Dear Yule-Writer
First off, Dear Writer, thank you for loving something I love, and writing for me. I have never been disappointed in a Yuletide piece written for me, and I am sure I will love yours!
1. The Exeter Book : The Riddles
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard, Coindarel
3. Smith of Wootton Major - J. R. R. Tolkien : Alf; Smith
4. Diggy Diggy Hole - Yogscast (Music Video) : All/Any
5. They Called Her Babylon - Steeleye Span (song) : Charlotte; Lathom House
6. PARRISH Maxfield - Works : The Young King of the Black Isles (artwork)
General Thoughts
This year's general thoughts resemble earlier year's, but I have re-formatted them somewhat. Previous year's letters can be found under the Dear Writer tag on Dreamwidth and on Live Journal.
Things I love:
Strength - of character, of intellect, of will, of ability - interwoven with vulnerability. brilliance with fragility, knowledge/wisdom/power with geasa/restrictions/damage, 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 some degree.
Competence - people who are good at what they do, and exercising those skills & abilities. Smiths smithing beautiful things, poets shaping reality with their words and music. Smithcraft and Making are part of this, with which I have an abiding fascination.
Kingship, Sovereignty, Bardship, Wizardry - annother abiding fascination of mine, both in success and failure, requirements and advantages, positives and negatives.
Hope - light at the end of the struggle, the possibility of joy out of grief or difficulty, beauty in the midst of sorrow or pain. I like angst, and hurt/comfort, and clever, driven, competent people set against great odds and obstacles, but I want there to be a point to the quest, value to life and love and light. Bittersweet is lovely, but requires sweet with the bitter. (And fluffy, happy, even silly things can be good too.)
Language - lyrical, poetic, atmospheric words as an element of the work, how the story is put together. I am very open to receiving different kinds of story, if that is your thing. And if not, I love transparent storytelling too. I love conversation and description and exploration of tiny moments as well as grand tapestries.
Intimacy and relationships - I am fine with any rating, but I prefer emotional intimacy and exploration to parts and mechanics, if that makes sense? Consent is important to me. I would prefer no non-con or dub-con.
Things I Do Not Want:
Please no permanent character death, non- or dubious consent, or religion-bashing (any religion). Also, I have a pretty strong embarrassment squick.
Individual Requests
1. The Exeter Book : The Riddles
Anglo-Saxon riddles & poetry, what's not to love?
More: (more will appear here soon! I hope!)
Resources:
A pdf of the first volume of the version translated by Sir Israel Gollancz in 1895 is available here: https://archive.org/details/exeterbookanthol01goll
Other links: The Wanderer, parallel translation
The Seafarer, parallel translation
An interesting pdf with The Seafarer, The Wanderer, and The Wife's Lament all in one place with some useful ancillary material.
Wikisource pages for The Riddles
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard, Coindarel
I love this world, the magic, the alchemy, the astrology (and the astronomy!) I am good with either Aicelin or Coindarel, though both of them working together would be amazing, lovely and fun.
Aicelin: More of her story, please. How did she end up working for Hanselin Caiazzo? Who does she care for? What are her challenges? What of her learning to be a magist, or early days, or secret love of little clock-work toys (or whatever her imagination is sparked by)? I would be very happy to see her working with Coindarel, Istre, Nicholas or Philip (or all or some of them together) but mostly I want more of her tale.
Coindarel: who is he? How does he navigate the intricacies of his world? Did Philip change anything for him, and if so, how? Does he read the broadsheets? I would love anything at all about him, from plotty adventure (city guard, on campaign, his pov on any of the canon events) to glimpses of his life & thoughts as he goes about his day.
Feel free to include any of the characters: Caiazzo, Istre, Nicolas, Philip, Cassia, or Naime, as your muse desires. There really isn't a character I don't like, but I would prefer a focus on Aicelin &/or Coindarel.
More:
3. Smith of Wootton Major - J. R. R. Tolkien : Alf; Smith
What does it mean that Alf is also the King of Fairyland? Why did he choose to walk in the world of Wootton Major? What was his relationship with the earlier Cook? With Smith? With the Queen of Faery?
How does smithcraft come into it all?
More:
4. Diggy Diggy Hole - Yogscast (Music Video) : Dwarf King, Dwarfling
Link to video
Link to lyrics
I love the enthusiasm and joy in this song. (I have a great fondness for Dwarves in general, very much influenced by Tolkien's Gimli and the Hobbit films.) I would very much prefer positive portrayal here, though it needn't ignore hardship and danger and so forth.
Dwarves, Kingship, Making, wonders and dangers of the depths of the Earth, energetic joy in all these things. Bearded Dwarf Women. There are no stereotypical women in the video, and no overt gender of any kind in the lyrics, though the dwarfling is clearly the child of the ruler. How might that work?
More:
5. They Called Her Babylon - Steeleye Span (song) : Charlotte
YouTube links: here, and here.
Lyrics
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.
More:
6. PARRISH Maxfield - Works : The Young King of the Black Isles (artwork)
Link to art: The Young King of the Black Isles
Who is he? What is his grief? His love? The nature of his Kingship? Fantasy, SF, crossover with one of the above things, something that incorporates the other Parrish works -- or the 1001 Nights works -- have fun! (Links to all the art can be found in the artworks post.)
More:
This letter is still a work in progress, with pretty much just what I signed up with - more to follow!
This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/252011.html, where there are currently
comments. Please comment there using OpenID.
1. The Exeter Book : The Riddles
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard, Coindarel
3. Smith of Wootton Major - J. R. R. Tolkien : Alf; Smith
4. Diggy Diggy Hole - Yogscast (Music Video) : All/Any
5. They Called Her Babylon - Steeleye Span (song) : Charlotte; Lathom House
6. PARRISH Maxfield - Works : The Young King of the Black Isles (artwork)
General Thoughts
This year's general thoughts resemble earlier year's, but I have re-formatted them somewhat. Previous year's letters can be found under the Dear Writer tag on Dreamwidth and on Live Journal.
Things I love:
Strength - of character, of intellect, of will, of ability - interwoven with vulnerability. brilliance with fragility, knowledge/wisdom/power with geasa/restrictions/damage, 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 some degree.
Competence - people who are good at what they do, and exercising those skills & abilities. Smiths smithing beautiful things, poets shaping reality with their words and music. Smithcraft and Making are part of this, with which I have an abiding fascination.
Kingship, Sovereignty, Bardship, Wizardry - annother abiding fascination of mine, both in success and failure, requirements and advantages, positives and negatives.
Hope - light at the end of the struggle, the possibility of joy out of grief or difficulty, beauty in the midst of sorrow or pain. I like angst, and hurt/comfort, and clever, driven, competent people set against great odds and obstacles, but I want there to be a point to the quest, value to life and love and light. Bittersweet is lovely, but requires sweet with the bitter. (And fluffy, happy, even silly things can be good too.)
Language - lyrical, poetic, atmospheric words as an element of the work, how the story is put together. I am very open to receiving different kinds of story, if that is your thing. And if not, I love transparent storytelling too. I love conversation and description and exploration of tiny moments as well as grand tapestries.
Intimacy and relationships - I am fine with any rating, but I prefer emotional intimacy and exploration to parts and mechanics, if that makes sense? Consent is important to me. I would prefer no non-con or dub-con.
Things I Do Not Want:
Please no permanent character death, non- or dubious consent, or religion-bashing (any religion). Also, I have a pretty strong embarrassment squick.
Individual Requests
1. The Exeter Book : The Riddles
Anglo-Saxon riddles & poetry, what's not to love?
More: (more will appear here soon! I hope!)
Resources:
A pdf of the first volume of the version translated by Sir Israel Gollancz in 1895 is available here: https://archive.org/details/exeterbookanthol01goll
Other links: The Wanderer, parallel translation
The Seafarer, parallel translation
An interesting pdf with The Seafarer, The Wanderer, and The Wife's Lament all in one place with some useful ancillary material.
Wikisource pages for The Riddles
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard, Coindarel
I love this world, the magic, the alchemy, the astrology (and the astronomy!) I am good with either Aicelin or Coindarel, though both of them working together would be amazing, lovely and fun.
Aicelin: More of her story, please. How did she end up working for Hanselin Caiazzo? Who does she care for? What are her challenges? What of her learning to be a magist, or early days, or secret love of little clock-work toys (or whatever her imagination is sparked by)? I would be very happy to see her working with Coindarel, Istre, Nicholas or Philip (or all or some of them together) but mostly I want more of her tale.
Coindarel: who is he? How does he navigate the intricacies of his world? Did Philip change anything for him, and if so, how? Does he read the broadsheets? I would love anything at all about him, from plotty adventure (city guard, on campaign, his pov on any of the canon events) to glimpses of his life & thoughts as he goes about his day.
Feel free to include any of the characters: Caiazzo, Istre, Nicolas, Philip, Cassia, or Naime, as your muse desires. There really isn't a character I don't like, but I would prefer a focus on Aicelin &/or Coindarel.
More:
3. Smith of Wootton Major - J. R. R. Tolkien : Alf; Smith
What does it mean that Alf is also the King of Fairyland? Why did he choose to walk in the world of Wootton Major? What was his relationship with the earlier Cook? With Smith? With the Queen of Faery?
How does smithcraft come into it all?
More:
4. Diggy Diggy Hole - Yogscast (Music Video) : Dwarf King, Dwarfling
Link to video
Link to lyrics
I love the enthusiasm and joy in this song. (I have a great fondness for Dwarves in general, very much influenced by Tolkien's Gimli and the Hobbit films.) I would very much prefer positive portrayal here, though it needn't ignore hardship and danger and so forth.
Dwarves, Kingship, Making, wonders and dangers of the depths of the Earth, energetic joy in all these things. Bearded Dwarf Women. There are no stereotypical women in the video, and no overt gender of any kind in the lyrics, though the dwarfling is clearly the child of the ruler. How might that work?
More:
5. They Called Her Babylon - Steeleye Span (song) : Charlotte
YouTube links: here, and here.
Lyrics
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.
More:
6. PARRISH Maxfield - Works : The Young King of the Black Isles (artwork)
Link to art: The Young King of the Black Isles
Who is he? What is his grief? His love? The nature of his Kingship? Fantasy, SF, crossover with one of the above things, something that incorporates the other Parrish works -- or the 1001 Nights works -- have fun! (Links to all the art can be found in the artworks post.)
More:
This letter is still a work in progress, with pretty much just what I signed up with - more to follow!
This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/252011.html, where there are currently
comments. Please comment there using OpenID.