Dear Yuletide Writer
I am easy to please, so try not to stress about this too much. Seriously. I have no favorite fandom among my requests. I love them all, and if you love them too, I am guaranteed to be delighted with whatever you write.
I like hurt-comfort, worldbuilding, adventure, action, heroism, sacrifice, hard choices, camaraderie, luscious descriptions of food and landscape, and a strong sense of place. I'm fine with original characters. I enjoy gen, I enjoy hot sex of all kinds, and I enjoy relationships of any variety, from friendships to epic romance. I generally prefer happy or bittersweet endings.
I don’t enjoy babies, plotless “let me ponder my life” stories, or stories whose main purpose is to make a political point. If you want to stalk, my regular LJ is rachelmanija.
With the possible exception of Top Chef Masters, I’d prefer not to get a crossover as my main story. If you’re thinking of writing a treat and want to do a crossover, please check the tags at rachelmanija to make sure I’m familiar with and like that fandom. (For potential treat-writers only: a crossover of any of my listed fandoms with Top Chef or Project Runway would be hilarious. Mirrim would definitely not be there to make friends!)
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Character: Anesthesia
I love the milieu of the novel, with all its quirky little details. I love Door and her family. I love the Marquis de Carabas.
But mostly, I would love a story where Anesthesia comes back. Every time I re-read the book, I cannot believe that she is really gone for good. Maybe Door’s search for her family discovers her - could she open a door into wherever Anesthesia is? Or maybe Anesthesia is let go, for some purpose? Or escapes, maybe with something pursuing her? Or maybe the rats launch a rescue mission?
I just want the little Rat-Speaker to get a happy ending and not be swallowed up by darkness forever.
Here’s some fan art I liked: http://melarune.deviantart.com/art/Anaesthesia-Neverwhere-141448785
Anne McCaffrey - Pern
Characters: Mirrim, Menolly
I love the intensity of dragon/rider relationships, the military-esque camaraderie of the Weyr, the poignance of misfits finding a purpose and a home, and the shameless wish-fulfillment of the whole set-up. I love Mirrim and Menolly’s friendship as seen in Dragonsong, and Menolly’s self-sufficiency in her cave of fire lizards. I love Path. I love all the details of life in Harper Hall and Benden Weyr.
I have gotten fic about Mirrim and Menolly before, and it was great. I just think the world needs more of it. I like them as friends. I also like them as a couple. I would like to see a story where they have an adventure together, or where Mirrim visits Harper Hall (maybe wounded after a Threadfall, since Master Oldive is there - I really like Master Oldive), or where Menolly visits Benden Weyr, or anything with some plot and action and interaction. A canon-based AU would also be great - there are so many interesting points of divergence. What if Menolly stayed in Benden Weyr and Impressed a dragon? What if the Southern queens hadn’t killed each other, and Mirrim had stayed at Southern Weyr?
I do not love the treatment of Mirrim in The White Dragon, so please ignore that. I am neutral on their canon love interests, so feel free to either include or totally ignore them. I’ve read all the non-Todd books, but the time periods I like are the Dragonsong/Dragonsinger/Dragonflight/Dragonquest era, before everyone starts having babies and settling down.
Top Chef Masters
Characters: Any
I love this show for its food, for the personalities of the chefs, and for its emphasis on camaraderie, respect, and friendly competition rather than hostility or embarrassment-squick backbiting.
My favorite chefs are Susan Feniger, Anita Lo, Susur Lee, and Sang Yoon, but I also really like Rick Bayless, Marcus Samuelsson, and Art Smith. You don’t have to put all four of them into your story! Any one, or any combination of them, would be fine.
I like how totally bad-ass Anita Lo is, and how her chef’s jacket appeared to be a karate gi top. I like Susan Feniger’s playfulness and playful sensuality. Her restaurant Street is one of my favorite ever, and the Kaya toast that got her kicked off the show is one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth. I like how Susur Lee was so cranky and funny. It cracked me up how every time he complained that the challenges were culturally unfamiliar and put him at a disadvantage, he’d go on to kick everyone’s ass. I like Sang Yoon’s wisecracks, hatred of ketchup, and bromance with Douglas.
Probably my favorite single episode was “Magic Chefs,” where they went to Magic Castle and Anita Lo did that amazing, slightly disturbing “scallop” dish. I’ve seen all the seasons, but you don’t have to stick to actual season line-ups.
For your story, I would like to read luscious descriptions of food plus amusing interaction featuring one or more of my favorite chefs. Any way you can manage this is fine: invent a fun challenge or do a reunion or send the chefs to Pern or Perelandra or any other fictional milieu with which I am familiar. (Check for my fandoms if that appeals.) Please write about the public personas and cooking of the chefs, not their off-screen personal lives. That is to say: gen only, please.
Flight of the Heron - D. K. Broster
Characters: Keith Windham, Ewen Cameron.
I love Keith and Ewen and their slashtastic relationship and their truly epic amounts of hurt-comfort and fainting into each other’s arms and “love or loyalty” angst.
I would like to see them interacting more, ideally with some with angst and hurt-comfort. And possibly sword fighting and narrow escapes. I would be happy with the book’s level of subtext, or with getting more explicit.
Obviously, the structure of the book makes any story challenging. I would be completely up for a post-novel AU: Ewen could haul the wounded Keith on to the boat, and there could be more angst and hurt-comfort. Or you could go completely AU and set it in SPAAAACE and have the battle be over Ewen’s home orbital or something. Or you could squeeze a missing scene into the book. Or just ignore the “five meetings only” thing. For this fandom, I am fine with any sort of ending: happy, fix-it, tragic, or bittersweet.
My review of the book
Vonda N. McIntyre - Dreamsnake
Character: Snake
I love the entire concept. I love the biology. I love the post-apocalypticness. I love Snake. I love Melissa. I love the sense of caring and hope and love that pervades the story, the way that terrible things happen but people try to make them better, and people can always, as long as they live, choose to change themselves, change the lives of others, change the ways of the world. And I love the snakes.
I was kind of bored by Arevin, so ideally your story would either not involve him or make him more interesting. Ditto any of the villains. I’d like a story either about Snake and Melissa post-novel, or about Snake’s earlier adventures. Gen is fine, but if you want to do a romantic or sexual relationship, I would love to see Snake with another woman.
I don’t have any particular story ideas, but if you’re in desperate need of one, a few possibilities which occur to me are getting into a walled city, Snake setting out to give a dreamsnake to some particular healer and having adventures along the way, or Melissa finding her vocation, whether it’s healing or something else.
If anyone is reading this and wants to avoid all Rifter spoilers, don't read past the next paragraph. My discussion below is somewhat but not hugely spoilery.
My review of the first book. This link isn't spoilery. I have spoilery reviews of the whole series under her author tag, though.
The Rifter - Ginn Hale
Characters: Any
I love the intricacy and epic quality of the book, but obviously that would be hard to replicate in less than Hale’s 1000 pages! I also fell in love with many of the characters. In terms of your story, I’d like good character interaction and a bit of action, adventure, romance, and/or worldbuilding.
I really would enjoy a story focusing on any of the nominated characters - you don’t have to include them all. Relationships I especially like are John and Kyle (in both timelines), Kyle and Rousma, and Pesha and any female character she fancies. I would definitely not mind seeing the romantic couples get some action, if you’re so inclined. I’d love to see what John and Kyle do after the end of the book. I’d love to see Pesha teleporting around and awkwardly flirting. I love tiny, determined Rousma. I was fascinated by the Gray Space. Of the characters I didn’t nominate, I especially liked Ji. The egg-laying weasels cracked me up.
If you set it during the action of the book rather than post-book, my only request is not to make it too dark or depressing - I mention this because a lot of what we don’t see on the page was probably not written because it was such a low point for the characters. In particular, the period where Kyle was watching John and John didn’t know him yet would probably be too sad and lonely for me. Ditto anything about Rousma that isn’t post-book.
I like hurt-comfort, worldbuilding, adventure, action, heroism, sacrifice, hard choices, camaraderie, luscious descriptions of food and landscape, and a strong sense of place. I'm fine with original characters. I enjoy gen, I enjoy hot sex of all kinds, and I enjoy relationships of any variety, from friendships to epic romance. I generally prefer happy or bittersweet endings.
I don’t enjoy babies, plotless “let me ponder my life” stories, or stories whose main purpose is to make a political point. If you want to stalk, my regular LJ is rachelmanija.
With the possible exception of Top Chef Masters, I’d prefer not to get a crossover as my main story. If you’re thinking of writing a treat and want to do a crossover, please check the tags at rachelmanija to make sure I’m familiar with and like that fandom. (For potential treat-writers only: a crossover of any of my listed fandoms with Top Chef or Project Runway would be hilarious. Mirrim would definitely not be there to make friends!)
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Character: Anesthesia
I love the milieu of the novel, with all its quirky little details. I love Door and her family. I love the Marquis de Carabas.
But mostly, I would love a story where Anesthesia comes back. Every time I re-read the book, I cannot believe that she is really gone for good. Maybe Door’s search for her family discovers her - could she open a door into wherever Anesthesia is? Or maybe Anesthesia is let go, for some purpose? Or escapes, maybe with something pursuing her? Or maybe the rats launch a rescue mission?
I just want the little Rat-Speaker to get a happy ending and not be swallowed up by darkness forever.
Here’s some fan art I liked: http://melarune.deviantart.com/art/Anaesthesia-Neverwhere-141448785
Anne McCaffrey - Pern
Characters: Mirrim, Menolly
I love the intensity of dragon/rider relationships, the military-esque camaraderie of the Weyr, the poignance of misfits finding a purpose and a home, and the shameless wish-fulfillment of the whole set-up. I love Mirrim and Menolly’s friendship as seen in Dragonsong, and Menolly’s self-sufficiency in her cave of fire lizards. I love Path. I love all the details of life in Harper Hall and Benden Weyr.
I have gotten fic about Mirrim and Menolly before, and it was great. I just think the world needs more of it. I like them as friends. I also like them as a couple. I would like to see a story where they have an adventure together, or where Mirrim visits Harper Hall (maybe wounded after a Threadfall, since Master Oldive is there - I really like Master Oldive), or where Menolly visits Benden Weyr, or anything with some plot and action and interaction. A canon-based AU would also be great - there are so many interesting points of divergence. What if Menolly stayed in Benden Weyr and Impressed a dragon? What if the Southern queens hadn’t killed each other, and Mirrim had stayed at Southern Weyr?
I do not love the treatment of Mirrim in The White Dragon, so please ignore that. I am neutral on their canon love interests, so feel free to either include or totally ignore them. I’ve read all the non-Todd books, but the time periods I like are the Dragonsong/Dragonsinger/Dragonflight/Dragonquest era, before everyone starts having babies and settling down.
Top Chef Masters
Characters: Any
I love this show for its food, for the personalities of the chefs, and for its emphasis on camaraderie, respect, and friendly competition rather than hostility or embarrassment-squick backbiting.
My favorite chefs are Susan Feniger, Anita Lo, Susur Lee, and Sang Yoon, but I also really like Rick Bayless, Marcus Samuelsson, and Art Smith. You don’t have to put all four of them into your story! Any one, or any combination of them, would be fine.
I like how totally bad-ass Anita Lo is, and how her chef’s jacket appeared to be a karate gi top. I like Susan Feniger’s playfulness and playful sensuality. Her restaurant Street is one of my favorite ever, and the Kaya toast that got her kicked off the show is one of the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth. I like how Susur Lee was so cranky and funny. It cracked me up how every time he complained that the challenges were culturally unfamiliar and put him at a disadvantage, he’d go on to kick everyone’s ass. I like Sang Yoon’s wisecracks, hatred of ketchup, and bromance with Douglas.
Probably my favorite single episode was “Magic Chefs,” where they went to Magic Castle and Anita Lo did that amazing, slightly disturbing “scallop” dish. I’ve seen all the seasons, but you don’t have to stick to actual season line-ups.
For your story, I would like to read luscious descriptions of food plus amusing interaction featuring one or more of my favorite chefs. Any way you can manage this is fine: invent a fun challenge or do a reunion or send the chefs to Pern or Perelandra or any other fictional milieu with which I am familiar. (Check for my fandoms if that appeals.) Please write about the public personas and cooking of the chefs, not their off-screen personal lives. That is to say: gen only, please.
Flight of the Heron - D. K. Broster
Characters: Keith Windham, Ewen Cameron.
I love Keith and Ewen and their slashtastic relationship and their truly epic amounts of hurt-comfort and fainting into each other’s arms and “love or loyalty” angst.
I would like to see them interacting more, ideally with some with angst and hurt-comfort. And possibly sword fighting and narrow escapes. I would be happy with the book’s level of subtext, or with getting more explicit.
Obviously, the structure of the book makes any story challenging. I would be completely up for a post-novel AU: Ewen could haul the wounded Keith on to the boat, and there could be more angst and hurt-comfort. Or you could go completely AU and set it in SPAAAACE and have the battle be over Ewen’s home orbital or something. Or you could squeeze a missing scene into the book. Or just ignore the “five meetings only” thing. For this fandom, I am fine with any sort of ending: happy, fix-it, tragic, or bittersweet.
My review of the book
Vonda N. McIntyre - Dreamsnake
Character: Snake
I love the entire concept. I love the biology. I love the post-apocalypticness. I love Snake. I love Melissa. I love the sense of caring and hope and love that pervades the story, the way that terrible things happen but people try to make them better, and people can always, as long as they live, choose to change themselves, change the lives of others, change the ways of the world. And I love the snakes.
I was kind of bored by Arevin, so ideally your story would either not involve him or make him more interesting. Ditto any of the villains. I’d like a story either about Snake and Melissa post-novel, or about Snake’s earlier adventures. Gen is fine, but if you want to do a romantic or sexual relationship, I would love to see Snake with another woman.
I don’t have any particular story ideas, but if you’re in desperate need of one, a few possibilities which occur to me are getting into a walled city, Snake setting out to give a dreamsnake to some particular healer and having adventures along the way, or Melissa finding her vocation, whether it’s healing or something else.
If anyone is reading this and wants to avoid all Rifter spoilers, don't read past the next paragraph. My discussion below is somewhat but not hugely spoilery.
My review of the first book. This link isn't spoilery. I have spoilery reviews of the whole series under her author tag, though.
The Rifter - Ginn Hale
Characters: Any
I love the intricacy and epic quality of the book, but obviously that would be hard to replicate in less than Hale’s 1000 pages! I also fell in love with many of the characters. In terms of your story, I’d like good character interaction and a bit of action, adventure, romance, and/or worldbuilding.
I really would enjoy a story focusing on any of the nominated characters - you don’t have to include them all. Relationships I especially like are John and Kyle (in both timelines), Kyle and Rousma, and Pesha and any female character she fancies. I would definitely not mind seeing the romantic couples get some action, if you’re so inclined. I’d love to see what John and Kyle do after the end of the book. I’d love to see Pesha teleporting around and awkwardly flirting. I love tiny, determined Rousma. I was fascinated by the Gray Space. Of the characters I didn’t nominate, I especially liked Ji. The egg-laying weasels cracked me up.
If you set it during the action of the book rather than post-book, my only request is not to make it too dark or depressing - I mention this because a lot of what we don’t see on the page was probably not written because it was such a low point for the characters. In particular, the period where Kyle was watching John and John didn’t know him yet would probably be too sad and lonely for me. Ditto anything about Rousma that isn’t post-book.