Dear Yuletide Writer 2013
First of all, thank you so much for writing for me! This is my third year doing Yuletide, and each time I've loved both writing and receiving Yuletide gifts. I'm Jewish, so Christmas is usually a quiet day for me. That being said, getting a Yuletide gift in my mailbox makes the day a little more special.
Some general requests:
Characters: Kain Highwind, Dark Kain Highwind, Cecil Harvey
Optional Details Are Optional: Kain Highwind is one of my absolute favorite Final Fantasy characters. I love the tension between his darkness/jealousy and his nobility/love for his friends. Similarly, Kain and Cecil have an interesting dynamic in that they are simultaneously best friends and rivals.
Kain and Cecil never *really* reconciled after his second possession in Final Fantasy IV. Even in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, we don't get an explicit scene like this. I'd love to see a scene in which Kain and Cecil finally make peace with each other. It's up to you if want to follow the After Years storyline or not...feel free to disregard it completely if you wish! (If you *really* want to make my heart flutter, you could have Kain comforting Cecil when he's in a near catatonic state in The After Years. I always thought there were some really interesting parallels to Kain's experiences in the original game and Cecil's in The After Years...)
I would prefer to keep the sappiness in check, as Kain seems like a guy who isn't good at talking about his emotions. Feel free to incorporate some slash, but if you do please respect Rosa!
Fandom 2: Casablanca
Characters: Rick Blaine, Louis Renault
Optional Details Are Optional: Repeating a request from last year, but I figure there is always room for more of these characters. I've always loved the Rick/Louis dynamic. They don't trust each other, and yet they do have a bond. So I'm requesting anything about Rick and Louis' "beautiful friendship." I think the key to writing Louis well is to balance both his casual ruthlessness and his humanity. Neither should completely overwhelm the other. It's the way these two blend together that make him such a fascinating character. (Although I will admit though I've always loved Louis's redemption at the end ^_~)
Either slash or gen is fine. If you do go the slash route, I prefer for it to be understated. Casablanca was a movie made before the emergence of slash fan fiction, after all. This fic from the 2004 Yuletide is how I think Rick/Louis slash can be done really, really well:
http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/9/nomde.html
Fandom 3: Elisabeth (Levay/Kunze)
Characters: Rudolf Crown Prince of Austria
Optional Details Are Optional:
I love Elisabeth. But I have to confess, having experienced suicide within my own family, I've always been uncomfortable with the way it glorifies Rudolph's suicide. (I mean, he gets sexy slash kissing with Death after he's dead ^^;). I'd like to see an alternate scenario where Rudolph doesn't choose to go with Death. It doesn't have to be as happy-ending as "then Rudolph gets married and owns a house with a white picket fence", but I'd really like to see Rudolph making the choice to live. Alternatively, I'd like to see something with Rudolph making peace with either his mother or his father in death.
How you choose to go about it is your choice, Yuletide Writer, but I'd like to see Rudolph get a little bit of peace one way or another.
Fandom 4: The Ascendance Trilogy (Jennifer A. Nielsen)
Characters: Sage
Optional Details Are Optional: I love these books, and I love Sage especially. The things he does are so outlandish, and yet he never stops being a sympathetic and compelling character. I would love to read any insights you had into his life. Maybe a quiet moment at the end of book 2? It's up to you, but any thoughts you had about Sage would make me super happy.
Some general requests:
- No super-angst. I'm not a fan of fan-fiction that leaves me feeling more depressed than when I opened up my computer for some good ole fashioned escapism :) It certainly doesn't all have to be all fluff, and I love to see characters struggle. I'd just rather not have a 150% downer. Similarly, no character death, please.
- I enjoy smut, and smut could be a part of some of of these prompts. It's also 100% okay if you decide to write a G-rated fic!
- No incest, killing puppies, etc :P
- No glorification of suicide completion, please. Suicidal ideation is okay if it's treated respectfully, but suicide completion is a big squick of mine.
Characters: Kain Highwind, Dark Kain Highwind, Cecil Harvey
Optional Details Are Optional: Kain Highwind is one of my absolute favorite Final Fantasy characters. I love the tension between his darkness/jealousy and his nobility/love for his friends. Similarly, Kain and Cecil have an interesting dynamic in that they are simultaneously best friends and rivals.
Kain and Cecil never *really* reconciled after his second possession in Final Fantasy IV. Even in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, we don't get an explicit scene like this. I'd love to see a scene in which Kain and Cecil finally make peace with each other. It's up to you if want to follow the After Years storyline or not...feel free to disregard it completely if you wish! (If you *really* want to make my heart flutter, you could have Kain comforting Cecil when he's in a near catatonic state in The After Years. I always thought there were some really interesting parallels to Kain's experiences in the original game and Cecil's in The After Years...)
I would prefer to keep the sappiness in check, as Kain seems like a guy who isn't good at talking about his emotions. Feel free to incorporate some slash, but if you do please respect Rosa!
Fandom 2: Casablanca
Characters: Rick Blaine, Louis Renault
Optional Details Are Optional: Repeating a request from last year, but I figure there is always room for more of these characters. I've always loved the Rick/Louis dynamic. They don't trust each other, and yet they do have a bond. So I'm requesting anything about Rick and Louis' "beautiful friendship." I think the key to writing Louis well is to balance both his casual ruthlessness and his humanity. Neither should completely overwhelm the other. It's the way these two blend together that make him such a fascinating character. (Although I will admit though I've always loved Louis's redemption at the end ^_~)
Either slash or gen is fine. If you do go the slash route, I prefer for it to be understated. Casablanca was a movie made before the emergence of slash fan fiction, after all. This fic from the 2004 Yuletide is how I think Rick/Louis slash can be done really, really well:
http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/9/nomde.html
Fandom 3: Elisabeth (Levay/Kunze)
Characters: Rudolf Crown Prince of Austria
Optional Details Are Optional:
I love Elisabeth. But I have to confess, having experienced suicide within my own family, I've always been uncomfortable with the way it glorifies Rudolph's suicide. (I mean, he gets sexy slash kissing with Death after he's dead ^^;). I'd like to see an alternate scenario where Rudolph doesn't choose to go with Death. It doesn't have to be as happy-ending as "then Rudolph gets married and owns a house with a white picket fence", but I'd really like to see Rudolph making the choice to live. Alternatively, I'd like to see something with Rudolph making peace with either his mother or his father in death.
How you choose to go about it is your choice, Yuletide Writer, but I'd like to see Rudolph get a little bit of peace one way or another.
Fandom 4: The Ascendance Trilogy (Jennifer A. Nielsen)
Characters: Sage
Optional Details Are Optional: I love these books, and I love Sage especially. The things he does are so outlandish, and yet he never stops being a sympathetic and compelling character. I would love to read any insights you had into his life. Maybe a quiet moment at the end of book 2? It's up to you, but any thoughts you had about Sage would make me super happy.