#i love all the nb interpretations and they are very canon to me btw we are all holding hands

[vossn]

Listen, we all know AdMech are absolute goals in the "I replaced my gender with some cool new gadgets" nonbinary way, but I also keep coming at it from a more binary angle and it kind of tickles my brain, so. hear me out-

You do not look like a man. You looks like steel, machine, wires, cables, but these are not the things that make up a man. As flesh melts away into steel you shift closer and farther from an arbitrary point of data their decisions are based on, but it means so very little.

You honor no aesthetics because your body has long foregone aesthetic purpose. It wasn't made to be perceived, it was made to run tirelessly, and to fight just the same, to serve you, and to serve The Omnissiah. If you shape it to fit its function, who dares question you?

They will not know if you have ever been a man to begin with. You might not even know. It doesn't matter where your path of enlightenment started. It doesn't matter what your flesh looked like before it became something sacred.

You are, by all accounts, more machine than man. But you are still a man. And so you declare yourself as one, because what else would you be?

[gerrydelano]

Btw, i wanted to ask: what makes you hc Gerry as transfem? I'm more of a nb/transmasc gerry leaning person but i love reading about different interpretations of characters and you are obviously very passionate About it (feel free to ignore if its an uncomfortable question, there's no judgement behind it-im just curious.)

hello hello! no worries, i didn't perceive any judgment here, this is all in good fun! my gerry is on the nonbinary side of transfem anyway (which to me is an important thing to portray in general) but it is special to me both for logical reasons and just because it just feels so healing to me. i wrote a big meta about it here a really long time ago, and answered a more recent ask here, so i'll mostly just link those to avoid being too repetitive.

however, to me (just me personally!) the logic comes in as like... mary calls him gerard. she doesn't exactly strike me as a supportive ally parent who would gender her trans son correctly. eric also refers to gerry as his son, and he died when gerry was like 2, which is a little early for a kid to know they're trans. thirdly, he has a canon preference for a nickname that Isn't the name his mother calls him, which to me can signify dysphoria, and that chosen name happens to be a little more androgynous! plenty of women use the same nickname.

i don't believe canon gerry would have really had much of a chance to explore this side of him, as i also just believe he's a late bloomer, so to me it usually comes out easier in AUs where he's able to live for once. live free of his oppressive mother and her expectations of A Son And Heir, live free of the violence of his childhood and the things she made him do, live as a softer person. i think he would benefit from letting himself be softer, i think he would feel healthier and stronger and more himself if he gained some distance from The Son And Heir archetype forced on him from Pretty Much Birth. there are things to be said about what's expected of "sons" and how awfully people are often treated to try and mold them into the right kind of son, and that's something that gerry's story strikes close to for me.

all of that, and i also just find tenderness in this HC that fills my heart with love! i have gotten to write some really beautiful moments of exploration and intimacy and solidarity through this portrayal of him and it's just been so warm. so many people, especially on this site and especially fucking lately, have been expressing ideas that suggesting that someone might be transfem is inappropriate compared to suggesting that someone might be transmasc, that being transfem is a bad thing or a curse or an insult, and ngl it's all such bullshit.

we need kinder and more loving portrayals of transfeminine people of all walks just in general. and sometimes you just get the egg vibes off of somebody and it's okay. so, yes! i simply think estrogen could have saved her.

[reluming]

Dear Yuletide author

Hi! I’m so happy that you’re writing for me! I’m mapped on AO3, and I’m very excited to read whatever you come up with – please don’t feel like you have to adhere to any of this letter, as long as you avoid my DNWs!

To start with, here are some of my general likes and dislikes!

I read slash, femslash, het, and gen. I love poly relationships. I love fluff, I love angst, I love porn – porn without plot and porn with plot. I love slice of life, and fics with heaps of domesticity. I love character studies.

I prefer happy endings, but bittersweet/sad ones are okay too.

Things I love in porn:

Pegging

D/s

Femdom

Bondage

Spanking/caning/corporal punishment

Dirty talk

Praise kink

Exhibitionism/public sex

Humiliation

Knifeplay

Double penetration

Choking

Crossdressing

Characters being super into giving oral sex

DNWs:

Rape/non-con (dub con is okay!)

A/B/O

Non-canon character death

Onto fandom-specific stuff!

The Bold Type

Requested characters: Any

What’s the canon about? A contemporary TV show featuring three young women who are best friends, working for a fashion magazine in New York and being there for each other through various career and relationship ups and downs. There’s one season with 10 episodes out so far, and it’s been renewed for two more seasons!

What I love about the canon: I love every character on this show! I love the fun and upbeat vibe, the awesome, flawed, beautifully strong women who are so supportive of each other. The focus on the friendship between the three main characters is the best thing! Every time they say “I love you” to each other my heart grows three sizes. 💞 I love how we see them being ambitious and going for their dreams, taking risks and fucking up and having to learn how to deal with their mistakes. I find it very comforting and inspiring at the same time, watching them being confident and amazing and human. People who don’t always get things right and who don’t always know what they’re doing. I enjoy watching them figure things out: Kat especially, who keeps changing her mind and doubting her choices and not really understanding what it is she wants.

Prompts:

Gen friendship fic with Sutton, Kat, and Jane! I could happily read about them doing something mundane and silly together (like getting froyo, or just hanging out in the apartment on a typical night). What were their first impressions of each other? How did they become friends? When did they agree to move in together and what was apartment-hunting like? What was it like the first night they moved in, did they all end up sleeping in the same bed talking till late? Did it take them some time to get used to living together, and was there a bit of friction at the beginning?

I would also be overjoyed to read anything sexual and/or romantic between Sutton, Kat, and Jane, in any combination! I’d be particularly interested in some kind of scenario where Kat is trying to figure out whether she’s really into women and she sleeps with both of her friends. At the same time. :’) Maybe during that brief time in the show when they’re all single?

Anything that explores what a wonderful woman and mentor and boss Jacqueline Carlyle is. How did she get here? Tell me about her moments of failure and heartbreak, her mistakes and regrets, her moments of triumph and breakthroughs! What does she think when she looks at Jane, especially, who she must see so much of herself in? That MOMENT at the end of S1 when Jane and Jacqueline are staring at each other while they go through their revolving doors and they’re both dressed in red and they’re mirrors of each other!! I’M SO HERE FOR MORE OF THAT CONTENT.

Sutton!! MY PURE RAY OF SUNSHINE. Five fashion moments in Sutton’s life she’ll remember forever? Memories she associates with a particular blouse, or scarf, or bracelet, or coat? (Btw, I prefer Sutton/Alex to Sutton/Richard, although I don’t mind Sutton/Richard. I really love Sutton and Alex’s dynamic and would even appreciate a friendship fic about them!)

One thing I feel like the show didn’t really give me was how JANE got here. Like, clearly writing for Scarlet was always her dream, but I just wanna know more about her motivations and her journey as a writer growing up!

I’d also be happy with a Jane/Ryan fic, they're super cute together! I would love to read about Jane exploring more kinky things with Ryan tbh? Like when Jane was SO OUTRAGED about the wax play thing I just thought maybe she should have the opportunity to try something similar with him! But I’d prefer if Jane/Ryan wasn’t the sole focus of the fic; if there was some focus on Jane & Sutton & Kat’s friendship as well, that would be fab.

Kat/Adena: I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. I would be extremely happy to read fic about them, post-series, during the series, whatever. Missing scenes, conversations and kisses and dreams. What happens in Peru? Future!fic! ANYTHING

Actually future!fic about where any of these characters are in five or ten or twenty years’ time would be very welcome!

Introspective fic about how Kat feels about her identity and how that’s evolved over the course of S1

Backstory about Adena and the countries she’s travelled to and the women she’s fallen in love with. What’s the story with Coco? Why isn’t it working out? What was it like, back when it did work?

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu

Requested characters: Kikuhiko, Miyokichi, Sukeroku

What’s the canon about? An anime (complete, two seasons, 25 episodes in total). Focuses on the art of rakugo, a centuries-old tradition of comic storytelling in Japan. A gangster, fresh out of prison, wants to become the apprentice of an old rakugo master after seeing the master perform in prison. From this, the story of the old rakugo master unfolds, and we learn about two boys who become rakugo apprentices when they’re little, and the friendship that grows between them.

What I love about the canon: This anime!! I was not expecting it to make me feel SO MANY FEELINGS. I love the historical setting, I love the STUNNING use of the unreliable narrator, I love the careful and slow development of Kikuhiko and Sukeroku’s friendship from childhood to adulthood; the way they’re such striking opposites at first glance, but there’s something at the core of them that’s the same. The heady mix of envy and love and bitterness that pulls Kikuhiko to Sukeroku always; the things left unsaid. How Miyokichi’s presence in their lives disrupts some things and catalyses others. The way Miyokichi’s choices have been limited because she’s a woman, and Kikuhiko and Sukeroku are both such terrible assholes in their own ways, but she can’t help being pulled into their orbit. I love the feeling of transience in this anime, of something always slipping away from your grasp, of history crumbling away beneath your fingertips; but there’s a gorgeous sense of continuity too. Beautiful things are fleeting and immortal at the same time. They are preserved – diluted, sometimes; changing and evolving. But still preserved, in some way.

Prompts:

I want fic that explores their complicated and tangled relationship in all its glory. My dearest wish is for them to be all reunited properly in the afterlife, for them to finally sort out their feelings, and to be a happy OT3.

Or a canon AU where events went differently and they lived and raised Konatsu together and were messy but happy, somehow.

I could see Kikuhiko as gay or bi, but no matter what, I feel like his feelings for Miyokichi are fascinating and would be interesting to explore in fic either way; if it’s not that he’s sexually attracted to her, what is it?

I would love something that deals with Kikuhiko’s repression of his sexuality, a fic where he was never able to let himself acknowledge his feelings for Sukeroku while he was alive. But equally I’d love a fic where he did acknowledge those feelings and those feelings were requited and they did something about it, once or twice or many times. But please don’t sideline Miyokichi, whatever you do!

If you want to make me really sad, that’s okay too! Give me Kikuhiko mourning the two people he cared about most in his life and struggling always with their ghosts. I’d be very interested to see something that just falls on the side of horror, or is at least spooky and supernatural in some way, based on the shinigami stuff and those S2 OPs where they coloured Sukeroku’s eyes red. I loved the eerie vibe of all that, so please feel free to run with it! Weird AUs featuring undead!Sukeroku and Miyokichi would be fantastic.

I am particularly into Kikuhiko crossdressing, and I’d love to read about a Kikuhiko whose relationship with gender is complex and hard to define. That scene where he’s in drag and Miyokichi does his makeup is absolutely gorgeous and one of my favourite scenes in the show and if you could do something with that I’d be eternally grateful. I’d be really happy with nb/genderqueer/trans interpretations of Kikuhiko! And if he could talk about his gender feelings with Miyokichi that would be A+++

OR if you just want to write me a Miyokichi-centric fic exploring ANYTHING about her whatsoever I would be ecstatic, I love her to pieces and would dearly love to read some backstory, introspection, character study, anything. 

Killjoys

Requested characters: Aneela, Delle Seyah Kendry

What’s the canon about? Sci-fi TV show with three seasons (10 episodes each). Follows a trio of bounty hunters through hijinks and mysteries. 

What I love about the canon: I love how fun this show is and how despite the gritty sci-fi settings and the dark look of the show it’s pretty much the OPPOSITE of grimdark? It’s such a joyful and optimistic show and it’s bursting with humour. It doesn’t take itself seriously but it loves its characters and it loves its audience; all the character interactions are just wonderful and the arcs are all fantastic and it always manages to give me exactly what I want. It’s SO satisfying! And SO many people of colour in the foreground and the background!! That’s such a rare and beautiful thing in this genre and I’m so grateful. Plus, so many of those characters of colour are queer too!!

Prompts:

So I shipped Dutch/Delle Seyah DESPERATELY in the first two seasons, and I still do! But oh man, I love Aneela/Delle Seyah, how they’re SO PERFECTLY MATCHED and on equal footing. EVIL SPACE LESBIAN QUEENS!! I love the united front they present, I love how quickly they get into each other’s heads and hearts and develop this fierce and steadfast loyalty towards each other.

So, while I didn’t request Dutch as one of my characters, I’d love a fic that compares Delle Seyah’s feelings for Dutch and for Aneela. Like, obviously Delle Seyah was physically attracted to Dutch and since Dutch and Aneela look the same, there’s that element there from the beginning. Is that weird for Delle Seyah, considering how different Dutch and Aneela are otherwise? What differences between Dutch and Aneela are the most significant to Delle Seyah, and what similarities does she notice, beside the physical? What is it that makes Delle Seyah fall in love with Aneela, as opposed to whatever it was she felt for Dutch? Is she still attracted to Dutch at the end of S3?

It seems like neither Aneela or Delle Seyah have ever felt like this about anybody, so I’d just love any sort of fic dealing with how either/both of them process these emotions!! Is it scary for them? Exciting? How anxious does it make them? What are they most worried about?

I wouldn’t mind a fic about Aneela and Delle Seyah just being evil queens and unleashing themselves on the universe together while luxuriating in their power and having the most passionate, wild sex as they think/talk about all the evil deeds they’ve accomplished!

Honestly uhhh any sort of porn about them would be SO welcome, I’m shallow and they’re beautiful and they clearly seem like they have a lot of fun in bed!

Maybe there’s something you can play with about the green and mind-melding here? I don’t know, just an idea I’m throwing out there! :D

“Be careful” / “Be brutal” might just one of my favourite dialogue exchanges in any piece of fiction ever 💖 I just love their dynamic and I need more of it, so I’d be interested to read anything you’d like to write about them!

The Handmaiden

Requested characters: Sook-hee, Hideko

(I’m basically copy & pasting from my letter last year because I still want the same things!)

What’s the canon about? A 3-hour long movie; Korean adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith. A conwoman falls in love with her female mark!

What I love about the canon: It’s such a beautiful gay romance with brilliant twists and the two female leads are SO endearing in their own ways; the triumph of the women over the horrible men in their lives, and in particular the triumph of Hideko over the trauma she’s experienced, is really moving and buoyant to watch. The movie is also just lush with careful detail and a dazzling experience from start to finish.

Prompts:

I’d love anything about Hideko and Sook-hee, set during or after the film.

If it’s set during the film, I’d really love something from Hideko’s POV, because I feel like her thoughts are much more opaque in the film. I’d like to read about how she feels about her life before Sook-hee appears, what her first impressions of Sook-hee are, and the journey of her falling in love with Sook-hee. (I don’t want explicit detail about the abuse that Hideko has suffered: the level of detail that the film goes into is fine, but nothing beyond that, please!)

Missing scenes from the movie would be SO welcome! I can’t get enough of their precious interactions and how they always feel so honest somehow, even if they’re both hiding behind secrets and lies at first?

After the movie: where do they go, what do they do? Something that takes place immediately afterwards, or something that takes place years in the future – even something that looks at them being old and grey together, omg, that would make my heart melt!

I could totally be into a more plotty kind of fic that shows them running more cons together! Equally, I would be SO here for simple, slice-of-life stuff.

Something that explores Hideko and Sook-hee’s relationship with kink after the movie would be WONDERFUL. How does Hideko feel about kink after the abuse she’s suffered? Does she want to be kinky with Sook-hee, but have really complicated feelings about it? The mutuality and symmetry of their sex scenes in the movie is what strikes me, how the focus is on mirroring each other, doing the same acts together. But I could see them trying out different things as they become more comfortable and settle into their relationship. Like, the ending scene with Hideko reclaiming for her own pleasure the bells that were once used to abuse her – that scene is so lovely and anything in this vein would be great!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Yuletide, and I can’t wait to read your creation! <3