Dear Yuletide Writer Letter - 2014
Oct. 23rd, 2014 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elen_nareDear Yuletide Writer,
First, thank you so much for this! Here are things I like in general, and ideas/what I like about each fandom. I know this looks rather long, but I'm just trying to make it as detailed as possible in case that makes it easier for you. If you already have the perfect idea, just ignore these ramblings - it's mainly written in case (like me all too often!) your first reaction was "I have no idea what to write, why on earth did I offer this?" ;) I adore each and every one of these fandoms, so getting fic for any of them will make me a very, very happy person!
General stuff:
Ratings-wise, I’m fine with anything. I’m fine with (consensual) sex scenes if that’s where the story’s going - though gen fic is equally awesome! I’m not too fond of highly detailed graphic violence, but if it’s absolutely necessary to your fic, go ahead.
Feel free to look through my LJ for inspiration :) There's a masterlist of fic and a link to tumblr, fanfiction.net, and AO3 on the sidebar, too.
Story-wise: A good plot, a character piece, an exploration of friendship or romance, an adventure, a quiet moment, a missing scene, a different POV to the canon... Any and all of these are great! Gen, femslash, het, slash, are all fine. As far as ships go, I’ve mentioned what I ship where applicable, but obviously don’t feel obligated to write them.
I'm not a huge fan of AUs. With crossovers it depends on the fandoms; generally, I like those which are possible without taking either fandom AU - so fandoms from roughly the same place and time. Out of the ones I’ve requested, I can see a Chalet School/Upstairs Downstairs crossover working during WWII, especially since Blanche was visiting boarding schools as part of her work with refugee children, and the CS with its international connections might be an ideal place for German kids. The others don’t seem to link well… but if you see any fandoms here, on my tumblr, etc and get that perfect bunny crossing them over with any of my requests, go for it!
Things I like: friendship, friends helping each other out, humour, banter, nerdiness, science, happy (or happy-ish at least, not overwhelming despair) endings, worldbuilding, sibling love (and family interactions in general)...and a great many other things! These were just the first that came to mind.
Things I dislike: suicide (I’d prefer it if you didn’t kill anyone - other than canon deaths - but if you absolutely must, please avoid suicide!), noncon/dubcon, incest, gratuitous violence, unrelieved gloom and angst, character/ship bashing.
Fandom Specific:
Chalet School series - Hilda Annersley, Nell Wilson
Prompt I gave: I just love these two women and their relationship. They’re quite different in many ways, but they complement each other perfectly. See my DYW Letter for more.
Prompt continuation: A few ideas:
What I love about these characters: They’re both such strong women, who have been through so much, and only come out stronger. I love Nell’s sarcasm, and her courage, and Hilda’s kindness, and I love the friendship and love between them. I definitely ship them, but I’d be happy with them portrayed as friends, a platonic relationship, a romantic one, anything in between... I don’t need them to be in love - just to love each other :) (Of course, if you do want to ship them, that’s great!)
Robots – Susan Calvin
Prompt I gave: Susan being her usual acerbic, sarcastic, awesome, robot-problem-solving self, please! See my DYW Letter for more.
Prompt continuation: A few ideas:
What I love about this character: Since you offered her, I guess I don't have to convince you she's awesome ;) I love her sarcasm and her impatience with people who annoy her. She's a brilliant scientist, but not flawless – she makes mistakes, and learns from them, and fixes them. I just love her. I generally see Susan as asexual (though there is "Liar" - still, asexual does not equal aromatic), so I'd prefer genfic for her.
Upstairs Downstairs - Blanche Mottershead, Agnes Holland
Prompt I gave: I love the friendship between Blanche and Agnes, so anything focussing on that will delight me! See letter for more.
Prompt continuation: A few ideas:
What I love about this fandom: I’ve focussed on two “upstairs” people in my request, but I love the interweaving of the two sets of people. I love the time period it’s set in, all the change that’s happening and everything that’s still to come (forever annoyed they didn’t get a third series for the war years!). I like the occasional callbacks to the original show - if you’ve seen both and want to bring in people from the first, do!
What I love about these characters: I love Blanche’s sarcastic, one-liner sense of humour, her courage, and how she does precisely what she wants and damn anyone who tries to stop her. I love how Agnes cares for her friends and family, how she grows and discovers herself over the course of the series. I love how their relationship develops, from a somewhat strained thing to a true friendship. I like that they’re both flawed - Blanche can ride roughshod over people, Agnes can be self-centered to the point of selfishness, and so on - but still likeable and loveable.
Vexed - Georgina Dixon
Prompt I gave: Georgina being awesome, that’s all I want :) Include any and every character from the show you’d like to! They’re all brilliant. See my DYW Letter for more.
Prompt continuation: A few ideas:
What I love about this fandom: It’s got so much humour, which is a great contrast to all the more grim and serious detective/police shows. I love that it’s not a Holmes/Watson style dynamic, with one person solving 99.99% of every case, and everyone else being completely clueless, but instead they work as a team, with Jack and Georgina both providing insight that helps to solve the case.
What I love about this character: She’s brilliant, she kicks ass, what’s not to love? :) I love her geeking out with Naz about forensics, and bonding with Tony over cooking. I love how she and Jack drive each other up the wall, but despite/because of that make such a good team. I love her competitiveness, her drive to be the best, how she's strong but not invulnerable.
---
I hope this was helpful! And you're not panicking too much over my requests ;) Feel free to ask if you have any questions/concerns (anonymous comments are enabled here, and anonymous asks on tumblr), and happy writing :)
First, thank you so much for this! Here are things I like in general, and ideas/what I like about each fandom. I know this looks rather long, but I'm just trying to make it as detailed as possible in case that makes it easier for you. If you already have the perfect idea, just ignore these ramblings - it's mainly written in case (like me all too often!) your first reaction was "I have no idea what to write, why on earth did I offer this?" ;) I adore each and every one of these fandoms, so getting fic for any of them will make me a very, very happy person!
General stuff:
Ratings-wise, I’m fine with anything. I’m fine with (consensual) sex scenes if that’s where the story’s going - though gen fic is equally awesome! I’m not too fond of highly detailed graphic violence, but if it’s absolutely necessary to your fic, go ahead.
Feel free to look through my LJ for inspiration :) There's a masterlist of fic and a link to tumblr, fanfiction.net, and AO3 on the sidebar, too.
Story-wise: A good plot, a character piece, an exploration of friendship or romance, an adventure, a quiet moment, a missing scene, a different POV to the canon... Any and all of these are great! Gen, femslash, het, slash, are all fine. As far as ships go, I’ve mentioned what I ship where applicable, but obviously don’t feel obligated to write them.
I'm not a huge fan of AUs. With crossovers it depends on the fandoms; generally, I like those which are possible without taking either fandom AU - so fandoms from roughly the same place and time. Out of the ones I’ve requested, I can see a Chalet School/Upstairs Downstairs crossover working during WWII, especially since Blanche was visiting boarding schools as part of her work with refugee children, and the CS with its international connections might be an ideal place for German kids. The others don’t seem to link well… but if you see any fandoms here, on my tumblr, etc and get that perfect bunny crossing them over with any of my requests, go for it!
Things I like: friendship, friends helping each other out, humour, banter, nerdiness, science, happy (or happy-ish at least, not overwhelming despair) endings, worldbuilding, sibling love (and family interactions in general)...and a great many other things! These were just the first that came to mind.
Things I dislike: suicide (I’d prefer it if you didn’t kill anyone - other than canon deaths - but if you absolutely must, please avoid suicide!), noncon/dubcon, incest, gratuitous violence, unrelieved gloom and angst, character/ship bashing.
Fandom Specific:
Chalet School series - Hilda Annersley, Nell Wilson
Prompt I gave: I just love these two women and their relationship. They’re quite different in many ways, but they complement each other perfectly. See my DYW Letter for more.
Prompt continuation: A few ideas:
- Their first meeting and the start of their friendship, back in Tirol.
- Dealing with unruly schoolgirls (in any stage of the school’s life)! The middles’ absurd pranks are always fun. Alternately, helping a girl in trouble.
- Rebuilding the school after having to flee Austria - how did their exile change them?
- The challenges either or both of them faced when they first took up the Headship of the school.
- A holiday together (perhaps not the ill-fated one in “Gay from China” - or if you like that one, please don’t end with the accident and everyone despairing of Hilda surviving! I wouldn’t mind the accident being in it, or even being the focus, but don’t end it there, please).
- Hilda’s recovery - there’s Nell’s visit to her at half-term mentioned in “Mystery”, and she shows up for the play, but really we don’t get much of it! Or her return at the start of "Rosalie"- we don't exactly see much of it from her perspective.
- Learning to work together as co-Heads - how easy or hard was it? Did they clash a lot? What differences did they find, going from Senior Mistress and Head to Co-Heads?
- Reuniting after the first term of the Oberland branch (ie, between “Shocks”/ “Oberland” and “Bride”).
- Retiring - did they stay in Switzerland, go back to England, split time between the two, go somewhere else entirely? Perhaps they travel before settling down, visit Old Girls scattered around the globe... how do the School and St Mildred’s say goodbye to them? Who takes over as Head?
What I love about these characters: They’re both such strong women, who have been through so much, and only come out stronger. I love Nell’s sarcasm, and her courage, and Hilda’s kindness, and I love the friendship and love between them. I definitely ship them, but I’d be happy with them portrayed as friends, a platonic relationship, a romantic one, anything in between... I don’t need them to be in love - just to love each other :) (Of course, if you do want to ship them, that’s great!)
Robots – Susan Calvin
Prompt I gave: Susan being her usual acerbic, sarcastic, awesome, robot-problem-solving self, please! See my DYW Letter for more.
Prompt continuation: A few ideas:
- I'd love to know more about what happened with Lenny, that story was always one of my favourites.
- I'd adore an Asimov-style malfunctioning robot mystery, of course!
- Susan's interactions with Lanning, Bogert, Powell and Donovan were always really fun to read – especially when she was completely exasperated with them.
- The events of “Little Lost Robot” must have been rather traumatic for Susan – she's always liked and trusted robots so much, and one tried to kill her. How did she deal with them, and retain those same feelings towards robots afterwards (because she still clearly loves them)?
- Was she right about Stephen Byerley – was he actually a robot?
What I love about this character: Since you offered her, I guess I don't have to convince you she's awesome ;) I love her sarcasm and her impatience with people who annoy her. She's a brilliant scientist, but not flawless – she makes mistakes, and learns from them, and fixes them. I just love her. I generally see Susan as asexual (though there is "Liar" - still, asexual does not equal aromatic), so I'd prefer genfic for her.
Upstairs Downstairs - Blanche Mottershead, Agnes Holland
Prompt I gave: I love the friendship between Blanche and Agnes, so anything focussing on that will delight me! See letter for more.
Prompt continuation: A few ideas:
- Blanche’s arrival at 165 Eaton Place - getting to know each other, Blanche adapting to the household / turning the place upside down.
- Blanche being supportive of Agnes against Hallam over the Women’s League, or her modelling for Caspar Landry (even if it privately worries her).
- Arranging a charity lunch / dinner / etc together.
- A day with the children and/or Pamela.
- Agnes helping Blanche carry on in the aftermath of that mess with Portia.
- Blanche helping Agnes after Hallam’s betrayal and Persie’s death.
- The war years - what do they do? What changes does the war bring to the household in general, and to them in particular? Do the children stay in the countryside for the duration? Does Agnes (and Blanche) visit them?
- What happens after the war? Does Blanche go back to archaeology? Is Agnes happy to return to a purely social life, or does she want to do more now?
- I can so see a romantic relationship between them, so if you do too I’d be delighted to read that - but could you get rid of Hallam first, please? Maybe Agnes decides that she does want a divorce after all, or he dies during the war… I just can’t see Agnes being willing to be unfaithful to him, or Blanche wanting another relationship with a married woman.
What I love about this fandom: I’ve focussed on two “upstairs” people in my request, but I love the interweaving of the two sets of people. I love the time period it’s set in, all the change that’s happening and everything that’s still to come (forever annoyed they didn’t get a third series for the war years!). I like the occasional callbacks to the original show - if you’ve seen both and want to bring in people from the first, do!
What I love about these characters: I love Blanche’s sarcastic, one-liner sense of humour, her courage, and how she does precisely what she wants and damn anyone who tries to stop her. I love how Agnes cares for her friends and family, how she grows and discovers herself over the course of the series. I love how their relationship develops, from a somewhat strained thing to a true friendship. I like that they’re both flawed - Blanche can ride roughshod over people, Agnes can be self-centered to the point of selfishness, and so on - but still likeable and loveable.
Vexed - Georgina Dixon
Prompt I gave: Georgina being awesome, that’s all I want :) Include any and every character from the show you’d like to! They’re all brilliant. See my DYW Letter for more.
Prompt continuation: A few ideas:
- Case fic! With her and Jack fighting over everything as they always do, and Tony being brilliant, and Naz being geeky.
- Her childhood - a girl who was shoplifting hamsters age 8 must have an interesting story to tell.
- A meeting with Kate Bishop - I suspect they'd find plenty of common ground in complaining about Jack ;)
- The forensics course she and Naz took.
- Who won the bet she made with Jack at the end of Episode 3, about who would solve the next case?
- Getting obsessively competitive about something, like with the cooking in Episode 4.
- If you're going in a shippy direction, I have something of a soft spot for Jack/Georgina, but can also see Naz and Georgina being really cute together...
What I love about this fandom: It’s got so much humour, which is a great contrast to all the more grim and serious detective/police shows. I love that it’s not a Holmes/Watson style dynamic, with one person solving 99.99% of every case, and everyone else being completely clueless, but instead they work as a team, with Jack and Georgina both providing insight that helps to solve the case.
What I love about this character: She’s brilliant, she kicks ass, what’s not to love? :) I love her geeking out with Naz about forensics, and bonding with Tony over cooking. I love how she and Jack drive each other up the wall, but despite/because of that make such a good team. I love her competitiveness, her drive to be the best, how she's strong but not invulnerable.
---
I hope this was helpful! And you're not panicking too much over my requests ;) Feel free to ask if you have any questions/concerns (anonymous comments are enabled here, and anonymous asks on tumblr), and happy writing :)
