2009 Dear Yuletide Writer letter
Nov. 11th, 2009 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wickedwordsDear Yuletide Writer,
I'm not sure how much detail you want, but the short answer to 'what do I want in a story' is: I love seeing all the amazing things that people come up with for Yuletide, so whatever you write, I'm sure will please me. Make yourself happy and that'll make me happy too.
A longer answer might be: I'm a relationship junkie and a slash fan, so character-driven stories make me particularly happy; intense gen friendship stories make me just as happy as full-on slash stories, so don't stress writing a slash story if you're a gen writer or a gen story if you're a slash writer. Either way, it works for me. I also love stories that have some world building in them, but it doesn't matter to me if that world is strongly series-related, science fiction, horror, or a complete fantasy. Also, although I have picked two characters for each fandoms, I am fine with other characters from that fandom or original characters being a part of the story, as long as the focus is on the two chosen characters and their relationship together.
I do have some tropes that I really like, though please don't worry about trying to fit them all into the story you write: First times, teasing, banter, dark pasts, found families, self-realization, wistful regret, pining, old hurts, second chances, dreams, romance without schmoop, adventure, ass kicking, angst, exotic settings, outsider POV, wacky undercover situations, steampunk, horror, other worlds, whumpage, hurt/comfort, themes about trust and love.
I also have some dislikes: noncon, heavy illness (cancer, AIDS, etc), pregnancy, public humiliation/embarrassment, death or permanent disability, heavy kink. I'm not keen on first person POV or all dialog stories, though I am fine with a story narrated by an original character.
As far as the sex goes, I'm happy with fade to black or explicitly, luxuriously hot, and I'm not adverse to a little kink. Whatever your comfort level, I'm fine with it. Just enjoy writing it, and I'm sure I'll love reading it.
Now, as far as the fandoms go, I've expanded on my original requests a bit under the cut
The Mentalist
Kimball Cho/Patrick Jane
I think Cho and Jane have a fascinating relationship, and I love how Jane can talk usually straight-laced Cho into doing some crazy things, plus how Cho always keeps an eye out for Jane and whatever crazy stunt he has planned. Slash or close, intimate friendship preferred.
This is actually a fandom that I can see having a horror-version of the series, given Red John and Patrick Jane's relationship/personalities, plus the fact that the series plays with the 'is it real' aspect of psychic phenomenon. Also, since this is a cop show, a case story that requires Kimball and Patrick to work together would be cool, along with some undercover work. (And again, don't worry about trying to make it a horror-related case, unless you want to. I'd be happy with the two of them undercover as gay lovers if you wanted to do that too.)
If canon has killed anyone off, don't worry about it. I can be in denial for a long, long time.
Jurassic Park movies
Alan Grant/Billy Brennan
It's all about the relationship for me, and eager student Billy doing his best to impress and distract Alan is an eye-catching story. Movie aftermath or a prequel would be great, or a story set five years or so later would be fine too. I'd love to see how the events of the movie affected their lives.
This is a very SciFi universe for me, so feel free to play with the edges. I wouldn't mind a crossover or fusion with something like the Primeval universe, but set in America. Since Grant is the foremost authority on dinosaurs given everything that has happened in the movies, I can see him consulting in different locations or in other crossover universes, such as consulting with the Jeffersonian team from 'Bones'. He could also be called in to deal with special circumstances by any government agency, from the men in black on down. So if you want to open the universe up, go for it. I'd be eager to see what you've created.
NCIS Los Angeles
G Callen/Sam Hanna
Since the show is so new, I need to see some of the work involved in building Sam and G's relationship together; I love the small bits of intimacy between them that we get to see on the show. The story could be a domestic scene, like house hunting for a new apartment for G, something set at work where they are hiding in plain sight together, a long, complicated case story, or a slash first time.
Since I first wrote that, I have spent some time thinking about what kind of adventure-universe might fit in with the NCIS:LA premise, and the one that occurred to me is: steampunk. The reason for that is that NCIS:LA is part cop show and part technological fantasy, and steampunk is a different type of technological fantasy universe. So Sam and G could still fight the bad guys together, but instead of using 'modern' tech, they inhabit a world of airships and difference engines. (Plus Sam would took really cool striding around in a long leather duster and goggles.)
Don't fret if you can't see the steampunk connection. Like I said, it wasn't my first thought.
Tamora Pierce - Circle of Magic series
Lark/Rosethorn
I'd really love to see some backstory on how Lark and Rosethorn got together. Either while they were young, like when Lark was an acrobat, or just after they'd joined Winding Circle and meet each other as new students, or I'd like to see why they took on the cottage together. Gen friendship or femslash, both work for me.
Since this is a fantasy universe, anything is possible. Since I asked for a backstory, I feel there's a lot of world building already required in that, as you have to create the reason for the characters to meet and put in the details of what their lives are like. I'd be happy with whatever age you wanted to make them, but I'd particularly love to see them as teens.
Remember, despite the length of this letter, all of these details are optional. I'm just trying to give you some ideas, in case you have a moment of brain freeze (as has happened to me before). I'm really happy to leave all of the specifics up to you, and I'll love whatever you choose to write in any of these fandoms. I'm really looking forward to it!
--rache
just in case you want to look at what I said over the years, here are the links to some of my old letters:
My 2008 Yuletide Santa Letter
My 2007 Yuletide Santa Letter
My 2006 Yuletide Santa Letter
My 2005 Yuletide Santa Letter
Website is here: http://mediafans.org/rachael/
Vidsite is here: http://www.relative-obscurity.org/belles/cb.html
Most recent recs are here (but it's been awhile): http://delicious.com/wickedwords/to-rec
Still older recs are here: http://rachael-recs.livejournal.com/
I'm not sure how much detail you want, but the short answer to 'what do I want in a story' is: I love seeing all the amazing things that people come up with for Yuletide, so whatever you write, I'm sure will please me. Make yourself happy and that'll make me happy too.
A longer answer might be: I'm a relationship junkie and a slash fan, so character-driven stories make me particularly happy; intense gen friendship stories make me just as happy as full-on slash stories, so don't stress writing a slash story if you're a gen writer or a gen story if you're a slash writer. Either way, it works for me. I also love stories that have some world building in them, but it doesn't matter to me if that world is strongly series-related, science fiction, horror, or a complete fantasy. Also, although I have picked two characters for each fandoms, I am fine with other characters from that fandom or original characters being a part of the story, as long as the focus is on the two chosen characters and their relationship together.
I do have some tropes that I really like, though please don't worry about trying to fit them all into the story you write: First times, teasing, banter, dark pasts, found families, self-realization, wistful regret, pining, old hurts, second chances, dreams, romance without schmoop, adventure, ass kicking, angst, exotic settings, outsider POV, wacky undercover situations, steampunk, horror, other worlds, whumpage, hurt/comfort, themes about trust and love.
I also have some dislikes: noncon, heavy illness (cancer, AIDS, etc), pregnancy, public humiliation/embarrassment, death or permanent disability, heavy kink. I'm not keen on first person POV or all dialog stories, though I am fine with a story narrated by an original character.
As far as the sex goes, I'm happy with fade to black or explicitly, luxuriously hot, and I'm not adverse to a little kink. Whatever your comfort level, I'm fine with it. Just enjoy writing it, and I'm sure I'll love reading it.
Now, as far as the fandoms go, I've expanded on my original requests a bit under the cut
The Mentalist
Kimball Cho/Patrick Jane
I think Cho and Jane have a fascinating relationship, and I love how Jane can talk usually straight-laced Cho into doing some crazy things, plus how Cho always keeps an eye out for Jane and whatever crazy stunt he has planned. Slash or close, intimate friendship preferred.
This is actually a fandom that I can see having a horror-version of the series, given Red John and Patrick Jane's relationship/personalities, plus the fact that the series plays with the 'is it real' aspect of psychic phenomenon. Also, since this is a cop show, a case story that requires Kimball and Patrick to work together would be cool, along with some undercover work. (And again, don't worry about trying to make it a horror-related case, unless you want to. I'd be happy with the two of them undercover as gay lovers if you wanted to do that too.)
If canon has killed anyone off, don't worry about it. I can be in denial for a long, long time.
Jurassic Park movies
Alan Grant/Billy Brennan
It's all about the relationship for me, and eager student Billy doing his best to impress and distract Alan is an eye-catching story. Movie aftermath or a prequel would be great, or a story set five years or so later would be fine too. I'd love to see how the events of the movie affected their lives.
This is a very SciFi universe for me, so feel free to play with the edges. I wouldn't mind a crossover or fusion with something like the Primeval universe, but set in America. Since Grant is the foremost authority on dinosaurs given everything that has happened in the movies, I can see him consulting in different locations or in other crossover universes, such as consulting with the Jeffersonian team from 'Bones'. He could also be called in to deal with special circumstances by any government agency, from the men in black on down. So if you want to open the universe up, go for it. I'd be eager to see what you've created.
NCIS Los Angeles
G Callen/Sam Hanna
Since the show is so new, I need to see some of the work involved in building Sam and G's relationship together; I love the small bits of intimacy between them that we get to see on the show. The story could be a domestic scene, like house hunting for a new apartment for G, something set at work where they are hiding in plain sight together, a long, complicated case story, or a slash first time.
Since I first wrote that, I have spent some time thinking about what kind of adventure-universe might fit in with the NCIS:LA premise, and the one that occurred to me is: steampunk. The reason for that is that NCIS:LA is part cop show and part technological fantasy, and steampunk is a different type of technological fantasy universe. So Sam and G could still fight the bad guys together, but instead of using 'modern' tech, they inhabit a world of airships and difference engines. (Plus Sam would took really cool striding around in a long leather duster and goggles.)
Don't fret if you can't see the steampunk connection. Like I said, it wasn't my first thought.
Tamora Pierce - Circle of Magic series
Lark/Rosethorn
I'd really love to see some backstory on how Lark and Rosethorn got together. Either while they were young, like when Lark was an acrobat, or just after they'd joined Winding Circle and meet each other as new students, or I'd like to see why they took on the cottage together. Gen friendship or femslash, both work for me.
Since this is a fantasy universe, anything is possible. Since I asked for a backstory, I feel there's a lot of world building already required in that, as you have to create the reason for the characters to meet and put in the details of what their lives are like. I'd be happy with whatever age you wanted to make them, but I'd particularly love to see them as teens.
Remember, despite the length of this letter, all of these details are optional. I'm just trying to give you some ideas, in case you have a moment of brain freeze (as has happened to me before). I'm really happy to leave all of the specifics up to you, and I'll love whatever you choose to write in any of these fandoms. I'm really looking forward to it!
--rache
just in case you want to look at what I said over the years, here are the links to some of my old letters:
My 2008 Yuletide Santa Letter
My 2007 Yuletide Santa Letter
My 2006 Yuletide Santa Letter
My 2005 Yuletide Santa Letter
Website is here: http://mediafans.org/rachael/
Vidsite is here: http://www.relative-obscurity.org/belles/cb.html
Most recent recs are here (but it's been awhile): http://delicious.com/wickedwords/to-rec
Still older recs are here: http://rachael-recs.livejournal.com/
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 12:35 am (UTC)Is it permitted to vote? Is Yuletide a democracy?
no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 02:46 am (UTC)I just finished listening to audiobooks of the four Circle Opens books and The Will of the Empress. I believe her Tortall books are more popular, but I just love this series.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 04:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 04:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-12 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-14 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-14 10:04 pm (UTC)