Dear Yuletide writer
Thank you so much for participating in this exchange and for offering one or more of my requested fandoms! Two important things I wanted to tell you:
* Optional details are optional. I've offered several possible hooks for a story in each of my requests because that's how I like to write for exchanges, but if your creativity is sparked in other ways, or if you just don't like any of my suggestions, then feel free to ignore them and write a different story for those characters.
* Yuletide tends to be a high-pressure exchange for a lot of people, and while I'm not trying to invalidate your feelings if you're one of them, I do want to encourage you to not worry too much. I haven't found a single story for Babel-17, Purple Hibiscus, or Things Fall Apart, and while Havemercy is a more popular small fandom, Kouje/Mamoru isn't a popular pairing, so there's pretty much nothing you could write that I wouldn't coo over for the very fact of its existence.
As I said, I tend to prefer more info rather than less when writing for exchanges. If you feel the same, then please check out my general fic kinks and squicks post and/or continue reading:
Babel-17 -- Samuel R. Delany
Calli/Mollya Twa/Ron
I'd really love a story about the three of them learning to work together and love each other. If you're not feeling that for whatever reason, then some alternate prompts that I'd be thrilled by include: Calli/Ron slash set after the death of their first partner, a Mollya Twa character study/gen fic set at any point in her life, or Mollya Twa-Rydra Wong friendship fic. (If you choose any of the latter three options, then feel free to not include all of my requested characters.)
There are two things I don't want that I think are both very unlikely for anyone to write, which is why I haven't mentioned them in my optional details, but that might as well go here. The first is any character bashing of Rydra Wong or attempts to minimize her awesomeness. Like I said, I'm sure that that idea hadn't even crossed your mind! But I've seen enough book discussions that dismiss and/or castigate her as a Mary Sue that I wanted to make it super clear that I love her and all of her improbable--but not impossible!--talents.
The second thing I don't want is a Calli\Mollya/Ron vee, in which Calli and Ron aren't romantically and sexually involved with each other. I think it's canonical that their threesome functions as a triangle rather than a vee, but readers can certainly interpret things differently, so I thought I'd clarify my perspective on their relationship just to be safe.
I read the book earlier this year but haven't written a Goodreads review of it yet; when I do, I'll update this post with the link.
Havemercy series -- Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
Kouje/Mamoru
Slash, please. I loveloveloved Kouje's and Mamoru's relationship in Shadow Magic: the moral conundrums it posed for Kouje, their reliance upon each other, their growing intimacy. What I'd really adore would be more of that, whether it's done with backstory or missing scenes from the book or future fic or some combination of the above. Other things that I would potentially love to see included in the story: worldbuilding, Mamoru's relationship with his brother, Mamoru meeting Kouje's family, Xi'an politics. A sex scene or two would be excellent, but if you're not feeling it, don't force it; just the two of them together romantically in any way would be lovely.
I'm pretty sure that anyone offering to write Havemercy would be cool with slash, which is why I put that request front and center, but if you're a gen writer in this fandom and/or if you prefer Kouje's and Mamoru's relationship to be platonic, then gen backstory is certainly welcome. Additional info you may want: my (not entirely positive) review of Havemercy and review of Shadow Magic. (I haven't yet read Dragon Soul and Steel Hands.)
Purple Hibiscus -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chukwuka "Jaja" Achike
I like Kambili a lot and thought that her relationship with her father and the way she tried to constrain and suppress herself in order to best please him were painfully realistic. I also found it interesting how different her brother's personality and worldview were, but the novel barely touches on the reasons for the differences between the two of them. I'd really love to see you explore Jaja's perspective, perhaps through backstory involving his childhood, or a story about his relationship with Beatrice and/or Aunty Ifeoma and her children, or a story set during his years in prison, or what happens to him after his release. Gen, het, and slash are all welcome (or femslash, for that matter, if you want one of the women in Jaja's life to become involved in a lesbian relationship), though if you're writing slash, I'd prefer the sex to be consensual and not part of a prison rape scenario. No incest, please.
My review of Purple Hibiscus.
Things Fall Apart -- Chinua Achebe
Ekwefi/Ezinma/Ikemefuna/Nwoye
The four characters I selected are my favorites, but you don't have to write about all of them; you can focus on just one or two of them if you prefer. No AUs, please, but otherwise I'm up for pretty much anything: backstory, missing scenes, future fic, a retelling of the events in Things Fall Apart from another character's perspective...it all sounds good.
I'd also prefer no incest, with the exception of quasi-incest between Nwoye and Ikemefuna, which is very welcome, though I'd also like reading about a platonically fraternal relationship between them if that's your preference. Other suggestions besides Ikemefuna/Nwoye: I'd love to see more of Ezinma's and/or Ekwefi's relationships with Chielo (some Ekwefi/Chielo femslash would be great, if you wanted to write that), or Ekwefi's relationships with Okonkwo's first wife and Ojiugo, or Ezinma's story after Okonkwo dies. While I'm not a Christian myself, I'm fascinated by Nwoye's choosing to convert in the face of his father's displeasure and would love a story exploring Nwoye's process in making that decision and/or how his choice affected his cultural identity and his relationship with his family. I'm also interested in Ikemefuna's adoption into Okonkwo's household and his perspective on that experience. Any one of these prompts--or an even better idea of your own!--would be great.
My review of Things Fall Apart.
This entry also posted at: http://jain.dreamwidth.org/119667.html.
people have commented there.
* Optional details are optional. I've offered several possible hooks for a story in each of my requests because that's how I like to write for exchanges, but if your creativity is sparked in other ways, or if you just don't like any of my suggestions, then feel free to ignore them and write a different story for those characters.
* Yuletide tends to be a high-pressure exchange for a lot of people, and while I'm not trying to invalidate your feelings if you're one of them, I do want to encourage you to not worry too much. I haven't found a single story for Babel-17, Purple Hibiscus, or Things Fall Apart, and while Havemercy is a more popular small fandom, Kouje/Mamoru isn't a popular pairing, so there's pretty much nothing you could write that I wouldn't coo over for the very fact of its existence.
As I said, I tend to prefer more info rather than less when writing for exchanges. If you feel the same, then please check out my general fic kinks and squicks post and/or continue reading:
Babel-17 -- Samuel R. Delany
Calli/Mollya Twa/Ron
I'd really love a story about the three of them learning to work together and love each other. If you're not feeling that for whatever reason, then some alternate prompts that I'd be thrilled by include: Calli/Ron slash set after the death of their first partner, a Mollya Twa character study/gen fic set at any point in her life, or Mollya Twa-Rydra Wong friendship fic. (If you choose any of the latter three options, then feel free to not include all of my requested characters.)
There are two things I don't want that I think are both very unlikely for anyone to write, which is why I haven't mentioned them in my optional details, but that might as well go here. The first is any character bashing of Rydra Wong or attempts to minimize her awesomeness. Like I said, I'm sure that that idea hadn't even crossed your mind! But I've seen enough book discussions that dismiss and/or castigate her as a Mary Sue that I wanted to make it super clear that I love her and all of her improbable--but not impossible!--talents.
The second thing I don't want is a Calli\Mollya/Ron vee, in which Calli and Ron aren't romantically and sexually involved with each other. I think it's canonical that their threesome functions as a triangle rather than a vee, but readers can certainly interpret things differently, so I thought I'd clarify my perspective on their relationship just to be safe.
I read the book earlier this year but haven't written a Goodreads review of it yet; when I do, I'll update this post with the link.
Havemercy series -- Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
Kouje/Mamoru
Slash, please. I loveloveloved Kouje's and Mamoru's relationship in Shadow Magic: the moral conundrums it posed for Kouje, their reliance upon each other, their growing intimacy. What I'd really adore would be more of that, whether it's done with backstory or missing scenes from the book or future fic or some combination of the above. Other things that I would potentially love to see included in the story: worldbuilding, Mamoru's relationship with his brother, Mamoru meeting Kouje's family, Xi'an politics. A sex scene or two would be excellent, but if you're not feeling it, don't force it; just the two of them together romantically in any way would be lovely.
I'm pretty sure that anyone offering to write Havemercy would be cool with slash, which is why I put that request front and center, but if you're a gen writer in this fandom and/or if you prefer Kouje's and Mamoru's relationship to be platonic, then gen backstory is certainly welcome. Additional info you may want: my (not entirely positive) review of Havemercy and review of Shadow Magic. (I haven't yet read Dragon Soul and Steel Hands.)
Purple Hibiscus -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chukwuka "Jaja" Achike
I like Kambili a lot and thought that her relationship with her father and the way she tried to constrain and suppress herself in order to best please him were painfully realistic. I also found it interesting how different her brother's personality and worldview were, but the novel barely touches on the reasons for the differences between the two of them. I'd really love to see you explore Jaja's perspective, perhaps through backstory involving his childhood, or a story about his relationship with Beatrice and/or Aunty Ifeoma and her children, or a story set during his years in prison, or what happens to him after his release. Gen, het, and slash are all welcome (or femslash, for that matter, if you want one of the women in Jaja's life to become involved in a lesbian relationship), though if you're writing slash, I'd prefer the sex to be consensual and not part of a prison rape scenario. No incest, please.
My review of Purple Hibiscus.
Things Fall Apart -- Chinua Achebe
Ekwefi/Ezinma/Ikemefuna/Nwoye
The four characters I selected are my favorites, but you don't have to write about all of them; you can focus on just one or two of them if you prefer. No AUs, please, but otherwise I'm up for pretty much anything: backstory, missing scenes, future fic, a retelling of the events in Things Fall Apart from another character's perspective...it all sounds good.
I'd also prefer no incest, with the exception of quasi-incest between Nwoye and Ikemefuna, which is very welcome, though I'd also like reading about a platonically fraternal relationship between them if that's your preference. Other suggestions besides Ikemefuna/Nwoye: I'd love to see more of Ezinma's and/or Ekwefi's relationships with Chielo (some Ekwefi/Chielo femslash would be great, if you wanted to write that), or Ekwefi's relationships with Okonkwo's first wife and Ojiugo, or Ezinma's story after Okonkwo dies. While I'm not a Christian myself, I'm fascinated by Nwoye's choosing to convert in the face of his father's displeasure and would love a story exploring Nwoye's process in making that decision and/or how his choice affected his cultural identity and his relationship with his family. I'm also interested in Ikemefuna's adoption into Okonkwo's household and his perspective on that experience. Any one of these prompts--or an even better idea of your own!--would be great.
My review of Things Fall Apart.
This entry also posted at: http://jain.dreamwidth.org/119667.html.
people have commented there.