate Box writer:

2018-01-06T12:21:34Z

Thanks so much for writing for me! Some of my prompts are longer than others this year, but rest assured that I'd be equally delighted to receive any one of my requested ships. You can browse my general kinks and squicks post and my fic exchanges tag if you want more details. I hope you have lots of fun, and I look forward to seeing what you create!

My signup requests are all for fic, but I'm happy to receive art as a treat. (General art likes: clothing porn, especially pretty 19th/early 20th century dresses and nice suits; nudity/sex scenes; snowy landscapes; candlelight and firelight.)

The Bone Key - Sarah Monette

Kyle Murchison Booth/John Pelham Ratcliffe
I love their brief partnership in "Drowning Palmer": how Booth keeps reaching out for human connection despite expecting to be rebuffed every time, and Ratcliffe just takes the whole situation in stride and gives him the support and advice he needs (while indulging his own curiosity, of course). Does Ratcliffe ever pay a friendly visit to Booth afterwards? Do they ever find themselves brought together by work? Or does Ratcliffe get into a supernatural difficulty of his own and ask for Booth's help?

The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison

Cala Athmaza/Deret Beshelar
The slight friction between Cala and Beshelar in the beginning of the book strikes me as ripe for interpretation, particularly in light of how smoothly and competently they work together afterwards. What sort of history do they have that would cause that reaction? Or how does their relationship change when they're thrown together for hours every day in Maia's service?

Cala Athmaza/Deret Beshelar/Maia Drazhar
I love the somewhat uncomfortable intimacy their respective roles force them into. Maia's determination to make friends with his servants in spite of that is charming and endlessly interesting to me, but does it cause any untold tensions or difficulties for Cala and Beshelar?

Two nitpicky details: 1) If you include anal sex, please don't have Maia bottoming. I think Maia might enjoy it, given the opportunity, but Beshelar's head would explode. 2) You don't have to get into the specifics of their arrangement unless you want to, but please don't write Maia as cheating on Csethiro.

Csethiro Ceredin/Maia Drazhar
I'm so into loyalty kink for this pairing! Csethiro protecting Maia--either with a sword or with her words--would be fantastic. I also love the idea of the two of them having things to teach each other: maybe Csethiro helps Maia understand the labyrinthine world of courtly customs and etiquette, or Maia instructs Csethiro in meditation. Or an exploration of their broadening social spheres as a couple: Csethiro introducing Maia to her friends (or reintroducing, in the case of Vedero), Csethiro becoming increasingly familiar with Maia's nohecharei, etc.

Csevet Aisava/Courier with the Scarlet Ribbons
Despite mostly viewing Csevet as straight, I have a great fondness for the idea of him and his goblin courier friend being intimately involved. Any sort of relationship between them would be awesome, from a passionate romance to a friends with benefits arrangement, as long as they're both happy and their feelings are mutual and requited. I'm especially interested in fic set shortly after Csevet's promotion to secretary, when the two of them have to renegotiate the workings of their relationship.

Csevet Aisava/Original Female Character
I really like Csevet's canonical line about his having enough privacy for his needs, and would love to see that in practice, ideally with someone like a female courier or a palace maidservant or cook. Again, I'd prefer Csevet to be a secretary rather than a courier in the fic. And please don't include any unprotected vaginal sex; I can't imagine that unwed mothers would be viewed kindly in their society, and Csevet--and any woman he'd be interested in--is certainly too conscientious to take that risk.

Deret Beshelar/Maia Drazhar
More loyalty kink! This time with added complications due to the taboo nature of their relationship and Beshelar's rigid personality. The nitpicky details from my above Cala/Beshelar/Maia request apply here, as well.

Integrate - Thea Hayworth

Gavin Hayes/Sezin
Anything, really. :-) Pre-canon fic about their developing partnership and/or about Gavin being marked as Scald and Sezin's feelings about that. A retelling of any part of Integrate from Sezin's POV. Future fic about their developing relationship. Meeting the family. Tentacle porn + feelings.

James Asher Vampire Series - Barbara Hambly

Basilio Occhipinti/Antonio Pentangeli
Confession: I found the vampire ambulance horribly funny. (Genuinely horrible--as though wounded WWI soldiers didn't have enough awful shit in their lives already without vampires preying on them at their most vulnerable. But also funny in a horribly ironic way, and really quite clever of Antonio and Basilio.) I'd love to see more of the two of them being awfully amoral yet devoted to each other: how they fell in love, a slice of "life" fic, how they navigate the vicious world of vampire politics together...pretty much anything exploring their relationship prior to the events of Pale Guardian.

James Asher/Lydia Asher/Simon Ysidro
Post-canon fic, please. James's ill health in Pale Guardian was very concerning, and--especially given how the book ended--I'd love a story in which Simon shifts to protecting James rather than Lydia. Or maybe a fic about Grippen's disconcerting hints of possessiveness towards James as an extension of his rivalry with Simon, and what Simon does about it.

(As you can probably tell, I'm most interested in the James/Simon leg of this threesome, but please do make Lydia an active and involved member of the threesome even if she's not the focus. I definitely see James's and Lydia's marriage as the strongest ship among the three. That hasn't changed despite the growing amounts of canonical Lydia/Simon shippiness, and I don't think it would change if James/Simon were added to the mix.)

Lynes and Mathey Series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott

Cordelia Frost/Original Female Character
Based on things she's said in the books, I don't think Miss Frost had a female lover in university, but I'd be interested in first time fic in which she becomes romantically involved with a friend from her club, or with one of Julian's or Ned's clients, or perhaps with a woman whom Miss Frost and/or Ned consults on a case.

The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner

Aristogiton/Costis Ormentiedes
Friends to lovers and/or a brothers in arms dynamic are what I love best about this pairing. Good-natured mockery of each other is a definite plus. Hurt/comfort could be amazing, if that interests you.

Ennikar/Immakuk
Between the parallels to both Costis and Kamet and Gilgamesh and Enkidu, I ended up shipping Ennikar and Immakuk so hard. Anything about their relationship would be awesome, from first time fic in the long ago past to how they conduct a relationship in the present, in their downtime when they're not cheerfully ~~meddling with~~ getting involved in human affairs.

Kamet/Costis Ormentiedes
Post-canon first time fic, set either in Attolia or their house in Magyar, would be fantastic. I loved reading about the different sets of expectations that they're working with and would love to see that explored further. Also, getting to see Costis's thoughts on Kamet would be great, since Thick as Thieves focused so strongly on the reverse.

The Raven and the Reindeer - T. Kingfisher

Gerta/Janna
I'm most interested in Gerta and Janna building a life together post-magical adventure. Do they become friends with some of the other cohabiting women in Gerta's town? What does Janna do now that she's given up being a bandit--does she use her training as a healer somehow or raise birds for eggs or what? Does Gerta resume learning how to weave, or does she find another line of work to pursue?

The Turner Series - Cat Sebastian

Francis Wraxhall/Lydia Wraxhall
The relationship between Francis and Lydia was one of my favorite things about The Soldier's Scoundrel, yet it was left shamefully unresolved. How do they clear up all of their misunderstandings and realize that neither of them is unrequitedly in love with the other?!

Alternatively, I'd love a story about Lydia "tricking" Francis into proposing to her, from either of their perspectives. Canon glossed over this fascinating episode in their history too much for my taste, and in any case I'm certain that the reality of it was rather different than the stories people told later.

Lady Montbray/Anne Sutherland
My other favorite thing about the book, though even more sadly neglected by the narrative. Word of God is that Charlotte and Anne are together, but I honestly couldn't tell just by reading the book if they were a couple or if I was just indulging in wishful thinking. Accordingly, pretty much anything that shows their relationship more explicitly would be my jam. How they got together (were they conducting an affair under Montbray's nose or did they wait until he'd been shipped off?), any of the events of The Soldier's Scoundrel from their perspective, what happens to them post-canon, etc. And if you're writing post-canon fic, then Oliver catching a clue at some point would be awesome.

comments

Dear Yuletide writer:

2017-10-08T22:48:17Z

Thanks very much for participating in this exchange and writing for me! Some of my fandoms this year have lengthier prompts than others, but rest assured that I'll be equally thrilled with fic for any of them. Particularly relevant to this exchange: I don't want any Christmas/Christianity-themed fic, regardless of the characters' canonical religions. If you want further details on my fic preferences, you can check out my general fic kinks and squicks post or browse my fic exchanges tag. Have fun, and I'm sure I'll love whatever you end up creating!

For your reference: I'm Jain on AO3 and jain on my (very out-of-date) pinboard account.

The Bone Key - Sarah Monette
Kyle Murchison Booth/John Pelham Ratcliffe

What is it?
A historical horror mystery short story collection set in interbellum America...though which wars and where in America are left ambiguous. A number of the stories are available for free online (search this page for Kyle Murchison Booth), though unfortunately not the story in which Ratcliffe appears. The published book is available for purchase at all the usual suspects (e.g. Amazon, Barnes & Noble), or your local library may carry it.

Prompts:
Slash, please. I love their brief partnership in "Drowning Palmer": how Booth keeps reaching out for human connection despite expecting to be rebuffed every time, and Ratcliffe just takes the whole situation in stride and gives him the support and advice he needs (while indulging his own curiosity, of course). Does Ratcliffe ever pay a friendly visit to Booth afterwards? Do they ever find themselves brought together by work? Or does Ratcliffe get into a supernatural difficulty of his own and ask for Booth's help?

Dan and Lewis - surexit
Lewis Harrison/Dan Vassa

What is it?
A contemporary m/m romance series about two British boys from different social backgrounds who fall awkwardly in love. Available to read on AO3: Dan and Lewis

Prompts:
The fic I've been longing for ever since reading and I'm trying my hardest not to fall is what happens when Dan goes to university and Lewis stays at home. Long distance relationships are hard in the best of circumstances, and given their canonical communication difficulties, the two of them must encounter some serious challenges. Angst, misunderstandings, badly hidden insecurities, emotional hurt/comfort...any or all of those elements would be excellent. Happy ending, please!

If that prompt doesn't work for you, I'd also really love a fic about Lewis making the decision to become a paramedic, or about Dan developing a close relationship with Lewis's mother, or about Lewis coming out to (one or more of) his friends--despite his canonical hesitancy to do so, they'll have to know what's up when he gets married, if not sooner. Or perhaps all of his friends knew already and just never acknowledged it before he and Dan moved in together/got engaged/got married; that would be great, too! Incidentally, I like that Lewis and Dan both enjoy running, if you wanted to include that somehow.

Integrate - Thea Hayworth
Gavin Hayes/Sezin

What is it?
A science fiction buddy cop mystery and m/m romance featuring a human and a tentacle shark alien. Available for purchase on Smashwords: Integrate

Prompts:
Anything, really. :-) Pre-canon fic about their developing partnership and/or about Gavin being marked as Scald and Sezin's feelings about that. A retelling of any part of Integrate from Sezin's POV. Future fic about their developing relationship. Meeting the family. Tentacle porn + feelings.

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott
Cordelia Frost

What is it?
A historical fantasy mystery m/m romance series set in an alternate history Victorian England. Available for purchase on Amazon, Smashwords, etc. or your local library may carry it.

Prompts:
Miss Frost is hands down my favorite character in this book: competent, intelligent, highly sensible, and not quite what people expect her to be. I'd love a story about her university days, or her life outside of the office, or the progression of her career, or case fic in which she either solves the case by herself or is instrumental in helping Julian and Ned solve it.

Gen or Miss Frost/OFC, please. (Based on things she's said in the books, I don't think Miss Frost had a female lover in university, but I'd be interested in seeing her become romantically involved with a friend from her club, or with one of Julian's or Ned's clients, or perhaps with a woman whom Miss Frost and/or Ned consults on a case.) Background Julian/Ned is also very welcome.

The Raven and the Reindeer - T. Kingfisher
Gerta/Janna

What is it?
A historical fantasy f/f romance retelling of "The Snow Queen." Available at Amazon, Smashwords, etc.: purchase links on the author's website.

Prompts:
I'm most interested in Gerta and Janna building a life together post-magical adventure. Possible avenues to explore: Do Gerta and Janna become friends with some of the other cohabiting women in Gerta's town? How does Janna get on with Gerta's grandmother, and what does Gerta's mother think of her? What does Janna do now that she's given up being a bandit--does she use her training as a healer somehow or raise birds for eggs or what? Does Gerta resume learning how to weave, or does she find another line of work to pursue? Does Gerta stay friends with Kay, or have they grown too far apart? How does Mousebones fit into their little family?

I'd be especially pleased if the fic included a sex scene; the book was a massive tease in that respect.

comments

Dear Trick or Treat writer:

2017-09-12T18:14:20Z

Thanks so much for writing for me! I really enjoyed participating in Trick or Treat last year and am looking forward to doing so again. I hope you have a lot of fun, too!

My signup requests are all for fic, but I'm happy to receive art as a bonus gift.

With one exception, I have a strong preference for Tricks that either 1) use supernatural horror tropes in a non-horrific fashion, e.g. werewolves who retain their humanity while shifted, or 2) involve scary supernatural threats that are soundly defeated by the protagonists for a happy ending. The one exception is Dark Matter, where I'd prefer canon-level horror.

Particularly relevant to this exchange: I like werewolves, ghosts, and witches; am generally disinterested in vampires but can be persuaded if the fic is awesome; and do not want zombies. Regarding Treats, I like anything from G-rated fluff to hardcore porn, but don't care for PWPs; I like some sort of character and/or relationship development along with my smut. If you want further details on my fic preferences, you can check out my general fic kinks and squicks post or browse my fic exchanges tag.

The Bone Key - Sarah Monette
Kyle Murchison Booth, John Pelham Ratcliffe

Treat/Trick:
I love their brief partnership in "Drowning Palmer": how Booth keeps reaching out for human connection despite expecting to be rebuffed every time, and Ratcliffe just takes the whole situation in stride and gives him the support and advice he needs (while indulging his own curiosity, of course). Does Ratcliffe ever pay a friendly visit to Booth afterwards? Do they ever find themselves brought together by work? Or does Ratcliffe get into a supernatural difficulty of his own and ask for Booth's help? I ship the two of them, but intimate gen with a canonical feel is also very welcome.

Dark Matter - Michelle Paver
Gus Balfour, Jack Miller

Trick:
Something as creepy and sad as the book would be perfect. I'm particularly intrigued by the idea--as voiced by Jack at the end of the book--of Gus becoming another Gruhuken ghost. A missing scene from the expedition--either Gus's or Jack's POV--would also be great. I'd prefer a Gruhuken setting, but if you have a great idea that requires a Caribbean setting, go for it. Ghost(s) and an unhappy ending, please!

The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth (2011)
Marcus Flavius Aquila, Esca Mac Cunoval

Treat:
Esca & Marcus: Esca falls in love, and Marcus worries that his and Esca's relationship will suffer for it. Spoiler: It doesn't. (Esca/OMC)

Marcus/Esca: Happy gay farmers or happy gay horse breeders is always welcome. For something a little more fraught, I'd be interested in fic in which Marcus's leg worsens after they return with the Eagle, so that he must rely upon his crutch at all times and limit the amount of walking he does in a day. How does that affect him and his relationship with Esca? Or if you feel like writing something completely different, I've always wanted a Viking AU in this fandom and haven't seen one yet.

Trick:
Werewolves. Kelpies. Any other British or Roman supernatural creature you're interested in. I don't really care for creature!fic in which Marcus or Esca is the creature in question (with the notable exception of werewolf fic, where I love it).

Hexworld - Jordan L. Hawk
Isaac

Treat/Trick:
I know he's barely appeared in the series so far, but Isaac's my faaavorite. (What can I say? He's a queer Jewish character with an angsty past. Hawk would've had to work hard to make me not love him.) I'm especially interested in the disaster that was Isaac finding his witch; or friendship fic about Isaac and Cicero--backstory, future fic, or anything in between; or Isaac's POV on the events of Hexbreaker; or first time fic involving Isaac finding himself a newer, better witch--either Bill Quigley or an OMC, it's up to you.

Integrate - Thea Hayworth
Sezin

Treat/Trick:
(On the assumption that anything starring a tentacle shark alien counts as a Trick by default.)

Sezin: I'd love an exploration of what it was like for Sezin to go from living in a hirsa community to having fairly intimate daily interactions with strange, hairy, too delicate aliens.

Gavin/Sezin: Anything, really. :-) Pre-canon fic about their developing partnership and/or about Gavin being marked as Scald and Sezin's feelings about that. A retelling of any part of "Integrate" from Sezin's POV. Future fic about their developing relationship. Meeting the family. Tentacle porn + feelings.

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott
Cordelia Frost

Treat/Trick:
Miss Frost is hands down my favorite character in this book: competent, intelligent, highly sensible, and not quite what people expect her to be. I'd love a story about her university days, or her life outside of the office, or the progression of her career.

If you want to write a Trick, then Miss Frost having to deal with a mysterious supernatural threat of her own would be excellent.

Background Julian/Ned is very welcome, as is Miss Frost/OFC.

The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Kamet, Costis Ormentiedes

Treat:
Kamet: Backstory about his time as a slave; you can focus on the good parts, e.g. his justified pride in his accomplishments and/or his friendship with Laela, or on the bad parts, or a mix. (No het and no rape, please, though canonical levels of creepiness from Nahuseresh is okay.) Or Kamet finally gets glasses. Or Kamet makes himself at home in Magyar...and if you wanted to focus mostly on alt!Hungary worldbuilding, that's cool, too.

Costis: I'm oddly charmed by Costis the naturalist--even if he has an ulterior motive in developing that interest--and would like to see more. Or Costis's reactions to more Ennikar and Immakuk stories.

Kamet/Costis: Post-canon first time fic, set either in Attolia or their house in Magyar, would be fantastic. I loved reading about the different sets of expectations that they're working with and would love to see that explored further. Also, getting to see Costis's thoughts on Kamet would be great, since Thick as Thieves focused so strongly on the reverse.

Aristogiton/Costis: Friends to lovers and/or a brothers in arms dynamic are what I love best about this pairing. Good-natured mockery of each other is a definite plus. Alternatively, hurt/comfort could be amazing, if that interests you.

Trick:
Obviously, Kamet or Costis or both have to encounter a real ghost. :-)

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Grace Carrow, Katsu, Keita Mori, Thaniel Steepleton

Treat:
Grace: Grace doing science in Japan! Does she ever make a breakthrough discovery and establish her scholarly reputation?

Katsu: When and why does Keita build Katsu? Or any cute domestic scene involving Katsu would be great: Katsu and the people he lives with, Katsu and socks, etc. I'm also amenable to fic in which Katsu moonlights as the world's most adorable sex toy.

Keita: If you're up for a challenge, I'd love to read a story from Keita's POV. Outsider POV or a loose 3rd person POV are also perfectly fine, though. I really like Keita's building clockwork and am especially intrigued by the locust clock; what was its original purpose and does it get repurposed as something important post-canon?

Thaniel: I'm interested in Thaniel's work as a telegraph operator, if you wanted to explore that.

Keita/Thaniel: Post-book fic focusing on their relationship would be the best. Maybe more about how Keita's abilities affect their lives together. Or domestic fluff involving Keita and Thaniel forming a family with Six (and optional Katsu when he returns).

Trick:
(Note: Katsu's the only one of my requested characters for whom I'd like a Trick in this fandom.)

On his way home, Katsu encounters a Lovecraftian horror. No permanent psychological injury or character death, please!

comments

2017 Fannish Retrospective

2017-09-03T14:37:01Z

Your main fandom of the year?
Tiny book fandoms again. And Stardew Valley.

Your favorite film watched this year?
Wonder Woman

Your favorite book read this year?
Spectred Isle by K. J. Charles, Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly, The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher

Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
"C'Est La Vie" - Khaled

Your favorite TV show of the year?
Nothing new. I've been rewatching a lot of Murdoch Mysteries and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

Your favorite journaling community of the year?
None, really.

Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Thick as Thieves was practically everything I wanted from a Queen's Thief installment.

Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Still no Black Widow movie. (I need to get a new source of disappointment. :-P )

Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Deret Beshelar, Costis Ormentiedes, Kamet, Daniel da Silva

Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Cordelia Frost, Minna Markham

The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
The Engelsfors Trilogy, The Great Library, The Invisible Library, Shades of Magic, Six of Crows

Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
Black Panther, Armistice - Lara Elena Donnelly, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy - Mackenzi Lee

comments

2017 stories

2017-06-21T15:58:06Z

The Goblin Emperor: And Dream-Filled Nights (Csethiro/Maia, Deret/Maia); 4345 words
The Queen's Thief: An Unexpected Gift (Kamet/Costis); 1918 words
Stardew Valley: Spirit of the Deep (Abigail); 1231 words
Think of England: A Bridge/A Chain (Fen/Pat); 1636 words
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street: Home Comforts (Keita/Thaniel); 680 words

comments

Reading Wednesday

2017-02-02T02:34:35Z

What I just finished

The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster. The cover for this novella is fantastic: a young black woman stands on a storm-tossed deck, clutching an amulet, while a Viking ship encroaches in the background. The novella itself, however, has a bland writing style, a thin plot, and terrible plotting. Its one good point is that the characters are fairly interesting, but that's not enough to redeem the story.

Wight Mischief by J. L. Merrow. Ridiculously over-the-top contemporary m/m romance whose characters are forced to hold the idiot ball way too often. Not recommended.

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson. I liked this book but didn't love it, though the breakdown of its strengths and flaws is such that I'm really looking forward to reading more from Wilson. The characters are vivid and believable and the worldbuilding fascinating. The prose is rich and dense (though occasionally too overwrought for my taste). I didn't even mind the somewhat insubstantial plot--focused on a single caravan journey, with a few flashbacks to the earlier life of one of the hired guards--because the worldbuilding and the interpersonal relationships are the real stars of the story. That said, the pacing is quite bad; the story's terribly slow to get started, the flashbacks are dropped in willy-nilly, and the conclusion is way too abrupt and insufficiently supported by the rest of the story. Still, I'm very glad I read it. Possible Yuletide fandom.

What I'm reading now

Chaos Station by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen and a reread of Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch.

What I'm reading next

A Taste of Honey is still near the top of my TBR list. I just need a bit of a break after the heaviness of The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.

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Reading Wednesday

2017-01-19T05:40:37Z

What I just finished

The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingfisher. Great retelling of "The Snow Queen" that gives the fairy tale some interesting new twists while preserving the heart of the story. The descriptions of snow and ice are particularly well done and a pleasure to read at this time of year. Also contains lesbians, as all Snow Queen retellings should. :-) Possible Yuletide fandom.

"Zapped" by Sherwood Smith. I know Smith can write a good story, but this novelette is a hot mess. The science fictional subplot involving teens with unusual powers raises way more questions than it answers and doesn't really go anywhere; the sexuality subplot is anvilicious; the story talks down to its teen audience; and the ending is unsatisfying. If it were five times longer and comprehensively re-edited, then it might be worth reading, but as it is, no.

Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell. A supermarket chain is trying to expand into a small English town, and the community is divided in their response. Yet this debate is only the public face of a high-stakes struggle between good and evil. Excellent characterizations and very neat plotting elevate a moderately interesting premise into a great story.

Forest of Memory by Mary Robinette Kowal. The ending's a lot more open-ended than I typically prefer, and yet I really enjoyed this one. The biggest draw for me is the worldbuilding. In a hyper-connected future, the protagonist finds herself unexpectedly cut off from the cloud while traveling, and Kowal does a really nice job of imagining the various subtle and not-so-subtle responses the protagonist would have to her unprecedented experience.

The actual plot...is weird and a bit dreamlike and very ambiguous. I'll have to reread this one someday, though I don't know if rereading it will make me hate it or like it even more.

What I'm reading now

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

What I'm reading next

A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

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Reading Wednesday

2017-01-12T06:24:16Z

What I just finished

A ridiculous amount of m/m romance. In the past week, I've read seven novels, four novellas, and one short story. I don't know; it just kind of...happened. In rough order from best to worst, and cut for length:

Enlightenment trilogy (Provoked, Beguiled, and Enlightened) - Joanna Chambers. Historical set in Georgian Scotland. Highly principled lawyers are one of my weaknesses, and unsurprisingly I fell in love with the protagonist of this trilogy. And after something of a rough start, the other lead grew on me eventually. This is a highly social series; it feels as though the primary purpose of almost every plot point is to further develop the romantic or familial or friendly relationships. This isn't to say that nothing happens; several quite dramatic events occur during the course of the series. But imo the overall feel of the story is much more relationship-driven than plot-driven. I'm sure it's not to everyone's taste, but I loved it.

Wanted, a Gentleman - K. J. Charles. Historical set in Georgian England. A race to Gretna Green by two men drawn into reluctant partnership. I could've adored this story if it were longer and if it read a little less like a pastiche, but even as it is, I enjoyed it immensely. Possible Yuletide fandom.

Poacher's Fall and Keeper's Pledge - J. L. Merrow. Historical set in post-WWI England. Very tropey, with a ton of h/c and tragic backstories and angst and misunderstandings, and well-written enough to be rather delightful if you're in the mood for that sort of thing.

Unnatural (Enlightenment companion novel) - Joanna Chambers. Historical set in Georgian England. I liked the characters and the (too brief for my taste) bits about natural history. Unfortunately, the constant timeline jumping really messed with the pace of the story, and--possibly related to that--the one lead's indecision and his angst over his internalized homophobia began to feel very repetitive midway through the book.

Hard Tail - J. L. Merrow. Contemporary. The protagonist--recently laid off and his marriage failing--moves home temporarily to manage his brother's bike shop. His brother's employee is out, cute, and astonishingly accident-prone. The predictable storyline is partly saved by the distinctive and often hilarious first person narrative voice and by a few interesting characters. It's marred by the fact that, despite the awesome voice, I didn't really like the protagonist much, and in particular I found his tendency to see innuendo where none was intended tremendously annoying.

To Love a Traitor - J. L. Merrow. Historical set in post-WWI England. In theory, this book is right up my alley, but I kept being thrown out of the story. The big problem is that the protagonist falls way too quickly for the man he suspects of betraying his brother during the war. But that problem is compounded by a stream of smaller continuity errors. More than once, the protagonist will come to a conclusion, and then ten pages later he'll think or say something that makes absolutely no sense in light of what he's just concluded. It's a shame; this book could've been really enjoyable had it been better edited.

Labyrinth - Alex Beecroft. Historical set in ancient Crete. Not exactly m/m since one of the leads is non-binary. Another story that could have been good with a little more effort, but that misses the mark. There are two main plotlines: a political conflict between the Cretans and the Greeks living on their island, and the protagonist's need to decide on a gender and thus a life's path. Both are compelling plotlines, and their resolutions are particularly interesting, but the way they're intermingled throughout the story is completely nonsensical. Urgent and time-sensitive events relating to the political conflict are routinely ignored so the characters can instead talk at length about the protagonist's gender identity. Add to that a bit too much tell-not-show, and the result is a sadly uneven novella.

"Seasons Pass" (Enlightenment #1.5) - Joanna Chambers. The other lead's POV on certain key events in the series. Fairly insubstantial. Despite where the short story falls chronologically, I recommend saving it for after Enlightened (Enlightenment #3). There are some revelations that I think are more effective when encountered in that order.

His Client - Ava March. Historical set in Georgian England. I only finished this book because I became rather fond of Jasper, the prostitute main character, and I wanted to see how he found happiness with the client he was unrequitedly in love with. The answer is: as a result of the least persuasive epiphany ever. The client doesn't even know who Jasper is, given that 99% of their conversations revolve around the client's needs and problems and heartaches. (Sidenote: Jasper has terribly low standards when it comes to falling in love with someone.) March even manages to make the crossdressing sex scenes boring. Such a disappointment.

What I'm reading now

It's a secret. :-)

What I'm reading next

Hugo nominations are due in a little over two months, and my current ballot contains exactly one novel, one novella, and one novelette. (At least I'm good on short stories.) So very soon I need to start reading SFF published in 2016, and lots of it. If anyone has novella or novelette recs to share, I'd be appreciative.

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2016 Fannish Retrospective

2017-01-09T15:13:00Z

Your main fandom of the year?
Would "tiny book fandoms" count? (Primarily, but not limited to, Frontier Wolf, The Goblin Emperor, K. J. Charles, Lynes and Mathey, The Queen's Thief, and The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.)

Your favorite film watched this year?
Ghostbusters

Your favorite book read this year?
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge and Integrate by Thea Hayworth

Your favorite album or song to listen to this year?
"Try Everything" by Shakira

Your favorite TV show of the year?
Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Your favorite journaling community of the year?
mm_library

Your biggest squee moment of the year?
Tentacle shark aliens! Less cryptically: Integrate is the xeno m/m sci-fi buddy cop mystery story of my dreams. (I only wish there were a hundred stories like it.)

Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year?
Still no Black Widow movie.

Your fandom boyfriend of the year?
Deret Beshelar, Costis Ormentiedes, Daniel da Silva

Your fandom girlfriend of the year?
Cordelia Frost, Erin Gilbert, Amy Santiago

The fandom you haven't tried yet, but want to?
Captive Prince, The Engelsfors Trilogy, The Great Library, The Invisible Library, Shades of Magic, Six of Crows, Wayfarers

Your biggest fan anticipations for the New Year?
Thick as Thieves - Megan Whalen Turner, Sins of the Cities series - K. J. Charles, The Bedlam Stacks - Natasha Pulley, Pale Guardian - Barbara Hambly

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Dear Chocolate Box writer:

2017-01-07T23:39:59Z

Thanks so much for writing for me! Some of my prompts are longer than others this year, but rest assured that I'd be equally delighted to receive any one of my requested fandoms. You can browse my general kinks and squicks post and my fic exchanges tag if you want more details. I hope you have lots of fun, and I look forward to seeing what you create!

My signup requests are all for fic, but I'm happy to receive art as a bonus gift (though I'm afraid few of my prompts are at all inspirational as art prompts).

The Bone Key - Sarah Monette

Kyle Murchison Booth/John Pelham Ratcliffe
I love their brief partnership in "Drowning Palmer": how Booth keeps reaching out for human connection despite expecting to be rebuffed every time, and Ratcliffe just takes the whole situation in stride and gives him the support and advice he needs (while indulging his own curiosity, of course). Does Ratcliffe ever pay a friendly visit to Booth afterwards? Do they ever find themselves brought together by work? Or does Ratcliffe get into a supernatural difficulty of his own and ask for Booth's help?

The Brothers Sinister Series - Courtney Milan

Amanda Ellisford/Genevieve Johnson
More about the progression of Amanda's and Genevieve's relationship after their confession and first kiss would be lovely. This is perhaps a little unfair of me, but I like to think that Genevieve's canonical claim that she only knew she was attracted to women because of Amanda is a dirty lie. Maybe she thought Amanda would be scared off by hearing of her previous affaires and/or schoolgirl romances?

Or how does their new relationship affect their social sphere? I can't imagine Genevieve not telling Geraldine about her new romance, but do they keep it secret from their other friends, or do they quietly come out to a trusted few? I'd also be very interested in seeing Amanda and Genevieve become part of a lesbian community. This might mean in London, or it could be as simple as them befriending Minerva Lane's aunts.

The Eagle

Marcus Flavius Aquila/Esca Mac Cunoval
Happy gay farmers or happy gay horse breeders is always welcome. For something a little more fraught, I'd be interested in fic in which Marcus's leg worsens after they return with the Eagle, so that he must rely upon his crutch at all times and limit the amount of walking he does in a day. How does that affect him and his relationship with Esca? Or if you feel like writing something completely different, I've always wanted a Viking AU in this fandom and haven't seen one yet.

Frontier Wolf - Rosemary Sutcliff

Alexios Flavius Aquila/Hilarion
I'm exceedingly fond of tropes for this pairing: fake dating, huddling for warmth, sexswap, bodyswap, etc. I do prefer tropes involving issues of consent (e.g. sex pollen or made-them-do-it) to be as consensual as possible; trope subversion works particularly well for me in those cases.

On the less trope-y side, I'm always up for another variation on why and how Hilarion came to be stationed with the Frontier Wolves. I also love stories about Alexios being a conscientious and effective commander.

The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison

Cala Athmaza/Deret Beshelar
The slight friction between Cala and Beshelar in the beginning of the book strikes me as ripe for interpretation, particularly in light of how smoothly and competently they work together afterwards. What sort of history do they have that would cause that reaction? Or how does their relationship change when they're thrown together for hours every day in Maia's service?

Cala Athmaza/Deret Beshelar/Maia Drazhar
I love the somewhat uncomfortable intimacy their respective roles force them into. Maia's determination to make friends with his servants in spite of that is charming and endlessly interesting to me, but does it cause any untold tensions or difficulties for Cala and Beshelar?

Two nitpicky details: 1) If you include anal sex, please don't have Maia bottoming. I think Maia might enjoy it, given the opportunity, but Beshelar's head would explode. 2) You don't have to get into the specifics of their arrangement unless you want to, but please don't write Maia as cheating on Csethiro.

Csethiro Ceredin/Maia Drazhar
I'm so into loyalty kink for this pairing! Csethiro protecting Maia--either with a sword or with her words--would be fantastic. I also love the idea of the two of them having things to teach each other, if you wanted to explore that instead. And this is a little out there, but I love the Wisdom Bridge almost as much as Maia does, if you felt like incorporating it somehow.

Iskryne series - Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette

Grimolfr/Hrolleif
I was intrigued by Hrolleif's assurance to Isolfr that a relationship didn't have to begin perfectly, because wolfcarls can be taught. Grimolfr and Hrolleif had known each other since they were boys, but how did their relationship change and what new difficulties did they face when they became partners?

Isolfr/Skjaldwulf/Vethulf
I'd love to get a glimpse of what the three of them actually do between battles: perhaps something set between The Tempering of Men and An Apprentice to Elves. While the Rhean threat was ever-present, it doesn't seem to have been Franangford's primary concern. What were Isolfr et al. doing in this time, besides raising Alfgyfa? Did the wolfhealls make any progress towards becoming essentially a police force, as was suggested in the second book? Or how did Isolfr end up with his own bedchamber, and what did Viradechtis, Mar, and Kjaran have to say about it? (And does Isolfr sleep in it rarely or often?)

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott

Julian Lynes/Ned Mathey
More of Julian and Ned fumbling towards intimacy and trust despite their self-doubts would be wonderful. Future fic, a missing scene, pre-canon...it's all good.

The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner

Aristogiton/Costis
Friends to lovers and/or a brothers in arms dynamic are what I love best about this pairing. Hurt/comfort could be fantastic, if that interests you.

Attolia/Costis/Eugenides
Loyalty kink and/or more of Irene's and Eugenides's terrifying brand of flirtation, please. I particularly like stories in which Costis initially thinks he's no more than an amusement for Eugenides and Irene, but then comes to realize that they actually do care for him.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley

Keita Mori/Thaniel Steepleton
Post-book fic focusing on their relationship would be the best. I really like Mori's building clockwork (and am especially intrigued by the locust clock) as well as their shared interest in piano playing, if you wanted to incorporate either of those elements.

Katsu & Keita Mori
Anything about the two of them would be wonderful, including a simple domestic scene. If you wanted a more concrete prompt, though: when and why does Mori build Katsu? Or how does Mori react when Katsu returns to him post-canon (as of course he must)?

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Fixing Things Friday

2016-11-26T04:55:14Z

This week I have...
--called my congressman and asked him to cosponsor the Presidential Accountability Act.
--called one of my senators and asked him to vote against Jeff Sessions's appointment to the position of Attorney General, on the grounds that Sessions can't be trusted to protect people's civil and political rights. (I tried to call my other senator, but he's not taking calls this week. So disappointed that we didn't manage to vote him out this year.)
--called the Department of Justice and asked them to investigate the human rights abuses by the Morton County Sheriff's Department against the Dakota Access Pipeline protesters.
--subscribed to Mother Jones and The Guardian.

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Fixing Things Friday (or whatever we end up calling it)

2016-11-19T01:21:12Z

skygiants suggested that people do a variation on Reading Wednesdays that tracks our political actions for the week, both to inspire and inform each other and to keep ourselves accountable. Since I'm very much in favor of both of those goals, here's my list.

This week (and a half) I have...
-- donated to the National Resources Defense Council. (Their website has a new tagline: "Help us gear up to defend our environment and climate from the Trump presidency.")
-- donated to Foster Campbell, the Democratic candidate for Louisiana senator. Louisiana's runoff election will be held this December 10th.
-- called my congressman and one of my senators twice and my congressman-elect once to demand that they condemn Trump's selection of white nationalist Steve Bannon as his Chief Strategist.
-- called my other senator once to thank him for his public condemnation of Steve Bannon and to ask him to do all he can to block Bannon's appointment.
-- called the House Oversight Committee to support an investigation into Trump's financial arrangements and conflicts of interest.
-- taken Paul Ryan's phone survey to register my approval of Obamacare. (Heads up that the silence you get when connecting to Ryan's system is super weird and disconcerting. The phone didn't ring even once; I just dialed and got instant silence, which I had to wait out for over a minute before the recorded message started playing.)
-- signed the whitehouse.gov petition requesting that Obama commute Chelsea Manning's sentence to time served.

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The election and the U.S. Senate

2016-11-13T04:32:53Z

Well, that was unspeakably devastating. Thank you to everyone who's posted their reactions and helpful links and general expressions of support in the aftermath of the election; I'm one of the many who really needed to see those. I've also seen an outpouring of donations from my DW/LJ friends to the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and various local charities, which has been heartening. (I've donated to the National Resources Defense Council myself, because climate change was terrifying even before Trump was elected.)

In addition to those very worthy organizations, though, if you can spare the cash--and if you're a U.S. citizen or green card holder--please consider donating to Foster Campbell, the Democratic candidate for Louisiana senator who'll be advancing to that state's runoff election on December 10th.

The Republicans will maintain their Senate majority regardless of whether Campbell wins or loses; the only question is whether that majority will be 52-48 or 51-49. The latter is preferable to the former, even in the short term. But to truly understand the significance of this race, look at the map of Senate seats up for election in 2018. That's 33 contested Senate seats, only eight of them currently held by Republicans, and most of those Republican seats are in deep red states.

The chances of Democrats winning back the Senate during the midterm elections are painfully low. But conversely, the importance of preventing Republicans from becoming a supermajority in the Senate two years from now is very high. A Campbell victory would be step one towards preventing that outcome.

So donate to Campbell if you can, VOTE in the runoff election if you're a Louisianan, and just keep being the awesome people you are in general.

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Dear Yuletide writer:

2016-10-08T00:18:17Z

Thanks very much for participating in this exchange and writing for me! Optional details are of course optional, but here are some of my general preferences and a variety of prompts for my requested fandoms, in case you wanted some extra direction. Some of my fandoms this year have lengthier prompts than others, but rest assured that I'll be equally thrilled with fic for any of them. Have fun, and I'm sure I'll love whatever you end up creating!

For your reference: I'm Jain on AO3 and jain on my (rather out-of-date) pinboard account.

General likes and dislikes

I like happy (or at least hopeful) endings, friendship, family (including chosen family), loyalty, determination, cooking and/or eating, people being smart, people being competent, platonic bedsharing, non-platonic bedsharing, pining, unrequited love that turns out to be requited, hurt/comfort, kissing, masturbation, mutual masturbation, frottage, intercrural sex, oral sex, talking during sex (not dirty talk, just ordinary conversation), BDSM, watersports, first-time fic, established relationship fic in which there's some sort of shift in the dynamics of the relationship, character- and relationship-driven gen, worldbuilding, cultural differences, historical details, case fic, third person POV, and past tense.

I don't want breathplay/asphyxiation, vore/cannibalism, scat, emetophilia/vomit, bloodplay, knifeplay, gunplay, suspension, lifestyle D/s, heavy angst, character-bashing, unexamined misogyny and racism, dialogue-only fic, no dialogue, epithets (e.g. the blond, the taller man, the younger man), the phrases "to his [or her] credit," "had the grace to," and "took him[self] in hand," PWPs, crackfic, road trips, zombies, soulmates, omegaverse, first person POV, second person POV, crossovers, or AUs.

The Brothers Sinister series - Courtney Milan
Amanda Ellisford, Genevieve Johnson

I was so happy to see explicitly queer relationships in The Suffragette Scandal, but there wasn't nearly enough to satisfy me. More about the progression of Amanda's and Genevieve's relationship after their confession and first kiss would be lovely. A few options:

How and when do they move past just kissing? This is perhaps a little unfair of me, but I like to think that Genevieve's canonical claim that she only knew she was attracted to women because of Amanda is a dirty lie. Maybe she thought Amanda would be scared off by hearing of her previous affaires and/or schoolgirl romances?

I can't imagine Genevieve not telling Geraldine about her new romance, but do they keep it secret from their other friends, or do they quietly come out to a trusted few?

I'd also be very interested in seeing Amanda and Genevieve become part of a lesbian community. This might mean in London, or it could be as simple as them befriending Minerva Lane's aunts.

A Charm of Magpies series - K. J. Charles
Ned Hall, Crispin Tredarloe

I'm open to pretty much anything in this fandom: curtain fic, case fic (as mundane or magical as you like), Ned and Crispin developing their respective talents, backstory for either or both of them, how their romantic relationship progressed between "A Queer Trade" and Rag and Bone. If you're writing future fic, I'm especially fond of Mrs. Gold, should you want to include her; I actually think she and Ned might make good friends.

Frontier Wolf - Rosemary Sutcliff
Alexios Flavius Aquila, Hilarion

Slash, please. I'm exceedingly fond of tropes for this pairing: fake dating, huddling for warmth, sexswap, bodyswap, etc. I do prefer tropes involving issues of consent (e.g. sex pollen or made-them-do-it) to be as consensual as possible; trope subversion works particularly well for me in those cases. Werewolves are also completely awesome in this fandom. I'd love to see werewolf!Hilarion in particular, but there are plenty of other options, as well. And I realize that this pairs an unusual trope with an unusual kink, but Frontier Wolf werewolves + watersports would rock my world.

On the less trope-y side, I'm always up for another variation on why and how Hilarion came to be stationed with the Frontier Wolves. I'm also fond of fics in which Alexios has (or Hilarion believes he has) a one-sided romantic attraction to Cunorix, which makes for a very reasonable source of angst in a later Alexios/Hilarion relationship.

Iskryne series - Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette
Isolfr, Skjaldwulf, Vethulf

While I really like the second and third books, I also feel that they flatten the incipient triad formed in A Companion to Wolves in less than ideal ways. Without going AU or getting rid of Thorlot in any way, I'd love to see a deeper exploration of the relationships among Isolfr, Skjaldwulf, and Vethulf. I'd also love to see more of what the three of them actually do between battles; the increased cast of viewpoint characters resulted in a sad (to me) shift in focus away from the daily life of Isolfr and his wolfjarls.

Perhaps something set between The Tempering of Men and An Apprentice to Elves. While the Rhean threat was ever-present, it doesn't seem to have been Franangford's primary concern. What were Isolfr et al. doing in this time, besides raising Alfgyfa? Did the wolfhealls make any progress towards becoming essentially a police force, as was suggested in the second book? How did Isolfr end up with his own bedchamber, and what did Viradechtis, Mar, and Kjaran have to say about it? (And does Isolfr sleep in it rarely or often?)

Or something set after An Apprentice to Elves. How does their relationship change--and how does it stay surprisingly the same--when Isolfr no longer has two wolfjarls? How does Skjaldwulf take to his new profession? Does he bond with another wolf in time, and if so how does Viradechtis respond to it?

My reviews of A Companion to Wolves and The Tempering of Men. I'm not hugely interested in the alfar, but would love pretty much anything else about Franangford, its interactions with neighboring towns and settlements, and/or its relationships with other wolfhealls (especially Nithogsfjoll).

The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge
Leda Hunter, Jane Vellet

I'm so fascinated by these two women, starting with their upstairs-downstairs romance, and I'd be interested in seeing that at any stage of the relationship: How did they initially become interested in each other, and how did their courtship progress? What do they do during their secret rendezvous? Do they ever move beyond those rendezvous to build a life together?

I'm also intrigued by Miss Hunter's comment that "a woman like [her] makes enemies." Both she and Mrs. Vellet responded with extraordinary calmness and competence when the Sunderlys were in danger. What personal experiences were they drawing on then?

And for something completely different, I'm actually very interested in telegraphy, in case you wanted to write about Miss Hunter's work as a telegraph operator and postmistress. (Though please include at least some femslash in the fic, even if much of the focus is on Miss Hunter's career.)

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott
Cordelia Frost

Miss Frost is hands down my favorite character in this book: competent, intelligent, highly sensible, and not quite what people expect her to be. I'd love a story about her university days, or her life outside of the office, or the progression of her career, or case fic in which she either solves the case by herself or is instrumental in helping Julian and Ned solve it.

Gen or Miss Frost/OFC, please. Background Julian/Ned is also very welcome.

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Dear Trick or Treat writer:

2016-09-13T14:52:17Z

Thanks so much for writing for me! This is my first time participating in Trick or Treat, and I'm really looking forward to it. I hope you have a lot of fun, too!

My signup requests are all for fic, but I'm happy to receive art as a bonus gift.

With one exception, I have a strong preference for Tricks that either 1) use supernatural horror tropes in a non-horrific fashion, e.g. werewolves who retain their humanity while shifted, or 2) involve scary supernatural threats that are soundly defeated by the protagonists for a happy ending. The one exception is Dark Matter, where I'd prefer canon-level horror.

Particularly relevant to this exchange: I love werewolves, like ghosts, am generally disinterested in vampires but can be persuaded if the fic is awesome, and do not want zombies. Regarding Treats, I like anything from G-rated fluff to hardcore porn, but don't care for PWPs; I like some sort of character and/or relationship development along with my smut. If you want further details on my fic preferences, you can check out my general fic kinks and squicks post or browse my fic exchanges tag.

A Charm of Magpies Series - K. J. Charles
Ned Hall, Crispin Tredarloe

Treat/Trick:
I'm open to pretty much anything in this fandom: curtain fic, case fic (as mundane or scary as you like), Ned and Crispin developing their respective talents, backstory for either or both of them, how their romantic relationship progressed between "A Queer Trade" and Rag and Bone. If you're writing future fic, I'm especially fond of Mrs Gold, should you want to include her; I actually think she and Ned might make good friends.

Dark Matter - Michelle Paver
Gus Balfour, Jack Miller

Trick:
Something as creepy and sad as the book would be perfect. I'm particularly intrigued by the idea--as voiced by Jack at the end of the book--of Gus becoming another Gruhuken ghost. A missing scene from the expedition--either Gus's or Jack's POV--would also be great. I'd prefer a Gruhuken setting, but if you have a great idea that requires a Caribbean setting, go for it. Ghost(s) and an unhappy ending, please!

The Eagle | The Eagle of the Ninth (2011)
Marcus Flavius Aquila, Esca Mac Cunoval

Treat:
Esca & Marcus: Esca falls in love, and Marcus worries that his and Esca's relationship will suffer for it. Spoiler: It doesn't. (Esca/OMC)

Marcus/Esca: Post-movie fic would be great, maybe something in which Marcus's leg worsens after they return with the Eagle, so that he must rely upon his crutch at all times and limit the amount of walking he does in a day. How does that affect him and his relationship with Esca? Or if you're interested in something completely different, I've always wanted a Viking AU in this fandom and haven't seen one yet.

If you only signed up to write Esca or Marcus, then backstory is always welcome: what shaped them into the men we see in the movie?

Trick:
Werewolves. Kelpies. Any other British or Roman supernatural creature you're interested in. I don't really care for creature!fic in which Marcus or Esca is the creature in question (with the notable exception of werewolf fic, where I love it).

Frontier Wolf - Rosemary Sutcliff
Alexios Flavius Aquila, Alexios Flavius Aquila's Mother, Hilarion

Treat:
Alexios/Hilarion: I'm very fond of tropes for this pairing: fake dating, huddling for warmth, sexswap, bodyswap, etc. I do prefer tropes involving issues of consent (e.g. sex pollen or made-them-do-it) to be as consensual as possible; trope subversion works particularly well for me in those cases.

Alexios's mother & Hilarion: melannen wrote an intriguing "Meeting the parents" section in this comment. I'd definitely be interested in seeing Alexios's mother interact with Hilarion, whether in the context of gen fic or as part of an Alexios/Hilarion story. Not necessarily when Alexios is recovering either; I very much hope Alexios would invite Hilarion to visit the farm with him at some point.

Alexios: Anything about Alexios being a good commander is my jam.

Alexios's mother: What kind of life does she lead on the farm now that her husband is dead and her son is grown; how does she spend her days; what hopes and dreams does she have (other than wishing success for her son)? Her half-brother is decidedly unsympathetic towards her, but does she have other family--including relatives of Alexios's father--with whom she has a closer relationship?

Hilarion: It's been done before, but I'm always up for another variation on how and why Hilarion came to be stationed with the Frontier Wolves.

Trick:
Werewolves would be so much fun in this fandom! I'm particularly interested in werewolf!Hilarion, but either of the other two characters as werewolves would also work.

Lynes and Mathey series - Amy Griswold & Melissa Scott
Cordelia Frost

Treat/Trick:
Miss Frost is hands down my favorite character in this book: competent, intelligent, highly sensible, and not quite what people expect her to be. I'd love a story about her university days, or her life outside of the office, or the progression of her career.

If you want to write a Trick, then Miss Frost having to deal with a mysterious supernatural threat of her own would be excellent.

Background Julian/Ned is very welcome, as is Miss Frost/OFC.

The Sleeper and the Spindle - Neil Gaiman
Queen

Treat/Trick:
I really just want to know what happens to the Queen next. Romance, adventure, another creepy-scary quest?

Gen, Queen/OFC, and Queen/OMC are all welcome.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Grace Carrow, Katsu, Keita Mori, Thaniel Steepleton

Treat:
Grace: Grace doing science in Japan! Does she ever make a breakthrough discovery and establish her scholarly reputation? Or in a different vein, how does Grace adapt to a new culture and/or fit into Matsumoto's family life? Do she and Thaniel maintain a correspondence?

Katsu: When and why does Keita build Katsu? Or any cute domestic scene involving Katsu would be great: Katsu and the people he lives with, Katsu and socks, etc. I'm also amenable to fic in which Katsu moonlights as the world's most adorable sex toy.

Keita: If you're up for a challenge, I'd love to read a story from Keita's POV. Outsider POV or a loose 3rd person POV are also perfectly fine, though. I really like Keita's building clockwork and am especially intrigued by the locust clock.

Thaniel: I'm interested in Thaniel's work as a telegraph operator, if you wanted to explore that.

Keita/Thaniel: Post-book fic focusing on their relationship would be the best. Their canonical romance is so very understated; I just want more. I do also enjoy Keita's and Thaniel's shared interest in piano playing.

Trick:
(Note: Katsu's the only one of my requested characters for whom I'd like a Trick in this fandom.)

On his way home, Katsu encounters a Lovecraftian horror. No permanent psychological injury or character death, please!

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