Dear Yuletide Writer

[learnedfoot]

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Hello! You’ve matched (or, if you’re a pinch hitter, chosen) on one of these fandoms and character combos, which already means you love something I love. Excellent! I am so excited about this exchange, and thrilled to see what you come up with!

To start, even though I’ve written a fair amount here, I want to say I’m actually very easy to please. As long as you stick in the general area of my likes and respect my DNWs, I’m going to be delighted. Also, I’m equally excited about all of these options! All three of these shows are small, precious fandoms of my heart, and I would be thrilled to get a gift in any of them.

Here's what this letter includes:

General Likes
Art Likes [opting into the wrapping paper challenge]
DNWs
BoJack Horseman: Sarah Lynn
Russian Doll: Nadia Vulvokov & Alan Zaveri
Succession: Gerri Kellman & Roman Roy

General Likes
Big Picture Points

My AO3 is LearnedFoot.

Characters are the most important thing for me in fic. I certainly appreciate a good plot, but seeing more of the characters I love is my number one priority.

I’m fairly open on tone and genre — comedy, angst, and basically everything in-between is good by me. All of these are shows that have a combination of humor and pathos, and I’m happy to have fic that leans into either or both.

I want to be clear that I did not request any character/character combos unless I am very happy to get gen for them. That said, if you do want to write ship fic for the ships I mention liking, I define that broadly — everything from pining/flirting/other pre-relationship up through established relationship can make me happy. If you want to write smut I’ve included information on my likes, but I’d be just as happy with something lower rated. (Or, again: gen!)

General Likes

Banter

Being taken off guard by small displays of affection, unexpected tenderness, etc. (platonic or otherwise)

Bonding over shared or similar trauma

Characters having conversations we don’t get to see in canon

Characters realizing what someone else means to them, especially when that realization comes as a surprise

Characters revealing what someone else means to them, especially if they are nervous about it but it turns out the feelings are reciprocated

Complex, long lasting relationships with a rich sense of history

Confessions of feelings when out of it (drunk, feverish, exhausted, etc.)

Hurt/comfort [if you want ridiculous amounts of specifics on my H/C likes, you can check out my H/C letter]

People who don’t like each other working together

Stoic and/or emotionally closed off character being forced to accept help (emotional or physical)

Strong character voices

Surprising character combos, unexpectedly being forced to spend time together, etc.

Tentative beginnings (romantic or otherwise)

Unlikely friendships

UST and mutual pining

Wounded people slowly opening up

Smut Likes

Emphasis on what the sex means to the characters/the emotion of the moment

“Come,” not “cum”

Drunk/high sex

Dom/sub dynamics that develop without the characters talking about it (but not negotiated BDSM relationships), and with particular emphasis on:

• the sub getting off on pleasing the dom
• the dom praising the sub (and the sub getting off on that)
• bondage and blindfolds
• hair pulling, scratching, manhandling, and generally rough sex
• choking (on cocks or otherwise)
• pain, but nothing that would draw more than a little blood or lead to permanent damage (nipple clamps and spanking are great/the level I’m aiming at)

Sex in semi-public/public places

• Generally prefer it without getting caught, but close calls, or trying to hide what's going on while one person fingers the other under a table or the like is great)

Tender sex, including:

• Being generally amazed at the other person's everything
  
• hand holding
  
• hand/palm kissing
  
• forehead kisses
  
• neck kissing
  
• thigh kissing
  
• hair stroking
  
• face touching
  
• tender kissing
  
• expressions of affection and love, etc.

If you want more information on my smut likes, you can check out my smut swap letter

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Art Likes
I’ve specifically requested art for some of these, and would also be happy to receive art as a treat for any of them, if you are so inspired. I don’t really know much about how to describe art, and I will pretty much be guaranteed to love whatever you create because I am just amazed at anyone who can make art, but some specific patterns I’ve noticed in things I like:

Colors

• Black and white + one color (esp. red, but really any)
  
• Rich colors, colors that glow
  
• Blue is my single favorite color, generally

Styles

• Some styles I’ve noticed I like: pop, graffiti, realism, cute & cartoon-y.
  
• For BoJack, I love art in the style of the show (and also art in other styles! But I’m def down with show style if that’s what you want)
  
• I’m less of a fan of the chibi style for ship art (but I like it for gen that’s leaning into the cute!)
  
• I’ve enjoyed both sketchier line art type things and more solid filled in things (<--I really don’t know how to use art terminology, sorry!)

Content

• Emphasis on touch between two characters for ship art (hugging, carrying, hand-holding, cuddling, one arm thrown over the other, etc)
  
• Emphasis on facial expressions
  
• Emphasis on pretty/unusual clothing
  
• Incorporation of dialogue (even if it’s just one line)
  
• Unexpected character combos
  
• Funny reactions, cute scenes

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DNWs
General DNWs

First or second person

Identity headcanons (trans, race, other) (However, I'm fine with assuming a character’s sexuality is more fluid than canon may let on)

Kidfic involving non-canon children

Non-canon pregnancy

Permanent non-canon death of the requested characters

Poly or otherwise open relationships (unless explicitly asked for in the prompts)

There are also some fandom specific DNWs noted in the relevant sections

Sex Related DNWs

Cross-dressing kink

Daddy/mommy kink (in particular, use of the word “daddy” or “mommy”)

Enemas

Extended, on-screen consent negotiations

Feeding, weight gain, inflation, anything in that realm

Formalized BDSM (except for Succession: see that section for more specifics)

Insertion of large objects, stretching, sounding

Non-sexual body fluids in sex scenes

Roleplay scenarios

Unrequested non-con

Unrequested dub-con

• However, I am fine with drunk!sex, or sex on drugs, as long as the characters are subjectively aware of what they're doing while they are having sex. So, not when one half of the pair is pass-out drunk. But, for example, I am totally fine with two characters getting high together and having sex.

AU DNWs
I like canon-divergent AUs where the fic is based in the canon setting but goes in a different direction after a certain installment, or changes the outcome of a certain event, but DNW other AU types. So please:

• No AUs that change the canon setting, era, or rules of the universe (e.g., mundane AUs, addition of fantastical elements in a non-fantastical canon, soul mark worlds, A/B/O, high school setting, different jobs, etc.).
  
  
• No AUs that drastically change the structure of character relationships or fundamentals of their identity (making people related who are not, erasing characters from existence, making major friendships or relationships never have happened unless it’s a result of diverging canon before they get together, etc.).

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BoJack HorsemanSarah Lynn

What is this canon? Affectionately referred to as the “sad horse show,” BoJack Horseman is a six-season animated show set in a world where animals walk and talk like people, and despite bright animation and tons of fun animal puns, everyone is just as fucked up and sad as they are in the real world. It’s about fame, addiction, depression, friendship, and occasionally saving an underwater city from a giant pasta barge collision with a fleet of stripper orcas with spaghetti strainers. You know, the usual.

Where to watch: Netflix

Why I like the canon: As far as I’m concerned, this show has been one of the most consistently great things on TV for half a decade now. I’m constantly astonished by its ability to blend wacky humor with soul crushingly poignant character moments. It has amazingly creative world building and some of the most realistically crafted characters I’ve ever seen, under all the animal puns and slapstick adventures. It’s depressing as fuck, and yet the way the characters keep fumbling on, attempting to connect to each other and often support each other, even when maybe that’s ill advised, actually leaves me oddly hopeful and uplifted.

Why did I pick this character? I love many characters on BoJack (all of them, really), but on my most recent re-watch it was Sarah Lynn’s story that stuck out to me. It’s so predictably tragic (she literally jokes about how she’s going to die young in the first episode she appears in), and yet despite the predictability, the tragedy hits home because while in many ways she’s a cliche, she is also a distinct character, and feels as fully realized as everyone else on the show: a reminder that all those cliche “died young” celebrities were each their own person. She’s smart and kind of weird and wanted to be an architect, and I just want to see more of her.

What I’d like to see in fic: I’d be happy with a whole range of things. I’m not super interested in Sarah Lynn as a child/on Horsing Around (I don’t mind that backstory being included, but I would prefer it’s not the entire fic), but beyond that, I’m open to anything: backstory from when she was a pop superstar on, missing moments from the show, AU where she lives and what happens next, etc. Happy, sad, funny, angsty, bittersweet: it’s all good with me.

I’m more than down with gen: my biggest interest here is exploring Sarah Lynn as a character. That said, if you are interested in incorporating ships, I’m open to just about anything. Want to tell me about her relationship with Andrew Garefield? I’m here for it. More fucked up, destructive Sarah Lynn/BoJack? Yep! Want to ship her with other characters from the show, other BoJack versions of celebs, or OCs? Totally. The only thing I’ll say here is I’m not super into detailed descriptions of the animal characters having sex. I’m not going to DNW it because it won’t ruin the fic for me, I’m totally fine with sex happening, and I don’t want you to stress about what is “too much” smut, but just FYI, E rated porn with the animal characters isn’t going to do much for me, personally, as smut qua smut.

Some prompts:

• How did Sarah Lynn go from top-of-the-charts to semi-has been?
  
  
• I’m really interested in the loneliness she expressed feeling as a superstar. How did she deal with that?
  
  
• More of her lost drug binge time with BoJack
  
  
• Sarah Lynn ends up spending time with any of the other characters, sober or not. Like, how would it go if she ended up on a road trip with Dianne? Did she and Mr. PB ever meet at a party? Did she hear Sextina Aquafina call her a has-been on TV and have a reaction the next time they crossed paths? Anything you can think of!
  
  
• AU where she lives and gets sober. Can she stay sober? Does she actually become an architect? What would future interactions with BoJack be like? Feel free to go happy or sad here.
  
  
• AU where she lives and doesn’t get sober. How does that impact the other events of the show going forward? Was she at the campaign event where Mr. PB’s house sunk into the ground? Did she meet Hollyhock?
  
  
• Outsider POVs on Sarah Lynn (fans, co-stars, family, other characters, the media, etc.). I’m really interested in the tension between her image as a celebrity and the reality of her life, and this would be a cool way to explore that.
  
  
• Want to tell the story through an experimental format like social media posts, text chains, newspaper/gossip articles, etc? I’m all for it! I think this is a great canon and character for that.
  
  
• Totally optional crossover idea: she ends up as The Doctor’s companion (any New Who Doctor is good by me!). If you like this idea, I have more prompts around it here.

Fandom specific DNWs: Fic that revolves 100% around Sarah Lynn as a child/her time on Horsing Around. I wave my poly and open relationship DNW here if you happen to want to include that. I could see Sarah Lynn trying all sorts of relationship structures. (Would she handle it well? Who knows!)

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Russian DollNadia Vulvokov & Alan Zaveri



What is this canon? The time loop canon of my dreams, this (so far) one-season Netflix show centers on Natasha Lyonne’s Nadia Vulvokov, a smart, foul-mouthed, sarcastic coder who finds herself stuck in a time loop that always ends in her death. As she tries to figure out WTF is going on, she realizes there is one other person who is looping with her: Alan Zaveri, a sweet, uptight young man who seems like he couldn’t be more different than her. Together, they have to figure it out. In turns hilarious and touching, Russian Doll was one of my favorite shows of the last year, and unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

Where to watch: Netflix

Why I like the canon: I, like so many other people, binged this show when it came out, and I fell in absolute love with it. I love time loops, deeply flawed characters, and shows with distinctive visual aesthetics, so this thing was basically crack to me. I especially loved the two leads. Nadia is the flawed female protagonist of my dreams: I love how sarcastic and biting she can be, but also how smart and determined to get things done, and of course, all those undercurrents of pain and caring hidden beneath it all. And Alan — such a total sweetheart, and yet so broken in his own way. I adore them both.

Why did I pick these characters? Alan and Nadia are the leads, and their relationship made the show for me. What I love about them is the dynamic of two such different people being forced together, and coming to understand and care about each other because of their shared circumstances. I also loved the balance the show struck between them helping each other, and yet each of them having to face their internal demons on their own in the penultimate episode. There’s this sense that they both need each other, but also a deep understanding that no one can fix you but yourself.

What I’d like to see in fic: I ship it like burning and would love to see shippy fic, but I would also be more than thrilled with a gen exploration of their connection. I just find them so super fascinating no matter what, so I’m happy to see this relationship play out anywhere on the spectrum of purely platonic (other than that one time…) up through Together Forever Love, and everything in between (fuckbuddies for comfort, trying a relationship but deciding they’re better as friends, etc.). I liked that the show had a sense of humor and ended on a hopeful note, and I’d prefer fic to keep some sense of that, so not utter despair or a completely unhappy ending. But I’m totally open to it going really dark/angsty on the way there if you want — the show sure did. And bittersweet endings are totally fine.

A note on timelines: Happy to see fic filling in the gaps of the show (moments/loops we didn’t see), or set after the show. If you want to do post-show, I know there’s some debate about whether their timelines merged at the end or not. I’m of the opinion that they did, but I’m interested in seeing either option explored in fic. Merged timeline and figuring out how to go from there; unmerged timelines and negotiating the new relationship(s) where only one half remembers the loops; unmerged timeline but trying to figure out how to merge them back because they each miss the version of each other they knew — it all sounds great to me!

Some prompts:

• They both made great emotional progress before getting out of the time loop, but that doesn’t mean the work is done. How do they continue to work on themselves? Do they backslide? How do they help each other?
  
  
• General post-loop weirdness. Do other people realize they’re acting different now? Do they mention conversations that never actually happened?
  
  
• Conversations we missed on the show. Getting to know each other. Dealing with having the same conversations with other people over and over. Funny moments, revealings moments, quiet moments, anything.
  
  
• What was their one hookup on the show like? Was there pillow talk? Was the sex ever tender, or was it all anger and roughness and taking out their problems on each other?
  
  
• Falling into sleeping with each other as a form of comfort post-show. Does it develop into something more? Or just two people finding pleasure and escape that way?
  
  
• I love the trope of one or both characters in a sexual relationship thinking it’s just a fling or rebound, but actually both sides have deeper feelings than that, and I feel like that would work well for them. Maybe after the loop they start sleeping togther, but Nadia thinks she’s just a rebound for Alan after his big breakup, or Alan thinks she’s just casual about it because she’s Nadia and he knows she does casual sex, etc.
  
  
• One or both copes with being back in the real world by drinking too much or taking up drugs. If it’s Nadia, does Alan know how to help, or is he overwhelmed? If it’s Alan, has he ever been down that path before? How does he feel about losing control? Or maybe they spiral together?
  
  
• They get stuck in another time loop. This time, it has to do with their feelings for each other.

Fandom specific DNW: Fully unhappy ending (bittersweet is fine).

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SuccessionGerri Kellman & Roman Roy



What is this canon? Succession, an hour-long HBO show that recently wrapped up its absolutely brilliant second season, is the story of rich white folk arguing in an attempt to win the prize of daddy’s love. Or to put another way, it’s about a rich media mogul and his children, who are fighting to take over his place at the head of the company when (if) he retires. It is, at its heart, a soap opera, full of scheming, powerplays, backstabbing, and tense dinners where people say one thing and mean another. But it’s a soap opera with some of the sharpest, funniest writing, most gorgeous locations and costumes, and best acting on TV right now.

Where to watch: Wherever you get your HBO content.

Why I like the canon: At first glance Succession seems like your normal sendup of the rich and powerful, and in many ways it is. But it is also an incredibly compelling meditation on family dynamics, and in particular patterns of abuse. An hour-long show that blurs the line between drama and the darkest of comedy, it is in turns hilarious and devastating, and always super compelling. The second season in particular was firing on all cylinders. I never knew I could be so invested in the outcome of business machinations (spoiler: it’s because there’s always, ALWAYS something emotional at stake). Almost none of these characters are likeable, and yet I care about them all the same. (Except Logan. Fuck you, Logan, you magficiant villain.)

Why did I pick these characters? Roman and Gerri are my two favorite characters, and they make up my favorite improbably-canon ship. While there are a lot of characters on this show who fascinate me, there was no way I didn’t ask for these two.

Gerri I love for being one of the most effective characters on the show, and for the way she carefully hides a ruthless, scheming streak under a mild-mannered exterior. She knows what she’s doing, and it’s no mistake she’s stuck around Waystar Royco this long. I hope she ends up in a good position in the end. Also, her comfy PJs + alcohol combo is life goals.

Roman, OTOH, I feel like is best summed up be a quote from this recap: “I hate everything Roman is and stands for and yet I still want to wrap him in a blanket and carry him away and protect him from this evil world. Yeah. I don’t know either.” He’s a little shit with basically no morals, but there’s just enough vulnerability there (and enough hints about why he is the way he is) that he is my favorite of the Roy children. Plus, he’s hilarious.

What I’d like to see in fic: I ship it like burning and would love to see shippy fic, but I would also be down with fic that puts the relationship on the backburner, or is set before (or after) the relationship. I also have prompts that are more focused on one character than the other. If you end up using one of those prompts and the other character doesn’t fit in, I’m fine with the fic just including one of them.

In terms of the ship, I love the humiliation and the D/s dynamics, but I equally love that they actually do seem to care about each other, for a certain value of care. I’d love to see them team up successfully, but I’m also not a hopeless romantic about them. I realize either might betray the other if it came down to being in their best interest, and I’d be happy to have you play with that, too. I do want any sexual interaction to be consensual, but it can be consensually really D/s-y!

Some prompts:

Ship prompts:

• Does their relationship escalate to something more formal? Do they ever touch? Have sex? Does Gerri get off to it sexually, or does she enjoy it for other reasons? Does she ever accept Roman’s bizzare proposal?
  
  
• Does their relationship ever go public? Purposefully? Accidentally? How do they deal?
  
  
• How does Tabitha react? I’m down to have Gerri/Tabitha(/Roman, or not!) be an element here
  
  
• Now that Roman is poised to be COO, do they stick together, and if they do, how do other people react to that? Are they successful in their power plays? Not? How does their success or failure in business impact their personal relationship?
  
  
• Does one backstab the other? If so, how does the backstab-ee react? I’d particularly be interested in Roman actually staying faithful to their pact while Gerri makes moves for her own gain (maybe if it looks like jumping ship to Stewie & Co. is a better move in the wake of Kendall?)
  
  
• Or the reverse: in a situation where it would be advantageous for one to screw the other over they...don’t. They pick their relationship, such that it is, instead. How does the other react to this show of loyalty?
  
  
• Apparently there were some “juicy” Gerri/Roman scenes cut from Season 2. I AM DEVASTATED. What do you think they were? Recrete one (or more!) for me!

Character-focused prompts, that could be mixed with the ship or be more gen:

• Why does Gerri keep working at Waystar? She’s obviously good at what she does, and presumably could get a high paying job working for someone less insane than Logan, so what does she get out of it? Was she always so able to deal with the goings on, or did she have to get used to it over time? Are the answers to any of these questions related to what she gets out of her thing with Roman, or is that a whole other deal?
  
  
• Gerri interacting with any of the other high-powered women. How do they deal with living and working in this world?
  
  
• Roman backstory. What was his childhood/teenaged hood/young adult life like? What we’ve heard about it has not seemed good. I am particularly interested in his relationship with his siblings. He and Shiv seem to get along most of the time and have a kind of sweet teasing dynamic, and I am FASCINATED by the fact that Kendall jumped in to defend him without hesitation when Logan went to hit him. Did they always have these dynamics, or did they shift and change over time?
  
  
• How are Roman and Kendall going to interact now that Roman is COO and Kendall has lobbed a grenade at the company? I adored their little interaction at the table in the finale, when Roman was so upset for Kendall, and Kendall seemed genuinely proud of Roman. Are they going to be back to being at odds now? Or do they try to use Kendall’s takedown of Logan to get them both into a position of power at Waystar?
  
  
• I loved Roman’s friendship with his management training partner. Did Roman ever tell him about the weird phone sex he was having? (Maybe just as a joke?) Does he actually get fast tracked and maybe wind up in NYC and re-enter Roman’s life?

Fandom specific DNWs: Canon divergent AUs. I am happy to have things set before/during/after the canon we have so far, but while missing scenes, etc. are great, I don’t want actual canon divergence for this one, please.

On my mommy kink DNW — for this fandom, I cut it down to "use of the word mommy in a sexual situation" instead. I just don’t enjoy that word in a sexual context, which is why I still DNW it, but I am fine with their dynamic otherwise having elements that go along with the kink, or having him use mom/mommy (semi) sarcastically in non-sexual contexts the way he does in canon.

I have also waived my no formalized BDSM DNW here. I'm not interested in them having long consent negotiations in the fic, but I could see them having established something with safe words etc. off screen, and I'm fine with that showing up in their sex life or mentioned, etc.

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