Dear Yuletide Writer :。・:*:・゚'☆

Sep 27, 2016 21:09

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Hi! It looks like you got assigned to me. Some parts of this letter are longer than others, but that's mainly due to varying number of characters/length of source canons. I love all of my requested fandoms a lot, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with; I'm sure it'll be awesome!

I like a lot of things, and I've tried to provide a variety of prompts to work with. But if none of these work for you, and you have an idea of your own that doesn't hit any of my dislikes, go ahead and write that! If you enjoy writing it, I'm sure it'll be great.

For reference, my Ao3 username is yuuago. Questions/comments/requests for clarification are welcome. :)


General likes and dislikes :。・:*:・゚'☆

☆ Things I love: Loyalty. Friendship. Familial relationships. Slice-of-life. People teaching each other things. Mentor relationships. Cooking or sharing food as an affectionate gesture. Presumed Dead scenarios. Hurt/comfort/caretaking. Action - primarily the battlefield kind. Mythology, folklore, and monsters, where applicable. Descriptions of setting. Language barriers. Characters who are afraid, but press on anyway, because something needs to be done, and nobody else is going to do it. Taking care of injuries. Mutual understandings, either due to shared personality or experiences. I like genfic and shipfic equally.

☆ Please do not include: AUs/Crossovers unless otherwise requested. Non-canon character death. Unrequested noncanon pairings. In-text languages other than English. Sexual violence. Forest fires/house fires. Also, I'd prefer not to receive 18+ work, though fade to black and/or references to sex are fine!

☆ I enjoy all formats of fanfiction. Past tense + third person is great, but I'm also open to different points of view (first person, present tense, etc). Alternative formats are also cool; drabble sequences or poetry and so on. Last year, I received a Yuletide fic that was partially written in code (Object Oriented, by wneleh. <3 Still love it!). Basically, I'm not married to any particular form, and I'll be happy if you work in 3rd person past if that's what you're most comfortable with, but I'll also be happy if you decide to be adventurous!


Gladiator - Dami Im (Music Video) :。・:*:・゚'✿

Requested characters: Any
Available characters: Mentor, White Warrior, Princess
Canon source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tGeGEdIVUw
Fandom-specific details

✿ I'm equally open to reading about any of the characters listed, either together or on their own. I'm also interested in Princess/White Warrior femslash, if you're up to writing that, though I'd also love to see gen relationships between them (fealty, friendship, etc).

✿ This is a very short canon, so I'm totally open to stories that build up the world - there's a lot of cool things going on here (magic, battles, sacred medallions, a princess locked away...!) so please be as creative as you want. :D
Requests/Prompts

✿ Who is the Princess? Who locked her away - was it the Black Warriors, working as a group, or do they answer to a more powerful force? We know that she will restore peace to her kingdom - but how will she do that? Perhaps she is a fighter herself, or her powers are in a different area, such as magic. And who is ruling in her place? She has obviously been trapped for a long time, but how long - and is she immortal, or has she been kept young through the magic force that trapped her? I'd love to read something that explores any of these questions. Fairy tale/legendary interpretations of it would be very welcome, too. :D

✿ I'd love to read about the relationship between the Mentor and the White Warrior. What are their relations - are they family, or is the Mentor her teacher prior to the discovery of the medallion, or is she a wise woman who the girl knew about but had little contact with until the discovery of the mission? How does the Mentor know of the Princess's legend - is it common knowledge, or is the knowledge kept a secret?

✿ How did the Mentor acquire her skills at magic (and presumably battle)? Perhaps, when she was younger, the Mentor made her own attempt at rescuing the Princess, and failed - and that is why she is willing to train the girl to become the kind of Warrior who can fulfill this mission. Or perhaps the Mentor is trained in battle because she is part of an organization intending to resist against the Evil that exists in the kingdom in the Princess's absence.

✿ Princess/White Warrior femslash option. ;) The first time I watched this video, I was internally screaming because I shipped it so hard... I really love Princess/Knight kinds of pairings, and these two are just so perfect. When did the Warrior fall in love with the Princess - was it from the first moment when, as a child, she saw her projection and knew she had to rescue her? Was it when they first saw one another, after the evil was defeated? Or is it later on, a more gradual attraction, grounded in affection and respect acquired through interaction? What is their relationship like later on?

✿ So, the Warrior rescues the Princess. What next? That's up to you - and interpretation as gen or pairing are both welcome. Do they part ways? Do they rule together? Rescuing a princess is one thing, but banishing evil from a kingdom is another, and there is probably a lot of clean-up work to be done. How do they deal with that? Does the Princess appoint the White Warrior to handle this, because the Warrior is a fighter and the Princess is not - or does the Princess have a power of her own, and they fight side by side? Regardless of how you approach it, I would love a lot of emphasis on loyalty, respect, and growing to know one another. :D


A Redtail's Dream :。・:*:・゚'☆

Requested characters: Kielo Miettinen & Swan of Tuonela
Canon source: http://www.minnasundberg.fi/artd.php
Fandom-specific details

☆ I love all of the characters in the comic, and if you choose to add characters other than the ones requested, I don't mind! I'm also open to reading about Kielo or the Swan on their own rather than together.

☆ I'm equally happy with gen and romance. I do ship Kielo and the Swan, and would love to see romance with them if you want to go in that direction. Both situations where the Swan is in bird form, and scenarios where she takes on a human form, are equally interesting to me. I only ask that you keep it entirely worksafe if you're writing bird!Swan. ;)
Requests/Prompts

☆ In the comic, there are hints that some villagers remember some things about their time in the Dream. I'd love to know what Kielo might remember, about being trapped in Tuonela in general, and about the Swan in particular. Would she only remember fragments? Would the sight of some things - ordinary swans, perhaps - make her recall more? Was there something in particular that the Swan told her that she might remember fondly?

☆ Kielo and Swan meet again. Perhaps it is during Kielo's life; maybe the Swan misses her, and wants to see her again, and is able to take time off to do so. (Hey, paperwork apparently exists in Tuonela, so why not paid leave as well?) Maybe she visits her in her bird form, or maybe she disguises herself to look like a human. Or maybe it takes a couple attempts - naturally, appearing as a swan makes sense, but most people don't take well to seeing very large talking birds unless they expect them! I'd also be open to seeing them meet after Kielo's death - though please smooth over the actual death as much as you can, and focus on the after part, the peace and relaxation and the comfort of seeing a familiar face.

☆ aRTD + Stand Still Stay Silent crossover: I love scenarios where these stories take place in the same universe, and the apocalypse comes to the village of Hokanniemi. How would the villagers deal with this? How would Kielo in particular deal with it? The Swan would probably know about the dangers of the Rash long before it hits the village. How would she deal with this? Would she try to warn Kielo somehow?

☆ Continuing the aRTD + SSSS idea - In this world, where magical power is returning to humans, would Kielo have any magical abilities? The Swan would probably be completely overwhelmed with work... there are some fanworks in which she appoints Hannu and Ville to aid her in some way, and I'd like to see that kind of situation, except Kielo is appointed as her helper (though Hannu and Ville can also be, too!). Would the Swan have the authority to do this, or would she need to approach her boss about it?


Valiant Hearts: The Great War :。・:*:・゚'✿

Requested characters: Any
Available characters: Emile Chaillon, Marie Chaillon, Anna, Karl
Canon info: Website | Character Profiles | Wikia
About LPs: If you can't play the game, or don't want to replay for canon review, there are multiple silent playthroughs available; here is one by GameOxo (that is Part 1, the rest should be simple to find). There are many others too. For just the cutscenes, try here - I haven't watched the whole thing, but it looks decently complete, though there are other uploads out there as well.
I haven't watched any LPs with commentary, but I do recall that both Cryaotic and Jacksepticeye have done VH playthroughs that were very popular, and are likely easy to find.
Fandom-specific details

✿ Valiant Hearts might be a historical canon, but please don't think I expect 100% historical accuracy. After all, the game itself has its own anachronisms and cracky moments. I get equal enjoyment out of historical accuracy and narratives that take a few liberties in the interest of telling a fun story.

✿ I didn't have enough nomination slots to include Freddie and Walt, but I do love them too, so including them in the story is totally cool with me. I'm also totally fine with the inclusion of tertiary characters, such as Hans Weiss or Paul (Anna's father), if you want to go in that direction.

✿ This canon is violent and sad, due to its setting, but I'd just like to emphasize again that I don't want any named characters to die if they don't die in the actual game. I'm fine with NPCs/original characters dying, as long as it is not graphic.

✿ I'm equally okay with gen and romance, and would be happy with either. If you do decide to write a story with romance, I'd be interested in anything that explores any of the canon pairings - Karl/Marie, Freddie/Margaret, or Emile/Paulien (his wife). I'd also be interested in these noncanon pairings too: Emile/Anna, Freddie/Anna, Freddie/Emile, or Anna/Karl/Marie ot3. :)
Requests/Prompts

✿ Before the war: we see very little of life at Emile's farm before war is declared. It would be wonderful to see how the relations develop between Marie and Karl, and Emile and Karl. How did Marie and Karl fall in love? Emile clearly cares about Karl a lot, and not just because Karl is his son-in-law, so how did that positive relationship come to pass - maybe Karl is like the son he never had? Did a specific event (related or unrelated to Marie) cause them to become close? Slice-of-life moments would be great. <3

✿ Karl and Anna had lots of time to develop a close friendship, and I'd love to see that explored. Glimpses at the moments where she's taking care of him would be wonderful. Maybe they share stories about their families, or talk about their worries for the future. This would also be an excellent opportunity to include some H/C. :D

✿ Anna and Marie become friends. This could be during the time that Karl is recuperating toward the end of the game, or it could happen after the end of the war. Even though they're very different people with very different life experiences, I have a feeling they'd get along amazingly well. :) I'd also be open to postcanon Anna/Karl/Marie, as long it is a true ot3 (each of them is equally in love with the other two parties).

✿ Canon-divergent AU: Emile lives! I'm not picky about which point the plot starts to diverge. Perhaps he ends up sent to a different location, and as such is not present at the mutiny at Chemin des Dames? Or perhaps someone else kills the officer? If Emile doesn't die, how does the rest of the story play out? When will he be reunited with his friends and family, and how will that go? When will he see his daughter again? I'd love to see some touching moments between Emile and Marie. <3

Christmas Truce. I would love to see this voluntary ceasefire from the point of view of any of the battlefield characters. Karl might be the easiest character to use for this one. Freddie might also be a good character to use for this if you want to include him, because he was on the battlefield at the time. Feel free to include relevant secondary characters too (Walt, George, Hans, Wilfried... just off the top of my head). Additionally, if my writer is familiar with the film Joyeux Noel (2005), I would be open to a crossover, in which one or more of the VH characters interact with one or more characters from the film during the Truce. :) If you have to handwave location/timeline details etc in order to make the two canons match up, that's totally okay.


Stand Still, Stay Silent :。・:*:・゚'☆

Requested characters: Ensi Hotakainen, Lalli Hotakainen
Canon source: http://sssscomic.com/
Fandom-specific details

☆ I've requested both Ensi and Lalli, but I'm also totally okay if you choose to write about only one of them, rather than both. I also genuinely love all of the named characters in the comic, so I'm cool with inclusion of other characters as well. :)

☆ I love gen and romance equally, so it's cool if you want to focus only on the familial relations between Ensi and Lalli. But if you want to include romance, I'd be interested in reading about any of these pairings: Ensi and her past relationships, Lalli's parents (we don't know anything about them at all! What do you think they were like?), Emil/Lalli, or Lalli/Original character(s).

☆ Considering she's deceased in present canon, I'm okay with inclusion of the events leading up to Ensi's death, as well as the aftermath. But please don't focus on the event itself.
Requests/Prompts

☆ We know that Lalli's rifle originally belonged to Ensi. How did it come into his possession? Did she give it to him directly, because she thought he was ready for it? Or did he inherit it after her death? How did it come to be damaged - was that a specific event, or just wear over time? Did she teach him how to use it?

☆ There is very little in the comic about what kind of relationship Ensi and Lalli might have had. What do you think it was like? Did they understand one another well (differently or better than, for example, Onni understands Lalli)? Did she act as his mentor? What kind of magic might she have taught him?

☆ I'd love to see Ensi's view of the early days of her world, with contrast to how life is for Lalli. In many ways, things would be very different; but in other ways, they would be similar. What experiences might she have? What knowledge might she gain, that she could later pass on to him?

This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3505383.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.

exchange letters, yuletide

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