[tis the season]

[tellitslant]

Dear Yulefriend,
Hi! Thanks so much for writing a story for me! I am very excited to see what you come up with.  I have given you some ideas about what I like in each canon, but if you already have an idea, then as long as it doesn't hit up against my DNWs I look forward to it!  Write something you will have fun with.

If you're here browsing letters, I'm kathryne at AO3 and my account is set to allow gift works/treats.

do not want

I do not want to read: rape; animal abuse or death; self-harm; kid!fic. I am okay with violence in service to the story; I am okay with canon-typical violence. I'm also not interested in complete AUs (ie, coffee-shop-type AUs). I do enjoy AUs where one thing in canon is changed and we explore the ramifications of it.

I’m not a big fan of the heteronormative assumption that there’s only one way to progress a relationship and anyone in a relationship must necessarily want co-habitation and homeownership and marriage and children. In fact, I’m really not interested in stories about child-rearing at all, though dealing with adult children established in canon can be interesting.

do want

I love stories about women relying on each other. I like seeing moments in fic that give deeper meaning to moments we see on screen. I like porn; I like G-ratings; I like ratings in between. I strongly prefer more developed stories rather than shorter vignettes strung together on a theme.

I love complicated relationships between complicated women, where things aren't necessarily completely straightforward but that doesn't mean they're wrong.  I love power dynamics, and subverting them.

I like gen, but I also write and love everything right up to NC-17. I really enjoy power dynamics in bed, and rough sex that's either an expression of love or of... something darker. I also love laughter and silliness and exploration and snuggles! For contemporary canons and characters who would be into it, sex toys, strap-ons, lingerie etc - yes.

If you feel like going for some good old tropes, some of my favourites include: bedsharing; road trips; huddling for warmth; mutual pining that gets resolved.

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Lempicka the Musical - Tamara de Lempicka, Rafaela

Ughhhh, I missed this on Broadway by a MONTH, but thank goodness for, uh, technology. I am deeply in love. I would love to read a lot of things for these two: missing scenes during the musical? Fights they had? Show me a deeper moment of Tamara posing and painting Rafaela? Tell me about Tamara discovering women? Does she ever meet any of Rafaela's other conquests, and how does that go? Does Rafaela meet any of Tamara's? Tell me what would have happened if Rafaela had decided to go with Tamara and Tadeusz hadn't? I don't need a happy ending if it rings true.

If you want to include other characters, go for it, but I don't really want a lot of Tadeusz or Kizette, please.

I realised after noms closed that I should've nominated Suzy Solidor, so this is WAY beyond optional, but it occurred to me that their relationship through Suzy's eyes would be a hell of a story, if that interests you.

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Saltburn - Elspeth Catton

This film was such a wild ride and there was clearly so much going on under the surface that I am dying to know about. Tell me the secret Elspeth backstory we all yearn for! I would love to know more about her relationship with her kids (I can see that this might bump up against a DNW, so to be clear, I am interested in what motherhood means to Elspeth and how they negotiate their weird life, not in stories about kids getting into scrapes). Tell me about how she used to be a lesbian (was poor dear Pamela involved). Did she float her way into Oxford and scrape a third and spend a whole weird time there. I'm deeply uninterested in more about Oliver or from Oliver's POV, but if you want to make him a background character in the story of Elspeth surviving Sir James and then falling under Oliver's spell, I would enjoy that. Other parties at Saltburn? Have fun.

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Agatha All Along - Agatha Harkness, Jennifer Kale, Lilia Calderu

You do not have to write all characters for this.

I would love to read a backstory about Agatha and Jen, because they ALSO have some incredible bitchy-exes energy going on. What happened there?

I would love to read ANYTHING about Lilia and her history - I think we will learn more after sign-ups close but I just enjoy her so much. She clearly knew about Agatha being trapped for three years - tell me more about that?

I'd also love to know more about how witches understand the legend of Agatha Harkness, or about Agatha interacting with other groups of witches.

Rio's not on here because - while I am so in love with her and her relationship with Agatha - there's obviously a ton of fic there already. Give me something different, please! If you want to mention Rio somehow, that would be fine, as long as she and their relationship are not the focus.

I am not super interested in a story that digs deeply into Agatha as mother or into the loss of her son - although I'm sure it informs a LOT of her issues, I don't want to read about it directly. So a story that touches on Agatha's loss when considering Jen as midwife? Sure. A story about, idk, Agatha learning how to magically babyproof a house? Nah.

I am writing this right after ep 5 and I will definitely watch the whole season. I may come back and update this after the final ep airs on Oct 30. However, do NOT feel like you need to wait if you already have an idea. WHEW, that finale. I don't think it changes anything that I've asked for here, but I will say that I would prefer not to get a fic that deals with what happens to Agatha IN the finale. Thanks!

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That's it! Thanks so much for writing for me. I can't wait to see what you come up with and I hope you have fun!