Dear Yuletide Writer: WOOT!
Yes my lovelies, Yuletide signups are live until Friday, November 19th at midnight EST. Jump in and give some small fandoms and fellow fanfic writers a little seasonal joy! The mods have set up some YouTube screencasts to guide both newbies and old hands through the changes in signing up; the link is near the top of the form. And feel free to hit me up with questions!
To whichever intrepid Yuletide Writer gets matched with me, first and most importantly, THANK YOU!!! Yuletide is one of my very favorite fannish events of the year, so thank you for participating and *MWAH* to you for writing me a story.
By now you've had a little time to mull over your assignment, and have no doubt decided where on the scale between adoration and loathing I fall for requesting whichever of my fandoms matches up with your offerings. Whether you're quivering with anticipation, dread or something in between, I offer you the same reassurance I gave last year's writer: I'm easy. Gen, het, slash, smut, humor, angst, and on and on and on ... I'll read and enjoy it all. If a piece crosses over into multiple categories, so much the better! I have one little caveat: if you go with angst, know that I prefer it to flow naturally from the characters rather than to have it imposed by gratuitously inflicted external situations. So rape, torture, noncon, cutting, humiliation, scat, waterworks, and other such OOC-ness ... nnnnnothankyew. I would also likely find a character death story more depressing than I'd like a gift-fic to be. JSYK.
More than anything, I really want to challenge you to write from the heart, to write a story that you yourself can love. No matter the genre, characters or situations, stories written from the writer's love are always The Best.
So what can I tell you about my individual fandoms that I didn't include in my requests?
Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold: (Hallana, Liss, Palli, Umegat) Don't worry, I don't expect you to fit all of these characters into one story, though if you figure out a way to do so, I'll be impressed. A story focusing on any one or two of these four will make me happy, and feel free to bring in whatever other characters you love!
Here I listed a few supporting characters that intrigued me and made me want to see more of them. Like I said, you don't have to cram in all four, and I'd love to see other characters as well. Perhaps Palli finally meets his Marchess, or Liss and Foix meet in Visping? Hallana and Umegat both have interesting pasts to delve into. I really love the combination of high adventure and high romance in the Chalion novels, so anything that captures that atmosphere will please me to no end.
Heat of the Sun: (James Valentine) Please don't think that just because I've only listed Valentine that you have to leave your favorite characters out! I just want to make sure that he's there, preferably as the focus or a focus. Yes, I do have a little crush, why do you ask?
Okay, yes, the crush. I want fic where Asst. Superintendent James "The next one kills you" Valentine takes a starring role, though he doesn't have to be the only star. Could be romance, a piece from his rather sketchy past (I particularly love this idea), Valentine and Tyburn working on a case, Valentine standing up as best man at Tyburn and Emma's wedding (I am not entirely immune to schmoop) and maybe Something Happens ... As long as it's Valentine-centric, I'm happy.
Ivory Novels - Doris Egan : (Ran, Theodora, Kylla, Stereth) Ran and Theo are two of my favorite characters in all of ever, and I would love to see any fic that explores their relationship. I love both Kylla and Stereth as characters, but if it's too hard to fit both of them into the story, don't worry. Something from a new POV would be lovely, since the books are written with Theo as the narrator. I'm flexible though.
It should come as no surprise that Ran and Theodora are what pulled me into these books and keep me coming back to them. The intelligence, the functional dysfunctionality and wonderful give-and-take to their relationship appeal to me on so many levels. So they are the requirements, but other characters are perfectly welcome as well. Maybe something written from Kylla's point of view, or even Stereth's? Or something from post all three of the books. Go wild! ;)
Probe: (Austin, Mickey) Obviously, this is Austin and Mickey's show. I'd love to see them solving a case together, but if you're not up to writing a PROBE-style mystery, then give me more of their relationship. So long as you keep them in character, make it as friendly or as romantic as you like!
I love the way Austin and Mickey balance each other out, between his genius and her solid good sense. She refuses to be intimidated by his IQ, he insists that she keep up, but under their banter lies respect, friendship and maybe something more. Yes, I ship them, but don't feel obligated to write something uber-romantic. They're not exactly schmoopy, hearts-and-flowers personalities after all. Well, Austin certainly isn't, anyway. ;)
And there you are! Hopefully I've given you a direction, or at least a hint or two. Bear in mind that the story concepts I've suggested are not the only stories I'd enjoy; they're just possible ideas. I'd be happy to supply more details to the mods, if you feel the need to pass on any questions through them. But as I said up above, write from the heart. If a story matters to you, it will matter to your readers.
And if at all possible ... HAVE FUN!
To whichever intrepid Yuletide Writer gets matched with me, first and most importantly, THANK YOU!!! Yuletide is one of my very favorite fannish events of the year, so thank you for participating and *MWAH* to you for writing me a story.
By now you've had a little time to mull over your assignment, and have no doubt decided where on the scale between adoration and loathing I fall for requesting whichever of my fandoms matches up with your offerings. Whether you're quivering with anticipation, dread or something in between, I offer you the same reassurance I gave last year's writer: I'm easy. Gen, het, slash, smut, humor, angst, and on and on and on ... I'll read and enjoy it all. If a piece crosses over into multiple categories, so much the better! I have one little caveat: if you go with angst, know that I prefer it to flow naturally from the characters rather than to have it imposed by gratuitously inflicted external situations. So rape, torture, noncon, cutting, humiliation, scat, waterworks, and other such OOC-ness ... nnnnnothankyew. I would also likely find a character death story more depressing than I'd like a gift-fic to be. JSYK.
More than anything, I really want to challenge you to write from the heart, to write a story that you yourself can love. No matter the genre, characters or situations, stories written from the writer's love are always The Best.
So what can I tell you about my individual fandoms that I didn't include in my requests?
Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold: (Hallana, Liss, Palli, Umegat) Don't worry, I don't expect you to fit all of these characters into one story, though if you figure out a way to do so, I'll be impressed. A story focusing on any one or two of these four will make me happy, and feel free to bring in whatever other characters you love!
Here I listed a few supporting characters that intrigued me and made me want to see more of them. Like I said, you don't have to cram in all four, and I'd love to see other characters as well. Perhaps Palli finally meets his Marchess, or Liss and Foix meet in Visping? Hallana and Umegat both have interesting pasts to delve into. I really love the combination of high adventure and high romance in the Chalion novels, so anything that captures that atmosphere will please me to no end.
Heat of the Sun: (James Valentine) Please don't think that just because I've only listed Valentine that you have to leave your favorite characters out! I just want to make sure that he's there, preferably as the focus or a focus. Yes, I do have a little crush, why do you ask?
Okay, yes, the crush. I want fic where Asst. Superintendent James "The next one kills you" Valentine takes a starring role, though he doesn't have to be the only star. Could be romance, a piece from his rather sketchy past (I particularly love this idea), Valentine and Tyburn working on a case, Valentine standing up as best man at Tyburn and Emma's wedding (I am not entirely immune to schmoop) and maybe Something Happens ... As long as it's Valentine-centric, I'm happy.
Ivory Novels - Doris Egan : (Ran, Theodora, Kylla, Stereth) Ran and Theo are two of my favorite characters in all of ever, and I would love to see any fic that explores their relationship. I love both Kylla and Stereth as characters, but if it's too hard to fit both of them into the story, don't worry. Something from a new POV would be lovely, since the books are written with Theo as the narrator. I'm flexible though.
It should come as no surprise that Ran and Theodora are what pulled me into these books and keep me coming back to them. The intelligence, the functional dysfunctionality and wonderful give-and-take to their relationship appeal to me on so many levels. So they are the requirements, but other characters are perfectly welcome as well. Maybe something written from Kylla's point of view, or even Stereth's? Or something from post all three of the books. Go wild! ;)
Probe: (Austin, Mickey) Obviously, this is Austin and Mickey's show. I'd love to see them solving a case together, but if you're not up to writing a PROBE-style mystery, then give me more of their relationship. So long as you keep them in character, make it as friendly or as romantic as you like!
I love the way Austin and Mickey balance each other out, between his genius and her solid good sense. She refuses to be intimidated by his IQ, he insists that she keep up, but under their banter lies respect, friendship and maybe something more. Yes, I ship them, but don't feel obligated to write something uber-romantic. They're not exactly schmoopy, hearts-and-flowers personalities after all. Well, Austin certainly isn't, anyway. ;)
And there you are! Hopefully I've given you a direction, or at least a hint or two. Bear in mind that the story concepts I've suggested are not the only stories I'd enjoy; they're just possible ideas. I'd be happy to supply more details to the mods, if you feel the need to pass on any questions through them. But as I said up above, write from the heart. If a story matters to you, it will matter to your readers.
And if at all possible ... HAVE FUN!