44. dear yuletide writer 2017
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Dearest, most treasured Yuletide writer,
Please picture me waving at you as enthusiastically as possible. With both arms, even! I have a delighted grin on my face and probably imminent tears of gratitude in my eyes. I know you haven't written anything for me yet but I am just so moved by the possibility that you will that I can't contain myself.
Happy Yuletide season! I am so, so excited that you've been assigned to me, or are perhaps finding this letter by your own perusal! Yuletide is one of my very favorite annual shindigs, and this is my five-year Yuleaversary, which is so wild to me. I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful year and I'm so glad you're participating!
I should probably warn you ahead of time that this letter is going to end up being ridiculously long and exhaustively detailed. For that, I apologize. But I want to be as helpful as I possibly can in guiding you toward making a gift for me! Yuletide can be totes daunting, I get it—it still gives me some crazy nerves, because whoa, making a thing for another person, possibly a stranger; TERROR!—so the very first thing I want to get out of the way before my prompts or likes/dislikes or optional details is this: No matter what you write for me, I guarantee you I am going to LOVE IT. There is no greater gift to me than that it is yours and that you made it for me. I mean, how special is that? It could be 1k of my requested characters standing in a room staring at each other and I'd still be like, OH MY GOD. GET THIS FIC WRITER A PULITZER. BEAUTY!!! POETRY!!! MOVE OVER ALL OTHER PULITZER WINNERS!!!!
Yuletide should be as stress-free as possible, and sometimes life throws us curveballs, so I also want to tell you that if you feel you need to default, that is okay, too! Just make sure that you tell the mods as soon as possible before the default deadline so they can pass me along to one of their many capable pinch-hitters. I am not trying to be condescending; I just know it can be rough to admit that you might need to default, but the mods are super nice and understanding and they will accommodate you. So take it easy and do what is best for you no matter what!
On that note, always remember: no matter what my manifesto below may indicate to you, OPTIONAL DETAILS ARE ALWAYS OPTIONAL! You are not obligated to include any of the things I talk about in here. I only ask that you avoid my DNWs.
And, most importantly: THANK YOU, from the bottom of my little old heart, for writing for me this year. I can't wait to see what you make. I'm sure it will make my 2017.
"Gwen, haven't you talked enough?" That's what you muttered disbelievingly to yourself just now, isn't it? You see! I am incredibly perceptive! But anyway, you raise a good point. Let's get this letter off the ground! I hope that you will find the spark of inspiration somewhere among my ramblings.
- I AM INTO (ODAO): slow burn narratives, character studies, ship studies, the 5 times + 1 time format, nonlinear narratives, interrupted confessions & almost kisses, developing romance, angst with a happy ending, emotional hurt/comfort, fake/pretend dating leads to feelings, snark and banter, found families, FRIENDSHIPS (especially unlikely ones), friends to lovers, seemingly unrequited pining, expansions of canon, female character-centered pieces, unresolved romantic/emotional tension, things like love and friendship daring to exist even in dire circumstances, nature imagery
- I AM NOT INTO (DNWs): character death, heavy or detailed gore (minor injuries and violence OK), incest, marriage/pregnancy fic, established relationship fic, non/dubcon, first person POV, character bashing, sexual content, angst with no happy ending, actually unrequited love (for any ships I request, anyway), high school/college/coffee shop/florist/tattooist AUs, modern AUs, NSFW content of underage characters.
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what i love about it:
Kiki was one of the first movies I ever owned and has been a foremost favorite from the time I was six years old. I love Kiki, headstrong and capable, but still so unsure of herself in ways I still find myself relating to. I love Tombo, who yearns for the sky and resolves to touch it with his own two hands, but is still so grounded, so friendly and kind. I love the friendship that grows between them despite a bumpy start—how perfectly they complement each other; she, who flies with her spirit and her soul and her boundless heart, whose relationship with her flying is so complex and uncertain; he, who flies with all the things he can hold and shape and build, who sees flight as equivalent to freedom, to progress, to adventure. I love that Tombo is maybe a little bit in love with Kiki from moment one, always beaming at her with such open adoration, fascinated by her, the new witch in town, who always wears a dark dress and rises above the clouds with such grace and ease, the most amazing girl. (They've been a longtime ship of mine, so you can imagine how thoroughly the Cup Noodles commercial annihilated my frail heart almost 19 years after I first saw them.) I love the warm and lively city of Koriko and how a countryside girl like Kiki learns to carry herself in it. I love the friendships she builds with all of its residents, and I love that she becomes its heroine, in a way, but not in the way that they idolize her; just in the way that they love her, and cheer for her, and support her. She's their town witch!
prompts:
I am thoroughly and wholeheartedly fond of Kiki/Tombo—their endearing friendship, their slow and earnest romance (if you're into that), the joy they take in each other's company, that they mutually inspire each other... everything. I would love shipfic, but am also totally fine with platonic gen if you're more comfortable with that. I didn't list Ursula and Osono as requested characters, but please feel free to include them as I adore them both as well, especially Ursula, who is, as the kids say, Life Goals T-B-H.
I would be so interested in reading about Tombo learning about magic from Kiki and Kiki learning about engineering from Tombo. The movie's approach to magic, that it's this versatile and incommunicable feeling that any witch can shape to her liking (like Kiki's mother's specialty in potions, or the "snooty" witch's skill for fortune-telling), is one that's so fascinating to me—how it's tied to the spirit, to creativity, to inner inspiration; how when you lose your faith in yourself, you lose your magic, too, because you are your own magic. By the same token, Kiki is a clever girl and I'm sure she could pick up on Tombo's technical approach to flying well enough, but maybe she gets frustrated with it? Maybe she has trouble seeing the point in going to all this trouble? Maybe she can't understand why ordinary people would put themselves in such danger, as they did with the Spirit of Freedom, just to get into the sky? Or maybe none of this happens—maybe she just has to stifle a laugh at how enthusiastic Tombo is about wrenches.
Any kind of slice-of-life type fic about Kiki coming into her own even more around Koriko would warm my heart. If you did decide to go the romance route with Kiki and Tombo, hearing the input and advice of some of Kiki's friends—Osono, Ursula, Barsa and Madam, etc.—when she realizes she might, oh dear, like him, is a concept I only just imagined this second and it is... adorable.
What happens when school starts up again? Does Kiki enroll and move her delivery business to part-time, or does she forego it to keep up her business and decide to study independently? If the latter, does she start to feel lonely when all of her new friends are gone for the better part of the day? Does she have trouble with certain subjects and need to ask for Tombo's help? If the former, how does that work out for her; does she miss the delivery service and feel out of place at school, like she did on the beach when Tombo's friends appeared and started chatting with him, reminding her, however unintentionally, that she's still something of an outsider? Does she get embarrassed when it turns out that everyone knows who she is; isn't she that amazing witch who saved Tombo over the summer?
Maybe after Kiki moves back home, she and Tombo promise to write letters to each other as often as they can. An epistolary-style collection of these letters for this would definitely thrill me, haha—I love that type of fic!
I'm not sure if this is breaking any rules, but Nissin Foods did so much to my heart in 30 seconds that it took me 48 hours to tweet it all out in a fumbling and ecstatic tweet thread that no doubt made nearly all of my mutuals mute me, and I am dying to see more of this tiny universe, since it's probably a one-off set-up designed to sell instant noodles and nothing more. I want to know everything! Kiki and Tombo, friends since childhood—how did that come about? How did she end up being the one to fall for him first in this universe; does he feel the same (OF COURSE HE DOES), and if so, when did he realize it? What is the story behind those brief flashes we saw—her gently fiddling with his hair while he slept in the library, letting him borrow her broom as a prop for his Halloween costume; the two of them eating Cup Noodles on a rooftop as it snows, laughing, warm? Maybe his answer isn't what matters—maybe it's everything that got them there. But again, this may count as a separate fandom, so it's a bit of a long shot.
In general, anything Kiki/Tombo + my ODAO list is guaranteed to fill me with joy. I've wanted good shipfic of them for so long! And again, feel free to include any other nominated characters in whatever story you choose to pursue, but if Kiki and/or Tombo could be the focus, that would be excellent!
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Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Celica, Conrad, Alm
accessibility: all cutscenes (youtube)
what i love about it:
I love Celica and Alm, the only Fire Emblem protragonists in the games I've played (granted, 13, 14, and 15 only) that have felt real and sad and hopeful and human. I love that, at its core, it's a legend, a story told around a bonfire for centuries, with just the right amounts of adventure and romance and tragedy and triumph. I love the whole ambience of it, a cluster of mortals against the gods of old, who were perhaps not as saintly as they had long believed, but began wanting the best for their people, though time corrupted their hearts. I love the near-operatic tragedy of it, a son who killed his own father without knowing it; a brother and sister torn apart, each believing the other dead; a boy and a girl who fell in love as children and vowed to reunite, no matter the wars, no matter the strife, no matter the forces beyond them. It's so unsuperficial, so heart-rending, that though the land may bear the sins and curses of those who came before us, we can still make it our own; we can still change it for the better, if we lean on each other, if we love. I LOVE THE OPENING CINEMATIC, SO DIRE AND HEART-STOPPING, AND HOW SEAMLESSLY IT SEGUÉS INTO THE MENU, CELICA AND ALM RUNNING IN THE FIELD, LAUGHING. Courage, my children; this is your song. I am the Earth; I will make you strong.
prompts:
Because I have a weakness for sad sibling relationships going all the way back to Hiei and Yukina in Yu Yu Hakusho, I would love to see fic about Celica and Conrad becoming a tiny family again after the war. Their support was cute enough, but didn't really get into the fact that they're finally reunited after all this time and that maybe they aren't sure how to go from there. I feel like it was easy and even necessary for them to forego discussing it because, hello, giant war, Duma to fight, but it's something they'll have to address sooner or later! I'm not looking for like, deep-seated angst here or anything, but their relationship and the story behind it just seemed so sweet and Conrad clearly adores Celica and thinks she's the coolest person ever—maybe he can be one of her foremost sources of support and comfort as she adjusts to being a queen. Maybe he encourages her to get up to some occasional mischief about the castle like they used to as children. Maybe they go on a journey together to visit the Sage's Hamlet and Celica gets to hear some amusing stories about Conrad growing up there, something of which he is profoundly embarrassed. They are just so sweet and Conrad is such a supreme dorko and Celica was probably overjoyed beyond words to discover that he was alive, and I need more of them!! Exploring how their interactions may have developed from his recruitment onwards could also be lovely to see!
I requested Alm, but he's not a requirement; it's just that as far as Fire Emblem Hets go, Celica/Alm is beautiful and hurts me to my core. They're mostly here as an alternative if you're averse to writing about Celica and Conrad. I'm easy to please as far as they go, and most of my ideas border on the cliché; some emotional hurt/comfort post-game, some "we're trying to figure out how to rule a new kingdom together and that's important but also we want to sneak away and kiss and stuff like all the time," some "Celica meets the Deliverance and Alm meets the Celica gang; hilarity ensues," some "In a Crowd of Thousands" vibes thrown in for good measure; anything like that. They're so sweet and so in love and I find that incredibly touching considering their circumstances. They're a pair of strong and charismastic leaders whose glares could stall armies on their own, but around each other they revert to a couple of giddy and earnest kids racing through a field of flowers, holding hands, unfettered by their destinies.
Character studies of any of these characters are also so, so welcome! I'd love an introspective piece about Celica and how she adjusts to life post-game, with Conrad and Alm being incidental, but still very present. I'd love a study of Conrad that covers his time in the Sage's Hamlet, and what his life was like there, and how he became the Masked Knight, and how he nurtured a hope that he would one day see Celica again.
I'm totally open to either gen or shipfic for this fandom, but no incest, please.
what i love about it:
I feel like I am one of the few people who, upon the announcement of this adaptation, felt more unfettered joy than trepidation. And it really delivered! While I won't deny it took a while for it to find its footing, I was completely won over by the way it handled these beloved characters, who I all but grew up with (the Anne books were a pillar of my childhood); the subtle things it changed (always to the characters' betterment) and the things it did not, and that it lent such life and love to. I love this Anne, who feels so believable and flawed in ways that book Anne never quite did—there are reasonable explanations for her resourcefulness and for her personality, and McNulty plays every facet so well, from the daydreaming chatterer to the prideful and quick-tempered wildfire to the earnest but occasinally misguided girl just trying to make friends. Despite her prior circumstances, she has a heart full of love; she just isn't sure how to give it out sometimes, especially to herself. This Gilbert, also, has such pathos, such personality, such presence beyond being the boy who falls in love with Anne from the moment she cracks that slate over his head. The conversation they have after his father's funeral, where she, without thinking, tells him he's actually quite lucky, and he whirls on her with such hurt and resentment in his eyes that it freezes her where she stands, adds so much to them, and the resolution of it means so much for their development. They make mistakes, but they're on equal footing, and it feels so much more organic this way, even the poignant note they part on. And Anne & Diana's friendship has always been very important to me, so of course I requested her as well. I couldn't just abandon my daughter.
prompts:
I don't have anything too specific as far as prompts go for this fandom, since so much of my love for AoGG is still rooted in the books, which have been an integral part of my heart's library for as long as I can remember. That said, the show has diverged enough from the books that it feels like there are new possibilities to explore, so you can take whatever approach you want.
I've long swooned over the eventual romance between Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe, and I didn't think it was possible for me to love them even more than I did when Jonathan Crombie gently stroked Megan Follows's cheek and murmured, "Or maybe I'll break one over yours... Carrots," but here we are. I applaud their incarnations in this show with my whole heart. JUST LOOK AT THIS NONSENSE; look at how her face lights up when she sees him at 8:55!!! OTP: "ANYWAY." Maybe he has the chance to write Anne a letter or postcard from time to time, from all of the places he's drifting through, but it's not as though she can write him back, so how does that work out? Does she enlist Diana's help in interpreting his cryptic messages? Do they giggle over the small collection of communications from Gil that Anne has built up in a box she keeps under her bed?
Alternatively, what does happen when Gilbert finally returns to Green Gables? I would love to see your take on this. Has Matthew passed by this point, or is he still alive, but ailing? Does his death come to pass after Gilbert's return and does Gilbert try to provide some comfort and help to Anne and Marilla? I'm actually very invested in the idea of Gilbert trying to be there for Anne after Matthew's death, especially since this canon had him lose his father much earlier than he did in the books. Though it's tragic, it's something that will bind them together, down the line. And that Gilbert would do all of that not just out of love for Anne, but out of his respect for Matthew, as well—that's important.
I'd be so interested in seeing some Diana & Gilbert friendship, as well. They didn't get too much interaction in the show, but you can tell that they're acquainted and that Diana finds him charming. I imagine them having something of a Ben Wyatt & Ann Perkins dynamic in this instance; bonding over the Leslie in their lives, by the fact that they are essentially the closest bodies to the sun itself, fondly rolling their eyes at her antics.
If none of this sounds appealing, the general vibe of developing Anne/Gilbert / Anne and Diana's friendship post-series (that is, post-what's on Netflix) would be spectacular!
I should also mention that I absolutely loved Jerry and his hot takes on Anne's nonsense. Having him feature in the fic you may write is something I totally encourage, but I'm not going to require him.
I love Houtarou/Eru. I love the innocent, bittersweet ache to their later interactions, their unspoken like for each other, Houtarou's profound admiration of Eru and all that she is, all that she stands for, all that he thinks he can never touch, spring and happiness and caring about people and never having to be alone. I love how mutual that admiration is, how Eru is so constantly in awe of him, at first, and then eventually starts to give him that soft, affectionate smile that he never sees, because she thinks he's the most wonderful person in the world. I love the lengths to which Houtarou will go to make Eru happy in spite of his own philosophies, and I love the delight Eru takes in learning little things about Houtarou, no matter how incidental. I love how much she flusters and surprises him. Romantic Houtarou/Eru is something that keeps me up at night, especially, like, Houtarou/Eru that always gets closer and closer to being overt but ends up just shy of it; the Houtarou/Eru where they almost hold hands, where they gaze at each other for a moment too long, where the sun is setting and they've been in the empty club room for hours and he has to turn away so she won't see him smiling—where he thinks he's not good enough for her, not bright enough, not talented enough, and she thinks she would just be a burden, she and her family and her responsibilities and her energy; where they learn that they're both wrong. But if you want to write them platonically, that's okay, too!
I also love Satoshi/Mayaka. I love their complexities, how they suffer and hurt when they both just want the same thing, how they both start to call out to each other sometimes in the hallway but then catch themselves, and go quiet, and smile, alone and rueful. They both care so deeply about each other, perhaps too deeply, because they know how to hurt each other deeply, too. And I love, love, love Satoshi. He is one of my favorite characters in anything, ever.
I love all of the dynamics among the main four; I love Houtarou and Mayaka's Vitriolic Best Buds relationship and I love the idea of Satoshi and Eru getting along well because he's arguably the most proper of the Classics Club after her. I love Houtarou and Satoshi's friendship; everything about it. I love Mayaka and Eru, huddled in the corner of a crafts store before Valentine's Day, as Mayaka inches over and bumps against Eru's shoulder to whisper a secret. I love its devotion to classic mysteries, its genuine approach to the high school years and to finding out who you are, even if who you are maybe feels like it isn't good enough, but at least you have your friends and that club room and the sunset, and a bag of flour you got by chance, and the promise of springtime. Even if it's all impermanent, as all good things in youth are—at least there's that.
prompts:
Goes without saying, but casefic! I love the influences that the anime takes so lovingly from classic mysteries, like the Christie 'verse, Sherlock Holmes, etc., so maybe something based on that? I'd love to see a Hyouka-lightened And Then There Were None or Murder on the Orient Express in the same vein as the culture festival arc's homage to The ABC Murders, if you need ideas, but going that route is absolutely not necessary—I love Hyouka's little mysteries that seem insignificant but actually wind up unveiling something important about the characters, even if the solution isn't all that breathtaking. Gosh, I would especially love... older cast casefic? Like they come home from college for the summer and fall back into the old routine of investigating something odd?
There is so much good future Satoshi/Mayaka fic out there that I almost feel bad asking for it, but I don't care. However, I have noticed that little of it seems to factor in the implication at the end of the series that they're going out! I'd love to see something that examines that—maybe they break up for some characteristically senseless (but nonetheless painful) reason? Maybe they consult their respective best friends for guidance? Maybe Eru ropes Houtarou into a conspiracy to get them back together? (Maybe, relatedly, Satoshi and Mayaka conspire to get Houtarou and Eru together?)
What is their last year of high school like? Have they made a name for themselves or are they still the same quiet Classics Club? Do they have kouhai who want to join, or who have already joined and are being prepped to take over the club after the old guard graduates?
I'm always fascinated by the concept of Eru's family and what a big freaking deal they apparently are, so: maybe Eru has an important family function and invites the rest of the Classics Club? Maybe Satoshi charms them all with his vast knowledge of their genealogy? Ships optional, of course.
Satoshi coming to grips with himself and his feelings for Mayaka and about Houtarou and learning with his friends' help that yes, he is good enough, he is worth something, he will be okay. Satoshi Fukube makes me so sad and I just need someone to tell him that he matters.
Tomoe Oreki is endlessly entertaining and getting to hear her takes on Houtarou's friendships and budding romance would no doubt be a riot. Can you imagine if she and Eru met? What a spectacle that would be!
what i love about it:
A lot of my positive feelings on BotW can be summed up in this Tumblr post, which is one of the best and most beautiful posts I've seen about any Zelda game ever. I LOVE this incarnation of Zelda probably the best out of any of them; I especially love the stark contrast between her and the Zelda of Skyward Sword, who was so in tune with the goddess, who accepted her fate without a fight, who was kind and gentle and almost martyrlike, for a time. I love Zelda's struggles, how real the expectations upon her feel, how difficult they are for her to bear. I love the evolving closeness between her and Link; I love the perfectly understandable reasons for why they don't get along right away. So much of their relationship in this game subverts all of the tenets of prior Zelda/Link dynamics, and I love that, but moreso I love how totally reasonable and heart-wrenching it is. I love the environment, for so many reasons, not the least of which is that I'm a big nerd for nature. I love the memory mechanic; I love though it may take time for Link to remember everything about himself, one of the first things he starts to remember is Zelda, Zelda, Zelda. I'M A MASOCHIST AND I LOVE THAT IT'S THEORETICALLY POSSIBLE FOR HIM TO SAVE HER WITHOUT REGAINING ANY MEMORIES OF HER AT ALL. I just. I love this entire game. It's so beautiful and sweeping and hopeful and intricate and ugh. I didn't think a game could bring me more splendidly painful Zelda/Link content than Skyward Sword, my favorite game of all time, but here we are. I also love the Champions, especially Urbosa and Mipha; I love the idea of learning more about a friendship between Zelda and Mipha in particular. As far as the Champions' "counterparts" go, I love Riju and Yunobo, and am totally fine with any of the other nominated characters making an appearance, but truthfully I'm not especially interested in Sidon, so I would prefer that any fic not feature him prominently.
Something else to note is that I have this one weird personal nitpick: when Link talks frequently in fic, it tends to take me out of it immediately. I thought it was wonderful that BotW addressed the fact that he doesn't really speak, and actually the fact that they implied the mutism is selective made it even more compelling to me. Obviously I'm not going to ask you not to give him any dialogue whatsoever, as I know that would be a pain, but if you plan on writing lines for him, I'd at least appreciate it if he wasn't, you know, Chatty McChatterson. That Link doesn't really have a canonical "voice" (that is, one you can apply to dialogue to make it IC) kind of dooms most fan-written dialogue for him for me. But the idea of him speaking up occasionally, fleetingly, in ways that say so little and so much all at once—that, I love! But if this sounds too difficult, don't worry about it. <3
prompts:
The memories did an excellent job, IMO, of showing just enough of Link and Zelda's evolving relationship that it felt believable, but holding back enough that there's still a lot of spaces in between that we don't really know anything about. I'd love an exploration of how they came to trust and depend on each other, especially one that delves into Urbosa's comments during "Subdued Ceremony" (that boy is a living reminder of her own failures; at least that's how the princess sees him) and "Urbosa's Hand" (she gets frustrated every time she looks up and sees you carrying that sword on your back; it makes her feel like a failure when it comes to her own destiny)—especially one in which, maybe, her insecurities become clear to Link and he isn't sure how to handle it. I'd love anything pre-Calamity about them, really—anything that expands upon the time between the memories we see, but through Zelda's eyes.
Though Link and Zelda were my only required characters, request-wise, I'd love to see something about a friendship with Zelda and Mipha. Mipha seemed so earnest when she was about to give Zelda advice on how to maybe unlock her latent power, and I adored Mipha in general, so I found myself wanting to know more about what her rapport with Zelda was like. I also love Urbosa; I lay my sword at her feet, as husband, please respond. So any appearance from her would be welcome. Mipha and Zelda and Urbosa would make for such a power trio. But again, since I'm not requiring Urbosa or Mipha, don't feel obligated to include them at all.
I would be very very into pre-canon Zelda and Impa, as their relationship throughout the franchise has always been very important to me, especially in Skyward Sword, which is, again, my favorite game of all time! Maybe Zelda and Link, in their travels after Calamity Ganon is defeated, return to Kakariko Village and Zelda and Impa are reunited and I cry buckets of tears.
Zelda and Link's travels post-Calamity Ganon's defeat is also a concept rich with potential. I've read a lot of fics that delve into the political aspect of this, which certainly makes sense—it's not like Link and Zelda can just fritter off into the wild and ignore the whole "rebuilding Hyrule" thing—but I find myself wanting for the quiet moments; Zelda reacquainting herself with the land, Link showing her all of the out-of-the-way places he discovered (like Sartori Mountain, or Lurelin Village, or TARREY TOWN, or Lover's Pond, or Eventide Island now that it's free of monsters, or any quiet spot in an Akkala forest or along the Faron Sea or in the Hebra Mountains or God, anywhere; why is this game so beautiful), or Link smugly showing Zelda all of the shrines he unlocked and taking delight in how much she geeks out about them... the moments before things get complicated again, when it's just the two of them and an open wilderness full of beauty and promise, a night wind and a fire to keep them warm in the snow of Hebra, a thunderstorm in Faron Woods, a sunset at Kara Kara Bazaar, and the conversations that arise. I'm so simple, but I have a huge weakness for mundane things, the things that make people most human. Or Hylian, in this case.
Zelda/Link is ridiculously important to me as a ship, like, always, but especially in this game. Any shipfic of them is basically [insert a stream of 💯 emojis]. You absolutely don't have to go the shippy route if that isn't your wheelhouse, but the second this game decided to shake up their accepted dynamic and look closely at what their relationship would be like with all the baggage and anxiety you would expect them to carry, I was struck dead in an instant. It plays so perfectly into my knight/liege trope bias that I regularly have to reassure my friends that I did not commission this entire game. They are, as the kids say, "my OTP." But again, if you aren't comfortable writing them romantically, anything that at least acknowledges the close friendship they have, one built on mutual trust and respect, that is absolutely enough for me!
Smoke is starting to come out of my typing fingers now, so maybe that's a sign I should like chill out for two seconds? Are you still alive? Did you make it? I hope you did. You seem cool.
Anyway, writer, bottom line: Yuletide is a magical time, and anything you write, even if it does not even remotely cater to anything on that needlessly long litany of my emotional ramblings, will be magical, too. My heart will swell with gratitude and cheer no matter what you crank out for me this holiday season; I cannot stress this enough! Everything you see up there is a suggestion, not a requirement. As long as it features the characters I love, and you are writing it, I am absolutely positive that it will bring me joy and good feelings, and I will cherish it for years to come; I will tell my friends and neighbors about it, etc. I would love to see you run away with something of your own design just as much as I would to see you run away with something of mine. You have a great big beautiful brain and you will blow me away no matter what you choose to do.
If you made it through this whole thing without bolting the other way, then I just want to say that I am so, so, so excited to see what you write for me, and so grateful to you for what you're about to do. I know that it'll make my month. You are a trooper, and you are amazing, and I wish you the happiest holiday season imaginable!
All my love,
Gwen/Brella/
blevins