hellabaloo | Dear Yuletide Writer

Yuletide creep is so real, I can't believe I'm writing this in September. But I love writing my letter and reading everyone else's, so let's get this show on the road!

First off, hi! Thank you for writing for me! Second, I like writing prompts and throwing out different ideas, but what I want most is to read a story you want to write. It could be one you’ve been thinking about for years and years, something that you just thought of yesterday, or maybe one of my prompts catches our imagination. Whatever the case, please think of these prompts as guidelines: there if you need them, but don’t worry about following them exactly.

Have fun writing and I’m looking forward to read whatever you come up with :)

General Information

My AO3 handle is hellabaloo, but I spend most of my fannish time on tumblr as historiograph.

Previous Yuletide letters: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012

If you have any questions or want any clarification, please reach out through the mods!

Jump to:
Basketball RPF │ Borussia Dortmund RPF │ Gladiator
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild │ Still Star-Crossed │ Tumanbay

General Likes:

An overview of what I like, that's by no means exhaustive:

I love longfics that are sprawling epics and I love tight, short fics that are perfectly contained little morsels. I love casefic and gapfillers and slice-of-life fic that give you real sense of the characters and the atmosphere of canon. I love AUs: canon divergence/for-want-of-a-nail/what-if type things! organized crime/hitmen! regency! daemon/HDM! space pirate! political thriller! secret royalty! art thief! parallel universes! magic! time travel! tattoo artist! and more!

I love tropes: any version of fake dating/pretend relationships, soulmates/soulmarks/soulbonds (especially if they come with a side of mental connection/telepathy), bodyswaps, clothes-sharing, hurt/comfort oh man anything h/c, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers to friends, UST (ALL THE UST!), huddling for warmth, bed-sharing (Canadian shacks if you want to combine those last two), groundhog day/time loops, didn't know they were dating, loyalty kink, etc. I’m also always intrigued when tropes are subverted or my expectations for how something is going to play out are upended.

I love gen and friendship-focused fics and I love shippy fics and porn. See the Yuleporn section below for more in-depth kinks and squicks lists!

General Dislikes:

Please no rape/non-con, necro, mpreg, scat, terminal illness, infidelity, major or non-canonical character deaths, character bashing, or character flaws being glossed over. Other, fandom-specific DNWs are included in each section.

AU's I'm not a fan of: high school or college AUs, coffee shop AUs, omegaverses, and zombie apocalypses.

Tropes I’m not a fan of: match-making, miscommunication, and whump.

Yuleporn

I love many flavors of porn: vanilla, with feelings, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am PWPs—it's all good!

Kink Likes: fun giggly sex, intercrural, inexperienced (but not necessarily virginal) characters enjoying themselves and having premature orgasms, spanking, touch starvation, kink discovery (e.g. one partner starts dirtytalking because they’re being funny and the other partner’s reaction can be summed up as “fuck, that’s hot”), mutual masturbation and masturbating for a partner, anything size difference related (especially forehead kisses!), size kink, frottage and coming in pants, pain play, sex pollen/heats, breathplay, playing with power differentials, accidental stimulation, edging, watersports (particularly of the controlling/"I'll tell you when and how you can go" variety) and ass-worship.

Squicks: total power exchange or 24/7 BDSM relationships (elements of d/s or bondage are fine), animal/pet play, and infantilization/age play.

ETA: For more fandom-specific porn prompts check out my comment on the Yuleporn post.

Requested Fandoms

⇒ Basketball RPF │ Kevin Durant; I'd love anything about last season: how Kevin made the decision to come to Golden State, him having second thoughts once he had, what it was like to integrate with a new time, what he did while injured and not playing, what it was like to watch Russ average a triple-double, what it was like finally winning a championship, etc. I'd also love anything projecting into the future: do Russ and Kevin ever really reconcile? Does Kevin have a chance to return to the Thunder? What would the Kevin & Russ 30 for 30 episode be like?

This is a good look. Ahhh, I'm so excited basketball season is almost back! Although, after last year, it's hard to see how the Warriors and Kevin will be able to top themselves, I am definitely excited to see them try.

Last year was wild. I mean, after a summer of 3-1 jokes (although, lbr, the internet is never gonna let that meme die XD) Kevin freaking Durant joins the Warriors, there were some weird, almost polite deference struggles between him and the rest of the team while figuring things out, then he gets hurt and is out for a good chunk of time while Steph returns to human torch, two-time MVP mode, the playoffs start and (with some controversial luck) they just roll through everyone. It was kind of surreal towards the end. I was so pleased for Kevin: finally winning a championship and getting Finals MVP, and the way he celebrated with his mom and Steph and the rest of the team makes my face do stupid, happy things.

For basketball rpf, I really like fics that fill in the quiet details between practices, games, media availability, etc. that fans never get to see. I also adore fics that explore relationships and what these players mean to each other, on and off the court. I have a slight preference for fics that largely leave out the realities and implications of being a gay or bi athlete in one of the major US sports leagues and the players' political opinions, but if you want to tackle those feel free.

About shipfic and rl partners: I am totally fine with both the no-wives/girlfriends-AUs and open relationships/negotiated polyamory routes to get pairings together, but please do not explicitly break up a rl couple in fic.

Do Not Want permanent or serious injury

‣ Prompts

◊ Even a year later, I still want any part of the story of how KD decided to leave the Thunder. From the dinner he had with Westbrook and Ibaka where he said he was probably going to re-sign with the Thunder to the Warriors camp arriving in the Hamptons for the pitch meeting to Kevin actually making the decision to him freaking out in his hotel room and thinking he'd made a huge mistake, to what those first few weeks of Warriors training camp were like, anything.

◊ Kevin won a championship and Finals MVP, but in a quiet moment he wonders what it would have been like doing this with OKC. He wakes up on the eve of the 2012 Finals.

◊ The State of KD/Russ: according to Kendrick Perkins they started talking again during the season, but KD also recently said that he and Russ never stopped being friends, they "just stopped talking." WHAT DOES THAT MEAN. KD has said he enjoyed watching Russ play last season, see him average a triple-double, and win season MVP. They've both played in the same New York pickup game—were they playing together? Did they pass each other awkwardly in the halls? Did James Harden make jokes about being from a broken home? Is their relationship status permanently "it's complicated" now?

◊ Soulbond/soulmate AU! I always love versions that are about soulmates or soulbonds that don’t work out completely right, like what if KD and Russ had actually been soulmates and KD decided to move to Golden State? But I also love when unexpected ships make sense in a soulmate/soulbond universe, so what if everyone thought KD and Russ were soulmates and were hiding it For Reasons, but it turns out KD moves to the Warriors and Klay/Steph/Draymond?? is actually his soulmate.

◊ In all the texts he got after Game 5, there's one that makes KD's heart stop: "was it worth it?"

◊ Stephen Curry said all the right things during the Warriors pitch to Kevin—he didn't care who won MVP or sold more sneakers, he just wanted to win rings. The reality of being Steph's teammate is different than Kevin expected.

◊ He can't be 100% sure, but KD's pretty sure Steph and Klay are psychic.

◊ My favorite niche AU has to be the “professional athlete plays a different sport” canon divergent AU. So, let’s pretend Klay Thompson plays baseball instead. And maybe he plays for the Giants and is kind of a fanboy when KD comes to a home game to throw out the first pitch. Or he plays for the A’s and he’s always using the tunnel that connects Oracle and the Coliseum to randomly show up at shoot-around and KD's surprised and intrigued that this dude is actually not half bad.

⇒ Borussia Dortmund RPF │ Marc Bartra; I'd love any sort of fic that deals with Marc moving to Dortmund (the team and the city) and needing to adjust to his new surrounding, a gapfiller exploring time between matches, or just general team bonding. I'm open to all sorts of ships—Marc certainly seems to love being cute with all of his teammates!

Look at this precious darling. He might actually be too good and too pure for this world. Well, Dortmund have certainly started off the season with a bang. Frankly I'm a little surprised at their record, given how many injury concerns there are—and we'll see how we do when we're not picking on Köln and Gladbach. Let's just not talk about the Champions League OTL.

I loved Marc at Barcelona and was always disappointed he couldn't permanently break into the first team, so when he left I happy he landed at BVB where he seems to have been adopted by the fans and carved out a place for himself in the starting eleven. He's such a sweetheart and all-around good egg, I'm glad his fanclub is growing. And he's winning things! I love to see Marc happy and dancing with trophies, although losing and being comforted by his teammates is not an entirely bad look either, I just generally prefer my favorites to be happy rather than anguished.

For football fic, I really love stories that unpack things like what's is like to move to a new team (and likely a different country and a new language), what happens on the team behind closed doors given teammates spend a lot of time together training, rehabbing injuries, traveling, and playing or sitting on the bench together (especially during a particularly good or bad run of games when emotions are at the extremes), significant jersey numbers, and how players build relationships with one another—both platonic and not.

Do Not Want permanent or serious injury, fic focusing on the April bus attack (mentions are fine)

‣ Prompts

◊ I love everything connected to players getting acclimated to new cities and teams, so anything about Marc getting his bearings in Dortmund I will love. What's living with the language barrier like? How does he find a vet for Nina? How is training? What are his new teammates like? Who does he make friends with first?

◊ Marc has very a Spanish understanding of personal space and casual displays of affection. His teammates don't quite know what to do with him at first, but everyone wants to be the object of that affection.

◊ Sebastian Kehl comes to visit and meet the man who's taken over his #5 jersey.

◊ Secret Agent!Marc. As silly or serious as you want to make it.

◊ Remember that gifset from media shoots, where Marc's gently carding his fingers through Mario Götze's hair and the rest of the team is crowded around them like it's the beginning of a gang-bang porno? So, anything that takes that scene to its logical and porny conclusion—group sex for improved teamgeist, Marc and Mario having exhibitionist sex in front of their teammates, actual team gang-bang, etc.—would be amazing.

◊ Marc and Schmelle bond while rehabbing their injuries. Marc recovers first, but keeps coming to Schmelle's workout sessions.

◊ Model!AU because, let's be real, Marc could totally have a career as a model.

◊ At his wedding, both Marc's Barcelona friends and his Dortmund friends were in attendance. Do drinking and shenanigans result? Do Julian and Xavi end up in a serious discussion re: midfield tactics? How many embarrassing stories of La Masia-era Marc get told?

⇒ Gladiator │ any (Maximus Decimus Meridius, Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla, Emperor Commodus); I really just want more of these characters and their stories, individually, or more of them interacting with one another: Maximus being single-minded and noble, Lucilla being realistic and trying to ensure her own and her son’s safety, and Commodus being paranoid, power-hungry and creepy. I love how different these characters are all and how they both work together and against one another throughout the movie.

Available on Amazon, Google Play, and YouTube.

Damnit, Maximus. Don't die on us! Gladiator is one of those movies that, while it isn’t perfectly historically accurate or has held up as Great Cinema over the years, it still has the capacity to make me FEEL ALL THE THINGS. I love how all at once it’s a macro-level political struggle for the future of Rome and a very personal tale of revenge.

Maximus is such a great example of that archetypal soldier character who wants nothing to do with politics, but is forced into the game against his wishes. I love the loyalty he inspires in his men ~~well, except for Quintus~~ and how hard he works to use that loyalty responsibly. But at the same time, the majority of the movie takes place after his father figure's been killed, Commodus attempted to assassinate him, and was successful in murdering his wife and son. So, the character we see is both this person with noble intentions and a strong grasp on morality, but also has incredible amounts of hatred and new-found cynicism.

I love Lucilla, full-stop. It's clear from the get-go how adept she is at the political game, and I love how quickly after she learns Maximus is actually alive she starts to work against her brother while still maintaining the facade of the loving sister.

Commodus is one of those characters I love, but want to yell "cool motive, still murder!" at all the time. He's whiny, petty, and paranoid but also incredibly ruthless and calculating. Commodus and Maximus are great foils for each other and it's a big part of what makes their relationship fascinating to me.

Do Not Want more than canon-typical violence

‣ Prompts

◊ I'd love anything about Maximus and his history: how he rose through the army, his relationship with Marcus Aurelius, how he met his wife, him meeting Lucilla and Commodus when they were younger, etc.

◊ What were Maximus and Lucilla to each other, once upon a time?

◊ We get some sense in canon, but I'd love any fic focusing on Lucilla doing what she needs to do to protect her son. Or more generally how she feels about motherhood.

◊ "If only you had been born a man, what a Caesar you would have made." You do not know how those words have haunted me over the years. So, in a world where Lucilla was born a man, how would things be different? Would Maximus be as loyal to always-a-guy!Lucilla as he was to Marcus Aurelius? Would Commodus still have an unhealthy love for his older brother? Would his ambition mean he tries to kill his brother as well as his father as a means to be crowned Caesar?

◊ On the journey back to Rome, Commodus is haunted by the ghost of the man he killed. Whether that's his father or Maximus (who he thinks he's killed) is up to you.

◊ The one exception to my non-con DNW: the scene between Commodus and Maximus under the Coliseum, before their final battle. Maximus is strung up and at Commodus' mercy and Commodus takes advantage. Feel free to make this dark.

◊ Commodus has always loved his sister too much. (DNW Commodus/Lucilla non-con, but incest and dub-con are A+++)

◊ How would this story play out in a modern setting? Marcus Aurelius is the scion of a Kennedy-esque family, people expect him to retire from the Senate and his son to run for his vacated seat, except Marcus Aurelius plans to disinherit Commodus. Is Maximus is faithful chief of staff or an adopted son? What would keep Lucilla from running for her father's vacated seat? How does Commodus try to stage the murder? Or keep it set in Italy!

⇒ Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild │ Link, Zelda, Urbosa, & Impa; This is a motley collection of characters that don't interact as a group in canon, so please feel free to treat this request as 'OR' matching and include whichever characters of these four you like. I loved pretty much everything about Breath of the Wild—the story, the characters, the whole freaking world—and would love any fic that further explores any aspect of it: Link's history and quest, Zelda's struggle against Ganon, Impa and the Sheikah, Urbosa and her role as a Champion, or worldbuilding for either the period of time when Link's asleep or after the defeat of Ganon. I ship Link/Zelda and Urbosa/Zelda.

Compilation of all cut scenes available here.

I loved the references to other Zelda games in this scene. A+ Nintendo. Nintendo got me bad with Breath of the Wild. I was minding my own business, not paying too much attention to Zelda games and then BAM I’m 40+ hours into my second play-through and aiming for 100% completion. So many Korok seeds *sobs*

I absolutely loved the story of BoTW: from the framing conceit that Link’s been asleep for a 100 years after a cataclysmic event has reshaped the world around him (exploring different ruins and trying to recognize them is one of my favorite things to do in-game) to how his relationship with Zelda progresses from him being an unwelcome nuisance in her eyes to a trusted friend and confidante. I would have happily collected about twenty more memories! Especially because I wish we could have gotten more about Zelda’s relationship with her father, and what life at the palace was like for her.

Likewise, while the cast of side-characters were great and really added depth to the overall narrative, the game left me wanting more of Impa and Urbosa’s stories. We get a general sense of them from cutscenes, but it’s really just enough to whet my appetite for more! What's life like in Gerudo Town and Kakariko Village? How do the Gerudo recover from losing their leader? How do the Sheikah rebuild when there is no royal family of Hyrule to protect? I want to know everything!

I don't have any strong feelings one way or the other with regards to mute!Link. I'm also not really more than passingly familiar with any other Zelda games beyond Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening, but I love timeline theories so include or leave out references as you like.

Do Not Want unrequested ships

‣ Prompts

◊ Princess Zelda, Link, Urbosa, and Impa attend a reception at the palace to celebrate the Hero chosen by the Sword that Seals the Darkness. No one is happy about it.

◊ I'd love a fic set during the course of Link's quest: how does he deal with loneliness? What is it like to recover a memory? What is it like to still not remember everything? What is it like to seem to know things, but have no idea how he came to know these things? What's his favorite dish to cook? But anything pre-canon would also be amazing: how did he get the Master Sword? What was it like to have Zelda not want anything to do with him? What sort of adventures did he and Mipha get up to as kids?

◊ Once she receives word that Link is sealed in the Shrine of Resurrection, slowly healing, Impa knows the only thing she can do is wait. And prepare.

◊ In the cut-scenes, you really get a sense of everything that rests on Zelda's shoulders, and how much she feels responsible for. How does she deal with not feeling good enough for her father while trying to unlock the sealing power? What's the impact on her of fighting Ganon for a century? How does she handle becoming part of the world again?

◊ Impa helps Princess Zelda research the Divine Beasts.

◊ I don't think I've ever shipped Link/Zelda the way I do in this game. Maybe Link takes Zelda on a date to explore a shrine or they use his house in Hateno Village as their base while they work out what to do next and the village thinks they're dating/is scandalized or anything about Link's loyalty to Zelda or whatever porn you want to write!

◊ What does it mean for Urbosa to be the leader of her people and a Champion? What is it like for her and her people to have this legend of Ganon taking the form of a Gerudo in an earlier age?

◊ THAT CUTSCENE ON VAH NABORIS THOUGH. I had already been loving Urbosa as one of Zelda's sworn Champions, an older woman who was the leader of her people and someone to respect and look up to, but that gentle way Urbosa tucks Zelda's hair back was too damn much and I am so aboard this ship. I'd love either something sweet and fluffy or something hot and porny—author's choice!

◊ Urbosa congratulates Link on becoming the princess' appointed knight in typical Gerudo fashion.

⇒ Still Star-Crossed │ Rosaline Capulet & Benvolio Montague; I'd love fic focused either on Rosaline or Benvolio individually or on their developing relationship: starting out as uneasy allies, how they come to trust each other, and their slow-burn falling in love. I'd also love anything that wraps up the story threads left hanging by the show's cancellation.

Available on ABC and Hulu.

Oh we all know where that Look leads to. Oh, darling show, we hardly knew you! While I'm heartbroken this has been cancelled, I’m glad we got as much as we did, and it leaves so much room to make up for with fic.

I love Rosaline’s spirit and heart. She seems like a tough nut to crack that doesn’t easily form attachments, but once you have her loyalty or affection, she will go to amazing lengths for you. But at the same time, she is unwilling to stand by quietly when she disagrees with a course of action. Similarly, Benvolio’s shown to be so loyal to his friends and heartbroken at their deaths and I love parallel between them, even if they don’t (or won’t) recognize it.

Part of the reason that I love this show so much is that it combines A BUNCH of my trope loves and smushes them all together: enemies to friends to lovers, arranged marriage, slow-burn, fake dating to get back at an ex, AND it throws political intrigue and mystery on top of all that? It’s like someone plucked ideas straight from my brain and made a ridiculously pretty tv show out of it.

And while I didn't request them, I love the rest of the supporting cast too! I love how each of them have their own problems and plots in addition to the major plot of the show—Isabella trying to prove to her brother that she can be a valuable political ally, the Lords Montague and Capulet both still entrenched in their petty squabbles (and the people around them paying the price for it), Livia getting unwillingly entrenched in Paris' plan to take over Verona, Lady Capulet willingly aiding him—it gives the story a real depth for being only seven episodes.

I sort of skim-read the book to figure out how it ended, so I'm vaguely familiar with book!canon if you want to include any details from it.

‣ Prompts

◊ Really, I just want these two crazy kids to be together and happily in love—they deserve it. I'd be happy if that takes the form of something set immediately following the last episode, Rosaline needing to communicate to Benvolio that she cares about Escalus but doesn't love him anymore, a desperate kiss before Benvolio goes off to battle against Paris' men, a war? what war? AU version of events where they get married and slowly work through their differences and fall in love.

◊ Rosaline hates that Escalus now reminds her of the night her father died.

◊ What did Romeo and Mercutio think of Benvolio's artistic abilities?

◊ I wish we had gotten more about Roaline and Livia's sisterly relationship in the show, so I'd love anything about them trying to find joy after their parents' deaths, what it was like to go from wealthy young women to being servants and dependent on their uncle's "generosity," them teasing each other about their respective dreams, or something that happened at the market the week before.

◊ Tell the story of any one of the firsts Benvolio and Rosaline share: their first kiss, first time they backed each other up, first time, first argument, first time they decided to work together, first time they said I love you, etc. Feel free to bring the schmoop, but I'm not opposed to conflict and tension either.

◊ There was so much in that meeting at the ball between Rosaline and Isabella, and later when Rosaline visits the palace, that I desperately want some backstory to Rosaline and Isabella. Did Rosaline see it as a betrayal that she wasn't welcome at the palace after her parents' death? Was Isabella nursing a crush on Rosaline who only had eyes for her brother?

◊ How would a canon-divergent AU play out? What would have happened if either Benvolio or Rosaline had been more receptive to their engagement? What if Paris had actually died? What would have happened if Benvolio's father hadn't been killed?

◊ We got some bonding/greater understanding between Benvolio and Rosaline in canon when they were visiting her old family home, but I love this sort of set up and want more. How does Rosaline change in Benvolio's eyes when he learns about her parents? How might Rosaline react to hearing about Benvolio losing his parents? Is it something he offers up or is it something she discovers? Do they get drunk, bare their souls to each other, vow never to speak of it again, and each wonders how much the other remembers of that night?

◊ I'd love Christmas or generally winter-themed fluff, even if it's not particularly accurate for the ~14th century. Cuddling for warmth, drinking hot drinks, lighting candles to get through the long nights, exchanging gifts, cooking family recipes, fond memories of prior years, it's all good!

⇒ Tumanbay │ any (Heaven, Slave | Akiba, Manel, Gregor); I honestly love everyone in this bar, and given there's literally no fic I will love anything you write. About Heaven and Akiba and how their relationship developed, Gregor and him being blindsided by Sarah and trying to recover his footing, Manel going from wealthy daughter of an important general to freedom fighter, or anything else that's caught your imagination, especially worldbuilding.

Available for streaming and download here.

The actors do and don't match their voices, it's a trip. Tumanbay has everything—palace intrigue, threats of war, constantly shifting allegiances, ulterior motives, and great characters. It's totally immersive and utterly addictive and I'm so in love.

I do, however, have some quibbles with how the story plays out in season 2. Especially regarding Heaven and Akiba: I thought we had a good, slow-burn, enemies to uneasy allies and maybe friends to could-be-lovers thing going but their storyline did not pass go, did not collect $200 but went straight to them sleeping together and totally robbed the audience of the buildup, which is my favorite part. Particularly since their dynamic—Heaven as idealistic, determined, and naive but a quick study set against Akiba who's cynical, bitter, and probably thinks of himself as too old and too broken for her—is totally my jam.

Manel was not a character I was expecting to feature so heavily in the second season, but I'm so glad she did. I loved that we got to see how Tumanbay residents were resisting Maya's new order and how Manel was changed by Daniel's betrayal, her brother's death, and father's imprisonment and what she chose to do about the new circumstances she found herself in—for good or ill.

Oh Gregor. On one hand, he’s a horrible person who fully deserves more comeuppance than he gets throughout the show, but on the other hand I love characters that know they’re awful human beings and decide to use their lesser qualities to protect the people they decide are worth it. He’s not a nice guy, but he’s such a fun character to follow around.

Feel free to include or mention other characters, especially those like Boy, Frog and the catacomb dwellers, Shamsi, and Wolf whose storylines got dropped in season 2.

‣ Prompts

◊ The $64,000 Question: was Maya real? What's happening with her empire, her followers, outside of Tumanbay? How does Gregor process what happened? How does Manel? Does Gregor grieve for Sarah?

◊ What happens next in Tumanbay? Can Qulan be pursuaded to be elevated to the position of sultan? What would that mean for Manel—does someone try to force her into the role of princess or does she take a position in her father's army? Does Gregor go back to work as head of the palace guard? Or does he give up trying to advance his position. Are Heaven and Slave dealing with anxieties about someone stealing their baby again? Do they stay in Tumanbay or return to Bornu to start fresh? Can Heaven finally grieve for her father?

◊ Heaven starts the series as naive and sheltered, but grows into a character that's resourceful, determined, and fiercely loyal to the people she loves. I'd love a fic about her collecting people and making herself a family.

◊ I’d adore any sort of Slave backstory: the fall of the kingdom of Bornu, what happened to his family, how Akiba became Slave and swore revenge, or anything about his life before meeting Heaven on the slave ship.

◊ Not gonna lie, I still prefer my idea from last year that Heaven lied about being pregnant (and that would force her and Akiba into a sham marriage to protect her reputation—the slow-burn! the angst! we could have had it all!) because the show did maybe 8-12% of the work to get them from being friendly to sleeping together. But! Since we didn't get any of that in canon, I'd love slow-burn or gapfillers or anything about how their relationship develops.

◊ I loved how Manel and Heaven had known each other for like 20 minutes, tops, before they were calling each other "my friend." They seem to be of similar age, but have had different upbringings and reactions to Maya's occupation of the city. I'd love a fic that explores their similarities, their differences, how they each settle into life after Maya, them becoming close friends, anything.

◊ Killing Daniel and Sarah doesn't bring Manel the peace she thinks it will.

◊ Tell the story of Gregor's rise to be Head of the Palace Guard.

◊ Once upon a time Gregor and Manel were close enough for Gregor to be telling Manel bed-time stories. What happened for Gregor to distance himself from Qulan and his family? Was it political? Was Gregor trying to protect them his own way? Did he do something that made Qulan tell him to stay away? How did Manel take it?

◊ This is a story ripe for time travel! If Gregor goes back in time, what does he try to stop? What changes if Manel goes back in time? Does Heaven do everything in her power to keep her parents from Tumanbay, knowing she won't have her baby then? Can Akiba prevent the downfall of his kingdom?

And if you've made it this far, you are my people, thanks for reading, and happy Yuletide!