Dear Yuletide Author

[triplesalto]

Hello and welcome to my Yuletide letter. Thank you in advance for writing for me!

AO3 name: triplesalto
Likes: f/f, quiet moments in the middle of chaos, women who make themselves agents of change despite the personal cost, women who never give up.
DNWs: hard kink, bodily fluids, character death, Republicans.

General note: For all of my fandoms holiday-fic is welcomed but certainly not required. (If setting holiday-fic in The Traitor Baru Cormorant, please invent a winter holiday instead of importing any of ours.) I do ask that the story not focus on religion or the religious aspects of a holiday, however.

Fandoms: The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson, Political RPF - US 21st c., Tea (Anthropomorphic)

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The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
{Baru Cormorant; Tain Hu}

This book is heartbreaking. I understand the authorial choices in plot and tone, and I know Baru’s story has more books still being written. Nonetheless, what I found myself longing for most was the ‘happier’ ending I knew wouldn’t be forthcoming.

Is there a universe in which Baru’s love for Tain Hu made her give up her earlier plans, and instead stay in Aurdwynn as its Queen? In which they know that their life together will not last long, because the Masquerade will return to reconquer, but it’s enough to have a few short years? Obviously this would be a very bittersweet choice for Baru to make, and I would be entirely okay with her being conflicted and tormented about it, but I want some joy for them – however fleeting - so much.

If that doesn’t appeal to you, I’m also interested in Tain Hu’s perspective on Baru. How did she fall in love with Baru? What is it like to love Baru? What is she thinking during their one night together? What is she thinking after Baru sends her away, and she refuses to accept her own safety? {One caveat: please nothing set during the period after Tain Hu is captured.} How does Baru’s arrival in Aurdwynn, and her early actions, complicate Tain Hu’s life? How does Tain Hu’s relationship with her duchy compare with Baru’s relationship with Taranoke?

Finally, I would alternatively be interested in a story about Baru’s parents and what it was like raising, loving, and losing such a talented daughter, particularly to a state that was responsible for the disappearance (and presumably torture and death) of one of her fathers. Or in an ensemble story about Baru as seen through the eyes of the women in her life, both in Taranoke and Aurdwynn.

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Political RPF - US 21st c.
{Hillary Clinton}

I respect Hillary and have a great deal of admiration for her. I am far to the left of her politically, but I strongly believe that her pragmatism, willingness to work for change even if the progress seems incremental, and refusal to ever give up are not only what the country needs in a President, but the best approach to effect change given Washington’s current gridlock. While I may disagree with her positions on some specific issues, I know that on all issues she will consult experts, draw upon all available knowledge, and do her best with the hand she is dealt. I fundamentally trust her at the helm of the country.

I love this short piece about her, and the photograph it is based around. I love this story about how Hillary listens, and I especially love the card-table story.

Tell me the story about how she went undercover as a young woman to uncover racial discrimination in school admissions. Tell me about how she deals with people attacking her, all through the long years. Tell me about why she keeps fighting, why she keeps trying to bring positive change, even though she could have retired long ago. Tell me what it’s like to lose an incredibly close primary contest, when you thought you would win, and then accept a role in your rival’s Cabinet.

Tell me about nerd-Hillary through the years. Tell me about her long Cabinet memos, her desire to get down to the nitty-gritty details. Tell me about how all the image crap she has to deal with, the pantsuits and haircuts and voice modulation, the appropriate calibration of laughs and smiles, when all she really wants to do is talk about the issues. Tell me about how she deals with the personal abuse, the cries of ‘hang the bitch’ and all the other horrible slogans. Tell me about Hillary the fighter.

Tell me about when she’s happiest. Tell me about when she feels the most fulfilled, about when she feels like she’s made a real difference in the world.

Tell me what it’s like to get pneumonia during one of the most important months in your political career, and somehow force your body to recover in time for the first debate. Tell me about that debate, about how many hours of preparation went into it and what the reaction was afterwards.

Tell me about the relationship between Hillary and Barack, and how their mutual respect grew during her years in his Cabinet. Tell me about her relationship with Barbara and Laura Bush, and how they both desperately want her to win. Tell me about her relationship with Chelsea and her grandchildren, and how they help fuel her to keep fighting.

Tell me a story about what happens after the election. Win or lose, what happens next? If she wins, tell me a story about election night, about the first moment she knows for sure that she will be the President. Or tell me a story about Christmas 2016, as she prepares for the Inauguration.

For Hillary, I am not interested in shipfic unless you want to write an AU in which she falls in love with a woman instead of Bill and becomes the first lesbian President. You don’t have to avoid mentioning Bill in other stories, but I am not interested in fic that focuses on their relationship.

And if none of this sounds like something you would like to write, perhaps you'd like to tell me a story about how any/all of the Trump women have been secret double agents all along (or have become so over the course of the campaign) and are doing their best to leak things/undermine him/encourage him to be inflammatory. Did Tiffany and Marla spend weeks going through old records to find the tax info that was mailed to the NYT? Does Ivanka egg her father on? (Ivanka/Chelsea is an optional pairing but not required.) Does Melania secretly donate to Hillary and/or text her about his most sensitive spots?

Update (11/8): I don't know what to say. This is a nightmare.

All of the above prompts still apply. Other thoughts: Alternate universes in which she won. Break-your-heart Election Night fic in which Hillary thinks about her past, her present, and her future. Emotional comfort and/or group hugs between her and the Obamas/Bidens/etc. (and shared vows to continue fighting for Good). Futurefic in which a future Democratic President reflects on how this campaign and this loss pushed them to put themselves on the line for their country, damn the cost. (Especially if they are a woman and Hillary lives to see the day. Make me cry happy tears.)

The only things that I ask: 1) No Donald Trump whatsoever (except as a side character in the crackfic Melania-Ivanka-don't-support-him prompts). I can't handle him right now. 2) Please don't break Hillary entirely. Obviously these results are devastating but I need to imagine that she's picking herself up off the mat like the fighter she is, not finding herself as shattered as I am. (She is far stronger than me.) Melancholy ending rather than full-on dark gloom/horror/terror, please.

Thank you, dear writer.

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Tea (Anthropomorphic)
{Any – Earl Grey; Green Tea; Lapsang Souchong; Oolong}

Seeing this fandom in the tagset was a delight. Fic about any of these teas, either separately or in concert, is sure to be wonderful.

I am particularly fond of this utterly charming comment on FFA, which is what tipped me over into requesting this fandom:

I'd see Earl Grey as a former upper-crust type, but down on his luck these days, turning up in teabag form (with flavouring, no less!) in places as undistinguished as Starbucks, serving as the second choice for someone who can't find a good Irish/English breakfast. He thinks very well of himself, but he knows his nice tailored suits are fraying around the hems.

Green tea is an everyman(woman?) type, well-travelled, flexible, kind of inscrutable. They are a bit of a health nut, and they tend to start talking about antioxidants kind of out of the blue. They can talk to anyone though, and they have a surprisingly sarcastic (bitter :p) undertone if left alone too long. A little needy. But you can bring green tea anywhere. They dress up or down easily, and anyone who dislikes them is a bit weird anyway. :p

Agreed on Lapsang Souchong being cultured and shy, though I think they're a little caught up in the hipster buzz right now, and are enjoying being sold in cool, trendy tea shops. As a person, I think they're nothing to look at, very average, but with an amazingly sexy voice. They really pride themselves on being a love-it-or-hate-it drink, and if pushed, will kind of gleefully point out that the people who love them, love them for life.

Oolong isn't one tea for me, but a family of brothers and sisters who share hair/eye colour or some other distinctive feature (nose?), but all look radically different. There's some tall and broad shouldered, some plump and cheerful, some small and cute. Milk oolong is a large, plump woman with very soft skin and a nice smile, who's extremely comforting and great for cheering you up when you're down. Some of the siblings are a bit fussy about their place in the hierarchy of the family, especially the older and more expensive ones, but their siblings just roll their eyes and get on with things.

((I'd probably ask for people-watching fic for this, where all the teas are sitting in a cafe talking about the customers who choose them.))

Although I really like these characterizations, if you see the teas differently I would be thrilled to see your interpretation as well. There can never be too much tea in the world. Any story about the teas is great!

I almost hesitate to give any prompts because seriously, I want to see whatever story you’re inspired to write, but if you’re drawing a blank:
- The “teas in the café people-watching” prompt from the FFA comment
- Two (or more) teas in a house, talking about the family and who likes to drink each of them, and observing any changes to drinking patterns (& why)
- Two (or more) teas in a café matchmaking their drinkers
- Introspective fic about the kind of people who like each of the teas; or about the history of a particular tea over the centuries
- Crossover with political RPF: what tea does Hillary drink? Does she change it up over the years? Do the teas have an affection for her?
- Teas across the world, whether that be any of these four or any others you have a fondness for
- Teas in the holiday season

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