Dear Yuletide writer
Oct. 27th, 2019 10:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eccentric_hatHello, and thank you for writing for me! It's a great joy to have a fic written just for me every year, and I'm so looking forward to reading whatever you come up with. I've made a lot of random requests this year, most of which follow the theme of "pick a minor female character and ask some questions about what her deal is." (Moby Dick is the exception largely because of the paucity of female characters; but I mean it when I say I love those characters too.)
I am a pretty easy recipient, honestly. I don't request things for Yuletide if I have a lot of headcanons for them that would get in the way of enjoying a fic. Past or present or future tense is okay; first or second or third person is okay. Sad or melancholy or even tragic stories are okay; so are fluff and happiness and fix-its. My prompts always lean toward gen, but definitely go ahead and write something shippy if you want to.
Like I noted in my signup, most of these canons have some level of violence in them, and a fic that is authentic to the canon in that way is generally fine, though not needed; I just don't really want to read about whole new kinds of violence, or stuff that's more graphic than canon, or sexual violence in general. I'd generally prefer a story that doesn't hinge on "wow, everybody else knows this thing about you but you don't!" but that isn't a trigger or anything, just a matter of taste.
I celebrate Christmas, and while I usually get to read my gift fic before family celebrations commence, it's possible I might not, or might not get a chance to comment right away.
Here are my requests; this is all the same stuff as I put on AO3:
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Characters: Ishmael, Starbuck
Notes: I know matching is AND, but if you want to you can treat this as OR. I love these characters separately, and I also love the way they contrast with one another: Ishmael the affectionate, purposefully dense, parochial-but-trying-not-to-be, writing-about-something-he-barely-understands oddball; Starbuck the careful-only-by-whaling-standards, deeply-devout-but-somewhat-self-deluded, why-am-I-the-only-one-who-sees-a-problem-here loner.
Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Character: Jaga (Uprooted)
Jaga is SO FASCINATING; I would love to see anything from backstory about her, to something about Agnieszka learning more about her, to in-world lore about her, or other things I haven't thought of!
The Adventures of Lady No-Kids (A Comic)
Character: Lady No Kids (Lady No Kids)
I am a lady with no kids, yet I never have as much time as I would like to follow geese around. So it would be fun just to live this adventure for a little while. For what it's worth, while everything else I'm requesting is a novel, this canon is a one-panel cartoon, so maybe it will come in handy if you run out of canon review time on something else: https://imgur.com/gallery/eQLh9QJ
If a more specific prompt is useful: why is she wearing that hat?
The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie
Character: The Myriad (The Raven Tower)
This book is so fascinating, and the conceit about gods telling the truth really got into my head. I would be especially interested in getting something more about the Myriad because she's so similar to Strength & Patience in some ways, yet has such a different outlook and personality. Something about her perspective on the story, or just her experiences elsewhere in the world, would be really cool.
Wayward Children Series - Seanan McGuire
Character: Eleanor West
I just really want to know more about Eleanor, who occupies such a remarkable place in the world of these books. Childhood backstory about her adventures or fic about her time running the school would be equally cool, as would probably anything else you come up with for her.
I am a pretty easy recipient, honestly. I don't request things for Yuletide if I have a lot of headcanons for them that would get in the way of enjoying a fic. Past or present or future tense is okay; first or second or third person is okay. Sad or melancholy or even tragic stories are okay; so are fluff and happiness and fix-its. My prompts always lean toward gen, but definitely go ahead and write something shippy if you want to.
Like I noted in my signup, most of these canons have some level of violence in them, and a fic that is authentic to the canon in that way is generally fine, though not needed; I just don't really want to read about whole new kinds of violence, or stuff that's more graphic than canon, or sexual violence in general. I'd generally prefer a story that doesn't hinge on "wow, everybody else knows this thing about you but you don't!" but that isn't a trigger or anything, just a matter of taste.
I celebrate Christmas, and while I usually get to read my gift fic before family celebrations commence, it's possible I might not, or might not get a chance to comment right away.
Here are my requests; this is all the same stuff as I put on AO3:
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Characters: Ishmael, Starbuck
Notes: I know matching is AND, but if you want to you can treat this as OR. I love these characters separately, and I also love the way they contrast with one another: Ishmael the affectionate, purposefully dense, parochial-but-trying-not-to-be, writing-about-something-he-barely-understands oddball; Starbuck the careful-only-by-whaling-standards, deeply-devout-but-somewhat-self-deluded, why-am-I-the-only-one-who-sees-a-problem-here loner.
Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Character: Jaga (Uprooted)
Jaga is SO FASCINATING; I would love to see anything from backstory about her, to something about Agnieszka learning more about her, to in-world lore about her, or other things I haven't thought of!
The Adventures of Lady No-Kids (A Comic)
Character: Lady No Kids (Lady No Kids)
I am a lady with no kids, yet I never have as much time as I would like to follow geese around. So it would be fun just to live this adventure for a little while. For what it's worth, while everything else I'm requesting is a novel, this canon is a one-panel cartoon, so maybe it will come in handy if you run out of canon review time on something else: https://imgur.com/gallery/eQLh9QJ
If a more specific prompt is useful: why is she wearing that hat?
The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie
Character: The Myriad (The Raven Tower)
This book is so fascinating, and the conceit about gods telling the truth really got into my head. I would be especially interested in getting something more about the Myriad because she's so similar to Strength & Patience in some ways, yet has such a different outlook and personality. Something about her perspective on the story, or just her experiences elsewhere in the world, would be really cool.
Wayward Children Series - Seanan McGuire
Character: Eleanor West
I just really want to know more about Eleanor, who occupies such a remarkable place in the world of these books. Childhood backstory about her adventures or fic about her time running the school would be equally cool, as would probably anything else you come up with for her.
