Dear Yuletide Author (2025)

[opalmatrix]

Thank you for writing me a story for Yuletide! My biggest request is no tragedies, no darkness unless followed by light. I think we could all use a little light and brightness in these times, and I in particular have mood troubles when the days are short. But, contrariwise, I am a definite believer in the idea that tensions or even pain make a sweet ending better, so go for salt caramel or even black licorice rather than cotton candy.

Have some optional details about what I like and don't like in a story.

Preferences

I Don't Like:

• Sickly-sweet, coy, cutesy romantic stuff (anything in the "tee-hee-hee, is he looking at me?" category is definitely out)
• Extensive use of epithets, or epithets that don't match the character POV (no one should think of his or her long-time lover as "the green-eyed man," for example): these will throw me right out of a story
• Characters acting out of character, especially if the purpose is to force them into a relationship (doubly bad if that relationship is romantic or sexual)
• By-the-numbers, every-action-described sex (a/k/a Ikea Erotica - link goes to TVTropes). Note that actual sex is fine (I love me some sexy stories) — just don't like it when the descriptions turn into a set of exact stage directions.
• Mpreg, rape, forced sex (including sex pollen and fuck-or-die), hatesex. Dubcon is OK, especially the sort when the reluctant partner really wants the other person but is just not quite feeling ready yet or doesn't think se wants it in this particular way but gets off on it anyway.
• Humiliation or betrayal (without a damn good plot reason) of a character by a friend or lover
• A/B/O and related kinks/tropes, incest (unless canon), scat/watersports/emetophilia, tentacles, non-human genitalia.

I Like:

• Strong characterization (including character-appropriate dialog: no earthy, uneducated characters using $100 words)
• Positive emotional payoffs that are well-earned
• Passions that are strong without being mushy/fluffy
• Moments of realization — satori
• Friendships - although I am a romantic person, not every relationship must be romantic (I do like the trope of friends becoming lovers, however)
• Families of choice and/or nakama (true companions)
• Wry and even dark humor in the course of a more serious story
• And I like any of the following "cool bits":
  • for Yuletide, wintery/solstice seasonal details where possible but not overtly religious except if it goes with the canon (so the real winter holiday in Japan is New Year's, although Christmas as a non-religious festival has showed up in large cities) (note that I'm Jewish but I do attend friends' Christmas events)
  • hurt-comfort
  • being cozy indoors when it's rainy or snowing
  • senses of smell and touch and memories attached to them
  • warm and oversized bathrobes/dressing gowns or sweaters/jerseys
  • impulsive acts of valor (especially on behalf of the weak or an underdog)
  • an autumn leaf or item of clothing as the only bit of color in a bleak landscape
  • the sound of music from a distance, including music the amplifies the emotional mood of the scene (note that I am Old - 67 this year - and don't always know current popular music)
  • food porn
  • finding in a fight that one's ally feels like a protective wall
  • cynics with secretly soft hearts
  • drops of water or snowflakes clinging to hair and/or skin
  • the moon seen through wind-blown branches
  • leaning comfortably against a friend or lover; feeling them chuckle or speak
  • in-jokes among family members or close friends: silly things that make them laugh but that would be senseless to others
  • shopping or low-tension planning scenes, where people are working together to pick things out
  • caper-type operations: crazy elaborate plans that work out well in the end, especially if parts of them are silly/funny
  • unexpected gifts that turn out to be Just Right
  • snark, whether on the part of the narrator or from a character (this should not be mean, just apt and funny)
  • a high-control/driven person being persuaded to slow down and enjoy
  • pleasant ambient sounds: patter of rain when one is indoors, a brook in an outdoor setting, waves on a beach or sea wall,, the sound of a crackling fire indoors on a cold day, the non-sound after a snowfall, contented domestic bustle of someone cooking, etc.

  I'm quite content with both straight and gay relationships. I do tend to ship the canon relationships, unless it's a character who has had no clear relationships shown in the story. I'm not comfortable with sexual relationships shown in children under the age of, say, 14 or so, and even then it's better in context (teens with other teens or in a societal setting where girls expect to marry by 16-18 anyway).