Yuletide letter
First of all, thank you for writing me a story! I have a pretty long letter this year, if you find that helpful. If not, please pick something you'll enjoy writing--I look forward to having more fic in these fandoms.
I wrote this summary of general fannish likes and dislikes several years ago, and it's still accurate if you want to have a look. The shorter version is that I like plot- or character-based stories and love fic that manages both. I’m a big fan of gen, but I do have a few ship-based prompts this year; even with those, I’m usually more invested in complexity of character interaction than in sex scenes or passionate confessions of love.
NB: Prompts contain spoilers.
The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner: Eddis, the Magus, Attolia
First off, I ship Eddis and the Magus, but not in a way that's mutually exclusive to canon ships--my personal canon is actually Eddis/politics/the Magus, where politics get so firmly in the way that neither of them acknowledges the romantic tension even privately, because there are bigger things at stake. Subtlety's the word. If you're not interested in the ship, feel free to leave it out.
I'd love to read about any two or three combinations of these characters manoeuvring around each other and around the other political forces of their countries, about how their political goals diverge and converge, about the reasons and ways they're willing to take advantage of one another. I'm a sucker for political intrigue, diplomacy (in anyone's name!), and respectful relationships complicated by widely different priorities.
I also love Gen and Sophos, but I'd particularly enjoy a story where the queens are discussing something other than Gen's place in their lives, or where his primary significance to the conversation is political rather than personal.
Prompts, if you want them:
The Memoirs of Lady Trent - Marie Brennan: Isabella (Lady Trent)
I love these books for their Victorian(ish) setting plus dragons, the way dragons are treated as subjects of scientific study rather than mythical beasts, for Lady Trent’s critical yet compassionate depiction of her younger self, for the character interactions and worldbuilding, for lady scientists, yes please!
I appreciate that Isabella's allowed her moments of triumph but is also called out--by other characters, by events, and by herself--for her flaws. Her marriage to Jacob hits a number of my buttons (marriage of convenience turns to genuine love; romantic passion takes a backseat to other, mutual concerns; couples who work together and have shared interests; genuine affection revealed after one party is in danger). I love the way her (platonic) relationship with Mr. Wilker is developing from mutual antagonism to respect and affection, with new appreciation for the other’s situation. Her friendship with Natalie is wonderful-I’m curious how that developed from the brief scene Natalie had in the first book.
I’d be eager to see more worldbuilding and natural history, whether in Scirland or abroad. I really like the voice of the books, but if the memoir style doesn’t appeal to you, feel free to try something else.
Prompts:
The Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold: Iselle dy Chalion, Ista dy Chalion
The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls are some of my favorite fantasy novels. The five gods and all the worldbuilding through theology are particularly interesting, so feel free to include as much of that as you like. I also love seeing women in positions of power (so distinct from privilege, as the Provincara reminds us) and making plot-changing decisions. Politics and intrigue would be lovely, as would character exploration.
We never actually see Iselle and Ista interacting in the books. I can’t imagine they’ll ever have a typical mother-daughter relationship, but what sort of relationship do they have? By the end of Paladin of Souls they’ve each come into very different sorts of power. How do they adjust to that, both as mother and daughter and in their political and spiritual roles?
I’m really fond of most of the canon ‘ships in this series, which isn’t to say you need to mention them, but I’d prefer the story didn’t contradict them outright. I also love Cazaril, Betrez, the Provincara, the Bastard, and all the saints we’ve met in the books. Any chance to see saints, or former saints, talking shop would be great.
Prompts:
The Magicians - Lev Grossman: Alice Quinn
Yet another fandom where I’d love to read some worldbuilding, which could be anything from actual new worlds to seeing some new magic. I love the fun of the spells we sometimes get to see, the intricacy and beauty of it. I’d also like some good character stuff, preferably set after The Magician’s Land, but if you want to go AU earlier in the timeline, throw in some backstory, or try your hand at some missing scenes instead, there’s plenty of material to work with!
I’ve asked for these books several years running, all some variation on prompts for Alice and/or Julia. I received a beautiful fic featuring both of them several years back, if you’d like to see something I absolutely loved in this fandom, but please make this request your own. I’m eager to see what you come up with especially now that we have the third book to work from. I was very happy with The Magician’s Land as a conclusion to the trilogy, but I think Alice has a lot of story left in her. I'd prefer something that's hopeful, maybe even joyful by the end, without minimizing what she’s been through.
Prompts:
Steerswoman Series - Rosemary Kirstein: Reeder, Rowan
I adore these books for the slow burn of worldbuilding, the gradual reveal of the setting and its history, and even more for the mechanism of the reveal. Rowan’s training makes her a fascinating, insightful POV character, and it’s a joy to watch her work things out. The series treats all its characters with such wonderful compassion, and Rowan values everyone she meets for their different areas of knowledge and expertise.
I’d enjoy worldbuilding in any fic for this canon, maybe through exploration of the steerswomen’s duties and way of life, or even background on the wizards if you’re up for dealing with the overarching plot. If you want to do something character-based, I’d love to see Rowan running up against the restrictions and requirements of conversation with steerswomen, like at the end of the first book when she had to work with the young wizards without asking them questions they’d refuse to answer, or in the third book when she had long interactions with a friend whose questions she couldn’t answer.
Character dynamics that start antagonistic but evolve into cooperation because of mutual goals are really interesting to me. By the end of Language of Power Reeder and Rowan have reached a fascinating if not entirely comfortable understanding. I would be thrilled with a fic that explored how that could progress after the fourth book, and I’d be equally happy with gen or a pairing fic for them.
If you’re looking to round out the cast a bit, I’d love to see more of Bel, but of course she’s optional.
Prompts:
I wrote this summary of general fannish likes and dislikes several years ago, and it's still accurate if you want to have a look. The shorter version is that I like plot- or character-based stories and love fic that manages both. I’m a big fan of gen, but I do have a few ship-based prompts this year; even with those, I’m usually more invested in complexity of character interaction than in sex scenes or passionate confessions of love.
NB: Prompts contain spoilers.
The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner: Eddis, the Magus, Attolia
First off, I ship Eddis and the Magus, but not in a way that's mutually exclusive to canon ships--my personal canon is actually Eddis/politics/the Magus, where politics get so firmly in the way that neither of them acknowledges the romantic tension even privately, because there are bigger things at stake. Subtlety's the word. If you're not interested in the ship, feel free to leave it out.
I'd love to read about any two or three combinations of these characters manoeuvring around each other and around the other political forces of their countries, about how their political goals diverge and converge, about the reasons and ways they're willing to take advantage of one another. I'm a sucker for political intrigue, diplomacy (in anyone's name!), and respectful relationships complicated by widely different priorities.
I also love Gen and Sophos, but I'd particularly enjoy a story where the queens are discussing something other than Gen's place in their lives, or where his primary significance to the conversation is political rather than personal.
Prompts, if you want them:
- Eddis and Attolia corresponding on some military or economic disagreement before the start of the series, successfully or not
- Eddis and Attolia responding to the other's rise to power
- Pre-series, the Magus deciding Eddis is the best possible queen for Sounis, and subsequent attempts to negotiate the match; Attolia's reaction to this
- AU where the Magus succeeds in getting Eddis to marry Sounis
- Negotiations surrounding Gen and Irene's wedding
- Negotiations surrounding Helen and Sophos's wedding, including the new balance of power
Eddis attending Attolia's wedding and vice versa- A future-fic where they deal with the renewed threat of the Mede Empire
The Memoirs of Lady Trent - Marie Brennan: Isabella (Lady Trent)
I love these books for their Victorian(ish) setting plus dragons, the way dragons are treated as subjects of scientific study rather than mythical beasts, for Lady Trent’s critical yet compassionate depiction of her younger self, for the character interactions and worldbuilding, for lady scientists, yes please!
I appreciate that Isabella's allowed her moments of triumph but is also called out--by other characters, by events, and by herself--for her flaws. Her marriage to Jacob hits a number of my buttons (marriage of convenience turns to genuine love; romantic passion takes a backseat to other, mutual concerns; couples who work together and have shared interests; genuine affection revealed after one party is in danger). I love the way her (platonic) relationship with Mr. Wilker is developing from mutual antagonism to respect and affection, with new appreciation for the other’s situation. Her friendship with Natalie is wonderful-I’m curious how that developed from the brief scene Natalie had in the first book.
I’d be eager to see more worldbuilding and natural history, whether in Scirland or abroad. I really like the voice of the books, but if the memoir style doesn’t appeal to you, feel free to try something else.
Prompts:
- An academic paper presented after one of Isabella’s voyages
- Isabella and Mr. Wilker, storming the doors of the Philosophers’ Colloquium together
- AU where Jacob doesn’t die at the end of Natural History (I think his death was a good authorial choice, but I mourn the opportunity to see where their relationship would have gone)
- Isabella and Jacob at any point during their marriage, getting to know one another at home or in Vystrana
- AU where Natalie attempts her briefly-mentioned lesbian experimentation with Isabella, who agrees out of scientific inquiry; note that Natalie is canonically asexual, and I’d rather that wasn’t contradicted
- Isabella’s post-ToS correspondence with Galinke
- Isabella helping Natalie with her career ambitions
The Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold: Iselle dy Chalion, Ista dy Chalion
The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls are some of my favorite fantasy novels. The five gods and all the worldbuilding through theology are particularly interesting, so feel free to include as much of that as you like. I also love seeing women in positions of power (so distinct from privilege, as the Provincara reminds us) and making plot-changing decisions. Politics and intrigue would be lovely, as would character exploration.
We never actually see Iselle and Ista interacting in the books. I can’t imagine they’ll ever have a typical mother-daughter relationship, but what sort of relationship do they have? By the end of Paladin of Souls they’ve each come into very different sorts of power. How do they adjust to that, both as mother and daughter and in their political and spiritual roles?
I’m really fond of most of the canon ‘ships in this series, which isn’t to say you need to mention them, but I’d prefer the story didn’t contradict them outright. I also love Cazaril, Betrez, the Provincara, the Bastard, and all the saints we’ve met in the books. Any chance to see saints, or former saints, talking shop would be great.
Prompts:
- Missing scene in Curse of Chalion--Iselle and Ista together after Teidez's body is brought to Vallenda
- Missing scene at the end of Curse of Chalion--their meeting when Ista comes back to Cardegoss
- What does Ista make of Iselle’s queenship? How does Iselle react to Ista’s sainthood?
- For that matter, how does Iselle use Ista’s sainthood? I can’t imagine she wouldn’t find a way to turn it to her political gain.
- Ista as a new grandmother, dealing with the memory of her own early motherhood
The Magicians - Lev Grossman: Alice Quinn
Yet another fandom where I’d love to read some worldbuilding, which could be anything from actual new worlds to seeing some new magic. I love the fun of the spells we sometimes get to see, the intricacy and beauty of it. I’d also like some good character stuff, preferably set after The Magician’s Land, but if you want to go AU earlier in the timeline, throw in some backstory, or try your hand at some missing scenes instead, there’s plenty of material to work with!
I’ve asked for these books several years running, all some variation on prompts for Alice and/or Julia. I received a beautiful fic featuring both of them several years back, if you’d like to see something I absolutely loved in this fandom, but please make this request your own. I’m eager to see what you come up with especially now that we have the third book to work from. I was very happy with The Magician’s Land as a conclusion to the trilogy, but I think Alice has a lot of story left in her. I'd prefer something that's hopeful, maybe even joyful by the end, without minimizing what she’s been through.
Prompts:
Anything at all with Alice and Julia; AUs especially welcome- Further exploration of Alice and Quentin's world
- How did Alice's time as a niffin change her relationship to magic?
- It'd be interesting to see Alice interacting with either Asmodeus or Jane Chatwin.
- Far future-fic of the life she builds post-Magician's Land
- Quentin's made some pretty terrible mistakes, but by the end of the last book he's done some serious growing up. Alice's own growing up got horribly sidetracked. Do they get back in step after her recovery?
Steerswoman Series - Rosemary Kirstein: Reeder, Rowan
I adore these books for the slow burn of worldbuilding, the gradual reveal of the setting and its history, and even more for the mechanism of the reveal. Rowan’s training makes her a fascinating, insightful POV character, and it’s a joy to watch her work things out. The series treats all its characters with such wonderful compassion, and Rowan values everyone she meets for their different areas of knowledge and expertise.
I’d enjoy worldbuilding in any fic for this canon, maybe through exploration of the steerswomen’s duties and way of life, or even background on the wizards if you’re up for dealing with the overarching plot. If you want to do something character-based, I’d love to see Rowan running up against the restrictions and requirements of conversation with steerswomen, like at the end of the first book when she had to work with the young wizards without asking them questions they’d refuse to answer, or in the third book when she had long interactions with a friend whose questions she couldn’t answer.
Character dynamics that start antagonistic but evolve into cooperation because of mutual goals are really interesting to me. By the end of Language of Power Reeder and Rowan have reached a fascinating if not entirely comfortable understanding. I would be thrilled with a fic that explored how that could progress after the fourth book, and I’d be equally happy with gen or a pairing fic for them.
If you’re looking to round out the cast a bit, I’d love to see more of Bel, but of course she’s optional.
Prompts:
If you want to write Rowan/Reeder, maybe a classic fic trope for bringing together unlikely pairings (huddling for warmth, one room left at a remote inn)- Missing scenes during Rowan’s time in Donner in Language of Power
- More detail on Reeder’s estrangement from Ona and Naio
- Reeder’s one of a few people likely to recognize Slado on sight. How might they meet, and how would he get the word back to Rowan?
comments at http://pendrecarc.dreamwidth.org/177715.html. Feel free to comment wherever you prefer.