Yuletide 2025 Letter

[ceruleantactician]

Dear Yuletide Author,

Thank you so much for creating for me. I look forward to whatever you come up with! I am CeruleanTactician on AO3 as well.

To begin, I want to emphasize that all my prompts are just suggestions. If you have an idea that you think will be great, as long as it respects my DNWs, go for it. If you need any clarifications on any of my prompts or my DNWs, please don’t hesitate to send a question through the exchange mods.

I have gifts enabled on my AO3 account and would be happy to receive any treats.

Table of Contents

DNWs

General Likes

Dexter (TV) - Debra Morgan, Dexter Morgan, Harry Morgan, Lumen Pierce

The Godfather (1972 1974 1990) - Tom Hagen

The Godfather - Mario Puzo - Connie Corleone, Theresa Hagen

DNWs

• Age-play/de-aging
• Animal abuse/death (Exception: canon animal death)
• Bodily waste mentions
• Explicit sex (Implied/referenced is fine)
• Incest, including with adopted/step family
• Infidelity involving any requested character
• Unrequested sexual/romantic relationships involving canon characters (Exception: Any canon relationships)
• Fandom-specific DNW for Dexter: Deb dying, Deb's canon death, Deb/Dexter, Hannah McKay.
• Fandom-specific DNW for The Godfather: Winegardner novels material, specifically how Tom dies and the character of Nick Geraci. The Puzo and Falco novels are great if you would like to include material from them. (Don't worry about this DNW if you aren't familiar with the Winegardner novels!)

Back to Table of Contents

General Likes

• 5+1 Things
• Angst
• Backstory
• Canon divergence AUs
• Character/relationship studies
• Complicated relationships
• Darkfic
• Dramatic irony
• Epistolary and unusual formats
• Family
• Fix-its
• Fluff
• Friendship
• Happy, hopeful or bittersweet endings
• Hurt/comfort
• Loyalty and trust
• Outsider POV
• Reconciliation
• Redemption
• Tenderness and vulnerability
• Third and second person POVs
• Time travel and time loops
• Undercover
• Whump
• Worldbuilding

Back to Table of Contents

Dexter (TV)

Requested characters: Debra Morgan, Dexter Morgan, Harry Morgan (My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form)

Note: For this request, you don't need to include every character I’ve requested. As long as you include Dexter and at least one other character I’ve requested in your fic, I'm good. I’m also totally okay with canon typical graphic violence and serial murder for this fandom.

I'm really happy the Dexter fandom has had a bit of a revival this last year, but I am sad that it looks like this will be the last year it'll be eligible for Yuletide. I ran out of room for characters to include, but feel free to include Rita or Harrison if they fit your fic, I love them as well. I also ship Dexter/Rita and Dexter/Lumen if you'd like to include either of them.

Regarding the spin-offs: I've watched Resurrection and I should be caught up on Original Sin and New Blood before reveals, so feel free to include details from them if you wish. Do not worry at all about spoilers.

Debra & Dexter - Dexter is a very unreliable about his own capacity for feelings, but it’s obvious even from S01E01 how much he cares about Deb. And I love Debra, my foul-mouthed Miami cop, who is brave, strong, dedicated, despite everything that she goes through over the course of the show. I love their sibling relationship. I'm familiar with the whole show, but seasons 1-5 are my favorites. <3

• Deb & Dex after Harry’s death. Deb hadn’t even graduated high school, Dex had barely even begun his extracurricular activities, they had already recently lost their mother… how did they cope without Harry to bring them together? Is Dexter Debra’s legal guardian for a couple of years considering that she’s a minor after both of their parents pass? Why would a pre-series Dexter who’s convinced that he can’t feel emotions or care about anyone around him agree to do that?
• I’m always here for more Deb Finds Out in a different way than in canon fic. What if Dex had gotten to tell her like he tried to in season 2? What if she’d woken up after Brian kidnapped her in season 1 and saw/heard something she wasn’t supposed to?
• A Christmas episode! Neither Deb or Dex seem like the type to take the holiday seriously, but I could see them spending the day together if they both had the day off. Or perhaps something from their childhood?

Harry & Dexter - The fandom tends to hate on Harry a lot, and admittedly for good reasons. But I genuinely love all the narrative complications that come from the fact that Harry failed as a parent and groomed Dexter into becoming a serial killer, but also still genuinely loved him. And Dexter is still undoubtedly strengthened by the memory of that love even decades after Harry's death- see how encouraging and supportive his fake Harry hallucination can be at times! That didn't come from nowhere.

• I would love something that explores that tension between what Dexter remembers Harry as versus who Harry actually was. Can Dex ever look past his his love for Harry and acknowledge that Harry is a big part of the reason why Dex is the way he is? He still puts Harry on a pedestal even decades after his death.
• Something that directly contrasts the real person who Harry was versus the version of Harry who lives inside Dexter's head. Hallucination!Harry, who fully supports Dexter's extracurricular activities, versus real Harry, who ultimately took his own life after seeing what his training had led to. How it's done is up to you - time travel? Ghosts?
• A missing scene of Harry and Dex training. Perhaps a mistake Harry made, or Harry coming to the wrong conclusion about Dex's trauma.
• Harry having to deal with the fact that he made a terrible mistake that’s ruined his son’s ability to have a normal life. Perhaps in a time travel scenario, perhaps shortly before his suicide.

Lumen & Dexter - I love Lumen's and her arc. Lumen and Dexter healing together, Lumen from the horrors of her kidnapping and abuse and Dexter from the trauma of Rita's death is genuinely one of my favorite parts of the show. Lumen is such a great character, able to understand and accept Dexter without ever compromising her own morals and sense of self. Also I ship Lumen and Dexter a ton.

• A Dexter/Lumen missing scene. Maybe something like Dex comforting Lumen when she has a trauma response. Or Lumen taking care of Dexter after he gets hurt during a night out.
• What if Lumen never lost her dark passenger and decided to stay with Dexter? Or what if she lost her desire to kill and decided to stay with Dexter anyways? How would things have ended up?
• What if Lumen and Dexter met again later in life? I'm imagining Lumen helping Dexter out in some way. They don't have to stay together forever, but a single conversation reflecting on how they got to where they are now and what they still mean to each other would be lovely.

Back to Table of Contents

The Godfather (1972 1974 1990)

Requested characters: Tom Hagen (My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags)

I love this sad Mafia family. I love all of the drama and the tragedy of this canon, and how despite all of the tragedy and violence they experience (and sometimes cause), they stick together and always remain loyal to each other. I’m totally fine with darkfic, canon-typical violence, murder, tragedy and unhappy endings for this fandom. But a fix-it or something more light-hearted/happier is totally welcome as well- please go in the direction that inspires you! I've only requested Tom this year, but please feel free to include other characters (especially other Corleones!) in major roles as well.

Tom Hagen

I really love Tom and I would love to see your take on him! I would love anything about his life, his unique place in the family, his relationship with his siblings and with Vito and Carmela.

• Any look at Tom’s childhood. How did Tom get used to being a part of the family after Sonny convinced Vito to take him in? How did Vito’s criminal business affect their childhood?
• I would love any fic that focused on Sonny and Tom’s relationship. I love that Sonny just found an orphan boy living on the streets and decided to take him home and ask his dad if he could keep him. And Tom responded, okay, I am going to be loyal to you for the rest of my life. They have one of, if not the closest bond in the Corleone family and I would love to see more of it. Maybe a misadventure as kids or young adults, or something looking at their relationship when they both work in the Family.
• An AU where Sonny avoids his death on the tollway. How does Sonny and Tom’s relationship and the Family change over the years?
• A look at Tom’s early career in the Family. How did he approach Vito to start working for the Family? How was he treated by other members of the Family - were some reluctant to trust him because of Tom’s non-Italian heritage? What legal work (shady or otherwise) did Tom do for the Family? How did he eventually become the clear candidate for the consigliere position by the time of Connie’s wedding?
• Outsider POV on Tom. Maybe from one of the Corleone button men, maybe from a civilian outsider. Maybe from a member of another Family, wondering about the history between the Don Corleone’s firstborn son and heir apparent and an Irish kid?
• Some hurt/comfort with Tom after his kidnapping in Part I—maybe an AU where it got physical and Tom was tortured? Other hurt/comfort scenarios are welcome as well. I am always here whump and/or H/C.
• Tom mourning Sonny after his death. I always imagine that Sonny’s death strongly affected him, even years later. I do like ghosts/stories with supernatural elements, so feel free to go in that direction if you’d like.
• Why does Tom choose to stay with the Family despite Michael’s increasing paranoia and poor treatment of him towards the end of Part II? And what is his reaction to finding out that Michael had Fredo killed? How is their relationship rebuilt as Michael becomes more and more isolated (or how do they drift further apart)?

Back to Table of Contents

The Godfather - Mario Puzo

Requested characters: Connie Corleone, Theresa Hagen (My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice))

The Godfather novel is a favorite of mine. The films are wonderful, of course, but there are a lot of great moments that didn't make it into the movies. As a side note, if you’re looking for a reread, I really recommend the full cast/multivoice audiobook version of the novel if you can get your hands on it. It’s really well done.

Connie Corleone

Connie survives a lot in the novel, especially her abusive marriage. But I would love to see Connie not just as a victim, but as a woman with agency who tries to find her own to deal with the situation she’s in, and who relates to both her own family and the Family business in a different way than her brothers.

• A look at Connie’s childhood. What was it like being the only girl in the family? How were the expectations different for her? What was her relationship with her parents like and how did it differ from the relationship her brothers had? How did she relate to the Family business, especially as her older brothers began to join it?
• An AU where any of her siblings help Connie “deal with” her abusive husband in a permanent way. Interpret “deal with” as you like.
• Something focused on her relationship with Sonny. They obviously care for each other a great deal. His death, especially given the circumstances of her abuse being used as a way to trap him, must have been devastating. How did she cope?
• It's established in the novel that Connie calls Tom semi-regularly and tell him about Carlo's abuse but doesn't tell anyone else in the family. I would love to see more about what their relationship is like,
• In the novel, Connie eventually apologizes to Michael for accusing him of killing Carlo and quickly remarries to a man in the Corleone organization. How does that come about? Does Connie ever get more directly involved in the family business like she does in the films?

Theresa Hagen

I'm pretty sure Theresa gets like, 3 or 4 lines max in the novel, but I've always been curious about her. I would love to see your take on her!

• Theresa is Italian-American, but her husband isn't. Michael considers her to be "more American than Italian." Did she know what she was getting into when she met Tom? What did she think when she found out about his association with the Corleones? Are she or her parents recent immigrants, or have they been in the United States for a while? I've always thought that it would be funny for Theresa to bring home a very non-Italian boy to meet her parents, and their shock when he replies to one of them in fluent Sicilian.
• I've had this headcanon that when Michael was young and had a conflict with Vito, he would go to stay with Tom and Theresa. He states that he and Theresa "had always liked each other."
• How does Theresa get along with the other Corleone women in her social circle? What does she think of Carmela, Sandra, Connie and Kay?
• How did Tom and Theresa meet? Tom is established to be the only one of his family besides Michael to have gone to college. Is Theresa college educated as well? Did they meet at college?
• One of the few moments we get with Theresa in the novel is her reaction to Tom's kidnapping. She's obviously very stressed and very frightened, but she still pushes Sonny and the other men for answers. What does she think about the dangers of her husband's work? What happens in private between Theresa and Tom when they get a moment in private together after he returns? I'm always here for some hurt/comfort.

Back to Table of Contents