Dear Yulegoat letter, 2020

[keerawa]

Hello! I'm keerawa on the AO3. In the fandoms where I requested multiple characters, my requests are Any/Or, not a request for all of them interacting. Optional details are optional, and I know I'll love anything you write me in any of these fandoms, but if you'd like some further information on how to rock my world for Yuletide, here are some ideas.

I anyone is in the mood to treat, I adore drabbles and short fic, as well as artwork!

 

Table of Contents

 

General Likes, Dislikes, and Hot Sex tips

 

The Expanse (TV) - Naomi, Chrisjen, Amos

 

킹덤 Kingdom (TV 2019) - Any

 

Rivers of London – Peter Grant, Thomas Nightingale

 

The Boys (TV) – Mother’s Milk, Frenchie

 

Mercy Thompson - Warren Smith

The Deed of Paksenarrion - Dorrin Verrakai
 

General Likes

I'm a fan of plotty stories and case fic. I like it when interesting things happen, characters need to do something or figure something out. Even in a story where the sex or relationship is the main focus, I love having some kind of additional conflict, mystery or action going on, something that shows these characters have lives and outside interests. Characters being smart and competent really pleases me, and if some of those characters are women, queer, or people of color, all the better!

 

I like tight POV's, where I can really get into the narrator's head. I like questions of identity, magical realism and all kinds of world-building. I can get into past or present tense, 3rd or 1st person POV.

 

I enjoy angst and darkfic, up to and including deathfic, in most of my fandoms. Now, don't feel that you have to go there - I like light, happy stories too! But if your Muse leads you somewhere dark, I'm delighted to go there with you. I like it when a character's dark side and flaws are intimately related to their best qualities. It's not that I enjoy the exploration of evil, per se. More that I'm fascinated by the search for love and redemption in even the darkest of circumstances. Unless otherwise specified, I want even my dark stories to have some kind of happy, positive, or hopeful ending.

 

Unreliable narrators are a particular thrill for me. I like original characters and outsider POVs, so feel free. I'm a sucker for fannish tropes like amnesia fic, omegaverse, and soulbonds. Canon-divergence AUs fascinate me. I'm always interested in stories that reveal character backstory, and I love stories about people who know and trust each other working together as a team. If you see potential for an open or poly relationship in canon, I would enjoy reading about it! And if you are in the mood to treat, I love short fic, including drabbles.

 

General Dislikes

I don't enjoy kid fic, and pregnancy completely squicks me. I don't want any mention of COVID-19 or similar plagues in my Yuletide this year. Plots that depend on characters failing to communicate with each other bug me. Pure romantic fluff with no conflict or other plot doesn't generally work for me, and I'm not a fan of 'These characters are now pirates in the 1700's' or coffee shop alternate setting AUs. I'd rather avoid fics focusing on cheating or infidelity. Gender-bending generally disappoints me, unless there is canonical reason to question or alter the character's gender. I avoid crack-fic. No holiday-themed stories, unless you are inventing holidays as part of your world-building, in which case, please carry-on! Although I admire a well-crafted sentence, I'm not really into poetic or flowery language.

 

Hot Sex

I read and enjoy lots of G-PG fic, and most of my requests this year are gen. But if you should be in the mood to write porn, yay! I like slash, het, and femme-slash. I'm a fan of intense relationships. People who love each other beyond all reason. Even if you're writing about a hook-up or business transaction, I want it to be in response to some deep need, not just a casual fling. Kink works for me, if you want to go there. You don't have to - one of the hottest stories I ever read never went past a purely vanilla first base. Passionate, nervous first-time kissing. Mmmmm.

 

My favorite kinks include dirty talk, voyeurism, masturbation, pain, bloodplay, knife-play, marking, bondage, orgasm denial, xeno, tentacles, loyalty kink, and power-imbalances. Most importantly, though, it needs to be in-character, be about these two people, what they want and need. Kinks are all about trust. I don't generally enjoy non-con or trash party scenarios, but dub-con, especially when a character is forced into something they secretly want and enjoy, but could not take, sets me off like a fire-cracker. (*coughs* omega-verse) Mind control is very, very hot, with or without consent play involved. I'm absolutely into mind control, hypnosis, sex pollen, etc, where someone is forced into participating in and enjoying sex. I enjoy the build-up and character reveal of kink negotiation, but being thrown right into the middle of an intense scene can also be very powerful and arousing. Both work for me.

 

I'm not generally into fisting, golden showers, scat-play, clothing-fetishes, DS as a lifestyle, necrophilia, or bestiality. Those are soft no's. One thing that seriously turns me off is fic where the character's kink is because of some childhood trauma, sexual assault, or anything like that. Pregnancy, male or female, is a hard no.

 

 

The Expanse (TV): Naomi Nagata, Chrisjen Avasarala, Amos Burton

DNW: Pregnancy/childbirth, proto-molecule horror or body horror, non-con between major characters, narrative focus on Holden, focus on children, unhappy endings, mention of COVID or a similar plague

THIS SHOW! All the found family love, distinct and competing cultures on Earth, Mars, and the Belt, issues of class and imperialism, plots that depend on all the people, even when in opposition to each other, being so damn smart. What a fabulous diverse cast. Four seasons in, and I am blown away by the plotting, world-building, and characters. The science even makes sense! I haven’t read the books, but if you want to share some insight from them with me as a part of your story, feel free.

Because this show is such a wonderful ensemble, I had a difficult time deciding which characters to request. Please consider my character request Any of the above, rather than a requirement that they all be in the given fic. 

* Naomi is a big damn hero. She's intelligent and moral. She makes choices, and accepts the consequences of those choices without flinching. (Responsibility for Amos, taking refugees onto the Somnambulist, saving the protomolecule specimen.) I would appreciate any story showcasing this aspect of her personality and history.

* I'd like a story that either explores Naomi making the decision to leave Marco Inaros, or how she met Amos and became his moral compass.

* Chrisjen was born into a position of privilege and wealth. She worked with intelligence, charm, insane ambition, Machiavellian pragmatism, and her uniquely female style of hard-ball politics, until she’s running the whole planet. It seems less a selfish ambition than her not trusting anyone else to be in charge and without fucking things up. She disappointed me last season, and I think herself as well, so I'd love to see some kind of redemption story arc for Chrisjen.

 * Chrisjen & Bobbie Draper: Loyalty kink! These two should be enemies, and I really enjoyed the way canon slowly built trust between them. I would love to read a story in which Chrisjen is determined to win Staff Sergeant Draper's loyalty - not only because she is a skilled bodyguard, or because her reliable testimony could be vital in the future, but because Chrisjen wants to be worthy of that loyalty, to prove it to herself as much as to Bobbie.

* Bobbie/Chrisjen -  What can I say, they are both so very hot in very different ways! If anyone can save Chrisjen from herself, its Bobbie. And Chrisjen would absolutely be willling to use sex as a lever, for getting what she needs. Please don't demonize Chrisjen's husband as part of this or focus on their relationship as an infidelity. I'd be happy with an open marriage, or you could leave Arjun and their marriage out of the story.

 * Amos fascinates me! He’s apparently a former sex worker, possibly a former organized crime figure, current mechanic and ship-mate, protecting his people and dedicating himself to a Good Person who will tell him when it’s okay to kill, because he can’t seem to figure out the rules. (He reminds me of Bothari, from the Vorkosigan books, in that sense.) I’d like to read some of his back story. Feel free to go very dark with it, as long as there is some happy ending, resolution, or redemption to be found.

 * Amos &/ any It's not that I think Amos is the fandom's little black dress, or can make friends with anyone. On the contrary, I think he finds it incredibly difficult to relate to other people. So I would be delighted to read a story where Amos truly connects with someone, whether in his past, present, or future. That could be sexual, or not. Naomi, Alex, Anna, Praxidike, an OC - you decide!

 * Tattoos: Naomi gets a traditional Belter tattoo after leaving the Rocinante. Amos has a whole set of them. I’d love to read a story showing the how/when/why either or both of them decided to get their tattoos. (Of course, for Amos, it might not have been his decision.)

 * World-building: I’m fascinated by what we see of Belter culture, and the Belter language. I’m not a linguist, but if you have any inclination to explore that, I would be incredibly excited to read what you come up with! Belter bed-time or ghost stories? Earth fairy tales transmuted over time, distance, and cultural drift to something that speaks to the Belters? Traditional songs? Write me the heart of the beltalowda. If you have a Belter world-building story in mind that doesn't feature any of my requested characters, you have my explicit permission to write it.

 * History is written by the victors. Show me the conflicting coverage of some canonical event by different sources – Earth, Mars, and Belter, absolutely. But what about the pirate broadcasts on Earth, or the OPA party line versus rumor out among the asteroid hoppers?

* Earth as a utopia/dystopia. I'd love a story where Naomi or some other Belter asks Chrisjen to describe Earth while Amos is in the room. Chrisjen tells the truth - based on her experience. And Amos's internal dialog shows the contrast, what Earth is like for the undocumented.

 * Fusion with The Wire: According to the season 5 trailer, Amos is going back to Baltimore to settle some unfinished business!  I'd love to read a story where one or more of my favorite characters from The Wire (Omar Little, Stringer Bell, Bubbles, Kima Greggs) are part of Amos's backstory, growing up in Baltimore, OR are Belters. Naomi/Kima and Amos/Omar both sound amazing. 

 *  Fusion with Black Sails: The parallels between Nassau and Belter culture interest me, with that tension between a distant imperial corporate super-power and the people trying to live between the cracks and make a future for themselves and their people.  I would be thrilled to see some of the Black Sails characters make their way in this future. You could even do something clever, crossing over or set in both time periods, if you felt inspired.  I had a wonderful author write me a story with Max running a Belter brothel, and it made me hungry for more. Gen, Naomi/Max or Amos/Flint would be great   Flint would be such a terrible moral compass for Amos! 

 

킹덤 Kingdom (TV 2019): any (ie Cho Beom-pal, Seo-bi, Yeong-shin, Prince Lee Chang)

 DNW: pregnancy/childbirth, PWP, narratives that draw significant parallels between zombie plague and COVID

This intense 12 episode TV series shows a zombie apocalypse in Korea during the Joseon period.  It showcases fabulous costumes, political intrigue, thrilling action and true zombie horror as the plague gradually overtakes the countryside.  It's available on Netflix! 

I'm more interested in plot and world-building than sex or romance in this canon, but I'm fine with a relationship B story as part of a fic. This show has a lot of dark themes, and I am totally on board for canonical levels of horror, gore, cannibalism, murderous intrigue, etc. Character death is entirely acceptable, and if you want to write grimdark, this is the fandom where I'd want to read it. 

 * This canon seems like it would make for a perfect interactive fiction, with lots of horrific and varied death-by-zombie endings and just one or two ways you might make it out alive.

 * Seo-bi is clearly an excellent physician, and (as the scene where Cho Beom-pa tries to propose to her shows) just as clearly terrible with people.  A story using this for some dark humor would be a lot of fun to read.

 * Yeong-sin's backstory intrigues me, particularly how a peasant found a place in such a skilled and respected military unit. He was involved in the campaign where the zombie infection was first weaponized.  Anything exploring this would be fantastic. Also - his actions in trying to save people from starvation accidentally led caused this apocalypse, and I'm curious he feels about that.

 * This is very dark, but I would like to read a story from the perspective of someone who has been infected, knows it, and is desperately trying to complete one essential task.

 * I was sceptical about the Crown Prince throughout the series, but his renouncing the throne at the end, for the sake of Mu-yeong's son and the good of the nation, won me over.  I'd like to see him interacting with his father in a way that sheds light on his moral code, whether in the past, a hallucination during the drowning scene, or in the afterlife. 

* The interactions between the Crown Prince and Mu-yeong interest me. Loyalty kink and hard choices are favorite tropes of mine. A story from Mu-yeong's POV as he transitions from his original performative loyalty to true respect and earned loyalty towards Prince Chang, even as he is reluctantly betraying him, would be catnip.

 * I'm intrigued by the ending of season 2. I feel like Cho Beom-pal and the others are raising the young king with ... a unique and side-ways view of the recent past. I would like to see some insights into this, and how he feels about it. Ooh, perhaps a jesa ceremony?

 * I'd love to read the introduction to an article in a scholarly journal / get a guided tour of an exhibit in modern day examining some aspect of the Joseon zombie incident. If this includes none of the nominated characters, that's fine!

 

Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch Peter Grant, Thomas Nightingale

DNW: pregnancy/birth, COVID,  partner betrayal, non-magical AU, PWP, explicit on-screen non-con in this fandom, focus on Lesley, children or domesticity

I adore the magical system, and this very posh, imperial British system being subverted by Nightingale who apparently has an entirely different criteria for who might make a good apprentice.  I lived in London in the early 90’s, and this series re-introduced me to it, in all of its glory and history and ridiculousness, like an old friend.  The bits about how policing has changed, so now they actually prefer to bring in the person who committed the crime over someone random, is hilarious.  But the thing that truly made me fall in love with these books is how the young London constable finds out that there are magical people and beings all around him, and rather than viewing them as threats to be intimidated and put down as necessary, he thinks of them as the community members it’s his duty to protect.

This is an ANY/OR character request, not a demand for both in one story.  I'm very open to stories exploring modern issues in London including police and community responses to Brexit and BLM, but please nothing to do with COVID.  My prompts are plotty gen, but I'm open to sex or romance within a larger.  I’d be happy with Peter/Nightingale (so long as Beverly isn’t character-bashed) or Peter/Beverly/Nightingale. If you pair Nightingale with someone else, that's fine too, although you might have some heavy lifting to convince me the man is straight!

I realize not everyone has read the graphic novels and comics; feel free to incorporate that part of canon or leave it out. I haven’t read False Value yet, but I will by the time the collection opens. (I'm honestly a little worried about Peter not being part of the police force. We'll see how it goes!) I enjoy Peter's first-person narrative in canon, but if that's not your thing, feel free to write it in your own style and POV.

*  Show me the magical underpinning of some real-world event in London.

*  Case-fic!  I love the tension of kidnappings, but I have a soft spot for any kind of case-fic.  Peter’s professional ethics and morality are important to me, so if that can somehow be incorporated in the story, I’d be thrilled.

 * Community policing in the demi-monde.  How does that work, exactly?  How does Peter earn the trust of people who have spent their lives viewing the Isaacs, and the Nightingale in particular, as an occupying force?

  *  The fact that Nightingale and the rest of the Folly were completely, willfully ignorant of all non-European magical traditions is very provocative.  I’d love a story where Peter gets a chance to explore the magical traditions of another culture.  Does he learn from a witch-finder in Sierra Leone or an I-Ching diviner?  Perhaps he travels to America to study with a shaman?

 *  I was struck, in the books, by Peter’s patient awareness of people’s reaction to him as a black man, and the pragmatic ways he works around it.  I adore the page of the comic where a witness refuses to answer DC Guleed’s questions, demanding a 'real policeman', and Nightingale shows up, courteously questions him, and then asks how in the world his boat ended up stuck in a tree like that.  I’d like a story where Peter and Sahra bond over their shared experience of being police and PoC, or where one or both of them help Nightingale understand what kind of support they need from a superior officer.

 *  Nightingale’s time in the war comes back to haunt him.  This could be a very dark story, with all of the horror of war-time Britain compounded by what Nightingale saw and experienced at Ettersberg.  I’d like to see Molly, Peter, or both doing what they can to help.

 *  Dark Operation Paperclip AU.  Operation Ettersburg involved too many fatalities, but otherwise went as planned. The leaders of the Folly took that information from the Nazis and used it, recruiting like-minded Nazi practitioners after the war to bolster their ranks. The Little Crocodiles, or men like them, are the ones running the show. Is Nightingale Public Enemy Number One, or secretly working to undermine the system from the inside? Would magic be public or kept secret? How would Peter fit into this reality?  What about Molly?  Eeeee!

 *   I'm intrigued by Nightingale aging backwards as magic surged in Britain.  How has he changed over time?  What does he think of how the world has changed around him?  What if Peter comes across a younger version of Nightingale (amnesia, time-travel, etc.) and is unimpressed by that version of him? How would he and Nightingale work through the repercussions?   A story that explores Nightingale's very particular system of ethics and responsibility would also be interesting.

 * Nightingale being both empowered and constrained by his own legend among those of the demi-monde, either in a practical or a literal, magical sense. Belief is power!

 * Fusion with 221b Baker Towers:  "Toss out what's impossible. Then take a good hard look at whatever's left, bruv, 'cause don't matter how mad, it's true." Sherlock believes the evidence of his senses, but is very, very suspicious of PC Grant and some posh DCI in his ends ‘taking an interest’. This is a gritty, fan-sourced, modern day adaptation of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes where Sherlock is a young black man growing up on a council estate in London, with almost no actual canon.

 * Fusion with Highlander:  I've got 3 potential prompts in mind here.  1)  Nightingale might recognize Duncan MacLeod, in modern-day London, from his time working during WWII living in London, as part of the Resistance, or working for the British secret service.  2) A murder scene with decapitation and evidence of lightning strikes being investigated as a possible Falcon case. 3) Methos has finally tracked down those records of Nazi magical experimentation that went missing during the war, and gets caught trying to sneak into the Folly to destroy them.

* Fusion with Foyle’s War: Thomas Nightingale, barely functioning after Ettersberg, is sent to work with Foyle and Sam in cleaning up a very disturbing library. Perhaps this is the beginning of The Arrangement?

 

The Boys (TV) – Mother’s Milk, Frenchie
DNW: pregnancy/birth, COVID, on-screen non-con, focus on children, focus on white supremacy, graphic on-screen overdose

It’s rare that a TV show manages to shock me, and this one has. I’ve spit-taked, I’ve had to stand up and walk away, I’ve been completely thrown by plot-twists. This is a dark, fucked-up, hilarious show rich in found family tropes - if you can write me a story that captures some of that energy I’d be delighted.

This is an ANY/OR request, rather than requiring both characters in one story. My prompts are mostly plotty, but I am open to any rating, het or slash. This canon seems a particularly good one for IF or an artwork treat, given its origin as a comic and over-the-top style. I'm still finishing up season 2, so some of my prompts might evolve as I do. I haven't read the comics yet, but if you have and would like to incorporate some of that canon into the story you write, go ahead.

I know we’re meant to empathize with Hughie, but Mother’s Milk is the one I can relate to. Mother’s Milk is remarkably sane. He got out, made himself a life worth living, and then got dragged back in.   So I would enjoy any story from his POV, about his past, present, or future.  I loved watching him build that exquisite doll’s house in the basement of a gang hide-out, and the story about his father and Vought – wow. 

* Does MM ever get tired of being the adult? Did he ever decide to, for just one day, NOT be the sensible one, and what were the ridiculous and appalling results?

* MM speaks Tagalog and was trained as a field medic. Write about a time when he used those skill-sets to save a life.

* In season two the show called out Mother's Milk's OCD; if you can explore that with some sensitivity, I’d love to read a story that shows how that impacts him. If you don't have any experience with it or or desire to research OCD, feel free to leave that aspect of his character out of the story you write.

* What happened between Frenchie and Mother’s Milk back in the day? There’s lots of directions you could go with this! If you’d be interested in writing them as a pair, whether friends-with-benefits or full on romantically involved in the past, and show me how that blew up so badly neither of them will ever even mention it again, I’d be fascinated.

* I would enjoy a caper-fic with Frenchie/Cherie/Jay relationship and/or porn back in the day. The necessity of dodging supes, minor and major, must make everything that much more risky - and exciting. Maybe share the details on what they did to overcome or avoid those supes that so intrigued Mallory?

* Frenchie really wants his people to be happy.  ("Oh, the bachelor party I will throw you. How do you feel about transgender strippers?") He's a romantic at heart! A story with him earnestly giving Hughie terrible and terribly graphic advice on how to get Annie into bed and make sure she's happy to stay there all day would be hilarious.

* Frenchie’s back-story interests me. How does someone with with a background as a thief and sex worker become so gifted with electronics and chemicals? Is this guy a self-trained genius, or did he break away from some criminal organization? How did he get to the US as a teenager? When did he work as an assassin, and why?

*I'd like to see Frenchie putting a real effort into trying to learn/figure out Kimiko's signs, or even start developing a new shared language with her the way she once did with her brother.

* Deadly Class fusion: "If you could get away with murdering someone, who would it be?" Here are two dark, ultra-violent comics with live-action TV show adaptations that could really work together.  What we know about Frenchie's background would make him fit right in as a rat at King's Dominion! I enjoy the 80's setting of Deadly Class, but it's entirely up to you if you slide Frenchie back into that era, or move the characters from Deadly Class up into the 21st century. If you're interested in shipping, Frenchie is enthusiastically pansexual so you could pair him up with anyone, but I'd love to read Willie with him on the DL.

Mercy Thompson - Warren Smith

DNW: pregnancy/childbirth, COVID, unhappy ending, no-werewolves AU, focus on internalized homophobia

This book series is one of my favorites! I adore every one of the nominated characters, but I always want to see more of Warren than we get in canon, especially since he’s so tight-lipped, so I’m requesting a focus on him this year.

* When Mercy first met Warren he was working at the local Stop & Rob. Convenience store clerk is second only to cabbie as the most dangerous, violence-prone jobs in this country. And that’s why he loves it. Tell me about an attempted robbery at the Stop & Rob when Warren’s working the night shift.

* I’m intrigued by the fact that Warren has been hiding how dominant he is, for decades, because the pack couldn’t cope with him as second. How does he hide this? Did someone teach him? Who and how

* Five times Warren fell in love and kept it to himself, and one time he didn’t. (Bonus points if Kyle is a total bad-ass in this story.)

* Case-fic! Warren is a private investigator for Kyle’s law-firm. Write me a case-fic! Is he investigating some douchebag trying to keep his wife from divorcing him via supernatural means?

* Kink negotiation! Kyle trying to entice Warren into trying something new, but Warren’s concerned it might trigger some violent instinct or bad memory. Maybe it goes great, maybe it’s a terrible failure, but whatever happens I know Kyle would be awesome about it.

* Warren is a very old-school version of masculinity – the strong and silent cowboy, stoic, honorable, gentle and protective. Kyle is delightfully flaming. I’d enjoy a story (plotty or PWP) that somehow invokes or plays with that contrast.

* Kyle defends Warren's place in the pack with his own unique skill set.

* Warren, Kyle, and Mercy get together for movie night and watch a Western. Warren gradually, with their encouragement, starts to MST the fuck out of it for being unrealistic.

* Fusion with The Good Fight:  Kalinda Sharma trained Warren and helped him get his documentation and PI license. How did they meet? Did they bond over their hidden sexualities? Is Kalinda a werewolf too? Enquiring minds want to know!

* Fusion with Yellowstone: Warren worked as a hand on the Yellowstone at one point in the past and befriended Rip and Kayce Dutton. When he finds out they’re in trouble, he shouldn’t get involved – but he does. (If you ship Warren with either, I'm 100% in!)

 

The Deed of Paksenarrion - Elizabeth Moon - Dorrin Verrakai

DNW: pregnancy/childbirth, COVID-like plague, graphic on-screen non-con, mundane AU, graphic sexualized torture

There are so many things I love about The Deed of Paksenarrion! One of them is seeing Paks grow and change as she is trained, first among Duke Phelan's Company and then with the Order of Saint Gird. The world-building that combines realistic military writing with magic and religion also really interested me. So when I saw the list of nominated characters, Dorrin Verrakai jumped out at me as an opportunity to explore some of these same themes, but with a darker tone than canon. My prompts are plotty gen, but if you want to include sex or romance as part of a larger story, feel free!

* We get this handful of very dark glimpses of what life was like growing up for her, with power and privilege but expected to worship Liart. Why did Dorrin refuse to worship Liart? How did she find her way to Falk?  Were there people in her community who worshipped in other ways, and she was inspired by them? Was there a moment when she was expected to do something and knew it was wrong?

* I'd like to know more about Falk and/or the Falkian religion.  How do those who follow him think of his time of imprisonment and slavery? I'd enjoy any kind of world-building around songs, pageantry, festivals and rituals. Dorrin certainly doesn't proselytize, but if one of the recruits asked to know more, what would she say about who Falk was and why he's worthy of her service?

* We get to see Paksenarrion's spiritual journey in canon - show me Dorrin's. Does Dorrin have a personal relationship or experience of Falk? Does she feel like Falk saved her from the darkness? Was she mostly just going through the motions because she liked the people who worshipped Falk at first, and then her faith became real?

* Dorrin was clearly educated in dark magic, and so her perspective is a great opportunity for world-building around that. The dark holy symbols, the body-swapping, eeep.

* I'd like to know more about Dorrin's magic sword, where it came from, and how it is important to her.

* I imagine that training with the Knights of Falk was a huge culture shock for Dorrin, after escaping her family. Show me all the ways that she was unprepared, the challenges that were child's play to her, the things everyone knew that she had no clue about. Did she have a friend or mentor who helped her through this? 

* The Knight Commander of Falk protected Dorrin from her family when they tracked her down, and yet refused to let her attempt to become a Paladin of Falk. I'd be interested in finding out more about their relationship. I can see her desperately trying to live up to his highest expectations, to prove that she's not tainted by her family and history, and being crushed by his final verdict that she's just not good enough.

* I can imagine Dorrin trying to act as a mentor to Barranyi in her cohort, and that going badly wrong. 

* Show me an intimate meal in the early days of Phelan's Company, with Kieri, Dorrin and Tammarrion good friends, laughing and teasing each other. If you'd like to push this into poly territory, I'm up for it! But I'd also be very happy with a platonic fic, in which Dorrin has some bittersweet remembrances of when she and Kieri were together, but honestly respects and likes Tammarrion and will do her Falkian oath-sworn best to protect and care for them and their children. (Vague references to Tammarrion's canonical pregnancy are fine and will not violate by DNW, but please no graphic descriptions.)

* Near the end of Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Phelan goes through a very dark time as his company is pursuing the Honeycat. We see hints in canon the Dorrin loves him, or had in the past. Did she try to intervene? Was there a tension between her personal loyalty and her faith, as she was ordered to do things she didn't feel were right? How did she resolve those tensions?

 

In Conclusion

To me, fanfic is all about getting a chance to explore characters in ways that the original source didn't allow. I love these characters, these worlds - show me something I didn't know about them, and that's the best present you can give me.

 

Your Eager Recipient,

 

- keerawa