Dear Yuletide Writer 2016
Oct. 2nd, 2016 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxinthestarsGreetings to my assigned writer and other Yuletiders gracious enough to stop by! Hope you're having a good time! I've been doing Yuletide for several years now and it's become a beloved personal tradition --- so if you notice that my letter is 70% recycled material, well, that doesn't mean I love it all any less!
I'm![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
foxinthestars at Ao3, same as DW/LJ.
LIKES:
Sympathetic Protagonists
Explorations of Issues, Ideas, and Sticky Messes
Character Pieces
Genfic
Drama and Angst
Fluff and WAFF
Fixer-upper and "What If?" AUs
Sensuality and Description Porn
(Note that not all of these are necessarily applicable to all my prompts, so don't think you have to check them all off or anything.)
DO NOT WANTS:
Humiliation/Abasement/Embarrassment
Rape, Non-con, Dub-con
Grimdark
Actual Porn
I also tend to be pretty "meh" about genre/setting-change AUs and crossovers.
(Note that not all of these are necessarily things I disapprove of or even dislike, just things I'd prefer not to receive in the exchange)
And here are my prompts with additional notes, roughly in descending order of canon length/ascending order of "gimme" status:
Kemono no Souja Erin
Characters: Erin, Ial
I want Erin/Ial, preferably something quiet and thoughtful, or something fluffy. Anything along that line would make me happy, really, but if you need an angle, maybe think about how he’s adjusting to his new life post-canon, and how Erin’s other friends are adjusting to this guy with his stone face and ninja vibes. Bonus points: include a warm, soft, furry animal, not necessarily an Ohjuu.
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Crunchyroll
There are novels for this one, too, but I haven't been able to read them, so I'm just working from the anime canon. It's more aimed at children, but that doesn't keep it from getting into some serious territory and I love it. After my first viewing (in fansubs), I wrote a review of it that you can see here. This series was actually my introduction to the author of the said novels, Nahoko Uehashi, who also wrote the novels behind Moribito. Both series are built on masterful, well-grounded fantasy worldbuilding (Uehashi-sensei is also an anthropology professor). As mentioned in the review, I loved the anime’s combination of the domestic and the epic. Erin is such a great strong heroine, too --- brilliant and curious, always chasing her dreams and holding to her principles. Ial is the kind of (figuratively) scarred stone-faced pretty boy I have a weakness for, I admit it. I was happy with the slow and subtle building of their relationship in canon --- Uehashi seems to be good at that, too ::coughBalsaTanda:: --- but I would like to see a bit more with these two.
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Character: Zelda (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link)
I made sure to specify the particular Zelda who appears in this game, because she is not the same Zelda who appears in the first game — and with this being such a closely-spaced direct sequel, it would stand to reason that post-canon, the two of them would be around at the same time. Wouldn’t it be neat to get them together and pass the Bechdel test? I like to think they’d get along.
It doesn’t have to be that specifically, though; any kind of this-Zelda post-canon would be good. How does she find a place for herself in what to her is a new time? Was she in any way aware of what was happening while she was asleep? How does she look back on her brother, who got her into this (and what history books might say about him afterward)?
There’s also the whole “blood sacrifice” thing in this game. When you get right to it, that wasn’t really connected to the main plot and the ending addresses it very obliquely if at all. What I’m saying is, if you want to write more of an adventure, we’ve still got a pretty good setup for Link to be rescued by Zelda — or even by two Zeldas.
Legend of Zelda stuff in general, I prefer it more “storybook” than gritty, and I’m particular about Link being a Silent Protagonist. He doesn’t need to be literally mute or shy about getting his point across, but if he has more than minimal actual dialogue, it sounds wrong to me. I'm also not committed to the official timeline, so use it or not, as you like.
Canon Review and Notes:
Playthrough on Youtube: Part 1 and Part 2
And since this game is literally TVtropes’ poster child for “All There In The Manual,” here you can find the instruction manual to actually tell you what the story's about. Ah, the NES era...
This one confounds my "in order of canon length" scheme. You could just watch the playthrough and read the manual and be up to speed in a few hours --- or you could dive deep into the myriad delights and confusions of the Legend of Zelda mythos. It's really up to you.
I also used this request for the Press Start exchange this year and got quite a good story based on it, but the more takes on this, the merrier, is what I say. As it happened I also wrote a Zelda II fic for the same exchange --- I played it darker than I normally would for the sake of the prompt I got, but this is basically my headcanon for that Smooch of Victory (poor Link; she'll apologize when he wakes up). Legend of Zelda is my primary obsessive headcanon right now, so I could go on all day about this and my custom linearist timeline and whatnot, but I don't want to impose it on you. Honestly, I think this series is more about iterating on archetypes than trying to find one true something to tie it up all neat and tidy, so do that iterating in your own way.
Chalice - Robin McKinley
Characters: Mirasol, Liapnir | The Master
You don’t necessarily have to use both characters. It’s been some time since I read this book, so I’m working from my imperfect memory of it, but hopefully this makes good sense. I remember loving the worldbuilding and loving being with Mirasol in her learning process and coming into her own power, but there were some loose threads that niggled me a bit afterward. As I recall, Mirasol’s agency (and to some extent everyone’s) was sometimes a bit murky; how much was her and how much was something working through her, or how do those flow into each other? I also wasn’t crazy about the need to make Liapnir “normal” in the end — or DID they?? (Maybe he at least gets to keep that cool fire-sight thing.) I’d be interested to learn more about elemental priests in general, too, and have wondered if keeping them out of the demesnes is really for the best or if it’s more of a political machination — if you explore in this vein you don’t necessarily have to use either character.
Canon Review and Notes:
The book on Worldcat Library Search
Nothing else to add on this one. As I said, it's been a while since I read it.
Toshokan Rocket (Minna no Uta Music Video)
No characters specified
This two-and-a-half-minute music video is just packed! So many characters! So many fascinating images! So cute! Much epic! The basic "plot" seems to involve four little birds (in their whale starship and their corgi shuttle!) running a kind of pan-galactic bookmobile for great justice and everlasting peace, but... well, you just have to see it. I want to see what somebody can do with this, anywhere you want to take it that's in keeping with the canon atmosphere.
Canon Review and Notes:
Here's the video. Sorry for the jacked-up aspect ratio, but it was the best I could get. If you have something like VLC and can set the aspect ratio to 4:3, it'll look right.
And, since it's not subtitled, here's my own quick-and-dirty translation of the lyrics.
Yeah, for a while there I had a gadget of questionable legality that let me watch streams of NHK-E(ducational). Sadly no longer works, but I ran across some real gems, particularly in NHK's "Minna no Uta" all-ages music video series. I think this one takes the cake. (Fire-breathing feathered dinosaur!)
And that's it! Happy writing!
I'm
LIKES:
Sympathetic Protagonists
Explorations of Issues, Ideas, and Sticky Messes
Character Pieces
Genfic
Drama and Angst
Fluff and WAFF
Fixer-upper and "What If?" AUs
Sensuality and Description Porn
(Note that not all of these are necessarily applicable to all my prompts, so don't think you have to check them all off or anything.)
DO NOT WANTS:
Humiliation/Abasement/Embarrassment
Rape, Non-con, Dub-con
Grimdark
Actual Porn
I also tend to be pretty "meh" about genre/setting-change AUs and crossovers.
(Note that not all of these are necessarily things I disapprove of or even dislike, just things I'd prefer not to receive in the exchange)
And here are my prompts with additional notes, roughly in descending order of canon length/ascending order of "gimme" status:
Kemono no Souja Erin
Characters: Erin, Ial
I want Erin/Ial, preferably something quiet and thoughtful, or something fluffy. Anything along that line would make me happy, really, but if you need an angle, maybe think about how he’s adjusting to his new life post-canon, and how Erin’s other friends are adjusting to this guy with his stone face and ninja vibes. Bonus points: include a warm, soft, furry animal, not necessarily an Ohjuu.
Canon Review and Notes
The series on Crunchyroll
There are novels for this one, too, but I haven't been able to read them, so I'm just working from the anime canon. It's more aimed at children, but that doesn't keep it from getting into some serious territory and I love it. After my first viewing (in fansubs), I wrote a review of it that you can see here. This series was actually my introduction to the author of the said novels, Nahoko Uehashi, who also wrote the novels behind Moribito. Both series are built on masterful, well-grounded fantasy worldbuilding (Uehashi-sensei is also an anthropology professor). As mentioned in the review, I loved the anime’s combination of the domestic and the epic. Erin is such a great strong heroine, too --- brilliant and curious, always chasing her dreams and holding to her principles. Ial is the kind of (figuratively) scarred stone-faced pretty boy I have a weakness for, I admit it. I was happy with the slow and subtle building of their relationship in canon --- Uehashi seems to be good at that, too ::coughBalsaTanda:: --- but I would like to see a bit more with these two.
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Character: Zelda (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link)
I made sure to specify the particular Zelda who appears in this game, because she is not the same Zelda who appears in the first game — and with this being such a closely-spaced direct sequel, it would stand to reason that post-canon, the two of them would be around at the same time. Wouldn’t it be neat to get them together and pass the Bechdel test? I like to think they’d get along.
It doesn’t have to be that specifically, though; any kind of this-Zelda post-canon would be good. How does she find a place for herself in what to her is a new time? Was she in any way aware of what was happening while she was asleep? How does she look back on her brother, who got her into this (and what history books might say about him afterward)?
There’s also the whole “blood sacrifice” thing in this game. When you get right to it, that wasn’t really connected to the main plot and the ending addresses it very obliquely if at all. What I’m saying is, if you want to write more of an adventure, we’ve still got a pretty good setup for Link to be rescued by Zelda — or even by two Zeldas.
Legend of Zelda stuff in general, I prefer it more “storybook” than gritty, and I’m particular about Link being a Silent Protagonist. He doesn’t need to be literally mute or shy about getting his point across, but if he has more than minimal actual dialogue, it sounds wrong to me. I'm also not committed to the official timeline, so use it or not, as you like.
Canon Review and Notes:
Playthrough on Youtube: Part 1 and Part 2
And since this game is literally TVtropes’ poster child for “All There In The Manual,” here you can find the instruction manual to actually tell you what the story's about. Ah, the NES era...
This one confounds my "in order of canon length" scheme. You could just watch the playthrough and read the manual and be up to speed in a few hours --- or you could dive deep into the myriad delights and confusions of the Legend of Zelda mythos. It's really up to you.
I also used this request for the Press Start exchange this year and got quite a good story based on it, but the more takes on this, the merrier, is what I say. As it happened I also wrote a Zelda II fic for the same exchange --- I played it darker than I normally would for the sake of the prompt I got, but this is basically my headcanon for that Smooch of Victory (poor Link; she'll apologize when he wakes up). Legend of Zelda is my primary obsessive headcanon right now, so I could go on all day about this and my custom linearist timeline and whatnot, but I don't want to impose it on you. Honestly, I think this series is more about iterating on archetypes than trying to find one true something to tie it up all neat and tidy, so do that iterating in your own way.
Chalice - Robin McKinley
Characters: Mirasol, Liapnir | The Master
You don’t necessarily have to use both characters. It’s been some time since I read this book, so I’m working from my imperfect memory of it, but hopefully this makes good sense. I remember loving the worldbuilding and loving being with Mirasol in her learning process and coming into her own power, but there were some loose threads that niggled me a bit afterward. As I recall, Mirasol’s agency (and to some extent everyone’s) was sometimes a bit murky; how much was her and how much was something working through her, or how do those flow into each other? I also wasn’t crazy about the need to make Liapnir “normal” in the end — or DID they?? (Maybe he at least gets to keep that cool fire-sight thing.) I’d be interested to learn more about elemental priests in general, too, and have wondered if keeping them out of the demesnes is really for the best or if it’s more of a political machination — if you explore in this vein you don’t necessarily have to use either character.
Canon Review and Notes:
The book on Worldcat Library Search
Nothing else to add on this one. As I said, it's been a while since I read it.
Toshokan Rocket (Minna no Uta Music Video)
No characters specified
This two-and-a-half-minute music video is just packed! So many characters! So many fascinating images! So cute! Much epic! The basic "plot" seems to involve four little birds (in their whale starship and their corgi shuttle!) running a kind of pan-galactic bookmobile for great justice and everlasting peace, but... well, you just have to see it. I want to see what somebody can do with this, anywhere you want to take it that's in keeping with the canon atmosphere.
Canon Review and Notes:
Here's the video. Sorry for the jacked-up aspect ratio, but it was the best I could get. If you have something like VLC and can set the aspect ratio to 4:3, it'll look right.
And, since it's not subtitled, here's my own quick-and-dirty translation of the lyrics.
Yeah, for a while there I had a gadget of questionable legality that let me watch streams of NHK-E(ducational). Sadly no longer works, but I ran across some real gems, particularly in NHK's "Minna no Uta" all-ages music video series. I think this one takes the cake. (Fire-breathing feathered dinosaur!)
And that's it! Happy writing!
