Dear Yuletide Santa, 2009:
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My Dear Yuletide Santa,
YOU RULE. End of story. If you've offered one of the fandoms that I have requested, you're already pretty ace in my book! Thank you so much for sharing my odd taste in fannish pursuits, and with that in mind, I'll be happy to receive pretty much anything you want to write.
I'll preface this letter with additional thanks in that regard. I know that I come off as a difficult person to write for--mostly because my requests are plain weird as far as most of fandom is concerned. And I'm kind of pretentious. ...And intimidating, okay. But then, so are the fandoms that I've requested, so odds are, you also like to play with history and meta and war and music, and this might not be such a bad match as one would think. But I've been badly matched in the past, in Yuletide and in other challenges on Livejournal, and I've decried most of these poor matches to be my own fault for making requests that are a little too far off the beaten path. I've changed things this year; as you can see from the lack of extensive detail in my requests, I'd like you to consider them more as guidelines, and write something that plays to your personal strengths. So, again, thank you, thank you so much, for writing something for me.
That said, there are some things that I just plain like, and others that I don't. I think the last post that I made on that particular subject was a little intimidating, so I will present the condensed version thereof here:
THINGS I LIKE
Deconstruction and Meta
Provocative topics
People named Ned
Writing in the voice of the canon (if there is one)
Footnotes
High-octane emotion
Wittiness and highbrow humor
Glorification of art and the creative process
Difficult situations with no right answers, and the people who tend to get into those situations
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE
Fluff
Gratuitous happy endings
Protagonist infallibility / unsympathetic comedy protagonists
Lack of research
Ignoring consequences
Considering what I asked for, I'll be fine with all manner of violence this holiday season. I think three out of the four requests definitely take place in a time of war, and the fourth one may or may not depending on which Composers you write. Sex is the same--if you feel like writing it, more power to you (I know the Ring request lends itself to this, as do some of the Composer pairings), and if you don't, so much the better. Again, play to your own strengths!
And, some individual details on the particular requests:
1776: Be as original as you like! You can pair the Courier with anyone you like--Billy, George Washington, some random Watertown girl, McNair, anyone!--or no one at all. I just want to see his story, however you'd like to tell it. Or however he'd like to tell it, more to the point.
Composers: So I'm kind of an opera nerd. I love it when people make fun of my profession and the people who take part in it. Please, mock the composers, mock them all you like! Ben and Peter bitching about his E-flat, Schubert fangirling Goethe like Lucy fangirls Schroeder, Wagner's neckbeard, Vivaldi and...well, you know Vivaldi. I'd like to receive something for this that I can pass around to other musicians and laugh about.
Der Ring: You're writing it. That's awesome enough, seriously. Anything, anything, anything, as long as there's a little alliteration.
Suikoden V: I love this game, and I loved this fandom when there was action in it. I miss it. Write me something that will rekindle my love for this series.
Once again, thank you, Yuletide Santa, and I hope you enjoy writing for one of my prompts. I'll see you again in December!
- Mith
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My Dear Yuletide Santa,
YOU RULE. End of story. If you've offered one of the fandoms that I have requested, you're already pretty ace in my book! Thank you so much for sharing my odd taste in fannish pursuits, and with that in mind, I'll be happy to receive pretty much anything you want to write.
I'll preface this letter with additional thanks in that regard. I know that I come off as a difficult person to write for--mostly because my requests are plain weird as far as most of fandom is concerned. And I'm kind of pretentious. ...And intimidating, okay. But then, so are the fandoms that I've requested, so odds are, you also like to play with history and meta and war and music, and this might not be such a bad match as one would think. But I've been badly matched in the past, in Yuletide and in other challenges on Livejournal, and I've decried most of these poor matches to be my own fault for making requests that are a little too far off the beaten path. I've changed things this year; as you can see from the lack of extensive detail in my requests, I'd like you to consider them more as guidelines, and write something that plays to your personal strengths. So, again, thank you, thank you so much, for writing something for me.
That said, there are some things that I just plain like, and others that I don't. I think the last post that I made on that particular subject was a little intimidating, so I will present the condensed version thereof here:
THINGS I LIKE
Deconstruction and Meta
Provocative topics
People named Ned
Writing in the voice of the canon (if there is one)
Footnotes
High-octane emotion
Wittiness and highbrow humor
Glorification of art and the creative process
Difficult situations with no right answers, and the people who tend to get into those situations
THINGS I DO NOT LIKE
Fluff
Gratuitous happy endings
Protagonist infallibility / unsympathetic comedy protagonists
Lack of research
Ignoring consequences
Considering what I asked for, I'll be fine with all manner of violence this holiday season. I think three out of the four requests definitely take place in a time of war, and the fourth one may or may not depending on which Composers you write. Sex is the same--if you feel like writing it, more power to you (I know the Ring request lends itself to this, as do some of the Composer pairings), and if you don't, so much the better. Again, play to your own strengths!
And, some individual details on the particular requests:
1776: Be as original as you like! You can pair the Courier with anyone you like--Billy, George Washington, some random Watertown girl, McNair, anyone!--or no one at all. I just want to see his story, however you'd like to tell it. Or however he'd like to tell it, more to the point.
Composers: So I'm kind of an opera nerd. I love it when people make fun of my profession and the people who take part in it. Please, mock the composers, mock them all you like! Ben and Peter bitching about his E-flat, Schubert fangirling Goethe like Lucy fangirls Schroeder, Wagner's neckbeard, Vivaldi and...well, you know Vivaldi. I'd like to receive something for this that I can pass around to other musicians and laugh about.
Der Ring: You're writing it. That's awesome enough, seriously. Anything, anything, anything, as long as there's a little alliteration.
Suikoden V: I love this game, and I loved this fandom when there was action in it. I miss it. Write me something that will rekindle my love for this series.
Once again, thank you, Yuletide Santa, and I hope you enjoy writing for one of my prompts. I'll see you again in December!
- Mith
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