in one of the stars i shall be living

It's letters time! If you're writing a letter along with your Yuletide sign-up, you can comment here with a link to your letter and also enter the details in the 2025 tagset app. For browsing convenience, the app also generates a google spreadsheet you can access directly. (Bookmarking will be available in the app once tag set corrections are complete.)

What's the deal with letters?
Letters are an optional tradition of Yuletide. When you sign up to the event, there's a space in the form for linking to somewhere in your own space (journal, public document, etc) where you can go into detail about what you like in fic and fandom. This post collects these links. The prompts on AO3 are hidden through sign-ups, but letters are visible as soon as you want them to be.

Letters are an optional extra in Yuletide. If you only post a letter here, you haven't signed up. To get an assignment and a gift, you need to sign up at the collection - NOW OPEN! (And see sign-up instructions at the admin comm.)

What makes a good letter?
Mileage varies. We encourage you, at minimum, to include your AO3 name, the fandoms and characters you're requesting, your Do-Not-Wants (DNWs), and whether or not you can receive treats. [This is a feature you can set in your AO3 preference settings. New accounts have permission to receive treats turned off by default, but participants with older accounts should check if they have not checked this in a while]. There are additional posts here and here discussing how to use DNWs.


How to post your letter

1. Finish your letter and make sure it's publicly visible. Here's the tagset to check what you can request


2. Enter it in the app*! You can edit your letter after submitting it - save the key, or ask the mods for the key if you lose it


3. Comment below! Include:
   • Your AO3 name
   
   
   • A link to your letter
   
   
   • The fandoms you are requesting (3-8)
   
   
   • The characters you are requesting in your fandoms (1-4, or Any)
   
   If you post to the app first, it will spit out a handy chunk of text with all these details for you to use when commenting.
   

*Please reach out here if you're having trouble with the app! Characters can be selected by clicking on them.

!!! We ask you to add your letter both places to make sure it gets to people who are excited to read it. If for whatever reason you can only comment on a post, then please include the following line in your comment:

Mods, please add my letter to the app.

We will sweep the post occasionally and add letters to the app.

Warning: Locked or placeholder letters will be removed. You can add your letter when it's done.

If you have a question, contact a mod on Discord or comment here


Mini-challenges
As mini-challenges are posted, they will be added below.
( See links to this year's mini-challenges under the cut. )


Sign-ups are open until 24 October. The closing of sign-ups will be announced at the admin comm.

Enjoy! And thank you to karanguni for the app!