Dear Yulegoat,
To Whom It May Concern (AKA my darling yuletide anonymous fic-gifter):
A million thank-yous for taking the time to write a story for me. I don't know quite how I can describe exactly how excited I am about reading your fic, but I'm about as excited as the kitten in this gif:
(I am also rolling around on the floor and waving my stubby arms in glee.)
General
To be honest, genre isn't a huge deal to me. I love plot-driven fic just as much as atmospheric character pieces, so whatever you feel your strength is in regards to this will be absolutely fine by me. Having said that, I know it's a pain when someone says they're happy with anything (even though I really do mean it), so here are some of my preferences within several categories:
- Romance/Shipping -- Slow burn, UST, and longing either fulfilled or unfulfilled > established relationships. TBH, though, I like really intense (even to the point of unhealthiness) friendships with us-against-the-world mentalities just as much as actual romance
- Dark fic -- Dark, morbid humor, angst-fraught situations and morally ambiguous characters doing morally ambiguous things gives me strength. If that's your cup of tea, then please have at it.
- Mystery -- Suspense is key, and I love love love reading stories that are like puzzles, in which the reader gets bits and pieces that either don't make sense or seem unrelated until the narrative gets to the point that gathers them all together.
- Magical realism -- What I like best about this is the when the fantastic and nonsensical are made to appear matter-of-fact and almost below notice, when things like magic and the supernatural are put in a context in which they're part of the story without driving the story.
- AU -- I adore both canon-AU and total AU (a la everyone in this story is now diamonds a barista) usually, but I tend to have very specific preferences by fandom regarding this, so I'll cover them under the individual fandom.
Other things I like in fic:
- I'm a fan of non-linear storytelling and asides that give insight into character and/or plot
- Mythological and legendary elements or references are always welcome. I'm not actually asking for a retelling based on a myth, but finding parallels with myths in fic is lovely because I'm a total geek.
- Porn is always, always appreciated but absolutely not necessary for my enjoyment of a fic. If you do choose to include sexy-bits, my top tropes are oral fixation and messy-rough-feelingsss~ sex.
- Witty banter and smart dialogue: double-meanings, innuendo, and the importance of things unsaid rather than said.
- Subplots!
CLARE MEREDITH, MARK WINTERS
“There was a drift of sound, ancient pipe music, then a strange shifting, something coming alive, and a whisper, like a breath, moving through the shadows, 'She's coming...She's coming...'”
I have read this book at least once a year since I was twelve and I love it so much. It has so many things I like in a story: mysterious ancient ritual, mythological and paranormal elements, familial discord with a happy resolution, mazes, hot bikers...
One of my favorite aspects of this book is how it manages to be almost a slice-of-life piece but is at the same time a Big Damn Heroes epic. Because it's about a young couple falling in love in a tiny village in the English countryside, but it's also about how them falling in love and carrying out an ancient, terrifying ritual might literally save the world. This book really gives the phrase "sacred ordinary" new meaning, and that is awesome.
Okay, so I'll admit it: what I would really love to see from this request is some type of canon-AU. Possibilities include:
→ Clare and Mark meeting a couple years earlier than in canon--maybe Frances dies/is seriously injured and Clare has to go stay with her Aunt Vivienne. Or Mr. Aylward becomes seriously ill earlier and the timeline gets moved forward. Their love story is already so intense and mad in the book, I'd love to see it made that much more complicated by the fact that they're still teenagers, maybe around 15-17 years old. I want the desperation and longing and awkwardness of first love combined with the force of destined love.
→ Or the opposite of the earlier prompt, in which Clare decides to stay with her friend in London while her mother goes to Stoke Raven, and how she ends up there eventually (months or even years later), anyway.
→ A genderswap in which they are 'Clark' Meredith and 'Marie' Winters (or whatever names you choose). Or, a role reversal in which Clare is the Aylward Daughter and Mark is the Kenward Son and how an already frightening fate is made even scarier by the fact that tradition is that there must be an Aylward Son and Kenward Daughter or the Benison is lost.
If AUs, aren't your style, I'd also be really into some pre-series Mark-centric fic. Something about him always feeling tied to the land, and waiting for his Rosamund, before he truly understands that he is supposed to be a Guardian and the gradual process of learning about both. Alternatively, slice of life, future-fic is one of my favorite kinds of stories.
Crush - Richard Siken
HENRY
“If you love me, Henry, you don't love me in a way I understand.”
What I love about this collection of poetry is the overwhelming sense of panic and helplessness that is woven into the narrative. That, and the obsessive love that is tender and frightening at the same time. Whenever I read this, I always have the feeling that I'm on the edge of something terrible, and I'm powerless to avoid it. You'd think that would make me less inclined to read it, but it's just so stunningly lovely on so many levels: the tone, the construction of phrases and ideas, the overall story. It's an extremely atmospheric work, and when I read it emotion is the most important element, with character secondary. I always wonder about the two boys, especially Henry, but in the end I accept that I don't need my questions answered for the words to mean something to me.
The thing about Henry is: we never really get to know him. Even though he's such an integral part of the novel, we only ever see him through the eyes of a narrator who is A) in love with Henry and B) growing increasingly unstable. So show me Henry, however he may be: as the narrator sees him, or as someone entirely different, or someone in between.
→I would love to read the events that lead up to Henry and the Narrator coming together. What were some of the major events of his life up to that point? What would make him fall into the sort of scarily co-dependent arrangement we see in the poems?
→Or, Henry's side of the story--his real thoughts and feelings as opposed to the ones perceived by the narrator. Or, an outside POV of Henry that is not from the narrator.
Other things about this request: I would love prose or poetry equally, and I really enjoy the portrayal of Henry in Wishbone if you are looking for a base to start from.
The President's Daughter Series - Ellen Emerson White
MEGHAN POWERS
“'Think of your friends, Meg,' he father said. 'Every family has situations to which they have to adjust.'”
I first found this series when it was rereleased in 2008, and since then I have read it over and over again and have never grown tired of it. Meg is everything I love in a heroine: smart, brave, caring, but still with her share of flaws and problems. She doesn't always do the right thing, but I still admire her for her determination and loyalty to her family and friends, even when she isn't being very kind to them. I like the way the book gives us her rapid, sometimes loosely-connected but intelligent thought process in which she has constructed her own safe world.
Also, the political element of this book is fascinating. Especially when the political elements showcase Meg's perceptiveness and political savvy, and how everyone is always a little shocked by those things.
But what I really love about this series is that, it is at heart, a family saga. It is about a family that faces unique problems and has to figure out how to navigate those problems and remain a family. The parts of the books I love best are the ones that are about the relationship between Meg and her brothers, both separately and together, the relationship between Meg and her father, the relationship between Meg's father and mother, and most of all the relationship between Meg and her mother.
→I'd love to read a story about Katherine Powers' reelection campaign: Meg's feelings about it and role in it, the difficult times that strain the family, the effect it has on Meg and Kate's relationship.
→If you're up to a dark AU: something exploring what would have happened if Meg had died when she was kidnapped, in a The Lovely Bones-esque fic. Or, if she had just been held captive longer and developed a greater level of Stockholm Syndrome than she did (I am convinced she had at least some degree of Stockholm Syndrome even though she hated The Guy) from the kind of twisted camaraderie they developed.
→Another possibility I'd really like to see is an outside POV of Meg just after the series through newspaper articles, interviews, press releases, etc. And it has been mentioned more than once people hero worship her--you know there are tumblrs and lj comms and forums devoted to her.
If none of those appeal to you--you cannot go wrong with future-fic for me in this fandom. There are so many different possibilities for Meg, I would adore to read your take on where she is and what she's doing in 5, 10, 20, or however many years after the end of the books.
As for ships: Meg/Preston is completely adored, but I would really love to see Meg/Greg Knable--described on page 73 of the first book (as a refresher: she went to high school with him, his father's a semi-famous, wealthy businessman who is very actively against her mother, they kissed at a party right before her mother became the Democratic candidate, and it appeals to the illogical part of me that found Romeo & Juliet romantic when it's really actually horrifying).
The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
ACHILLES, PATROLCUS
“Name one hero who was happy.”
First off, let me just tell you: I have never liked Achilles. Not since my 4th grade class read an extremely watered down version of The Iliad and then I got to be Hector in our spring play. I always thought he was childish and selfish and was by no stretch of the imagination "the best of the Greeks."
And then I read this book.
I picked this book up despite it being about Achilles because A. historical fiction about the Trojan War is my kryptonite, and B. I kept seeing the book everywhere and hearing about how good it is, and then one day I just gave in. And it was even more amazing than I had been led to believe.
It managed to do what I had previously thought impossible--it made me like Achilles. He's still a flawed character, yes, but seen through the eyes of Patroclus the Achilles of this book has both good qualities and bad. Achilles is fiercely devoted to Patroclus in a way that is startling, and later heartbreaking, to read.
I like that it's essentially just a love story that Achilles and Patroclus are trying to prolong, because they are sharply aware of how their story will inevitably end. It's simple and beautiful in that way. And then it turns into a story about grief, the kind of grief that is overwhelming and it is beautiful in that way, too.
Mostly from this request, I just want Achilles/Patroclus as they are characterized in this book. Just that would make my day, but here are a couple of prompts I would be delighted to see:
→ Canon-AU in which Patroclus never gets sent to Achilles' father to be fostered; they meet during the war.
→ Something to do with reincarnation--maybe they're both always being reborn and finding each other and then being pulled apart violently because it's a cycle they are doomed to, and only one of them, or both remembers, and their lives as Achilles and Patroclus are either how the cycle starts or how it ends
→ Something atmospheric exploring how they're essentially prying each day together away from fate, and their quiet despair because they know they can't make it last forever (negl, it would be glorious if they had sex in this).
&&
Okay, so I've tried to give you as much info as I could because vagueness is for squares, but really these are all just suggestions. Use 'em, don't use 'em, whatever works for you. I'm just pleased that you're taking time to write a story for me in one of my favorite rare fandoms. Also, sorry I was late getting this letter up. Thank you, and happy yuletide.♥