Yuletide Letter 2024

[slumber]

{{ Dear Yuletide Writer }}

Thank you so much for signing up this year, and I’m so excited to have you assigned to me! I'm Slumber on AO3 as well, and it's my sixth time signing up for Yuletide, which has been nothing but a fantastic time for me, so I hope it is for you as well.

For what it’s worth I’m incredibly easy to please, so feel free to run away with whatever ideas you may already have! But if you wanted some prompts, I hope this letter helps inspire you.

{{ General Likes and Dislikes }}

Ratings: G to E are fine!

Likes. It depends on the ship and the dynamics that attracted me to them in the first place, but I quite love canon-centric studies of relationships and dynamics and seeing the different nuances other people have on a character over AUs.

Tonally I gravitate to lighter fare, but I'm also very happy with pieces that go deep into character studies and introspection are more than welcome too!

If you would prefer to do something lighter and warm-hearted, I'm always up for those tried-and-true romcom tropes of idiots in love, mutual pining, friends to lovers, fake dating, didn't know they were dating, practically married, etc. 5+1 fics are great too! I love domesticity but not established relationship, so anything in that vein would be amazing too!

I'm a bit of a heavy shipper but in case you're not up for the ships I've listed, you're more than welcome to go the genfic route as well, no worries!

DNWs. There isn’t a lot that I don’t like — name a trope and I’d probably be able to come up with at least one work I’ve read in it that has stayed with me. That said, I don’t always seek out fic with first-person POV, BDSM elements, noncon elements, pregnancy, dark themes for darkness' sake, and kink-centered PWPs. I've got to be in a specific mood for Major Character Death, terminal illness, wedding fic and kidfic (I know, I know), so I'd rather not have any of them. I also would prefer it when people don't say "I love you" and instead have it shown/understood through their actions/obliquely. I'd really also not prefer unhappy endings — bittersweet & hopeful is fine! Light angst is okay, things don't always have to be easy, but I'm here for good vibes mostly.

The Prompts. Here’s a blanket disclaimer on the prompts here — feel free to absolutely ignore them and run away with your own ideas! If something I’ve said sparks an offshoot kind of idea, please pursue it! All I’d be truly happy for is another round at reliving these characters in their worlds, and I am SO looking forward to what you come up with whether it’s from one of these prompts or not! So please consider them starting points, if anything, or some way to get a sense of what drew me to these characters/fandoms to start. Thank you so much! <3

And with that, feel free to navigate to the fandom that makes sense to you!

{{ BecomeAManAgain (Twitter) }} {{ Chihayafuru }} {{ Driver's High (Webcomic) }}
{{ I Ship My Adversary X Me }} {{ Skip to Loafer (Anime) }}

{{ BecomeAManAgain (Twitter) }}

Alpha Male, Beta Male

General: ODAO! If you're not familiar with this "canon", I mean specifically these tweets. I just think we need to break the sexual tension that's clearly building between Beta Male and Alpha Male. Please pick any of their tweets as inspiration, or branch off entirely. I'd love it all! (This does not have to be omegaverse, by the way, but I wouldn't be mad if it is. They can be named Alpha and Beta, or have actual names of their own. Please don't use identifiable names from existing canons/ships! I didn't nominate a tag for worldbuilding because honestly, I'm not 100% sure I understand what that entails, but if you want to build out the lore of this BecomeAManAgain universe, I would platonically kiss you on the lips in gratitude.)

Possible prompts:
+ None of Alpha Male's usual moves seem to work on Beta Male. Are they just speaking different languages??
+ Beta Male and Alpha Male and their different love languages.
+ Beta Male in a tight red dress, with heels and those earrings ;)
+ Beta Male is tired of the way Alpha Male treats him, and decides changes are in order.

{{ Chihayafuru }}

Mashima Taichi, Suou Hisashi

General: ODAO! I'm allllll caught up in the manga so no worries on spoilers there, and Taichi after all this time is still my one true boy. I love the way karuta is a sport for everyone, and I LOVE the way their relationships and friendships have developed over the course of the series.

Would be VERY happy with genfic character study of Taichi and Hisashi's relationship as it develops especially post-canon, but if there's a little extra complexity and ambiguity thrown in, don't mind if I do ;)

Possible prompts:
+ Taichi the doctor, and Hisashi the patient a) who seeks him out?, or b) that shapes the direction of his career/studies/research/etc
+ A reunion a few years later, maybe now they are different people who may or may not be better equipped to face each other :'3
+ Suou's senses are sharper, when it comes to Taichi
+ Taichi observes Suou when he thinks Suou isn't looking
+ This time, Chihaya figures it out before Taichi does

{{ Driver's High }}

JJ (Driver's High), Leo Lombardi (Driver's High)

General: ODAO! I know this is very new but already the premise is ripe for the picking! I am such a sweet sucker for exes to lovers, and exponentially so when it involves someone who's gotta grovel a little to win his ex-boyfriend back. That said, I wouldn't say no to just an equally toxic take on these two that doesn't have a particularly happy ending (...yet!) if we can sit with the tragedy of two people who have become wrong for each other continue falling into unhealthy patterns.

Possible prompts:
+ What if Leo's accident really did get him hurt?
+ What if Leo's accident made him lose (or "lose") his memories?
+ Some time after the breakup, and Leo's fallen from grace. Meanwhile, JJ's having a breakout season in his new team. They run into each other at a place they least expect.
+ A time loop of the worst day of Leo's life.
+ Leo and JJ making up, finally.

{{ I Ship My Adversary X Me }}

Gu Yiliang, Wei Yanzi

General: ODAO! NIANGZI IS RIO!!!

I'm caught up with everything in the webcomic but I'd love to see more of these two cuties! I thought their misunderstandings were such a riot so feel absolutely free to lean into that!

Possible prompts:
+ NiangZi fall into bed together for reasons, but are confused about what it means. Cue confusion and mutual pining and mild angst that is ultimately resolved :'3
+ A scandal threatens Gu Yiliang's reputation, but Wei Yanzi comes in to..... save the day...?? Even he is surprised how!
+ Xianxia AU? Niangzi are disciples from competing sects that must work together after some kind of accident at a Sect Alliance Conference. Wei Yanzi, who has held many assumptions about Gu Yiliang, begin to see each of them challenged and broken down :'3

{{ Skip to Loafer (Anime) }}

Egashira Mika, Nao-chan

General: ODAO! I absolutely adore everyone in this show, but I think Mika and Nao-chan's relationship is the most interesting for me. I love it in both the shippy as well as the non-shippy way, and I'd love to see this explored a bit more, especially as Nao-chan sees herself in Mika, a little bit, and has taken her under her wing, and Mika feels a little bit more at ease showing her vulnerabilities to Nao-chan. I really like that they're a little less polite, a little more honest with each other, in ways that maybe they don't let themselves be when they're with Mitsumi. (For this canon, I'm OK with all ratings from canon setting to later.)

Possible prompts:
+ Mika approaches Nao to tell her about all her firsts. (Maybe it's just that, maybe this time Mika wants Nao to be one of her firsts.)
+ It's Nao's turn to open up.
+ Nao and Mika really do share a lot of things in common.
+ Outside POV on Nao and Mika's strange-but-makes-sense relationship.