![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Dear Yuletide Writer Letter (2023)
Oct. 13th, 2023 03:45 pmDear Yuletide Letter Writer,
This is is my third time participating in Yuletide!
I am very excited, and I largely continue my trend of selecting fandoms with really, really sparse fanfic or no pre-existing fanfic whatsoever. Some of the stuff in this letter is copied verbatim from my letter last year, because my letter worked really well last year at getting me fic(s) I really enjoyed!
I am providing information to be helpful, because I've read advice on this process and I've seen that it is often helpful to be given some indications of who you are writing for and what that person would want to read, but I also know that ODAO, and that takes pressure off of me!
I had trouble formulating DNWs at first because I feel like most things I could put in a DNW could work in the right story, done in the right way, etc. etc. Also, the fandoms I was requesting do not have an abundance of fic written for them, so it is not like there are certain tropes or tendencies that I felt like are specifically overdone for those fandoms. I did sort of settle on some clearish DNWs for some of them, though (listed at the start of each fandom-specific section, below).
About Me:
I am a philosophy professor. I like to play roleplaying games and board games. I am a huge fan of the band the mountain goats. In my spare time I also like to do online puzzle hunts, and I cook/bake. I'm a big reader, and I like to watch tv (sci-fi/fantasy/spec fic, but also other stuff, for example, I have endless thoughts about the gilmore girls). I recently read the Steerswoman series and have become entirely obsessed with it. I cannot do more justice in recommending/describing its virtues than Sumana Harihareswara did here. These books are just so fantastic.
Situation Normal — Leonard Richardson
DNW: Not saying there's nothing I would get icked out by, but a lot of the things I might be tempted to put are also things that just legitimately are things you might explore as part of worldbuilding in this fic, maybe exploring the alien societies in these books in the fic takes you down that path and I don't want to constrain you: I'm gonna leave this to your discretion.
This is a book about everything going wrong six different ways. And you get some wonderful juxtapositions of alien outlooks and cultures. The Terran Outreach and the societies that make it up, and the Fist of Joy and the conglomeration of species that are hanging around composing it. Leonard Richardson comes up with such a fascinating panoply of alien races/biologies/societies, they have cool and interesting cultures and weird biology, but there is so much plot happening in the book, so you don't get to just see what else happened or is happening or will happen, or how they get on outside the context of the story that happened in the novel. It's clear that there is more of a world beyond that story, though, and I am curious about it! The Quennies cosplay religion, Jammer Readout, Uhaltihaxl religious views, the way that Brands work, or how rre behave. Even just the bureacracy of a cityship in space vs. once it has landed, these are all suggestive of so much beyond what we see on the page. It's just a lot of cool world to explore. I have no problem with seeing the characters from the novel, but I am more interested in seeing more of the world than I am attached to seeing more of any particular character.
The Tick (2017)
DNW: Explicit Sexual Content
Optional details: So much superhero media is grimdark and brooding, and I feel like The Tick (2017) managed to simultaneously comment on and subvert the trend in a way that was lighthearted enough to pierce through that grimness rather than just overwhelming you with it more (like The Boys). It has enough of the 60s batman spirit to throw the darkness on its ear, while still feeling like it is a product of the more contemporary media landscape. This is why Overkill and Dangerboat are probably my favorite part of the show (and Dot, also). Overkill is almost the avatar of the grimdark nature of superhero media, and Dangerboat is just refusing to enter the same tone or vibe as Overkill, for the most part, making the comedy work, and also undercutting all of the grimness that Overkill tries to bring to it. But the pinnacle is definitely when Overkill and Dot do the thing.
Over the Garden Wall
DNW: Sexual Content, explicit gore.
This is the largest fandom I have requested. I love Greg. I seriously considered getting a Rock Fact tattoo. I am glad that the show is completed, because I don't think it needs any more episodes, it is perfect. But also, the unknown was not fully explored. There are more weird corners of those strange woods that Wirt and Greg didn't visit. And the vibe of it is so...it's just such a vibe. So I really would love to just hear about more places like the frog ferry or the inn the animal school. I just want to bask in the vibe of that show a bit more. Don't need to have Greg and Wirt feature, really just want to know what else is out there in those woods.
Murder on Sex Island - Jo Firestone
DNW: N/A
My ideal here is some other case Luella/Marie solved prior to the one we hear about in the book? I really just love the awkard humor, competent but not suave detecting skills, and in-over-her-head style of the book. So, anything that captures that vibe would be great!
Hey Diddle Diddle
DNW: N/A.
I am going to assemble and link to all the illustrations I can find of this poem. [Edit: I could have found more, but these are the ones worth perusing.] It seems like everyone has different ideas about what's going on. But there isn't really any version of it that exactly jives with how cats, dogs, cows, dishes and spoons behave in the real world, so like, what's going on? What's the deal with this world that dishes and spoons elope? Dogs are so easily entertained? Cats are this skilled at violin? Cows have that kind of vertical leap?
En Attendant Godot | Waiting for Godot - Beckett
DNW: N/A.
What was Godot doing the whole time? We got Vladimir and Estragon's story. I just want to know what Godot was getting up to.
In Conclusion
I hope this is a helpful addition to the prompt for letting you know more about me, and my interests for the fics. I appreciate that you are willing to participate in this exchange, and I can't wait to see what our shared love of one of these works produces!
I saw someone else's letter say that treats are welcome and that is very much the case for me, so I will include that here also!
Thanks!
JS_Thrill
This is is my third time participating in Yuletide!
I am very excited, and I largely continue my trend of selecting fandoms with really, really sparse fanfic or no pre-existing fanfic whatsoever. Some of the stuff in this letter is copied verbatim from my letter last year, because my letter worked really well last year at getting me fic(s) I really enjoyed!
I am providing information to be helpful, because I've read advice on this process and I've seen that it is often helpful to be given some indications of who you are writing for and what that person would want to read, but I also know that ODAO, and that takes pressure off of me!
I had trouble formulating DNWs at first because I feel like most things I could put in a DNW could work in the right story, done in the right way, etc. etc. Also, the fandoms I was requesting do not have an abundance of fic written for them, so it is not like there are certain tropes or tendencies that I felt like are specifically overdone for those fandoms. I did sort of settle on some clearish DNWs for some of them, though (listed at the start of each fandom-specific section, below).
About Me:
I am a philosophy professor. I like to play roleplaying games and board games. I am a huge fan of the band the mountain goats. In my spare time I also like to do online puzzle hunts, and I cook/bake. I'm a big reader, and I like to watch tv (sci-fi/fantasy/spec fic, but also other stuff, for example, I have endless thoughts about the gilmore girls). I recently read the Steerswoman series and have become entirely obsessed with it. I cannot do more justice in recommending/describing its virtues than Sumana Harihareswara did here. These books are just so fantastic.
Situation Normal — Leonard Richardson
DNW: Not saying there's nothing I would get icked out by, but a lot of the things I might be tempted to put are also things that just legitimately are things you might explore as part of worldbuilding in this fic, maybe exploring the alien societies in these books in the fic takes you down that path and I don't want to constrain you: I'm gonna leave this to your discretion.
This is a book about everything going wrong six different ways. And you get some wonderful juxtapositions of alien outlooks and cultures. The Terran Outreach and the societies that make it up, and the Fist of Joy and the conglomeration of species that are hanging around composing it. Leonard Richardson comes up with such a fascinating panoply of alien races/biologies/societies, they have cool and interesting cultures and weird biology, but there is so much plot happening in the book, so you don't get to just see what else happened or is happening or will happen, or how they get on outside the context of the story that happened in the novel. It's clear that there is more of a world beyond that story, though, and I am curious about it! The Quennies cosplay religion, Jammer Readout, Uhaltihaxl religious views, the way that Brands work, or how rre behave. Even just the bureacracy of a cityship in space vs. once it has landed, these are all suggestive of so much beyond what we see on the page. It's just a lot of cool world to explore. I have no problem with seeing the characters from the novel, but I am more interested in seeing more of the world than I am attached to seeing more of any particular character.
The Tick (2017)
DNW: Explicit Sexual Content
Optional details: So much superhero media is grimdark and brooding, and I feel like The Tick (2017) managed to simultaneously comment on and subvert the trend in a way that was lighthearted enough to pierce through that grimness rather than just overwhelming you with it more (like The Boys). It has enough of the 60s batman spirit to throw the darkness on its ear, while still feeling like it is a product of the more contemporary media landscape. This is why Overkill and Dangerboat are probably my favorite part of the show (and Dot, also). Overkill is almost the avatar of the grimdark nature of superhero media, and Dangerboat is just refusing to enter the same tone or vibe as Overkill, for the most part, making the comedy work, and also undercutting all of the grimness that Overkill tries to bring to it. But the pinnacle is definitely when Overkill and Dot do the thing.
Over the Garden Wall
DNW: Sexual Content, explicit gore.
This is the largest fandom I have requested. I love Greg. I seriously considered getting a Rock Fact tattoo. I am glad that the show is completed, because I don't think it needs any more episodes, it is perfect. But also, the unknown was not fully explored. There are more weird corners of those strange woods that Wirt and Greg didn't visit. And the vibe of it is so...it's just such a vibe. So I really would love to just hear about more places like the frog ferry or the inn the animal school. I just want to bask in the vibe of that show a bit more. Don't need to have Greg and Wirt feature, really just want to know what else is out there in those woods.
Murder on Sex Island - Jo Firestone
DNW: N/A
My ideal here is some other case Luella/Marie solved prior to the one we hear about in the book? I really just love the awkard humor, competent but not suave detecting skills, and in-over-her-head style of the book. So, anything that captures that vibe would be great!
Hey Diddle Diddle
DNW: N/A.
I am going to assemble and link to all the illustrations I can find of this poem. [Edit: I could have found more, but these are the ones worth perusing.] It seems like everyone has different ideas about what's going on. But there isn't really any version of it that exactly jives with how cats, dogs, cows, dishes and spoons behave in the real world, so like, what's going on? What's the deal with this world that dishes and spoons elope? Dogs are so easily entertained? Cats are this skilled at violin? Cows have that kind of vertical leap?
En Attendant Godot | Waiting for Godot - Beckett
DNW: N/A.
What was Godot doing the whole time? We got Vladimir and Estragon's story. I just want to know what Godot was getting up to.
In Conclusion
I hope this is a helpful addition to the prompt for letting you know more about me, and my interests for the fics. I appreciate that you are willing to participate in this exchange, and I can't wait to see what our shared love of one of these works produces!
I saw someone else's letter say that treats are welcome and that is very much the case for me, so I will include that here also!
Thanks!
JS_Thrill
