Dear Yuletide Writer, 2010
Should be finished doing edits to this one. Hopefully it's not scary! I really have very few things that are important, and the rest are just prompt suggestions and guides about what appeals to me with these characters etc. that might be helpful but can be ignored. Added the optional details of my original requests.
Dear Yuletide Writer,
First of all, you're making me very happy by offering to write for one of my tiny fandoms. And while this letter is kind of long and rambly, don't let it make you feel I'm trying to direct and guide your creativity too much. Mainly, I'm good with anything from these fandoms and characters, and most of my letter is just spelling that out with examples, and offering prompts that you can either use or ignore. There are just a few things that are more important, so I'm stating them right up front.
DO NOT WANT:
- Descriptive strong violence. This is a big no-no. Too much of it just makes me feel all physically and emotionally bad and makes me want to curl up in a little ball. If the story has some violence, it can be mentioned, and murders and such can happen if they need to, it just should not be strongly descriptive, not above PG-13 for violence. Vampire stuff for the applicable fandom is fine, though.
- Character bashing, especially not of the characters I requested. I requested them because I love them and want to see more fic with them.
- Out of character. I requested fic with these characters because I wanted fic with these characters, so I don't want to get someone with the same name who is actually completely different. In some cases I've asked for a character to be fleshed out from what they are in canon, but I still want them to be themselves, just with more depth/details/different sides of that we don't get to see in canon.
- The usual things that are squicks for most people are squicks for me, like mpreg, incest and so on. And no animal harm, please. I usually don't like non-con, but depending on the story, some degree dub-con can work for some of these requests (namely Tanz der Vampire and Romance of the Forest if you go the pairing route for either of them - but I'm absolutely not expecting or saying I want it, just saying I won't be bothered by it in these cases if that's where the story goes).
- Very anachronistic language. These fandoms are all historical, or resembling-our-historical-times fantasy, so please don't have characters talk like they're from 21st century New York. I'm not going to comb dictionaries to find out whether every word you use already existed at that time, and they don't need to talk like they're straight out of a Jane Austen novel (I'm not requesting Austen, after all) but I generally want to be able to feel that the language fits the world and the characters.
AM FINE WITH
- Have no problem with the following, should the story need them: gen, slash, het, femmeslash, descriptive sex, no sex, vampire stuff, swearing (if appropriate for character/situation)... And probably pretty much anything that is not in the DO NO WANT list. Any rating is usually fine except the above-mentioned thing about no violence above PG-13 (I guess that the Teen and up audiences tag on AO3).
I'm really into characters, and they're often my reason for falling in love with a story (book, play, musical) and so the story can very well be pretty low on the exciting-plot scale and heavy on character and/or relationships. But plot-heavy stuff is good, too.
Now for the specific requests:
Tanz der Vampire - Steinman/Kunze
Character: Alfred
Request details: I just want fic about Alfred, because I love him. As long as it's him, anything's good, be it pre-musical (how did he end up the Professor's assistant?), during the musical (missing scenes if you can find any, alternate outcomes), something with his dream self, or post-musical exploring what happens when he becomes a vampire. Pairing fics (het or slash) and gen are equally welcome. Humour and seriousness are both appreciated.
I requested a similar thing last year, too, and got three stories which made me happy, but I'm still hungry for more Alfred fics. He's my favourite character, because he's so charmingly human, because he's not the hero type but still has to try his best in a situation beyond his capabilities, because he's sweet and adorable and endearing, because I love the humour in the character, and because I love corrupting the innocent. Michael Kunze, the librettist, says that Tanz is Alfred's story of growing up, and I see a lot of interesting potential with him.
Go wherever you want with this. Make it fun and cute, or dark and intense, or romantic or sexy or combination of any of these things, or something else. The main thing is that it's recognizably Alfred. I love him to bits so I obviously want him to be as his is in the musical, and to be portrayed sweetly and sympathetically. I don't want him to be portrayed as stupid, annoying, or just a clown. To me he's clueless and naive and confused but not stupid, and he's endearing in his humanity, and an interesting person who has depth and development, though it's a whole lot more subtle than for most other Michael Kunze protagonists. If you want to know, my favourite actors include Aris Sas, Mihálka Gyuri, Héger Tibor, Sánta László, Pásztor Ádám, Gernot Romic and Sebastian Smulders. Of course you don't need to base yours on any of them unless you want to, but please keep my love for the character in mind and don't turn him into someone he's not or portray him as stupid or annoying.
I keep a Tumblr blog for Alfred, which hopefully doesn't make me sound like a scary person you'll never dare to write this fic for. It's mostly just pics and videos, though there are some text entries about things that especially interest me about him. The link to it is in my profile; you can look at it if you think it would be useful, but if you feel it would restrict your creativity or stress you out to look that much into my Alfred preferences, then ignore it. I don't want the writer assigned to me to feel that I'm so passionate about this character they'll never be able to write my perfect fic. Trust me, I'm so passionate about him that as long as he's recognizably Alfred and you treat him sympathetically, I'll be delighted to have fic with him.
If it's a pairing fic, feel free to pair him up with either Sarah or Herbert (or even Magda or Krolock). Doesn't need to be a functional relationship - I don't know if any in this fandom really can be, but the dynamics are interesting. If you write post-musical, I'd love to see how he changes when becoming a vampire while still being Alfred. Pre-musical is also good - last year I got a couple of stories related to what happened to him before he came to Transylvania, but I'm always curious for more writers' takes on that. Alternate universes are also interesting, as long as they're not "What if Alfred was much cooler, more confident and experienced than he is?" (because then he wouldn't be Alfred anymore) but more something like "What if the Count didn't come to invite Sarah that night?" or "What if the Professor noticed Sarah became a vampire before she had a chance to bite Alfred?" I love dream stuff so if you want to do anything with Alfred's dream self, that's also fine.
One final thing: I don't buy into that teen vampire genre that is so fashionable nowadays, where the vampires have gone all soft and turned into flat romance novel heroes. In Tanz der Vampire, the vampires are seductive and interesting but also dark and dangerous, and I like them that way.
In the Forests of Serre - Patricia A. McKillip
Character: Euan Ash
Request details: What happens to Euan after the events of the novel? Give me some scene in his life or some story that happens to him later. Maybe something involving his hopeless crush on Sidonie, or him working with Unciel and getting to know him and the world they live in better, or him chronicling what happens to some other character in the novel later on and perhaps having an influence on their story, or just observing it and being influenced by it.
This is the latest McKillip book I read, and the story and its world and characters have remained haunting my mind since and I'd love to revisit with a brand new little story set in that universe. For some reason - I guess my penchant for good-hearted sweeties and people who aren't really the hero material but still have tasks to grapple with - I was especially attached to Euan Ash, and would love to see any sort of a story with him. My preference is gen here, because I wouldn't really like him to stop having a hopeless crush on Sidonie but he doesn't exactly have a chance on her; but if the story goes in such a way that he does get paired up with someone, that's fine. (As long as it's not with Unciel. That would be weird.)
I already made a few suggestions in my prompt, now just adding one thing in the case your muse wants to run away with it (but ignore it if it doesn't fit your ideas). I'm fascinated by Gyre's forest and all the creatures in it, so if your muse happens to take Euan there somehow, by all means let that happen. Bonus points if he runs into the three foxes who were once princes, because they were my favourite characters after Euan. But you totally don't need to take him there or anywhere that's away.
Fandom: Spring Awakening - Wedekind
Characters: Hänschen Rilow, Ernst Röbel
Request details: Pretty much anything with them. It can be before they actually get together, some moment of mutual attraction and interest that doesn't yet blossom into what they yearn for; it can be the moment where one of them realizes he's in love with the other; it can be the hot and steamy sex that hopefully follows when they do get together (though I don't want just porn without any emotion and character development); or it can just be some later moment in their relationship, and/or them dealing together with the awful stuff that happens around them to the people they know.
I know and love both the musical and the play, but in some ways I love the play better, and this is one. I prefer the way Hänschen and Ernst's relationship is treated there. In most productions of the musical, Hänschen often comes across as some sort of a slimy little creep and Ernst as a gullible victim, but in the play their relationship feels mutual and loving; Hänschen has more wicked fantasies and more knowledge than Ernst, but you get the feeling the two genuinely care for each other, rather than it being some kind of a manipulative relationship. In fact their scene together is to me the only happy moment of the play, and the only moment where two people really love each other. So I hope this vibe comes across in the story somehow. Generally I love Hänschen, certainly he's a bit weird, but he's one of the only characters in the play who seems capable of thinking, and who can step outside the usual fold without any horrible consequences. It's one of the things that fascinates me about him and about these two together. And I love Ernst, too, he's a darling and very brave in his way for daring to love another boy.
Of course, if you feel you can't do a pairing-centred fic after all, you can do something else that simply includes these two as important characters. A hint: I esepcially love Moritz, both alive and as a ghost.
The Romance of the Forest - Theodore Peyrou, Marquis de Montalt
Request details: How did Theodore find out about what the Marquis is really like? Give me a more detailed account about it than the novel does, maybe with some interesting insights into Theodore's character. Doesn't need to be slash, though can be if that's the way it goes. I'd like to see Theodore fleshed out, get more details and development than the novel gives us, and maybe see some slightly darker side to him. I don't mean make him bad, I like him as a good boy, but I'm curious about what kind of doubts, temptations, insecurities etc. he might have there.
I read this book last summer, and it's totally a guilty pleasure type of thing to me. I've wanted to read some Radcliffe ever since I read my Austen because she pokes so much fun at Radcliffe's books, and I wanted to see why - especially since I have a sensational, Gothic romantic corner in my heart that I suspected would love this more than Miss Austen did. Right I was. Certainly it's not great literature, and the poetry is not good. But I had fun with the story, all its unlikely twists and its dark romantic atmosphere and its characters. Sure, Adeline and Theodore are too perfect but I still like them, and I left the story wanting to know more about Theodore, who is painted mostly as the ideal young man for Adeline but doesn't really get that much of his own voice out in the story. I suppose I also like him because I have a penchant for sweet young men who are hopelessly romantic and do reckless yet earnest things for a lovely girl they hardly know.
When I read the part where it mentioned that Theodore had found out what the Marquis was really like, I was immediately all "Tell me more! No, wait, don't. I want fan fiction writers to tell me more! Because they'll do something interesting with it!" So if you'd like to, give me Theodore's perspective and tell me what happened. Gen or slash, doesn't matter, but I'd love if you'd make Theodore face some of the darker sides of the world (though not gory descriptive violence) and possibly himself. I still want him to be Theodore and essentially good and sweet at heart, but I believe that the good and sweet also have lots of internal conflicts and dark sides that they need to learn to deal with. I'd love to see him feel troubled. No need to be totally cruel to him, but would love it if you'd make him squirm at least a bit. Give him more character and development than Mrs Radcliffe shows us. The charming side of Gothic romance fiction is to me all the conflicts and temptations, combination of horror and fascination, that the good characters are probably really feeling in the face of the evil and the hedonistic but that the writers didn't tell us, either because it wasn't proper or because they didn't want to find out themselves.
If you do make it slashy, make the rating as high or low as you feel like. A lot or very little can happen, it can be descriptive or not. Some extent of dub-con is also fine for this particular request, if that's how the story goes. But it's not necessary either, and like I said, the story can also be gen, just giving some pointers if you do make it slash.
If you can't get anything out of the situation I suggested, you can just give me Theodore's point of view to some part of the events of the novel while fleshing him out more than the novel does. Adeline can be included. And if Adeline's there, I'm fine with girl bits, het, and premarital sex if any of that is needed. But it doesn't need to be, they can also be all chaste or you can be all evasive about it if they aren't. Again, do what you feel good writing and don't stress about my suggestions. Above all I'm curious to find out a bit more about what could be going on with these characters, however you feel like doing it.
Dear Yuletide Writer,
First of all, you're making me very happy by offering to write for one of my tiny fandoms. And while this letter is kind of long and rambly, don't let it make you feel I'm trying to direct and guide your creativity too much. Mainly, I'm good with anything from these fandoms and characters, and most of my letter is just spelling that out with examples, and offering prompts that you can either use or ignore. There are just a few things that are more important, so I'm stating them right up front.
DO NOT WANT:
- Descriptive strong violence. This is a big no-no. Too much of it just makes me feel all physically and emotionally bad and makes me want to curl up in a little ball. If the story has some violence, it can be mentioned, and murders and such can happen if they need to, it just should not be strongly descriptive, not above PG-13 for violence. Vampire stuff for the applicable fandom is fine, though.
- Character bashing, especially not of the characters I requested. I requested them because I love them and want to see more fic with them.
- Out of character. I requested fic with these characters because I wanted fic with these characters, so I don't want to get someone with the same name who is actually completely different. In some cases I've asked for a character to be fleshed out from what they are in canon, but I still want them to be themselves, just with more depth/details/different sides of that we don't get to see in canon.
- The usual things that are squicks for most people are squicks for me, like mpreg, incest and so on. And no animal harm, please. I usually don't like non-con, but depending on the story, some degree dub-con can work for some of these requests (namely Tanz der Vampire and Romance of the Forest if you go the pairing route for either of them - but I'm absolutely not expecting or saying I want it, just saying I won't be bothered by it in these cases if that's where the story goes).
- Very anachronistic language. These fandoms are all historical, or resembling-our-historical-times fantasy, so please don't have characters talk like they're from 21st century New York. I'm not going to comb dictionaries to find out whether every word you use already existed at that time, and they don't need to talk like they're straight out of a Jane Austen novel (I'm not requesting Austen, after all) but I generally want to be able to feel that the language fits the world and the characters.
AM FINE WITH
- Have no problem with the following, should the story need them: gen, slash, het, femmeslash, descriptive sex, no sex, vampire stuff, swearing (if appropriate for character/situation)... And probably pretty much anything that is not in the DO NO WANT list. Any rating is usually fine except the above-mentioned thing about no violence above PG-13 (I guess that the Teen and up audiences tag on AO3).
I'm really into characters, and they're often my reason for falling in love with a story (book, play, musical) and so the story can very well be pretty low on the exciting-plot scale and heavy on character and/or relationships. But plot-heavy stuff is good, too.
Now for the specific requests:
Tanz der Vampire - Steinman/Kunze
Character: Alfred
Request details: I just want fic about Alfred, because I love him. As long as it's him, anything's good, be it pre-musical (how did he end up the Professor's assistant?), during the musical (missing scenes if you can find any, alternate outcomes), something with his dream self, or post-musical exploring what happens when he becomes a vampire. Pairing fics (het or slash) and gen are equally welcome. Humour and seriousness are both appreciated.
I requested a similar thing last year, too, and got three stories which made me happy, but I'm still hungry for more Alfred fics. He's my favourite character, because he's so charmingly human, because he's not the hero type but still has to try his best in a situation beyond his capabilities, because he's sweet and adorable and endearing, because I love the humour in the character, and because I love corrupting the innocent. Michael Kunze, the librettist, says that Tanz is Alfred's story of growing up, and I see a lot of interesting potential with him.
Go wherever you want with this. Make it fun and cute, or dark and intense, or romantic or sexy or combination of any of these things, or something else. The main thing is that it's recognizably Alfred. I love him to bits so I obviously want him to be as his is in the musical, and to be portrayed sweetly and sympathetically. I don't want him to be portrayed as stupid, annoying, or just a clown. To me he's clueless and naive and confused but not stupid, and he's endearing in his humanity, and an interesting person who has depth and development, though it's a whole lot more subtle than for most other Michael Kunze protagonists. If you want to know, my favourite actors include Aris Sas, Mihálka Gyuri, Héger Tibor, Sánta László, Pásztor Ádám, Gernot Romic and Sebastian Smulders. Of course you don't need to base yours on any of them unless you want to, but please keep my love for the character in mind and don't turn him into someone he's not or portray him as stupid or annoying.
I keep a Tumblr blog for Alfred, which hopefully doesn't make me sound like a scary person you'll never dare to write this fic for. It's mostly just pics and videos, though there are some text entries about things that especially interest me about him. The link to it is in my profile; you can look at it if you think it would be useful, but if you feel it would restrict your creativity or stress you out to look that much into my Alfred preferences, then ignore it. I don't want the writer assigned to me to feel that I'm so passionate about this character they'll never be able to write my perfect fic. Trust me, I'm so passionate about him that as long as he's recognizably Alfred and you treat him sympathetically, I'll be delighted to have fic with him.
If it's a pairing fic, feel free to pair him up with either Sarah or Herbert (or even Magda or Krolock). Doesn't need to be a functional relationship - I don't know if any in this fandom really can be, but the dynamics are interesting. If you write post-musical, I'd love to see how he changes when becoming a vampire while still being Alfred. Pre-musical is also good - last year I got a couple of stories related to what happened to him before he came to Transylvania, but I'm always curious for more writers' takes on that. Alternate universes are also interesting, as long as they're not "What if Alfred was much cooler, more confident and experienced than he is?" (because then he wouldn't be Alfred anymore) but more something like "What if the Count didn't come to invite Sarah that night?" or "What if the Professor noticed Sarah became a vampire before she had a chance to bite Alfred?" I love dream stuff so if you want to do anything with Alfred's dream self, that's also fine.
One final thing: I don't buy into that teen vampire genre that is so fashionable nowadays, where the vampires have gone all soft and turned into flat romance novel heroes. In Tanz der Vampire, the vampires are seductive and interesting but also dark and dangerous, and I like them that way.
In the Forests of Serre - Patricia A. McKillip
Character: Euan Ash
Request details: What happens to Euan after the events of the novel? Give me some scene in his life or some story that happens to him later. Maybe something involving his hopeless crush on Sidonie, or him working with Unciel and getting to know him and the world they live in better, or him chronicling what happens to some other character in the novel later on and perhaps having an influence on their story, or just observing it and being influenced by it.
This is the latest McKillip book I read, and the story and its world and characters have remained haunting my mind since and I'd love to revisit with a brand new little story set in that universe. For some reason - I guess my penchant for good-hearted sweeties and people who aren't really the hero material but still have tasks to grapple with - I was especially attached to Euan Ash, and would love to see any sort of a story with him. My preference is gen here, because I wouldn't really like him to stop having a hopeless crush on Sidonie but he doesn't exactly have a chance on her; but if the story goes in such a way that he does get paired up with someone, that's fine. (As long as it's not with Unciel. That would be weird.)
I already made a few suggestions in my prompt, now just adding one thing in the case your muse wants to run away with it (but ignore it if it doesn't fit your ideas). I'm fascinated by Gyre's forest and all the creatures in it, so if your muse happens to take Euan there somehow, by all means let that happen. Bonus points if he runs into the three foxes who were once princes, because they were my favourite characters after Euan. But you totally don't need to take him there or anywhere that's away.
Fandom: Spring Awakening - Wedekind
Characters: Hänschen Rilow, Ernst Röbel
Request details: Pretty much anything with them. It can be before they actually get together, some moment of mutual attraction and interest that doesn't yet blossom into what they yearn for; it can be the moment where one of them realizes he's in love with the other; it can be the hot and steamy sex that hopefully follows when they do get together (though I don't want just porn without any emotion and character development); or it can just be some later moment in their relationship, and/or them dealing together with the awful stuff that happens around them to the people they know.
I know and love both the musical and the play, but in some ways I love the play better, and this is one. I prefer the way Hänschen and Ernst's relationship is treated there. In most productions of the musical, Hänschen often comes across as some sort of a slimy little creep and Ernst as a gullible victim, but in the play their relationship feels mutual and loving; Hänschen has more wicked fantasies and more knowledge than Ernst, but you get the feeling the two genuinely care for each other, rather than it being some kind of a manipulative relationship. In fact their scene together is to me the only happy moment of the play, and the only moment where two people really love each other. So I hope this vibe comes across in the story somehow. Generally I love Hänschen, certainly he's a bit weird, but he's one of the only characters in the play who seems capable of thinking, and who can step outside the usual fold without any horrible consequences. It's one of the things that fascinates me about him and about these two together. And I love Ernst, too, he's a darling and very brave in his way for daring to love another boy.
Of course, if you feel you can't do a pairing-centred fic after all, you can do something else that simply includes these two as important characters. A hint: I esepcially love Moritz, both alive and as a ghost.
The Romance of the Forest - Theodore Peyrou, Marquis de Montalt
Request details: How did Theodore find out about what the Marquis is really like? Give me a more detailed account about it than the novel does, maybe with some interesting insights into Theodore's character. Doesn't need to be slash, though can be if that's the way it goes. I'd like to see Theodore fleshed out, get more details and development than the novel gives us, and maybe see some slightly darker side to him. I don't mean make him bad, I like him as a good boy, but I'm curious about what kind of doubts, temptations, insecurities etc. he might have there.
I read this book last summer, and it's totally a guilty pleasure type of thing to me. I've wanted to read some Radcliffe ever since I read my Austen because she pokes so much fun at Radcliffe's books, and I wanted to see why - especially since I have a sensational, Gothic romantic corner in my heart that I suspected would love this more than Miss Austen did. Right I was. Certainly it's not great literature, and the poetry is not good. But I had fun with the story, all its unlikely twists and its dark romantic atmosphere and its characters. Sure, Adeline and Theodore are too perfect but I still like them, and I left the story wanting to know more about Theodore, who is painted mostly as the ideal young man for Adeline but doesn't really get that much of his own voice out in the story. I suppose I also like him because I have a penchant for sweet young men who are hopelessly romantic and do reckless yet earnest things for a lovely girl they hardly know.
When I read the part where it mentioned that Theodore had found out what the Marquis was really like, I was immediately all "Tell me more! No, wait, don't. I want fan fiction writers to tell me more! Because they'll do something interesting with it!" So if you'd like to, give me Theodore's perspective and tell me what happened. Gen or slash, doesn't matter, but I'd love if you'd make Theodore face some of the darker sides of the world (though not gory descriptive violence) and possibly himself. I still want him to be Theodore and essentially good and sweet at heart, but I believe that the good and sweet also have lots of internal conflicts and dark sides that they need to learn to deal with. I'd love to see him feel troubled. No need to be totally cruel to him, but would love it if you'd make him squirm at least a bit. Give him more character and development than Mrs Radcliffe shows us. The charming side of Gothic romance fiction is to me all the conflicts and temptations, combination of horror and fascination, that the good characters are probably really feeling in the face of the evil and the hedonistic but that the writers didn't tell us, either because it wasn't proper or because they didn't want to find out themselves.
If you do make it slashy, make the rating as high or low as you feel like. A lot or very little can happen, it can be descriptive or not. Some extent of dub-con is also fine for this particular request, if that's how the story goes. But it's not necessary either, and like I said, the story can also be gen, just giving some pointers if you do make it slash.
If you can't get anything out of the situation I suggested, you can just give me Theodore's point of view to some part of the events of the novel while fleshing him out more than the novel does. Adeline can be included. And if Adeline's there, I'm fine with girl bits, het, and premarital sex if any of that is needed. But it doesn't need to be, they can also be all chaste or you can be all evasive about it if they aren't. Again, do what you feel good writing and don't stress about my suggestions. Above all I'm curious to find out a bit more about what could be going on with these characters, however you feel like doing it.