Dear Yuletide Author 2012
[This is a backdated entry since I usually filter my fandom-related stuff.]
Dear Yuletide Author,
First and foremost, thank you! My prompts are strange and scattered, so I'm especially grateful.
You can find most of my fic here on AO3, and in the following communities on LJ (along with fic I read and love): dw_historical, thisengland, the_phrensies, femgenficathon, and ides_of_april. It's not directly relevant to Yuletide, but I've also got a selection of Harry Potter fic archived here.
My letter from Yuletide 2011
My letter from Yuletide 2010
My letter from Yuletide 2009
My letter from Yuletide 2008
A few general things before I get into specific requests.
- Don't worry about imitating early modern verse. Really. You don't need to. In fact, I tend to find verse pastiche distracting. I'm interested in characterisation, complexity, and people acting believably in context.
...that being said, if the muse sings and you want to write in verse, don't let me stop you. ;)
- One of these requests is for an early modern play and therefore will have problematic elements, particularly as concern women and race. I love reading stories about women in these plays, and would love you forever if you were able to reconcile both their positions in the play's universe and my feminist leanings.
- I love AUs! Let your imagination run wild.
- I am happy with gen, het, or slash (M/M and F/F both). Whatever best fits the story you want to tell.
Things I love: Complicated, nuanced relationships; siblings and friends bothering one another; clever characters being clever; clever characters being idiots (in-character idiots, of course); longing; UST; emphasizin ur wimminz (see icon); Gothic undertones; classical allusions/references; musical references; historical references; Grand Epic Moments; genfic with just a bit of romance; snark; period detail (I am an absolute sucker for it); moral ambiguity; unreliable narrators; gut-punch endings.
Things I do not love so much: PWP; explicit kink (unless it's required by the plot); dubious or coerced consent (unless it's genuinely in-character); characters behaving unrealistically for the time period (whether canon or AU); invisible wimminz; using magic to explain things away (I'm looking at you, Philippa Gregory); using romance to explain things away; gratuitous violence.
And now to the prompts...
14th Century CE RPF
I am aware that this is the silliest request ever, but I want fic where Chaucer hangs out with Boccaccio (and any other famous writers you'd like to throw in, i.e. Petrarch, Froissart). Especially if Boccaccio is old and grouchy and totally doesn't appreciate Chaucer's jokes. Or possibly Boccaccio choosing to write serious texts because he knows they'll sell; once Chaucer figures it out, they spend the rest of the wedding making inappropriate jokes. Irreverent treatment of literature encouraged.
Just like it says on the tin. It's been theorized that Chaucer could have met Boccaccio at two particular points in his career -- first, in the late 1360s, when Lionel of Antwerp married Violante Visconti (apparently Froissart and Boccaccio were both at that wedding); and when Chaucer visited Italy in the early 1370s. Boccaccio seems to have lost his sense of humour in his old age (De casibus virorum illustrium isn't exactly a barrel of laughs), so poor Chaucer would probably end up very disappointed. Or possibly Boccaccio is only in the serious book business because that's what sells, and he and Chaucer can gossip and poke fun at people. This is an invitation for crackfic, shameless referencing, Chaucer jokes, Boccaccio jokes, jokes about Plantagenets, etc.
House of Niccolò - Dorothy Dunnett
I love backstories and missing moments and this series is absolutely full of them. Nicholas' mother and Simon. All of those mad de Fleurys. Nicholas and Jodi. Marian de Charetty before she was a widow. The fantastic team of misfits in Bruges and Venice and everywhere else. JULIUS. And, of course, the van Borselen girls. I love the van Borselen girls--both of them--so anything with either or both would make me absurdly happy.
I'll be honest--the first four books are my favourites. I liked the rest of the series and I definitely enjoyed them more on reread than I had the first time round, but the first four have my heart, so if you're aiming for this fandom, that's where I'd point you. Nicholas is one of those characters who I don't so much ship as categorise, but in the books themselves, I loved Katelina, Gelis, and Zacco. And Marian. She kind of broke my heart.
Duchess of Malfi - Webster
I'm just excited to request fic in this fandom. I love this play and I love the Duchess as a character. I want to know more about where she came from and what shaped her into the woman we meet at the start of the play. Was her relationship with her brothers always this fraught? She doesn't seem to have too much resentment or bitterness on the subject of her first marriage, but we know little to nothing about it. And again, missing scenes. There are two years we as an audience miss out on between Acts 1 and 2. What happens? We get a glimpse, but nothing else. Super extra bonus points for bringing in the historical Giovanna d'Aragon or any other historical figures.
There's a brilliant production filmed by the Greenwich Theatre in 2010 (trailer here) that sets the action of the play in a sort of proto-Fascist 1930s crime syndicate, and it works beautifully. I'd love a modern AU for this play because it's one of those that works shockingly well even in a modern context. But if you'd rather stick to the Jacobean period, that is also okay!
Also, here is an overview of the historical Giovanna d'Aragon.
Dear Yuletide Author,
First and foremost, thank you! My prompts are strange and scattered, so I'm especially grateful.
You can find most of my fic here on AO3, and in the following communities on LJ (along with fic I read and love): dw_historical, thisengland, the_phrensies, femgenficathon, and ides_of_april. It's not directly relevant to Yuletide, but I've also got a selection of Harry Potter fic archived here.
My letter from Yuletide 2011
My letter from Yuletide 2010
My letter from Yuletide 2009
My letter from Yuletide 2008
A few general things before I get into specific requests.
- Don't worry about imitating early modern verse. Really. You don't need to. In fact, I tend to find verse pastiche distracting. I'm interested in characterisation, complexity, and people acting believably in context.
...that being said, if the muse sings and you want to write in verse, don't let me stop you. ;)
- One of these requests is for an early modern play and therefore will have problematic elements, particularly as concern women and race. I love reading stories about women in these plays, and would love you forever if you were able to reconcile both their positions in the play's universe and my feminist leanings.
- I love AUs! Let your imagination run wild.
- I am happy with gen, het, or slash (M/M and F/F both). Whatever best fits the story you want to tell.
Things I love: Complicated, nuanced relationships; siblings and friends bothering one another; clever characters being clever; clever characters being idiots (in-character idiots, of course); longing; UST; emphasizin ur wimminz (see icon); Gothic undertones; classical allusions/references; musical references; historical references; Grand Epic Moments; genfic with just a bit of romance; snark; period detail (I am an absolute sucker for it); moral ambiguity; unreliable narrators; gut-punch endings.
Things I do not love so much: PWP; explicit kink (unless it's required by the plot); dubious or coerced consent (unless it's genuinely in-character); characters behaving unrealistically for the time period (whether canon or AU); invisible wimminz; using magic to explain things away (I'm looking at you, Philippa Gregory); using romance to explain things away; gratuitous violence.
And now to the prompts...
14th Century CE RPF
I am aware that this is the silliest request ever, but I want fic where Chaucer hangs out with Boccaccio (and any other famous writers you'd like to throw in, i.e. Petrarch, Froissart). Especially if Boccaccio is old and grouchy and totally doesn't appreciate Chaucer's jokes. Or possibly Boccaccio choosing to write serious texts because he knows they'll sell; once Chaucer figures it out, they spend the rest of the wedding making inappropriate jokes. Irreverent treatment of literature encouraged.
Just like it says on the tin. It's been theorized that Chaucer could have met Boccaccio at two particular points in his career -- first, in the late 1360s, when Lionel of Antwerp married Violante Visconti (apparently Froissart and Boccaccio were both at that wedding); and when Chaucer visited Italy in the early 1370s. Boccaccio seems to have lost his sense of humour in his old age (De casibus virorum illustrium isn't exactly a barrel of laughs), so poor Chaucer would probably end up very disappointed. Or possibly Boccaccio is only in the serious book business because that's what sells, and he and Chaucer can gossip and poke fun at people. This is an invitation for crackfic, shameless referencing, Chaucer jokes, Boccaccio jokes, jokes about Plantagenets, etc.
House of Niccolò - Dorothy Dunnett
I love backstories and missing moments and this series is absolutely full of them. Nicholas' mother and Simon. All of those mad de Fleurys. Nicholas and Jodi. Marian de Charetty before she was a widow. The fantastic team of misfits in Bruges and Venice and everywhere else. JULIUS. And, of course, the van Borselen girls. I love the van Borselen girls--both of them--so anything with either or both would make me absurdly happy.
I'll be honest--the first four books are my favourites. I liked the rest of the series and I definitely enjoyed them more on reread than I had the first time round, but the first four have my heart, so if you're aiming for this fandom, that's where I'd point you. Nicholas is one of those characters who I don't so much ship as categorise, but in the books themselves, I loved Katelina, Gelis, and Zacco. And Marian. She kind of broke my heart.
Duchess of Malfi - Webster
I'm just excited to request fic in this fandom. I love this play and I love the Duchess as a character. I want to know more about where she came from and what shaped her into the woman we meet at the start of the play. Was her relationship with her brothers always this fraught? She doesn't seem to have too much resentment or bitterness on the subject of her first marriage, but we know little to nothing about it. And again, missing scenes. There are two years we as an audience miss out on between Acts 1 and 2. What happens? We get a glimpse, but nothing else. Super extra bonus points for bringing in the historical Giovanna d'Aragon or any other historical figures.
There's a brilliant production filmed by the Greenwich Theatre in 2010 (trailer here) that sets the action of the play in a sort of proto-Fascist 1930s crime syndicate, and it works beautifully. I'd love a modern AU for this play because it's one of those that works shockingly well even in a modern context. But if you'd rather stick to the Jacobean period, that is also okay!
Also, here is an overview of the historical Giovanna d'Aragon.