penguinzero

To my assigned author:

Welcome, and thank you for signing up for Yuletide! I've been participating for years now, and it's always so fun to see what someone else is going to come up with based on my all-too-vague prompts. My works are all up on AO3 as PenguinZero — if you want, feel free to poke through them to get a feel for what I like. I don't have much experience writing Dear Author letters — I've usually just put my simple requests on the signup form and let the author take it from there — but I thought I'd try to give a little more support to you this time around. Feel free to go wherever your inspiration takes you, of course — I just want to give you seeds to work with! If you get inspired to something completely different than any of my suggestions, I'm sure I'll be thrilled.

Obviously, we overlap on at least one of my fandoms, but just in case you skim through the others and find my descriptions interesting, I'll link to where to find them all. I'd be thrilled to introduce you to something you end up liking!

General likes:

Plot-filled fics — while quick vignettes or mood pieces are fine too, there's something about a story with a challenge the main characters overcome or an event they have to react to that really appeals to me. Doubly so if it's thematically appropriate — if it somehow parallels the dynamic the main characters have, or highlights their personalities, strengths, and flaws. You can absolutely have the emotional relationship between the characters be the main point of the story, but I do like having something else going on at the same time.
WLW relationships. Probably pretty obvious from my chosen characters — I was hooked on yuri and femslash at an early age.
Worldbuilding. I didn't tag it specifically on any of these fandoms, but I'd love to explore all of their worlds. (Even Kase-san, which is basically modern Japan — see the entry below.) I love exploring the sides of a world that often go overlooked in the big drama — how people get by day to day, what they do to relax, where the basic necessities come from, how whatever weird powers or unusual situations they're in affect their daily routine.
Happy endings. I don't mind a story where things get tough for the characters — indeed, that's often really satisfying. But in the end, I like optimism in my stories. I like the idea that even when times are tough, people can make a difference if they work at it.
Additional characters. I may have only asked for a couple of characters in my prompt, but I know that all of them have a whole constellation of supporting cast or other protagonists around them, and I'd love to see them get involved in whatever the story is. Having characters bounce off their friends, their family, their enemies, or just the random people they know can add so much depth and richness to the story.

General dislikes:

Plotless smut. I like romance in my stories, but just having two characters making out or more for the whole story doesn't really satisfy me. It's the plot and the emotional depth I'm here for.
Random AUs. I'm generally invested in the characters and the world as they are, and looking to explore their depths. Canon divergences, or pre- or post-canon stuff is just fine, but randomly taking the characters and putting them in a coffee shop or a sitcom premise kind of takes a lot of the fun out of it for me. (With one exception; see below.)

Sleepless Domain

Requested characters: Undine, Kokoro

Sleepless Domain is possibly my favorite currently-running webcomic — there are a few others that come close, but it's just got that perfect combination of all the things I like wrapped up in Mary Cagle's beautiful art and fascinating writing. And the characters all make you care about them intensely. It's a story with darkness that doesn't wallow in the darkness, and holds tight to the idea that things can get better, even when you're coming out of the worst part of your life.

Kokoro and Undine are now an official couple, and I'd love to see how they're handling that outside of their monster-hunting hours or the ongoing plot. Have they gone on an official date yet, and if so what was it like — and how did they approach it? Do paparazzi try to get photos and interviews of them together? Where might they try going to get some privacy? What would their ideal date be, anyway — dinner and a movie, or a picnic lunch, or an afternoon shopping and going to the arcade, or racing across the rooftops in a prolonged sparring session? Might they end up at each other's homes? I'm sure Momdine and Daddine would love to meet the girl their daughter's dating, but how would Undine react to seeing how Kokoro lives? (I'm sure she'd love to meet Kicks, though — and, for that matter, Kokoro might be interested to see Undine's fish Bert.) Though there's sure to be a little nervousness when your girlfriend invites you home for the first time…

Looking at them working as partners would be interesting, too. Undine's used to working with a team, but Kokoro has tended to go it alone — when they're deliberately going out to fight together every night, does this difference in experience cause any friction? For that matter, does Undine have any habits from working with Team Alchemical that aren't applicable any more — or might cause her a bit of pain when she realizes she's slipping back into them?

I'm also entirely up for interactions with the other cast members. Go wild — do Undine and Kokoro cross paths with Zoe and Rue while out one night? Does Bud try to snoop on one of their dates to be ready with all the gossip? Might Vedika accidentally get a glimpse of the two of them smooching while practicing mind reading, and how would she react? What would happen if Undine introduced Kokoro to Tessa? (Nothing good, probably, given Tessa's emotional state…)

The worldbuilding in the comic, though usually subtle and in the background, is always something I'm passionate about seeing. It's a single, solitary city with no way to get beyond its walls, and yet it's survived for at least a century and a half in this state. The logistics of just how they get by day to day just grab my imagination. We've seen rooftop farms — is this the main source of food in the city, or are there big farming parks somewhere? Fish are known to be able to pass through the barrier — do they make up a substantial part of the city's diet? Are they commonly caught or even farmed? Pets exist in the city, and other urban animals seem to be at least known, but how common are they? The technology level is about comparable to ours, but there are no cars and apparently no personal computers (though arcades do exist) — how does that alter daily life? With their odd schedules, what do magical girls do in between late school and monster hunting when they want to relax and have fun? What sort of research is the MGSI doing to learn more about magical girls, and how does the CDD defend the city? And so on. You don't need to delve deep into the world or anything, but if you were to include even a little exploration of things as part of the plot or a mention in passing, I'd be thrilled.

Where to find it: The full story is available at the official website, and you can get the first volume in print from the store.

The Locked Tomb Series:

Requested characters: Gideon, Harrow

It's the last year that this fandom's going to qualify for Yuletide, and while I'm happy to see it getting more and more popular, I also feel a bit of wistfulness that I'm not going to have the chance to request it (or take requests for it) again. So if you're into lesbian necromancers in space, I'd love to see the fandom go out with a bang!

I like almost all of the characters in the two books so far, but I'll admit that Gideon and Harrow are the true core of it for me. I basically see the entire series as an extremely slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance between them, and I'm eager to see how that resolves. It's clear that they've been the most important people in each other's lives since they were just children, and that's carried through all the way to the point where Gideon literally died for Harrow, while Harrow gave herself brain damage that left her nearly defenseless while entering the company of ten-thousand-year-old scheming immortals just to make sure Gideon wouldn't completely die.

I could appreciate a story set anywhere along that timespan — whether it's Gideon and Harrow as little girls fighting each other (and maybe sort of half flirting, as Gideon gets to vent her frustrations with Ninth House life and Harrow gets a chance to be not the Reverend Daughter but just another frustrated and upset girl for a while), or the two of them bouncing off each other at Canaan House as it becomes harder to deny how much they mean to each other, or Gideon narrating Harrow's life and raging at just how bad her decisions have been.

This is one fandom that I'd actually be okay with AUs for, if that's something you like to write about, as long as they're framed properly. I loved the little AU bits in Harrow the Ninth, especially the Harrow Nova one, and I would not at all object to you setting up something in the same vein — one of those AUs taken further, or something entirely new of your own imagining — as long as it's implied (or stated) that this is something happening in the dreambubbles, before or during or after the novel. Maybe something Harrow's mind tried to set up before the alternate Canaan House, maybe something skipped over during the brief montage of AUs (or an extension of one of them), maybe something afterwards, as Harrow and Gideon are trying to survive being dumped into the depths of the River and their minds come together to hold off the pressure and the ghosts. You can do it as blatantly or as subtly as you like, though try to take into account the real mindset Harrow and any others would be in while creating them.

And whether canon-compliant or AU, I definitely wouldn't mind seeing the supporting cast. Cam and Pal are two of my favorites, and Isaac and Jeannemary shortly after them, but there's hardly anyone I don't like in the cast — especially the Canaan House crew. Even the oft-forgotten characters back on the Ninth House are great — I'd love to see more of Aiglamene training Gideon and gently but firmly standing up to Harrow.

As for worldbuiding, we get hints here and there of what day to day life is like in the Nine Houses, especially in Cam and Pal's short story, but there's so much more left unsaid. A story set on the Ninth House could explore a lot more of what it's actually like living on a world of aging decrepit monastics served by an army of skeletons. And at Canaan House, there'd be plenty of opportunities for other characters to talk about or compare what things are like back home. There's so much to fill out, from the use of necromancy in the infrastructure to the nature of an interstellar smut mag industry — if there's any topic you want to speculate on, go for it.

And if you're being true to the canon's tone, I fully expect at least one groan-worthy meme reference buried somewhere in the story. I am fully braced for it.

Where to find it: The publisher's website has links to buy both books at most major online stores. The short story 'The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex' is available for free on line.

Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Legendary Sorceress!:

Requested characters: Tanya, Laplace

A relatively obscure fandom that deserves more love. I've tried a fair number of light novels recently, and they've been of varying quality, but something about Sexiled just has a spark not all of them do. Maybe it's the energy in the writing, maybe it's the thrill of seeing passionate women going all-out to make the world into a better place. You can tell that the premise lit a fire in the author, and I love that her passion comes through.

What I think this fandom offers more than anything else is a chance to really vent about something. There are so many sexist problems in the world today, from major scandals to little petty day-to-day annoyances. I would be entirely on board with you finding one that matters to you, transplanting it into Pajan, and having Tanya and Laplace figure out a way to make everything better. Probably with fireballs. After all, the very inspiration for these books came from the revelation of the examination scandals in Japanese medical schools, and it got put into the first book wholesale. It's one fandom where you don't have to worry about being too on-the-nose or over-the-top. Go wild!

I also ship Tanya and Laplace, of course. It's pretty obvious that Laplace has a thing for her young protege, and equally obvious that Tanya doesn't quite realize it but also hasn't exactly rejected it. Having those feelings come out into the open could make for some very interesting changes to their dynamic, and also be a way to explore LGBT rights in Pajan — and also gender roles, as Tanya starts to question the whole 'guys marry girls; girls become homemakers' narrative on even more levels than she has already. (Of course, if you prefer them as just friends and adventuring partners, that's fine too! They work great on that level, as well.)

Needless to say, I'd also love to see the supporting cast come into play — Nadine, Katherine, Arianora, Alisa, and anyone else they've helped out. I'm also not at all averse to original characters here, possibly in the role of someone who's been caught up in some kind of sexist problem that Lilium can solve, as happened a few times in the canon. This could be any sort of person with any sort of problem — probably a woman, but if you want there's sure to be room for examining a man who's not happy with the role he's expected to play by society. Or maybe a trans person (of any gender) has never heard of the concept of being trans before, and Laplace gets eager to shepherd them through understanding themself (maybe even a little too eager, needing to be reined in by Tanya)?

Basically, the series is a brash, over-the-top, unapologetic feminist power fantasy, and I'd love to see more along those lines. Put your whole heart into it, wherever it leads you!

Where to find it: Get both books in physical or digital form at the official J-Novel Club website.

Kase-san and Morning Glories:

Requested Characters: Yamada, Kase

I've got a weakness for yuri manga, I will admit, and there's a certain appeal to slice-of-life ones that don't just focus on the struggles and misunderstandings of having a couple get together, but instead on the joys and difficulties of keeping a relationship going. And Kase-san and Morning Glories really pushes those buttons.

I don't have as many thoughts on what I'd want to see as I do for the other fandoms — this was a last-minute pick when I saw someone else had nominated it. But I love the characters, I love the way they interact, and I'd love to see more things in the spirit of the manga.

I'd love to see more on how the two of them are getting by in their college life. How do they make time for each other between classes? What sort of challenges is their coursework presenting them with? Does Yamada ever pick a horticultural project because she wants to gift it to Kase after? Does Kase ever ask Yamada to help her exercise?

As for 'worldbuilding' here, Kase and Yamada have moved to Tokyo, and I'd love to see what their daily routines are, and what sort of places they frequent beyond the ones we know of. It's not exactly deep worldbuilding, but seeing what they do for grocery shopping or if there's a restaurant or entertainment venue they like to go to together could be surprisingly interesting.

And though the cast isn't as large as some other series, the recurring characters are really neat, too. Mikawacchi would give a useful outsider's perspective on their relationship, and the various people they've met through college and sports all have their stories to tell. We also see very little of either of their families — are there any problems there? Do they have any idea Kase and Yamada are dating? Are they trying to set either of them up with boys?

Post-canon flash-forward stories could be interesting, too. I think the two of them are going to be together in the long term (it wouldn't be much of a romance story otherwise!), but what would that entail exactly? What are the two of them going to do after they graduate? Will there be any struggles with finding a job and supporting each other? How would Kase feel if she couldn't make a living from her running and Yamada ended up the breadwinner? Would they eventually get married — either moving to another country, or being part of a movement to make it legal in Japan? How would they deal with living together — what stresses could that cause, and what would be the unexpected benefits?

And one minor idea -- I'm not usually a fan of crossovers, but there are just so many good yuri manga set in Japanese school settings. If you wanted to have Kase and Yamada run into the heroines of any one of those, well, I'd at least be amused!

Where to find it: The official site at Seven Seas Entertainment has links to stores selling the physical and digital volumes.

I hope you have fun writing for whichever fandom we match on, and I hope whichever Yuletide gift you receive turns out to be a great one!