Yuletide Letter 2016!
Because hey, even if I don't use this journal for anything else over the course of the year, we'll always have this.
Dear Yuletide Author,
Hi! If you decide or have decided to browse through my other assorted Dear Author letters over the years, you'll probably noticed I've cribbed a good portion of this letter from them, but things get slightly refined over time. You know how it goes. Besides, plagiarizing from yourself is the only plagiarizing that's actually reasonably ethical! :p
That said, hello! Welcome to my letter, I hope it helps to alleviate any possible stress over your assignment instead of making it worse.
If you're trying to glean my personality or general demeanor from my journal here, then I am extremely sorry for its sparseness over the last few years, but feel free to check out my tumblr, twitter, or even (if you actually have an account), my imzy personal blog if those are the kind of thing that helps you out. (Although I've been leaning a bit back of even tumblr lately.) If you could care less, then great, carry on!
My general likes include banter, happy endings (although I am perfectly fine with bittersweet or even sad if that's where your muse takes you), throwing in little canon details that you might miss on first read but totally make you squee come the second time around, wit, humor, dramatic irony, missing scenes, and in-character-ness. (Of course, nobody ever actually tries to write a character OOC, outside of crackfic for the purpose, so don't fret too much about this point. Plus one of my fandoms doesn't technically have much in the way of canon characterization, because online games. As long as you make a good faith effort, you'll be fine.) I also like slice-of-life stuff, as is kind of evident in a lot of my requests this year.
As much as I love fic that feels like it could fit right into canon, I also have a soft spot for AUs, so if you get bitten by an AU bug, go right ahead, I'll more than likely adore it.
Dislikes aren't many. Not really a huge fan of major character death for Yuletide, even if I don't mind reading it on a normal basis. Also, and I really doubt this will be much of a problem, but in the interest of full disclosure, depiction of injury to fingernails or toenails skeeves me out more than I can even begin to describe, so if somehow you have a bunny where that might come up, even if it wouldn't really fit in the majority of the fandoms I requested, maybe try to avoid it? Other than that, though, I won't really have much trouble with where you decide to take the fic!
Also, don't feel tied down to the characters I've requested. You can totally feel free to add ones that aren't listed, even in a reasonably large capacity, as long as (this probably goes without saying) you keep the focus on the requests. :) If there are any exceptions, where you can leave out requested characters, I'll have noted them in the individual prompt breakdowns.
And now that I've blathered on quite long enough, on to the nitty-gritty of my requests! It'll go as follows. The requests themselves, a little bit on the fandom, how to access it (should you either need a refresher or decide you just cannot write what we matched on and need to write something else badly!) and why I love it, and then a bit more elaboration on my requests themselves (And please, do not take the relative lengths of the various elaborations as any indicator as to which fandoms I want more. I would be overly thrilled with a gift in ANY of them).
Critical Role (Web Series)
* Kaylie (Critical Role)
Really, anything at all that's centered on Kaylie would be amazing, because she just intrigues me, a lot. I cannot think of a point in her life that I would not enjoy reading about, and it can be anything from a fun day-in-the-life adventure story or a introspective character study... I'd be happy no matter how it shakes out!
Critical Role! Voice actors playing D&D! Weekly sessions! Absolutely freaking amazing! Matt Mercer is a genius DM, end of sentence. Streams live on Thursday nights, with the archive available on Geek & Sundry's website! I just love the way that these guys interact, both with each other and with what the world (in the form of the amazing DM-ing of Matt Mercer) throws at them. It's compelling and fun and thrilling, worrying, and hilarious all in turns. It's great!
It's amazing. I knew I'd be requesting Critical Role, but at first glance at the character list, I was just overwhelmed by the options. I was almost going to go for an 'Any', even, and then my brain just kept screaming for Kaylie. And when I say I'd enjoy reading about anything, I pretty much mean it. An in-depth look at her life growing up... what it was like for her at the College of the White Duke... some road tales of her travels with Dr. Dranzel... a look through her eyes and her perspective of those first fateful meetings with Scanlan... what it was like having to lay low in Westruun... what's going on with her travels right now... anything! Really! And don't worry if you've got something going and then she shows up again during the writing period, jossing you completely. It's part of the possibilities of an ongoing canon, and I will absolutely not hold it against you.
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
* Lightsong (Warbreaker)
* Llarimar (Warbreaker)
I would love to see more or less anything of the interaction between these two. And you can do it either after Lightsong's ascension to godhood or before... or even both! It would be interesting to see the shift in their relationship.
Warbreaker is an absolutely lovely fantasy novel (as I'm sure you're aware, if this is the one we matched on.) Brandon Sanderson's worldbuilding is ludicrously impeccable, and as awesome as it is, he doesn't skimp on populating those worlds with absolutely fabulous characters. And this one is no exception. Better yet? If you need a refresher on it, he himself has uploaded a PDF of this one to his website for free download! It's on this page, along with pretty much all of his drafts. (The final version is, of course, the one at the bottom of the 'versions' section.)
My prompt itself pretty much covers what I would love to see. Reading about these two really at any point in their timeline would be fascinating. Seeing them before the rather significant lifechanging event in their lives, knowing what's coming, and seeing how their interactions are different from how they end up? Awesome! Just seeing more of their interaction as we knew them in the novel? Also awesome! Just... these two in general make me happy, and their interplay was pretty great in the book, especially considering the gap in knowledge between them. Absolutely fascinating.
Shirokuma Cafe | Polar Bear's Cafe
* Grizzly (Shirokuma Cafe)
* Panda (Shirokuma Cafe)
* Penguin (Shirokuma Cafe)
* Shirokuma | Polar Bear (Shirokuma Cafe)
Something that feels like an episode would be lovely here. These guys hanging out in or out of the cafe, getting up to the kinds of shenanigans that they get up to, you know how it goes. Crazy fun!
Shirokuma Cafe! Available for streaming on Crunchyroll. Animals! Living side-by-side with humans! Having jobs and businesses! (Even if those jobs involve... being zoo displays!) It's hilarious and fun and absolutely wacky in a way that I just find great. I just love all the characters and how they interact and the real affection there even if they can get frustrated with each other sometimes.
I was originally going to request an Any on this one, but then it occurred to me that I'd feel kind of sad if any of these guys were left OUT, so requesting all of them it was. I know this makes character juggling a bit tricky, but I really don't mind if one or two of them are more in the spotlight, and the others take more of a background role. I'd just like all of them there, being themselves! They can just be hanging around at the cafe or at Grizzly's bar, or getting into wacky hijinks. Feel free to add other characters if you need them, or don't! Whatever you'd like, it's all good!
Redwall Series - Brian Jacques
* Lady Amber (Redwall)
I think what I'd like most for this one is something either pre- or post-Mossflower, so basically either her life with the Corim under Verdauga, leading the squirrels, and what kind of leader she was in that circumstance, before the arrival of Martin changing the game, or alternatively, her part in helping to pick up the pieces afterwards. Either could be interesting, or if you even want to try both, that'd work too!
Redwall! Children's book series that was really my first fandom as far as my current conception of fandom goes! They're truly delightful, if a bit predictable if you've read enough of them. But for my first real foray into the fantasy genre, I cannot thank them enough for leading me down a path that's given me a lot of enjoyment into adulthood.
That said, Mossflower was the first book I read in the series, and Lady Amber is almost certainly the underlying reason why squirrels are my favorite animal now, so when I saw she was nominated, I absolutely had to make the request. That said, my request as is pretty much covers it. I'd just like to see what she's like in those bookends of that piece of canon, and I'd be really interested in seeing what you come up with!
Galavant (TV)
* Madalena (Galavant)
I'd like a bit of postcanon here! Does Madalena succeed in learning the the intricacies and the full power of the D'DEW? Do Gareth and Sid manage to make their way over to divert her current course of action? Does it actually work? Does she end up becoming a dark queen or empress or something else entirely? I don't know! I would love to know what you think happens, no matter what it is!
Gaaaaaaaalaaaaaaaaavaaaaaaaaant! Musical comedy extravaganza that simultaneously didn't last nearly long enough and, yet, was a miracle that it lasted nearly as long as it did. Two short seasons! On Netflix! And absolutely freaking hysterical!
I had so many favorite characters in this show, but right now? Madalena was the one I most wanted to read about. Her story could be going anywhere and since we'll almost certainly never get to see it (*sheds a tear*), I'd love to at least get a concept of her future via fanfic. If, in the spirit of the canon, you feel like writing up some lyrics to insert for random songs, do feel free, but also do not remotely feel as if that's a necessity in the least!
This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth. Comment here or there, either's fine by me! :D
Dear Yuletide Author,
Hi! If you decide or have decided to browse through my other assorted Dear Author letters over the years, you'll probably noticed I've cribbed a good portion of this letter from them, but things get slightly refined over time. You know how it goes. Besides, plagiarizing from yourself is the only plagiarizing that's actually reasonably ethical! :p
That said, hello! Welcome to my letter, I hope it helps to alleviate any possible stress over your assignment instead of making it worse.
If you're trying to glean my personality or general demeanor from my journal here, then I am extremely sorry for its sparseness over the last few years, but feel free to check out my tumblr, twitter, or even (if you actually have an account), my imzy personal blog if those are the kind of thing that helps you out. (Although I've been leaning a bit back of even tumblr lately.) If you could care less, then great, carry on!
My general likes include banter, happy endings (although I am perfectly fine with bittersweet or even sad if that's where your muse takes you), throwing in little canon details that you might miss on first read but totally make you squee come the second time around, wit, humor, dramatic irony, missing scenes, and in-character-ness. (Of course, nobody ever actually tries to write a character OOC, outside of crackfic for the purpose, so don't fret too much about this point. Plus one of my fandoms doesn't technically have much in the way of canon characterization, because online games. As long as you make a good faith effort, you'll be fine.) I also like slice-of-life stuff, as is kind of evident in a lot of my requests this year.
As much as I love fic that feels like it could fit right into canon, I also have a soft spot for AUs, so if you get bitten by an AU bug, go right ahead, I'll more than likely adore it.
Dislikes aren't many. Not really a huge fan of major character death for Yuletide, even if I don't mind reading it on a normal basis. Also, and I really doubt this will be much of a problem, but in the interest of full disclosure, depiction of injury to fingernails or toenails skeeves me out more than I can even begin to describe, so if somehow you have a bunny where that might come up, even if it wouldn't really fit in the majority of the fandoms I requested, maybe try to avoid it? Other than that, though, I won't really have much trouble with where you decide to take the fic!
Also, don't feel tied down to the characters I've requested. You can totally feel free to add ones that aren't listed, even in a reasonably large capacity, as long as (this probably goes without saying) you keep the focus on the requests. :) If there are any exceptions, where you can leave out requested characters, I'll have noted them in the individual prompt breakdowns.
And now that I've blathered on quite long enough, on to the nitty-gritty of my requests! It'll go as follows. The requests themselves, a little bit on the fandom, how to access it (should you either need a refresher or decide you just cannot write what we matched on and need to write something else badly!) and why I love it, and then a bit more elaboration on my requests themselves (And please, do not take the relative lengths of the various elaborations as any indicator as to which fandoms I want more. I would be overly thrilled with a gift in ANY of them).
Critical Role (Web Series)
* Kaylie (Critical Role)
Really, anything at all that's centered on Kaylie would be amazing, because she just intrigues me, a lot. I cannot think of a point in her life that I would not enjoy reading about, and it can be anything from a fun day-in-the-life adventure story or a introspective character study... I'd be happy no matter how it shakes out!
Critical Role! Voice actors playing D&D! Weekly sessions! Absolutely freaking amazing! Matt Mercer is a genius DM, end of sentence. Streams live on Thursday nights, with the archive available on Geek & Sundry's website! I just love the way that these guys interact, both with each other and with what the world (in the form of the amazing DM-ing of Matt Mercer) throws at them. It's compelling and fun and thrilling, worrying, and hilarious all in turns. It's great!
It's amazing. I knew I'd be requesting Critical Role, but at first glance at the character list, I was just overwhelmed by the options. I was almost going to go for an 'Any', even, and then my brain just kept screaming for Kaylie. And when I say I'd enjoy reading about anything, I pretty much mean it. An in-depth look at her life growing up... what it was like for her at the College of the White Duke... some road tales of her travels with Dr. Dranzel... a look through her eyes and her perspective of those first fateful meetings with Scanlan... what it was like having to lay low in Westruun... what's going on with her travels right now... anything! Really! And don't worry if you've got something going and then she shows up again during the writing period, jossing you completely. It's part of the possibilities of an ongoing canon, and I will absolutely not hold it against you.
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
* Lightsong (Warbreaker)
* Llarimar (Warbreaker)
I would love to see more or less anything of the interaction between these two. And you can do it either after Lightsong's ascension to godhood or before... or even both! It would be interesting to see the shift in their relationship.
Warbreaker is an absolutely lovely fantasy novel (as I'm sure you're aware, if this is the one we matched on.) Brandon Sanderson's worldbuilding is ludicrously impeccable, and as awesome as it is, he doesn't skimp on populating those worlds with absolutely fabulous characters. And this one is no exception. Better yet? If you need a refresher on it, he himself has uploaded a PDF of this one to his website for free download! It's on this page, along with pretty much all of his drafts. (The final version is, of course, the one at the bottom of the 'versions' section.)
My prompt itself pretty much covers what I would love to see. Reading about these two really at any point in their timeline would be fascinating. Seeing them before the rather significant lifechanging event in their lives, knowing what's coming, and seeing how their interactions are different from how they end up? Awesome! Just seeing more of their interaction as we knew them in the novel? Also awesome! Just... these two in general make me happy, and their interplay was pretty great in the book, especially considering the gap in knowledge between them. Absolutely fascinating.
Shirokuma Cafe | Polar Bear's Cafe
* Grizzly (Shirokuma Cafe)
* Panda (Shirokuma Cafe)
* Penguin (Shirokuma Cafe)
* Shirokuma | Polar Bear (Shirokuma Cafe)
Something that feels like an episode would be lovely here. These guys hanging out in or out of the cafe, getting up to the kinds of shenanigans that they get up to, you know how it goes. Crazy fun!
Shirokuma Cafe! Available for streaming on Crunchyroll. Animals! Living side-by-side with humans! Having jobs and businesses! (Even if those jobs involve... being zoo displays!) It's hilarious and fun and absolutely wacky in a way that I just find great. I just love all the characters and how they interact and the real affection there even if they can get frustrated with each other sometimes.
I was originally going to request an Any on this one, but then it occurred to me that I'd feel kind of sad if any of these guys were left OUT, so requesting all of them it was. I know this makes character juggling a bit tricky, but I really don't mind if one or two of them are more in the spotlight, and the others take more of a background role. I'd just like all of them there, being themselves! They can just be hanging around at the cafe or at Grizzly's bar, or getting into wacky hijinks. Feel free to add other characters if you need them, or don't! Whatever you'd like, it's all good!
Redwall Series - Brian Jacques
* Lady Amber (Redwall)
I think what I'd like most for this one is something either pre- or post-Mossflower, so basically either her life with the Corim under Verdauga, leading the squirrels, and what kind of leader she was in that circumstance, before the arrival of Martin changing the game, or alternatively, her part in helping to pick up the pieces afterwards. Either could be interesting, or if you even want to try both, that'd work too!
Redwall! Children's book series that was really my first fandom as far as my current conception of fandom goes! They're truly delightful, if a bit predictable if you've read enough of them. But for my first real foray into the fantasy genre, I cannot thank them enough for leading me down a path that's given me a lot of enjoyment into adulthood.
That said, Mossflower was the first book I read in the series, and Lady Amber is almost certainly the underlying reason why squirrels are my favorite animal now, so when I saw she was nominated, I absolutely had to make the request. That said, my request as is pretty much covers it. I'd just like to see what she's like in those bookends of that piece of canon, and I'd be really interested in seeing what you come up with!
Galavant (TV)
* Madalena (Galavant)
I'd like a bit of postcanon here! Does Madalena succeed in learning the the intricacies and the full power of the D'DEW? Do Gareth and Sid manage to make their way over to divert her current course of action? Does it actually work? Does she end up becoming a dark queen or empress or something else entirely? I don't know! I would love to know what you think happens, no matter what it is!
Gaaaaaaaalaaaaaaaaavaaaaaaaaant! Musical comedy extravaganza that simultaneously didn't last nearly long enough and, yet, was a miracle that it lasted nearly as long as it did. Two short seasons! On Netflix! And absolutely freaking hysterical!
I had so many favorite characters in this show, but right now? Madalena was the one I most wanted to read about. Her story could be going anywhere and since we'll almost certainly never get to see it (*sheds a tear*), I'd love to at least get a concept of her future via fanfic. If, in the spirit of the canon, you feel like writing up some lyrics to insert for random songs, do feel free, but also do not remotely feel as if that's a necessity in the least!
This entry was originally posted at my Dreamwidth. Comment here or there, either's fine by me! :D