It's that time of year again...
Dear Yuletide author,
Thank you so much! Yuletide has become one of my favorite times of year, partially because it's fun and mostly because I can't wait until I get to see what everyone has done. Thank you in advance for your time and effort. I can tell you already that I will love it.
First things first, the general things I like and don't like, regardless of fandom.
Likes: Characters. Characters are my biggest thing. I've read and watched professionally done things that I was willing to give a lot of leeway to because even if they weren't great, they sold me on the characters as people I could get invested in. Beyond that, I love angst, romance, drama, humor, anything. I love seeing authors put characters through their paces. I also like AUs and crossovers, since I like seeing how different aspects of characters are explored when brought into contrast with new situations/people. Anything that explores why characters act why they do is gold to me.
Dislikes: This is a fairly short list. Rape, torture, character bashing. Everything else is somewhat dependent on the canon.
Which brings us to my requests.
Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant
Characters requested: Buffy Meissonier and Magdalene Grace Garcia
Maggie is without a doubt my favorite character in the Newsflesh trilogy, because she's kind of an anomaly given how much leeway her wealth and parents have given her--she can afford not to be afraid all the time. She never learned to be properly scared of animals or crowds. And then there's Buffy, who's both fun and incredibly tragic at the same time, especially on a reread. And when I read Deadline and saw that line from Maggie about how she never told Dave and never told Buffy... I started to ship it. Unrequited love among Fictionals.
So yes, Buffy/Maggie. Though I'd be happy with just Buffy/Maggie friendship, I'd really really like to see Buffy/Maggie in any form. One-sided crush, actual relationship, how they met, watching movies at Maggie's farmhouse, whatever sounds good.
It's really, really rare for me to actually ship things. But Buffy/Maggie absolutely intrigues me. I'm not sure anything ever actually happened there--for one thing, Maggie said that she "never told Buffy." (There's also Buffy's religion to consider, though she seems lax enough about it to have lots of pre-marital sex and write RPF porn. I grew up Catholic, so I do know that observation of faith in one way =/= observation in all ways. And there are plenty of GLBT Catholics. So this doesn't necessarily rule that out, but Buffy does seem to have a lot of Catholic guilt.) [ETA: I'm rereading Blackout and they did have sex at least once! This is what happens when I write a Dear Author letter several months after my last reread of the canon. I'm dumb.] But in any case, the fact that Maggie jumped ship from whatever place she was previously at to join After the End Times just because Buffy was there kind of tells you something. It's established that they were friends for some time before, and I'd like to see more of that interaction in any capacity. Preferably taking Maggie's crush into account, but anything of these two in any friendly way is gold with me.
The BAMF Girls Club
Characters Requested: Hermione Granger and Lisbeth Salander
My absolute favorite aspect of this series has been Hermione trying desperately to take charge and force people to get along. I'd love to see something about this, including anyone else you want to write about.
That said, one of my other favorite things in the series has been Lisbeth antagonizing everyone else in the house. Her provoking Hermione back in the first episode and then telling the camera, "I made a friend," amused me to no end. Including this in any capacity you see fit would be like the shiny foil wrapper on the chocolate candy of the story.
Pretty much exactly this. Also, preferably non-angsty. This series cries out for humor, really, even if it's humor plus relationships, or humor plus solving mysteries, or humor plus saving the world. Or the neighborhood. Or just keeping everyone in the house from killing each other.
This is also one that I'd like to emphasize the no character bashing in. I'm not a fan of Twilight, but the way Bella seems to be written is more good-natured pranking. Well, except for possibly killing and eating Jacob, but that was a misunderstanding, and Hermione mind-wiped her, which was nice, right? It's more situational humor poking fun at the contrast of the characters than being out-and-out mean spirited, at least the way I see it. And that's kind of what I feel like the series is about: poking fun at the weaknesses of the original canon of the characters, as well as the way they were written, while still enjoying them. (Or in Bella's case, enjoying pointing out how she's the anti-BAMF in the house.)
In any case, Hermione's frantic, forced good cheer and Lisbeth's purposeful antagonizing of everyone are what I'd most like to see featured. And very little angst. Everything else is completely up to you! If you'd like to bring in other BAMF characters, like when Arya guest-starred? Go for it! If you'd like to test out Buffy's theory about witches? Sure, why not? It's all good. Have fun!
Princeless
Characters requested: Adrienne, Bedelia, Sparky
I'd like Adrienne, Bedelia, and Sparky having adventures. Any kind of adventures. Just them being heroic, fighting against injustice, sexism, and poorly done fairy tale tropes.
This one is my most wide-open one, because there's just about anything you can do with "adventures." And I'm sorry, because I know that wide-open can be a curse just as much as it can be a blessing when it comes to prompts. Crossover with other fairy tales? Original adventure? Comedy? Romance? Tragedy? Whatever you choose, it's a princess with a sword and practical armor, a cheerful half-dwarf blacksmith with a giant hammer, and a big pink dragon. There are many, many adventures to be had.
Thanks again!
Thank you so much! Yuletide has become one of my favorite times of year, partially because it's fun and mostly because I can't wait until I get to see what everyone has done. Thank you in advance for your time and effort. I can tell you already that I will love it.
First things first, the general things I like and don't like, regardless of fandom.
Likes: Characters. Characters are my biggest thing. I've read and watched professionally done things that I was willing to give a lot of leeway to because even if they weren't great, they sold me on the characters as people I could get invested in. Beyond that, I love angst, romance, drama, humor, anything. I love seeing authors put characters through their paces. I also like AUs and crossovers, since I like seeing how different aspects of characters are explored when brought into contrast with new situations/people. Anything that explores why characters act why they do is gold to me.
Dislikes: This is a fairly short list. Rape, torture, character bashing. Everything else is somewhat dependent on the canon.
Which brings us to my requests.
Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant
Characters requested: Buffy Meissonier and Magdalene Grace Garcia
Maggie is without a doubt my favorite character in the Newsflesh trilogy, because she's kind of an anomaly given how much leeway her wealth and parents have given her--she can afford not to be afraid all the time. She never learned to be properly scared of animals or crowds. And then there's Buffy, who's both fun and incredibly tragic at the same time, especially on a reread. And when I read Deadline and saw that line from Maggie about how she never told Dave and never told Buffy... I started to ship it. Unrequited love among Fictionals.
So yes, Buffy/Maggie. Though I'd be happy with just Buffy/Maggie friendship, I'd really really like to see Buffy/Maggie in any form. One-sided crush, actual relationship, how they met, watching movies at Maggie's farmhouse, whatever sounds good.
It's really, really rare for me to actually ship things. But Buffy/Maggie absolutely intrigues me. I'm not sure anything ever actually happened there--for one thing, Maggie said that she "never told Buffy." (There's also Buffy's religion to consider, though she seems lax enough about it to have lots of pre-marital sex and write RPF porn. I grew up Catholic, so I do know that observation of faith in one way =/= observation in all ways. And there are plenty of GLBT Catholics. So this doesn't necessarily rule that out, but Buffy does seem to have a lot of Catholic guilt.) [ETA: I'm rereading Blackout and they did have sex at least once! This is what happens when I write a Dear Author letter several months after my last reread of the canon. I'm dumb.] But in any case, the fact that Maggie jumped ship from whatever place she was previously at to join After the End Times just because Buffy was there kind of tells you something. It's established that they were friends for some time before, and I'd like to see more of that interaction in any capacity. Preferably taking Maggie's crush into account, but anything of these two in any friendly way is gold with me.
The BAMF Girls Club
Characters Requested: Hermione Granger and Lisbeth Salander
My absolute favorite aspect of this series has been Hermione trying desperately to take charge and force people to get along. I'd love to see something about this, including anyone else you want to write about.
That said, one of my other favorite things in the series has been Lisbeth antagonizing everyone else in the house. Her provoking Hermione back in the first episode and then telling the camera, "I made a friend," amused me to no end. Including this in any capacity you see fit would be like the shiny foil wrapper on the chocolate candy of the story.
Pretty much exactly this. Also, preferably non-angsty. This series cries out for humor, really, even if it's humor plus relationships, or humor plus solving mysteries, or humor plus saving the world. Or the neighborhood. Or just keeping everyone in the house from killing each other.
This is also one that I'd like to emphasize the no character bashing in. I'm not a fan of Twilight, but the way Bella seems to be written is more good-natured pranking. Well, except for possibly killing and eating Jacob, but that was a misunderstanding, and Hermione mind-wiped her, which was nice, right? It's more situational humor poking fun at the contrast of the characters than being out-and-out mean spirited, at least the way I see it. And that's kind of what I feel like the series is about: poking fun at the weaknesses of the original canon of the characters, as well as the way they were written, while still enjoying them. (Or in Bella's case, enjoying pointing out how she's the anti-BAMF in the house.)
In any case, Hermione's frantic, forced good cheer and Lisbeth's purposeful antagonizing of everyone are what I'd most like to see featured. And very little angst. Everything else is completely up to you! If you'd like to bring in other BAMF characters, like when Arya guest-starred? Go for it! If you'd like to test out Buffy's theory about witches? Sure, why not? It's all good. Have fun!
Princeless
Characters requested: Adrienne, Bedelia, Sparky
I'd like Adrienne, Bedelia, and Sparky having adventures. Any kind of adventures. Just them being heroic, fighting against injustice, sexism, and poorly done fairy tale tropes.
This one is my most wide-open one, because there's just about anything you can do with "adventures." And I'm sorry, because I know that wide-open can be a curse just as much as it can be a blessing when it comes to prompts. Crossover with other fairy tales? Original adventure? Comedy? Romance? Tragedy? Whatever you choose, it's a princess with a sword and practical armor, a cheerful half-dwarf blacksmith with a giant hammer, and a big pink dragon. There are many, many adventures to be had.
Thanks again!