Dear Yuletide Writer 2022
Oct. 17th, 2022 06:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foxinthestarsIt's Yuletide time again! Thank you, kind writer, for volunteering to write a story for me, or for considering writing a treat for me!
I've been doing Yuletide every year since 2011 and it's a precious annual tradition for me. I hope my prompts inspire you and you enjoy Yuletide this year, too!
See under the cut for the things you need to know…
I'm foxinthestars at Ao3, same username as on DW.
LIKES:
Sympathetic Protagonists, people being good-hearted
Happy or Hopeful Endings
Competence
Explorations of Issues and Ideas
Character Pieces
Genfic (but I’m also fine with het, m/m, f/f, or poly)
Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Fluff and WAFF
AUs
Cuddling (cute fluffy cuddling or intense romantic cuddling, it’s all good)
Sensuality and Description Porn
Representation (Women/LGBTQ+/People of marginalized ethnicities/People with disabilities/et. al. being awesome)
DO NOT WANTS:
(Note that these are not necessarily things I disapprove of or even dislike, but they are things it’s not safe to give me in an exchange)
Humiliation/Embarrassment (the Embarrassment squick can be triggered vicariously by, e.g., a character acting stupid or being set up to fail as an object lesson)
Rape, Non-con, Dub-con
Incest
Infidelity
Fat-shaming, Fat jokes
Christocentrism
Zombies
Crossovers (unless specifically noted)
Gritty/Grimdark
Sad/Bad/Tragic Endings
Actual Porn
Character/Ship Bashing
Directly speculating about future events in an open canon (This one’s weird. Writing in a timeframe beyond current canon with vague or absent explanation of how it turned out the way you’re depicting it is fine, but if you directly invent or handwave, e.g. “they got out of the current arc like thus and such,” or “the prophecy turned out to mean this,” I tend to bounce off.)
Suffocation in any form is acceptable but I need you to tag/warn for it.
Special note: Around Yuletide Story-Time I tend to be in the mood for winter-themed stories — things with sensuous descriptions of long dark nights and bracing winds and deep snows, cold-reddened skin, getting warm by fires and sipping hot beverages and bundling up in cozy clothing, that kind of thing. If you want to get some characters into adorable and/or highly-charged body-heat-sharing situations, that’s fine, too, just note the “do not want” on porn.
Or just don’t worry about it. If it doesn’t grab you or doesn’t fit with an idea that does grab you, I don’t want you to feel like you have to shoehorn it in.
(This is a seasonal thing, so to anyone here looking for New Years Resolution prompts, a) thank you! and b) don’t worry about it unless you just want to.)
And the prompts, roughly in descending order of canon length:
Fiber Arts Anthropomorphic
Characters: Spinning, Weaving, Knitting, Crochet
You don't have to use all of the characters on this one. Honestly, one of my main "fandoms" lately has been fiber arts, so I'm curious what someone could do with this. I'm thinking more of anthropomorphic genii of the fiber arts than of general fiber-art related stuff (although for Yuletide Madness that's cool too). How do the fiber arts interact? How do they see their own history and order of seniority (with Spinning being the oldest and Crochet relatively young)? Maybe the others all depend on Spinning but take them for granted, or Knitting and Weaving learn to appreciate their own and each other's unique fabric qualities. I'd like to see some interaction, but like I said, you don't need to use every listed character. (You also don't need to limit yourself to the listed characters. If you want to work in, e.g., an appearance by Felting or Embroidery, go for it!)
Canon Review and Notes
I considered this one "longest" because Fiber Arts are not so much a canon as a Way Of Life. I learned to crochet at my mother and grandmother's knees, taught myself to knit in college, and have been doing both for over half my life off and on. Spinning has been more sporadic, but I enjoy it and always feel like I should do more. For some time I thought weaving was the one fiber art I wouldn't do, but then the temptation of a Rigid Heddle loom got the better of me. So yeah, here we are. The fiber arts are such an important and unsung series of developments in human history, and if you're interested in writing for this prompt you probably have a fiber arts arc in your own life, so I think there's a lot of potential here and I hope you have fun with it. This one could also play into the "winter-themed story" angle with the making of cuddly warm things.
Cadfael Chronicles - Ellis Peters
Character: Brother Cadfael
I don't have clear prompts in mind for this one, I just feel like I could use some Cadfael right now --- the well-textured medieval setting where people are mostly good-hearted and doing their best. Low-stakes casefic could be good, something winter or Christmas related, bring in other canon characters, whatever you like, as long as it ends up warm and happy. (Note: this one gets something of a pass on the "Christocentrism" DNW; I actually like how religion is handled in canon with such respect and fidelity to the period, so don't worry about taking it out, just don't go to the point of proselytizing.)
Canon Review and Notes
Second-longest canon, with (checks) 21 books; Wikipedia has the list. They're pretty quick reading, but still, 21 of them. (The TV adaptations were a decent entry point for me, but the books are better IMO, and the gap got wider as time went on; do not watch the TV version of "Pilgrim of Hate" unless you're in the mood to stare at a trainwreck.) The books are widely available as ebooks, paperbacks, etc., and many of them have unabridged audio versions, all of which are available from the usual sources. A lot of them are also free to borrow at OpenLibrary.org, and you can check WorldCat.org for copies in libraries near you.
But seriously, in a world drunk on Game of Thrones, we could all use more Cadfael. I haven't actually seen GoT but I've enjoyed Bret Deveraux's historical debunking (as read by AGreatDivorce) multiple times. Thankfully for us, "Ellis Peters" did actual research, probably not perfect, but not a pile of grimdark nonsense.
Nirvana in Fire
Characters: Mu Nihuang, Lin Shu | Mei Changsu | Su Zhe
I'd like to see some real joy and connection for these two during the canon-present time frame (i.e. his "Mei Changsu" phase). Maybe there's a moment when he can actually let his guard down. Maybe she realizes she doesn't just want him to go back to who he was but that she also loves him for who he is now. Maybe they could have a good moment of synch while collaborating on a badass scheme. Maybe there could be an AU where they get to end up together, or one where she sought him out long ago and was in on the plan from the start. Or in a pinch, you could leave out Mei Changsu and just give me some Nihuang being awesome; I'd like that, too.
Canon Review and Notes
Nirvana in Fire on Viki.
The last of my longer canons, 54 45-minute episodes of intrigue, costume porn, and highly-charged character interactions, with a dash of kung-fu and just a pinch of fantasy for good measure. This was probably the show that sold me on C-dramas, and it's only seldom that I'm not in the mood to re-watch it. There is lots of intrigue and cool kung-fu, but seriously, this is a show that muted the dialogue to do an awesome music swell for "elderly expert in Confucian ritual walks into a room," spent an episode-ending cliffhanger on "character borrows a book," where none of the kung-fu was quite so arresting as that one time our hero gave a guy the three-name call --- and which absolutely nailed all of that. I feel like it loses focus a bit toward the end, but on balance, this is the good stuff. And if you want to do that winter angle, a good deal of the canon takes place in winter --- and did I mention costume porn?
By the way, there is a "Nirvana in Fire 2" but it is not relevant to my prompts, so don't feel like you need to watch it. I tried once and gave up halfway. If you want to give it a try, I recommend setting your expectations at "mediocre fanfic about their grandkids."
Pui Pui Molcar
Character: Worldbuilding
I'd like to see more about how this quirky guinea-pig-car world works. Maybe a used-car-lot/pet-rescue, or a mechanic/veterinarian. How do you winterize your molcar, and might it try to get out of its "tire chains" --- or have too much fun with them? Are there other animal vehicles (mousercycles? shi-bus inu?), and how do the molcars react to them? Whatever you want to do that's in keeping with the canon spirit.
Canon Review and Notes
Now we're getting into the quick "gimme" canons. This one is a collection of feel-good funny shorts about a world where all the cars are stop-motion animated felt guinea pigs; it's a quick watch and well worth it. The first season is available on Netflix (or nyaa), and watching it would be enough. There's no dialogue, so don't worry about subtitles. There is, however, a fandom wiki which helpfully provides a character list and English translations of the episode titles. A second season (Pui Pui Molcar Driving School) is currently airing in Japan, but as far as I know there's no official English release yet (so, nyaa).
The Female Doctor and The Rabbit Spirit
Characters: Doctor, Rabbit Spirit
My thanks to whoever added this to the nominations spreadsheet! Lately I've been into Chinese dramas, especially xianxia, and this is such a beautiful little female-centric (or femslashy) serving of goodness that I'd like to see more of these ladies. What if the Doctor eventually does meet Rabbit's family? What if she gets a reputation for healing spirits and the pair start getting interesting patients coming in? The film references the Legend of the White Snake, and in the versions I've found, she wasn't imprisoned in Leifeng Tower forever; will Doctor and Bunny be there and get to meet her when she gets out? Whatever warm fuzzy further adventures you want!
Canon Review and Notes:
This short film was a lovely Yuletide season find, all available on YouTube:
Female Doctor and The Rabbit Spirit - Main Short Film (English Subtitles)
Female Doctor and The Rabbit Spirit - Prequel Music Video (Chinese Only)
The short film also includes a significant reference to the Legend of the White Snake, so you might want to review that as well. Wikipedia's Legend of the White Snake entry has a good summary, or if you have more time, The Myths and Legends Podcast has it covered: Part One, Part Two, and Conclusion --- with the caveat that, being a legend, it has lots of variations.
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:
I keep an emergency backup of the video here (sorry for the jacked-up aspect ratio).
And, since it's not subtitled, here's my own quick-and-dirty translation of the lyrics.
My perpetual "gimme" prompt returns! If nothing else grabs you, take two-and-a-half minutes and see if you can do something with this. Heck, take the two-and-a-half minutes anyway, you deserve it!
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 and a Joyous Yuletide to you!
I've been doing Yuletide every year since 2011 and it's a precious annual tradition for me. I hope my prompts inspire you and you enjoy Yuletide this year, too!
See under the cut for the things you need to know…
I'm foxinthestars at Ao3, same username as on DW.
LIKES:
Sympathetic Protagonists, people being good-hearted
Happy or Hopeful Endings
Competence
Explorations of Issues and Ideas
Character Pieces
Genfic (but I’m also fine with het, m/m, f/f, or poly)
Drama, Hurt/Comfort
Fluff and WAFF
AUs
Cuddling (cute fluffy cuddling or intense romantic cuddling, it’s all good)
Sensuality and Description Porn
Representation (Women/LGBTQ+/People of marginalized ethnicities/People with disabilities/et. al. being awesome)
DO NOT WANTS:
(Note that these are not necessarily things I disapprove of or even dislike, but they are things it’s not safe to give me in an exchange)
Humiliation/Embarrassment (the Embarrassment squick can be triggered vicariously by, e.g., a character acting stupid or being set up to fail as an object lesson)
Rape, Non-con, Dub-con
Incest
Infidelity
Fat-shaming, Fat jokes
Christocentrism
Zombies
Crossovers (unless specifically noted)
Gritty/Grimdark
Sad/Bad/Tragic Endings
Actual Porn
Character/Ship Bashing
Directly speculating about future events in an open canon (This one’s weird. Writing in a timeframe beyond current canon with vague or absent explanation of how it turned out the way you’re depicting it is fine, but if you directly invent or handwave, e.g. “they got out of the current arc like thus and such,” or “the prophecy turned out to mean this,” I tend to bounce off.)
Suffocation in any form is acceptable but I need you to tag/warn for it.
Special note: Around Yuletide Story-Time I tend to be in the mood for winter-themed stories — things with sensuous descriptions of long dark nights and bracing winds and deep snows, cold-reddened skin, getting warm by fires and sipping hot beverages and bundling up in cozy clothing, that kind of thing. If you want to get some characters into adorable and/or highly-charged body-heat-sharing situations, that’s fine, too, just note the “do not want” on porn.
Or just don’t worry about it. If it doesn’t grab you or doesn’t fit with an idea that does grab you, I don’t want you to feel like you have to shoehorn it in.
(This is a seasonal thing, so to anyone here looking for New Years Resolution prompts, a) thank you! and b) don’t worry about it unless you just want to.)
And the prompts, roughly in descending order of canon length:
Fiber Arts Anthropomorphic
Characters: Spinning, Weaving, Knitting, Crochet
You don't have to use all of the characters on this one. Honestly, one of my main "fandoms" lately has been fiber arts, so I'm curious what someone could do with this. I'm thinking more of anthropomorphic genii of the fiber arts than of general fiber-art related stuff (although for Yuletide Madness that's cool too). How do the fiber arts interact? How do they see their own history and order of seniority (with Spinning being the oldest and Crochet relatively young)? Maybe the others all depend on Spinning but take them for granted, or Knitting and Weaving learn to appreciate their own and each other's unique fabric qualities. I'd like to see some interaction, but like I said, you don't need to use every listed character. (You also don't need to limit yourself to the listed characters. If you want to work in, e.g., an appearance by Felting or Embroidery, go for it!)
Canon Review and Notes
I considered this one "longest" because Fiber Arts are not so much a canon as a Way Of Life. I learned to crochet at my mother and grandmother's knees, taught myself to knit in college, and have been doing both for over half my life off and on. Spinning has been more sporadic, but I enjoy it and always feel like I should do more. For some time I thought weaving was the one fiber art I wouldn't do, but then the temptation of a Rigid Heddle loom got the better of me. So yeah, here we are. The fiber arts are such an important and unsung series of developments in human history, and if you're interested in writing for this prompt you probably have a fiber arts arc in your own life, so I think there's a lot of potential here and I hope you have fun with it. This one could also play into the "winter-themed story" angle with the making of cuddly warm things.
Cadfael Chronicles - Ellis Peters
Character: Brother Cadfael
I don't have clear prompts in mind for this one, I just feel like I could use some Cadfael right now --- the well-textured medieval setting where people are mostly good-hearted and doing their best. Low-stakes casefic could be good, something winter or Christmas related, bring in other canon characters, whatever you like, as long as it ends up warm and happy. (Note: this one gets something of a pass on the "Christocentrism" DNW; I actually like how religion is handled in canon with such respect and fidelity to the period, so don't worry about taking it out, just don't go to the point of proselytizing.)
Canon Review and Notes
Second-longest canon, with (checks) 21 books; Wikipedia has the list. They're pretty quick reading, but still, 21 of them. (The TV adaptations were a decent entry point for me, but the books are better IMO, and the gap got wider as time went on; do not watch the TV version of "Pilgrim of Hate" unless you're in the mood to stare at a trainwreck.) The books are widely available as ebooks, paperbacks, etc., and many of them have unabridged audio versions, all of which are available from the usual sources. A lot of them are also free to borrow at OpenLibrary.org, and you can check WorldCat.org for copies in libraries near you.
But seriously, in a world drunk on Game of Thrones, we could all use more Cadfael. I haven't actually seen GoT but I've enjoyed Bret Deveraux's historical debunking (as read by AGreatDivorce) multiple times. Thankfully for us, "Ellis Peters" did actual research, probably not perfect, but not a pile of grimdark nonsense.
Nirvana in Fire
Characters: Mu Nihuang, Lin Shu | Mei Changsu | Su Zhe
I'd like to see some real joy and connection for these two during the canon-present time frame (i.e. his "Mei Changsu" phase). Maybe there's a moment when he can actually let his guard down. Maybe she realizes she doesn't just want him to go back to who he was but that she also loves him for who he is now. Maybe they could have a good moment of synch while collaborating on a badass scheme. Maybe there could be an AU where they get to end up together, or one where she sought him out long ago and was in on the plan from the start. Or in a pinch, you could leave out Mei Changsu and just give me some Nihuang being awesome; I'd like that, too.
Canon Review and Notes
Nirvana in Fire on Viki.
The last of my longer canons, 54 45-minute episodes of intrigue, costume porn, and highly-charged character interactions, with a dash of kung-fu and just a pinch of fantasy for good measure. This was probably the show that sold me on C-dramas, and it's only seldom that I'm not in the mood to re-watch it. There is lots of intrigue and cool kung-fu, but seriously, this is a show that muted the dialogue to do an awesome music swell for "elderly expert in Confucian ritual walks into a room," spent an episode-ending cliffhanger on "character borrows a book," where none of the kung-fu was quite so arresting as that one time our hero gave a guy the three-name call --- and which absolutely nailed all of that. I feel like it loses focus a bit toward the end, but on balance, this is the good stuff. And if you want to do that winter angle, a good deal of the canon takes place in winter --- and did I mention costume porn?
By the way, there is a "Nirvana in Fire 2" but it is not relevant to my prompts, so don't feel like you need to watch it. I tried once and gave up halfway. If you want to give it a try, I recommend setting your expectations at "mediocre fanfic about their grandkids."
Pui Pui Molcar
Character: Worldbuilding
I'd like to see more about how this quirky guinea-pig-car world works. Maybe a used-car-lot/pet-rescue, or a mechanic/veterinarian. How do you winterize your molcar, and might it try to get out of its "tire chains" --- or have too much fun with them? Are there other animal vehicles (mousercycles? shi-bus inu?), and how do the molcars react to them? Whatever you want to do that's in keeping with the canon spirit.
Canon Review and Notes
Now we're getting into the quick "gimme" canons. This one is a collection of feel-good funny shorts about a world where all the cars are stop-motion animated felt guinea pigs; it's a quick watch and well worth it. The first season is available on Netflix (or nyaa), and watching it would be enough. There's no dialogue, so don't worry about subtitles. There is, however, a fandom wiki which helpfully provides a character list and English translations of the episode titles. A second season (Pui Pui Molcar Driving School) is currently airing in Japan, but as far as I know there's no official English release yet (so, nyaa).
The Female Doctor and The Rabbit Spirit
Characters: Doctor, Rabbit Spirit
My thanks to whoever added this to the nominations spreadsheet! Lately I've been into Chinese dramas, especially xianxia, and this is such a beautiful little female-centric (or femslashy) serving of goodness that I'd like to see more of these ladies. What if the Doctor eventually does meet Rabbit's family? What if she gets a reputation for healing spirits and the pair start getting interesting patients coming in? The film references the Legend of the White Snake, and in the versions I've found, she wasn't imprisoned in Leifeng Tower forever; will Doctor and Bunny be there and get to meet her when she gets out? Whatever warm fuzzy further adventures you want!
Canon Review and Notes:
This short film was a lovely Yuletide season find, all available on YouTube:
Female Doctor and The Rabbit Spirit - Main Short Film (English Subtitles)
Female Doctor and The Rabbit Spirit - Prequel Music Video (Chinese Only)
The short film also includes a significant reference to the Legend of the White Snake, so you might want to review that as well. Wikipedia's Legend of the White Snake entry has a good summary, or if you have more time, The Myths and Legends Podcast has it covered: Part One, Part Two, and Conclusion --- with the caveat that, being a legend, it has lots of variations.
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:
I keep an emergency backup of the video here (sorry for the jacked-up aspect ratio).
And, since it's not subtitled, here's my own quick-and-dirty translation of the lyrics.
My perpetual "gimme" prompt returns! If nothing else grabs you, take two-and-a-half minutes and see if you can do something with this. Heck, take the two-and-a-half minutes anyway, you deserve it!
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 and a Joyous Yuletide to you!
