Yuletide letter

[osprey_archer]

Dear Yuletide Author:

First, thank you so much! I'm really excited about Yuletide - your story, my story, everybody else's stories, all the hot chocolate I can drink while angsting about what to write...I'm sure I'll love whatever you come up with, so try not to stress out too much.

Second, sorry for not writing this a bit sooner. Mea culpa.



So first, here are a couple of nice bulleted lists for you.

Likes:
• Humor
• Banter
• Emotional complexity
• A sense of atmosphere (this is actually one of the reasons I picked these fandoms – all of them have a strong feeling of where they’re set – but don’t worry about it too much, one of the reasons I admire this is because I can’t write descriptions to save my life, so I don't expect anyone else to be able to either)
• Flawed but likeable characters
• Interesting female characters (I bet you could kind of guess that from my fandoms)
• Hopeful endings (hopeful endings are in between happy and bittersweet, both of which I also like)

I'd also prefer the stories to be PG-13 or under if that doesn't cramp your style too much.

Dislikes:
• Character death
• Character bashing

And a few more specifics about the fandoms.

1. Amelie

I love Amelie excessively - both the movie and the character. They're so zany and colorful and peculiar! I think it would be interesting to see another one of Amelie's schemes, especially if it goes wrong and she has to deal with the consequences; or to see her try to deal with an actual relationship with Nino. (I always thought the ending was a bit of a copout; we never see them actually experience emotional intimacy, which is Amelie's real problem.)

The ending of the movie really bothers me, because it equates physical and emotional intimacy, which strikes me as rather taking the easy way out. It would be interesting to see Amelie trying to sustain an actual relationship with her rather peculiar repertoire of emotional skills; it could be very funny or very painful, or both.

2. Paper Towns

Oh man, how much do I love Margo Roth Spiegelman? A LOT. I would love a story about her further adventures after the end of the book - anything from wacky hijinks to a bittersweet exploration of her flaws (her inability to settle down; her selfishness). If she meets up with Quentin that would be a plus, as long as it isn't sappy.

I really adore this book, and I haven't been able to convince anyone else to read it, which just makes me so sad because it's so excellent! Here is the review I wrote just after reading it; looking back over it, I will say that while the "who we are vs. how we're seen" theme is a little heavy-handed...it's also very interesting, so if you want to do something with that go for it.

3. Coraline

The further adventures of Coraline, especially if they involve the cat. Appearances by the other inhabitants of her house are also welcome. Maybe one of them is somehow connected to something magical and creepy?

I really love how matter-of-factly Coraline deals with the supernatural occurrences; it reminds me a little of Alice in Wonderland. (Now there would be a crossover for the ages.) I like her cleverness and bravery and would love to see her go mano a mano with, well, just about anything; supernatural or otherwise (Coraline's first day at her new school might be pretty amazing).



I hope this helps! Happy Yuletide, and good luck!

Comments

[redskyis.livejournal.com]

...How does this work exactly?

By the way, all three of these fandoms are great. :)

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Ah, you don't know about Yuletide? The Yuletide website is here (http://www.yuletidetreasure.org/). It's too late to sign up this year, but basically you sign up, request three/four fandoms, and then check off every fandom you'd be willing to write in.

Then you sit back, wait for your assignment, and hope that the person you're matched with doesn't want tentacle porn.

Anyway, it is too late to sign up, but if you want something I could try to write it. As long as it's not tentacle porn. (And assuming I know the fandom.)

Have you read Paper Towns? It's by the same author as An Abundance of Katherines. (He also wrote Looking for Alaska, which I didn't like as much.)

[redskyis.livejournal.com]

I'm so behind on anything internet story related, it's a little sad (though I don't know that I would've had time for it anyway). It sounds really cool, though! Maybe I'll give it a try next year. :)

I have read Paper Towns (got it for Christmas last year, ironically, and I knew I lent you one of his books, but I couldn't actually remember which one...)

But tentacle porn is so... wow, okay, I can't even think up a joke about that O.o Anyway, I hope you get some good stuff that isn't tentacle porn. :P

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Ah, no worries, I didn't get assigned tentacle porn. I think people hold back a little for Yuletide - they know that whoever gets assigned can't get out of it.