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Dear Yuletide Writer:
Hi! Thanks so much for writing for me, and for your evident excellent good taste if you offered one of my fandoms!
If you want to benignly internet-stalk me to get an idea of my interests, Tumblr and AO3 (both linked in the sidebar) are probably a better idea than DW. However, my previous Yuletide-related posts are tagged here.
This year I requested The Comfortable Courtesan, Mulan, The Tempest, A Brother's Price, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and Spindle's End.
A large and random list of things I like in general: worldbuilding, adventure, lesbians, alternate universes, ethical dilemmas, people being clever, twisty plots, gender, epistolary fic, backstory, hurt/comfort, pining, dragons, physical affection, queerness, philosophy, romance, feminism, mythological allusions, polyamory, hidden worlds, banter, complicated plans, beautiful landscapes, angst, puns, magical realism, history, creepy supernatural beings, passionate platonic friendships, case fic, gen, smut, diversity, fairy tales... Feel free to use some, all, or any of these.
For these fandoms, I'm mostly a fan of the canon ships, though more lesbians is always good. However, gen is never a problem for me.
Dislikes: I have a major embarrassment squick, I don't like incest, and I'm not interested in graphic depictions of rape or gore or torture. However, I can be sold on most consensual kinks.
Normally I am very fond of AUs, but for all the fandoms I requested this year the setting is half or more of the draw for me, so perhaps not. Canon divergence AUs are fine, though.
Optional details are optional. However, fandom specific thoughts below the cut:
The Comfortable Courtesan: Any
(available for free here)
What I like about this canon is ... um, everything. That's not going to help you much. Let's see.
I love the characters with their own individual strengths and weaknesses and abilities, and how so many of them are excellent at helping other people with their problems and terrible at dealing with their own. I love the casual inclusion of diversity. I also love all of the characters individually. Right now I am really curious about backstory and other points of view than Madame C-'s, but I also love her narrative voice and certainly wouldn't mind more of it. Really even just another long conversation between her and Sandy would make me happy.
Specific prompts, all of them optional if you have a better idea:
More of Mr and Mrs F-'s backstory. Anything about Mrs F- at all, really.
Sandy's backstory, or his first weeks/months working for Lord G- R-
Things Tibby learned from Docket, and the servants' interactions belowstairs
Miss A-'s no doubt dramatic inner monologues
Mrs T-, neé G-'s adventures in Australia, and perhaps some pining for London/Madame C- despite the joys of her new situation
Smut in any canon relationship
Details or snippets from The Gypsy's Curse, book or play
Mulan: Fa Mulan, Li Shang, feel free to include the others
I saw this when it came out when I was ... eight? and exactly the right age for it, and my love of it has stayed pretty much exactly the same ever since. Young woman who fails at her society's idea of femininity runs away, succeeds at something else entirely, and everyone she knows respects her for it. I have simple tastes.
I'd like to read about Mulan and Shang going on an adventure together a little after the movie, when they're starting to get comfortable together. I like playing with ideas of gender and sexuality, and Mulan and Shang are a good choice for it, but that's not at all required. I want to see them figuring out a relationship with each other, bantering, seeing how their skills and personalities fit together. This can be outside society, seeing who they are together without expectations, or surrounded by other people and trying to shove out a place for themselves within expected (not just gender) roles.
The Tempest: Miranda
(on wikisource)
I really want a character-study-with-plot here, whether before or after or during the play.
Miranda has lived her entire life on an island. She can count the number of people she's ever talked to on her fingers, even if you include spirits. Now she's marrying a prince. Is this going to end terribly? Or will she manage very well? Will her loyalties be split between her father and her husband?
Or, Miranda's life growing up and exploring the island. How much does she know about her father's magic, and how does it affect her? What does Miranda think about her upbringing later on in her life?
I'm not wedded to any particular answer to any of these questions, but I'd love to see them asked.
A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer: Any
I'm more interested in worldbuilding than any individual character here, but please don't think I wouldn't also like the story about [canon character] that you've been dreaming of writing. That would be great! The following is just areas you could focus on.
(Except, I don't want to read about Keifer's abuse of the princesses, please.)
Worldbuilding, though. Especially queer worldbuilding. What's it like being gay when you might only meet two or three other men in your life? What happens to a nice respectable boy in a nice respectable marriage who can't perform sexually? Are there boys who have run away and cross-dressed like Shakespearean heroines? (If you want a specific prompt, THIS.) Here, the social difficulties for gay men specifically fascinate me.
I find this book interesting because I think in some ways Spencer still fails to carry through her premise, and falls into our-world stereotypes (for example, Jerin's sisters being more interested in clothes than he is). So feel free to go beyond what's onscreen.
Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede: Morwen
Please include any other characters you want as well, I just wanted to make sure Morwen showed up. I like her very practical attitude, I like her ability to translate between academic speech and normal, I like her magic door, I like her domesticity, I like her cats. I like the entire Enchanted Forest surrounding her, and how capricious it is. And no matter how practical and sensible she is, there must be a reason she decided to live somewhere that definitely isn't sensible. I like her relationships with all the other nominated characters, individually and together.
What I like about the Enchanted Forest as a series is the practical attitude everyone has to the weird things going on around them (though I also love Telemain's academicness). I like the different kinds of magic, how some of them need rituals and some don't, how they all seem to work despite being very different in other ways. I like all the hints and references to other stories that get drawn in, even if they're not expanded on. And I really like fairy tale retellings as a genre period.
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley: Aunt, Katriona
Speaking of which. Here, as with the Enchanted Forest, it's the practical, sensible, domestic attitude to magic that grabs me. I liked the mentions of magical problems that Aunt and Katriona were called upon to deal with, and I'd like to know more.
I love McKinley's writing style, with its digressions and details, and mentions of the point of view of the magicians and royal cousins and villagers all mixed up together. I really like Aunt, and I wouldn't mind lots of her backstory, or you could keep it mysterious. The whole novel is wonderful, but the first section, in Katriona's POV, is my favourite. I would like to see magic balanced with everyday life, like raising Rosie or Barder courting Kat, or alternatively Aunt dealing with something that looks magical but actually isn't.
Mostly though, write what makes you happy. Thanks again for writing for me!
If you want to benignly internet-stalk me to get an idea of my interests, Tumblr and AO3 (both linked in the sidebar) are probably a better idea than DW. However, my previous Yuletide-related posts are tagged here.
This year I requested The Comfortable Courtesan, Mulan, The Tempest, A Brother's Price, the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and Spindle's End.
A large and random list of things I like in general: worldbuilding, adventure, lesbians, alternate universes, ethical dilemmas, people being clever, twisty plots, gender, epistolary fic, backstory, hurt/comfort, pining, dragons, physical affection, queerness, philosophy, romance, feminism, mythological allusions, polyamory, hidden worlds, banter, complicated plans, beautiful landscapes, angst, puns, magical realism, history, creepy supernatural beings, passionate platonic friendships, case fic, gen, smut, diversity, fairy tales... Feel free to use some, all, or any of these.
For these fandoms, I'm mostly a fan of the canon ships, though more lesbians is always good. However, gen is never a problem for me.
Dislikes: I have a major embarrassment squick, I don't like incest, and I'm not interested in graphic depictions of rape or gore or torture. However, I can be sold on most consensual kinks.
Normally I am very fond of AUs, but for all the fandoms I requested this year the setting is half or more of the draw for me, so perhaps not. Canon divergence AUs are fine, though.
Optional details are optional. However, fandom specific thoughts below the cut:
The Comfortable Courtesan: Any
(available for free here)
What I like about this canon is ... um, everything. That's not going to help you much. Let's see.
I love the characters with their own individual strengths and weaknesses and abilities, and how so many of them are excellent at helping other people with their problems and terrible at dealing with their own. I love the casual inclusion of diversity. I also love all of the characters individually. Right now I am really curious about backstory and other points of view than Madame C-'s, but I also love her narrative voice and certainly wouldn't mind more of it. Really even just another long conversation between her and Sandy would make me happy.
Specific prompts, all of them optional if you have a better idea:
More of Mr and Mrs F-'s backstory. Anything about Mrs F- at all, really.
Sandy's backstory, or his first weeks/months working for Lord G- R-
Things Tibby learned from Docket, and the servants' interactions belowstairs
Miss A-'s no doubt dramatic inner monologues
Mrs T-, neé G-'s adventures in Australia, and perhaps some pining for London/Madame C- despite the joys of her new situation
Smut in any canon relationship
Details or snippets from The Gypsy's Curse, book or play
Mulan: Fa Mulan, Li Shang, feel free to include the others
I saw this when it came out when I was ... eight? and exactly the right age for it, and my love of it has stayed pretty much exactly the same ever since. Young woman who fails at her society's idea of femininity runs away, succeeds at something else entirely, and everyone she knows respects her for it. I have simple tastes.
I'd like to read about Mulan and Shang going on an adventure together a little after the movie, when they're starting to get comfortable together. I like playing with ideas of gender and sexuality, and Mulan and Shang are a good choice for it, but that's not at all required. I want to see them figuring out a relationship with each other, bantering, seeing how their skills and personalities fit together. This can be outside society, seeing who they are together without expectations, or surrounded by other people and trying to shove out a place for themselves within expected (not just gender) roles.
The Tempest: Miranda
(on wikisource)
I really want a character-study-with-plot here, whether before or after or during the play.
Miranda has lived her entire life on an island. She can count the number of people she's ever talked to on her fingers, even if you include spirits. Now she's marrying a prince. Is this going to end terribly? Or will she manage very well? Will her loyalties be split between her father and her husband?
Or, Miranda's life growing up and exploring the island. How much does she know about her father's magic, and how does it affect her? What does Miranda think about her upbringing later on in her life?
I'm not wedded to any particular answer to any of these questions, but I'd love to see them asked.
A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer: Any
I'm more interested in worldbuilding than any individual character here, but please don't think I wouldn't also like the story about [canon character] that you've been dreaming of writing. That would be great! The following is just areas you could focus on.
(Except, I don't want to read about Keifer's abuse of the princesses, please.)
Worldbuilding, though. Especially queer worldbuilding. What's it like being gay when you might only meet two or three other men in your life? What happens to a nice respectable boy in a nice respectable marriage who can't perform sexually? Are there boys who have run away and cross-dressed like Shakespearean heroines? (If you want a specific prompt, THIS.) Here, the social difficulties for gay men specifically fascinate me.
I find this book interesting because I think in some ways Spencer still fails to carry through her premise, and falls into our-world stereotypes (for example, Jerin's sisters being more interested in clothes than he is). So feel free to go beyond what's onscreen.
Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede: Morwen
Please include any other characters you want as well, I just wanted to make sure Morwen showed up. I like her very practical attitude, I like her ability to translate between academic speech and normal, I like her magic door, I like her domesticity, I like her cats. I like the entire Enchanted Forest surrounding her, and how capricious it is. And no matter how practical and sensible she is, there must be a reason she decided to live somewhere that definitely isn't sensible. I like her relationships with all the other nominated characters, individually and together.
What I like about the Enchanted Forest as a series is the practical attitude everyone has to the weird things going on around them (though I also love Telemain's academicness). I like the different kinds of magic, how some of them need rituals and some don't, how they all seem to work despite being very different in other ways. I like all the hints and references to other stories that get drawn in, even if they're not expanded on. And I really like fairy tale retellings as a genre period.
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley: Aunt, Katriona
Speaking of which. Here, as with the Enchanted Forest, it's the practical, sensible, domestic attitude to magic that grabs me. I liked the mentions of magical problems that Aunt and Katriona were called upon to deal with, and I'd like to know more.
I love McKinley's writing style, with its digressions and details, and mentions of the point of view of the magicians and royal cousins and villagers all mixed up together. I really like Aunt, and I wouldn't mind lots of her backstory, or you could keep it mysterious. The whole novel is wonderful, but the first section, in Katriona's POV, is my favourite. I would like to see magic balanced with everyday life, like raising Rosie or Barder courting Kat, or alternatively Aunt dealing with something that looks magical but actually isn't.
Mostly though, write what makes you happy. Thanks again for writing for me!