Yuletide and "Dear Yuletide Santa" letter
Dec. 25th, 2008 02:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seventheI'm very busy in the upcoming weeks, and then I'm leaving on vacation, so I wanted to get this letter out there just in case.
To my Yuletide Santa: HI! I am very easy to please with regards to all of the fandoms I've requested. Please don't panic! A gift from ANY of those fandoms will be enough to make me ridiculously happy. The details are icing on the cake.
So if you've already got an idea, go ahead and write it -- I'm excited! However, if you're interested, I'm about to drop about 173469736 words on how much I love these fandoms and what specifically I like, so here you go.
About Yuletide
This is my first Yuletide. I almost didn't participate, because my small Final Fantasy fandoms were wiped out (probably due to the over-popularity of certain Final Fantasy fandoms, and the difficulty of distinguishing between games which are in fact separate fandoms - ah, I digress), but then I found lots of book fandoms I loved. I'm not new to fandom -- I write, I draw (poorly), I mod (somewhat haphazardly). I even modded a fic exchange once, at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ff_exchange, so I'm familiar with the format.
I am new to Yuletide, in specific. So if I've done something completely robotarded in my requests, please forgive. Any asshattery is completely unintended. I did my research, but if I've committed some kind of big faux pas, you can smack me with a cluebat come December 26th. I guarantee I don't mean it, whatever it is.
Good Example: I requested specific characters for some of my prompts. Please treat these as "ANY", not "ALL". I tried to make that clear in the details portion, which is what was advised in the thingey I read about signups. I realize that may not have been the clearest way, but I wanted to give more options rather than less! If you are confused, here is confirmation, for real: if I've listed four characters, I will be happy seeing any one of them! Honest.
I am ridiculously wicked excited about Yuletide and I can pretty much guarantee that anything you give me will have me grinning for days.
About My Fandoms
I've requested only book fandoms. I've never written in these fandoms. I apologize, because this means I have nothing to point you towards to say "Hey! Hey! I thought this was awesome!" However, this pretty much means I have no expectations. I'll be happy to see anything.
Two of my requested fandoms are ones in which the creator has asked for no fanfiction (Robin McKinley, specifically). This does make me feel really, really bad, but since RMcK's books were what got me to sign up for Yuletide when I almost didn't, I thought I'd let it go this time. Lady McKinley, I apologize from the bottom of my heart, etc., and I will not do it again.Until next year. Since I requested it, I'm (obviously) cool with you writing it, even if the author is not.
Things I Really Like To See In Fanfiction (ANY, not ALL!)
- Interesting female characters being, well, interesting
- snark, sarcasm, witty dialogue or narration
- comedy / humor!
- characters with flaws and strengths
- non-traditional, non-stereotypical romance (I love romantic relationships, but I prefer unusual/unique treatments of relationships to the "pink and fluffy bunny valentine's day" types) of any persuasion (m/f, m/m, f/f, m/f/f/m/boat)
- other non-romantic relationships (I love family relationships, strong friendships, good solid connections. I also like flawed relationships, and the explorations thereof. relationship dynamics: my buttons, they are mashed)
- hijinks! things happening! plots not revolving around pairings, relationships/romance, or one character's thoughts! external antagonists! basically hijinks, because that's a great word. characters doing things!
- introspective fic (which I realize somewhat counters the item above, but I do like seeing a character's internal thoughts about something in specific, especially if it is meta-related or, perhaps, taking place during hijinks)
- meta! possibilities explored, wild theories created, engaged, supported; what-ifs, what-happens-afters. multiply this by ten if the fandom is at all fantasy- or magic-based.
- genfic! you do not need to have a pairing at all.
- cliches being overturned! seriously. (hello, huge original-fic button.)
- porn; I won't lie. If you're feeling stuck on a prompt, and you have a favorite pairing that meshes with my prompt even in a little bit of a way, go for it.
Things I Don't Really Like To See In Fanfiction
This is a very short list.
- Terribly bad grammar, spelling, or writing mechanics. Typos don't bother me (much) (unless they are really prevalent), but chatspeak might (unless it's used as humor in the fic!). Also, as you can see, I abuse punctuation like it's my bitch; if you do as well, then you're in good company. :)
- Character bashing. If you can't do a character justice because you hate him/her, please just eliminate him/her from the fic. I won't mind. ♥
- Rape as a speeding vehicle to true love
- I have an "embarrassment squick". Think of movies like Meet The Parents or, really, most Ben Stiller movies. I don't enjoy characters being put in humiliating circumstances and acting like dummies for the viewer's pleasure -- I just don't find it funny. Luckily, this usually only happens to me in movies; I've never yet been squicked or turned off by anything I've read in fanfiction. So chances are, you won't hit this squick at all! I just figured I should list it, in the interest of full disclosure.
About My Prompts
(1) Sunshine by Robin McKinley
I have probably sent out more than 10 copies of this book to various friends. This is how much I love it. This alone should tell you how happy I will be to see fanfic of any kind.
Things I loved about this book: Sunshine as a really awesome main character; the worldbuilding; actual badass scary vampires; how totally cool Con is; Mel being one of the the least-described and most-intriguing characters; Pat being almost-totally cool with everything that went down; the food
My prompt included a bunch of suggestions based on the characters I prompted for; hopefully the suggestions make it clear that this is an "any" and not "all" situation! If you have your own ideas about filling in some of the holes, I'd love to see your own thoughts/opinions. :) What I'd like to see most is someone else having some ideas about Sunshine-verse -- either before, during, or after -- and then writing them down in story form for me!
(2) Vorkosigan Series by Lois McMaster Bujold
Things I love about this series: Miles; the hijinks; how the hijinks reveal such awesome characterization for everybody involved; the worldbuilding; Miles; how small things can spiral out into big things; the archaic Vor system meeting the futuristic universe; the female characters -- all of them, but Cordelia and Ekaterin especially; how interesting characters like Bel Thorne or Illyan slip in almost on the periphery but are awesome enough to have their own series(es)
Again, hopefully the suggestions in the prompt are clear: any of these characters, not necessarily all of them. I love the Vorkosigan family, and I just think they have such excellent dynamics in all different directions. My "details" hopefully included enough ideas to cover anything you might feel like writing!
(3) Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
I have a huge weakness for retellings: fairy tales, King Arthur, Robin Hood. This is one of my favorite retellings and as such I am really pretty excited to see any sort of fanfiction from this book. This is probably the most open request out of all of them.
I really did mean it when I said "any" characters. I know I went on to mention Cecily and Marian, but that's because I'm partial to female characters. If you don't want to include them, or can't, don't feel bad!
(4) Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
This is, of course, the "backup" request, and as such it's one I'm probably more vague on (and less excited). But, dear Santa, if you're getting stuck on the other ones, and you know Outlander fandom, here are some things I like about this series: the rich amount of detail; the strong bonds between characters; feelings that are real and serious but never mushy or fluffy; simple things becoming dangerous (exploration of the time period); drama, angst, true love. The whole emotional nine yards.
This is one where I should have reduced the number of characters I requested; however, I totally missed the re-submission date. Sorry! You don't have to include them all in the request, and I DIDN'T make that clear in my details.
Basically, I love Ian, and I'd like to see something pertaining to him. You can even have him meet a self-insert Mary Sue, whatever: I'm down with that, as long as we can explore his character together. If you don't like Ian much, again, family relationships are bound to please me. Like I said in my details, I like any of those ties that bind.
Alternate idea: AU, returning to Claire/Brianna's time. I didn't mention it in the details because woah, scary, but I do love "what ifs"!
Overall
If you're wondering whether I'd like something or not, or whether I'd prefer A to B, don't worry -- I like lots of things! If you have questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them if you want to contact a Yuletide mod. I hope this clears things up, though! I feel like I've written a ton of words. PLEASE DON'T LET MY TL;DR INTIMIDATE YOU. I'm really just showing you (poorly) how much I love all of these sources.
I'M SORRY THIS IS SO LONG BUT I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT THINGS I LOVE SO MUCH. Dear Yuletide Santa, you have already made me happier by writing this post alone! Good luck and happy holidays, and again, thank you.
To my Yuletide Santa: HI! I am very easy to please with regards to all of the fandoms I've requested. Please don't panic! A gift from ANY of those fandoms will be enough to make me ridiculously happy. The details are icing on the cake.
So if you've already got an idea, go ahead and write it -- I'm excited! However, if you're interested, I'm about to drop about 173469736 words on how much I love these fandoms and what specifically I like, so here you go.
About Yuletide
This is my first Yuletide. I almost didn't participate, because my small Final Fantasy fandoms were wiped out (probably due to the over-popularity of certain Final Fantasy fandoms, and the difficulty of distinguishing between games which are in fact separate fandoms - ah, I digress), but then I found lots of book fandoms I loved. I'm not new to fandom -- I write, I draw (poorly), I mod (somewhat haphazardly). I even modded a fic exchange once, at
ff_exchange, so I'm familiar with the format.I am new to Yuletide, in specific. So if I've done something completely robotarded in my requests, please forgive. Any asshattery is completely unintended. I did my research, but if I've committed some kind of big faux pas, you can smack me with a cluebat come December 26th. I guarantee I don't mean it, whatever it is.
Good Example: I requested specific characters for some of my prompts. Please treat these as "ANY", not "ALL". I tried to make that clear in the details portion, which is what was advised in the thingey I read about signups. I realize that may not have been the clearest way, but I wanted to give more options rather than less! If you are confused, here is confirmation, for real: if I've listed four characters, I will be happy seeing any one of them! Honest.
I am ridiculously wicked excited about Yuletide and I can pretty much guarantee that anything you give me will have me grinning for days.
About My Fandoms
I've requested only book fandoms. I've never written in these fandoms. I apologize, because this means I have nothing to point you towards to say "Hey! Hey! I thought this was awesome!" However, this pretty much means I have no expectations. I'll be happy to see anything.
Two of my requested fandoms are ones in which the creator has asked for no fanfiction (Robin McKinley, specifically). This does make me feel really, really bad, but since RMcK's books were what got me to sign up for Yuletide when I almost didn't, I thought I'd let it go this time. Lady McKinley, I apologize from the bottom of my heart, etc., and I will not do it again.
Things I Really Like To See In Fanfiction (ANY, not ALL!)
- Interesting female characters being, well, interesting
- snark, sarcasm, witty dialogue or narration
- comedy / humor!
- characters with flaws and strengths
- non-traditional, non-stereotypical romance (I love romantic relationships, but I prefer unusual/unique treatments of relationships to the "pink and fluffy bunny valentine's day" types) of any persuasion (m/f, m/m, f/f, m/f/f/m/boat)
- other non-romantic relationships (I love family relationships, strong friendships, good solid connections. I also like flawed relationships, and the explorations thereof. relationship dynamics: my buttons, they are mashed)
- hijinks! things happening! plots not revolving around pairings, relationships/romance, or one character's thoughts! external antagonists! basically hijinks, because that's a great word. characters doing things!
- introspective fic (which I realize somewhat counters the item above, but I do like seeing a character's internal thoughts about something in specific, especially if it is meta-related or, perhaps, taking place during hijinks)
- meta! possibilities explored, wild theories created, engaged, supported; what-ifs, what-happens-afters. multiply this by ten if the fandom is at all fantasy- or magic-based.
- genfic! you do not need to have a pairing at all.
- cliches being overturned! seriously. (hello, huge original-fic button.)
- porn; I won't lie. If you're feeling stuck on a prompt, and you have a favorite pairing that meshes with my prompt even in a little bit of a way, go for it.
Things I Don't Really Like To See In Fanfiction
This is a very short list.
- Terribly bad grammar, spelling, or writing mechanics. Typos don't bother me (much) (unless they are really prevalent), but chatspeak might (unless it's used as humor in the fic!). Also, as you can see, I abuse punctuation like it's my bitch; if you do as well, then you're in good company. :)
- Character bashing. If you can't do a character justice because you hate him/her, please just eliminate him/her from the fic. I won't mind. ♥
- Rape as a speeding vehicle to true love
- I have an "embarrassment squick". Think of movies like Meet The Parents or, really, most Ben Stiller movies. I don't enjoy characters being put in humiliating circumstances and acting like dummies for the viewer's pleasure -- I just don't find it funny. Luckily, this usually only happens to me in movies; I've never yet been squicked or turned off by anything I've read in fanfiction. So chances are, you won't hit this squick at all! I just figured I should list it, in the interest of full disclosure.
About My Prompts
(1) Sunshine by Robin McKinley
I have probably sent out more than 10 copies of this book to various friends. This is how much I love it. This alone should tell you how happy I will be to see fanfic of any kind.
Things I loved about this book: Sunshine as a really awesome main character; the worldbuilding; actual badass scary vampires; how totally cool Con is; Mel being one of the the least-described and most-intriguing characters; Pat being almost-totally cool with everything that went down; the food
My prompt included a bunch of suggestions based on the characters I prompted for; hopefully the suggestions make it clear that this is an "any" and not "all" situation! If you have your own ideas about filling in some of the holes, I'd love to see your own thoughts/opinions. :) What I'd like to see most is someone else having some ideas about Sunshine-verse -- either before, during, or after -- and then writing them down in story form for me!
(2) Vorkosigan Series by Lois McMaster Bujold
Things I love about this series: Miles; the hijinks; how the hijinks reveal such awesome characterization for everybody involved; the worldbuilding; Miles; how small things can spiral out into big things; the archaic Vor system meeting the futuristic universe; the female characters -- all of them, but Cordelia and Ekaterin especially; how interesting characters like Bel Thorne or Illyan slip in almost on the periphery but are awesome enough to have their own series(es)
Again, hopefully the suggestions in the prompt are clear: any of these characters, not necessarily all of them. I love the Vorkosigan family, and I just think they have such excellent dynamics in all different directions. My "details" hopefully included enough ideas to cover anything you might feel like writing!
(3) Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
I have a huge weakness for retellings: fairy tales, King Arthur, Robin Hood. This is one of my favorite retellings and as such I am really pretty excited to see any sort of fanfiction from this book. This is probably the most open request out of all of them.
I really did mean it when I said "any" characters. I know I went on to mention Cecily and Marian, but that's because I'm partial to female characters. If you don't want to include them, or can't, don't feel bad!
(4) Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
This is, of course, the "backup" request, and as such it's one I'm probably more vague on (and less excited). But, dear Santa, if you're getting stuck on the other ones, and you know Outlander fandom, here are some things I like about this series: the rich amount of detail; the strong bonds between characters; feelings that are real and serious but never mushy or fluffy; simple things becoming dangerous (exploration of the time period); drama, angst, true love. The whole emotional nine yards.
This is one where I should have reduced the number of characters I requested; however, I totally missed the re-submission date. Sorry! You don't have to include them all in the request, and I DIDN'T make that clear in my details.
Basically, I love Ian, and I'd like to see something pertaining to him. You can even have him meet a self-insert Mary Sue, whatever: I'm down with that, as long as we can explore his character together. If you don't like Ian much, again, family relationships are bound to please me. Like I said in my details, I like any of those ties that bind.
Alternate idea: AU, returning to Claire/Brianna's time. I didn't mention it in the details because woah, scary, but I do love "what ifs"!
Overall
If you're wondering whether I'd like something or not, or whether I'd prefer A to B, don't worry -- I like lots of things! If you have questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them if you want to contact a Yuletide mod. I hope this clears things up, though! I feel like I've written a ton of words. PLEASE DON'T LET MY TL;DR INTIMIDATE YOU. I'm really just showing you (poorly) how much I love all of these sources.
I'M SORRY THIS IS SO LONG BUT I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT THINGS I LOVE SO MUCH. Dear Yuletide Santa, you have already made me happier by writing this post alone! Good luck and happy holidays, and again, thank you.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 09:05 pm (UTC)intimidatebribeask....no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:16 pm (UTC)I know Nay and I still think about it. fondly. in our pants.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:18 pm (UTC)And my letter is WAY less longer than yours. I don't have the energy to explain much more than "I WATCH PRETENTIOUS MOVIES AND SILLY MOVIES AND I THINK A LOT OF THINGS ARE GAY"
~Cendri
no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:21 pm (UTC)I mean... what?
no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:27 pm (UTC)~Cendri
no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-13 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-14 12:39 am (UTC)Seriously, if there is any chance ever for a round two, I will help in any way I can. Up to, including, and surpassing academic disintegrity.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-15 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-26 01:08 pm (UTC)Hey, 'sup, you probably don't remember me, I'm the person from FFrants who was bitching about lack of Aral/Cordelia fanfiction. Right, well, I requested some for Yuletide and (warning: engaging Capslock of Fangirl) I GOT THREE AND THEY'RE AWESOME OMG. OMG OMG. AWESOME. YES.
*disengages capslock*
Ahem. So what I meant to say is that you should go check out the Vorkosigan section because there is AWESOME ARAL/CORDELIA. MADE OF AWESOME.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 01:52 am (UTC)Also, there is steampunk Little House on the Prairie, but that's beside the point.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 02:11 pm (UTC)I loved every Aral/Cordelia one, especially the one with cranky!Miles and all the innuendo. And the Byerly Proposal is, like, a new level of excellence and snark. It has been an excellent year. XD
no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 08:52 pm (UTC)ALSO ALSO the one with cranky!Miles and all the innuendo has the BEST QUOTE EVER trufax. I love them allllll though because they all get it so right.
ALSO ALSO ALSO I'm working on the fic I promised you right now. Do you like angst? :D Happy ending I swear, but most of it is angst.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 08:57 pm (UTC)A: I have never seen Doctor Who! This saddens me.
AA: YES YES YESSS... LETTERS ON FIRE. GOD I LAUGHED FOR LIKE 10MIN.
AAA: OMG FIC. Yes, I do like angst!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-31 07:07 am (UTC)A: Sad day! You should see Doctor Who. There are lots of Bel Thorne jokes that one can make when one has seen Doctor Who. Pretty much as soon as one encounters Captain Jack. Yes.
AA: I KNOW I laughed like a hyena. It was 4 AM so this was a bad thing to do, but I didn't care. BEST QUOTE EVER: search your feelings, you know it to be true.
AAA: Excellent. Then you shall have missing scene!angst, which is the best kind of angst. *nods wisely* Good thing I gave my beta the first four Vorkosigan books for Christmas, that's all I've got to say...