Dear Writer 2016
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. Í Gøtu Ein Dag | In Gota one Day - Xperiment (Music Video)
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard,
3. Antler Guy (Sculpture/Tumblr post)
4. Andrea Koroveshi - Works
5. Battle of Tollense River c. 1250 bce
6. The Arena - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)
General Thoughts
This year's general thoughts are very similar to past letters. 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 - another 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
More will appear here soon! This post is in process.
1. Í Gøtu Ein Dag | In Gota one Day - Xperiment (Music Video)
Who are these men, what are they to each other, why have they risen? I love the atmosphere of the video, the harmonics of the music, the sense of timelessness//age/liminality. I will be very happy with a piece that explores this without any actual reference to the history or the original song (which is much longer than what is in the vid).
Vid can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD10QBgVc3o
If you are interested in the history of these men and their time & place, that would also be awesome to explore. Links and resources regarding the original song, the Faeringa Saga, and historical information can be found in my letter.
More:
characters:
Tróndur í Gøtu | Trond of Gota (Í Gøtu Ein Dag)
Geyti Reyði | Gaut the Red ((Í Gøtu Ein Dag)
Resources:
Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD10QBgVc3o
Lyrics of video: There is a comment to the vid with the untranslated lyrics
Lyrics of original song: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/User:Arne_List/fo-songtext-%C3%8D_G%C3%B8tu_ein_dag with translation and notes. The music video uses only some of the verses and combines others.
Other material: A translation of the Saga of Trond of Gota
Wikipedia entry: Faeringa Saga
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard
I love this world, the magic, the alchemy, the astrology (and the astronomy!). I love the politics, and the way little things turn out to be important.
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 Istre, Nicholas or Philip (or all or some of them together) but mostly I want more of her tale.
Feel free to include any of the characters: Istre, Nicolas, and/or Philip, as your muse desires. There really isn't a character I don't like, but I would prefer a focus on Aicelin.
More:
I also have a kind of ridiculous fondness for Coindarel, but he's not in the tagset this year. Feel free to include him too if you like!
3. Antler Guy (Sculpture/Tumblr post)
Who is this tall, otherworldly, eerie fellow? What is he doing in a urban/suburban neighborhood? How did he get there? Was he made, discovered, spontaneously grew? Or has he Always Been There?
I will be very happy with a piece that goes off of just the image, but there is more in the Tumblr posts linked in my letter, and expanding on that material would equally be a delight. Tell me the tale of the pink flamingoes; or the time some thieves/murderers/bad guys threatened the house/neighborhood and Antler Guy confronted them; how he gets along with the local SCA/reenactment group. Have fun!
Link to large original image: http://imgur.com/ii7KMNJ
Tumblr post: http://lferion.tumblr.com/post/150005809815/erinnightwalker-erinnightwalker
Follow up post: http://erinnightwalker.tumblr.com/post/149997824670/acaffeinejunkie-erinnightwalker
More:
4. Andrea Koroveshi - Works
This man's art is so amazing. I will be delighted with any one or combination of these pieces. You do not have to try to put all of them in one fic, though if you do, that would be amazing.
CAP-6 Experiment Field: What is this thing? What does it do? Who built it and why? (Link in letter to an animated version with a light-beam.)
Floating Rocks: What is it like to live in that house under a sky full of rocks. Are they farming them? What holds them up?
Practice 1: (I wish this had a proper title, it is such a gorgeous piece). There are people on the little island in the middle - who are they? Did they swim/fly/teleport there? Why? What significance is there to the rock-towers?
Visit of the King: King of what/where? Why are they visiting? Is this the same world as the Island towers? Why are they alone?
Links and more musings in my letter.
More:
Artist's Blogspot: http://andikoroveshi.blogspot.com/
ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/artist/andikoroveshi
DeviantArt: http://icecold555.deviantart.com/
Individual pieces:
CAP-6 Experiment Field : http://andikoroveshi.blogspot.al/2015/08/cap-6-experiment.html, https://www.artstation.com/artwork/cap-6-experiment-field
Visit of the King : http://andikoroveshi.blogspot.al/2014/11/visit-of-king.html, http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OJEzNxco2HA/VPjbB4grXmI/AAAAAAAACJ4/v0GaLVIRiuI/s1600/Visit%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bking.png, https://www.artstation.com/artwork/48zyk
Practice 1: http://icecold555.deviantart.com/art/Practice-1-483972209 , https://cdnb3.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/002/138/295/large/andrea-koroveshi-practice-1-by-icecold555-d8057ch.jpg?1457741183
Floating Rocks: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8KV5_K-ZR0/VP3GlT2q0YI/AAAAAAAACMU/wbipq9ml_QI/s1600/Floating%2Brocks.png
5. Battle of Tollense River c. 1250 bce
Anything, anything at all. Who are the opposing groups? who built the bridge? What do they want? How did there come to be that many warrior/soldier/fighters all in one place at one time? How did they live, love, fight, die? Period religious/magical/spiritual attitudes and practices a big plus.
More general information & links to what resources exist in my letter.
More:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/slaughter-bridge-uncovering-colossal-bronze-age-battle
One of the other requestor's letters is useful - (I kind of want to clone Ellen Fremedon's request and letter, because she says it all so much better than I can.)
6. The Arena - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)
Are these people fighting? Dancing? Raising energy for the prosperity of the coming year? Is this a post-apocalyptic setting, or a fantasy/SF one? What does 'winning' entail and who decides? Where did they all (separately and together) come from? Where will they go after? Where did the audience go, or was it really there in the first place?
With this, I would very much prefer a story that maintains a feeling of hope, at the end at least, as the video does.
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MCjU-Du3eI
More:
Who are the different couples/groups?
This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/252870.html, where there are currently
comments. Please comment there using OpenID.
1. Í Gøtu Ein Dag | In Gota one Day - Xperiment (Music Video)
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard,
3. Antler Guy (Sculpture/Tumblr post)
4. Andrea Koroveshi - Works
5. Battle of Tollense River c. 1250 bce
6. The Arena - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)
General Thoughts
This year's general thoughts are very similar to past letters. 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 - another 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
More will appear here soon! This post is in process.
1. Í Gøtu Ein Dag | In Gota one Day - Xperiment (Music Video)
Who are these men, what are they to each other, why have they risen? I love the atmosphere of the video, the harmonics of the music, the sense of timelessness//age/liminality. I will be very happy with a piece that explores this without any actual reference to the history or the original song (which is much longer than what is in the vid).
Vid can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD10QBgVc3o
If you are interested in the history of these men and their time & place, that would also be awesome to explore. Links and resources regarding the original song, the Faeringa Saga, and historical information can be found in my letter.
More:
characters:
Tróndur í Gøtu | Trond of Gota (Í Gøtu Ein Dag)
Geyti Reyði | Gaut the Red ((Í Gøtu Ein Dag)
Resources:
Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD10QBgVc3o
Lyrics of video: There is a comment to the vid with the untranslated lyrics
Lyrics of original song: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/User:Arne_List/fo-songtext-%C3%8D_G%C3%B8tu_ein_dag with translation and notes. The music video uses only some of the verses and combines others.
Other material: A translation of the Saga of Trond of Gota
Wikipedia entry: Faeringa Saga
2. Points - Melissa Scott & Lisa Barnett : Aicelin Denizard
I love this world, the magic, the alchemy, the astrology (and the astronomy!). I love the politics, and the way little things turn out to be important.
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 Istre, Nicholas or Philip (or all or some of them together) but mostly I want more of her tale.
Feel free to include any of the characters: Istre, Nicolas, and/or Philip, as your muse desires. There really isn't a character I don't like, but I would prefer a focus on Aicelin.
More:
I also have a kind of ridiculous fondness for Coindarel, but he's not in the tagset this year. Feel free to include him too if you like!
3. Antler Guy (Sculpture/Tumblr post)
Who is this tall, otherworldly, eerie fellow? What is he doing in a urban/suburban neighborhood? How did he get there? Was he made, discovered, spontaneously grew? Or has he Always Been There?
I will be very happy with a piece that goes off of just the image, but there is more in the Tumblr posts linked in my letter, and expanding on that material would equally be a delight. Tell me the tale of the pink flamingoes; or the time some thieves/murderers/bad guys threatened the house/neighborhood and Antler Guy confronted them; how he gets along with the local SCA/reenactment group. Have fun!
Link to large original image: http://imgur.com/ii7KMNJ
Tumblr post: http://lferion.tumblr.com/post/150005809815/erinnightwalker-erinnightwalker
Follow up post: http://erinnightwalker.tumblr.com/post/149997824670/acaffeinejunkie-erinnightwalker
More:
4. Andrea Koroveshi - Works
This man's art is so amazing. I will be delighted with any one or combination of these pieces. You do not have to try to put all of them in one fic, though if you do, that would be amazing.
CAP-6 Experiment Field: What is this thing? What does it do? Who built it and why? (Link in letter to an animated version with a light-beam.)
Floating Rocks: What is it like to live in that house under a sky full of rocks. Are they farming them? What holds them up?
Practice 1: (I wish this had a proper title, it is such a gorgeous piece). There are people on the little island in the middle - who are they? Did they swim/fly/teleport there? Why? What significance is there to the rock-towers?
Visit of the King: King of what/where? Why are they visiting? Is this the same world as the Island towers? Why are they alone?
Links and more musings in my letter.
More:
Artist's Blogspot: http://andikoroveshi.blogspot.com/
ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/artist/andikoroveshi
DeviantArt: http://icecold555.deviantart.com/
Individual pieces:
CAP-6 Experiment Field : http://andikoroveshi.blogspot.al/2015/08/cap-6-experiment.html, https://www.artstation.com/artwork/cap-6-experiment-field
Visit of the King : http://andikoroveshi.blogspot.al/2014/11/visit-of-king.html, http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OJEzNxco2HA/VPjbB4grXmI/AAAAAAAACJ4/v0GaLVIRiuI/s1600/Visit%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bking.png, https://www.artstation.com/artwork/48zyk
Practice 1: http://icecold555.deviantart.com/art/Practice-1-483972209 , https://cdnb3.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/002/138/295/large/andrea-koroveshi-practice-1-by-icecold555-d8057ch.jpg?1457741183
Floating Rocks: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l8KV5_K-ZR0/VP3GlT2q0YI/AAAAAAAACMU/wbipq9ml_QI/s1600/Floating%2Brocks.png
5. Battle of Tollense River c. 1250 bce
Anything, anything at all. Who are the opposing groups? who built the bridge? What do they want? How did there come to be that many warrior/soldier/fighters all in one place at one time? How did they live, love, fight, die? Period religious/magical/spiritual attitudes and practices a big plus.
More general information & links to what resources exist in my letter.
More:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/slaughter-bridge-uncovering-colossal-bronze-age-battle
One of the other requestor's letters is useful - (I kind of want to clone Ellen Fremedon's request and letter, because she says it all so much better than I can.)
6. The Arena - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)
Are these people fighting? Dancing? Raising energy for the prosperity of the coming year? Is this a post-apocalyptic setting, or a fantasy/SF one? What does 'winning' entail and who decides? Where did they all (separately and together) come from? Where will they go after? Where did the audience go, or was it really there in the first place?
With this, I would very much prefer a story that maintains a feeling of hope, at the end at least, as the video does.
Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MCjU-Du3eI
More:
Who are the different couples/groups?
This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/252870.html, where there are currently
comments. Please comment there using OpenID.