katemacetak

 Dear Author: Yuletide 2025

 

Thank you author for writing for me! Yuletide is the most wonderful time of the year. I've been reading a lot of m/m romantasy this year  and have some new favorite books that I’m very excited about! I can’t wait to see what you write. 

My AO3: Macdragon Open to treats! 

 

Here are some general likes: 

-Fluff and coziness

-Dark humor

-Domesticity and making a home together and characters taking care of each other

-Competency and characters being good at what they do, and characters increasing skill or learning new things. In fantasy, characters grappling with a lot of power.

-Road trips/travel/exploring new settings

-Epistolary or different formats

-Asexual/demi and/or neurodivergent character head canons

-Holiday fic

 

Do Not Want: Cancer/serious illness or medical trauma, parent death (beyond what’s already happened in canon), eating disorders, eye injuries, excessive gore
 

REQUESTS

 

Magic and Romance Series - Sara Raasch

Elethior Tourael

Sebastian Walsh

 

I have been obsessed with Entanglement of Rival Wizards since I read it. I adore the prank war and enemies-to-lovers setup, and Thio already being a simp for Seb when Sebastian still assumed Thio hated him. It was the perfect mix of angst and romance as some scenes tore me apart but then the resolution was so rewarding! I would love anything more about their relationship.

 

Prompt ideas: 

-Thio and Sebastian have to enter another competition, possibly on the same team this time. 

-Post-graduation and job search struggles, hyping each other up, etc., and Thio getting used to the idea of working for himself. 

-Their first apartment together

-Thio learning to get along without his family’s money and seeing how not-rich people live

-Lab hijinks and experiments

-Their familiars interacting

-Another scene where they go out and dance! 

-What happens after their engagement in the epilogue 

 

Royals and Romance Series - Sara Raasch 

Hex Hallow

Nicholas "Coal" Claus

 

yes Sara Raasch is my new favorite author why do you ask. 

This book had me giggling and kicking my feet the whole time and I laughed and I cried! The plot is so silly in some ways but it hits all the emotional notes. The Christmas setting is magical and whimsical, and I enjoyed how the politics of the world played into the characters’ personal relationships. Coal and Hex are perfect together and I want to read more of them together. 

I'd like a ship focus fic but feel free to have other characters in the background! also if you’ve read both books a small cameo of the other set of characters would be fun. 

 

Prompt ideas: 

-Since the book is set in Christmas, something more Halloween focused? Or they visit another holiday? (Still very down for more Christmas though if you prefer!) 
-Some kind of silly "saving Christmas/other holiday" romantic comedy inspired plot. 

-Hex and Coal have to attend a formal royal event/party together, and maybe escape for a private moment during it.

-They have to go undercover to investigate or solve some sort of mystery and shenanigans ensue.

-They go on vacation to escape the pressures of Holiday leadership for a while. the boys deserve a break! 

-I loved how poetic Coal gets about Hex so anything about Hex inspiring him or just Coal admiring Hex! 
-Coal and Hex are stuck in their respective kingdoms for some reason and write letters/texts back and forth. 

 

Yield Under Great Persuasion - Alexandra Rowland
Nicolau Lyford

Tam Becket

 

Give me more of these idiots to lovers please. I read this book for the first time this year and it quickly rocketed up to one of my favorite books of all time status. The pairing is simply perfect, the story was both gut wrenching and hilarious, the monologue at the end is beautifully unhinged. It was cozy but also felt like a full world for such a short book. My favorite part is how cranky and neurotic Tam is yet still Nicolau loves him. I really like it when one character is down bad and the other is oblivious, especially because of their own low self-esteem, and damn, did this book deliver on that. I would be thrilled with anything about them, them reading the phone book, whatever. 

 

Prompt ideas:

-When will they start adopting these cats/dogs/sheep/etc. that stand in as children?

-How do they celebrate a holiday at the manor? Are there other festivals for the gods besides the one in the beginning of the book? 

-Tam sets quests for Nicolau this time.

-The gods actually give them a real quest they have to do together.

-Lyford being good at the financial side of Tam's business and Tam being good at the rest of it, or just hanging out at the tea shop and maybe the interesting customers that come in. 
-I am curious about this dirty talk/praise kink thing they have going on and does it ever pop up in other parts of their life?

-Do they eventually decide to get married? I’m sure this decision will be a lot of angst on Tam’s part. Will there be a fancy wedding and/or honeymoon? 

-A scene from their past from Nicolau’s point of view would be fun. 

 

I hope these prompts give you some ideas but really I would be happy with anything featuring my requested characters. THANK YOU WRITER! 

Dear Author,

Thank you for writing for me!

I'll be happy with prettymuch anything in these fandoms, and I'm looking forward to seeing whatever you write. Some of my favorite elements include character focused stories, exploring complex relationships whether romantic or gen, found families. I would enjoy holiday-centric fic. I like angst that ends in a happy ending, and also fluff. I'm always up for playing around with formats/genres. I'm fine with any rating, but I generally prefer some plot (or at least character development) with my porn.
You can also check out the tiermaker I filled in with my trope likes/dislikes:
Romance Tropes
fanfic tropes

My AO3 profile: Macdragon

DNW: Cancer or major illness, parental death, current events/2020 content, crackfic, noncon/dubcon.

Mini Challenges: Chromatic Yuletide, Yulebuilding

My requests:

I May Destroy You (TV)
Arabella Essiedu, Terry Pratchard

I was completely blown away by this show--the writing, the intricate plot, the realism of the characters, Arabella as an antihero. Each episode was packed with so many little details, moments that made me laugh, and moments that broke my heart. All of the relationships were fascinating, but I especially loved Arabella and Terry's friendship and how entwined their lives are. It's ok if you don't want to focus on Terry but I would like seeing more of their relationship. I would prefer that this story not be romance-centric, but don't have a preference for any of Arabella's past flings to make an appearance. I do not want to read any graphic depictions of sexual assault here, but given the source material, I am fine with discussions of consent and things that happened previously. I'm pretty happy with anything about this show beyond that, but here are some ideas: 

• Write another alternate ending, or write what would happen if one of the alternate endings actually happened.
• If you want to take a supernatural twist, what about the "demon Bella" we see glimpses of? What if Arabella actually had the ability to reverse time? 
• More of Arabella and Terry's backstory, or what happens to Terry post-canon. 
• Do Arabella and Terry ever go back to Italy? Or maybe they take a trip someplace new? 
• Winter holiday/New Year's fic where Bella reflects back on this past year and sets intention for what she wants to see next.
• As a writer myself, I loved how the show plays with narrative structure and depicts telling a story. I could see a non-traditional format working for this fandom. 

My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite  
Korede, Ayoola

This book is about what it says on the tin: A woman whose sister is a serial killer. But it's more about their relationship,both with each other and within their family unit, than it is about murder. The novel barely scratches the surface of the potential for exploring the sisters' relationship, and I know the story isn't done with the last page. I loved the dry humor and the practicality of Korede's actions to cover up her sister's murders. There are a ton of directions to take this but here are some prompts: 

• What happens after the end of the book? Who is the next victim? Does Korede continue to cover for her sister? 
• What would happen if they did decide to move out of their mother's house? Maybe a murder gone wrong causes them to go on the run and find someplace else to live. 
• Ayoola seems to have a social media following. What if she gains more followers and becomes an influencer? What steps would Korede need to take to control her then? 
• Supernatural twist: What if Ayoola was actually a vampire/werewolf/whatever? 

Swordspoint - Ellen Kushner
Alec Campion, Richard St. Vier
I am once again asking you for Richard/Alec fic. I keep returning because their relationship is so fascinating to me. How their darkness fits together and how Richard is so drawn to the challenge of Alec's dangerous moods.  Neither are easy to love, but somehow they make it work, however imperfectly. I'll take fluff (or as fluffy as they can be) or angst in this fandom; my only DNW is that I would prefer that the story not take place after Richard's death. I'm always delighted to read anything new with these two, but I'll list some ideas. 

• Domesticity. Lazy days and long nights at their Riverside house. 
• Epistolary fic, while Richard and Alec are separated. 
• Alec has one of his depressive phases and Richard has to pull him out of it--is it early in their relationship when he's still learning how to do so? Or later when they know each other so well he knows exactly how to help Alec? 
• Richard fighting someone because Alec asked him to because that never gets old. 
• How do you celebrate the winter holidays in Riverside? 

Scholomance - Naomi Novik
Any Character 

I recenly read A Deadly Education, the first book of the Scholomance series, and it's a relatively short book but it's full of so much worldbuilding! A worldbuilding-centric fic would be lovely for this fandom, or else something that delves into a character's background or day to day life at the school. I love El as a narrator and I do ship El and Orion, so feel free to use that if you'd like. However, I'm equally happy to see an original character, or more about one of the minor characters. Some prompts I'd be interested in seeing:

• The School as a Character. Maybe something from the Scholomance's point of view, or history about how it has changed over the years. Does it truly have a mind of its own? What is it like being a maintenance track kid and learning the inner workings of the school? 
• I liked how books are treated as precious objects, so something about a sentient book or a story about someone's special spellbook, or more about El's Sutras. 
• Something in depth about one type of Mal, or make up your own Mal, since I'm sure we didn't see all of them yet. 
• What do those worksheets look like? What are some of the weirder assignments kids have gotten from the school?
• What is the impact of going through school at the Scholomance on a person long term? Is the outside world just filled with emotionally damaged alumni?  
  
  Thank you again, author, and Happy Yuletide! 

First of all: This was my first time doing Row80 and I was terrible about checking in. It's not a habit yet! But I did find it very helpful to read other's check-ins and know that I was being held accountable in some way.

Let's see how I did on my goals:

*Create a new outline and decide how to structure this thing, either as a novel or a collection of short stories. DONE! I have a much clearer picture of where my novel is going. 
*Write at least one cohesive chapter/story in this 80 day period. I'll say this is done...I still have to go back and add a couple of things but that is what editing is for. 

Fanfiction
*Complete the Night On Fic Mountain challenge (due June 15) and the Every Woman challenge (due June 23). Half-done. I ended up defaulting on Night on Fic Mountain, honestly because I was too caught up in my original writing to work on it. I did complete Every Woman!
*Write at least 5 posts a week for my play-by-post RPG. Done-ish. I tried, but the RPG slowed down a LOT these past few weeks and I wasn't able to do 5 posts. Still giving myself an A for effort.
Overall, the original writing was more important, so I'm not too upset that I didn't entirely complete these goals. 

Daily/weekly goals
*Write (as in full-screen word document, won't stop typing even if it's garbage), at least 15 minutes per day.
Okay, technically not done. For the first few weeks, I really struggled with writing every day. Then, I started using the Magic Spreadsheet and have been going strong on that for about 30 days. I am going to continue with the Spreadsheet so that I write at least 250 words every day.

I'm going to be traveling a lot this summer, so I will not be participating in the next round. But, I might return for the round after that! This was so helpful in getting back into writing gear. 

It's the second week and I'm already rapidly veering off the path of productivity. My goal to write 15 minutes a day kind of isn't working out. It's really hard to force myself to turn off the tv, computer, games, and everything else for even that small amount of time.

I'm considering doing a word count instead--something easy like 250 words, as per the Magic Spreadsheet. I might actually start the Magic Spreadsheet again.

The fact is, this happens every time I start writing. Things go okay for the first few days, and then I get scared. I feel like my writing isn't good enough, so I stop. I want to try and push through it this week.

I have been able to do some brainstorming and outlining, at least. I also created a new character for my RPG, although my original writing should be taking priority.

Sorry for the whining, and hopefully things will go better next week!

Quick update since I actually spent too much time writing and need to start getting ready for work now.

Current word count: 1214

It's pretty small considering that I used to write more than that in one day for NaNoWriMo, but it's better than nothing.

About my productivity: As I said, I got a late start, but from Wednesday-Sunday I wrote a little bit every day. Hoping I can continue it this week.

I'm joining late, after a friend told me about the writing challenge. I had been complaining about how hard it was to get "serious" about my writing after a long break. I've lost my discipline, but I know that if I don't work hard to get it back, I won't get very far in my writing.

I want to use the challenge to set up a daily writing habit again, as well as jump back into my story/novel/thing Percy Sinclair, which is basically just a bunch of stories about a character's life. I've been writing dribs and drabs for years now, but I want to put more structure to it and move towards a real "novel."

Goals for my big original work
*Create a new outline and decide how to structure this thing, either as a novel or a collection of short stories.
*Write at least one cohesive chapter/story in this 80 day period.

Fanfiction
*Complete the Night On Fic Mountain challenge (due June 15) and the Every Woman challenge (due June 23).
*Write at least 5 posts a week for my play-by-post RPG.

Daily/weekly goals
*Write (as in full-screen word document, won't stop typing even if it's garbage), at least 15 minutes per day.