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sophia_sol) wrote2012-10-07 09:22 am
sophia_sol) wrote2012-10-07 09:22 am
Dear Yuletide Writer
(Gosh, it's that time again, time for the Yuletide letter! IT SNUCK UP ON ME THIS YEAR. Thankfully I could crib half my letter from last year. :D)
Dear Yuletide Writer,
I am so thrilled and happy and excited to know that you are going to be writing me a shiny fic in one of my fandoms! I already know you have excellent taste, since you offered to write one of these fandoms, so have no fear that I will adore whatever it is you write for me.
Also, feel free to stalk the rest of my DW or LJ for further details about me if you feel so inclined; none of it is locked! But also feel free to not do that, or to not even read this post if you don't want to; I totally understand that different people have different approaches to this kind of thing!
But if you DO want to see me rambling happily (and hopefully usefully) about myself and my fandoms, read on! :D
First: In terms of fanfiction in general, I pretty much like ALL THE THINGS. No really, I am very easy. I love romance, I love angst, I love fluff, I love worldbuilding, I love character studies, I love crack, I love AUs of pretty much every variety imaginable (though a warning, I'm not big on werewolves or vampires or zombies), I love explorations of canon, I love -- agh, it is hard to list all the things, because really, ALL THE THINGS.
Obviously not all the things are relevant for the fandoms I've requested, but really, go where your heart takes you and I promise I will be delighted. The sheer breadth of stuff I enjoy in fandom is kind of alarming sometimes. Do not be afraid to get tragic on me, or ridiculously fluffy! You can be serious or snark-tastic, you can warm-hearted or cynical, you can be bleak or beautiful or ridiculous or anything else you care to imagine.
A few things I particularly enjoy:
1. Competence kink ftw. People who are really good at something, whatever that thing is -- especially if it's surprising to the people around them. I especially love when the competence is intelligence.
2. People who care deeply about each other, whether that's romantic or friendship or family or found-family or something else entirely.
3. Fannish tropes. Yes, I love them, and I am not ashamed: telepathic bond! accidental marriage! bodyswap! robots! time-travel! etc! so many sweet tropes!
4. AUs and crossovers. SO AWESOME. Although actually for Three Hearings and Robinson Crusoe and A Girl of the Limberlost I think I'd rather a somewhat closer adherence to canon, so, uh, there's a three-quarters chance this isn't actually relevant to you. Ditto with the more fantastical fannish tropes from point 3. (although on the other hand, I AM SURE I CAN BE CONVINCED if you have a super awesome idea, because frankly I'm really easy for AUs and tropes :P)
5. Awesome ladies.
But don't feel you have to include any of those things in your fic if it doesn't fit or isn't something that interests you, because really, you were listening when I said I like all the things, right? And really, not all the above would necessarily fit very well with all of my requested fandoms, so don't feel like you have to try.
I just have two requests of things I would rather you avoid:
1. Explicit sex. It has its time and its place, but I just end up skimming past the vast majority of sex scenes, because I don't find them terribly interesting.
2. embarrassing situations. I have a terrible embarrassment squick, and would rather not have to read my gift through my fingers! Mostly what this means is avoiding conversations where characters are speaking at cross-purposes without realizing it, resulting in awkward misunderstandings. Or where characters overhear something without all of the context, resulting in awkward misunderstandings. Basically awkward misunderstandings in general, really, especially if said misunderstandings are treated as funny!
Second: And now on with the stuff about each specific fandom!
Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream, by James Alan Gardner
Requested characters: none
Can be found online here
Dude, I am just fascinated by the world that Gardner's built here! Anything about this paradigm would be amazing. Some possible ideas:
A fourth hearing, set in the future? (what IS the future like in this world? I am curious! Especially since our world doesn't yet have enough "future" to have an analogue!)
Or in-universe fanfic of the Bible-analogue of the religion? (I do adore it when fic gets meta like that! What is the Bible-analogue like, beyond the snippets we get in the story? What would the fandom be like? Would there be much of a fandom? How wanky does it get? What are the beloved ships?)
Or fic about branches of the religion other than the two main ones discussed in the story? (zomg, if you could figure out the Anabaptist equivalent, given that the Protestant Reformation analogue was rather different in that world, that would be so cool. But obviously there are lots of variants of Christianity these days, as there are lots of variants of most religions! I doubt that this world's religion manages to hold itself strictly into only two camps; the lone protester at the end is a good sign that, if nothing else, not all religious people adhere to the Papist or Redeemed teachings.)
I also really love how this religion is clearly more lady-centred than our world's Christianity: the Unbetombed Virgin is the saviour, and there's a gospel of Susannah, and the church is Mother Church. And there's a whole lot more queens of England than our world has had -- an influence of the importance of women in the religion, I would guess! I approve of this, and exploration of what it means for gender relations in this society would also be a fascinating one to explore if your tastes lie that way.
And there's intriguing hints of other ways in which this world is different than ours, like the ringed planet being named Cronus instead of Saturn. Greek influence instead of Roman: does this mean the Roman empire was never really a thing? What does that mean for the history and development of the culture -- and the religion, since the Roman empire was kind of an important part of the way Christianity began and developed!
...Uh, sorry, I kind of got carried away. But really ANYTHING about the world and/or religion of this story would be super fantastic! Mostly I seem to want gen for this story, but feel free to mix in slash and/or het if you so desire, it's all good.
(also, pls to be respectful of religion. Part of the point of the original story is to demonstrate ways in which religion can be problematic, but it does it in a way that isn't just simplifying it to "RELIGION IS STUPID", and I request you do the same. Thanks!)
Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
Requested characters: Xury
Can be found online here
Robinson Crusoe is an entertaining read! If you are the sort to be entertained by eighteenth century writing styles and excessively rationalist, colonialist attitudes, that is. I found the book riveting, though I'm quite sure for reasons Defoe didn't intend. (of course, the options are either to laugh or to cry at the ridiculous extent of the valorization of colonialism....) It is, above all, a book that is definitely of its time.
But oh, I was fighting mad when I read that scene where Crusoe happily hands over Xury to be a slave for the next ten years (or indefinitely if Xury doesn't convert) even though Crusoe and Xury were slaves together and escaped together. Crusoe thinks that's okay, just because Xury isn't white and Christian, and Crusoe thinks he's being thoughtful and kind. So.
Anything at all about Xury that fixes this, or draws attention to the problematic nature of what's going on, would totally make my life. Fic where Xury runs away and does something awesome! Fic about Xury's ten years as a slave! Fic about Xury's relationship with religion, given that he has to convert to Christianity if he wants to be freed! Etc! There are so many possibilities!
Gen, slash, and het all totally welcome.
(pls to be respectful of religion if you choose to address this aspect of Xury's story. I know very well that Christianity can be and was hugely problematic, and it's those problematic bits that Xury's running up against -- a good deconstruction of the problematic stuff would be awesome, but simplifying it into just "RELIGION IS STUPID" would make me sad. Thanks!)
A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter
Requested characters: Edith Carr and Hart Henderson
Can be found online here
Well I ASSUME that if you are willingly offering this fandom given that the only characters I nominated are Edith and Hart, then you are with me on shipping them? :D? SO WHAT FOLLOWS IS MY MAD SHIPPING SCREED in the hopes that you find something useful out of it with which to spark fic.....
So I was talking with my sister about what Hart sees in Edith that Philip doesn't, because Philip does not ever actually really see her as anything more than a society girl, one who lives to have fun. He tells Elnora that he assumes Edith'll settle down once she has a household to run, but that she is young and this is her playtime. Philip proceeds to realize that Edith isn't anything more than a girl who exists to be a society ornament, and that what he wants is a girl (ie Elnora) who is suited to being a useful and thoughtful person.
But Hart seems like a reasonable sort of guy and he knows everything about Edith that Philip knows and yet he still loves her, and has loved her for a very long time! Loves her even before her realization at the end that she's rather shallow and selfish and that she wants to learn how to be a better person!
It seems to me that Hart has perhaps recognized all along that Edith has the potential to be a wonderful person in a way that Philip never did. Edith tells Hart at one point that she loves Philip dearly but that she would never tell him so -- Edith clearly talks to Hart a lot more than she does to Philip, and is a lot more open and honest with him. Philip only ever sees her public face, because he is her lover (I use the term under the old-fashioned definition) and that's how she understands a lover ought to be treated -- she sparkles at him and dazzles him and is an empress for him. But Hart is her friend, and so she talks to him. Hart knows her better, really, than Philip does, and he knows what she's truly like and what she's truly capable of being. And he loves her because he knows her.
So basically what I am saying here is that I ship Edith/Hart like mad and want to read ALL THE FIC about Edith learning to be a better person and the difficulties she encounters in the attempts of breaking lifelong habits, and about Hart being a constant supportive presence for her because he loves her and knows her whether she gets things right or wrong, whether she's perfect or not, and where he admires the hell out of her for her determination to overcome the social conditioning she's had all her life leading her on this one path. And about them talking openly to each other about their feelings and thoughts, and Edith feeling weird about it because Hart has switched roles for her! He's her lover now, not her friend, but she CAN'T treat him the way she treated Philip, because he's HART <3.
Um. Crap. I'm sorry. I'm starting to sound like one of THOSE participants, aren't I, with Very Specific Ideas about what I want out of a fic.... But! If you see Edith and Hart differently, please do feel free to convince me of your perspective! I will VERY HAPPILY read that fic! Because I just find them really interesting, and although the above is my best effort at figuring them out, maybe there are other interpretations I hadn't considered! Go wild!
(and if you want to read the entire way-too-long reaction post I wrote after my first reading of Freckles and A Girl of the Limberlost, you can find it here.)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)
Requested characters: Queen Constantina and King Maximillian
Can be found online here
THE KING AND QUEEEEEEEEN. They are so ADORABLE together, are they not? THE MOST ADORABLE. They so clearly love each other! A lot! And are very well-meaning but not perfect! I love them so much.
Ahahaha um. I have watched this movie a few too many times in my life! If I had the time and the energy I could write alarmingly long screeds about everything I love about this movie! (hint: it is a lot.) I am not saying the movie doesn't have its occasional problematic moments, or its occasional embarrassingly cheesy moments (okay, okay, a LOT of embarrassingly cheesy moments), but all in all this movie is a Good Egg and I love it a lot, okay? OKAY.
And one of the things I love about it is how unapologetically multiracial it is! And not just in the main cast: even the background characters are of many races! And a big deal is not made of it! The king is white and the queen is black and the prince is Filipino and that's just HOW THINGS ARE. It is great!
Anyways, the central romance is super cheesy (though I love it anyways. THE OPENING SEQUENCE! With the beginning focus on the legs and feet of all the marketplace people, and then the two of them wandering through the marketplace, and then them bonding over ACTUAL SIMILARITIES THEY HAVE, THIS IS NOT JUST A ROMANCE BASED ON THEM BOTH BEING PRETTY PEOPLE, though the later song "Ten Minutes Ago" tries to argue otherwise), but the relationship between the king and the queen is my favourite. I keep on trying to find words to describe what exactly it is I like about them, but mostly my words are THEY'RE SO ADORABLE. So that's not very useful of me.
So. Anything about the king and queen being their awesome themselves would be awesome? :D
And that is all, O Wondrous Author! I feel like I didn't do a good job of balancing my levels of articulated squee amongst the various fandoms I listed, but let me promise you I would be super super excited to get fic for ANY of the fandoms I requested. I look forward with great anticipation to see what you will come up with for me! I hope you have fun with this.
With much love,
Sophia
Dear Yuletide Writer,
I am so thrilled and happy and excited to know that you are going to be writing me a shiny fic in one of my fandoms! I already know you have excellent taste, since you offered to write one of these fandoms, so have no fear that I will adore whatever it is you write for me.
Also, feel free to stalk the rest of my DW or LJ for further details about me if you feel so inclined; none of it is locked! But also feel free to not do that, or to not even read this post if you don't want to; I totally understand that different people have different approaches to this kind of thing!
But if you DO want to see me rambling happily (and hopefully usefully) about myself and my fandoms, read on! :D
First: In terms of fanfiction in general, I pretty much like ALL THE THINGS. No really, I am very easy. I love romance, I love angst, I love fluff, I love worldbuilding, I love character studies, I love crack, I love AUs of pretty much every variety imaginable (though a warning, I'm not big on werewolves or vampires or zombies), I love explorations of canon, I love -- agh, it is hard to list all the things, because really, ALL THE THINGS.
Obviously not all the things are relevant for the fandoms I've requested, but really, go where your heart takes you and I promise I will be delighted. The sheer breadth of stuff I enjoy in fandom is kind of alarming sometimes. Do not be afraid to get tragic on me, or ridiculously fluffy! You can be serious or snark-tastic, you can warm-hearted or cynical, you can be bleak or beautiful or ridiculous or anything else you care to imagine.
A few things I particularly enjoy:
1. Competence kink ftw. People who are really good at something, whatever that thing is -- especially if it's surprising to the people around them. I especially love when the competence is intelligence.
2. People who care deeply about each other, whether that's romantic or friendship or family or found-family or something else entirely.
3. Fannish tropes. Yes, I love them, and I am not ashamed: telepathic bond! accidental marriage! bodyswap! robots! time-travel! etc! so many sweet tropes!
4. AUs and crossovers. SO AWESOME. Although actually for Three Hearings and Robinson Crusoe and A Girl of the Limberlost I think I'd rather a somewhat closer adherence to canon, so, uh, there's a three-quarters chance this isn't actually relevant to you. Ditto with the more fantastical fannish tropes from point 3. (although on the other hand, I AM SURE I CAN BE CONVINCED if you have a super awesome idea, because frankly I'm really easy for AUs and tropes :P)
5. Awesome ladies.
But don't feel you have to include any of those things in your fic if it doesn't fit or isn't something that interests you, because really, you were listening when I said I like all the things, right? And really, not all the above would necessarily fit very well with all of my requested fandoms, so don't feel like you have to try.
I just have two requests of things I would rather you avoid:
1. Explicit sex. It has its time and its place, but I just end up skimming past the vast majority of sex scenes, because I don't find them terribly interesting.
2. embarrassing situations. I have a terrible embarrassment squick, and would rather not have to read my gift through my fingers! Mostly what this means is avoiding conversations where characters are speaking at cross-purposes without realizing it, resulting in awkward misunderstandings. Or where characters overhear something without all of the context, resulting in awkward misunderstandings. Basically awkward misunderstandings in general, really, especially if said misunderstandings are treated as funny!
Second: And now on with the stuff about each specific fandom!
Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream, by James Alan Gardner
Requested characters: none
Can be found online here
Dude, I am just fascinated by the world that Gardner's built here! Anything about this paradigm would be amazing. Some possible ideas:
A fourth hearing, set in the future? (what IS the future like in this world? I am curious! Especially since our world doesn't yet have enough "future" to have an analogue!)
Or in-universe fanfic of the Bible-analogue of the religion? (I do adore it when fic gets meta like that! What is the Bible-analogue like, beyond the snippets we get in the story? What would the fandom be like? Would there be much of a fandom? How wanky does it get? What are the beloved ships?)
Or fic about branches of the religion other than the two main ones discussed in the story? (zomg, if you could figure out the Anabaptist equivalent, given that the Protestant Reformation analogue was rather different in that world, that would be so cool. But obviously there are lots of variants of Christianity these days, as there are lots of variants of most religions! I doubt that this world's religion manages to hold itself strictly into only two camps; the lone protester at the end is a good sign that, if nothing else, not all religious people adhere to the Papist or Redeemed teachings.)
I also really love how this religion is clearly more lady-centred than our world's Christianity: the Unbetombed Virgin is the saviour, and there's a gospel of Susannah, and the church is Mother Church. And there's a whole lot more queens of England than our world has had -- an influence of the importance of women in the religion, I would guess! I approve of this, and exploration of what it means for gender relations in this society would also be a fascinating one to explore if your tastes lie that way.
And there's intriguing hints of other ways in which this world is different than ours, like the ringed planet being named Cronus instead of Saturn. Greek influence instead of Roman: does this mean the Roman empire was never really a thing? What does that mean for the history and development of the culture -- and the religion, since the Roman empire was kind of an important part of the way Christianity began and developed!
...Uh, sorry, I kind of got carried away. But really ANYTHING about the world and/or religion of this story would be super fantastic! Mostly I seem to want gen for this story, but feel free to mix in slash and/or het if you so desire, it's all good.
(also, pls to be respectful of religion. Part of the point of the original story is to demonstrate ways in which religion can be problematic, but it does it in a way that isn't just simplifying it to "RELIGION IS STUPID", and I request you do the same. Thanks!)
Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
Requested characters: Xury
Can be found online here
Robinson Crusoe is an entertaining read! If you are the sort to be entertained by eighteenth century writing styles and excessively rationalist, colonialist attitudes, that is. I found the book riveting, though I'm quite sure for reasons Defoe didn't intend. (of course, the options are either to laugh or to cry at the ridiculous extent of the valorization of colonialism....) It is, above all, a book that is definitely of its time.
But oh, I was fighting mad when I read that scene where Crusoe happily hands over Xury to be a slave for the next ten years (or indefinitely if Xury doesn't convert) even though Crusoe and Xury were slaves together and escaped together. Crusoe thinks that's okay, just because Xury isn't white and Christian, and Crusoe thinks he's being thoughtful and kind. So.
Anything at all about Xury that fixes this, or draws attention to the problematic nature of what's going on, would totally make my life. Fic where Xury runs away and does something awesome! Fic about Xury's ten years as a slave! Fic about Xury's relationship with religion, given that he has to convert to Christianity if he wants to be freed! Etc! There are so many possibilities!
Gen, slash, and het all totally welcome.
(pls to be respectful of religion if you choose to address this aspect of Xury's story. I know very well that Christianity can be and was hugely problematic, and it's those problematic bits that Xury's running up against -- a good deconstruction of the problematic stuff would be awesome, but simplifying it into just "RELIGION IS STUPID" would make me sad. Thanks!)
A Girl of the Limberlost, by Gene Stratton Porter
Requested characters: Edith Carr and Hart Henderson
Can be found online here
Well I ASSUME that if you are willingly offering this fandom given that the only characters I nominated are Edith and Hart, then you are with me on shipping them? :D? SO WHAT FOLLOWS IS MY MAD SHIPPING SCREED in the hopes that you find something useful out of it with which to spark fic.....
So I was talking with my sister about what Hart sees in Edith that Philip doesn't, because Philip does not ever actually really see her as anything more than a society girl, one who lives to have fun. He tells Elnora that he assumes Edith'll settle down once she has a household to run, but that she is young and this is her playtime. Philip proceeds to realize that Edith isn't anything more than a girl who exists to be a society ornament, and that what he wants is a girl (ie Elnora) who is suited to being a useful and thoughtful person.
But Hart seems like a reasonable sort of guy and he knows everything about Edith that Philip knows and yet he still loves her, and has loved her for a very long time! Loves her even before her realization at the end that she's rather shallow and selfish and that she wants to learn how to be a better person!
It seems to me that Hart has perhaps recognized all along that Edith has the potential to be a wonderful person in a way that Philip never did. Edith tells Hart at one point that she loves Philip dearly but that she would never tell him so -- Edith clearly talks to Hart a lot more than she does to Philip, and is a lot more open and honest with him. Philip only ever sees her public face, because he is her lover (I use the term under the old-fashioned definition) and that's how she understands a lover ought to be treated -- she sparkles at him and dazzles him and is an empress for him. But Hart is her friend, and so she talks to him. Hart knows her better, really, than Philip does, and he knows what she's truly like and what she's truly capable of being. And he loves her because he knows her.
So basically what I am saying here is that I ship Edith/Hart like mad and want to read ALL THE FIC about Edith learning to be a better person and the difficulties she encounters in the attempts of breaking lifelong habits, and about Hart being a constant supportive presence for her because he loves her and knows her whether she gets things right or wrong, whether she's perfect or not, and where he admires the hell out of her for her determination to overcome the social conditioning she's had all her life leading her on this one path. And about them talking openly to each other about their feelings and thoughts, and Edith feeling weird about it because Hart has switched roles for her! He's her lover now, not her friend, but she CAN'T treat him the way she treated Philip, because he's HART <3.
Um. Crap. I'm sorry. I'm starting to sound like one of THOSE participants, aren't I, with Very Specific Ideas about what I want out of a fic.... But! If you see Edith and Hart differently, please do feel free to convince me of your perspective! I will VERY HAPPILY read that fic! Because I just find them really interesting, and although the above is my best effort at figuring them out, maybe there are other interpretations I hadn't considered! Go wild!
(and if you want to read the entire way-too-long reaction post I wrote after my first reading of Freckles and A Girl of the Limberlost, you can find it here.)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)
Requested characters: Queen Constantina and King Maximillian
Can be found online here
THE KING AND QUEEEEEEEEN. They are so ADORABLE together, are they not? THE MOST ADORABLE. They so clearly love each other! A lot! And are very well-meaning but not perfect! I love them so much.
Ahahaha um. I have watched this movie a few too many times in my life! If I had the time and the energy I could write alarmingly long screeds about everything I love about this movie! (hint: it is a lot.) I am not saying the movie doesn't have its occasional problematic moments, or its occasional embarrassingly cheesy moments (okay, okay, a LOT of embarrassingly cheesy moments), but all in all this movie is a Good Egg and I love it a lot, okay? OKAY.
And one of the things I love about it is how unapologetically multiracial it is! And not just in the main cast: even the background characters are of many races! And a big deal is not made of it! The king is white and the queen is black and the prince is Filipino and that's just HOW THINGS ARE. It is great!
Anyways, the central romance is super cheesy (though I love it anyways. THE OPENING SEQUENCE! With the beginning focus on the legs and feet of all the marketplace people, and then the two of them wandering through the marketplace, and then them bonding over ACTUAL SIMILARITIES THEY HAVE, THIS IS NOT JUST A ROMANCE BASED ON THEM BOTH BEING PRETTY PEOPLE, though the later song "Ten Minutes Ago" tries to argue otherwise), but the relationship between the king and the queen is my favourite. I keep on trying to find words to describe what exactly it is I like about them, but mostly my words are THEY'RE SO ADORABLE. So that's not very useful of me.
So. Anything about the king and queen being their awesome themselves would be awesome? :D
And that is all, O Wondrous Author! I feel like I didn't do a good job of balancing my levels of articulated squee amongst the various fandoms I listed, but let me promise you I would be super super excited to get fic for ANY of the fandoms I requested. I look forward with great anticipation to see what you will come up with for me! I hope you have fun with this.
With much love,
Sophia
no subject
(I don't know that I'm going to sign up this year - even though I nominated some things specifically in hopes of requesting fic for them. I'm just not in a ficcing brain. :P)
no subject
...I might be somewhat silly right now. *g* YULETIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!
no subject
And omggggg I REMEMBER YOU AND KABOOM! I am so pleased that it liiiiiiiiiiives! I just love the entire idea of it SO MUCH. (well -- I just love ALL the super-non-traditional fandoms yuletide has SO MUCH. I JUST LOVE YULETIDE SO MUCH.)
And I understand about the ficcing brain -- *HUGS* -- but I know you can still get lots and lots of enjoyment out of yuletide even if you don't participate this year, because there's always SO MUCH GOOD FIC THAT GETS WRITTEN.
In conclusion, YULETIDE. :D :D :D
no subject
(Anonymous) 2012-10-08 06:47 am (UTC)(link)