Yuletide 2013
Oct. 14th, 2013 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyphomandraDear Yuletide writer,
Thank you for writing for me! Really, I'll be happy just seeing what you do with whichever one of these fandoms you've signed up for, but feel free to read through these notes as well. This year, all my requests are ones I’ve made previously and never had fulfilled, so I’m really looking forward to whichever one you end up going with.
What I like hasn't changed much from previous years (including this sentence, which is copied over from multiple other letters!). I like plot (particularly if you can surprise me with characters doing consistent but unexpected things), humour, and justified angst, singly or simultaneously. I am not all that fond of the present tense, but can be sucked in if the story drags me along. I have no problem with sexual content as long as it fits with the characters and the source – Hands Off! has slashy overtones and I don’t mind these being played up, and if you’re writing in Imajica, feel free to explore Pie’s sexuality (I do like Pie and Gentle together, but it's not the only pairing I'd want). I like stories that make me remember why I love the original inspiration and stories that make me think about it differently. I like characters who are part of their worlds, even when they struggle against them.
This year I’m going to request a preference for endings that are happy, or at the least bittersweet. I prefer no earthquakes (personal experiences!). Also, two of my requests are for contemporary settings – Hands Off! and Inspector Lynley – and I am happy for messing with this (I gave a couple of obvious tropes in my Hands Off! request, but completely forgot the one in which they all have to pilot giant mecha to save the earth from alien invasion). I am not sure how Barbara Havers would deal with the arrival of the supernatural, superpowers or a giant mecha (although the last would at least simplify parking in London), but feel free to experiment with these. For the other two, the world itself is a significant draw for me, and I’d rather you kept at least the general principles.
Above all, enjoy what you write, and go with it! I've repeated my requests below for the curious or in case of AO3 problems.
Snow Queen Series – Joan D Vinge (book series)
I loved The Snow Queen and The Summer Queen, and I was blown away by World's End , and I loved the sense of a world opening up and changing throughout the books. I have a soft spot for police/legal agents trying to do their best in corrupt worlds, and, as is probably pretty much obvious at this point, I love BZ Gundhalinu, and the archetype he represents, the agent of a dubious order who none the less struggles to define and do good.
I really enjoyed what Vinge did with this universe, all the different cultures and customs, and the way so many possibilities get picked up and expanded throughout the stories (the sibyls especially), and really, I'd be happy with anything more set there. I was unconvinced (and disappointed!) in Tangled Up in Blue, so I'm happy for that to be ignored or rewritten. Ideas? BZ’s past, or when he first started working with Jerusha (their first case?); interactions with worlds outside Tiamat, or dealings with the sibyls there.
Inspector Lynley Mysteries – Elizabeth George (book series)
Basically, I love Barbara Havers. She has always felt more real (and far less typical) to me than Lynley, and a necessary antidote to his wounded noble suffering – she has so much more to deal with on a daily, grinding basis, such as the care of her demented mother, and being a conventionally unattractive woman in the London police. I like her a lot, even her determination not to compromise, which she carries to such an extreme that it becomes a disadvantage. I don’t really want a story in which she is ultimately Proved Right About Everything, and there are showers of flowers and unicorns, but I would like her to have a moment, just for herself, where she gets to enjoy being herself.
I have not read Just One Evil Act (it's not out at time of signing up!), so would prefer events from that not to feature – this does mean you could go AU from The Edge of Nowhere. I would also be interested in Barbara’s past, pre series, or just a slice of her daily life that puts a different slant on things. I enjoy her relationship with Hadiyyah, and would also be happy to see more of that.
Imajica – Clive Barker (book)
I have problems with Clive Barker's later work, but I still love this - the sweep and audacity of it, the world(s) and the characters - and I think there's so much space left in there that I'd love to see what you did with it. I have picked Pie as being my favourite character, but that doesn't mean I don't want the others to show up (particularly Judith, actually, as I really think she had more to do/say as a character) and I have no preferences about when you set the story. This is a fandom where I should say I have no objection to explicit sex (if preferably consensual), but I do want to feel a connection to these characters and their world, as opposed to just being anybody.
With this request, I don't mind if you want to go somewhere else in the world(s) entirely, outside the main story (Pie does have a fair amount of unexplored backstory), or if you want to focus very tightly on something within. If it helps, I love the way art runs through this book (painting, theatre, magic), and anything around an artwork – making, taking, destroying – would be fascinating.
Sono Te wo Dokero! Hands Off! (manga)
Despite the fact that I've only got around to mentioning v1-4 on my lj, I've read the whole series. I love all three leads, their abilities, and the way the story manages to balance humour with its darker themes. Basically, I'm looking for the chance to catch up with the characters again (within or after the series), whether or not they're doing anything more than arguing. Totally clichéd options such as the obligatory hot springs episode or an in depth exploration of the Tokyo subway system complete with tinny renditions of station music are completely welcome.
And I'm unhappy with Kotarou forgetting what happened at the ending, so if you felt like fixing that I'd be thrilled (also, feel free to microchip him in the extremely likely event of him getting kidnapped YET AGAIN).
Thank you for writing for me! Really, I'll be happy just seeing what you do with whichever one of these fandoms you've signed up for, but feel free to read through these notes as well. This year, all my requests are ones I’ve made previously and never had fulfilled, so I’m really looking forward to whichever one you end up going with.
What I like hasn't changed much from previous years (including this sentence, which is copied over from multiple other letters!). I like plot (particularly if you can surprise me with characters doing consistent but unexpected things), humour, and justified angst, singly or simultaneously. I am not all that fond of the present tense, but can be sucked in if the story drags me along. I have no problem with sexual content as long as it fits with the characters and the source – Hands Off! has slashy overtones and I don’t mind these being played up, and if you’re writing in Imajica, feel free to explore Pie’s sexuality (I do like Pie and Gentle together, but it's not the only pairing I'd want). I like stories that make me remember why I love the original inspiration and stories that make me think about it differently. I like characters who are part of their worlds, even when they struggle against them.
This year I’m going to request a preference for endings that are happy, or at the least bittersweet. I prefer no earthquakes (personal experiences!). Also, two of my requests are for contemporary settings – Hands Off! and Inspector Lynley – and I am happy for messing with this (I gave a couple of obvious tropes in my Hands Off! request, but completely forgot the one in which they all have to pilot giant mecha to save the earth from alien invasion). I am not sure how Barbara Havers would deal with the arrival of the supernatural, superpowers or a giant mecha (although the last would at least simplify parking in London), but feel free to experiment with these. For the other two, the world itself is a significant draw for me, and I’d rather you kept at least the general principles.
Above all, enjoy what you write, and go with it! I've repeated my requests below for the curious or in case of AO3 problems.
Snow Queen Series – Joan D Vinge (book series)
I loved The Snow Queen and The Summer Queen, and I was blown away by World's End , and I loved the sense of a world opening up and changing throughout the books. I have a soft spot for police/legal agents trying to do their best in corrupt worlds, and, as is probably pretty much obvious at this point, I love BZ Gundhalinu, and the archetype he represents, the agent of a dubious order who none the less struggles to define and do good.
I really enjoyed what Vinge did with this universe, all the different cultures and customs, and the way so many possibilities get picked up and expanded throughout the stories (the sibyls especially), and really, I'd be happy with anything more set there. I was unconvinced (and disappointed!) in Tangled Up in Blue, so I'm happy for that to be ignored or rewritten. Ideas? BZ’s past, or when he first started working with Jerusha (their first case?); interactions with worlds outside Tiamat, or dealings with the sibyls there.
Inspector Lynley Mysteries – Elizabeth George (book series)
Basically, I love Barbara Havers. She has always felt more real (and far less typical) to me than Lynley, and a necessary antidote to his wounded noble suffering – she has so much more to deal with on a daily, grinding basis, such as the care of her demented mother, and being a conventionally unattractive woman in the London police. I like her a lot, even her determination not to compromise, which she carries to such an extreme that it becomes a disadvantage. I don’t really want a story in which she is ultimately Proved Right About Everything, and there are showers of flowers and unicorns, but I would like her to have a moment, just for herself, where she gets to enjoy being herself.
I have not read Just One Evil Act (it's not out at time of signing up!), so would prefer events from that not to feature – this does mean you could go AU from The Edge of Nowhere. I would also be interested in Barbara’s past, pre series, or just a slice of her daily life that puts a different slant on things. I enjoy her relationship with Hadiyyah, and would also be happy to see more of that.
Imajica – Clive Barker (book)
I have problems with Clive Barker's later work, but I still love this - the sweep and audacity of it, the world(s) and the characters - and I think there's so much space left in there that I'd love to see what you did with it. I have picked Pie as being my favourite character, but that doesn't mean I don't want the others to show up (particularly Judith, actually, as I really think she had more to do/say as a character) and I have no preferences about when you set the story. This is a fandom where I should say I have no objection to explicit sex (if preferably consensual), but I do want to feel a connection to these characters and their world, as opposed to just being anybody.
With this request, I don't mind if you want to go somewhere else in the world(s) entirely, outside the main story (Pie does have a fair amount of unexplored backstory), or if you want to focus very tightly on something within. If it helps, I love the way art runs through this book (painting, theatre, magic), and anything around an artwork – making, taking, destroying – would be fascinating.
Sono Te wo Dokero! Hands Off! (manga)
Despite the fact that I've only got around to mentioning v1-4 on my lj, I've read the whole series. I love all three leads, their abilities, and the way the story manages to balance humour with its darker themes. Basically, I'm looking for the chance to catch up with the characters again (within or after the series), whether or not they're doing anything more than arguing. Totally clichéd options such as the obligatory hot springs episode or an in depth exploration of the Tokyo subway system complete with tinny renditions of station music are completely welcome.
And I'm unhappy with Kotarou forgetting what happened at the ending, so if you felt like fixing that I'd be thrilled (also, feel free to microchip him in the extremely likely event of him getting kidnapped YET AGAIN).
