Yuletide 2012 Letter
(note: this is mostly stolen outright from last year's letter :D )
First off, thank you for writing for me! I absolutely adore all of the fandoms I requested, so I'm sure that I'll adore anything you write for me in them. And yay! you like at least one of them as well, so I'm doublely sure anything you write will be awesome. Please consider all of my preferences/suggestions/prompts below as optional, and don't sweat it if your inspiration takes you elsewhere. I'd MUCH rather read something you loved writing than something you wrote under duress after having a wtf moment at my prompts. Seriously, I'll be happy with whatever you send my way! :-)
Things I generally like in fics:
Gen, het, slash, femslash, and poly are all equally awesome. My prompts are mostly gen in nature, but feel free to go as shippy as you'd like. I'm extremely flexible regarding pairings - give me a reason to get why a paring works, and I'll believe it. That being said, I'd prefer that, should you break up canon pairings, you do so in a way that doesn't include infidelity or character-bashing, and that takes into account biological constraints written into the universe (in the case of Xenogenesis).
Character studies & backstories - especially of non-POV characters/minor characters - are great! I'm a big fan of hearing from strong women, people of different cultures, and people who feel marginalized for one reason or another. Or feel free to give me another facet of a character we already know quite a bit about - an odd hobby that nevertheless fits, for example. If you have an interesting bit of headcanon for someone, I'm interested in reading about it.
World-building. All of the fandoms I requested are set in universes that seriously intrigue me, and I'd love to hear more about them. Feel free to take a tiny remark and develop it into a story with OCs, as long as you keep consistent with the tone & rules of the fandom. Tell me what happens before or after canon, or in a missing scene!
Slice of life fic! I enjoy all of the main characters in the fandoms I requested, so feel free to tell me something about what their daily life is like. Friendships, family, and relationships highly encouraged here - you can go fluffy if you like, but I'm fine with you exploring problematic area of canon or flawed people/relationships that don't exactly work perfectly.
AUs & Fusion fics. Alright, so, generally, I'm a huge fan of AUs That being said, I nominated universes I'm interested in more than specific characters, and I'd really like to see more story in those universes, so... I don't know? If you've got a great idea, though, go for it, and I'm sure it'll be fantastic, because, as said, above, I generally love AUs. What if AUs are fantastic, or you could go fusion and bring some other fandom's characters into one of these universes, if you like. I'm not a huge fan of straight-up crossovers, but I can be sold on them. You can see my (mostly-outdated but-better-than-nothing) rec journal here if you want to see fandoms I'm familiar with. Also good for seeing the wide variety of fics that I like! (Of the bigger fandoms, lately I'm reading a ton of Avengers [who isn't?], Teen Wolf, XMFC, Star Trek 2009, White Collar, and Suits.)
Other things I enjoy greatly: Nerdiness! Banter! Snark! Plotty things! Ethical dilemmas & logic & arguments! Quirkiness in tone or characters! Emotional arcs with satisfying resolutions! Friendships! Relationships that aren't perfect but people are still trying to do their best! Competence (I love people who are good at what they do)! Alien-ish things! People whose base assumptions & world-views are different, leading to conflict! Puns! UST! H/C! Things that are bittersweet and/or angst, but there's light at the end of the tunnel - or at least satisfaction in staying true to yourself! Romance! First-time/developing relationships! Thoughts on religion/philosophy (I'm not religious, but I'm interested in people who are)! Subtle flirting! Kidfic! Established relationships! Joking! An author who brings in his/her outside hobbies/knowledge into the fic! Genderswap! (Okay, I'll stop now. Basically, Dear Yuletide Author, I like it all.)
Things I'm not a huge fan of:
PWP: I'm not against smut in general (at all!), but I'm hoping to get more than *just* smut that this Yuletide. (But I'll make an exception for Xenogenesis, because any porn there is probably going to require some neat alien things/thoughts anyway.)
Glorification of the nasty things people do to each other or themselves. I'm okay with nasty things happening, because the world isn't all sunshine and giggles, but I'd prefer not to read detailed descriptions of it. For example, I'm okay with a rape occurring in the story, but I'd prefer to not read the blow-by-blow description of exactly how it goes down. Oh, and it might be worth mentioning here that I'm pretty firmly in the camp of "everyone is the hero of their own story" - even evil characters think they're doing the right thing, for whatever reason. Regarding -isms & homophobia and the like, I'm fine with *characters* holding viewpoints I disagree with, but I appreciate it when the narrative at least subtly points out that it's not cool.
Heavy kinkiness: bloodplay, watersports, things like that... There isn't anything that triggers me, but I'm just not particularly interested in it. Light D/S is awesome, though, as are power differentials, and dubcon (as long as you consider/make clear that there's a dubcon element in play).
Heavy crack: I think crack done right can be wonderful, but it's the sort of thing I prefer to go searching out on my own time. Plus these universes are so odd/fascinating that I'd like to see you take them on as they are.
Super, super dark fics. If you want to go dark, that's totally fine. But give me a glimmer of something nice somewhere, please? Like, if you're killing off a main character, have them die with dignity and/or for a purpose, y'know?
The Giver - Lois Lowry
I have two burning questions about this world: (1) What happened to the community after Jonas left? (2) How did such a society develop in the first place? Anything you can write to help answer or hint at those questions would be fantastic! Any character is great, but Lily is a special favorite of mine, and I'd love to see what happened after she grew up.
What-ifs would also be fantastic: if Jonas left after Gabe grew up, if Asher was the one born with blue eyes, etc.
As a kid I thought this universe was so fascinating, and as an adult... I still think it's fascinating, but I really wonder how the community got to the point they did in the novel. Even hand-waving aside the whole "memories can be passed from person to person" thing, I get fascinated trying to figure out how people - wonderful, diverse humanity - decided that Sameness was the way to go. And then went about ruthlessly (?) stripping out anything that would lead to diverse thought in the Community. So, how does it all work? How did it work before Jonas and how does it work after Jonas leaves? I really would just love more story in this universe that takes a stab at showing us more of the Community.
And to the what-if's in my request - as I said above, I really love what-if's! Go with any change you can think of, and tell me that story! What if Rosemary had rebelled the way Jonas did, and shook up the community more? What if Jonas had brown eyes and Lily had blue, and she'd been the new Receiver? What if Jonas had stayed and tried to change the community from within? What if the Giver had died before Jonas really started in on his training, and let loose all of his memories on the town?
Sunshine - Robin McKinley
I want to know more about *everything* in this novel. Give me casefic with the SOF. Give me background/character development on Mel or Miss Yolande or Aimil or Pat. Give me a day in the life of Charlie or Sadie and their bakery. Tell me what happened to Sunshine's father's family during the wars. Give me friendship or smut between Sunshine, Mel, and/or Constantine (no infidelity, though, please). In the spirit of Yuletide, have some fun parsing together Christmas/pagan/other religions' holiday traditions and the fascinating magic system McKinley developed.
Cheerful preferred, but if you want to go 100 years into the future and dark, that's cool too.
I love Sunshine so very fucking much. I love that she loves baking, that she has parts of herself that she doesn't understand, that she doesn't necessarily want to be magic but accepts that she is. I love the family that's been created at Charlie's - both the actual family and the regular customers who are half-family. Honestly, I have a huge kink for family & ensemble fics, where everyone brings something good to the table.
I adore the magic system that we see here, and would love to see it developed further: other types of demons, ways of using magic, how magic families work, how partbloods function, and so forth. I'm very interested in Mel and his tattoos. And Constantine - how he decided to take the path he did, what it means for other vampires and the future of the fight between vampires & humans?
Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster (ill. Jules Feiffer)
What I'd really like to see here is world-building - either a part of the Kingdom of Wisdom that we don't see in the novel, or a deeper look at what we do see. Any of the characters nominated (or any others, OCs included) exploring is fine with me.
Regarding things we don't see - we get, what, literature, music/sound, and math in the book (along with a host of puns)? Well, there's more to wisdom than those arena - how about philosophy or more on the arts or one of the social sciences? I'd like to see something playful and fun with the same whimsical tone as the novel, just a different arena of knowledge. Or how about some practical knowledge (like the not jumping to conclusions scene) - what sort of wise advice do you think children & adults should know/do? Take what you know and go wild!
On the deeper look, well, I'm a math nerd, so I'd love to see more number/math concept punning, if you're up for it. I'm not that well versed on the finer points of music theory or literary theory, but if that's your thing, write it and I'll probably love it anyway.
Also, I'd love to see this world from a different cultural perspective - playing with the fables/advice/areas of wisdom of another language/country/culture. As long as you explain any puns that require non-English skills in the notes, I'm fine with wherever you take it.
I loved this book as a child, but I think I love it even more as an adult. I'm basically fine with anywhere you go with this story, as long as you keep the lighthearted playful tone. Hell, you can even ignore my "no crack" comment above if you've got a great cracky idea. :-D
If there's any subject you've studied or love that you can take in the whimsical direction of the book, that would be FANTASTIC. I'm big on philosophy, economics (and the other social sciences, to a lesser degree), religious studies, and math, but if you're into something else, that's cool. Go geeky on me and I'll love you.
Characterwise, I'm good with whomever or whatever hits your fancy. An OC, Milo, the Spelling Bee... it's all good.
If none of this is hitting your buttons, well, erm, feel free to bring a character from another fandom into the Kingdom of Wisdom (preferably one from a fandom I've recced, so y'know, I know them too). Or give me a look at Milo once he's all grown up - what does he make of his childhood adventures? How has he changed?
Nothing too dark, please, this is a fluffy childhood fandom for me.
Xenogenesis Series - Octavia E. Butler
Honestly, I can't think of a single story set in this universe that I *wouldn't* like.
I'd love to see the story of Imago (or post-canon) through the eyes of a different character. Jesusa, maybe, or Tomas, or Lilith. I'd love to hear the backstory of Jesusa & Tomas' village, or how it changes once they're discovered. How are humans coping on the Mars colony? Did Tate Marah go there or she still resisting on Earth? Are the Oankali correct regarding humans' inherent flaw? What will the final set of constructs be like - individually & sociologically-, when the Oankali eventually leave Earth? What have humans brought to them genetically (besides cancer) or culturally? What are the relationships of constructs like?
Seriously, anything from a character study to romance/relationships to world-building would be fantastic here.
I first found this series when I was ten, I think, and it solidified my growing love of SF. I basically love everything Butler's written, but especially this series. I love that there are serious and real ethical and worldview conflicts here: the Oankali think humans have this innate flaw, and I still don't know if I agree with them or not. And they're so very alien, mentally and biologically. I'd love to know more about their flaws as a society/people, outside of what we see in how they deal with humans. Or about how they were before this latest trade, or how they were at the very beginning of their existence.
I also love the strong, diverse human women in this series, and the web of relationships we see among families. Jesusa, Tomas, and Jodahs are probably my favorite characters in the series, and I'd love to hear more about them and their relationship. Explore the threesome, explore their future fivesome, explore the brother-sister-partner issues, Catholicism + Oankali, how they feel when they eventually leave Earth, seriously, anything.
Butler raises a lot issues in this series, and if you want to explore any of the many problematic areas (human & Oankali, human & human, or heck, the disagreements among the Oankali), that is perfectly fine with me. If you want to do any of this with an OC POV, or otherwise bring in an OC, that's cool too.
So, that's it, Dear Yuletide Author. I hope this uber-long letter has given you some plot bunnies, and, like I said above, don't stress about what you write too much - it's the holidays, after all! I'm sure I'll love whatever you end up writing. I've turned on anonymous commenting, so if you're really panicking, feel free to ask (yourself or through friends) questions.
Thank you!
- Jaclyn