starfishstar

Dear yule goat, 

Thank you for writing for me! I’m starfishstar on AO3 and on DW. Here are some general notes, then fandom-specific notes below: 

Likes: A focus on character interactions, be that friendship or romance or family. Found family dynamics. Humor and banter. UST (all the UST) as long as it resolves by the end. Happy or hopeful endings: angst and complexity are fine – I like stories that are realistic! – but I do need at least some degree of hope. Basically, if you love these characters, I'll love anything you want to write about them.

DNW: Just the big ones: please no major character death, non-con/dub-con, or graphic violence.

Treats: Yes please! (And btw I'm a big fan of the yearly Yuletide Madness Drabble Invitational. Any drabble treats will be received with great delight.)

Yuletide mini-challenges: I opt in to the following Yuletide mini-challenges!

Yuletide Madness Drabble Invitational – I'm a perennial fan of drabbles in Yuletide, and would be delighted to receive any. I generally also try to write a few myself, especially if I have a lot of ideas but not enough time to develop them all into full fics. :-)
Unconventionyule – especially for the anthropomorphic fandoms, but also in other fandoms if you have a cool idea for them. I'm pretty open to anything: If you're excited about it, I'll probably be excited about it too, because I enjoy seeing people explore what they're enthusiastic about!
MultiLingYule – write me a story in German, Icelandic, Yiddish, or maybe even Thai???
Femslash Festivus – For the All the Things She Said fandom!


FANDOMS

The Phantom Tollbooth – Norton Juster
Characters: any

A perfect example of a fandom that I saw in the Yuletide tagset, which I never would have thought to nominate, and yet I was delighted to see it and knew I wanted to request it! I loved this book as a kid, especially because my dad read it aloud to me, and word games and math-y-ness and silliness are things my dad and I have always shared. I haven't reread this book probably since childhood, but I feel so fond every time I see that iconic cover. 

...Which also means that I don't have very specific requests for you! I'm open anything you want to explore about this clever and interesting world and the unusual characters who populate it. If you're offering The Phantom Tollbooth, then presumably you love it too, so please take this as your carte blanche to explore whatever it is that fascinates you about this world!


All the Things She Said ft. Amber Glenn and Lena Lemon (Music Video)
Characters: any

Thank you, yes, I love it. I discovered this video through Yuletide nominations and it was an instant "Yes, I'm going to request that!" The tagset doesn't list any characters, but of course what I'm interested in is this pairing of two sapphic figure skaters! 

Feel free to explore the parallels and what-ifs of canon Heated Rivalry plot applied to these characters, but I think I'm even more interested in finding out what this scenario might be like on its own merits, independent of Heated Rivalry.

What is it like to be two female figure skaters in love/lust with each other? The dynamics in the video imply that this, too, is a secret relationship conducted under the surface of a public rivalry, with a lot of longing glances and the brief brushing of fingers as they pass by each other... What keeps them separate and longing, in this world? (Presumably some things are easier here, since they're not in the ultra-homophobic world of men's hockey. But maybe also some things are harder, being women in the public eye, in a sport that requires enormous strength and skill yet also expects them to look effortlessly feminine at all times? Thinking here of Tonya Harding, who was criticized at the time for being "too athletic"...for an athlete???)

Love and longing and women athletes killing it, yes please!


AO3 Exchanges (Anthropomorphic)  
Characters: any

Oh man, I love a good bizarre Yuletide anthropomorphic fandom! I have no idea how I would go about making the elements of an AO3 exchange into characters, but presumably you do, so please have at it! I love silliness and I equally love "crack treated seriously," i.e., take an absurd premise and make something emotionally real out of it. Whatever you choose to do, I can't wait to see it!


Metrical Feet (Anthropomorphic)   
Characters: any

Same as above: I don't know how a dactyl, an iamb, a spondee, and a trochee would interact if they could interact with each other, but you clearly do, and I can't wait to find out! Feel free to write this in verse, or not, or whatever other weird format you can think of. Feel free to be as silly or as earnest as you choose. I can't wait! 


Seraphina – Rachel Hartman
Characters: Seraphina, Orma

Seraphina has long been one of my favorite books, the one I name if someone forces upon me the absurd assignment of naming just ONE favorite book, and I often request this fandom in Yuletide... This year, I decided to place my request more narrowly, and I'm requesting specifically Seraphina and Orma. (That's a "&" not a "/"!)

I've always loved Seraphina & Orma, with their awkward, dragonish, but very loving familial bond. Orma is such a good uncle – he doesn't always understand Seraphina, yet he always looks out for her. I'd love to see more of their bond, especially as Seraphina moves further into adulthood – and even motherhood – over the course of the later books. Also, it's been a while since I've reread, but I think it's left ambiguous whether Orma ever fully gets his memories back? I very much want to see how that plays out – with memories recovered, I hope! Give me happy endings for Orma?

I love all the other characters in this series, too, so if you also want to include the sisterly relationships and/or the Seraphina/Glisselda/Kiggs polyamorous triad that is very heavily hinted at, please do. 


A Half-Built Garden – Ruthanna Emrys
Characters: Rhamnetin 

This book has such fascinating worldbuilding and a philosophical approach I still find myself thinking about, several years after reading it. I decided to focus my request on Rhamnetin, because I think it would be fun to see him exploring and learning more about Earth culture, throwing himself into situations and asking questions and being fascinated by everything! If you're Jewish and/or can write about Jewish culture, I'd love to see Rhamnetin joining Judy and her family for holiday celebrations and being curious about everything to do with this specific Earth culture. 

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