Dear Yuletide Writer 2022

[suburban_sun]

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thanks for signing up for this exchange! This is the ninth (omg) year I’ve participated now, and I’ve always enjoyed it– I hope you do, too. I'm looking forward to reading whatever you write! (And for anyone else stumbling across this letter, know that treats are always welcomed.)

Below you’ll find the following:

• My Requests
• About Me
• General Likes/Kinks
• General DNWs
• Fandom Specifics/Prompts

My Requests:

• Mad Men - Peggy Olson, Stan Rizzo
• Mythic Quest - Ian Grimm, Poppy Li
• The Other Two - Brooke Dubek, Lance Arroyo
• Loot - Molly Novak, Arthur

I’ve tried to list some varied prompts for each fandom, but please don’t feel like you have to stick to what I’ve come up with. If the rest of my letter gives you another idea you’d like to write, I’d love to read it!


A little about me to start:

My AO3 name is SuburbanSun; you can also check out my Tumblr if you’d like: unbreakablejemmasimmons. 


General Likes/Kinks:

Fave shippy tropes:

• Rivals/enemies to lovers
• Secret dating/sneaking around
• FWBs that turns into something more
• Fake dating
• Mutual pining
• “The love is requited they’re just idiots"/idiots to lovers
• Truth serum/in vino veritas

Fave gen tropes and story elements:

• Found family dynamics
• Competency/mutual respect
• Shenanigans/heists
• Time travel
• Time loops

Subversions of tropes are also great! 

Most of my prompts tend toward canon universe ideas because that’s just what I tend to think of first, but I enjoy AUs too, and here are a few types that I’m always a sucker for:

• Secret Service/bodyguard/witness protection AUs
• Private eye AUs
• Politics AUs (like my requested characters running for office or working on a campaign)
• Vampire slayer AUs
• Food truck or food critic AUs

Epistolary style, either as a small part of a story or as all of it, is always fun to me, if it’s up your alley. Phone calls! Emails! Letters! Post-It notes! I love it all!

Smut is cool and fun and here are some things that I like:

• Teasing
• Phone sex/sexting
• Semi-public sex (not actually getting caught though)
• Workplace sex
• Dirty talk
• Oral sex
• Playfulness/joking around during sex.

General DNWs:

Superangst and sad endings. Babyfic/kidfic/pregnancy. Noncon/dubcon. A/B/O. Mpreg. Incest. Poly/threesomes/orgies. Members of my ships being paired romantically with other people (unless it’s just briefly, on the way to an OTP-happy ending). First person POV (except in epistolary elements).

Fandom Specifics/Prompts:

Mad Men
Peggy Olson, Stan Rizzo

I love and miss this show so much. It was so smart and made me feel so many things, and in truth, Peggy Olson is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction. I know I request this show and these characters every year, but I truly always want more of these two!

Peggy/Stan is such a great ship, to me, and one I was on board with from the very beginning. Omitting his boorish behavior early on, once they established a rapport, they were such equals, and he seemed to respect her so much, and vice versa. They got on each other’s nerves and knew how to push each other’s buttons, but that’s just because they connected so well and really got each other.

 

Prompts:

• I adore the time period where they’re basically phone buddies. Maybe an AU where they get together earlier in the series, during that time? How their phone conversations evolve from discussing work to discussing everything to falling for each other (or realizing they already had)? Phone sex (or getting ever-so-close to it before realizing they’re in the office and it’s inappropriate) is a-okay here too.
• In the same vein, epistolary fic could be really fun to play around with here. Maybe a story told through a series of interoffice memos, messages, notes in the margins of copy pitches and along the edges of spec art?
• They’re working through the weekend on some pitch or another, holed up in the office with a stash of booze and half-empty cartons of Chinese food, but they can’t focus on work ALL night, can they?

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Mythic Quest
Ian Grimm, Poppy Li

This show was such a fun discovery for me as I browsed Apple+. I’d heard good things, but the first episode hadn’t grabbed me, and I’m glad I stuck around because by episode 3 I was cackling out loud. Then the quarantine episode had me crying, followed by Everlight, which buoyed my heart. It’s been a wild ride!

I particularly love the relationship between Ian and Poppy as it’s laid out in the show. I don’t ship them romantically (though I suppose the show could convince me if they went in that direction!), but I love their prickly partnership, their codependence, and the way that they are maybe the only people in the world who really, begrudgingly, get each other. I would love something that explores that!

Note: I will be watching season 3 week-to-week so feel free to reference that in your fic! Also I love everyone in this bar, so any other characters are welcome. 

Prompts:

• I’d love something that explores either of the characters’ personal lives, since we see so few glimpses of them in the show.
• Ian loves to hear himself talk, so I could see him starting a podcast— either as part of their new endeavor or separately, about gaming or something else. Poppy thinks it’s dumb and that nobody will listen— but is secretly annoyed that he hasn’t invited her on as a guest yet.
• It really tugged on my dumb heartstrings when Ian sought out Poppy when he was in the hospital in season 2, or when he showed up--unexpectedly, but right when she needed him--at her doorstep in the quarantine episode, so while I don't really ship them romantically, I would welcome more of that neediness and comfort.

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The Other Two
Brooke Dubek, Lance Arroyo

This might be the funniest show on TV right now, to me. I was thrilled when it finally came back for a second season, and laughed out loud throughout. I love every character and the different dynamics between them, but I particularly am charmed every time Lance reappears. He’s the perfect himbo, so genuine and yet so stupid. And yet somehow he’s finding success! I really love that Brooke will always have a soft spot for Lance (and seemingly vice versa) and would love to see these two crazy kids work things out.

This is another “I love everyone in this bar” situation so happy to see any of the other characters pop up!

Prompts:

• I’m really rooting for Brooke to find actual success and happiness in her career. Along the way, is there an opportunity for her and Lance to work together? A collab of some kind between one of Brooke’s future clients and Lance’s fashion line?
• What if Brooke had called Lance instead of inviting Cary over when she was lonely in her new apartment?
• Brooke found out in the finale that Lance had broken up with his girlfriend, right after she’d told him she didn’t want to be with him. How does she handle this newfound knowledge? Does she take it back and make a move, or does her pride get in the way?

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Loot
Molly Novak, Arthur

Clearly I love an Apple+ comedy, and this one was such a charmer! It felt like one of those shows doomed to only get one season before it finds its footing, so I was pleased to hear it's been renewed! Love Maya Rudolph, love Nat Faxon, and from the very start, was into the sweet crush-y dynamic between their characters. It feels like the kind of slow burn sitcom romance I tend to always love. 

Prompts:

• Molly woke up in bed with a certain someone else at the end of season 1, but I imagine that won't end well. Maybe she ends up at a bar venting to Arthur about it, even all the while knowing that's a bad idea.
• I was so charmed by the bird painting, so let's hear about more about that! What does Arthur think when he sees it in his house every day? Maybe Molly can't or shouldn't buy him another expensive painting, so maybe someday on down the road she paints him one herself (and is, probably, terrible at it)?
• Tropey goodness between Molly and Arthur sounds fun. Do they have to pretend to be married or dating, or share the same yurt at some kind of fancy rich-person retreat? 
• Speaking of, the ostentatiousness of Molly's wealth is so funny to me, so even though she's committed to giving her money away now, feel free to include the most ridiculous lifestyle choices you can think of. 

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So, that’s that! I really hope you enjoy the whole process this Yuletide season, and thanks for participating! Happy writing!