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Dear Author,

Thank you for writing for me! I love Yuletide and getting a new story in one of my small fandoms. I'm sure anything you write will be wonderful but here are some prompts.

My AO3 profile: Macdragon
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Some general things I enjoy-

Found family, road trips/journeys, holidays, villain origin stories, angst, realistic depictions of mental illness, letters/epistolary, nature/gardening, characters cooking for each other, humor even in dark times, cozy settings, Setting As Character, musical references, characters showing off how smart they are, competency porn, neurodivergent coded characters, witchy/dark magic, overpowered characters.

Do not wants:

Given the nature of these fandoms I’m okay with some darker content but I ask that you not include- Cancer, serious illness, hospitals, eating disorders, parental death beyond what’s in canon, eye injuries or graphic descriptions of blood.

Requests

The Bone Season- Samantha Shannon

Jaxon Hall
Jaxon is evil but fascinating and I love that Samantha Shannon is not afraid to make him truly despicable while being charming. I would be very curious about a day in the life of Jaxon Hall from his perspective. I’d love to read a story that can get into his background, beyond what he told Paige. His early publishing days and Jaxon as a writer/academic would also be interesting. I wonder what would have happened if he became a scholar like he wanted. If you want to include his identity as aroace that would be cool, I just ask that you not ship him with anyone.

Joan in the Garden - The Decemberists (Song)
Joan

Whatever you want, make it weird. Very open to interpretation, since I’m prettymuch asking you to write a story based on musical ~vibes. it doesn’t have to be Joan of Arc focused, but if you want to go that direction, I would enjoy seeing it retold in a sci-fi or apocalyptic setting. Also very here for queer and/or trans Joan exploration. I can see different formats working for this fandom so if you want to play with that feel free!

Dark Rise Series - C. S. Pacat
Will Kempen, Eleanor Kempen

The Dark King Did Nothing Wrong. I adore Will, how quietly clever he is, and how he remains an unreliable narrator even though we’re in his head. I would like some backstory on him, either a story set in his childhood or him now reflecting back on his upbringing. I want to know what was going through Eleanor’s head. If she truly hated her child, why didn’t she bring him to the knights immediately? Also curious if Will ever had glimpses of Sarcean as a child, which he’s forgotten or buried.

The Pairing - Casey McQuiston
Theo Flowerday, Kit Fairfield

Childhood friends to lovers + second chance is basically my perfect pairing (with road trip on the side!) I would happily read more of them walking around any city and eating and drinking and being in love. Maybe they take a tour of another region? Or take a food and wine journey in California to return to their childhood home? Something in their new restaurant would be great too. If you prefer backstory, anything about their adventures as kids would be fun, especially helping each other through hard times. Bonus points if you include a recipe. (Also, since this is a ship request, I’m fine with some smut, but more interested in slow burn, pining, and build up!)

Dear Author,

Thank you for writing for me!

I'll be happy with prettymuch anything in these fandoms, and I'm looking forward to seeing whatever you write. Some of my favorite elements include character focused stories, exploring complex relationships whether romantic or gen, found families. I would enjoy holiday-centric fic. I like angst that ends in a happy ending, and also fluff. I'm always up for playing around with formats/genres. I'm fine with any rating, but I generally prefer some plot (or at least character development) with my porn.
You can also check out the tiermaker I filled in with my trope likes/dislikes:
Romance Tropes
fanfic tropes

My AO3 profile: Macdragon

DNW: Cancer or major illness, parental death, current events/2020 content, crackfic, noncon/dubcon.

Mini Challenges: Chromatic Yuletide, Yulebuilding

My requests:

I May Destroy You (TV)
Arabella Essiedu, Terry Pratchard

I was completely blown away by this show--the writing, the intricate plot, the realism of the characters, Arabella as an antihero. Each episode was packed with so many little details, moments that made me laugh, and moments that broke my heart. All of the relationships were fascinating, but I especially loved Arabella and Terry's friendship and how entwined their lives are. It's ok if you don't want to focus on Terry but I would like seeing more of their relationship. I would prefer that this story not be romance-centric, but don't have a preference for any of Arabella's past flings to make an appearance. I do not want to read any graphic depictions of sexual assault here, but given the source material, I am fine with discussions of consent and things that happened previously. I'm pretty happy with anything about this show beyond that, but here are some ideas:

Write another alternate ending, or write what would happen if one of the alternate endings actually happened.
If you want to take a supernatural twist, what about the "demon Bella" we see glimpses of? What if Arabella actually had the ability to reverse time?
More of Arabella and Terry's backstory, or what happens to Terry post-canon.
Do Arabella and Terry ever go back to Italy? Or maybe they take a trip someplace new?
Winter holiday/New Year's fic where Bella reflects back on this past year and sets intention for what she wants to see next.
As a writer myself, I loved how the show plays with narrative structure and depicts telling a story. I could see a non-traditional format working for this fandom.

My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
Korede, Ayoola

This book is about what it says on the tin: A woman whose sister is a serial killer. But it's more about their relationship,both with each other and within their family unit, than it is about murder. The novel barely scratches the surface of the potential for exploring the sisters' relationship, and I know the story isn't done with the last page. I loved the dry humor and the practicality of Korede's actions to cover up her sister's murders. There are a ton of directions to take this but here are some prompts:

What happens after the end of the book? Who is the next victim? Does Korede continue to cover for her sister?
What would happen if they did decide to move out of their mother's house? Maybe a murder gone wrong causes them to go on the run and find someplace else to live.
Ayoola seems to have a social media following. What if she gains more followers and becomes an influencer? What steps would Korede need to take to control her then?
Supernatural twist: What if Ayoola was actually a vampire/werewolf/whatever?

Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner
Alec Campion, Richard St. Vier
I am once again asking you for Richard/Alec fic. I keep returning because their relationship is so fascinating to me. How their darkness fits together and how Richard is so drawn to the challenge of Alec's dangerous moods. Neither are easy to love, but somehow they make it work, however imperfectly. I'll take fluff (or as fluffy as they can be) or angst in this fandom; my only DNW is that I would prefer that the story not take place after Richard's death. I'm always delighted to read anything new with these two, but I'll list some ideas.

Domesticity. Lazy days and long nights at their Riverside house.
Epistolary fic, while Richard and Alec are separated.
Alec has one of his depressive phases and Richard has to pull him out of it--is it early in their relationship when he's still learning how to do so? Or later when they know each other so well he knows exactly how to help Alec?
Richard fighting someone because Alec asked him to because that never gets old.
How do you celebrate the winter holidays in Riverside?

Scholomance - Naomi Novik
Any Character

I recenly read A Deadly Education, the first book of the Scholomance series, and it's a relatively short book but it's full of so much worldbuilding! A worldbuilding-centric fic would be lovely for this fandom, or else something that delves into a character's background or day to day life at the school. I love El as a narrator and I do ship El and Orion, so feel free to use that if you'd like. However, I'm equally happy to see an original character, or more about one of the minor characters. Some prompts I'd be interested in seeing:

The School as a Character. Maybe something from the Scholomance's point of view, or history about how it has changed over the years. Does it truly have a mind of its own? What is it like being a maintenance track kid and learning the inner workings of the school?
I liked how books are treated as precious objects, so something about a sentient book or a story about someone's special spellbook, or more about El's Sutras.
Something in depth about one type of Mal, or make up your own Mal, since I'm sure we didn't see all of them yet.
What do those worksheets look like? What are some of the weirder assignments kids have gotten from the school?
What is the impact of going through school at the Scholomance on a person long term? Is the outside world just filled with emotionally damaged alumni?

Thank you again, author, and Happy Yuletide!

Dear Author,
Happy Yuletide! Macdragon here. Thank you so much for writing in one of my small fandoms.

Some things I like are character studies, complex relationships, setting-as-character, found families, angst, art/music/literary references, characters being competent, a healthy mix of humor and seriousness. I’m fine with either gen or explicit fic.

DNWs: Characters getting sick (especially terminal illness/cancer), dubcon/noncon, crackfic.

Now on to the requests...

Call Me By Your Name (Film)
Elio/Oliver

The only antagonist in this film is time… It’s a beautiful story of two people who fall in love and that’s it.- Armie Hammer

I’ve been a fan of the book Call Me By Your Name for a long time, and I thought the movie was one of the best book-to-film adaptations I’ve ever seen. I love the way the setting plays such a big role in the film, so a fic that evokes that would be lovely. Or put them in a different place and see how that changes things. Or possibly another season, since summer is so important in the story. I would equally enjoy a fic that invents additional moments for them during their initial romance, or something that delves into what happens if they ever reunite. (Especially in the context of the film verse since it does not include the epilogue of the book!) If you’re in to AUs, feel free to go that route too.

Daisy Jones and the Six
Daisy Jones

So I wanted Daisy to feel like this larger-than-life person, who is so beautiful and so glamorous, it seems like she has everything. Yet, you know that if you met her one-on-one, you would immediately feel her vulnerability and her humanity — so it had to be both. She had to be larger than life, and she had to feel very, very small.- Taylor Jenkins Reid

This was one of my favorite books this year. I listened to the audiobook and the narration made the characters come alive. It felt like I was listening to a documentary about a real band! Daisy is such a compelling character and I think there’s a ton that could be done with what happens to her after the events of the book. Does she continue to make music and how does her style change? How did she come to adopt her child? Does she ever meet up with the rest of the band again and does she ever miss her old life of rock and roll? Or if you’d rather focus on the events of the book, you can fill in anything that we didn’t get with the multiple perspectives. Also I feel like this fandom is great for nontraditional formats if that’s something you feel like writing.

Rocketman
Elton John/John Reid

Taron and I were keen on portraying the relationship as it was. We meet and fall properly in love, and that’s the root of it. They were together for five years before Reid started managing him, so we see them fall in love and then the darker elements that begin to creep in. John becomes more and more successful and more outlandish, more absurd. And Reid becomes more manipulative and opportunistic as a result.- Richard Madden

I adore this movie and I found Elton and John's relationship absolutely fascinating. Obviously not healthy by the end, but intriguing as heck, especially since Richard Madden plays John Reid as so charming yet vicious. I would love anything exploring their relationship dynamics, their different personalities and how they navigate their quirks together. How does their early relationship play out against all of the partying and excessive wealth? When did it start turning sour? Or if you don’t want to focus as much on the relationship, I would also be interested in a glimpse at John’s life before or after Elton.

First of all: This was my first time doing Row80 and I was terrible about checking in. It's not a habit yet! But I did find it very helpful to read other's check-ins and know that I was being held accountable in some way.

Let's see how I did on my goals:

*Create a new outline and decide how to structure this thing, either as a novel or a collection of short stories. DONE! I have a much clearer picture of where my novel is going.
*Write at least one cohesive chapter/story in this 80 day period. I'll say this is done...I still have to go back and add a couple of things but that is what editing is for.

Fanfiction
*Complete the Night On Fic Mountain challenge (due June 15) and the Every Woman challenge (due June 23). Half-done. I ended up defaulting on Night on Fic Mountain, honestly because I was too caught up in my original writing to work on it. I did complete Every Woman!
*Write at least 5 posts a week for my play-by-post RPG. Done-ish. I tried, but the RPG slowed down a LOT these past few weeks and I wasn't able to do 5 posts. Still giving myself an A for effort.
Overall, the original writing was more important, so I'm not too upset that I didn't entirely complete these goals.

Daily/weekly goals
*Write (as in full-screen word document, won't stop typing even if it's garbage), at least 15 minutes per day.
Okay, technically not done. For the first few weeks, I really struggled with writing every day. Then, I started using the Magic Spreadsheet and have been going strong on that for about 30 days. I am going to continue with the Spreadsheet so that I write at least 250 words every day.

I'm going to be traveling a lot this summer, so I will not be participating in the next round. But, I might return for the round after that! This was so helpful in getting back into writing gear.

Current Mood: accomplished

Sorry for not updating for a few weeks. Things have been crazy around here, both at work and at home. But, the good news is I got back into the writing groove! I started using the Magic Spreadsheet again. It really is magic. Something about seeing my points increase on the spreadsheet makes me want to keep writing. And 250 words is such a small goal. I often find myself saying "I don't feel like writing, but I can at least do that much!" And 1000 words later find that I've made a lot of progress.

I have an outline together, and I'm very close to finishing a chapter in my novel.

This week, I'll be turning to fanfiction for a bit so I can finish the Night On Fic Mountain challenge.

It's the second week and I'm already rapidly veering off the path of productivity. My goal to write 15 minutes a day kind of isn't working out. It's really hard to force myself to turn off the tv, computer, games, and everything else for even that small amount of time.

I'm considering doing a word count instead--something easy like 250 words, as per the Magic Spreadsheet. I might actually start the Magic Spreadsheet again.

The fact is, this happens every time I start writing. Things go okay for the first few days, and then I get scared. I feel like my writing isn't good enough, so I stop. I want to try and push through it this week.

I have been able to do some brainstorming and outlining, at least. I also created a new character for my RPG, although my original writing should be taking priority.

Sorry for the whining, and hopefully things will go better next week!

Current Mood: disappointed

Thank you for writing for me!

Likes:

Slice of Life

Backstory

Character Study

Humor

Complicated romance

Friendship

Any rating is cool

Do Not Wants:

dubcon/non-con

Extreme gore

that's about it.

Requests:

Shameless. Fiona Gallagher.

She's probably one of my favorite characters on tv and I just want a character-centered story focused on Fiona. Even though she's kind of the main character of the show, I feel like she sometimes doesn't get much attention with all the side plots!

I would enjoy a story about Fiona doing something nice for herself, pursuing her career more, or about her caring for the kids. Romance is important to her, so you could write about that too, although I would prefer it not be the focus just because we already get so much of it in the show!

Of course, it would be awesome to see the other Shameless women make an appearance too. Although I didn't request anyone else specifically, feel free to include any of the other nominated ladies.

Swordspoint. Sofia Campion.

I love Sofia, although we don't see too much of her in the books. I'd really like anything about her. Backstory on the island before meeting Alec. Her thoughts about getting married and moving to Riverside. What happened in between Alec's death and the time we see in The Fall of the Kings. And how does she cope with her son's breakdown in that book? So much I want to know. And in general, it's always interesting to see this world from a woman's perspective.

The Bone Season. Eliza Renton and/or Paige Mahoney.

Long shot that anyone offered this, but if you did, HI! Good to know someone else loves this book. This series has excellent world building but the characters are my favorite part, especially the Seven Seals. I would really love backstory about Eliza, more about how she met Jaxon and came to the Seven Seals, and how she developed her talents.

For Paige, I have less specific ideas, but I'd be happy to see anything about these characters. (I'd kind of prefer it not focus on Warden though.) Maybe just some slice-of-life stuff about living in London and working with the Seven Seals?

Eliza and Paige's relationship is really interesting too, since Eliza looks out for Paige a lot, but then Paige is a much stronger person in The Mime Order. So a fic exploring that would be welcome.

Dragonriders of Pern, Oklina

I mainly requested her because we know so little about her. Just a glimpse at the end of Moreta and in Nerilka's Story. What is it like following in Moreta and Leri's footsteps? How does she deal with the aftermath of grief and rebuilding after the disease? Things seem a little more liberal in Moreta's time than in Lessa's, so I've always thought that things started to get more traditional again after the plague. Does Oklina play a role in this?

Quick update since I actually spent too much time writing and need to start getting ready for work now.

Current word count: 1214

It's pretty small considering that I used to write more than that in one day for NaNoWriMo, but it's better than nothing.

About my productivity: As I said, I got a late start, but from Wednesday-Sunday I wrote a little bit every day. Hoping I can continue it this week.

At first, I didn't feel like starting the challenge this week. Getting back into writing was hard!

I did my five RPG posts no problem, but then I had no excuse to put off the fiction writing. Then someone on tumblr recommended Pacemaker and I generated a writing plan. I love it! I imported the plan to my ical and I can move the word counts around based on when I have things going on that would keep me from writing too much. I've gotten about 730 words so far.

Sign Up Post

I'm joining late, after a friend told me about the writing challenge. I had been complaining about how hard it was to get "serious" about my writing after a long break. I've lost my discipline, but I know that if I don't work hard to get it back, I won't get very far in my writing.

I want to use the challenge to set up a daily writing habit again, as well as jump back into my story/novel/thing Percy Sinclair, which is basically just a bunch of stories about a character's life. I've been writing dribs and drabs for years now, but I want to put more structure to it and move towards a real "novel."

Goals for my big original work
*Create a new outline and decide how to structure this thing, either as a novel or a collection of short stories.
*Write at least one cohesive chapter/story in this 80 day period.

Fanfiction
*Complete the Night On Fic Mountain challenge (due June 15) and the Every Woman challenge (due June 23).
*Write at least 5 posts a week for my play-by-post RPG.

Daily/weekly goals
*Write (as in full-screen word document, won't stop typing even if it's garbage), at least 15 minutes per day.