measured_words (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
measured_words) wrote2013-10-09 10:41 pm
measured_words) wrote2013-10-09 10:41 pm
Entry tags:
Dear Yuletide Author!
Dear Amazing Yuletide Author:
Thanks, first of all, for writing! That is really the most important thing, and I will be delighted with whatever I wind up getting. I am scamming most of this from my last year’s letter (including this line!), so hopefully it will retain some amount of coherency.
So first of all.... I like stories with plot - with adventure, intrigue, and wacky hijinks. I also like stories that are more focused on character exploration, however – I don`t need action if I have interesting introspection. That said, introspection does not necessarily equate with excessive angsting. I also don't like major deviations from cannon - that is, I don't like people to act out of character, and I'm not a huge fan of AU's unless they're very clever. Funny is good, but not required.
I like porn, but I do not require it. If you have a preference for or against in whatever you wind up writing, knock yourself out, I will appreciate it. If you include porn, I prefer it to be somehow relevant to the story – either it develops character relationships, or is vital to some zany caper or what have you. I’m not a big fan of pwp or sex thrown into a story randomly. Porn can certainly *be* the main action, so to speak, but I like it better if it is more than just some random bodies pressing up against each other in interesting ways. I'm really hard to squick – I can handle the weird stuff, so to speak, so don't be afraid to show me your kinks! More than anything, I want to be able to believe that the sex I'm reading is in character for whoever I'm reading about – not necessarily that it is something they want, but that the reactions I'm reading are true to whoever is having them, if that makes any sense.
If you are looking to find out more about me, I have a more mundane and fairly neglected lj/dw over atelanya, and I am I am often online in the yuletide chat (which you can find out how to access here), either as Lan-chilling, hippo-Lan, or some other similar configuration of Lan-somethingorother. I am also Measured_Words on AO3 :)
On to the specifics! Please note that these are in no particular order :D
Hadestown - Anais Mitchell
Any - nominated: Hades, Persephone, Orpheus, Eurydice, Hermes, The Fates
Hadestown is a Folk Opera retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. The whole this is up on youtube - check out the playlist above!
I would seriously love to see more fic about any of the relationships in the musical, but I admit that I am most interested in things that cut through or across the relationship lines, like Hades/Eurydice, or Persephone/Orpheus, or even Persephone/Eurydice and Hades/Orpheus! I am happy whether those relationships are shippy or gen, and whatever rating you want to make them, but I would like to see more of those dynamics explored, especially in relation to how they affect what happens in the story as presented in the musical, or after it.
As far as the other characters go, I love Hermes in any and all form and would love to know more about his place in this world, and his role in this version of the story. Why does he help Orpheus here? Has he seen other girls like Eurydice come through to Hadestown? What are his relationships like with the other characters? Does he help Persephone smuggle things in from the outside/upper world? The same goes for The Fates - how do they fit into this world, and what is their connection to the others, and especially Eurydice? Are they maybe other girls who have previously piqued Hades' interest in the same way? And if yes, what does Persephone think of them?
The Shadow (Pulps)
Any - nominated: The Shadow, Harry Vincent, Margo Lane, Joe Cardona
I love the Shadow in pretty much all its iterations. For anyone not already familiar with him, or his extended franchise, the easiest shorthand is to say that he is a pulp/radio drama detective from the 30's, who is also the original Batman. I didn’t specify any characters here, but mostly because due to the nature of the stories I thought it best not to limit my author (that’s you, you wonderful person :D) Use any of the agents, off doing agenty things. Focus on the Shadow! Explore the relationship dynamics that come out of living in a mostly all-male world! Subvert the terrible Orientalism, or the mind-bogglingly ridiculous Great White Man myth that is at the heart of The Shadow's identity in the stories! Whatever you like! I do like action-y stories, which would work well here, but I also like stories about how background people are affected by The Shadow, directly or indirectly. You don’t even to use The Shadow himself if you don’t want to, but feel free to do so if that’s your desire! I also think it would be cool to read a story that is more from the point of view of some of the criminal elements. This is probably the fandom on the list where my ‘porn must contribute to the story or characters’ guideline is something I feel most strongly about. If it is integral that, say, Harry has to bang someone to get info, or you want to look at the sexual dynamics between Margot, the real Lamont, and The Shadow (or between the Shadow and any of his agents), that would also be awesome, as long as it isn’t *just* porn with some names pasted on. Also, if you really want to write something in the tone of the original, with all its issues, that is cool, go right ahead! I realize the canon is as problematic as all get out, but I love it anyway.
Invisible Light - Scissor Sisters (Song)
No characters nommed
Babylon,
Where bricks of mortared diamonds tower,
Sailor's lust and swagger lazing in moon's beams,
Whose laser gaze penetrates this sparkling theater of excess and strobed lights,
Painted whores, sexual gladiators, fiercely old party children,
All wake from their slumber to debut the Bacchanal.
This song is so suggestive to me, and I can listen to it over and over and over. It's very trance-y. What is the invisible light? Who is the audience here? Is this just all about drugs? Some metaphysical transcendence (through drugs/music?)? What about the monologue by Sir Ian McKellen (yes really) - what's that about? If you just want to take a piece of this and run with it, that would be awesome. If you want to watch the crazy... B-grade/exploitation/cult-movie like video and tell me anything about that, I'm also totally game.
My Imaginary Well Dressed Toddler Daughter
Any - nominated: Quinoa, Quinoa's Mom, Chevron
I didn't nominate this, but I love whoever did! I had an epiphany about how great a Yuletide fandom it would be the other day, and was delighted to see it on the list. If you are not familiar, it is a Pinterest (I think there is also a tumblr, facbook, etc) where the 'Mother' posts anecdotes about the opinions and antics of her imaginary well dressed toddler daughter, Quinoa. Quinoa has several friends with equally clever names like Hashtag, Ellipses, and Chevron. I think Chevron is the only one nominated.
If you would like to write me anything about the imaginary lives of these imaginary people, in the style of the pinterest comments, that's awesome. What's it like to be Quinoa's mother? One of Quinoa's friends? What does Quinoa do to handle being so precocious and avant garde?
If you would like to write me something exploring the existential horror that underlies the whole concept of this collection of overly mature children suffering from ennui... that would also be awesome :D Feel free to go someplace very dark with this if it strikes your fancy - I think it has the potential to inspire something truly unsettling.
The Death of the Necromancer - Martha Wells
Nicholas Valliarde, Arisilde Damal
I love this book - it remains my favourite of Wells's novels. I love the setting - Victorian gaslight fantasy - and I love that the protagonists are of ambiguous morals. I love that Nicholas is a devious schemer with his own agenda. I love that Arisilde ruined himself out of spite.
I will re-state (and honestly) that if you have something different in mind for your story - go ahead and write that! But this is the one fandom that I do have actual specific desires for. I really want to see how Nicholas dealt with Arisilde not as he is in the book, but as he became more and more heavily addicted to opium. What was their relationship like before (and... slashiness is perfectly acceptable here, explicit or otherwise!), what stages did it go through... Did Arisilde regret what he was doing or have any second thoughts? Did Nicholas try and stop him? I admit that I can't remember exactly what the book says on the subject but I know that there is certainly room for further development of the theme! Feel free to go as dark as you want with this, delving into the darker side of addictions, frustration and difficulties of dealing with addicts, consent issues surrounding drug use, whatever, I'm game if you are! And if you are not, don't stress about it, I will happily read and enjoy lighter material as well :)
If that doesn't float your boat, anything with the two of them will probably make me happy and while I tend to ship them, you don't have to. They're both brilliant, but their minds are very very different, and it is a fascinating relationship to me no matter how close you want to make it. And if you are a Madeline fan, I am also happy to see her with Nicholas, and in fact would rather not just see their relationship ignored or dismissed if you're dealing with that period in canon.
The Witch's Son
Any - nominated: The Witch's Son
(image is a link to the larger version)
I was really enchanted with this image when I first saw it linked, and I literally had dreams about requesting it last night, so obviously that means it was meant to be! -err, requested, at least, we will see about written!
My semi-awake thoughts were quite focused on the relationship of the title to the piece - who is the witch's son, and why is he only known in relation to his mother (or parent, at least, if you don't see 'witch' as a necessarily gendered word). Is there something subsuming about that relationship? Is he the son of a particular witch, perhaps out of a particular folk story or fairy tale, and how does that influence his identity? The witch was not nominated, but obviously give a lot of context to the image, so if you want to poke around more with him/her, feel free!
I was also considering the theme of transformation associated with witches - Circe turning men into pigs, for example, or the witch in Snow White turning herself into an old woman, generic witches turning people into toads - there are plenty of other examples. If you want to take that theme and run with it (along the lines of age/sex/gender/form, whatever) that would be awesome. There are lots of potential targets for transformation in the picture (or implied by it) other than the son or witch as well - the cat (who looks so proud of him!), the small creature he's bleeding, the creepy doll, or something on one of the shelves...
As with the other requests I've seen, I just think there is so much potential packed into this image!
Whatever you write me in any fandom, wonderful author person, I am sure to love it, so thank you!
Thanks, first of all, for writing! That is really the most important thing, and I will be delighted with whatever I wind up getting. I am scamming most of this from my last year’s letter (including this line!), so hopefully it will retain some amount of coherency.
So first of all.... I like stories with plot - with adventure, intrigue, and wacky hijinks. I also like stories that are more focused on character exploration, however – I don`t need action if I have interesting introspection. That said, introspection does not necessarily equate with excessive angsting. I also don't like major deviations from cannon - that is, I don't like people to act out of character, and I'm not a huge fan of AU's unless they're very clever. Funny is good, but not required.
I like porn, but I do not require it. If you have a preference for or against in whatever you wind up writing, knock yourself out, I will appreciate it. If you include porn, I prefer it to be somehow relevant to the story – either it develops character relationships, or is vital to some zany caper or what have you. I’m not a big fan of pwp or sex thrown into a story randomly. Porn can certainly *be* the main action, so to speak, but I like it better if it is more than just some random bodies pressing up against each other in interesting ways. I'm really hard to squick – I can handle the weird stuff, so to speak, so don't be afraid to show me your kinks! More than anything, I want to be able to believe that the sex I'm reading is in character for whoever I'm reading about – not necessarily that it is something they want, but that the reactions I'm reading are true to whoever is having them, if that makes any sense.
If you are looking to find out more about me, I have a more mundane and fairly neglected lj/dw over at
elanya, and I am I am often online in the yuletide chat (which you can find out how to access here), either as Lan-chilling, hippo-Lan, or some other similar configuration of Lan-somethingorother. I am also Measured_Words on AO3 :) On to the specifics! Please note that these are in no particular order :D
Hadestown - Anais Mitchell
Any - nominated: Hades, Persephone, Orpheus, Eurydice, Hermes, The Fates
Hadestown is a Folk Opera retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. The whole this is up on youtube - check out the playlist above!
I would seriously love to see more fic about any of the relationships in the musical, but I admit that I am most interested in things that cut through or across the relationship lines, like Hades/Eurydice, or Persephone/Orpheus, or even Persephone/Eurydice and Hades/Orpheus! I am happy whether those relationships are shippy or gen, and whatever rating you want to make them, but I would like to see more of those dynamics explored, especially in relation to how they affect what happens in the story as presented in the musical, or after it.
As far as the other characters go, I love Hermes in any and all form and would love to know more about his place in this world, and his role in this version of the story. Why does he help Orpheus here? Has he seen other girls like Eurydice come through to Hadestown? What are his relationships like with the other characters? Does he help Persephone smuggle things in from the outside/upper world? The same goes for The Fates - how do they fit into this world, and what is their connection to the others, and especially Eurydice? Are they maybe other girls who have previously piqued Hades' interest in the same way? And if yes, what does Persephone think of them?
The Shadow (Pulps)
Any - nominated: The Shadow, Harry Vincent, Margo Lane, Joe Cardona
I love the Shadow in pretty much all its iterations. For anyone not already familiar with him, or his extended franchise, the easiest shorthand is to say that he is a pulp/radio drama detective from the 30's, who is also the original Batman. I didn’t specify any characters here, but mostly because due to the nature of the stories I thought it best not to limit my author (that’s you, you wonderful person :D) Use any of the agents, off doing agenty things. Focus on the Shadow! Explore the relationship dynamics that come out of living in a mostly all-male world! Subvert the terrible Orientalism, or the mind-bogglingly ridiculous Great White Man myth that is at the heart of The Shadow's identity in the stories! Whatever you like! I do like action-y stories, which would work well here, but I also like stories about how background people are affected by The Shadow, directly or indirectly. You don’t even to use The Shadow himself if you don’t want to, but feel free to do so if that’s your desire! I also think it would be cool to read a story that is more from the point of view of some of the criminal elements. This is probably the fandom on the list where my ‘porn must contribute to the story or characters’ guideline is something I feel most strongly about. If it is integral that, say, Harry has to bang someone to get info, or you want to look at the sexual dynamics between Margot, the real Lamont, and The Shadow (or between the Shadow and any of his agents), that would also be awesome, as long as it isn’t *just* porn with some names pasted on. Also, if you really want to write something in the tone of the original, with all its issues, that is cool, go right ahead! I realize the canon is as problematic as all get out, but I love it anyway.
Invisible Light - Scissor Sisters (Song)
No characters nommed
Babylon,
Where bricks of mortared diamonds tower,
Sailor's lust and swagger lazing in moon's beams,
Whose laser gaze penetrates this sparkling theater of excess and strobed lights,
Painted whores, sexual gladiators, fiercely old party children,
All wake from their slumber to debut the Bacchanal.
This song is so suggestive to me, and I can listen to it over and over and over. It's very trance-y. What is the invisible light? Who is the audience here? Is this just all about drugs? Some metaphysical transcendence (through drugs/music?)? What about the monologue by Sir Ian McKellen (yes really) - what's that about? If you just want to take a piece of this and run with it, that would be awesome. If you want to watch the crazy... B-grade/exploitation/cult-movie like video and tell me anything about that, I'm also totally game.
My Imaginary Well Dressed Toddler Daughter
Any - nominated: Quinoa, Quinoa's Mom, Chevron
I didn't nominate this, but I love whoever did! I had an epiphany about how great a Yuletide fandom it would be the other day, and was delighted to see it on the list. If you are not familiar, it is a Pinterest (I think there is also a tumblr, facbook, etc) where the 'Mother' posts anecdotes about the opinions and antics of her imaginary well dressed toddler daughter, Quinoa. Quinoa has several friends with equally clever names like Hashtag, Ellipses, and Chevron. I think Chevron is the only one nominated.
If you would like to write me anything about the imaginary lives of these imaginary people, in the style of the pinterest comments, that's awesome. What's it like to be Quinoa's mother? One of Quinoa's friends? What does Quinoa do to handle being so precocious and avant garde?
If you would like to write me something exploring the existential horror that underlies the whole concept of this collection of overly mature children suffering from ennui... that would also be awesome :D Feel free to go someplace very dark with this if it strikes your fancy - I think it has the potential to inspire something truly unsettling.
The Death of the Necromancer - Martha Wells
Nicholas Valliarde, Arisilde Damal
I love this book - it remains my favourite of Wells's novels. I love the setting - Victorian gaslight fantasy - and I love that the protagonists are of ambiguous morals. I love that Nicholas is a devious schemer with his own agenda. I love that Arisilde ruined himself out of spite.
I will re-state (and honestly) that if you have something different in mind for your story - go ahead and write that! But this is the one fandom that I do have actual specific desires for. I really want to see how Nicholas dealt with Arisilde not as he is in the book, but as he became more and more heavily addicted to opium. What was their relationship like before (and... slashiness is perfectly acceptable here, explicit or otherwise!), what stages did it go through... Did Arisilde regret what he was doing or have any second thoughts? Did Nicholas try and stop him? I admit that I can't remember exactly what the book says on the subject but I know that there is certainly room for further development of the theme! Feel free to go as dark as you want with this, delving into the darker side of addictions, frustration and difficulties of dealing with addicts, consent issues surrounding drug use, whatever, I'm game if you are! And if you are not, don't stress about it, I will happily read and enjoy lighter material as well :)
If that doesn't float your boat, anything with the two of them will probably make me happy and while I tend to ship them, you don't have to. They're both brilliant, but their minds are very very different, and it is a fascinating relationship to me no matter how close you want to make it. And if you are a Madeline fan, I am also happy to see her with Nicholas, and in fact would rather not just see their relationship ignored or dismissed if you're dealing with that period in canon.
The Witch's Son
Any - nominated: The Witch's Son
(image is a link to the larger version)
I was really enchanted with this image when I first saw it linked, and I literally had dreams about requesting it last night, so obviously that means it was meant to be! -err, requested, at least, we will see about written!
My semi-awake thoughts were quite focused on the relationship of the title to the piece - who is the witch's son, and why is he only known in relation to his mother (or parent, at least, if you don't see 'witch' as a necessarily gendered word). Is there something subsuming about that relationship? Is he the son of a particular witch, perhaps out of a particular folk story or fairy tale, and how does that influence his identity? The witch was not nominated, but obviously give a lot of context to the image, so if you want to poke around more with him/her, feel free!
I was also considering the theme of transformation associated with witches - Circe turning men into pigs, for example, or the witch in Snow White turning herself into an old woman, generic witches turning people into toads - there are plenty of other examples. If you want to take that theme and run with it (along the lines of age/sex/gender/form, whatever) that would be awesome. There are lots of potential targets for transformation in the picture (or implied by it) other than the son or witch as well - the cat (who looks so proud of him!), the small creature he's bleeding, the creepy doll, or something on one of the shelves...
As with the other requests I've seen, I just think there is so much potential packed into this image!
Whatever you write me in any fandom, wonderful author person, I am sure to love it, so thank you!