![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Dear Yuletide Author,
Yay, it’s time for Yuletide again!
I love both the process of writing for Yuletide, and then getting to read all the other creative things people have come up with in so many different fandoms. I’m looking forward to what this year brings too.
This is a bit lengthy, but I hope it's the helpful sort of lengthy, and you can just focus on the bits of particular interest to you.
Most of my journal is locked, and I realise that makes it a little harder to get a sense of me and what I like, but you can get an idea from my Yuletide tag which has public comments on things I have gotten as gifts, things I reccomended to others, and past Dear Author letters. In general, things from previous years still apply this year (in terms of general comments), unless I mention otherwise.
If you’d like to check out what I’ve written in the past, here’s my works page on AO3. I am also![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Jenett there.
Looking at my requests this year, it's clear that they all have a sense of place as part of what I love about these canons. If you're able to make that a part of the fic you write, I will be delighted!
Things I like a lot
- Worldbuilding. Especially worldbuilding that illuminates something in the canon. How things work behind the plots we see in the canon, snippets of daily life, how magic or myth works out in practice.
- Geekery. About magical theory, about folklore and literature, about cooking, about ... yeah, geekery is good.
- Competent people being really competent.
- People being good to each other. I mean, not all the time, and not everyone in the story, because then you get no plot, but I like stories that are about some of the people looking out for each other, and that helping.
- Complicated choices. It's a complicated world out there, and people make all kinds of choices, and some of them work, and some of them don't, and some of them go unexpected places. If you want to pick a plot trope I will love most, this is probably it.
Things I am not so thrilled about:
- Explicit sex (or kind of sex), graphic violence, language choice, etc. that go beyond where canon goes. (Not really an issue for these canons, but it's nice to be clear.)
- Non-canon relationships, AUs, and crossovers all depend a lot on the set-up for me, and that generally takes more words than is reasonable to expect in a Yuletide story. If you have a plot bunny that won’t let you go, please check through the mods.
- I have a thing about not liking narratives which rely on teachers or mentors being stupid, entirely inobservant, etc. (Some are, but it's when every teacher in the narrative is that I go grr a lot.) It’s particularly relevant for my In Other Lands request this year.
Characters:
Commander Woodsinger (In Other Lands)
Rachel Sunborn (In Other Lands)
Louise Sunborn (In Other Lands
What I love about this book
Like a lot of other people, I find there’s a lot to delight me here. Elliot’s snarkiness! I said in a comment to someone about it that none of the plot hugely surprised me (since once you spot the tropes, it’s possible to spot how they’ll get messed with), but I found how things spun out enticing and fun and I would love more.
In particular, it’s the secondary characters who get me here. I’m certainly up for more Elliot and Luke and Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, but what I’d love for Yuletide is fic about Commander Woodsinger, or about Louise or Rachel Sunborn. I’m fine if the fic focuses on one of them, and whatever other characters make sense (Myra’s not in the nomination list, but I also find Myra particularly fascinating if you contemplating characters to include.)
I also love the worldbuilding here: how the different races and communities have their own cultures, and that what we see on first glance is not necessarily what's actually true when you get further in. I really appreciate that the relationships are complicated - that people don't always like the things they're 'supposed' to like, that things get messy, that it's hard to talk about what matters most to us (and how people deal with that in different ways, some better than others.)
Ideas
I’m fascinated by Commander Woodsinger’s backstory. We see hints of it all through the book, but never in a lot of detail (which is appropriate, really, given that we see it from Elliot’s POV). Having worked in a high school in the past, I find the way she treats Elliot fascinating - the mix of ‘I know what you’re doing, this isn’t new’ and yet recognising that he’s not like most people there and trying to figure out what does work for him (and for the people around him) is pretty compelling to me.
Likewise, Luke’s family, especially his mother and sister, are intriguing. I love how Rachel takes Elliot in, without smothering, but just being honestly pleased (well, most of the time). And Louise’s more free-wheeling action adventures are just fun, even when they’re also amazingly dangerous.
I’d love to see more of the family dynamics with Rachel, Louise, or both, either during the time frame of the book, or before or after. I'm also curious about how the Sunborns interact with other long-time Borderland human families, because clearly they're doing things their own way a fair amount. Does that annoy other people they interact with? Are people awed?
If you want a plot to hang any of that on, I am totally up for more adventures where people meet mythical beings, of whatever kind. (Dragons? A sphinx? More about the dwarves?)
Characters:
Jason Cameron
Rosalind Hawkins
What I love about this book
I was delighted to see this was nominated - it’s a book I pick up for reliable escapist rereading from time to time, because I am a sucker for the tropes it plays with.
Academic heroine! (And oh, that scene on the train, with the Homer!) Excellent horses! Hubris and consequences! The references to music, and the power of experiences to move and change people…
I also like the role that San Francisco plays in the story - not just the climactic earthquake and fire, but a sense of it being a living breathing place with many faces. And then, the contrast of the isolation of Jason's house, and the ways it is both peaceful at times, and a place of a lot of chaos at others.
Ideas
Here, I’m more interested in a what happens next, especially with the two of them settling into a long-term relationship, magical exploration (somewhat more sensibly than Jason’s earlier efforts). Does Rose spend some time on academic study in other areas? If so, what? What does Jason do with himself when he’s less obsessed with a quick fix? How do they deal with the tension of Jason's limits on where he can go (looking as he does) and his potential desire to give Rose experiences she hasn't been able to have (music, theatre, travel?)
Please avoid magical cure stories here - as someone who's got multiple chronic things, they make me unhappy. (I also think in this case, they undermine the book itself). Stories about Jason learning more about living with the body he has now, or time and effort leading to some improvements (rather than poof-magical-cure) are fine things, though.
Characters requested
Jennifer Vaughan
Abdul Haqq Walid
What I love about the series
I am a sucker for detailed worldbuilding and books with a strong sense of place - and even more so when there’s such a great cast of characters and perspectives. Peter’s exploration of the world and his scientific approach particularly intrigue me.
I've had the pleasure of being in London multiple times, and one of the things I enjoy about this canon is the sense of rootedness, of having walked through Russell Square and wondering exactly where the Folly is,
Ideas
I like so many of the possibilities here, and it’s a rich fandom for all sorts of reasons. For Yuletide, I’d particularly love to see a bit more of the medical investigation side of things as a window of seeing more of some characters (the glimpses we get of Jennifer Vaughan’s approach are so tantalising - and are members of her family fairies?) so I picked Drs Vaughan and Walid here.
Feel free to include any other characters that make sense to you. Have they discovered a body of some odd being they’re trying to identify? Do they get brought in to a case that isn’t the Folly’s, but looks like it should be? Does someone try to get them to do something perfectly ordinary, but it goes sideways because they’ve become used to different standard assumptions? Backstory for Jennifer Vaughan would also be grand.
Other useful info
While I've requested the relevant doctors, please don't feel you need to focus on medical detail - I'm much more interested in the conversations and discoveries and interactions that come out of the information they find than the details of how they find it.
Trying to figure out who else might show up? I am particularly fond of Peter, Nightingale, Miriam Stephanopolous, Sahra Guleed, Molly, and the Rivers if you want to narrow down who else might show up a bit. I would rather avoid focusing on Lesley May’s treachery for purposes of a Yuletide fic, though it being referenced or a background thread is fine.
I have read the comics, but specifics from things in that format do not stick in my head well, so please don’t feel like you need to include details only found there.
Characters:
Rose Marshall
What I love about this
Again, the worldbuilding, and the range of interactions. How the magical parts work, and interweave with story and myth and urban legend. Rose’s determination about moving forward, even when any sensible person would have given up long ago.
Again, I find the role of place fascinating here. I was born and raised in suburban Massachusetts, but I've also spent years living in Minnesota (a rather different landscape), in Michigan, and in rural Maine, and the sense of how spaces are different in different parts of the country that runs through this book is one of the things I love about it. More of that would make me particularly happy.
Ideas
I’d love to see more of Rose’s interactions with people as she’s travelled - we get plenty of these in the book, but I’m hungry for more. I’d particularly love to see more of how she deals with changing times and customs, or relationships she’s built up over time with people we don’t see as much in the book.
(I feel like my notes here are skimpy, and it's mostly because it's been the longest since I've reread Sparrow Hill Road - I'd actually been saving it for an October reread. Please be assured that if there is Rose Marshall, and there is some exploration of the world she inhabits, I will be delighted.)
I love both the process of writing for Yuletide, and then getting to read all the other creative things people have come up with in so many different fandoms. I’m looking forward to what this year brings too.
This is a bit lengthy, but I hope it's the helpful sort of lengthy, and you can just focus on the bits of particular interest to you.
Most of my journal is locked, and I realise that makes it a little harder to get a sense of me and what I like, but you can get an idea from my Yuletide tag which has public comments on things I have gotten as gifts, things I reccomended to others, and past Dear Author letters. In general, things from previous years still apply this year (in terms of general comments), unless I mention otherwise.
If you’d like to check out what I’ve written in the past, here’s my works page on AO3. I am also
General notes
Looking at my requests this year, it's clear that they all have a sense of place as part of what I love about these canons. If you're able to make that a part of the fic you write, I will be delighted!
Things I like a lot
- Worldbuilding. Especially worldbuilding that illuminates something in the canon. How things work behind the plots we see in the canon, snippets of daily life, how magic or myth works out in practice.
- Geekery. About magical theory, about folklore and literature, about cooking, about ... yeah, geekery is good.
- Competent people being really competent.
- People being good to each other. I mean, not all the time, and not everyone in the story, because then you get no plot, but I like stories that are about some of the people looking out for each other, and that helping.
- Complicated choices. It's a complicated world out there, and people make all kinds of choices, and some of them work, and some of them don't, and some of them go unexpected places. If you want to pick a plot trope I will love most, this is probably it.
Things I am not so thrilled about:
- Explicit sex (or kind of sex), graphic violence, language choice, etc. that go beyond where canon goes. (Not really an issue for these canons, but it's nice to be clear.)
- Non-canon relationships, AUs, and crossovers all depend a lot on the set-up for me, and that generally takes more words than is reasonable to expect in a Yuletide story. If you have a plot bunny that won’t let you go, please check through the mods.
- I have a thing about not liking narratives which rely on teachers or mentors being stupid, entirely inobservant, etc. (Some are, but it's when every teacher in the narrative is that I go grr a lot.) It’s particularly relevant for my In Other Lands request this year.
In Other Lands - Sarah Rees Brennan
Characters:
Commander Woodsinger (In Other Lands)
Rachel Sunborn (In Other Lands)
Louise Sunborn (In Other Lands
What I love about this book
Like a lot of other people, I find there’s a lot to delight me here. Elliot’s snarkiness! I said in a comment to someone about it that none of the plot hugely surprised me (since once you spot the tropes, it’s possible to spot how they’ll get messed with), but I found how things spun out enticing and fun and I would love more.
In particular, it’s the secondary characters who get me here. I’m certainly up for more Elliot and Luke and Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, but what I’d love for Yuletide is fic about Commander Woodsinger, or about Louise or Rachel Sunborn. I’m fine if the fic focuses on one of them, and whatever other characters make sense (Myra’s not in the nomination list, but I also find Myra particularly fascinating if you contemplating characters to include.)
I also love the worldbuilding here: how the different races and communities have their own cultures, and that what we see on first glance is not necessarily what's actually true when you get further in. I really appreciate that the relationships are complicated - that people don't always like the things they're 'supposed' to like, that things get messy, that it's hard to talk about what matters most to us (and how people deal with that in different ways, some better than others.)
Ideas
I’m fascinated by Commander Woodsinger’s backstory. We see hints of it all through the book, but never in a lot of detail (which is appropriate, really, given that we see it from Elliot’s POV). Having worked in a high school in the past, I find the way she treats Elliot fascinating - the mix of ‘I know what you’re doing, this isn’t new’ and yet recognising that he’s not like most people there and trying to figure out what does work for him (and for the people around him) is pretty compelling to me.
Likewise, Luke’s family, especially his mother and sister, are intriguing. I love how Rachel takes Elliot in, without smothering, but just being honestly pleased (well, most of the time). And Louise’s more free-wheeling action adventures are just fun, even when they’re also amazingly dangerous.
I’d love to see more of the family dynamics with Rachel, Louise, or both, either during the time frame of the book, or before or after. I'm also curious about how the Sunborns interact with other long-time Borderland human families, because clearly they're doing things their own way a fair amount. Does that annoy other people they interact with? Are people awed?
If you want a plot to hang any of that on, I am totally up for more adventures where people meet mythical beings, of whatever kind. (Dragons? A sphinx? More about the dwarves?)
The Fire Rose - Mercedes Lackey
Characters:
Jason Cameron
Rosalind Hawkins
What I love about this book
I was delighted to see this was nominated - it’s a book I pick up for reliable escapist rereading from time to time, because I am a sucker for the tropes it plays with.
Academic heroine! (And oh, that scene on the train, with the Homer!) Excellent horses! Hubris and consequences! The references to music, and the power of experiences to move and change people…
I also like the role that San Francisco plays in the story - not just the climactic earthquake and fire, but a sense of it being a living breathing place with many faces. And then, the contrast of the isolation of Jason's house, and the ways it is both peaceful at times, and a place of a lot of chaos at others.
Ideas
Here, I’m more interested in a what happens next, especially with the two of them settling into a long-term relationship, magical exploration (somewhat more sensibly than Jason’s earlier efforts). Does Rose spend some time on academic study in other areas? If so, what? What does Jason do with himself when he’s less obsessed with a quick fix? How do they deal with the tension of Jason's limits on where he can go (looking as he does) and his potential desire to give Rose experiences she hasn't been able to have (music, theatre, travel?)
Please avoid magical cure stories here - as someone who's got multiple chronic things, they make me unhappy. (I also think in this case, they undermine the book itself). Stories about Jason learning more about living with the body he has now, or time and effort leading to some improvements (rather than poof-magical-cure) are fine things, though.
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Characters requested
Jennifer Vaughan
Abdul Haqq Walid
What I love about the series
I am a sucker for detailed worldbuilding and books with a strong sense of place - and even more so when there’s such a great cast of characters and perspectives. Peter’s exploration of the world and his scientific approach particularly intrigue me.
I've had the pleasure of being in London multiple times, and one of the things I enjoy about this canon is the sense of rootedness, of having walked through Russell Square and wondering exactly where the Folly is,
Ideas
I like so many of the possibilities here, and it’s a rich fandom for all sorts of reasons. For Yuletide, I’d particularly love to see a bit more of the medical investigation side of things as a window of seeing more of some characters (the glimpses we get of Jennifer Vaughan’s approach are so tantalising - and are members of her family fairies?) so I picked Drs Vaughan and Walid here.
Feel free to include any other characters that make sense to you. Have they discovered a body of some odd being they’re trying to identify? Do they get brought in to a case that isn’t the Folly’s, but looks like it should be? Does someone try to get them to do something perfectly ordinary, but it goes sideways because they’ve become used to different standard assumptions? Backstory for Jennifer Vaughan would also be grand.
Other useful info
While I've requested the relevant doctors, please don't feel you need to focus on medical detail - I'm much more interested in the conversations and discoveries and interactions that come out of the information they find than the details of how they find it.
Trying to figure out who else might show up? I am particularly fond of Peter, Nightingale, Miriam Stephanopolous, Sahra Guleed, Molly, and the Rivers if you want to narrow down who else might show up a bit. I would rather avoid focusing on Lesley May’s treachery for purposes of a Yuletide fic, though it being referenced or a background thread is fine.
I have read the comics, but specifics from things in that format do not stick in my head well, so please don’t feel like you need to include details only found there.
Sparrow Hill Road - Seanan McGuire
Characters:
Rose Marshall
What I love about this
Again, the worldbuilding, and the range of interactions. How the magical parts work, and interweave with story and myth and urban legend. Rose’s determination about moving forward, even when any sensible person would have given up long ago.
Again, I find the role of place fascinating here. I was born and raised in suburban Massachusetts, but I've also spent years living in Minnesota (a rather different landscape), in Michigan, and in rural Maine, and the sense of how spaces are different in different parts of the country that runs through this book is one of the things I love about it. More of that would make me particularly happy.
Ideas
I’d love to see more of Rose’s interactions with people as she’s travelled - we get plenty of these in the book, but I’m hungry for more. I’d particularly love to see more of how she deals with changing times and customs, or relationships she’s built up over time with people we don’t see as much in the book.
(I feel like my notes here are skimpy, and it's mostly because it's been the longest since I've reread Sparrow Hill Road - I'd actually been saving it for an October reread. Please be assured that if there is Rose Marshall, and there is some exploration of the world she inhabits, I will be delighted.)