primeideal (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
primeideal) wrote2016-09-28 07:19 pm
primeideal) wrote2016-09-28 07:19 pm
Entry tags:
Dear Yuletide Author (2016)
Dear Yuletide Author,
From games and the players who win 'em
To stories with strange songs within 'em
I'll enjoy any tale
That you bring without fail,
No matter how you choose to spin 'em!
(Optional details are optional! Please don't feel limited to these prompts, I look forward to anything you write in any of these fandoms!) Although some of the sections are longer than others, this has been where I've tried to give prompts for just one character at a time as opposed to a combination or "any nominated," and I'm equally excited to receive fic in any of them.
Previous Dear Author letters, from which most of this preamble is rephrased!
My name is also primeideal on ao3, and also Tumblr. I'm Ember Nickel on FFN and Imzy. (Again, though I ramble about some of these more than others on platforms like Tumblr, this is due to their size-relative-for-Yuletide; I love them all!)
I love happy endings, sad endings (when providing some measure of closure or melodrama), snark, wordplay, mathplay, gen of any stripe, friendships and familial bonds, fourth-wall bashing and unashamed meta, and general nerdery.
I do not want issue-fic, explicit sex, rape/noncon, or cliffhanger endings--I strongly prefer self-contained stories that lead to some resolution, be that happy or sad. (I have no problem with character death, if that's the route you want to go down!)
Most of these fandoms have no particular shippy focus. If you're so inclined, for FTL and Resistance, I'm fine with any pairings (of the named characters and/or OCs), but also love gen. I'll discuss the others in their own sections.
Chess (musical) (Florence, Freddie, Anatoly)
Please treat this as an OR request: I'd be happy with fic about any one of these requested characters. As always, optional details are extremely optional, but particularly for this fandom where there are so many versions of "canon" to begin with. This year I got interested in the Swedish production of the musical; you can read a fan-translated version of the script here. This has inspired several of my prompts, but I certainly don't expect you to be familiar with this version in particular.
Freddie--in the Swedish version (which is set entirely in Merano), Freddie goes to a bar to try to drown his sorrows. However, "One Night in Bangkok" is playing on the radio. So...does that song exist within the fictional universe, and if so, how? Does the entire musical exist in Freddie's world, and if so, is there a chance for different fictional versions of himself (or the other characters) to interact? I would love to see something completely cracky for this. If you'd rather write something a little more serious for him, I'd be interested in either backstory or post-canon fic for Freddie (in any continuity). I'm most interested in his drive to the top as a competitor and/or his recalibration of what to do with himself in a post-Berlin Wall era.
Florence--the Swedish version highlights the Hungarian uprising in a cool way (although her father isn't a second-act subplot), so anything emphasizing her growing political awareness and the various ways she sees herself would be great. Again, this could be during her childhood or later (maybe paralleling some of the ways Anatoly is or isn't becoming politically conscious, depending on the version).
Anatoly--is characterized a little bit differently in the Swedish version; "Where I Want To Be" takes on a slightly more political edge right away, "Anthem" is a little more explicitly religious, and his father was a math professor who had a Hungarian co-worker which made Anatoly indirectly aware of the consequences of the uprising. Any or all of that, and the parallels/counterpoints to Florence it brings up, would be really cool to explore in backstory (or future-fic). Once again, feel free to ignore any of that and go with any other characterization or time period, including "the heck with it, I just like to win because winning at chess is great."
Shipwise for this fandom, I'm fine with Florence/Anatoly (and gen), but would rather not have the focus on any other ship.
Chip's Challenge (any character: Chip and/or Melinda nominated)
Anything for this fandom! Chip's increasingly frustrated diary as he beats his head against a wall/block of ice/force field? Melinda's notes to him as she watches him drown for the twelfth time? Postgame adventures once Chip is a Bit Buster in his own right?
I'm also familiar with the second game, so if you happen to know it, feel free to incorporate the new puzzles (letting Melinda and Chip summon each other so they can get out of traps neither one could escape on their own, and so on); if not, absolutely not expected! Either allusions to specific levels from the original game or just generic "oh no, it's a monster" would be welcome.
I'd be cool with either a shippy or a gen focus to Melinda and Chip's relationship.
This game (and the sequel) is available on Steam.
FTL: Faster Than Light (any character: Ariadne, Rock quest captain, Rebel soldier, Repair drones nominated)
For this fandom, I would not like mention of the canonical endgame/final boss, but any other past or future you imagine for these characters is cool, whether it's how the outbreak of the rebellion first impacted their lives, or getting crushed to death by asteroids in sector four!
Ariadne--the Rock bride who sullenly mopes in your cargo bay, then tries to escape her own wedding and can possibly join your crew. Backstory would be great--what is she running away from? Does she fit in on the ship? Or explore the world where she stays put and gets married--does she fall in love with her spouse eventually? Does the war catch up to her?
Rebel soldier--in particular, I'm thinking of the one who says they would prefer to stick with the federation, but feels like they need to be part of a war. Really?! Do they not have a choice in the matter? And they're in a war right now, can't they switch sides if they want? What's up with this captain, really?
Rock quest captain--the one who's potentially impressed by your willingness to fight to the end for the Federation, or just to endure the fire traps near the sun. What brought about their commitment to honor? How do they find stars hot enough to lure unwary travellers? Does everyone who earns their upgrade prove worthy of it?
Repair drones--they don't know where you came from, and they don't care (but they're the right place for some ship repair). Is this really true? If so, would that make them the most tolerant and open-minded beings in a war-torn galaxy? Why the heck are they programmed to speak in rhyme?! ;)
Please don't feel the need to work in more than one of these characters, but if something inspires you to include more than one, by all means go for it! (Maybe Ariadne and the quest captain bond over stomping out fires, or the rebel soldier and the drones think that the background music is super catchy...)
This game is available on Steam.
Galavant (Gareth, Sidney, Madalena, the DEL)
Gareth and Sidney's adventures on the quest to save Madalena from herself, please, and/or the showdown once they get there. Does Sidney ever get to be an Important Protagonist again, or do the continuing demands of living in a monarchy inspire revolutionary urges? When he's not in love, are Gareth's metaphors still limited to henchmany, minionesque speak? Do they ever play another round of "guess which name is on my forehead?" Who or what is the DEL, and what kind of fashion advice do they have in mind for Madalena and company? Is there a way to undo the DDEW contract for Madalena's soul, and if so, how? Does she just go back to being an ordinary villain anyway?
I'm fine with nonstandard formats, so lyrical digressions would be very welcome but certainly not expected. In general, I like the musical-allusion stuff of the second season a little more than the first season style of random shoutouts to RL, but complete shattering of the fourth wall is always fun too!
If you decide to give Madalena a happy ending, I like Gareth/Madalena, but I'd also be fine with them realizing they have other priorities than each other and parting ways. Other than that, I'd rather not see other ships among the requested characters, but mentions of other canon ships are fine if you'd like to include any other characters from this show.
This show is on Netflix (this link might work specifically, otherwise hopefully searching is useful); you can find a lot of the songs on Youtube. A sample (Let's Agree to Disagree)
Godel, Escher, Bach (Achilles, Tortoise)
Anything about the further adventures of Mr. A and Mr. T! Do they ever escape the villainous traps of the Little Harmonic Labyrinth, or do they meet a grisly fate there? Do they talk themselves into loops trying to learn about some other nerdy math/art/music/you name it? concept? Or are they finally able to spend a happy afternoon watching sports together without wondering what might have been?
I'm open to nonstandard formats, so if dialogues like the book are your style, go for it; if you prefer prose, that's great too! Similarly, don't feel like you have to write a scientific expose or show off any kind of outside research, but on the other hand, if you'd like to go off on a tangent about something philosophical that sort of fits the themes of the book, I'd love to learn about your/the characters' newest diversions. (No outright ideological bashing, please, but otherwise anything goes.)
Feel free to bring in any other characters from the book, including the nominated Crab and Anteater, I'd just definitely like Achilles and the Tortoise to be included. I'd prefer gen or canon/OC if you'd like to include the tortoise's love song take on things, but no interspecies shipping for this fandom please.
This book is on Amazon (and libraries, etc!)
Resistance (any character: Commander, False Commander, Bodyguard, Deep Cover spy nominated)
Anything whatsoever about this fandom. The games you've played, your best wins, your most surprising losses, the ways they should have gone, your very own house rules, the dramatic showdowns you can only imagine.
The nominated characters are the Commander, False Commander, Bodyguard, and Deep Cover spy. These are, respectively, the same roles as Merlin, Morgana, Percival, and Mordred from Resistance: Avalon, and I'd be equally thrilled with something set in ye olde Camelot setting as ye newe dystopian futuristic one. So if you want to work in allusions to other Arthurian characters, knock yourself out.
If you want to not focus on the game mechanics and instead explain the characters/worldbuilding, go for it. Maybe the spies aren't evil, just misunderstood? Maybe the Commander and the Deep Cover spy used to be in a relationship and now they're just pretending not to recognize each other? Maybe it was all the Bodyguard's final transmission after laying down their life for the cause?
And if you prefer not to use the canonical characters but instead do something tangential, as long as it relates to this fandom I'll appreciate it.
The rules (Avalon version) are here. Here is what the futuristic versions of the characters look like, and here is the original art.
--
Again, feel free to use as little as you want of this, and thanks again for writing for me! I hope you have a merry Yuletide, and look forward to reading your story!
From games and the players who win 'em
To stories with strange songs within 'em
I'll enjoy any tale
That you bring without fail,
No matter how you choose to spin 'em!
(Optional details are optional! Please don't feel limited to these prompts, I look forward to anything you write in any of these fandoms!) Although some of the sections are longer than others, this has been where I've tried to give prompts for just one character at a time as opposed to a combination or "any nominated," and I'm equally excited to receive fic in any of them.
Previous Dear Author letters, from which most of this preamble is rephrased!
My name is also primeideal on ao3, and also Tumblr. I'm Ember Nickel on FFN and Imzy. (Again, though I ramble about some of these more than others on platforms like Tumblr, this is due to their size-relative-for-Yuletide; I love them all!)
I love happy endings, sad endings (when providing some measure of closure or melodrama), snark, wordplay, mathplay, gen of any stripe, friendships and familial bonds, fourth-wall bashing and unashamed meta, and general nerdery.
I do not want issue-fic, explicit sex, rape/noncon, or cliffhanger endings--I strongly prefer self-contained stories that lead to some resolution, be that happy or sad. (I have no problem with character death, if that's the route you want to go down!)
Most of these fandoms have no particular shippy focus. If you're so inclined, for FTL and Resistance, I'm fine with any pairings (of the named characters and/or OCs), but also love gen. I'll discuss the others in their own sections.
Chess (musical) (Florence, Freddie, Anatoly)
Please treat this as an OR request: I'd be happy with fic about any one of these requested characters. As always, optional details are extremely optional, but particularly for this fandom where there are so many versions of "canon" to begin with. This year I got interested in the Swedish production of the musical; you can read a fan-translated version of the script here. This has inspired several of my prompts, but I certainly don't expect you to be familiar with this version in particular.
Freddie--in the Swedish version (which is set entirely in Merano), Freddie goes to a bar to try to drown his sorrows. However, "One Night in Bangkok" is playing on the radio. So...does that song exist within the fictional universe, and if so, how? Does the entire musical exist in Freddie's world, and if so, is there a chance for different fictional versions of himself (or the other characters) to interact? I would love to see something completely cracky for this. If you'd rather write something a little more serious for him, I'd be interested in either backstory or post-canon fic for Freddie (in any continuity). I'm most interested in his drive to the top as a competitor and/or his recalibration of what to do with himself in a post-Berlin Wall era.
Florence--the Swedish version highlights the Hungarian uprising in a cool way (although her father isn't a second-act subplot), so anything emphasizing her growing political awareness and the various ways she sees herself would be great. Again, this could be during her childhood or later (maybe paralleling some of the ways Anatoly is or isn't becoming politically conscious, depending on the version).
Anatoly--is characterized a little bit differently in the Swedish version; "Where I Want To Be" takes on a slightly more political edge right away, "Anthem" is a little more explicitly religious, and his father was a math professor who had a Hungarian co-worker which made Anatoly indirectly aware of the consequences of the uprising. Any or all of that, and the parallels/counterpoints to Florence it brings up, would be really cool to explore in backstory (or future-fic). Once again, feel free to ignore any of that and go with any other characterization or time period, including "the heck with it, I just like to win because winning at chess is great."
Shipwise for this fandom, I'm fine with Florence/Anatoly (and gen), but would rather not have the focus on any other ship.
Chip's Challenge (any character: Chip and/or Melinda nominated)
Anything for this fandom! Chip's increasingly frustrated diary as he beats his head against a wall/block of ice/force field? Melinda's notes to him as she watches him drown for the twelfth time? Postgame adventures once Chip is a Bit Buster in his own right?
I'm also familiar with the second game, so if you happen to know it, feel free to incorporate the new puzzles (letting Melinda and Chip summon each other so they can get out of traps neither one could escape on their own, and so on); if not, absolutely not expected! Either allusions to specific levels from the original game or just generic "oh no, it's a monster" would be welcome.
I'd be cool with either a shippy or a gen focus to Melinda and Chip's relationship.
This game (and the sequel) is available on Steam.
FTL: Faster Than Light (any character: Ariadne, Rock quest captain, Rebel soldier, Repair drones nominated)
For this fandom, I would not like mention of the canonical endgame/final boss, but any other past or future you imagine for these characters is cool, whether it's how the outbreak of the rebellion first impacted their lives, or getting crushed to death by asteroids in sector four!
Ariadne--the Rock bride who sullenly mopes in your cargo bay, then tries to escape her own wedding and can possibly join your crew. Backstory would be great--what is she running away from? Does she fit in on the ship? Or explore the world where she stays put and gets married--does she fall in love with her spouse eventually? Does the war catch up to her?
Rebel soldier--in particular, I'm thinking of the one who says they would prefer to stick with the federation, but feels like they need to be part of a war. Really?! Do they not have a choice in the matter? And they're in a war right now, can't they switch sides if they want? What's up with this captain, really?
Rock quest captain--the one who's potentially impressed by your willingness to fight to the end for the Federation, or just to endure the fire traps near the sun. What brought about their commitment to honor? How do they find stars hot enough to lure unwary travellers? Does everyone who earns their upgrade prove worthy of it?
Repair drones--they don't know where you came from, and they don't care (but they're the right place for some ship repair). Is this really true? If so, would that make them the most tolerant and open-minded beings in a war-torn galaxy? Why the heck are they programmed to speak in rhyme?! ;)
Please don't feel the need to work in more than one of these characters, but if something inspires you to include more than one, by all means go for it! (Maybe Ariadne and the quest captain bond over stomping out fires, or the rebel soldier and the drones think that the background music is super catchy...)
This game is available on Steam.
Galavant (Gareth, Sidney, Madalena, the DEL)
Gareth and Sidney's adventures on the quest to save Madalena from herself, please, and/or the showdown once they get there. Does Sidney ever get to be an Important Protagonist again, or do the continuing demands of living in a monarchy inspire revolutionary urges? When he's not in love, are Gareth's metaphors still limited to henchmany, minionesque speak? Do they ever play another round of "guess which name is on my forehead?" Who or what is the DEL, and what kind of fashion advice do they have in mind for Madalena and company? Is there a way to undo the DDEW contract for Madalena's soul, and if so, how? Does she just go back to being an ordinary villain anyway?
I'm fine with nonstandard formats, so lyrical digressions would be very welcome but certainly not expected. In general, I like the musical-allusion stuff of the second season a little more than the first season style of random shoutouts to RL, but complete shattering of the fourth wall is always fun too!
If you decide to give Madalena a happy ending, I like Gareth/Madalena, but I'd also be fine with them realizing they have other priorities than each other and parting ways. Other than that, I'd rather not see other ships among the requested characters, but mentions of other canon ships are fine if you'd like to include any other characters from this show.
This show is on Netflix (this link might work specifically, otherwise hopefully searching is useful); you can find a lot of the songs on Youtube. A sample (Let's Agree to Disagree)
Godel, Escher, Bach (Achilles, Tortoise)
Anything about the further adventures of Mr. A and Mr. T! Do they ever escape the villainous traps of the Little Harmonic Labyrinth, or do they meet a grisly fate there? Do they talk themselves into loops trying to learn about some other nerdy math/art/music/you name it? concept? Or are they finally able to spend a happy afternoon watching sports together without wondering what might have been?
I'm open to nonstandard formats, so if dialogues like the book are your style, go for it; if you prefer prose, that's great too! Similarly, don't feel like you have to write a scientific expose or show off any kind of outside research, but on the other hand, if you'd like to go off on a tangent about something philosophical that sort of fits the themes of the book, I'd love to learn about your/the characters' newest diversions. (No outright ideological bashing, please, but otherwise anything goes.)
Feel free to bring in any other characters from the book, including the nominated Crab and Anteater, I'd just definitely like Achilles and the Tortoise to be included. I'd prefer gen or canon/OC if you'd like to include the tortoise's love song take on things, but no interspecies shipping for this fandom please.
This book is on Amazon (and libraries, etc!)
Resistance (any character: Commander, False Commander, Bodyguard, Deep Cover spy nominated)
Anything whatsoever about this fandom. The games you've played, your best wins, your most surprising losses, the ways they should have gone, your very own house rules, the dramatic showdowns you can only imagine.
The nominated characters are the Commander, False Commander, Bodyguard, and Deep Cover spy. These are, respectively, the same roles as Merlin, Morgana, Percival, and Mordred from Resistance: Avalon, and I'd be equally thrilled with something set in ye olde Camelot setting as ye newe dystopian futuristic one. So if you want to work in allusions to other Arthurian characters, knock yourself out.
If you want to not focus on the game mechanics and instead explain the characters/worldbuilding, go for it. Maybe the spies aren't evil, just misunderstood? Maybe the Commander and the Deep Cover spy used to be in a relationship and now they're just pretending not to recognize each other? Maybe it was all the Bodyguard's final transmission after laying down their life for the cause?
And if you prefer not to use the canonical characters but instead do something tangential, as long as it relates to this fandom I'll appreciate it.
The rules (Avalon version) are here. Here is what the futuristic versions of the characters look like, and here is the original art.
--
Again, feel free to use as little as you want of this, and thanks again for writing for me! I hope you have a merry Yuletide, and look forward to reading your story!