DEAR YULETIDE WRITER
UPDATE 10/24: IT'S DONE THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE
I once again would like to thank you for doing this, author: I am thrilled to get a story and I want you to relax and have fun! That is the point of Yuletide! Do not take these as law, just suggestions.
Some general likes:
unspoken partnerships, families of choice, people who have known each other a long time growing and shifting in their relationships, unexpected physical expressions of affection, mischief and hijinks, hurt/comfort, people being soft and loving to e/o and experiencing vulnerability, emotional complexity, mundane everyday curtainfic stuff, a strong sense of place, affectionate teasing, romance as an enhancement to a full life rather than two people who are each other's Entire World, knowing the particular quirks of why it is people do or don't get along, descriptions of food/clothes/environments, extremely competent people/people who are passionate about their Thing, disabled people doing stuff, casual queerness, defiant happiness in difficult circumstances, worldbuilding, seasonality and holiday vibes
DNWs: I'd prefer for the pairings I specify as platonic to stay that way, but other than that...saying avoid gratuitous violence and sex for these prompts seems kind of pointless, just generally try to write within the spirit of the canon as it is? No surprise character deaths? Incest. Victim-blaming. No magic cures. Unrelenting hopeless bleakness. Specifically for HACF, I'm not interested in Donna/Cameron as a romance. I am Jewish, so if you choose that prompt for Dragon Prince or Bandstand and you aren't, please do your research and write with care as you would in any other similar instance.
My tumblr is right here, and if you wanna creep I support it! I will try to tag relevant things for yuletide.
Halt and Catch Fire (Donna & Cam)
It is so weird that Halt and Catch Fire ended between last Yuletide and now, so you know what I care about most is: Cameron & Donna forever. I have maybe never encountered a relationship between two women like theirs in fiction, they are both so driven, so weird, and their reconciliation felt to me like a promise of great things to come that can't be broken. They're basically raising two kids together!!! What was Donna's idea? What do they do with it? Does Phoenix or something like it come to pass? How do they discover how the other person has changed in the intervening time? The finale was one of my favorite endings of anything ever and the endless possibilities of their future is the best part.
I have written extensively about what exactly it is I love about HaCF on my updated tumblr rec post. Most of all I love it's gentleness, it's empathy, it's sort of battered hopefulness about people and technology.
I love Donna and Cam going from business partners, to true friends, to having their ruined relationship be the most defining thing in both of their lives FOR LITERAL YEARS and then forgivenesssss can you imaaaaagine. The way they relate to each other is totally unique, and so I'd imagine anything they later go on to do and create is the same. I want both warmth and complexity of their reunion, I'm less interested in any new conflict there, I think what's so great is they had to go through the worst to get past it, and now they're both where they are supposed to be. But where is that?
- NO SERIOUSLY WHAT WAS DONNA'S IDEA
- maybe they go back to Japan, or hook up with Joanie somewhere in her world travels
- maybe they stay close to home and focus on the girls and build Symphonic and/or Phoenix. How do they get past the fear and animosity and create something beautiful? ("I made it for people like you")
- maybe we time jump like the show far into the future when they're old and have built or failed to build the next tech empire, I would love to see them interacting with the modern internet
- I am so interested to see other characters pop up as well (Bos, Diane, Joe, and Gordon isn't there but he's always there, keep the family together!)
- they both agreed Mutiny was the most fun they'd ever had - what's the most fun they ever have now?
- Donna spent so long supporting Cam and Cam was there for here in her awkward Cam way when she most needed it, I'd love to see this dynamic pick back up as they're more mature
The Dragon Prince (Callum & Ezran and Amaya if you so choose)
SO THE ROYAL FAMILY IS JEWISH, RIGHT? I'm glad that we can all agree on that. I would love any story that would use this as an angle, how it influences the magic and political structure and everyday life of the kingdom. Callum and Ezran are sweet and amazing with each other - it's so refreshing to see siblings who are also arguably best friends, and whose conflicts are based not on them disliking each other but the precarious situation politically that is their lives as princes. Amaya loves them so much and must have stepped up in the absence of their mom, did they ever have an adventure together?
This was such a fun show with a great sense of humor about itself that Callum and Ezran share as characters. I'd love anything that combines worldbuilding with feelings. I'm more interested in their lives when it was just them and their family that something taking place during the adventure, and anything with them taking care of each other:
- When Ezran IS older and inevitably king, what is THAT like? What is Callum's life like then?
- Does Callum ever get down on himself about being bad at...bascially everything? How does his newfound confidence change his dynamic with Ezran?
- Callum is sure ready to just die at the drop of a hat for Ez, huh
- What do Callum and Ezran like to do for fun together? What was the first thing they did when Ez was old enough for them to be close?
- I love the prickly relationship Callum has as a step-prince that Ezran is so sweetly clueless of. How does Ezran make Callum feel more part of the family? How does Callum deal with the underlying stress of Ezran being fairly isolated and made fun of, as a loner nerd himself?
- One of my disappointments with the show was a lack of ATLA style beach filler episodes, soooo-oooo.....
- Amaya is close with them both and I imagine her relationships with the boys are special and very different. What do they do together? I assume they grew up learning Sign as a second language.
- I'd love anything that touches on their personal interests: Callum's art, Ezran's love of food and animals
The Secret Garden (Mary, Dickon, Colin)
I am really interested in any post-canon story that takes seriously the themes of disability and healing and just...the kind of creepy rainy spookiness raised in the novel which are kind of swept away by "nature cures you!" What does a more realistic outcome for these kids look like? What kind of relationships within their three-person friendship do they find themselves in? I love the Garden itself as a character, I love any nerdy historical or cultural stuff you want to add to this.
Man so I started my Children's Lit grad degree this year and I have become re-obsessed with The Secret Garden. The creative team of the musical version gets at what I love about it better than I can: "Everyone comes and scrapes away the dead wood [of Mary's spirit] and reveals something really beautiful.”
and yet! The handling of disability is super bad! People can be totally healthy again because of Christian Science! I hate magic cures! I have always wanted a fic that addresses this somehow in a messier way, that validates existing disabled characters as like, actually being that way, while not sacrificing the very real texture and magic that makes it and all of the adaptations of it great. Something that hits a balance between those things so they can each enhance each other that perhaps growing up is more complicated for Mary and Colin and Dickon (and Archibald!) than anticipated, something involving them choosing unexpected lives for themselves. I have less specific prompts here because it's more of a vibe I'm looking for.
Bandstand (Donny/Julia)
I got on the Bandstand train super late (haha, thematic joke) and it really is just so dear to me now as a musical, as a piece of art that examines trauma and creativity and connection and the reality of what being "heroic" means, and it is also so much FUN. My favorite thing is that Donny, a character who would usually be forced to tamp down on his ambition and be more realistic due to reasons, is straight Slytherin all the way through and that's fully supported by the narrative, that Julia is to some extent also this way. We've seen the band struggling but we've only barely seen their lives as successful and famous, I'd love to read something about them actually getting to enjoy being A Band In New York City, and I want to see Julia and Donny in an actual relationship. MAYBE THEIR WEDDING? MAYBE THERE IS WEDDING HIJINKS.
I think the most interesting thing about Donny and Julia to me is their relationship is built around this shared experience of loss, and they have so much in common, all of their parallels to each other. They are good good music friends first and to see that stay the basis of their relationship would be great. I love how much they love their hometown, and the family the band builds together - I'd love to see unusual pairings or friendships pop up in the background especially wrt Julia being the Mom Friend to everyone.
- I am serious about the wedding, imagine both the hilarity and the bittersweetness
- this is a fandom I'd especially love to see a holiday fic for
- After being on tour but kind of avoiding each other, co-habitating has to be kind of a major weird adjustment
- More Jewish stuff - I think Donny "Twelve Year Old Irving Berlin" Novitski is pretty strongly coded as at least Jewish on one side, I'd love to see that explored in a fun way
- I saw someone describe Donny as "all desperation and willpower" and I feel that way about Julia too, and as a team they must be formidable as hell. How do they face a challenge together with the sheer combined force of their stubborness? How do they take care of each other when one of them is hurting from things they both understand intimately?
- we hear a lot about how much Donny's music means to him and why, but has Julia ever talked in depth about what music means to her, maybe to him? I really like that she sings in church but also in this fun, swingy band, that contrast between her two musical lives. Is there more secret music she's more reluctant to share that's just for her?
- What are their favorite places to go when they travel?
This entry was originally posted at https://aquamirage.dreamwidth.org/48536.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I once again would like to thank you for doing this, author: I am thrilled to get a story and I want you to relax and have fun! That is the point of Yuletide! Do not take these as law, just suggestions.
Some general likes:
unspoken partnerships, families of choice, people who have known each other a long time growing and shifting in their relationships, unexpected physical expressions of affection, mischief and hijinks, hurt/comfort, people being soft and loving to e/o and experiencing vulnerability, emotional complexity, mundane everyday curtainfic stuff, a strong sense of place, affectionate teasing, romance as an enhancement to a full life rather than two people who are each other's Entire World, knowing the particular quirks of why it is people do or don't get along, descriptions of food/clothes/environments, extremely competent people/people who are passionate about their Thing, disabled people doing stuff, casual queerness, defiant happiness in difficult circumstances, worldbuilding, seasonality and holiday vibes
DNWs: I'd prefer for the pairings I specify as platonic to stay that way, but other than that...saying avoid gratuitous violence and sex for these prompts seems kind of pointless, just generally try to write within the spirit of the canon as it is? No surprise character deaths? Incest. Victim-blaming. No magic cures. Unrelenting hopeless bleakness. Specifically for HACF, I'm not interested in Donna/Cameron as a romance. I am Jewish, so if you choose that prompt for Dragon Prince or Bandstand and you aren't, please do your research and write with care as you would in any other similar instance.
My tumblr is right here, and if you wanna creep I support it! I will try to tag relevant things for yuletide.
Halt and Catch Fire (Donna & Cam)
It is so weird that Halt and Catch Fire ended between last Yuletide and now, so you know what I care about most is: Cameron & Donna forever. I have maybe never encountered a relationship between two women like theirs in fiction, they are both so driven, so weird, and their reconciliation felt to me like a promise of great things to come that can't be broken. They're basically raising two kids together!!! What was Donna's idea? What do they do with it? Does Phoenix or something like it come to pass? How do they discover how the other person has changed in the intervening time? The finale was one of my favorite endings of anything ever and the endless possibilities of their future is the best part.
I have written extensively about what exactly it is I love about HaCF on my updated tumblr rec post. Most of all I love it's gentleness, it's empathy, it's sort of battered hopefulness about people and technology.
Click to viewI love Donna and Cam going from business partners, to true friends, to having their ruined relationship be the most defining thing in both of their lives FOR LITERAL YEARS and then forgivenesssss can you imaaaaagine. The way they relate to each other is totally unique, and so I'd imagine anything they later go on to do and create is the same. I want both warmth and complexity of their reunion, I'm less interested in any new conflict there, I think what's so great is they had to go through the worst to get past it, and now they're both where they are supposed to be. But where is that?
- NO SERIOUSLY WHAT WAS DONNA'S IDEA
- maybe they go back to Japan, or hook up with Joanie somewhere in her world travels
- maybe they stay close to home and focus on the girls and build Symphonic and/or Phoenix. How do they get past the fear and animosity and create something beautiful? ("I made it for people like you")
- maybe we time jump like the show far into the future when they're old and have built or failed to build the next tech empire, I would love to see them interacting with the modern internet
- I am so interested to see other characters pop up as well (Bos, Diane, Joe, and Gordon isn't there but he's always there, keep the family together!)
- they both agreed Mutiny was the most fun they'd ever had - what's the most fun they ever have now?
- Donna spent so long supporting Cam and Cam was there for here in her awkward Cam way when she most needed it, I'd love to see this dynamic pick back up as they're more mature
The Dragon Prince (Callum & Ezran and Amaya if you so choose)
SO THE ROYAL FAMILY IS JEWISH, RIGHT? I'm glad that we can all agree on that. I would love any story that would use this as an angle, how it influences the magic and political structure and everyday life of the kingdom. Callum and Ezran are sweet and amazing with each other - it's so refreshing to see siblings who are also arguably best friends, and whose conflicts are based not on them disliking each other but the precarious situation politically that is their lives as princes. Amaya loves them so much and must have stepped up in the absence of their mom, did they ever have an adventure together?
This was such a fun show with a great sense of humor about itself that Callum and Ezran share as characters. I'd love anything that combines worldbuilding with feelings. I'm more interested in their lives when it was just them and their family that something taking place during the adventure, and anything with them taking care of each other:
- When Ezran IS older and inevitably king, what is THAT like? What is Callum's life like then?
- Does Callum ever get down on himself about being bad at...bascially everything? How does his newfound confidence change his dynamic with Ezran?
- Callum is sure ready to just die at the drop of a hat for Ez, huh
- What do Callum and Ezran like to do for fun together? What was the first thing they did when Ez was old enough for them to be close?
- I love the prickly relationship Callum has as a step-prince that Ezran is so sweetly clueless of. How does Ezran make Callum feel more part of the family? How does Callum deal with the underlying stress of Ezran being fairly isolated and made fun of, as a loner nerd himself?
- One of my disappointments with the show was a lack of ATLA style beach filler episodes, soooo-oooo.....
- Amaya is close with them both and I imagine her relationships with the boys are special and very different. What do they do together? I assume they grew up learning Sign as a second language.
- I'd love anything that touches on their personal interests: Callum's art, Ezran's love of food and animals
The Secret Garden (Mary, Dickon, Colin)
I am really interested in any post-canon story that takes seriously the themes of disability and healing and just...the kind of creepy rainy spookiness raised in the novel which are kind of swept away by "nature cures you!" What does a more realistic outcome for these kids look like? What kind of relationships within their three-person friendship do they find themselves in? I love the Garden itself as a character, I love any nerdy historical or cultural stuff you want to add to this.
Man so I started my Children's Lit grad degree this year and I have become re-obsessed with The Secret Garden. The creative team of the musical version gets at what I love about it better than I can: "Everyone comes and scrapes away the dead wood [of Mary's spirit] and reveals something really beautiful.”
and yet! The handling of disability is super bad! People can be totally healthy again because of Christian Science! I hate magic cures! I have always wanted a fic that addresses this somehow in a messier way, that validates existing disabled characters as like, actually being that way, while not sacrificing the very real texture and magic that makes it and all of the adaptations of it great. Something that hits a balance between those things so they can each enhance each other that perhaps growing up is more complicated for Mary and Colin and Dickon (and Archibald!) than anticipated, something involving them choosing unexpected lives for themselves. I have less specific prompts here because it's more of a vibe I'm looking for.
Bandstand (Donny/Julia)
I got on the Bandstand train super late (haha, thematic joke) and it really is just so dear to me now as a musical, as a piece of art that examines trauma and creativity and connection and the reality of what being "heroic" means, and it is also so much FUN. My favorite thing is that Donny, a character who would usually be forced to tamp down on his ambition and be more realistic due to reasons, is straight Slytherin all the way through and that's fully supported by the narrative, that Julia is to some extent also this way. We've seen the band struggling but we've only barely seen their lives as successful and famous, I'd love to read something about them actually getting to enjoy being A Band In New York City, and I want to see Julia and Donny in an actual relationship. MAYBE THEIR WEDDING? MAYBE THERE IS WEDDING HIJINKS.
I think the most interesting thing about Donny and Julia to me is their relationship is built around this shared experience of loss, and they have so much in common, all of their parallels to each other. They are good good music friends first and to see that stay the basis of their relationship would be great. I love how much they love their hometown, and the family the band builds together - I'd love to see unusual pairings or friendships pop up in the background especially wrt Julia being the Mom Friend to everyone.
- I am serious about the wedding, imagine both the hilarity and the bittersweetness
- this is a fandom I'd especially love to see a holiday fic for
- After being on tour but kind of avoiding each other, co-habitating has to be kind of a major weird adjustment
- More Jewish stuff - I think Donny "Twelve Year Old Irving Berlin" Novitski is pretty strongly coded as at least Jewish on one side, I'd love to see that explored in a fun way
- I saw someone describe Donny as "all desperation and willpower" and I feel that way about Julia too, and as a team they must be formidable as hell. How do they face a challenge together with the sheer combined force of their stubborness? How do they take care of each other when one of them is hurting from things they both understand intimately?
- we hear a lot about how much Donny's music means to him and why, but has Julia ever talked in depth about what music means to her, maybe to him? I really like that she sings in church but also in this fun, swingy band, that contrast between her two musical lives. Is there more secret music she's more reluctant to share that's just for her?
- What are their favorite places to go when they travel?
This entry was originally posted at https://aquamirage.dreamwidth.org/48536.html. Please comment there using OpenID.