Yuletide Letter 2018
Oct. 20th, 2018 09:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaznettiI've had to take a few years off from Yuletide, but this year my work schedule has changed and I'm so excited to be able to participate! Thank you for writing for me, author, I know I will love whatever you come up with.
First of all, some general likes and dislikes. I love stories which take the characters and move them on just a little bit, either in our understanding of them (or their understanding of themselves) or in some kind of character-development way. I love plot -- I adore capers and hijinks, although obviously I don't expect that kind of story at Yuletide. In terms of pairings, I am equally fond of het, m/m and f/f, but (with one specific exception noted in the request) I DNW explicit sexual content. I also am very happy to read gen for any of the requests below; I've often chosen a single character because I like them for themselvesas well as with a whole range of potential partners. I've noted particular OTPs and NOTPs in the requests below, for each fandom.
I love relationships which are all about people coming together as equals, whether that's as lovers or enemies or both. And this takes me to my main DNW: any kind of D/s or related dynamics, including A/B/O and seme/uke. This includes teacher/student or master/apprentice type relationships. I also DNW incest and AUs not set in the canon universe.
This year's Yuletide theme is clearly "complicated women." See further:
12 Monkeys: Katarina Jones.
I spent a lot of time trying to decide who to request for this, but ultimately, Katarina in my favorite, and I wanted a story focused on her. I love her relationships with literally every character in the tag set (well, I guess we don't see her much with Matthew Cole, but if you want to write about them, go ahead!) The current pairing of my heart is Katarina/Olivia, especially the way Katarina uses Olivia's fascination with her in season 4 to accomplish her goals. I would love to see a scene between them set in S3 or S4. I think it goes without saying that this is not a hearts-and-flowers kind of relationship, since most of their interaction involves torture, deception and occasionally stabbing. For this pairing, I withdraw my DNW for explicit sex, especially if there's some knifeplay and difficulty distinguishing between pleasure and pain, and dubcon elements (dubcon, because I think the attraction is mutual).
I am equally interested in Katarina's relationships with other cast members. I think that she and Cole together were well served in the show itself, but would love to see more of her with Cassie (maybe in the year or so between S1 and S2). I would also love to see her having to team up with Jennifer in a time travelling adventure, because they drive each other crazy, or in Jennifer's case, crazier. I think that her confrontations with Ramse were really important to the show, and that in the end they both were right: Katarina did a lot of terrible things and Ramse was one of the few characters who consistently called her on that. I should also add that I love her dearly, but don't feel that oyu need to shy away from the really terrible things she has done. Every season I would think, "surely Jones has hit rock bottom now!" and then no, there would be just a little further.
Aubrey and Maturin novels: Diana Villiers
I have loved Diana pretty much since she first appeared in the books, jumping that fence: I love her courage and her recklessness, even though they get her into quite a lot of trouble. But I also think that a lot of the worst things Diana is done are driven by fear, and especially fear of the roles of "wife" and "mother." She knows that she needs to marry, but she hates the thought of spending the rest of her life in a cage. Diana/Stephen is a longstanding OTP of mine, although I also ship Diana/happiness, and I sometimes feel that these are incompatible ships. I do at least treasure those moments when they can come together without their relationship being blown apart by Diana's fear of marriage and Stephen's fundamental need to conceal things. I would love to see an adventure of some kind including Diana and Stephen -- perhaps involving her discovering Stephen's identity as a spy?
I have to admit that as the series progressed I started to ignore some of the character developments, but by all means feel free to include Brigid and Diana's difficult abandonment of her; I loved the way Stephen was able to build a relationship with Brigid, and I would love to see a story in which Diana was able to do the same (despite the fact that "mother" is as difficult a role for her as "wife"). I would equally like to see a story about Diana on her own (especially if you don't like Diana/Stephen) -- let he do something exciting whie Jack and Stephen are circumnavigating the globe after the Letter of Marque! In so many ways, Diana is her own worst enemy and I would love to see a story with dealt with her self-destructive tendencies.
Oxford Time Travel Universe -- Connie Willis: Lady Schrapnell, James Dunworthy
To Say Nothing of the Dog is one of my favorite novels, and I often re-read it about this time of year. I have to say that part of the attraction for me is the mind-boggling ridiculousness of the idea of building a replica of Coventry Cathedral on Christ Church meadow. In our world this is obviously something that would never happen, and even in this very different Oxford it is a source of great tension. I would love to see something about the background cat-herding (including literal cat-herding!) aspects of this, and particularly something about Lady Schrapnell, who I have always assumed was herself a time-traveller from a more distant future trying to fix some even grander anomaly. She's great as a mostly-offscreen monster in the novel, but I would love to see the project from her point of view. Likewise, perpetually harried History Faculty chair James Dunworthy is one of my favorite characters. Any kind of back-stage shenanigans would be great!
There is a real difference in tone between To Say nothing of the Dog and the other time travel novels; I would prefer something closer to the comic side, but if you want to stick to the tone of the other novels that is fine, provided the focus is kept on the characters I requested. I mean, something is breaking down in the timestream -- something is always breaking down in the timestream. Maybe some kind of investigation of why these problems continue to recur?
Palliser Novels: Glencora Palliser, Plantagenet Palliser
Thank you to whoever nominated this series! I haven't re-read them in ages, but I have loved them for years, and it was such a delight to see them nominated for Yuletide. Because it has been so long since I read them, my requests will probaby be less detailed here, but that is not because I would like this fandom less than my other requests!
My one complaint about the series is that after the first book, they do not have enough Glencora, and Glencora and Plantagenet in them. I know, I know, much of the first novel is devoted to their marriage, and I do love seeing them build a life together despite their real differences and despite the very bad start that they got. But I want more! I want to see more of their lives together both as private people and public figures -- maybe some time when Glencora helps Plantagenet see the answer to some problem that he's been having, or where he helps her get a new perspective on something that has been troubling her. They are ultimately such an unlikely team, and I would love to see the way they succeed at something together.
Two-for-One 2018
I love crossovers! And I would be very happy to get a crossover for Yuletide! Here are some prompts if that's the kind of thing that might interest you.
For the requested fandoms, it's easy for me to imagine a crossover between the Aubrey/Maturin novels and the Palliser series. Either shift the Pallisers back in time to the start of the 19th century, or let Glencora meet an aging Diana (whether you can shift the Pallisers back probably depends on how much you know and care about Plantagenet's politics, or about Irish history. But I am happy to violate historical norms in search of a good crossover!) I would love to see them interact! I would love to see f/f here as well, if you'd like to write it.
A crossover between 12 Monkeys and Oxford Time Travel would also be interesting -- they both involve time travel (duh!), a post-pandemic world, and people who keep going back to WW2, in a universe in which Time takes care of itself. The rules of time travel seem very different in the two universes, but I would love to see characters from one universe falling into the other through some kind of time-travel mishap.
In general, for Yuletide I prefer crossovers between Yuletide-eligible or borderline fandoms. Here are a whole set of other fandoms I have offered or requested in the past which I think would make an interesting crossover with one or more of these novels: Indiana Jones! Rivers of London! Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (both books and TV)! The Lymond Chronicles! Poldark!
Looking at this, I see a lot of "it's Britain, but magic is real" and "it's the Second World War, and we need a macguffin!" Both of these are ideas I would enjoy, either in a crossover or out of it.
I wrote at great length here about what I like in a crossover, and why I like them, if you feel you want to know more about my preferences.
First of all, some general likes and dislikes. I love stories which take the characters and move them on just a little bit, either in our understanding of them (or their understanding of themselves) or in some kind of character-development way. I love plot -- I adore capers and hijinks, although obviously I don't expect that kind of story at Yuletide. In terms of pairings, I am equally fond of het, m/m and f/f, but (with one specific exception noted in the request) I DNW explicit sexual content. I also am very happy to read gen for any of the requests below; I've often chosen a single character because I like them for themselvesas well as with a whole range of potential partners. I've noted particular OTPs and NOTPs in the requests below, for each fandom.
I love relationships which are all about people coming together as equals, whether that's as lovers or enemies or both. And this takes me to my main DNW: any kind of D/s or related dynamics, including A/B/O and seme/uke. This includes teacher/student or master/apprentice type relationships. I also DNW incest and AUs not set in the canon universe.
This year's Yuletide theme is clearly "complicated women." See further:
12 Monkeys: Katarina Jones.
I spent a lot of time trying to decide who to request for this, but ultimately, Katarina in my favorite, and I wanted a story focused on her. I love her relationships with literally every character in the tag set (well, I guess we don't see her much with Matthew Cole, but if you want to write about them, go ahead!) The current pairing of my heart is Katarina/Olivia, especially the way Katarina uses Olivia's fascination with her in season 4 to accomplish her goals. I would love to see a scene between them set in S3 or S4. I think it goes without saying that this is not a hearts-and-flowers kind of relationship, since most of their interaction involves torture, deception and occasionally stabbing. For this pairing, I withdraw my DNW for explicit sex, especially if there's some knifeplay and difficulty distinguishing between pleasure and pain, and dubcon elements (dubcon, because I think the attraction is mutual).
I am equally interested in Katarina's relationships with other cast members. I think that she and Cole together were well served in the show itself, but would love to see more of her with Cassie (maybe in the year or so between S1 and S2). I would also love to see her having to team up with Jennifer in a time travelling adventure, because they drive each other crazy, or in Jennifer's case, crazier. I think that her confrontations with Ramse were really important to the show, and that in the end they both were right: Katarina did a lot of terrible things and Ramse was one of the few characters who consistently called her on that. I should also add that I love her dearly, but don't feel that oyu need to shy away from the really terrible things she has done. Every season I would think, "surely Jones has hit rock bottom now!" and then no, there would be just a little further.
Aubrey and Maturin novels: Diana Villiers
I have loved Diana pretty much since she first appeared in the books, jumping that fence: I love her courage and her recklessness, even though they get her into quite a lot of trouble. But I also think that a lot of the worst things Diana is done are driven by fear, and especially fear of the roles of "wife" and "mother." She knows that she needs to marry, but she hates the thought of spending the rest of her life in a cage. Diana/Stephen is a longstanding OTP of mine, although I also ship Diana/happiness, and I sometimes feel that these are incompatible ships. I do at least treasure those moments when they can come together without their relationship being blown apart by Diana's fear of marriage and Stephen's fundamental need to conceal things. I would love to see an adventure of some kind including Diana and Stephen -- perhaps involving her discovering Stephen's identity as a spy?
I have to admit that as the series progressed I started to ignore some of the character developments, but by all means feel free to include Brigid and Diana's difficult abandonment of her; I loved the way Stephen was able to build a relationship with Brigid, and I would love to see a story in which Diana was able to do the same (despite the fact that "mother" is as difficult a role for her as "wife"). I would equally like to see a story about Diana on her own (especially if you don't like Diana/Stephen) -- let he do something exciting whie Jack and Stephen are circumnavigating the globe after the Letter of Marque! In so many ways, Diana is her own worst enemy and I would love to see a story with dealt with her self-destructive tendencies.
Oxford Time Travel Universe -- Connie Willis: Lady Schrapnell, James Dunworthy
To Say Nothing of the Dog is one of my favorite novels, and I often re-read it about this time of year. I have to say that part of the attraction for me is the mind-boggling ridiculousness of the idea of building a replica of Coventry Cathedral on Christ Church meadow. In our world this is obviously something that would never happen, and even in this very different Oxford it is a source of great tension. I would love to see something about the background cat-herding (including literal cat-herding!) aspects of this, and particularly something about Lady Schrapnell, who I have always assumed was herself a time-traveller from a more distant future trying to fix some even grander anomaly. She's great as a mostly-offscreen monster in the novel, but I would love to see the project from her point of view. Likewise, perpetually harried History Faculty chair James Dunworthy is one of my favorite characters. Any kind of back-stage shenanigans would be great!
There is a real difference in tone between To Say nothing of the Dog and the other time travel novels; I would prefer something closer to the comic side, but if you want to stick to the tone of the other novels that is fine, provided the focus is kept on the characters I requested. I mean, something is breaking down in the timestream -- something is always breaking down in the timestream. Maybe some kind of investigation of why these problems continue to recur?
Palliser Novels: Glencora Palliser, Plantagenet Palliser
Thank you to whoever nominated this series! I haven't re-read them in ages, but I have loved them for years, and it was such a delight to see them nominated for Yuletide. Because it has been so long since I read them, my requests will probaby be less detailed here, but that is not because I would like this fandom less than my other requests!
My one complaint about the series is that after the first book, they do not have enough Glencora, and Glencora and Plantagenet in them. I know, I know, much of the first novel is devoted to their marriage, and I do love seeing them build a life together despite their real differences and despite the very bad start that they got. But I want more! I want to see more of their lives together both as private people and public figures -- maybe some time when Glencora helps Plantagenet see the answer to some problem that he's been having, or where he helps her get a new perspective on something that has been troubling her. They are ultimately such an unlikely team, and I would love to see the way they succeed at something together.
Two-for-One 2018
I love crossovers! And I would be very happy to get a crossover for Yuletide! Here are some prompts if that's the kind of thing that might interest you.
For the requested fandoms, it's easy for me to imagine a crossover between the Aubrey/Maturin novels and the Palliser series. Either shift the Pallisers back in time to the start of the 19th century, or let Glencora meet an aging Diana (whether you can shift the Pallisers back probably depends on how much you know and care about Plantagenet's politics, or about Irish history. But I am happy to violate historical norms in search of a good crossover!) I would love to see them interact! I would love to see f/f here as well, if you'd like to write it.
A crossover between 12 Monkeys and Oxford Time Travel would also be interesting -- they both involve time travel (duh!), a post-pandemic world, and people who keep going back to WW2, in a universe in which Time takes care of itself. The rules of time travel seem very different in the two universes, but I would love to see characters from one universe falling into the other through some kind of time-travel mishap.
In general, for Yuletide I prefer crossovers between Yuletide-eligible or borderline fandoms. Here are a whole set of other fandoms I have offered or requested in the past which I think would make an interesting crossover with one or more of these novels: Indiana Jones! Rivers of London! Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (both books and TV)! The Lymond Chronicles! Poldark!
Looking at this, I see a lot of "it's Britain, but magic is real" and "it's the Second World War, and we need a macguffin!" Both of these are ideas I would enjoy, either in a crossover or out of it.
I wrote at great length here about what I like in a crossover, and why I like them, if you feel you want to know more about my preferences.
