The 2010 Dear Fic-Fest Writer Letter
Dear Writer
First off, as so many others have said before and will say again, Thank You. Thank you for writing, thank you for participating, thank you for loving something (or things!) I also love. I hope you will enjoy writing this piece, and what ever it is, I am sure I will enjoy reading it.
General thoughts/preferences on what I like in fic
The thing that draws me to and brings me back to all of my fandoms (big and little) is Strength of Character wound about with Vulnerability - brilliance with fragility, knowledge/wisdom/power with geasa/restrictions, grace under strain, extraordinary capabilities under constraint. And when it is self-restraint, that is all the more wonderful. Nearly every fandom and character I deeply love contains this idea to a greater or lesser extent.
I adore hurt-comfort with a passion, and the comfort does not have to be passionate - backrubs, hair-combing, just holding on can be so, so lovely. It's the emotional intimacy that truly does it for me, physical is nice but not essential. Plus, the part of the 'hurt' half of that equation that I find compelling is not the physical ouchies, but the vulnerability/internal distress/pain-and-coping&failing-to-cope thing.
Many of my favorite and perennial re-reads are stories about intelligent, sensitive people sustaining damage while doing what they needs-must do, and then coping with that damage. This element/idea will get me sucked in and committed to a story faster than just about any other thing. That damage can be very subtle: the sheer weight of time, memory, loss (The Doctor, Methos, Captain Jack Harkness); one-of-a-kindness, hybrid, fish out of water (Spock, Avon, Sinclair (Babylon 5));-- variably subtle: PTSD and its ilk, mental/emotional trauma (Lord Peter, TELawrence, Lymond, ) -- or not subtle at all: crippling physical injury/illness (Gen (Megan Turner Whelan's Thief), Raistlin, Gerald Tarrant, Tony Stark, Archibald Craven); catastrophic loss, displacement in space/time (Jessex Yron (Kirith Kirin), Beauty and the Beast, Thomas the Rhymer).
I also appreciate language, and the way stories are put together. This is not meant to be a scary thing! I love transparent story-telling as well as lyrical and poetic atmospheric stuff.
I like plot, I like adventure, conversation, action, all kinds of thing. Character interaction, introspection, all that. I also have a competence kink - not that the characters I love never make mistakes or mess up, but that they are all bright, and skilled and good at what they do. Fish out of water is lovely, but I do prefer when they then *cope* with that. I like stories that understand the canon they are working with - missing scenes, extrapolations, things like that; but I also like things that branch off from canon, or "what might have beens" even alternate universe/alternate reality type thing, though in general I'd rather within (or not contradicting) canon than otherwise.
Slash is yummy. Gen is also yummy. Femme-slash does nothing for me, and het needs to be very carefully integrated into the story, as it is all too often a turn-off for me.
I like angst and depth and emotion, but I really like them to have happy endings, and I'd just as soon not have any major character death. Non-consentual stuff is not a fav.
But above all, have fun, go with your muses and ideas. I'm sure I'll love it no matter what.
Fandom/Request Specific things
Highlander
I am a Methos girl. I love Methos, Adam Pierson, Dr. Adams, and explorations of other personas he has lived. Methos has been, and done, not done and done again differently for so long - what keeps him going? What keeps him (most of the time) sane?
I also really like Joe, and Duncan, and will happily read stories with just about anyone, as long as they have Methos in them (Darius, Rebecca, Fitz, Amanda, Matthew, etc. Not up for Horsemen this year, though, and Caspian especially is a squick right now.
Watcher-fic is one of my favorites - Methos and Joe before Methos, Methos at the Academy, and I also love historical/flashback scenes and stories. Future-fic is also very neat, original or crossed into another future-fandom such as Star Trek ToS or Melissa Scott's Roads of Heaven-verse.
For crossovers - which I do like, though not more than HL-verse only - I prefer the focus to be on the character interaction, and, on how Methos (and the other HL characters, if present) deal/fit into/don't fit with the other universe, with some essentially Highlander elements present in the story-engine (I hope that makes sense).
Yuletide Requests
At this point there is only a little more than the Optional Details are Optional text. I will add more as I think of it. See above for the general stuff though!
The Dying Gaul (Sculpture) -
I have loved this piece of art since I first saw a 3x5 inch photo of it in Janson’s History of Art (page 117, image 177 in my copy), in high school, when it smote me over the heart. (And yes, that I would then have at least one image of it was one reason I bought it when I had the opportunity.)
Who is he? Who did he love? How did he come to be dying? Does he in fact die? If not, what happens next? Who is the sculptor (either of the Greek original or the Roman copy) and what drove him to create that piece? I will be happy with anything here, most especially if you can include something of the themes of strength and vulnerability, sacrifice and hope/love against the odds. Also - alternative modes of story-telling are totally a plus.
Resources: The Wikipedia entry is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Gaul , and here is a page with many pictures: http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/italy/rome/capitolinemuseumtwo/dyinggaul.html taken at the Capitoline Museum.
Really, if you choose to write this, anything at all for this, I will be ecstatic.
The Merro Tree - Katie Waitman -
This is a fascinating world peopled with intriguing and complex people. I love the performance aspects and the interplay between performance and politics. I like that Earth is not the focus of the story. And I really, really really love Mikk and Thissizz. Anything from gen to explicit would be delightful.
The Game Beyond - Melissa Scott -
Another fascinating world peopled with complex and ambiguous characters. How do Kiera and Desolin come to be the people we see in the story? How did they go about making a relationship as well as ruling? Especially since I really don’t think he is straight. Really, I don't think so, though if you go with that I will still be very happy.
They Called Her Babylon (Song) -
There are so many layers of story here, possibilities and points of view. What does Lathom House itself think? The unnamed Captain who stands with his Lady Countess? History, Fantasy, AU, anything. Alternative modes of story-telling here would be really neat too.
The album with the song can be found here on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/they-called-her-babylon/id316458823
Seriously, though, whatever you choose to write, most especially if the story grabs you and runs, I will be delighted with.
This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/194240.html, where there are currently
comments. Please comment there using OpenID.
First off, as so many others have said before and will say again, Thank You. Thank you for writing, thank you for participating, thank you for loving something (or things!) I also love. I hope you will enjoy writing this piece, and what ever it is, I am sure I will enjoy reading it.
General thoughts/preferences on what I like in fic
The thing that draws me to and brings me back to all of my fandoms (big and little) is Strength of Character wound about with Vulnerability - brilliance with fragility, knowledge/wisdom/power with geasa/restrictions, grace under strain, extraordinary capabilities under constraint. And when it is self-restraint, that is all the more wonderful. Nearly every fandom and character I deeply love contains this idea to a greater or lesser extent.
I adore hurt-comfort with a passion, and the comfort does not have to be passionate - backrubs, hair-combing, just holding on can be so, so lovely. It's the emotional intimacy that truly does it for me, physical is nice but not essential. Plus, the part of the 'hurt' half of that equation that I find compelling is not the physical ouchies, but the vulnerability/internal distress/pain-and-coping&failing-to-cope thing.
Many of my favorite and perennial re-reads are stories about intelligent, sensitive people sustaining damage while doing what they needs-must do, and then coping with that damage. This element/idea will get me sucked in and committed to a story faster than just about any other thing. That damage can be very subtle: the sheer weight of time, memory, loss (The Doctor, Methos, Captain Jack Harkness); one-of-a-kindness, hybrid, fish out of water (Spock, Avon, Sinclair (Babylon 5));-- variably subtle: PTSD and its ilk, mental/emotional trauma (Lord Peter, TELawrence, Lymond, ) -- or not subtle at all: crippling physical injury/illness (Gen (Megan Turner Whelan's Thief), Raistlin, Gerald Tarrant, Tony Stark, Archibald Craven); catastrophic loss, displacement in space/time (Jessex Yron (Kirith Kirin), Beauty and the Beast, Thomas the Rhymer).
I also appreciate language, and the way stories are put together. This is not meant to be a scary thing! I love transparent story-telling as well as lyrical and poetic atmospheric stuff.
I like plot, I like adventure, conversation, action, all kinds of thing. Character interaction, introspection, all that. I also have a competence kink - not that the characters I love never make mistakes or mess up, but that they are all bright, and skilled and good at what they do. Fish out of water is lovely, but I do prefer when they then *cope* with that. I like stories that understand the canon they are working with - missing scenes, extrapolations, things like that; but I also like things that branch off from canon, or "what might have beens" even alternate universe/alternate reality type thing, though in general I'd rather within (or not contradicting) canon than otherwise.
Slash is yummy. Gen is also yummy. Femme-slash does nothing for me, and het needs to be very carefully integrated into the story, as it is all too often a turn-off for me.
I like angst and depth and emotion, but I really like them to have happy endings, and I'd just as soon not have any major character death. Non-consentual stuff is not a fav.
But above all, have fun, go with your muses and ideas. I'm sure I'll love it no matter what.
Fandom/Request Specific things
Highlander
I am a Methos girl. I love Methos, Adam Pierson, Dr. Adams, and explorations of other personas he has lived. Methos has been, and done, not done and done again differently for so long - what keeps him going? What keeps him (most of the time) sane?
I also really like Joe, and Duncan, and will happily read stories with just about anyone, as long as they have Methos in them (Darius, Rebecca, Fitz, Amanda, Matthew, etc. Not up for Horsemen this year, though, and Caspian especially is a squick right now.
Watcher-fic is one of my favorites - Methos and Joe before Methos, Methos at the Academy, and I also love historical/flashback scenes and stories. Future-fic is also very neat, original or crossed into another future-fandom such as Star Trek ToS or Melissa Scott's Roads of Heaven-verse.
For crossovers - which I do like, though not more than HL-verse only - I prefer the focus to be on the character interaction, and, on how Methos (and the other HL characters, if present) deal/fit into/don't fit with the other universe, with some essentially Highlander elements present in the story-engine (I hope that makes sense).
Yuletide Requests
At this point there is only a little more than the Optional Details are Optional text. I will add more as I think of it. See above for the general stuff though!
The Dying Gaul (Sculpture) -
I have loved this piece of art since I first saw a 3x5 inch photo of it in Janson’s History of Art (page 117, image 177 in my copy), in high school, when it smote me over the heart. (And yes, that I would then have at least one image of it was one reason I bought it when I had the opportunity.)
Who is he? Who did he love? How did he come to be dying? Does he in fact die? If not, what happens next? Who is the sculptor (either of the Greek original or the Roman copy) and what drove him to create that piece? I will be happy with anything here, most especially if you can include something of the themes of strength and vulnerability, sacrifice and hope/love against the odds. Also - alternative modes of story-telling are totally a plus.
Resources: The Wikipedia entry is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Gaul , and here is a page with many pictures: http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/italy/rome/capitolinemuseumtwo/dyinggaul.html taken at the Capitoline Museum.
Really, if you choose to write this, anything at all for this, I will be ecstatic.
The Merro Tree - Katie Waitman -
This is a fascinating world peopled with intriguing and complex people. I love the performance aspects and the interplay between performance and politics. I like that Earth is not the focus of the story. And I really, really really love Mikk and Thissizz. Anything from gen to explicit would be delightful.
The Game Beyond - Melissa Scott -
Another fascinating world peopled with complex and ambiguous characters. How do Kiera and Desolin come to be the people we see in the story? How did they go about making a relationship as well as ruling? Especially since I really don’t think he is straight. Really, I don't think so, though if you go with that I will still be very happy.
They Called Her Babylon (Song) -
There are so many layers of story here, possibilities and points of view. What does Lathom House itself think? The unnamed Captain who stands with his Lady Countess? History, Fantasy, AU, anything. Alternative modes of story-telling here would be really neat too.
The album with the song can be found here on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/they-called-her-babylon/id316458823
Seriously, though, whatever you choose to write, most especially if the story grabs you and runs, I will be delighted with.
This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/194240.html, where there are currently
comments. Please comment there using OpenID.