yuletide letter 2024
Oct. 14th, 2024 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaznettiHow is it time for Yuletide signups again? How are Yuletide signups almost over? But here I am again! YT writer, thank you so much for writing for me. I hope you have a great time! If you find my prompts inspiring that's great, and if you already have your own ideas, go ahead!
I am very happy to receive treats.
First of all, the general details.
I DO NOT WANT: omegaverse, D/s and related dynamics; harm to children within the story; PWP or NC-17 rated fic, or explicit content involving characters under 18; humiliation; non-canon-setting AUs; non-canonical incest.
THINGS I LOVE INCLUDE: enemies being forced to work together; competent characters doing what they're good at OR being forced outside their comfort zone; relationships between equal partners; happy or hopeful endings; canon-divergence AUs; character-driven stories and plots; crossovers; adventures, quests and other hijinks; little historical details.
And now, on to the specifics:
The Aurelian Cycle, Rosaria Mundi
Character Antigone "Annie" sur Aela
I read these books earlier in the year and really enjoyed them. Obviously I am a sucker for any story where someone tries to enact Platos's Republic and it turns out to be TERRIBLE but I also like that the novels don't shy away from how awful the system the revolution destroyed was. I love that there are no easy answers for any of the characters: rather than good guys and bad guys (although there are some) most of the characters are just people trying to do their best in an unjust world. I like that the books grapple with justice and necessity, so to speak, and would love a story that leaned into that.
My favorite character was, without doubt, Annie -- I loved her self-sacrifice, her suffering, and her eventual triumph, such as it is, given that the books provide a range of options from dreadful to not completely hopeless. I also liked that the books were willing to let all the characters be whumped, and comforted, so some h/c in this fandom would be very welcome to me, especially with Annie as the hurt and comforted character. I like her interactions with all the other characters -- Lee, obviously, but I also really loved the way her friendship with Crissa developed, and I found her relationship with Power really fascinating. I'd be really interested in a story where he survives the end of the series, and they have to build this new political world together. And although I absolutely loved the way the books left the Annie/Lee relationship I would also love a future in which they were able to get back together. I also wonder, since in a way Lee and Power are mirror-images of each other, what would have happened if it had been Power in the orphanage with Annie, and Lee who was adopted by a wealthy family? And Crissa! I would love to see Annie through her eyes, and I would love to see her working with Annie to create this new world of theirs. Is she frustrated by the way Annie has agreed to limit the political powers of the dragonriders? How effective is that decision, anyway? Or if you don't want to look into the future, at the start of the novels Annie and Crissa are not particularly close: maybe a scene from when they were younger, and didn't care for each other?
Kaos (TV 2024)
Characters: Eurydice, Ariadne, Medusa
My story can be about any one of my chosen characters separately (or about two or more of them together.)
I was gutted by the news that this was canceled (why does Netflix even commission new series any more, really) so obviously I would adore the epic conclusion to the prophecy plotline in which Ariadne, Caeneus, and Eurydice team up, the Olympian gods fall, and horrible kitten-killer Zeus gets his comeuppance and is utterly destroyed. However, if that is a tall order (and obviously, it is a tall order!) here are some other ideas, focused on the characters I've selected.
I'd love a day in the life story about Medusa dealing with the Underworld bureaucracy, maybe especially as they start to realize that things are getting out of hand and something is going wrong with the souls. Obviously she knows something about it by the show, but how did she find out? I'm particularly interested in her relationship with Persephone, because they seem to be allies of a kind: how did that happen? For Eurydice, the big question is what happens next? Now she is on earth again, as a prophet, alone -- what is she going to do? I'd be interested to see her meet Cassandra again -- or to meet her mother again. And Ariadne! Who has fulfilled the prophecy she didn't know was hers... what happens now? How will she rule? How will she deal with the Trojans, and with the Gods? Is Dionysus really in love with her, or was that just a throwaway line?
Mothers-and-daughters is a theme that brings Ariadne and Eurydice's stories together -- and could tie in interesting ways into both Hera and Persephone, especially as Persephone disavows the Homeric Hymn to Demeter narrative.
One thing I really loved about the show was how well it paid off a little knowledge of Greek myth (like Caeneus being trans, or Dionysus acting as Orpheus' guide to the afterlife, or Persephone as the powerful queen of the underworld) but was also unafraid to make changes, like having Ariadne be the one to kill Minos, or allowing Riddy to make it back to the surface. I'd be very interested in a story which continued that process of expansion and reframing. I also loved the way the show played with the idea of prophecy, and how misleading it can be when still being completely truthful, so anything that plays with that would be great.
The Lantern Bearers - Rosemary Sutcliffe
Characters: Flavia, Ness
My story can be about either of the two characters -- it might be difficult to include both in the same story!
Ness and Flavia are both on the sidelines of the main (masculine) storyline of The Lantern Bearers, but if if is a story about the creation of Britain (or maybe just England, which leaves Ness in a rather interesting narrative spot) they are doing a lot of the labor in that creation. Literally. I would love a story that centers their narratives -- I would particularly love to have Flavia's story, which is almost entirely off-screen. What happens to her to make her decide to stay, when Aquila gives her the option to escape? Does she think she has no other possible future? Or Ness -- what futures does she imagine for herself? For Minnow? Aquila is away for so much of the narrative: what does she think of what he's doing? Is the future he imagines the same one she does?
I should add that although I do not expect a story with both, it would be a great moment for my "enemies forced to work together" prompt, and I could imagine a situation where perhaps danger to one of their sons, or both of them, brings these two women together.
Sutcliffe, for all her virtues, is largely uninterested in the interior life of her female characters -- but I would really love to know what makes one or the other of these women tick. I'd also add that Flavia's story clearly has some pretty horrific elements: she's kidnapped, raped, forced to bear a child. Sutcliffe doesn't seem to see this as worth looking at too closely, but you don't need to shy away from it.
The Pallisers - Anthony Trollope
Characters: Glencora Palliser, Laura Kennedy
I would be happy with a story about either of the two characters separately -- but I do also have prompts for them together.
I really love Glencora and Plantagenet (and almost selected him as well, except that I'm only interested in him in his relationship with Glencora), the ill-matched power couple at the heart of the series who get off to such an awful start and overcome it, and really do come to love each other. Any little scene from their life together would be great: maybe something Glencora says helps Plantagenet work out a political problem? Or something he says helps her solve a social one? Or maybe they are actually just hanging out together. What are they like as parents, when their children are small? Does Plantagenet even get so see the children? Does Glencora make him? (yes, she makes him) OR! What if she outlived Plantagenet, instead of the other way around? How would life alone be for her -- terrible? Or also in some ways freeing? I also love her relationship with Madame Max, how they move from rivalry to alliance. Basically my one complaint about the later books is that there is insufficient Glencora in them, so you know, that's my prompt for her: more of Glencora being her wonderful self.
I also have a huge amount of sympathy for Laura Kennedy, who ruins her own life so completely and hopelessly, and thought that she was stronger than she turned out to be, and is in many ways an unpleasant person but even so suffers such an awful fate. I'd love to see the story where she throws caution and practicality to the winds and marries Phineas instead of Mr Kennedy. I also believe strongly that Kennedy was at least as sexually interested in Phineas as he was in Laura -- certainly after the episode where Phineas saves his life -- so if you want to set up some kind of threesome here I would be 100% behind it. I feel like this could only be better for Laura. Anything could be better for Laura.
Laura and Glencora are in some ways complete opposites: Laura cares about politics, Glencora doesn't, Laura is terribly serious, Glencora isn't. And although they both sacrifice what they think will be their happiness, Laura loses terribly by it, and Glencora gains. I would love a meeting between the two of them: not that I think Glencora would really see what was going on with Laura, but maybe she would say SOMETHING Laura couldn't write off as superficial nonsense. If you couldn't tell, I would really love for things to work out better for Laura, however you manage that.
Totally Optional crossover prompts
I don't even know if the Yuletide crossover challenge is running this year -- but if it is, or even if it isn't, I love crossovers! Please feel free to go over to my AO3 page to see what canons I'm familiar with; for Yultide I'm particularly interested in crossovers with other Yuletide-sized canons.
One thing I'd be interested in seeing this year is a fusion between some of these canons -- what happened if we had The Lantern Bearers, but with dragonriders? I'd also be really interested in a story in which either the Lantern Bearers or the Palliser novels occurred in the same universe as Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell: I feel for example that Glencora might actually have an easier job dealing with the Raven King than Plantagenet would.
Again, thank you so much for writing for me -- and whatever you come up with, I'm sure I'll enjoy it!
I am very happy to receive treats.
First of all, the general details.
I DO NOT WANT: omegaverse, D/s and related dynamics; harm to children within the story; PWP or NC-17 rated fic, or explicit content involving characters under 18; humiliation; non-canon-setting AUs; non-canonical incest.
THINGS I LOVE INCLUDE: enemies being forced to work together; competent characters doing what they're good at OR being forced outside their comfort zone; relationships between equal partners; happy or hopeful endings; canon-divergence AUs; character-driven stories and plots; crossovers; adventures, quests and other hijinks; little historical details.
And now, on to the specifics:
The Aurelian Cycle, Rosaria Mundi
Character Antigone "Annie" sur Aela
I read these books earlier in the year and really enjoyed them. Obviously I am a sucker for any story where someone tries to enact Platos's Republic and it turns out to be TERRIBLE but I also like that the novels don't shy away from how awful the system the revolution destroyed was. I love that there are no easy answers for any of the characters: rather than good guys and bad guys (although there are some) most of the characters are just people trying to do their best in an unjust world. I like that the books grapple with justice and necessity, so to speak, and would love a story that leaned into that.
My favorite character was, without doubt, Annie -- I loved her self-sacrifice, her suffering, and her eventual triumph, such as it is, given that the books provide a range of options from dreadful to not completely hopeless. I also liked that the books were willing to let all the characters be whumped, and comforted, so some h/c in this fandom would be very welcome to me, especially with Annie as the hurt and comforted character. I like her interactions with all the other characters -- Lee, obviously, but I also really loved the way her friendship with Crissa developed, and I found her relationship with Power really fascinating. I'd be really interested in a story where he survives the end of the series, and they have to build this new political world together. And although I absolutely loved the way the books left the Annie/Lee relationship I would also love a future in which they were able to get back together. I also wonder, since in a way Lee and Power are mirror-images of each other, what would have happened if it had been Power in the orphanage with Annie, and Lee who was adopted by a wealthy family? And Crissa! I would love to see Annie through her eyes, and I would love to see her working with Annie to create this new world of theirs. Is she frustrated by the way Annie has agreed to limit the political powers of the dragonriders? How effective is that decision, anyway? Or if you don't want to look into the future, at the start of the novels Annie and Crissa are not particularly close: maybe a scene from when they were younger, and didn't care for each other?
Kaos (TV 2024)
Characters: Eurydice, Ariadne, Medusa
My story can be about any one of my chosen characters separately (or about two or more of them together.)
I was gutted by the news that this was canceled (why does Netflix even commission new series any more, really) so obviously I would adore the epic conclusion to the prophecy plotline in which Ariadne, Caeneus, and Eurydice team up, the Olympian gods fall, and horrible kitten-killer Zeus gets his comeuppance and is utterly destroyed. However, if that is a tall order (and obviously, it is a tall order!) here are some other ideas, focused on the characters I've selected.
I'd love a day in the life story about Medusa dealing with the Underworld bureaucracy, maybe especially as they start to realize that things are getting out of hand and something is going wrong with the souls. Obviously she knows something about it by the show, but how did she find out? I'm particularly interested in her relationship with Persephone, because they seem to be allies of a kind: how did that happen? For Eurydice, the big question is what happens next? Now she is on earth again, as a prophet, alone -- what is she going to do? I'd be interested to see her meet Cassandra again -- or to meet her mother again. And Ariadne! Who has fulfilled the prophecy she didn't know was hers... what happens now? How will she rule? How will she deal with the Trojans, and with the Gods? Is Dionysus really in love with her, or was that just a throwaway line?
Mothers-and-daughters is a theme that brings Ariadne and Eurydice's stories together -- and could tie in interesting ways into both Hera and Persephone, especially as Persephone disavows the Homeric Hymn to Demeter narrative.
One thing I really loved about the show was how well it paid off a little knowledge of Greek myth (like Caeneus being trans, or Dionysus acting as Orpheus' guide to the afterlife, or Persephone as the powerful queen of the underworld) but was also unafraid to make changes, like having Ariadne be the one to kill Minos, or allowing Riddy to make it back to the surface. I'd be very interested in a story which continued that process of expansion and reframing. I also loved the way the show played with the idea of prophecy, and how misleading it can be when still being completely truthful, so anything that plays with that would be great.
The Lantern Bearers - Rosemary Sutcliffe
Characters: Flavia, Ness
My story can be about either of the two characters -- it might be difficult to include both in the same story!
Ness and Flavia are both on the sidelines of the main (masculine) storyline of The Lantern Bearers, but if if is a story about the creation of Britain (or maybe just England, which leaves Ness in a rather interesting narrative spot) they are doing a lot of the labor in that creation. Literally. I would love a story that centers their narratives -- I would particularly love to have Flavia's story, which is almost entirely off-screen. What happens to her to make her decide to stay, when Aquila gives her the option to escape? Does she think she has no other possible future? Or Ness -- what futures does she imagine for herself? For Minnow? Aquila is away for so much of the narrative: what does she think of what he's doing? Is the future he imagines the same one she does?
I should add that although I do not expect a story with both, it would be a great moment for my "enemies forced to work together" prompt, and I could imagine a situation where perhaps danger to one of their sons, or both of them, brings these two women together.
Sutcliffe, for all her virtues, is largely uninterested in the interior life of her female characters -- but I would really love to know what makes one or the other of these women tick. I'd also add that Flavia's story clearly has some pretty horrific elements: she's kidnapped, raped, forced to bear a child. Sutcliffe doesn't seem to see this as worth looking at too closely, but you don't need to shy away from it.
The Pallisers - Anthony Trollope
Characters: Glencora Palliser, Laura Kennedy
I would be happy with a story about either of the two characters separately -- but I do also have prompts for them together.
I really love Glencora and Plantagenet (and almost selected him as well, except that I'm only interested in him in his relationship with Glencora), the ill-matched power couple at the heart of the series who get off to such an awful start and overcome it, and really do come to love each other. Any little scene from their life together would be great: maybe something Glencora says helps Plantagenet work out a political problem? Or something he says helps her solve a social one? Or maybe they are actually just hanging out together. What are they like as parents, when their children are small? Does Plantagenet even get so see the children? Does Glencora make him? (yes, she makes him) OR! What if she outlived Plantagenet, instead of the other way around? How would life alone be for her -- terrible? Or also in some ways freeing? I also love her relationship with Madame Max, how they move from rivalry to alliance. Basically my one complaint about the later books is that there is insufficient Glencora in them, so you know, that's my prompt for her: more of Glencora being her wonderful self.
I also have a huge amount of sympathy for Laura Kennedy, who ruins her own life so completely and hopelessly, and thought that she was stronger than she turned out to be, and is in many ways an unpleasant person but even so suffers such an awful fate. I'd love to see the story where she throws caution and practicality to the winds and marries Phineas instead of Mr Kennedy. I also believe strongly that Kennedy was at least as sexually interested in Phineas as he was in Laura -- certainly after the episode where Phineas saves his life -- so if you want to set up some kind of threesome here I would be 100% behind it. I feel like this could only be better for Laura. Anything could be better for Laura.
Laura and Glencora are in some ways complete opposites: Laura cares about politics, Glencora doesn't, Laura is terribly serious, Glencora isn't. And although they both sacrifice what they think will be their happiness, Laura loses terribly by it, and Glencora gains. I would love a meeting between the two of them: not that I think Glencora would really see what was going on with Laura, but maybe she would say SOMETHING Laura couldn't write off as superficial nonsense. If you couldn't tell, I would really love for things to work out better for Laura, however you manage that.
Totally Optional crossover prompts
I don't even know if the Yuletide crossover challenge is running this year -- but if it is, or even if it isn't, I love crossovers! Please feel free to go over to my AO3 page to see what canons I'm familiar with; for Yultide I'm particularly interested in crossovers with other Yuletide-sized canons.
One thing I'd be interested in seeing this year is a fusion between some of these canons -- what happened if we had The Lantern Bearers, but with dragonriders? I'd also be really interested in a story in which either the Lantern Bearers or the Palliser novels occurred in the same universe as Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell: I feel for example that Glencora might actually have an easier job dealing with the Raven King than Plantagenet would.
Again, thank you so much for writing for me -- and whatever you come up with, I'm sure I'll enjoy it!
