howlingmoonrise | Dear Yuletide Writer (2024) (Reply)

Hello and welcome!

I hope you have a lot of fun participating this year, and the below is meant to help you with that! As usual, the only things that are hard lines are the squicks listed on the Yuletide form, but I'd prefer if you respected my other dislikes/squicks as well, even if our likes don't match and you chose not to use any of these prompts! Feel free to mix and match what you like ;)

I'm a very wordy person overall, so I mostly tried to place things as bulletpoints. I'd rather you have plenty to choose from and a good grasp on my likes/dislikes if you don't have an idea in mind already, than you wanting ideas and not finding any you like!

As a warning, the fandom-specific sections are exactly as in the form! They're here mostly for treats and archiving, so there is no need to read them again if you already went through the assignment info!

I hope you have a great time!

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GENERAL LIKES

Truly egregious amounts of pining! Truly egregious amounts of increasingly obvious denial!
Non-established relationships - what I love most is the progression of the dynamics between two characters! The "pre-relationship or gen" tag works great for me!
Fake dating - it's one of my favourite tropes if you want to give it a whirl. Same for time loop fics!
As more or less stated on the second item, either gen or romance is fine! What really does it for me is the development of the dynamics between the characters, and how they find unprecedented levels of kinship and trust and intimacy and comfort and understanding with each other, not necessarily romantic acts. In fact, I don't particularly like huge romantic acts either, and would love a more subtle sort of thing if you're going down the romance road! (also if you wanna do like REALLY messy crunchy love-hate-leaning-on-hate relationships i also love those, but there should be some genuine fondness somewhere beneath all the rest);
If the characters are already petty by nature feel more than free to keep that in, I love petty bitches;
Sticking to the tone of the original characterizations/canon/humour is definitely a plus! I love when ways of speaking and running gags and references to the original material show up!
Casual intimacy! CASUAL INTIMACY! I'm a sucker for this and it's super fun, especially if placed amidst bickering or an otherwise negative relationship - it throws a whole different depth to their interactions and really shows how comfortable the characters are with each other. DOUBLY so if they have some enmity going on at that point since that makes it downright hilarious and/or really interesting imo. A pair that communicates without needing to use words is also so intimate and great (regardless if they have a friendly relationship at the moment)! I love this kind of thing;
Trope subversion all the way!!!
Usually smooth characters not really knowing how to react at the possibility of feelings or the presence of the person they may or may not have feelings for, I'm so weak for that;
Enemies/rivals-to-reluctant-allies-(to-maybe-friends?)-to-lovers are *chef's kiss*;
I really need to emphasize how much I don't need a full romantic resolution or even a full story/ending resolution - like I said, what I like the most is how the dynamics between the characters evolve, both in gen and in romance! Ambiguous endings are fine both in terms of relationships and plot.

GENERAL YIKES

I really cannot overstate how much I don't want to see pregnancy or motherhood related stuff, mpreg and babies/toddlers included. Kidfics, babyfics, next gen fics, anything related to pregnancy or kids at all. This is my biggest squick alongside scat. Fandoms which have canon moments of this can reference it but I'd prefer if you didn't go super into it (and in the context of MJTY I'd rather it go unmentioned in general);
Unhappy endings (ambiguous or hopeful endings are more than okay!);
On the completely opposite direction, the stereotypical 2.5 kids white picket fence sort of happy ending;
For these fandoms, I'd pass on playing around with gender when it comes to characters that aren't canonly prone to it (RNZ and LQS), and even for those nothing permanent;
Most hard AUs (like merpeople AU or high fantasy AUs) are a pass from me. Further specified under each fandom;
No going into the hows and whys of a character's sexuality or gender or huge discussions of it - if they're bi/ace/etc, then they're bi/ace/etc and that's that, going into the backstory of it and other people's reactions (including their own) is a no from me. I would prefer if there were no depictions of homophobia, sexism, racism, transphobia, etc, even from the mouths of villain/background antagonistic characters;
A huge focus on a character's mental health/neurodivergence/physical disability; do feel free to include them (in particular if they exist in canon) but not center the entire fic on those issues;
Huge dramatic declarations of love (unless it's for a con or a bit);
Huge time skips. Except for some specific situations it makes me feel as if I've missed way too much development, which is my favourite part when it comes to relationships and character development;
Angst is.... *waggles hand*. I don't dislike angst, but it really depends on the kind. I'll give it a hard pass on stuff to do with major character death (unless they get better), sexual abuse, self-harm, gender/sexuality angst, and suchlike. I'd also rather not read one long torture/depression fic. Other than that, feel free to go ahead (but please don't give it an unambiguously bad ending!);
Huge non-canon past trauma;
Cheating and infidelity are HUGE no-nos, and even if you're not writing the characters as a ship please don't place them in other relationships;
Sickfics, dysphoria, deep dives into mental illness and other disorders;
Script-based or roleplay fic is not really my preferred format, I really enjoy prose instead of nearly 100% dialogue!
Tons of gore, permanent disabilitating injury (it's fine if it's like... one limb of your chosing or one eye getting fucked up, but more than that I'll pass), etc. I don't mind it, but I'd rather it not be the main focus of the fic. Note that I mean this for the main characters in particular, if you want to get really into background characters exploding into little bits I'm not stopping you;
Fully unrequited love between the main characters;
Flashback/nightmare/dream sequences

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IF YOU'RE GOING FOR SMUT

Kinks

Moderate masochism (pain is nice - anything from spanking to knife-play is A-OK - but maiming or an actual beating for sexual situations not so much. Dry penetration with no prep is no good (F/M or M/M), but the character being underprepped/understretched or too little lube used if M/M is fine!);
Bondage (especially predicament bondage or unconvencional bindings or paralysis, AKA got stuck in a compromising position somewhere or some way normally no one would get stuck);
Breathplay, knifeplay (would rather not see either of these two in KoD though), nails digging/dragging on/breaking skin, moderate bloodplay is also cool;
Edging/desperation play. If bottoming/subbing, RNZ or LQS in particular being super flustered, red-faced, maybe a bit teary-eyed is *chef's kiss*;
Ladies topping and calling the shots!
Lowkey cannibalism imagery and hunger, biting;
Cunnilingus (if M/F) or rimming (M/M only)

Squicks

I already put an entire bucket list on the form so. yeah. those. I'll repeat/elaborate on some here just in case, exceptions listed on the AO3 form under each specific fandom;
Scat, vomit, bed-wetting, farting, wound-fucking, castration (this last one more as applied to the main characters);
Dehumanization, slavery, pet-play, A/B/O;
Mommy/daddy/baby kinks, age play, anything involving diapers, pregnancy kink, mpreg or pregnancy of any sort;
Praise kink (this one isn't a hard line but I'd pass on this);
Forced feminization (exception: LQS's canon semi-forced crossdressing);
Stuff very involved with body hair;
Outright vore and/or shrinking;
Super big breasts (unless we're talking about Gong Shangjue, in which case... feel free to go ham on the man-boobs), super small breasts, microdicks;
Humiliation or degradation to do with any physical characteristics of a character;
Non-con betwen these characters or with others. Dub-con such as fuck-or-die or sex pollen is fine;
Would rather have no anal sex if a female character is the one being penetrated.

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KALEIDOSCOPE OF DEATH (Ruan Nanzhu/Lin Qiushi)

Things I'd love to see:

Them being absolutely unhinged for each other (think LQS handing RNZ the axe barely after meeting them, RNZ trading the broken egg for his own, being willing to go hungry for the other's sake without letting them know, etc)
RNZ's canon gender fuckery and crossdressing, and LQS absolutely not being able to deal with it/being weak to Zhu Meng or Ruan Baijie; RNZ getting kind of jealous over himself; RNZ taking LQS's weakness to Zhu Meng/Ruan Baijie to get closer to him/flirt with him or fake-date LQS in front of others
The two of them being tender with each other while very much not being in a relationship (yet). Making everyone wrinkle their noses at them and assume they're together, especially if RNZ is the smuggest bitch on the planet and LQS remains permanently oblivious to how they come across; permanent heart-eyes
RNZ being possessive and clingy over LQS, bonus points if at some point LQS returns the possessiveness (bonus BONUS points if he doesn't even realize that that's what he's doing)
An exploration of the canon bed-sharing they keep doing inside the doors, how RNZ always loves eating LQS's noodles, etc; they trust each other more than anyone else your honour 🥺
RNZ being a bit of a masochist but ESPECIALLY if it comes to being marked by LQS (biting, bruises from getting forcibly dragged away from a door god, or he got cut by something sharp and LQS is cleaning it up/bandaging him and he's feeling Some Way about that pain, etc)
Any situation where they have to stay close together for a long amount of time (preferably if they have to huddle for warmth or space and get dazed by being so close to one another, or end up accidentally getting each other off due to the forced closeness)

Other considerations:

Frankencanon of the show/novel is great! Just please keep the names spelled as per novel canon, and don't use the ending of the show

DNWs:

Scat, emetophilia, bed-wetting, farting, wound-fucking, castration (last one okay for background characters in the doors)
Anything to do with pregnancy or kids whatsoever (unless it's for horror purposes on a background character)
Kid fic (characters as kids OR age play OR next gen/the characters having kids), or mommy/daddy/baby kink
Big time skips
Unhappy endings (open/ambiguous endings are fine)
Slavery or sexual slavery
Non-canon gender/sex/race changes to the characters (RNZ's canon gender fuckery is fine and encouraged)
Established relationship (with the exception of smut fics, but unestablished here is also preferred)
Hard AUs (AUs which change entirely the setting/characters, such as mermaid/pirate AUs, space AUs, flower shop AUs, etc). Obviously within the doors this isn't as strict since it's a part of the canon setting, but otherwise I like their canon situationship and I feel like a lot of it would be lost in a big AU.
Huge dramatic declarations of love (unless it's for a con or a bit)
Going into the hows and whys and backstory of a character's sexuality/gender/trauma/mental illness
Non-canon past or current rape/sexual abuse/trauma (other than door-induced trauma)
Cheating or infidelity of any sort
Other ships with these characters other than LQS/RNZ even if the fic is gen
Flashback/nightmare/dream sequences
A/B/O
Permanent character deaths for the main characters
Permanently physically damaging torture

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ALIEN PREQUELS (David 8/Elizabeth Shaw)

Things I'd love to see:

Their post-Prometheus travel and how their relationship might have developed during that time and the difficulties that come with it;
David and Shaw learning to moderately trust/appreciate one another despite... well, everything. Growth!
Missing scene during Prometheus where they get to talk/debate some more and there's some mutual appreciation;
David trying to revive Shaw... and succeeding, to some extent. Either actually succeeding with no twist and having to deal with the fact he actually wants her to live, or bringing her back via experiments that might change her, or building a Shaw simulacrum as a fellow android or ship AI and having to deal with it not really being her anymore;
Shaw deciding to return home or to another colony because David is malfunctioning too much and they got close enough she can't make herself watch him "die" (and then have to deal with the void of space on her own);
A fucked up little relationship where they kind of loathe each other but also couldn't stand to think having to continue without the other;
Returning home for... reasons (David or the ship malfunctioning, Shaw getting sick, finding the Engineers turns out to be a dead end, etc) and Shaw/David having to deal with the terrible fact that they unfortunately want to stick together (whether they like each other or not is irrelevant, but David got used to her treating him like a person and no one else does, and to Shaw he's the only one who experienced everything she did that no one else can hope to believe or understand) and trying to figure out how to do so when Weyland Industries will surely try to get in the way, or how they try to go on to live a "normal" life after all that.

DNWs:

The fic set during/after Alien: Covenant, at least without changes to it to ensure Shaw's survival
Scat, watersports, emetophilia, farting, wound-fucking, castration
Anything to do with pregnancy or kids (characters as younger kids OR age play OR next gen/the characters having kids included, if you must include that part of canon please don't go super into it), or mommy/daddy/baby kink
Big time skips in the context of the fic (the fic starting after a 10 year cryosleep timeskip post-Prometheus is fine, but please no "10 years later" epilogues to the fic itself)
Unhappy endings (open/ambiguous endings are absolutely okay)
Non-canon gender/sex/race changes to the characters
Established relationship
Hard AUs (AUs which change entirely the setting/characters, such as mermaid/pirate AUs, space AUs, flower shop AUs, etc). Stuff like a different first meeting or the Prometheus mission going wildly different is okay
Huge dramatic declarations of love
Going deeply into the hows and whys and backstory of a character's sexuality/gender/trauma/mental illness
Non-canon past or current rape/sexual abuse/trauma
Cheating or infidelity of any sort, or side-ships with these characters even if you chose to write them as gen (references to past Shaw/Holloway are okay, but I'd rather not read about their relationship in depth)
Flashback/nightmare/dream sequences
A/B/O
David calling all the shots during sex or either of them coercing the other into it
Breathplay for those two, or David going for bloodplay/knifeplay without Shaw being at least a little into it; anal sex if Shaw is on the receiving end
Permanent character death for David or Shaw
Permanently physically damaging torture for Shaw (scars are fine, loss of more than one limb/eye are not, chronic pain shouldn't be entirely physically disabling but it's okay if it's a background ever-present thing)

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MY JOURNEY TO YOU (Gong Shangjue/Shangguan Qian)

Things I'd love to see:

The spy vs spy game they're always playing with each other and their relationship is NUTS and I adore it and would love to see more interactions like that
Torture scene or post-torture scene interactions and exploration in regards to their mixed feelings at it happening and what came after (the near-touch, the recovery, the visit, etc)
SGQ and/or GSJ being conflicted about being reluctantly fond of the other despite all of his suspicions/her mission
Post-canon with them finding each other and having a situationship about it (they keep finding each other and spending the night together only for GSJ to keep waking up alone, or help each other when in predicaments/wounded and then run away before the other can catch them, or SGQ building a new identity solely so that she can openly flirt with him in public and him letting it happen, etc)
A slice of life scene of their sham marriage where they're actually fond/tender of the other and spend some time quietly together with mostly minimal scheming
SGQ topping, and this being a central point to their relationship in regards to them being honest with each other/to themselves regarding their own feelings towards the other (SGQ planning to leave; GSJ knowing she's a spy and doing it anyway; post-canon; etc)
GSJ gets wounded and SGQ is struck by how much she actually cares whether he lives or dies, maybe sneaks in for reluctant wound-tending while thinking he's unconscious (or, the other way around, post-torture scene wound-caring on GSJ's part)
Canon deviation FTW! For example, SGQ tried approaching him earlier, a scene went down differently, etc

DNWs:

Scat, watersports, emetophilia, farting, wound-fucking, castration (last one okay for background characters)
Anything to do with pregnancy or kids whatsoever (characters as younger kids OR age play OR next gen/the characters having kids included, if you must include that part of canon say she lost the child or lied or don't mention it at all (preferred)), or mommy/daddy/baby kink
Big time skips (in the context of these two, a year or two is fine, but please no "10 years later" continuations or epilogues)
Unhappy endings (open/ambiguous endings are fine AND kinda encouraged for this ship)
Non-canon gender/sex/race changes to the characters
Established ACTUAL relationship (being officially married or not is irrelevant to this)
Hard AUs (AUs which change entirely the setting/characters, such as mermaid/pirate AUs, space AUs, flower shop AUs, etc). I can deal with, idk, reincarnation and meeting again on another life as an epilogue at most. I like their messy canon relationship and I feel like a lot of it would be lost in a big AU.
Huge dramatic declarations of love (unless it's for a con put on for outsiders, or an inside joke)
Going deeply into the hows and whys and backstory of a character's sexuality/gender/trauma/mental illness
Non-canon past or current rape/sexual abuse/trauma
Cheating or infidelity of any sort, or side-ships with these characters even if you chose to write them as gen
Flashback/nightmare/dream sequences
A/B/O
Permanent character death for Gong Shangjue, Shangguan Qian, or Gong Yuanzhi
Permanently physically damaging torture for Gong Shangjue or Shangguan Qian (scars are fine, limb/eye loss are not, chronic pain shouldn't be entirely physically disabling but it's okay if it's a background ever-present thing)

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I hope you have a fun time!

Dear Yuletide Writer (2024)

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