tangle of thorns

Dear Yuletide Writer:

Somehow it's that time again, and I'm already excited about you! The very best part of Yuletide is simply knowing that someone out there cares about one of my small-to-nonexistent fandoms. Thank you for being that someone, and for taking the time to read this.

A handful of things I love to see in fiction:
Smart people who are passionate about their work. Women defying convention. Women defying men. Characters questioning their own sanity. Characters who never give up on each other, even when they should. Drinking together, staying up all night, arguing and flirting in the same breath. First times, last times, sex as a substitute for conversation and vice versa. Bittersweetness and hard-won happiness. Ambiguous endings. Unreliable narrators. Playing with language. Stories tied to a very vivid place and time. Stories that fit with the tone of canon, but fill in the spaces where it fades to black.
I'm fine with any rating, but generally prefer at least a little plot with my smut.

Please avoid:
Rape/noncon, graphic harm to animals or children, incest, torture, body-fluid kinks, pregnancy. Those are my dealbreakers. For Yuletide, I'd also prefer no crossovers, fusions or AUs.

Fandom-specific details and prompts (if you want/need them), in alphabetical order:

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Most of all, the story I want to read is the story you're most excited to tell. I hope you have as much fun writing it as I will reading!

--Luna

PS: If you have any questions, check in with mazily or therealjae--they're both experts on my taste in fandoms and fictions.

Dear Yuletide Writer:

I love Yuletide like a cat loves catnip. And I already love you for being part of one of my small-to-nonexistent fandoms, no matter what you write. Thanks for being here, and reading this letter!

A few of my favorite things, in these fandoms and in fiction at large:

Characters who can't get enough of each other, even--especially--when they know better. Dirty talk. Sarcasm. Fistfights. Dive bars. Storytellers. Characters and worlds with secrets. Smart characters who lose themselves in their work, who choose danger over sleep. Good guys doing things they promised themselves they'd never do, and villains who really know what they want. Unusual points of view and narrative structures. Backstory, future fic, and scenes that happen when canon fades to black. Bittersweet or ambiguously happy endings.
I'm fine with any rating, but prefer porn to be in context rather than PWP.

Please avoid:

Rape/noncon, interspecies/xeno/furry sex, graphic animal harm, incest, torture, body-fluid kinks, pregnancy. Those are my dealbreakers. For Yuletide, I'd also prefer no crossovers or AUs.

Optional details (in no particular order), and a few prompts if you want them:
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As always, what I most want is for you to write a story you're really excited about writing. I can't wait to see what it turns out to be!

If you have any questions (and somehow I haven't babbled enough here), check in with mazily or therealjae, both of whom can tell you more even than I can about what I like in fanfiction.

Merry happies and Yule-y tides!

Jurassic Park
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Star Wars
The Empire Strikes Back
O Brother Where Art Thou
Ghostbusters
Do the Right Thing
The Godfather
Casablanca
His Girl Friday
Days of Heaven
The Fall
Let the Right One In
Brick
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
The Negotiator
The Devil's Advocate
Robocop
Road House
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The Crow
The Princess Bride
Mad Max: Fury Road

M'off to Istanbul. Back April 8th. Touch wood.

Yuletide reveal! I wrote:

Orphans
["Gun Street Girl" - Tom Waits, 9750 words, rated M for mature, Tom-Waits-typical levels of mayhem]

Now a head full of bourbon and a dream in the straw
And a Gun Street Girl was the cause of it all

I had some struggles getting this story onto the page, but it was all there in my head from the moment I read the lovely prompt from newredshoes. If you haven't listened to the song, it's a great quiet little track in the middle of maybe Tom Waits's best album ever. So it's "Rain Dogs" and classic cars and Irish coffee and guns and knives and jukeboxes and a mean waitress and a one-eyed man. And the narrator showed up in my head with his voice and his attitude and hasn't quite gone away yet...

Will have recs soon, but I'm so far from done reading.

Dear Yuletide Writer:

Thank you for having excellent taste in tiny fandoms. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. Thank you for making a story happen, just for me! You are amazing, and Yuletide is my favorite.

More favorite things, in these fandoms and in fiction generally:

Smart characters making bad decisions. Sarcasm. Secrets. Fistfights. Hatesex. Loyalty. Characters who love their jobs too much. Characters staying up all night. Characters getting their hands dirty, crossing lines they've drawn for themselves in the sand. Strange and/or conflicting narrative points of view. Unconditional love that puts you through hell. Last-ditch efforts. Ambiguously happy endings.

Please avoid:

Rape/noncon, interspecies/xeno/furry sex, graphic child harm, incest, torture, body-fluid kinks. Those are my hard limits. For Yuletide, I'd also prefer no crossovers or AUS, and no character or pairing bashing.

Very optional (and slightly spoilery) details, and a few prompts if you want them:
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Most importantly, write a story you believe in, and I'll have a wonderful time reading it.

If you have any unanswered questions and I somehow haven't rambled enough, check in with mazily or therealjae, both of whom can tell you more even than I can about what I like in fanfiction.

Merry writing! Happy Yuletide!

Via naraht on dreamwidth: a writing meme. If anyone's still out there curious. It's okay if you're not! I've been underwater a while.

Give me a letter [or more than one] & I'll answer:

A. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.
B. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?
C. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?
D. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?
E. Share one of your strengths.
F. Share one of your weaknesses.
G. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
H. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
I. Which fic has been the hardest to write?
J. Which fic has been the easiest to write?
K. Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?
L. Is there an episode section of canon above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?
M. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?
N. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?
O. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?
P. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?
Q. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?
R. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?
S. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?
T. Describe your perfect writing conditions.
U. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?
V. Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).
W. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?
X. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?
Y. What do you look for in a beta?
Z. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?
AA. How do you feel about collaborations?
AB. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.
AC. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?
AD. Do you accept prompts?
AE. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?
AF. How do you feel about smut?
AG. How do you feel about crack?
AH. What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?
AI. Would you ever kill off a canon character?
AJ. Which is your favorite site to post fic?
AK. Talk about your current wips.
AL. Talk about a review that made your day.
AM. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?
AN. Write an alternative ending to a fic you've written (specify by title, link or general description].

my lack of energy is profound.

- this terrific trip to Marrakech and Madrid of which here are pictures!
- movies and how I'm increasingly weirdly obsessed with them, but more the craft than the content
- how I watch Hannibal (hint: like a cartoon because seriously)
- why you should watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- the million podcasts I listen to and how I really want to talk about podcasts as a medium all the time and nobody seems to be as heavy on 'em as me except people who make 'em, which I don't do because I am self conscious about my voice and also lazy. (Essentially, I want to write an epic podcast guide to all the many things I listen to/recommend, but I'm pretty sure ONLY I WOULD CARE and that would be sad)
- why can't I live on ice cream and pizza 24/7/365.
- how the criminal justice system failed Jennifer Martell and fails other women like her.
- soccer.
- wolves.
- baseball!
- my cats, basically all the time.
- there were some other things but I forgot.

(Maybe this year I'll start using LJ/DW again for more than Yuletide. Anything is possible?)

I surprisingly ended up writing three (short) things for Yuletide this year, and am pretty happy with all three:

The Sweet Science
[Warrior (2011), 2100 words, slash-y gen]
Pre-movie. Some things Brendan knows in his blood, and some things Frank has to teach him.

I love this movie like crazy (sports cliches! estranged brothers! blue-collar angst! purposeful violence! On Netflix Instant! Go, now, go!) so I was really happy to get this assignment, and only disappointed that I didn't have way more time to write way more words. This story focuses in on the relationship between one brother and his left-of-center (recipient's words!) coach, but I hope I folded in a little of the other characters, too.

The Kindness of Strangers
[Twisted Disney Princesses, 1250 words, gen]
She had been called by many names, from Amonute to Rebecca, and she had as many secret names by which no man had ever called her. It's best that we speak of her as Pocahontas, the playful one.

A surprise for someone on the emergency pinch hit list. A spooky story to tell in the dark. Pocahontas is my least favorite Disney movie, and so far off the historical reality that twisting it feels like justice. And I do love busting out the ol' campfire tale voice.

Steal My Breath
[Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead - Stoppard, 500 words, gen]
A prelude to a rude awakening.

This treat was a total pleasure to write, just two (one? no two) characters and a little scene set before (or after?) the movie. It was mostly an excuse to rewatch the movie and be thrilled.

I got lovely comments from all my recipients, and I'm still working my way through the archive, because there's so much to love. Later--this weekend at the latest--I'll put up some recs, including the *completely fucking amazing story that I got*. It deserves a separate post.

Happy Yule and merry tide and so forth.

Dear Yuletide Writer:

Thank you for being familiar with one of my tiny, beloved fandoms! Thank you for being willing to read this, and above all, thank you for making a story happen just for me! Every Yuletide I'm just blown away by how awesome y'all are.

Here are some things I love in stories:

Characters who love something that's bad for them, who take huge risks for what they believe in. Characters with dark secrets, dirty secrets, and secrets too crazy to tell. Characters staying up together all night. Messy boundaries between friendship and love and hate. Messy boundaries between heartbreak and humor. Road trips. Murder ballads. Tumbledown houses, back alleys, diners and speakeasies. I enjoy backstory and future-fic, and prefer dialogue and plot to pure smut, though I'll happily read any rating.

Here's what I ask you to avoid:

Rape/noncon, child harm, incest, torture, body-fluid kinks (those are my big squicks). Crossovers, character or pairing bashing, and egregious grammar or spelling errors (sorry I'm such a nerd).

Here are some optional (and mildly spoilery) details, and a few prompts if you want them.

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Most importantly, I hope you love writing this story, because I'm sure I'll love reading it.

If you have any questions, check in with mazily or therealjae, both of whom know even more than I do about my taste in fiction.

Happy Yuletide!