Yuletide Letter 2013
Oct. 12th, 2013 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miramiraHello, Yuletide Author!
Thank you for agreeing to write for me. I try to be a relatively easy recipient to write for: my likes include plot, humor, and exploring worldbuilding or characterization tidbits that the author threw in but didn't get to flesh out, but more than anything, I'm just looking for a good read.
Unless stated otherwise in the prompt, my default preference for most fics is gen and my kinks are on the vanilla side, but I'm okay with whatever rating your muse calls for as long as it's not 100% pure unadulterated (or adulterous) smut. The one other thing I ask that you stay away from is graphic torture and unrelenting darkfic. I know a couple of these fandoms deal with difficult and unpleasant topics, and I'm not asking you to ignore that entirely, or placing death and grief off-limits. But I'm a firm believer that sometimes what's left to the imagination can be more compelling than vivid description, and I'd like at least bittersweet or hopeful endings.
I've provided a little bit more detail about my requests and the fandoms they come from below, along with the prompts. Please feel free to check the Yuletide tag at the bottom of this post for my past sign-ups, or my Ao3 account to get a better sense of the type of writing I usually do and what I like. I can be difficult to track down, so if you're unsure of anything, please just trust your instincts - and above all, have fun. I look forward to reading what you come up with!
The Magicians (Julia, Alice)
What happens when powers and quests aren't given to heroes or villains, but normal, flawed human beings?
*Spoiler space begins*
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Prompt: Fix-it fic would make me very, very happy here. Maybe Julia gets into Brakebills instead of Quentin, or maybe Alice decides to go off and do her own thing post-graduation. Just something that gives them a chance at something better than they get in canon. Gen, femslash, or OC love interest(s): as long as it doesn't involve Quentin as more than an ex, makes no difference to me.
I'm just going to paraphrase a previous fest sign-up here: I like the world-building of The Magicians. I like the questions it raises about magic. I cannot stand Quentin, mostly because his inability to get his head out of his own arse means bad things happen to the characters I like. So a fic that lets me pretend the series is focused on Alice and/or Julia like it should have been and that those things didn't happen (particularly to Julia) would be much appreciated. At the very least, maybe Alice could come visit Julia in her tree, and things could go from there?
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Batman Beyond (Dana, Terry)
Cleaning up Gotham will turn out to be the work of more than one lifetime - and one man.
Prompt: I know it's not the most Bechdel-friendly prompt, but I'd like a story set after Dana finds out the details of Terry's work for Mr. Wayne, and how she comes to terms (or has learned to deal) with that. (I like Max, too, so no jealous rivalries, please.)
I know my request asked for both Dana and Terry, so as not to disappoint anyone who really wanted to write about her solo adventures in university (not that I wouldn't like to see that fic), but I'd really like the focus to be primarily on her. Like a lot of superhero love interests - particularly those without powers of their own - I think she gets a bum rap from certain corners of fandom, and I think the woman we saw (however briefly) in Justice League Unlimited's "Epilogue" deserves better. Doesn't mean you have to take a serious approach to the prompt, though. And hey, if your muse demands she ultimately hook up with Max, I can live with that. I'd just like everyone to stay friends.
Kraken (Kath)
Welcome to the hidden side of London, where the apocalypses could happen at any moment.
Prompt: Kath running her own FSRC cell or striking out on her own professionally would be delightful, though I'll just as gladly take a story about the early days of her exploring her abilities.
The real attraction for me with Kraken is the worldbuilding, so if you want to go off on a tangent and just use Kath as a framing device of some sort, I won't complain - though I really would love to see her coming into her own. Just please make sure she gets to snark at least a little bit. Perky would also make me happy, if you can work him in.
Cats of Grand Central (Rhiow)
Cat wizards. (What more than that do you need, really?)
Prompt: Something light, humorous, and ideally New York-centric. Other than that, I swear I will love you just for choosing this fandom.
If you've already checked my Yuletide tag, you'll see that this is a perennial request. In the early years, I had some prompt suggestions, if you need more direction than I provided this time around. At this point, though? I will gleefully accept a fic comprised entirely of lolcat macros. (Actually, I would have gleefully accepted that the first time I asked, though I'm not sure how the Yuletide mods might respond.)
The Long Earth (Sister Agnes)
The multiple-worlds theory is true - and they're all just a step away.
Prompt: Again, the only guidance I have to offer beyond a squee here is funny and fun - though I admit it would be particularly fun to watch Agnes take the wind out of someone's sails somehow, whether that's Lobsang or a particularly pompous Church official. (Alternatively, given that it's Pratchett, a Good Omens or Discworld crossover would not go amiss.)
I love the idea of the Long Earth. Love, love, love. But the concept apparently requires so much exposition and context-setting that the characters wind up a bit...flat. Except Agnes. (And Monica, who wasn't a sign-up option, though I wouldn't mind her putting in an appearance at all.) If you can read a description of a motorcycle and rock music-loving nun and not immediately want a whole book about her, you clearly have stronger willpower than I do. (And if you're not curious whether her path crossed at any point with the Chattering Order of St. Beryl, you either haven't read Good Omens or probably don't share my predilection for crossovers.)
Cyteen (Grant)
In the future, we will learn how to travel to the stars, terraform worlds, and even cheat death - but the question of what makes us human will remain as elusive as ever.
Prompt: In a lot of ways, I think Grant is perhaps the most well-adjusted, human character in the Cyteen series. I'm curious if that thought ever crosses his mind, too. Feel free to explore his relationships with other characters (including Justin, obviously) in the process.
I love C.J. Cherryh's writing because she's so good at creating genuinely alien aliens: species that don't have the same understanding that we do of concepts we take for granted are universal, and therefore don't operate on the sort of logic or motivations we expect. And what's interesting about the azi - and Ari's experiments in general - is that they show how little it would take to do the same to us. Hence the interest in Grant, and how he sees his identity beyond being Justin's source of support - or whether he does to any great extent, or if that bothers him. I'm less interested in the sexual than the emotional aspects of that relationship, so while I don't care what rating the fic winds up being, I'd rather it not be purely PWP or hurt/comfort or alpha/omega or anything like that.
Thank you for agreeing to write for me. I try to be a relatively easy recipient to write for: my likes include plot, humor, and exploring worldbuilding or characterization tidbits that the author threw in but didn't get to flesh out, but more than anything, I'm just looking for a good read.
Unless stated otherwise in the prompt, my default preference for most fics is gen and my kinks are on the vanilla side, but I'm okay with whatever rating your muse calls for as long as it's not 100% pure unadulterated (or adulterous) smut. The one other thing I ask that you stay away from is graphic torture and unrelenting darkfic. I know a couple of these fandoms deal with difficult and unpleasant topics, and I'm not asking you to ignore that entirely, or placing death and grief off-limits. But I'm a firm believer that sometimes what's left to the imagination can be more compelling than vivid description, and I'd like at least bittersweet or hopeful endings.
I've provided a little bit more detail about my requests and the fandoms they come from below, along with the prompts. Please feel free to check the Yuletide tag at the bottom of this post for my past sign-ups, or my Ao3 account to get a better sense of the type of writing I usually do and what I like. I can be difficult to track down, so if you're unsure of anything, please just trust your instincts - and above all, have fun. I look forward to reading what you come up with!
The Magicians (Julia, Alice)
What happens when powers and quests aren't given to heroes or villains, but normal, flawed human beings?
*Spoiler space begins*
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Prompt: Fix-it fic would make me very, very happy here. Maybe Julia gets into Brakebills instead of Quentin, or maybe Alice decides to go off and do her own thing post-graduation. Just something that gives them a chance at something better than they get in canon. Gen, femslash, or OC love interest(s): as long as it doesn't involve Quentin as more than an ex, makes no difference to me.
I'm just going to paraphrase a previous fest sign-up here: I like the world-building of The Magicians. I like the questions it raises about magic. I cannot stand Quentin, mostly because his inability to get his head out of his own arse means bad things happen to the characters I like. So a fic that lets me pretend the series is focused on Alice and/or Julia like it should have been and that those things didn't happen (particularly to Julia) would be much appreciated. At the very least, maybe Alice could come visit Julia in her tree, and things could go from there?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
*Spoiler space ends*
.
.
.
.
*Spoiler space ends*
Cleaning up Gotham will turn out to be the work of more than one lifetime - and one man.
Prompt: I know it's not the most Bechdel-friendly prompt, but I'd like a story set after Dana finds out the details of Terry's work for Mr. Wayne, and how she comes to terms (or has learned to deal) with that. (I like Max, too, so no jealous rivalries, please.)
I know my request asked for both Dana and Terry, so as not to disappoint anyone who really wanted to write about her solo adventures in university (not that I wouldn't like to see that fic), but I'd really like the focus to be primarily on her. Like a lot of superhero love interests - particularly those without powers of their own - I think she gets a bum rap from certain corners of fandom, and I think the woman we saw (however briefly) in Justice League Unlimited's "Epilogue" deserves better. Doesn't mean you have to take a serious approach to the prompt, though. And hey, if your muse demands she ultimately hook up with Max, I can live with that. I'd just like everyone to stay friends.
Kraken (Kath)
Welcome to the hidden side of London, where the apocalypses could happen at any moment.
Prompt: Kath running her own FSRC cell or striking out on her own professionally would be delightful, though I'll just as gladly take a story about the early days of her exploring her abilities.
The real attraction for me with Kraken is the worldbuilding, so if you want to go off on a tangent and just use Kath as a framing device of some sort, I won't complain - though I really would love to see her coming into her own. Just please make sure she gets to snark at least a little bit. Perky would also make me happy, if you can work him in.
Cats of Grand Central (Rhiow)
Cat wizards. (What more than that do you need, really?)
Prompt: Something light, humorous, and ideally New York-centric. Other than that, I swear I will love you just for choosing this fandom.
If you've already checked my Yuletide tag, you'll see that this is a perennial request. In the early years, I had some prompt suggestions, if you need more direction than I provided this time around. At this point, though? I will gleefully accept a fic comprised entirely of lolcat macros. (Actually, I would have gleefully accepted that the first time I asked, though I'm not sure how the Yuletide mods might respond.)
The Long Earth (Sister Agnes)
The multiple-worlds theory is true - and they're all just a step away.
Prompt: Again, the only guidance I have to offer beyond a squee here is funny and fun - though I admit it would be particularly fun to watch Agnes take the wind out of someone's sails somehow, whether that's Lobsang or a particularly pompous Church official. (Alternatively, given that it's Pratchett, a Good Omens or Discworld crossover would not go amiss.)
I love the idea of the Long Earth. Love, love, love. But the concept apparently requires so much exposition and context-setting that the characters wind up a bit...flat. Except Agnes. (And Monica, who wasn't a sign-up option, though I wouldn't mind her putting in an appearance at all.) If you can read a description of a motorcycle and rock music-loving nun and not immediately want a whole book about her, you clearly have stronger willpower than I do. (And if you're not curious whether her path crossed at any point with the Chattering Order of St. Beryl, you either haven't read Good Omens or probably don't share my predilection for crossovers.)
Cyteen (Grant)
In the future, we will learn how to travel to the stars, terraform worlds, and even cheat death - but the question of what makes us human will remain as elusive as ever.
Prompt: In a lot of ways, I think Grant is perhaps the most well-adjusted, human character in the Cyteen series. I'm curious if that thought ever crosses his mind, too. Feel free to explore his relationships with other characters (including Justin, obviously) in the process.
I love C.J. Cherryh's writing because she's so good at creating genuinely alien aliens: species that don't have the same understanding that we do of concepts we take for granted are universal, and therefore don't operate on the sort of logic or motivations we expect. And what's interesting about the azi - and Ari's experiments in general - is that they show how little it would take to do the same to us. Hence the interest in Grant, and how he sees his identity beyond being Justin's source of support - or whether he does to any great extent, or if that bothers him. I'm less interested in the sexual than the emotional aspects of that relationship, so while I don't care what rating the fic winds up being, I'd rather it not be purely PWP or hurt/comfort or alpha/omega or anything like that.