Dear Yuletide Author 2020

[moemachina]

Dear Yuletide Author,

Hi! Thanks for participating in this exchange! It is my favorite thing all year.

Do Not Want (DNW): Pregnancy or babies. (Canonical pregnancy and kids are a-okay; stuff depicting my requested characters in their own childhoods is fine; established characters like Terra's orphans are perfectly cool as a fic focus).

Otherwise: I'm not troubled by any violent or sexual subjects; feel free to go dark or kinky. I'm also fine with radical AUs or canon divergence. You're welcome (if you want!) to reference any of the Myriad Fucking Events of 2020 in any 2020-set fics.

Things I Like: Conflicted-but-loving sibling relationships; eccentric families of choice; slow-burn romances; not-entirely-happy love stories; not-entirely-healthy codependence; overly invested mentors; sardonic work spouses; villains becoming infinitesimally less villainous; the arousing qualities of competence and empathy; and fuck-ups and the forgiveness of those fuck-ups.

Past Yuletide Letters:
2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2012 / 2013 / 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2019




The Epic of Gilgamesh: Enkidu & Gilgamesh
I read The Epic of Gilgamesh for the first time this summer, and I was blown away by how weird and how sexy it was. (Also, I was delighted to learn that one of the earliest stories ever recorded was a real enemies-to-lovers jam.) I would be excited to have a story about Enkidu and Gilgamesh, those two warrior-comrades who just love holding hands! If you want to make your story deeply faithful to an Olde Sumerian setting, feel free -- but I'd also be excited about deeply weird AUs written for this request!

Some possible ideas:

Enkidu and Gilgamesh: Competing Coffee-Shop Owners. (Gilgamesh, raging, set down the cup of espresso with a mighty clatter.)

Enkidu and Gilgamesh: Frat Bros In Love. ("Bro," Enkidu shouted, crushing the red Solo cup against his forehead, "I will challenge him! I am the mightiest!")

Life Imitates Art: A pair of rival 19th-century Assyriologists race to translate some ancient clay tablets and grudgingly fall in love. (George Smith blinked as a shadow fell across his desk and a familiar voice said, "I hear you're planning to go back to Nineveh, you asshole.")

Enkidu and Gilgamesh: Vampire Hunters.


The Proposal (2009): Andrew Paxton & Margaret Tate
I love workplace romcoms, and I love watching a woman lightly grind a dude beneath her heel, so the beginning (and the ending) of The Proposal are right in my wheelhouse. So I would love to get a story about Andrew and Margaret in their place of work, passive-aggressively manipulating one another in a world of cubicles and water-coolers!

Some possible ideas:

Andrew Interviews To Be Margaret's Assistant: How was Andrew originally hired? What the hell was that interview like? Did Margaret have earlier assistants -- what happened to them?

Andrew and Margaret As Work Spouses: How much of Andrew's care-taking and nurturing was a result of his unconscious feelings about Margaret? And how much of Margaret's prickly persona was a result of her (irritating, inconvenient, and impossible) attraction to Andrew?

Office Intrigue: Did any of the other editors ever try to poach Andrew from Margaret? Has Margaret ever protected or shielded Andrew from inter-office politics (in a way invisible to Andrew)? Or, conversely -- how has Andrew saved Margaret from corporate back-stabbing (while she remained oblivious)?

Oh No, A Deadline: What's up with "all those late nights at the office and weekend book fairs"? Do Andrew and Margaret pull all-nighters with a lot of weird energy to get the Big Manuscript edited in time? Or maybe a hotel-reservation snafu forces them to Share A Bed during a business trip?


Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword: Hector & Matthew
I played Fire Emblem for the first time this year, and I really enjoyed the unfolding of Matthew's character: a seemingly generic thief who is then revealed to be a snarky spy who is then revealed to be a surprisingly romantic and tragic figure. And then, playing the game a second time via Hector's route, I found the relationship between Hector and Matthew to be really compelling: Matthew is so intensely (and maybe irrationally) protective of his (hulking, armored, axe-wielding) lord but also spends all of his time being sardonically subservient and flippant to Hector (who is eternally impatient with Matthew but also respects and values his advice). As a dynamic, I dig it! For this prompt, I'm happy to receive either gen or shippy stories about the two of them!

Some possible ideas:

The Start of a Spy: how does Matthew start working for House Ostia in the first place? Under what circumstances does he meet Hector? Do they initially hate each other -- and then, reluctantly, learn to Respect Each Other's Talents?

Matthew and Hector's Wild Adventure: before the start of the game, maybe Hector hares off on a wild adventure and Matthew (with his exasperation only faintly disguised) is forced to help extricate him from some dilemma? Or, conversely: maybe Matthew cheerfully talks himself into a tight spot, and Hector, rolling his eyes, has to go rescue him?

Brothers In Trauma: Matthew and Hector both have things to grieve and to process during the course of the game. How do they mutually work through Bad Times together?

Post-Game: What happens after Matthew and Hector both return home after the end of the game? What kind of extra spycraft does Matthew have to do, now that Hector is marquess of House Ostia?


The Banner Saga: Ekkill
Ekkill is one of my favorite characters from Banner Saga and I would love any story about him -- either Bad Killer Ekkill, or the weary, guilt-ridden man he becomes after he joins Rook's party, or the mercenary finding fellowship with Bolverk's Ravens, or -- you get the idea. The format of The Banner Saga obviously means that lots of different things are potentially possible. Feel free to pursue any possible story-routes; I've played just about every variation and welcome whatever sequence you choose. Also, I like Ekkill, but I'm totally open to whatever moral judgments you want to render upon him. Feel free to be as dark or redemptive as you want; either make Ekkill suffer or make him whole again. (Or both!)

Some possible ideas:

Ekkill On The Road: How does Ekkill interact with the other characters of the caravan? Does Rook feel any nauseated recognition of Ekkill's grief and trauma? Does Oddleif or Iver think Ekkill is ridiculous? How does Egil interact with him? (Maybe Egil survives! Maybe Egil and Ekkill manage to coexist in the caravan! Anything! Is! Possible!)

Ekkill the Raven: Why does Ekkill ultimately leave the caravan to join the Ravens? What kind of life does he have with Folka and the others?

Ekkill the Not-Raven: Ekkill doesn't join the Ravens and continues with the caravan. Why? What happens in this Sliding Doors scenario?

Ekkill And Alette: Does Ekkill maybe have a crush on Alette? The first game suggests that Ekkill is developing a delicate connection with Alette (to the deep horror of Rook). I would love to know more about that connection -- their disturbing conversations, their tentative camaraderie, their mutual habits of passivity and evasion -- in the context of the caravan.


Twelfth Night -- Shakespeare: Malvolio
Sure, Malvolio is the antagonist of Twelfth Night -- but really, what is his crime? Being too good at his job? Objecting to the (objectively objectionable) figure of Awful Uncle Toby?? Being so foolish as to believe that he might be a desirable and lovable human being??? Gentlefolk of the jury, I merely point out: he's not exactly history's greatest monster. Yeah, yeah, he's obsessed with his own rectitude -- but he's surrounded by characters incapable of moderating their own theatrical obsessions. Compared to Olivia's extravagant mourning and Orsino's performative passion, is Malvolio really...a villain? Obviously, he's a jerk, but he's a jerk with a real human heart, and I'd like a story exploring that. (As befits a Shakespeare play, feel free place your story in any time/setting!) (Also, no pressure on redeeming Malvolio or giving him a "happy" ending -- he can def continue to reap all the bad things he sowed!)

Some possible ideas:

What Color Is Malvolio's Parachute: bad at human relationships, but great at his job! (Can the satisfaction of an orderly household compensate for a Toxic Workplace Environment? Where does Malvolio take his weird little joys?)

How Malvolio Got His Groove Back: after the end of the play, Malvolio finds a place where he belongs. (Or maybe, in a new context, he just re-creates the same bad times as before, like Sisyphus pushing up the very worst of all possible rocks!)

Exit, Pursued By Bear: leaving Twelfth Night, Malvolio wanders into Elsinore or the Forest of Arden or Prospero's Island and manages to really muck things up. ("King Claudius, there's no room in the castle's budget for your step-son's theatrical ambitions.")

Malvolio: Vampire Hunter.


Final Fantasy VI: Terra & Edgar
Terra is my favorite character from this game -- I love her persona of dreamy menace, of soft-spoken and inadvertent violence, and her personal quest toward self-control and independence. I also love Edgar, who is witty and dashing and flippant and helplessly responsible, despite himself. Thus I would particularly love a story about Terra and Edgar, and I would particularly love a love story (although I am sort of into it being a terrible and dysfunctional love story? With lots of sublimated pining on Edgar's part?). But if that's not your speed, fear not: I'd also be into a story about Terra and Edgar being Cool Platonic Colleagues.

Some possible ideas:

The Early Adventures of Terra & Edgar & Locke: Just three friends on the run from the Empire! Sharing laughs and a tent!

Girlfriend in a Coma: Terra's transformation into a glowing, unconscious creature is causing Edgar to have some unexpected feelings.

World of Ruin: When Terra and Edgar meet up again in the World of Ruin, so much has happened, and they've got so much catching up to do!!! ("Terra, you founded an orphanage? Cool cool cool. I, uh, developed a dark alter ego and joined a band of robbers. We've both accomplished so much!")

Unhappily Ever After: Good news, Kefka has finally been defeated! Bad news, Edgar finds it's not as much fun being a dissolute playboy techno-king anymore. Also, Terra won't return any of his calls.