Dear Yuletide Author...
I've never written one of these before! Last year I was stupid and didn't really understand what I'm doing. I feel a bit silly writing to somebody I don't know, though I'm very grateful you're reading.
Er, hmm, I'm in my early twenties. I have a degree in classics and am doing a MLitt in English literature. I'm English. I like classical music and am currently going through a Downton Abbey obsession.
I haven't requested any DA fics. I'm part of a great fandom and write so much myself than it seems a shame to waste my four requests on it... You can find what I've written here: silvestria
Generally speaking, I like character based fics and subtle romance over immensely plotty things and I'd rather keep any fics here at PG-13/T rating or below. I am not a fan of angst and character death, though I don't mind my characters suffering if it leads to a happy conclusion. :)
I don't have any major trigger warnings though I'm generally rather vanilla (except in Trinity where that would be a silly attitude to have). I don't want to read incest, rape or any other "standard" squicks. If writing historical fiction, then I am quite keen on historical accuracy especially in terms of aristocratic titles! (Info here if you're stuck!) However, I'd rather a story had a period feeling and used decent vocabulary (so nobody saying "ok" in the nineteenth century please!) than you spent ages researching dates and battles and details of the intricacies of costumes. I'm a literature student not a historian. This also spills over into Britishisms. I'm English. I really am sympathetic to writing about a country you don't live in and maybe have never visited, but I will notice if they're driving on the wrong side of the road, eating waffles for breakfast, using inappropriate slang and it detracts from my enjoyment of a story.
And I may sound like I'm a complete prude - but I have no issue with making out and romance if it's appropriate!
As for my requests:
Five Find-Outers - Enid Blyton
Confession time. Fatty was my first crush before I even knew what a crush was. Because I was about 8. I loved him for being clever, knowing Latin, being full of himself, knowing all these brilliant disguises and I totally thought he was hot too even if he was a bit chubby. Fatty/Bets was my first ever ship too, before I knew what a ship was. Bets always seemed a lot less drippy than other Blyton girls - I liked how she always got the mystery first and of course her adoration for Fatty and his indulgence of her. I'd basically like any kind of future fic about them. I'm ambivalent about the mystery plot - I guess it would be nice having them doing some investigation but I'm more interested in the character development and seeing what kind of people they'd grow into as adolescents or adults. Would they still be friends or would respective parental and personal ambition cause them to drift apart? Would Fatty still want to be a police man when he's older? Personally, I think his talents would be better suited as a spy or a politician, though obviously he'd make a great policeman too. What about Bets? I can't believe her hero-worship would survive unchecked - she's far too intelligent. And would she want a career or just follow her mother into marriage and kids? However, you may not be a romance writer considering these are kids books, so friendship is fine too. And of course, the other characters are welcome to be involved! To be honest, there is practically no fanfiction out here for this fandom and I'd just really love to see anything that wasn't trying to ape the style of the original series but updating it to something more subtle, even if the characters are still children. I loved Blyton's style when I was little, but I'm not any more!
Little Women - Jo/Laurie
I can never have enough Jo/Laurie. Pretty much anything happy goes for this! AU preferred in which Laurie didn't marry Amy and Friedrich doesn't exist or was just a friend, or Jo accepted Laurie, or pretty much any scenario. Any version of them falling in love and being happy and witty and bantering would be perfect. Please don't kill off Amy or Friedrich - I don't want guilt or angst (though they are allowed to be unhappy temporarily if the story requires it for dramatic tension - I just mean not massive amounts of misery). But if it's Jo/Laurie fluff from when they're still young you really can't go wrong. (I just mean I don't really want it set twenty years in the future.) I can read a million versions of them getting together in various ways and still sigh happily!
Trinity TV
Ahahaha ignore all of what I've said above about subtle characterisation though obviously I naturally have no issues with you writing it. Go to town on this. What a silly show this is, and yet I would love to know what happens afterwards! So first choice here is some kind of sequel based on Rosalind in that car (though not necessarily centred on her) - what on earth is going on? And it can be outlandish as you like - plausibility is not Trinity's greatest strength. Bonus points for extra Charles Dance being evil and Angela being long suffering. My main ship here is Dorian/Charlotte (mainly because Dorian is incredibly hot, I like love/hate relationships and Charlotte is hilariously annoying yet still kind of sweet) but I also like Theo/Rosalind. I don't particularly care about the fools or Jonty and Ross so I'd rather the story didn't focus on them, but am happy to see a story about all characters generally. If you don't want to write a sequel then anything Charlotte/Dorian would be ace. Otherwise, anything fun and vaguely like the series in terms of plot. Having said that, the series has a high rating; I don't really want to read graphic violence, horror or sex though I don't mind such themes being referenced since they're such an integral part of the show.
Emma - Jane Austen
More confession time. I'm a sucker for modern Emma fics. Normally I don't like modern JA fics but I will lap up modern Emma ones. I blame Clueless. So any modern version of the story, focussing on George/Emma would be preferred - bonus points for it being British, though I'd rather you wrote about what you know, since I will be able to tell if you're trying to write about British life and you don't know anything about it! High school or adult. I'd prefer something relatively, hmm, standard. So I'd rather just generically modern society than set in some really weird scenario like deep sea divers or a ballet troupe (for example) - not that I've got anything against those professions; those stories just seem a bit strange to me. Clearly I'm not suggesting you do the entire novel for Yuletide, though no complaints from me if you do. If you do just do a particular episode, don't feel like you have to get them together. In fact, subtext is perfectly fine, considering it's Emma! If you feel uncomfortable writing modern fic, then any extension of any of the episodes of the novel or missing scenes. Maybe something Frank/Jane back-story or missing scene in that case? Or Emma/Jane friendship (lack of friendship). I'm not particularly interested in prequels or sequels though or married life or rewriting a scene from a different character's POV. Bonus points for including dancing and music of any sort!
Phew! If you've read all that, then congratulations! I really hope that there's something that inspires you here and I haven't been too prescriptive. I'm very unlikely to be disappointed with anything from these fandoms though - I'd just be thrilled to get anything really! :)
P.S. It's ineligible for Yuletide but... if anyone wanted to write me Colonel Fitzwilliam/Georgiana Darcy fic, I would love them forever! :D
Er, hmm, I'm in my early twenties. I have a degree in classics and am doing a MLitt in English literature. I'm English. I like classical music and am currently going through a Downton Abbey obsession.
I haven't requested any DA fics. I'm part of a great fandom and write so much myself than it seems a shame to waste my four requests on it... You can find what I've written here: silvestria
Generally speaking, I like character based fics and subtle romance over immensely plotty things and I'd rather keep any fics here at PG-13/T rating or below. I am not a fan of angst and character death, though I don't mind my characters suffering if it leads to a happy conclusion. :)
I don't have any major trigger warnings though I'm generally rather vanilla (except in Trinity where that would be a silly attitude to have). I don't want to read incest, rape or any other "standard" squicks. If writing historical fiction, then I am quite keen on historical accuracy especially in terms of aristocratic titles! (Info here if you're stuck!) However, I'd rather a story had a period feeling and used decent vocabulary (so nobody saying "ok" in the nineteenth century please!) than you spent ages researching dates and battles and details of the intricacies of costumes. I'm a literature student not a historian. This also spills over into Britishisms. I'm English. I really am sympathetic to writing about a country you don't live in and maybe have never visited, but I will notice if they're driving on the wrong side of the road, eating waffles for breakfast, using inappropriate slang and it detracts from my enjoyment of a story.
And I may sound like I'm a complete prude - but I have no issue with making out and romance if it's appropriate!
As for my requests:
Five Find-Outers - Enid Blyton
Confession time. Fatty was my first crush before I even knew what a crush was. Because I was about 8. I loved him for being clever, knowing Latin, being full of himself, knowing all these brilliant disguises and I totally thought he was hot too even if he was a bit chubby. Fatty/Bets was my first ever ship too, before I knew what a ship was. Bets always seemed a lot less drippy than other Blyton girls - I liked how she always got the mystery first and of course her adoration for Fatty and his indulgence of her. I'd basically like any kind of future fic about them. I'm ambivalent about the mystery plot - I guess it would be nice having them doing some investigation but I'm more interested in the character development and seeing what kind of people they'd grow into as adolescents or adults. Would they still be friends or would respective parental and personal ambition cause them to drift apart? Would Fatty still want to be a police man when he's older? Personally, I think his talents would be better suited as a spy or a politician, though obviously he'd make a great policeman too. What about Bets? I can't believe her hero-worship would survive unchecked - she's far too intelligent. And would she want a career or just follow her mother into marriage and kids? However, you may not be a romance writer considering these are kids books, so friendship is fine too. And of course, the other characters are welcome to be involved! To be honest, there is practically no fanfiction out here for this fandom and I'd just really love to see anything that wasn't trying to ape the style of the original series but updating it to something more subtle, even if the characters are still children. I loved Blyton's style when I was little, but I'm not any more!
Little Women - Jo/Laurie
I can never have enough Jo/Laurie. Pretty much anything happy goes for this! AU preferred in which Laurie didn't marry Amy and Friedrich doesn't exist or was just a friend, or Jo accepted Laurie, or pretty much any scenario. Any version of them falling in love and being happy and witty and bantering would be perfect. Please don't kill off Amy or Friedrich - I don't want guilt or angst (though they are allowed to be unhappy temporarily if the story requires it for dramatic tension - I just mean not massive amounts of misery). But if it's Jo/Laurie fluff from when they're still young you really can't go wrong. (I just mean I don't really want it set twenty years in the future.) I can read a million versions of them getting together in various ways and still sigh happily!
Trinity TV
Ahahaha ignore all of what I've said above about subtle characterisation though obviously I naturally have no issues with you writing it. Go to town on this. What a silly show this is, and yet I would love to know what happens afterwards! So first choice here is some kind of sequel based on Rosalind in that car (though not necessarily centred on her) - what on earth is going on? And it can be outlandish as you like - plausibility is not Trinity's greatest strength. Bonus points for extra Charles Dance being evil and Angela being long suffering. My main ship here is Dorian/Charlotte (mainly because Dorian is incredibly hot, I like love/hate relationships and Charlotte is hilariously annoying yet still kind of sweet) but I also like Theo/Rosalind. I don't particularly care about the fools or Jonty and Ross so I'd rather the story didn't focus on them, but am happy to see a story about all characters generally. If you don't want to write a sequel then anything Charlotte/Dorian would be ace. Otherwise, anything fun and vaguely like the series in terms of plot. Having said that, the series has a high rating; I don't really want to read graphic violence, horror or sex though I don't mind such themes being referenced since they're such an integral part of the show.
Emma - Jane Austen
More confession time. I'm a sucker for modern Emma fics. Normally I don't like modern JA fics but I will lap up modern Emma ones. I blame Clueless. So any modern version of the story, focussing on George/Emma would be preferred - bonus points for it being British, though I'd rather you wrote about what you know, since I will be able to tell if you're trying to write about British life and you don't know anything about it! High school or adult. I'd prefer something relatively, hmm, standard. So I'd rather just generically modern society than set in some really weird scenario like deep sea divers or a ballet troupe (for example) - not that I've got anything against those professions; those stories just seem a bit strange to me. Clearly I'm not suggesting you do the entire novel for Yuletide, though no complaints from me if you do. If you do just do a particular episode, don't feel like you have to get them together. In fact, subtext is perfectly fine, considering it's Emma! If you feel uncomfortable writing modern fic, then any extension of any of the episodes of the novel or missing scenes. Maybe something Frank/Jane back-story or missing scene in that case? Or Emma/Jane friendship (lack of friendship). I'm not particularly interested in prequels or sequels though or married life or rewriting a scene from a different character's POV. Bonus points for including dancing and music of any sort!
Phew! If you've read all that, then congratulations! I really hope that there's something that inspires you here and I haven't been too prescriptive. I'm very unlikely to be disappointed with anything from these fandoms though - I'd just be thrilled to get anything really! :)
P.S. It's ineligible for Yuletide but... if anyone wanted to write me Colonel Fitzwilliam/Georgiana Darcy fic, I would love them forever! :D