Yuletide IV!
It's that time of year again! *beams*
Dear Lovely Yuletide Writer,
Firstly: Thank you so, so much for agreeing to write for one of these fandoms - the chance to get a rarelitfic that's been written *just for me* is one of my most cherished Christmas treats, and both I and anyone who comes looking for one of these teeny tiny fandoms in future will love you for it ^_^
So, on to the detail! I'm afraid there are some epic amounts of it below the cuts - if that's likely to intimidate or frustrate you, please please please ignore it. The most important thing is, I want you to have fun writing this fic, and if you do I know I'll love it. But if it's detail you want, I'm happy to provide!
General likes and dislikes - well, I suppose I should say first off that I generally read / write / think fannishly about slash rather than gen or het - but really, it's the interactions between my favourite characters that I love best, so for me a piece of well-characterised gen would be better than a PWP. (Though I have no objections to smut on principle ^_^) So long as my favourites and their relationships are foregrounded, everything else is good. I love intense friendships (sometimes unhealthily intense...) and intense emotions - usually buried under layers of repression, propriety and social convention, but still vital.
I also adore the tone and settings of all the canon material I've chosen, and it would make me beyond happy if you captured the speech patterns and the sense of time and place from the originals, as far as possible. I'd equally love it if you wanted to explore themes and topics that would have been impossible in some of the source material (particularly the Biggles and Hannay books), or controversial at the time when the stories are set (sexuality, empire, gender, etc); but I'm not generally a big fan of straining the bounds of probability too far with magic, gender swap, mpreg, and similar out-of-genre shenanigans; broad comedy tends to annoy me, and unremitting angst tends to upset me (though in something like Regeneration it can be a little hard to avoid...). I'm equally happy with a long and plotty fic and with a small-but-perfectly-formed relationship sketch - whatever you feel happiest writing will be great for me :D
Antal Szerb - The Pendragon Legend (János Bátky + Osborne Pendragon)
As I said, I have a strong slash-friendly side, so I'd be *overjoyed* if you could coax these two into some form of intimacy - in particular, if Janos's passivity and snobbery could be brought into conjunction with Osborne's new-found incisiveness and power at the end of the novel (I'm not a fan of hardcore kink or BDSM, but I'm quite into consensual power imbalance-play, if you feel up to writing it ^_^). If slash isn't your thing, then exploring the relationship between these two in genfic would be awesome too. I love Szerb's ironically detached and elegant style, but I'd equally love to see that undercut; I love his use and parody of literary cliche, but also the glimpses of darkness underneath. I've also, as you've probably already noticed, written a huge great rambling post about some of my thoughts on these two which is over here if you're interested; but really, what I most want to see is what *you* think about them, and I'm certain that if you write what you want to write, I'll love it!
John Buchan - Richard Hannay series (Richard Hannay + Sandy Arbuthnot)
I'll admit, I haven't read all of these (yet) - just 39 Steps, Greenmantle, and Mr Standfast - but what I have read is enough to convince me that Sandy Arbuthnot needs more love. And - I'd better also confess this one - I'm more interested in his relationship with Hannay than in his later relationship with his wife. I know, I know, I'm a slash fangirl cliche, I can't help it. Slash or gen, I don't mind, but I'd love to see more about how their friendship reflects and undercuts traditional heroic and public-school friendships - Hannay as product of the Empire but never quite fitting into the Old Country, Sandy as the ultimate insider (aristocratic, public-school, Oxford [though getting a Third in Greats...]), but constantly travelling, effacing his own identity into other cultures, languages, appearances. I'd love to find out more about their early relationship and growing friendship, and to explore some of the ambiguities inherent in what is frequently characterised as straightforward 'literature of empire'.
W.E. Johns - Biggles series (Bertie Lissie + 666 Squadron)
Anything starring Bertie from the WWII period at 666 squadron would be *beyond amazing* :D I recently read Spitfire Parade and was overcome by the beautiful insanity. Bertie is my favourite, and I'd love to see more of his interactions with any of the squadron - or indeed with Wilks' squadron, there's plenty of fun to be had there too. I might as well repeat, I'm a slash fangirl at heart, and there's some part of me that's been yearning for Bertie/Algy ever since that scene where they foxtrotted round the mess; but I'd also love Bertie and Taffy causing wanton property damage, or Bertie and Tug battling out the class struggle on a one-to-one basis. Just do what you want, really, and I'll adore it ^_^ I love the war-flying aspects of the stories; I love the light-hearted squadron shenanigans; I love Bertie being a scary bastard taking strange pleasure in throwing high explosives at the enemy. Anything goes, really. (And if you can manage plausible slash in W.E. Johns' narrative voice, you win a special Yuletide cookie.)
Pat Barker - Regeneration trilogy (W.H.R. Rivers + Siegfried Sassoon)
I've gently fangirled this series in general and these two characters in particular since I was about fifteen, but I've always been a bit upset that Sassoon faded out of the third book of the series with so much still unresolved between them - so honestly, if you can give me more Rivers + Sassoon, of whatever kind, it will be *gold* to me ^___^ I'd love it if you could acknowledge and explore the complexity and intensity of the relationship between these two brilliant men. I am, to a large extent, a slash fangirl, so if you want to explore that route that'd be awesome; if you feel more comfortable with gen, then that's great too. Given that their relationship in the series is so multi-faceted - father-son, doctor-patient, mentor-pupil, with each of them fulfiling different roles in the various dynamics in different situations - you can explore that relationship in whatever way you like, and I'll love it ^_^ I'd love it if you used other details from the lives of the historical figures for inspiration - meshing together the importance of hunting and the Lord of the Manor persona to Sassoon with Rivers' anthropological researches, for instance, or looking at why Sassoon's account of his time at Craiglockhart in 'Sherston's Progress' is so incomplete. But I'm equally happy if you want to play fast and loose with the 'continuity' - that's the joy of working with a fictionalised version of their lives. So if you want to have Rivers treating Biggles or Lord Peter Wimsey in 1918, that's okay too. Basically, anything which honours and foregrounds the complexity of these two figures - Sassoon's charismatic self-centredness and self-sacrifice, Rivers' gentle relentlessness and deeply divided nature - and their relationship, will make me a very very happy Yuletider ^___^
Dear Lovely Yuletide Writer,
Firstly: Thank you so, so much for agreeing to write for one of these fandoms - the chance to get a rarelitfic that's been written *just for me* is one of my most cherished Christmas treats, and both I and anyone who comes looking for one of these teeny tiny fandoms in future will love you for it ^_^
So, on to the detail! I'm afraid there are some epic amounts of it below the cuts - if that's likely to intimidate or frustrate you, please please please ignore it. The most important thing is, I want you to have fun writing this fic, and if you do I know I'll love it. But if it's detail you want, I'm happy to provide!
General likes and dislikes - well, I suppose I should say first off that I generally read / write / think fannishly about slash rather than gen or het - but really, it's the interactions between my favourite characters that I love best, so for me a piece of well-characterised gen would be better than a PWP. (Though I have no objections to smut on principle ^_^) So long as my favourites and their relationships are foregrounded, everything else is good. I love intense friendships (sometimes unhealthily intense...) and intense emotions - usually buried under layers of repression, propriety and social convention, but still vital.
I also adore the tone and settings of all the canon material I've chosen, and it would make me beyond happy if you captured the speech patterns and the sense of time and place from the originals, as far as possible. I'd equally love it if you wanted to explore themes and topics that would have been impossible in some of the source material (particularly the Biggles and Hannay books), or controversial at the time when the stories are set (sexuality, empire, gender, etc); but I'm not generally a big fan of straining the bounds of probability too far with magic, gender swap, mpreg, and similar out-of-genre shenanigans; broad comedy tends to annoy me, and unremitting angst tends to upset me (though in something like Regeneration it can be a little hard to avoid...). I'm equally happy with a long and plotty fic and with a small-but-perfectly-formed relationship sketch - whatever you feel happiest writing will be great for me :D
Antal Szerb - The Pendragon Legend (János Bátky + Osborne Pendragon)
As I said, I have a strong slash-friendly side, so I'd be *overjoyed* if you could coax these two into some form of intimacy - in particular, if Janos's passivity and snobbery could be brought into conjunction with Osborne's new-found incisiveness and power at the end of the novel (I'm not a fan of hardcore kink or BDSM, but I'm quite into consensual power imbalance-play, if you feel up to writing it ^_^). If slash isn't your thing, then exploring the relationship between these two in genfic would be awesome too. I love Szerb's ironically detached and elegant style, but I'd equally love to see that undercut; I love his use and parody of literary cliche, but also the glimpses of darkness underneath. I've also, as you've probably already noticed, written a huge great rambling post about some of my thoughts on these two which is over here if you're interested; but really, what I most want to see is what *you* think about them, and I'm certain that if you write what you want to write, I'll love it!
John Buchan - Richard Hannay series (Richard Hannay + Sandy Arbuthnot)
I'll admit, I haven't read all of these (yet) - just 39 Steps, Greenmantle, and Mr Standfast - but what I have read is enough to convince me that Sandy Arbuthnot needs more love. And - I'd better also confess this one - I'm more interested in his relationship with Hannay than in his later relationship with his wife. I know, I know, I'm a slash fangirl cliche, I can't help it. Slash or gen, I don't mind, but I'd love to see more about how their friendship reflects and undercuts traditional heroic and public-school friendships - Hannay as product of the Empire but never quite fitting into the Old Country, Sandy as the ultimate insider (aristocratic, public-school, Oxford [though getting a Third in Greats...]), but constantly travelling, effacing his own identity into other cultures, languages, appearances. I'd love to find out more about their early relationship and growing friendship, and to explore some of the ambiguities inherent in what is frequently characterised as straightforward 'literature of empire'.
W.E. Johns - Biggles series (Bertie Lissie + 666 Squadron)
Anything starring Bertie from the WWII period at 666 squadron would be *beyond amazing* :D I recently read Spitfire Parade and was overcome by the beautiful insanity. Bertie is my favourite, and I'd love to see more of his interactions with any of the squadron - or indeed with Wilks' squadron, there's plenty of fun to be had there too. I might as well repeat, I'm a slash fangirl at heart, and there's some part of me that's been yearning for Bertie/Algy ever since that scene where they foxtrotted round the mess; but I'd also love Bertie and Taffy causing wanton property damage, or Bertie and Tug battling out the class struggle on a one-to-one basis. Just do what you want, really, and I'll adore it ^_^ I love the war-flying aspects of the stories; I love the light-hearted squadron shenanigans; I love Bertie being a scary bastard taking strange pleasure in throwing high explosives at the enemy. Anything goes, really. (And if you can manage plausible slash in W.E. Johns' narrative voice, you win a special Yuletide cookie.)
Pat Barker - Regeneration trilogy (W.H.R. Rivers + Siegfried Sassoon)
I've gently fangirled this series in general and these two characters in particular since I was about fifteen, but I've always been a bit upset that Sassoon faded out of the third book of the series with so much still unresolved between them - so honestly, if you can give me more Rivers + Sassoon, of whatever kind, it will be *gold* to me ^___^ I'd love it if you could acknowledge and explore the complexity and intensity of the relationship between these two brilliant men. I am, to a large extent, a slash fangirl, so if you want to explore that route that'd be awesome; if you feel more comfortable with gen, then that's great too. Given that their relationship in the series is so multi-faceted - father-son, doctor-patient, mentor-pupil, with each of them fulfiling different roles in the various dynamics in different situations - you can explore that relationship in whatever way you like, and I'll love it ^_^ I'd love it if you used other details from the lives of the historical figures for inspiration - meshing together the importance of hunting and the Lord of the Manor persona to Sassoon with Rivers' anthropological researches, for instance, or looking at why Sassoon's account of his time at Craiglockhart in 'Sherston's Progress' is so incomplete. But I'm equally happy if you want to play fast and loose with the 'continuity' - that's the joy of working with a fictionalised version of their lives. So if you want to have Rivers treating Biggles or Lord Peter Wimsey in 1918, that's okay too. Basically, anything which honours and foregrounds the complexity of these two figures - Sassoon's charismatic self-centredness and self-sacrifice, Rivers' gentle relentlessness and deeply divided nature - and their relationship, will make me a very very happy Yuletider ^___^