Dear Yuletide Author...
Oct. 19th, 2021 05:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pensnestHi. We probably haven't met. This is my first time participating in Yuletide, though I have been writing in other fandom exchanges for quite a long time.
General DNW: nastiness of the pain/cruelty/murder type. Character death. Misogyny (except where it gets its comeuppance) or other bigotries—if they are canon, please avoid if you can or soften if you can't. Don't really want kink either—at least, I don't want the kind of kink that involves pain, breathplay, humiliation. Also, DNW the kind of consent issues that actually amount to rape or coercion, thanks.
Otherwise: As a general rule, I like all kinds of stories. Overall, I think my view is that I want you to write me the best story you can—so if you love wringing your reader's heart, or making her laugh, or setting the bedsheets on fire, if you like writing very close to the rails of canon or ranging far and wide in quite different settings, I'm usually going to be fine with that. I have stipulated with two of these fandoms that I'd prefer something canon-compliant, but with the other two, you can go wild if you want to.
I like the characters to be smart. A little bit of miscommunication angst is fine, but if it gets to the point where I want to smack them for being so stupid, nah. Humour is lovely. Angst and H/C are fine, but not exaggerated to the point where I fear for their mental health or their continued physical existence.
Not sure what else I can tell you about generalities, so I will go to specifics.
Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L Sayers
Peter, and Harriet, and Bunter, and anyone else you may choose to bring in, should behave like the intelligent persons they are. I'd be happy with more or less any kind of story, from a miniature solving-the-mystery to simple romantic fluff (though if you could avoid quotations which use other alphabets I would be grateful!). If you can manage to avoid Sayers' contempt for the 'lower classes' and for 'non-educated/domestic women' and her anti-semitism, that might feel a little less authentic but would make for a nicer read.
I offered a prompt of 'dealing with the newly-arrived Bredon', because it could be quite amusing to see how Harriet's and Peter's theories of how to deal with children work out in practice. Perhaps the inevitable nanny is stricken with the influenza and they must cope on their own? I have a feeling Bunter would be less helpful in this situation than in most others!
However, if that doesn't appeal, there are so many possibilities for in-filling the Harriet-Peter relationship that I don't feel a need to steer you in any particular direction. You could extrapolate into the future with my blessing. My favourite of the books is Murder Must Advertise, mostly because it is such fun to see in detail into the advertising world of Sayers' time. So if you want to write an AU, I'd like it to present a plausible and detailed world if possible, ideally referencing the canon in some way. If you want to add an element of crack, I will be happy to receive it—by 'crack' I mean 'an impossible premise, properly followed through', for example, someone changes into an animal, turns invisible, inexplicably develops telepathy etc. If you want to write them in a life-long polyamorous relationship, go for it!
Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
The religion of the Five Gods is probably my favourite fictional religion, and I'd be interested in seeing more of how the characters interact with their gods. The Bastard is (obviously) my favourite of the gods. He must be very disconcerting to work with. Feel free to bring in others if you wish.
I'd really prefer something canon-like for this one. Ista seems to be set up to go on journeys, intervene in difficult situations, and speak to her god, so with any luck you will find something you want to write about. Any of the contemporary characters would also be welcome. If you want to explore Ista's romantic relationship, I'm very happy with that, too.
Biggles Series - W. E. Johns
This one, by contrast, almost requires a bit of crack! Watching them navigate a situation where they as white, British, heroic types are not automatically allowed to be in control could be a lot of fun. They could undergo any of those impossible premises mentioned above, or, well, so many possible time periods they could wander into... I'd actually prefer not to read about them fighting in an actual war, and they did have other colonial adventures in between, so it ought to be doable.
Ginger, being the second sidekick, was always my favourite character, so I'd be very happy if you can work him in somehow, but I realise he isn't a nominated character so I don't demand it.
If you want to put them in bed together, and can figure out how, not a problem!
Persuasion - Jane Austen
I think I put quite a lot of prompts into my Request for this one, and there is so much that could be very interesting to read. If you want to get a bit whacky with it and throw in characters from any of the other Austen novels, go right ahead! I'd like it to be plausibly period stuff, though, please.
General DNW: nastiness of the pain/cruelty/murder type. Character death. Misogyny (except where it gets its comeuppance) or other bigotries—if they are canon, please avoid if you can or soften if you can't. Don't really want kink either—at least, I don't want the kind of kink that involves pain, breathplay, humiliation. Also, DNW the kind of consent issues that actually amount to rape or coercion, thanks.
Otherwise: As a general rule, I like all kinds of stories. Overall, I think my view is that I want you to write me the best story you can—so if you love wringing your reader's heart, or making her laugh, or setting the bedsheets on fire, if you like writing very close to the rails of canon or ranging far and wide in quite different settings, I'm usually going to be fine with that. I have stipulated with two of these fandoms that I'd prefer something canon-compliant, but with the other two, you can go wild if you want to.
I like the characters to be smart. A little bit of miscommunication angst is fine, but if it gets to the point where I want to smack them for being so stupid, nah. Humour is lovely. Angst and H/C are fine, but not exaggerated to the point where I fear for their mental health or their continued physical existence.
Not sure what else I can tell you about generalities, so I will go to specifics.
Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L Sayers
Peter, and Harriet, and Bunter, and anyone else you may choose to bring in, should behave like the intelligent persons they are. I'd be happy with more or less any kind of story, from a miniature solving-the-mystery to simple romantic fluff (though if you could avoid quotations which use other alphabets I would be grateful!). If you can manage to avoid Sayers' contempt for the 'lower classes' and for 'non-educated/domestic women' and her anti-semitism, that might feel a little less authentic but would make for a nicer read.
I offered a prompt of 'dealing with the newly-arrived Bredon', because it could be quite amusing to see how Harriet's and Peter's theories of how to deal with children work out in practice. Perhaps the inevitable nanny is stricken with the influenza and they must cope on their own? I have a feeling Bunter would be less helpful in this situation than in most others!
However, if that doesn't appeal, there are so many possibilities for in-filling the Harriet-Peter relationship that I don't feel a need to steer you in any particular direction. You could extrapolate into the future with my blessing. My favourite of the books is Murder Must Advertise, mostly because it is such fun to see in detail into the advertising world of Sayers' time. So if you want to write an AU, I'd like it to present a plausible and detailed world if possible, ideally referencing the canon in some way. If you want to add an element of crack, I will be happy to receive it—by 'crack' I mean 'an impossible premise, properly followed through', for example, someone changes into an animal, turns invisible, inexplicably develops telepathy etc. If you want to write them in a life-long polyamorous relationship, go for it!
Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
The religion of the Five Gods is probably my favourite fictional religion, and I'd be interested in seeing more of how the characters interact with their gods. The Bastard is (obviously) my favourite of the gods. He must be very disconcerting to work with. Feel free to bring in others if you wish.
I'd really prefer something canon-like for this one. Ista seems to be set up to go on journeys, intervene in difficult situations, and speak to her god, so with any luck you will find something you want to write about. Any of the contemporary characters would also be welcome. If you want to explore Ista's romantic relationship, I'm very happy with that, too.
Biggles Series - W. E. Johns
This one, by contrast, almost requires a bit of crack! Watching them navigate a situation where they as white, British, heroic types are not automatically allowed to be in control could be a lot of fun. They could undergo any of those impossible premises mentioned above, or, well, so many possible time periods they could wander into... I'd actually prefer not to read about them fighting in an actual war, and they did have other colonial adventures in between, so it ought to be doable.
Ginger, being the second sidekick, was always my favourite character, so I'd be very happy if you can work him in somehow, but I realise he isn't a nominated character so I don't demand it.
If you want to put them in bed together, and can figure out how, not a problem!
Persuasion - Jane Austen
I think I put quite a lot of prompts into my Request for this one, and there is so much that could be very interesting to read. If you want to get a bit whacky with it and throw in characters from any of the other Austen novels, go right ahead! I'd like it to be plausibly period stuff, though, please.