Dear Yuletide Author:

[lebateleur]

Thank you for writing a gift for me! No matter how crazy the year is, Yuletide is the one exchange I refuse to miss, and I'm super excited to see what you've written. I've listed my fandoms below alphabetically, not by preference. I love them all equally. I also love surprises, and reading things without knowing much about the story before I start reading, so if there's an idea you've been itching to write for awhile (that doesn't include the DNWs from my AO3 signup), feel free to run with it! If you'd like a little inspiration, I've included some general kinks below along with prompts for each of my requests. Borrow as many or as few as you like. ^^

Kinks: Angst, banter, bickering-as-flirtation, bonding, camaraderie, casefic, comedy of manners, established relationships, found families, humor, hurt/comfort, language (be it grammar geekery, foreign language fluency, or how characters use it to enforce or transgress social status), loyalty, misunderstanding and reconciliation, pining, relationships crossing or transgressing social mores and social status, sarcasm, slice-of-life, wordplay, worldbuilding.

I am happy with any rating from G to explicit (and fully support smut between my requested characters if you're so inclined).

All Elite Wrestling
Trent Beretta, Orange Cassidy, Joey Janela, Sonny Kiss, Chuck Taylor
I love the entire tagset crew, whether they're written gen or in a relationship configuration of your choice. I'd love a fic with one or more of these guys! My prompts involve specific wrestlers, but since I don't know who (and how many of them) you matched on, if something inspires you please feel free to mix-and-match elements to suit whichever guy(s) you want to write about.

• Give me all the Orange Cassidy and/or Best Friends and/or Sonny and Joey hijinks. Slice of life on the road, backstage, in their places of residence, shopping, hanging out in the small town/big city, whatever. What do these guys get up to when they're not in the ring?
  
• Who helped Cassidy prepare for his debate with Jericho and what did that involve? Alternately, who helped Sonny or Joey prepare for their big match with [opponent of your choice]?
  
• Where did Sue drive the boys after the parking lot brawl? Who was there to help them celebrate their victory?
  
• If you feel like mixing kayfabe with reality, Joey has COVID-19. (Or, wrestler of your choice gets winter flu.) Who comforts him, and how?
  
• Joey and Sonny are hanging out in Jersey. Where do they go and what do they do? Does it involve any preparation for the holidays?
  
• Also on the more specific suggestion end: I'd love a fic where Sonny and/or Joey joins the Critical Botch crew for a session. What races/classes do they play? How do their characters interact with the rest of this murder hobo crew Cuttler's got to manage? Or, for a more general version of this prompt: wrestler(s) of your choice playing [your board? video? other? game of choice]. What craziness results?

Other things I love about this show: the how completely varied these guys are--their backgrounds, senses of humor, wrestling styles; the great promos these guys cut (e.g. Best Friends reacting to Santana and Ortiz trashing Sue's car and the luggage, Cassidy's debate with Jericho, Joey and Sonny driving around Jersey and talking about wrestling life), in general, all the unique and surprising stuff AEW's doing that breaks the mold of That Other Company's approach to pro wrestling.


Blake & Avery Series
Jeremiah Blake, William Avery

I adore the dynamic between these two--Blake outwardly aloof and cynical but inwardly so eager for companionship, and Avery so desperate to please and not half as incapable as he seems to think he is--and would love to read your take on it at any point from the first book on, be it Blake & Avery or Blake/Avery. Some ideas:

• Either Blake or Avery is sent, for reasons of your choosing, to [India/China/America/wherever you like]. How do they reunite, why does one track the other down in the first place, and what do they do next?
  
• Blake must travel to Devon to help Avery sort our a problem.
  
• Blake and Avery are snowed in. Where are they, and why?
  
• Alternately, Blake and Avery are waylaid in a blizzard. Where were they going, to be caught out in such inclement weather, and why?
  
• Boz encounters a problem and needs Blake's help. Avery uses the opportunity to fanboy. What happens next?
  
• The fair is in town. It brings back dark memories for Blake. What are they, and what do our heroes do about it?

Other things I love about this series: Our heroes solving cases involving cool historical facts and personalities, Carter's examination of current day issues through historical parallels, period details, the supporting cast of allies and villains, the vivid settings, the mixture of action, drama, humor, mystery, and social commentary.


Onmyoji
Abe no Seimei, Minamoto no Hiromasa
I was so excited to see this fandom pop up again in the tags after several years' hiatus. I saw the first movie 19 years ago and I still love it. I love Semei's wry worldliness and Hiromasa's bemused dependability, so anything you write with these elements will do it for me whether it's Seimei and Hiromasa or Seimei/Hiromasa. Having said that, some specific jumping-off points might be:

• Hiromasa is haunted by the most horrific demon to ever terrorize the Heian court. What does everyone do about it?
  
• Alternately, Hiromasa is haunted by the cutest demon to ever appear in the Heian court. What does Abe think about this state of affairs, and what does he do next?
  
• A sutra reading goes dreadfully wrong. What happens when our heroes are brought in to help?
  
• Seimei is asked to perform an important rite in the Inner Palace. Why were higher-ranking onmyoji passed over, and what is the result?
  
• Hiromasa is tapped to take an imperial message to an important shrine or temple. But once his retinue leaves the Heiankyo city gates, something goes awry. Does Seimei step in to help, or does the trouble involve him?
  
• A jealous onmyoji journeys to the capital to challenge Seimei, and only Hiromasa can save him. How does it happen?

Other things I love about this series: Court poetry and mores, Heian era court politics, Heian-kyo/Kyoto geography and locations, the mixture of action, drama, humor, mystery, and supernatural horror.


これで以上です。