Dear Yuletide writer
Oct. 21st, 2023 10:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzula[Sorry I didn't manage to quite finish this letter in time, and then left it to languish a few days! It should be finished now, but please ask questions via the mods if anything is unclear.]
Welcome, and I am so happy that we share this rare fandom! I hope you have fun writing. : )
General likes: I enjoy the whole range from gen to porn, and like both happy and angsty stories. I like historical specificity, landscape description and attention paid to the setting in general, old-fashioned omniscient POV, canon-like writing style, loyalty, characters having conflicting loyalties.
General dislikes: Change-of-setting AU in historical canons (but I love canon divergence, and I also enjoy adding supernatural/fantasy elements to the canon setting), non-con/dubcon, infidelity, body horror. If you go with something angsty, I prefer for there to still be a meaning to the character's lives and not be unrelentingly dark.
Bonnie Dundee by Rosemary Sutcliff (Darklis Ruthven, Lady Jean)
We don't see much of their relationship in the book, since it's from Hugh's POV, but Darklis and Jean make a sort of counterpart to Hugh's devotion to Claverhouse. I would love to see more of them! You can take it in a femslashy direction if you want, but honestly I think what I want is the sort of loyalty (especially in wartime) that we often get between male characters, but less often between female ones. Perhaps with an unspoken romantic or sexual tension? So, how do they first form that bond? What conflicting loyalties do they have, and how do they handle them? What happens between them when Lady Jean marries? What about after Claverhouse dies? I am not into infidelity, but I also think there's room to write a sort of f/f which might not seen as infidelity for a wife by 17th century standards (it's the time of romantic friendship...). Also, poly is fine! But as I said, I am most into the loyalty aspects.
England Series - K J Charles (Archie Curtis/Daniel da Silva)
I just read this and thought it was delicious! Here's a specific prompt, if you want that: I loved everything about the book except for the bit at the end where Archie goes for a forceful non-con kiss to convince Daniel to continue their relationship. So I'd love a fix-it where he uses his words instead, or respects Daniel's decision and leaves, only for Daniel to change his mind later. But feel totally free to ignore this prompt and go for something else instead! Another thing I'd love is an outside POV on them. Daniel presumably has a community and friends--I'd love to see Daniel talking to one of them about Archie, or to see Daniel and Archie through the eyes of one of Daniel's friends. Or through the eyes of a fellow officer of Archie's. Or you could do a casefic (I say, knowing how hard I'd find that myself...).
The Flight of the Heron - D. K. Broster (any)
I have no specific prompts--since I've been writing so much for the fandom, I suppose I just want to read something I wouldn't come up with myself? So, here's what I love about the canon: Obviously I ship Ewen and Keith--the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers aspects, the way they are torn between their duty and their love, the hurt-comfort. Broster knew how to write fannish catnip, is what I'm saying. But I also love the landscape descriptions, the writing style, the touch of the supernatural, and the historical nerdery. I would be equally happy with a shippy fic as gen fic: perhaps explore Ewen and Lachlan's relationship (er, but no Ewen/Lachlan please). Or Ewen and Aunt Margaret's relationship. I also love outside POV: you could give me one on Ewen/Keith or Ewen/Keith/Alison through Aveling's eyes, or Aunt Margaret's, or Lachlan's, or some other character's. I would also really love there to be more Ewen/Alison/Keith in the world! You could just write me a slice-of-life with the three of them and I would be happy. Please no change of setting (that is, don't change the place and time), but I love canon-divergence AU:s, and I also enjoy adding supernatural/magical elements to the setting. You can write Alison out of the story if you like, but please treat her kindly in the process.
"Mr Rowl" - D K Broster (Raoul des Sablieres, Hervey Barrington)
"Mr Rowl", the one slashy Broster novel for which no slashy fic yet exists! You could help remedy this shocking lack! You could give me a missing scene from the book with Raoul and Barrington, perhaps through Barrington's eyes? Or show us more of what Barrington is thinking during canon events? What is Barrington's history and how does that affect how he reacts to Raoul? Or for something more plotty: now that Raoul will go back to France and Barrington get a ship again, what if Barrington should be captured in his turn and encounter Raoul while a prisoner? Feel free to include Lavinia, who is awesome and obviously knows that her brother is queer. I also like Juliana a lot, and you can include her too if you want. I am not into infidelity, but Raoul and Juliana don't have a commitment to each other before the end of the story, so it's fine with me if something happens between Raoul and Barrington before that. Or perhaps whatever is between them is unspoken and never comes to anything? Or you could turn Raoul and Juliana's attachment into a friendship--perhaps they feel more like siblings to each other throughout the book? Or poly is fine, too!
The Wounded Name by D K Broster (Laurent de Courtomer, Aymar de la Rocheterie)
I got a really lovely fic for this last year, but hey, why not be greedy for more? I love this book in all its iddy glory: when you think it can't become any more over the top, Broster proves you wrong. The hurt-comfort, the courtroom drama, Aymar's angsty wounded honour, Laurent's devotion, it's all great. You could give me more of Aymar's POV than we get in canon. Or hey, how about an outside view of Aymar/Laurent and how extra they are about each other? You could give me the kissing or sex they're probably having in some missing scene, or you could write some canon divergence: what happens if Aymar's name is not cleared at the end? What if Aymar runs away to England (before or after the court-martial) and Laurent has to go chasing after thim? For that matter, Laurent could well be court-martialled for ditching his duty and staying with Aymar! With Avoye, you could either have her and Aymar love each other like siblings instead, or keep their romantic relationship and resolve the ending into poly. But if you do the latter, please don't lean into the sibling-like nature of Aymar/Avoye (it already almost trips my incest squick).
Welcome, and I am so happy that we share this rare fandom! I hope you have fun writing. : )
General likes: I enjoy the whole range from gen to porn, and like both happy and angsty stories. I like historical specificity, landscape description and attention paid to the setting in general, old-fashioned omniscient POV, canon-like writing style, loyalty, characters having conflicting loyalties.
General dislikes: Change-of-setting AU in historical canons (but I love canon divergence, and I also enjoy adding supernatural/fantasy elements to the canon setting), non-con/dubcon, infidelity, body horror. If you go with something angsty, I prefer for there to still be a meaning to the character's lives and not be unrelentingly dark.
Bonnie Dundee by Rosemary Sutcliff (Darklis Ruthven, Lady Jean)
We don't see much of their relationship in the book, since it's from Hugh's POV, but Darklis and Jean make a sort of counterpart to Hugh's devotion to Claverhouse. I would love to see more of them! You can take it in a femslashy direction if you want, but honestly I think what I want is the sort of loyalty (especially in wartime) that we often get between male characters, but less often between female ones. Perhaps with an unspoken romantic or sexual tension? So, how do they first form that bond? What conflicting loyalties do they have, and how do they handle them? What happens between them when Lady Jean marries? What about after Claverhouse dies? I am not into infidelity, but I also think there's room to write a sort of f/f which might not seen as infidelity for a wife by 17th century standards (it's the time of romantic friendship...). Also, poly is fine! But as I said, I am most into the loyalty aspects.
England Series - K J Charles (Archie Curtis/Daniel da Silva)
I just read this and thought it was delicious! Here's a specific prompt, if you want that: I loved everything about the book except for the bit at the end where Archie goes for a forceful non-con kiss to convince Daniel to continue their relationship. So I'd love a fix-it where he uses his words instead, or respects Daniel's decision and leaves, only for Daniel to change his mind later. But feel totally free to ignore this prompt and go for something else instead! Another thing I'd love is an outside POV on them. Daniel presumably has a community and friends--I'd love to see Daniel talking to one of them about Archie, or to see Daniel and Archie through the eyes of one of Daniel's friends. Or through the eyes of a fellow officer of Archie's. Or you could do a casefic (I say, knowing how hard I'd find that myself...).
The Flight of the Heron - D. K. Broster (any)
I have no specific prompts--since I've been writing so much for the fandom, I suppose I just want to read something I wouldn't come up with myself? So, here's what I love about the canon: Obviously I ship Ewen and Keith--the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers aspects, the way they are torn between their duty and their love, the hurt-comfort. Broster knew how to write fannish catnip, is what I'm saying. But I also love the landscape descriptions, the writing style, the touch of the supernatural, and the historical nerdery. I would be equally happy with a shippy fic as gen fic: perhaps explore Ewen and Lachlan's relationship (er, but no Ewen/Lachlan please). Or Ewen and Aunt Margaret's relationship. I also love outside POV: you could give me one on Ewen/Keith or Ewen/Keith/Alison through Aveling's eyes, or Aunt Margaret's, or Lachlan's, or some other character's. I would also really love there to be more Ewen/Alison/Keith in the world! You could just write me a slice-of-life with the three of them and I would be happy. Please no change of setting (that is, don't change the place and time), but I love canon-divergence AU:s, and I also enjoy adding supernatural/magical elements to the setting. You can write Alison out of the story if you like, but please treat her kindly in the process.
"Mr Rowl" - D K Broster (Raoul des Sablieres, Hervey Barrington)
"Mr Rowl", the one slashy Broster novel for which no slashy fic yet exists! You could help remedy this shocking lack! You could give me a missing scene from the book with Raoul and Barrington, perhaps through Barrington's eyes? Or show us more of what Barrington is thinking during canon events? What is Barrington's history and how does that affect how he reacts to Raoul? Or for something more plotty: now that Raoul will go back to France and Barrington get a ship again, what if Barrington should be captured in his turn and encounter Raoul while a prisoner? Feel free to include Lavinia, who is awesome and obviously knows that her brother is queer. I also like Juliana a lot, and you can include her too if you want. I am not into infidelity, but Raoul and Juliana don't have a commitment to each other before the end of the story, so it's fine with me if something happens between Raoul and Barrington before that. Or perhaps whatever is between them is unspoken and never comes to anything? Or you could turn Raoul and Juliana's attachment into a friendship--perhaps they feel more like siblings to each other throughout the book? Or poly is fine, too!
The Wounded Name by D K Broster (Laurent de Courtomer, Aymar de la Rocheterie)
I got a really lovely fic for this last year, but hey, why not be greedy for more? I love this book in all its iddy glory: when you think it can't become any more over the top, Broster proves you wrong. The hurt-comfort, the courtroom drama, Aymar's angsty wounded honour, Laurent's devotion, it's all great. You could give me more of Aymar's POV than we get in canon. Or hey, how about an outside view of Aymar/Laurent and how extra they are about each other? You could give me the kissing or sex they're probably having in some missing scene, or you could write some canon divergence: what happens if Aymar's name is not cleared at the end? What if Aymar runs away to England (before or after the court-martial) and Laurent has to go chasing after thim? For that matter, Laurent could well be court-martialled for ditching his duty and staying with Aymar! With Avoye, you could either have her and Aymar love each other like siblings instead, or keep their romantic relationship and resolve the ending into poly. But if you do the latter, please don't lean into the sibling-like nature of Aymar/Avoye (it already almost trips my incest squick).
(no subject)
Date: 2023-10-21 10:32 pm (UTC)Good luck!
(no subject)
Date: 2023-10-23 11:39 am (UTC)Aaah, the email with my assignment is sitting in my inbox, but I have not yet read it... *nervous*
ETA: Whew, my assignment is quite doable...
(no subject)
Date: 2023-10-23 07:09 pm (UTC)Oh, good! I look eventually forward.