Dear Rarewomen Writer
Dear Rarewomen Author: You're awesome. I mean, you must be, because you volunteered to write about women in one of the following fandoms.
Large Fandom: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher. This series has a lot of fic, but most of it is centered on Harry Dresden. (No surprise there.) So if you matched me on this fandom, please show me the women solving problems without Harry being present. This series is overflowing with awesome women, and I would love to see them as the heroines of their own stories rather than as Harry's sidekicks.
As for what I'd like...I have a serious soft spot for Charity Carpenter being the ultimate Mama Bear. If you can combine that with Charity re-claiming her magic, I'd love it. If you can combine both with Charity fighting to save Molly from the darkness and madness that had enveloped her in Ghost Story (because I don't believe that Harry's revelation fixed everything, though it did help), I will love you forever.
If you're not a Charity fan, that's no problem, because there are lots of other stories I would like to hear as well.
For example, I would love to see pre-Changes Murphy catching a supernatural criminal with nothing but modern police techniques and ordinary mortal weaponry. I am beyond sick and tired of magic being something that can beat all baseline humans; if the magical world is afraid of baseline humans, as it is in practically every fantasy series, including this one, there should be damned good reason for it. ("Aftermath" is the only published story I've seen where a vanilla mortal takes down a supernatural entity-and even there, Murphy had the backing of a couple of werewolves.)
Martha Liberty-please! GIVE THE LADY SOME BACKSTORY. We're thirteen books into the series and we know practically nothing about her! And she's one of the seven wizards who runs the Council! So I'd love to see something her past, what her powers are, what she's done to earn her place on the Council....make her a living, vivid person. (Note: I am a huge history geek, so if you do her past, PLEASE get the history right.)
Anastasia Luccio. You know, I've seen almost nothing dealing with the traumas this lady has suffered. She was evicted from her own body, mind-controlled into being a spy and a weapon, and was magically compelled to initiate and foster a sexual relationship with a man despite being a lesbian. She's carrying on in the books...but how the hell is she coping? I'd really like to know.
Lara Raith. Her intelligence gets ignored, I feel, because, well, ex-porn star and sex vampire. So I would like to see Lara running the White Court, fending off coups and espionage and threats to the city and just generally being her subtle, sly, Machiavellian self. I'd also like to see something of Lara's past. Bonus points for answers to questions that have bugged me for ages-such as, "Why is it still necessary, after all these years, to conceal Lara's position as de facto head of the White Court?" And "Just how long was Margaret LeFay with the White Court? Could she have been Lara's mother as well?"
Gen would be preferred. I'd much rather that none of them was in a relationship with Harry; Michael Carpenter/Charity Carpenter is one of my favorite husband and wife ships in any fandom, and as for Harry/Murphy, I know it's insanely popular in the fandom...but I just can't stand the pairing. I much prefer them as friends. While you'll have to deal with the Harry/Luccio pairing if you write about Luccio, the mind control she was under (and that neither she nor Harry knew she was under) means that there was no true consent...which makes that relationship retroactively squicky.
(I have no problem with Michael/Charity, Jared Kincaid/Karrin Murphy or Luccio-in control of her mind and will-being paired with Murphy or Lara, however.)
Small Fandom: Mythology - Greek. This is my oldest fandom; I've loved it since I was eight.
Here, as I said, you can go wild with re-tellings, re-imaginings, alternate character interpretations, alternate universes...you name it. What I'm most interested in hearing from the women-how they see their world, their stories, their lives and themselves. I want to know why they behaved as the myths said that they did--especially if that seemed unwise or dangerous-or if the myths were untrue.
For example, I have a huge soft spot for Arachne as the defiant artist who will dare to say that the gods themselves are not the equals of man in creativity or morality. I'd like to know why she wove the gods' misdeeds into her tapestry, given the capriciousness of the Greek gods. Did she do it out of rage? Creative integrity? Why? And did she ever find a way of freeing herself from Athena's curse? If so, how?
Medea. She helped and advised Jason, enabling him to win the Golden Fleece and to navigate the Argo safely-so why did Jason assume that this skilled and knowledgeable woman would tolerate just being cast aside? Or did she dump him? Did she truly murder her children, or was that all a lying rumor? Did neither her grandfather (the sun god Helios) or her aunt (Circe) ever tell her that this relationship would not end well? And once she left Jason in a chariot drawn by dragons...well, what did she do afterwards?
Stheno and Eurayle haunt me, because I can easily imagine immortality becoming a nightmare, especially in view of the fact that both of them loved their youngest sister, Medusa, very much...and Perseus slew her. And, due to their own immortality, they would never be able to see their belovéd sister again, for Hades was barred to them. I would love to know how they cope with the grief, as well as dealing with a world that's increasingly alien from the world in which they were born and in which the only person either can rely on is her sister. (I'm a sucker for siblings being the best of friends AND for people being capable even in seemingly intolerable circumstances.)
Pandora. I like her. I think I would like anyone who was insatiably curious. But the implication of the story-that curiosity is bad and that humans really shouldn't be curious or it will lead to trouble-has always bothered me. I'd like to see her as the good guy for a change.
Discworld-Terry Pratchett. Of the women listed here, I confess to being the most curious about Letitia from I Shall Wear Midnight and Tears of the Mushroom from Snuff. Both of them seem to be fish out of water, with abilities and talents that no one expected them to possess. I would like to see how Letitia in the process of becoming a witch, a new wife and her own woman learning how her own magic works, or seeing how her magic protects the Chalk no less than Tiffany's does, albeit in different ways.
With Tears of the Mushroom-man, she has a tough job. She's constantly on stage, always having to be representative, the proof that goblins are, in fact, people. What kind of a life does she build for herself? We caught some glimpses of goblin culture and goblin language-what other details can you provide? What does her music mean to her? Is it telling a story in tonal language that is perfectly clearly to goblins but that humans can't make out at all? Does she ever run into Mr. Nutt from Unseen Academicals? If so, what do they think of each other? Delve into the worldbuilding! I'll love it.
If you don't feel comfortable writing about these characters...well, I would relish anything about Sybil. Sybil is one of my favorite characters ever, and I would love the chance to see her being awesome again-whether as the diplomat that her husband isn't, as a dragon breeder, as a solver of mysteries or the friend of the Duchess of Sto Helit. I just want to see Sybil being glorious. (And please, no Vimes/Vetinari, overt or implied. I don't like cheaters, and I don't like to think of Sam Vimes cheating on Sybil.)
And, because they are just that good, pretty much anything with Granny Weatherwasx or Susan Sto Helit would be fantastic.
I hope that's the right amount of info on those. I don't want to be TOO specific and make it impossible for you to create anything. If there is anything you need to know, again, I don't mind if you drop an anonymous comment.
I can't wait to see what you come up with!
***
Large Fandom: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher. This series has a lot of fic, but most of it is centered on Harry Dresden. (No surprise there.) So if you matched me on this fandom, please show me the women solving problems without Harry being present. This series is overflowing with awesome women, and I would love to see them as the heroines of their own stories rather than as Harry's sidekicks.
As for what I'd like...I have a serious soft spot for Charity Carpenter being the ultimate Mama Bear. If you can combine that with Charity re-claiming her magic, I'd love it. If you can combine both with Charity fighting to save Molly from the darkness and madness that had enveloped her in Ghost Story (because I don't believe that Harry's revelation fixed everything, though it did help), I will love you forever.
If you're not a Charity fan, that's no problem, because there are lots of other stories I would like to hear as well.
For example, I would love to see pre-Changes Murphy catching a supernatural criminal with nothing but modern police techniques and ordinary mortal weaponry. I am beyond sick and tired of magic being something that can beat all baseline humans; if the magical world is afraid of baseline humans, as it is in practically every fantasy series, including this one, there should be damned good reason for it. ("Aftermath" is the only published story I've seen where a vanilla mortal takes down a supernatural entity-and even there, Murphy had the backing of a couple of werewolves.)
Martha Liberty-please! GIVE THE LADY SOME BACKSTORY. We're thirteen books into the series and we know practically nothing about her! And she's one of the seven wizards who runs the Council! So I'd love to see something her past, what her powers are, what she's done to earn her place on the Council....make her a living, vivid person. (Note: I am a huge history geek, so if you do her past, PLEASE get the history right.)
Anastasia Luccio. You know, I've seen almost nothing dealing with the traumas this lady has suffered. She was evicted from her own body, mind-controlled into being a spy and a weapon, and was magically compelled to initiate and foster a sexual relationship with a man despite being a lesbian. She's carrying on in the books...but how the hell is she coping? I'd really like to know.
Lara Raith. Her intelligence gets ignored, I feel, because, well, ex-porn star and sex vampire. So I would like to see Lara running the White Court, fending off coups and espionage and threats to the city and just generally being her subtle, sly, Machiavellian self. I'd also like to see something of Lara's past. Bonus points for answers to questions that have bugged me for ages-such as, "Why is it still necessary, after all these years, to conceal Lara's position as de facto head of the White Court?" And "Just how long was Margaret LeFay with the White Court? Could she have been Lara's mother as well?"
Gen would be preferred. I'd much rather that none of them was in a relationship with Harry; Michael Carpenter/Charity Carpenter is one of my favorite husband and wife ships in any fandom, and as for Harry/Murphy, I know it's insanely popular in the fandom...but I just can't stand the pairing. I much prefer them as friends. While you'll have to deal with the Harry/Luccio pairing if you write about Luccio, the mind control she was under (and that neither she nor Harry knew she was under) means that there was no true consent...which makes that relationship retroactively squicky.
(I have no problem with Michael/Charity, Jared Kincaid/Karrin Murphy or Luccio-in control of her mind and will-being paired with Murphy or Lara, however.)
Small Fandom: Mythology - Greek. This is my oldest fandom; I've loved it since I was eight.
Here, as I said, you can go wild with re-tellings, re-imaginings, alternate character interpretations, alternate universes...you name it. What I'm most interested in hearing from the women-how they see their world, their stories, their lives and themselves. I want to know why they behaved as the myths said that they did--especially if that seemed unwise or dangerous-or if the myths were untrue.
For example, I have a huge soft spot for Arachne as the defiant artist who will dare to say that the gods themselves are not the equals of man in creativity or morality. I'd like to know why she wove the gods' misdeeds into her tapestry, given the capriciousness of the Greek gods. Did she do it out of rage? Creative integrity? Why? And did she ever find a way of freeing herself from Athena's curse? If so, how?
Medea. She helped and advised Jason, enabling him to win the Golden Fleece and to navigate the Argo safely-so why did Jason assume that this skilled and knowledgeable woman would tolerate just being cast aside? Or did she dump him? Did she truly murder her children, or was that all a lying rumor? Did neither her grandfather (the sun god Helios) or her aunt (Circe) ever tell her that this relationship would not end well? And once she left Jason in a chariot drawn by dragons...well, what did she do afterwards?
Stheno and Eurayle haunt me, because I can easily imagine immortality becoming a nightmare, especially in view of the fact that both of them loved their youngest sister, Medusa, very much...and Perseus slew her. And, due to their own immortality, they would never be able to see their belovéd sister again, for Hades was barred to them. I would love to know how they cope with the grief, as well as dealing with a world that's increasingly alien from the world in which they were born and in which the only person either can rely on is her sister. (I'm a sucker for siblings being the best of friends AND for people being capable even in seemingly intolerable circumstances.)
Pandora. I like her. I think I would like anyone who was insatiably curious. But the implication of the story-that curiosity is bad and that humans really shouldn't be curious or it will lead to trouble-has always bothered me. I'd like to see her as the good guy for a change.
Discworld-Terry Pratchett. Of the women listed here, I confess to being the most curious about Letitia from I Shall Wear Midnight and Tears of the Mushroom from Snuff. Both of them seem to be fish out of water, with abilities and talents that no one expected them to possess. I would like to see how Letitia in the process of becoming a witch, a new wife and her own woman learning how her own magic works, or seeing how her magic protects the Chalk no less than Tiffany's does, albeit in different ways.
With Tears of the Mushroom-man, she has a tough job. She's constantly on stage, always having to be representative, the proof that goblins are, in fact, people. What kind of a life does she build for herself? We caught some glimpses of goblin culture and goblin language-what other details can you provide? What does her music mean to her? Is it telling a story in tonal language that is perfectly clearly to goblins but that humans can't make out at all? Does she ever run into Mr. Nutt from Unseen Academicals? If so, what do they think of each other? Delve into the worldbuilding! I'll love it.
If you don't feel comfortable writing about these characters...well, I would relish anything about Sybil. Sybil is one of my favorite characters ever, and I would love the chance to see her being awesome again-whether as the diplomat that her husband isn't, as a dragon breeder, as a solver of mysteries or the friend of the Duchess of Sto Helit. I just want to see Sybil being glorious. (And please, no Vimes/Vetinari, overt or implied. I don't like cheaters, and I don't like to think of Sam Vimes cheating on Sybil.)
And, because they are just that good, pretty much anything with Granny Weatherwasx or Susan Sto Helit would be fantastic.
I hope that's the right amount of info on those. I don't want to be TOO specific and make it impossible for you to create anything. If there is anything you need to know, again, I don't mind if you drop an anonymous comment.
I can't wait to see what you come up with!
***