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graycardinalThanks to a timely reminder from senmut, I am now signed up for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rarelywritten (successor to the RareWomen exchange of prior years, now relocated to DW and renamed). A proper Dear Writer letter will follow shortly; in the meantime, my "dear santa" tag collects my letters from various past exchanges, and may be of general help.
[much later] Okay, so "shortly" morphed into "a week later" when I wasn't looking. Aii. Anyhow....
Greetings, and welcome, and also thank you; I continue to be astonished and delighted by the stories folk write for me in the various exchanges I inhabit. I suppose, realistically, the astonishment ought to be wearing off by now, since I've been writing gift-stories all along too; I know we get as much glee out of the writing process as we do the reading when the stories go live. OTOH, that just makes me appreciate the work you're putting in on my behalf all the more. But I'm burbling, and these letters aren't getting any shorter.
Feel free to wander backward through this journal and my fic on AO3 (linked to your left) to get an idea of my interests; what I write is very much also what I like to read -- and has, over time, added up to rather a variety of fandoms. My past letters for various exchanges are tagged "dear santa" herein; see also "exchange: rare women" if you like. To summarize, though: text-driven pluses for me include effective use of wit (aka banter aka snark, etc.), as well as strong characterization & dialogue. I value both respect for and clever use of canon (including well-developed AUs -- the plot-driven kind, not the baristas/highschoolers/alt-species kind). I thrive on UST (heavy on both U and T), and am neutral where gen/het/slash is concerned; if the pairing is well-developed, I'll read with an open mind.
I am also a sucker for the well-executed crossover, whether via oblique allusion or head-on fandom collision. Optional Details Being Optional, I have absolutely no expectations along this line -- and these requests in particular are more than usually inward-focused for me. But if your muse's musings wander into crossover territory on their own initiative, feel free to encourage them.
None of my requests call specifically for mature/explicit content. This doesn't mean I don't appreciate sizzling erotica/smut/porn; it's just that my fanfic-reading interests and my e/s/p-reading interests mostly don't tend to intersect. That said, if your muse takes you into explicit territory as you're plotting, I'm willing to follow along for the ride. I have few outright personal squicks save for noncon, incest, or adult/child kinks so long as a given relationship is age- and canon-appropriate. [See the requests for canon-specific notes.]
Austin & Murry/O'Keefe families - Madeleine L'Engle (Kali Cutter, Polly O'Keefe)
For Kali: I'd welcome either background/back-story (predating The Arm of the Starfish or a post-AotS story in which Kali comes to terms with the outcome of that book. In the case of a post-canon piece, I'd be especially glad to see her interact with other relevant canon characters -- any or all of Adam, Polly, Meg, even Vicky could be appropriate depending on the specific plot or scenario. (Or what might happen if post-AotS Kali somehow connected with Zachary Grey? Now there's a complicated thought....)
For Polly: This can be very open-ended. I'd be particularly interested in specific follow-up to any of "her" books (perhaps especially AotS, per above), focusing on how/whether she maintains the relationships she forms in each. As to pairings or romances for either character, I'm flexible -- although I'd observe that none of the canon proto-romances L'Engle supplies for Polly strike me as especially healthy as written.
Not much to add here, save perhaps that I've mostly supplied prompts involving either Kali or Polly; you're very welcome to put them together, but that's absolutely not a requirement. In that light, I'm not predisposed either for or against intimacy between them, but I'd note that they have a *lot* of issues (individually and between them) which would color whatever relationship one might choose to explore.
Galavant (Isabella, Madalena)
For Madalena: we get very, very little onstage to explain what really drives or motivates her; we know far more about what she isn't than what she is. Any story that helps rectify that will make me very happy. (One possible plot bunny: I had a private theory that the Jewel of Valencia would turn out to have long-forgotten Phenomenal Cosmic Powers. That would certainly explain why Madalena wanted it....)
For Isabella: give me back story (how she grew up, and did she maybe somehow have Xena, Warrior Princess for a role model), give me a battle of wits between Isabella and Harry (is Harry just fascinatingly creepy, or what?), give me Isabella and Galavant somehow corresponding by carrier pigeon post-finale (or trying to, at least).
Completely optional but worth many, many bonus points: including a musical number or numbers in the story.
Not much to add here, either, save perhaps much the same observation as above: while I've mostly supplied prompts for one lady or the other, you're welcome to do a story featuring both. As to romantic sparks? On one hand, canon would seem to argue strongly against the idea; OTOH, Galavant is nothing if not cracktastic, and a lot of things are possible in a sufficiently cracktastic context....
Valdemar series - Mercedes Lackey (Tarma, Kethry, Kerowyn)
I'd be interested in any of: a Sword & Sorceress-style set-piece adventure, either from Tarma & Kethry's travelling days or Kerowyn's mercenary years (in particular, Kerowyn's perpetually grouchy relationship with Need amuses me immensely); a Kethry-and-Jadrek family tale, post-Oathblood; a Kerowyn-vs.-Heraldic-tradition story, post-By the Sword. Bonus points for Leslac the Bard getting something entertainingly wrong yet again and for creative uses of Need. If you can find a way to tell a story about Kerowyn and Need in the window late in the MageStorms after the sword has woken up and become vocally self-aware again -- admittedly, the logistics for this would be challenging -- I'd be especially impressed.
I think the only prompt I might add beyond those supplied above would be this: it would be interesting and perhaps enlightening to see an adventure that gives Warrl a more significant role, explores his back story, or otherwise expands on his character. (Let me be clear about this: I do *not* mean to request Warrl as a protagonist or central figure. That Would Be Wrong, since Warrl isn't in the exchange tag set. But it strikes me that Warrl's neuter-ness makes "him" a totally appropriate person to include in a story for this particular exchange, alongside one or more of our official heroines.)
Note that the foregoing should be counted an alternative to any of the prompts from the request proper; there are a lot of possible directions you could go with these characters, and I emphatically don't mean this or any other suggestion to limit what you come up with.
senmut, I am now signed up for rarelywritten (successor to the RareWomen exchange of prior years, now relocated to DW and renamed). [much later] Okay, so "shortly" morphed into "a week later" when I wasn't looking. Aii. Anyhow....
Greetings, and welcome, and also thank you; I continue to be astonished and delighted by the stories folk write for me in the various exchanges I inhabit. I suppose, realistically, the astonishment ought to be wearing off by now, since I've been writing gift-stories all along too; I know we get as much glee out of the writing process as we do the reading when the stories go live. OTOH, that just makes me appreciate the work you're putting in on my behalf all the more. But I'm burbling, and these letters aren't getting any shorter.
So here are the fandoms I've requested:
Austin & Murry/O'Keefe families - Madeleine L'Engle (Kali Cutter, Polly O'Keefe)
Galavant (Isabella, Madalena)
Valdemar series - Mercedes Lackey (Tarma, Kethry, Kerowyn)
Feel free to wander backward through this journal and my fic on AO3 (linked to your left) to get an idea of my interests; what I write is very much also what I like to read -- and has, over time, added up to rather a variety of fandoms. My past letters for various exchanges are tagged "dear santa" herein; see also "exchange: rare women" if you like. To summarize, though: text-driven pluses for me include effective use of wit (aka banter aka snark, etc.), as well as strong characterization & dialogue. I value both respect for and clever use of canon (including well-developed AUs -- the plot-driven kind, not the baristas/highschoolers/alt-species kind). I thrive on UST (heavy on both U and T), and am neutral where gen/het/slash is concerned; if the pairing is well-developed, I'll read with an open mind.
I am also a sucker for the well-executed crossover, whether via oblique allusion or head-on fandom collision. Optional Details Being Optional, I have absolutely no expectations along this line -- and these requests in particular are more than usually inward-focused for me. But if your muse's musings wander into crossover territory on their own initiative, feel free to encourage them.
None of my requests call specifically for mature/explicit content. This doesn't mean I don't appreciate sizzling erotica/smut/porn; it's just that my fanfic-reading interests and my e/s/p-reading interests mostly don't tend to intersect. That said, if your muse takes you into explicit territory as you're plotting, I'm willing to follow along for the ride. I have few outright personal squicks save for noncon, incest, or adult/child kinks so long as a given relationship is age- and canon-appropriate. [See the requests for canon-specific notes.]
Austin & Murry/O'Keefe families - Madeleine L'Engle (Kali Cutter, Polly O'Keefe)
For Kali: I'd welcome either background/back-story (predating The Arm of the Starfish or a post-AotS story in which Kali comes to terms with the outcome of that book. In the case of a post-canon piece, I'd be especially glad to see her interact with other relevant canon characters -- any or all of Adam, Polly, Meg, even Vicky could be appropriate depending on the specific plot or scenario. (Or what might happen if post-AotS Kali somehow connected with Zachary Grey? Now there's a complicated thought....)
For Polly: This can be very open-ended. I'd be particularly interested in specific follow-up to any of "her" books (perhaps especially AotS, per above), focusing on how/whether she maintains the relationships she forms in each. As to pairings or romances for either character, I'm flexible -- although I'd observe that none of the canon proto-romances L'Engle supplies for Polly strike me as especially healthy as written.
Not much to add here, save perhaps that I've mostly supplied prompts involving either Kali or Polly; you're very welcome to put them together, but that's absolutely not a requirement. In that light, I'm not predisposed either for or against intimacy between them, but I'd note that they have a *lot* of issues (individually and between them) which would color whatever relationship one might choose to explore.
Galavant (Isabella, Madalena)
For Madalena: we get very, very little onstage to explain what really drives or motivates her; we know far more about what she isn't than what she is. Any story that helps rectify that will make me very happy. (One possible plot bunny: I had a private theory that the Jewel of Valencia would turn out to have long-forgotten Phenomenal Cosmic Powers. That would certainly explain why Madalena wanted it....)
For Isabella: give me back story (how she grew up, and did she maybe somehow have Xena, Warrior Princess for a role model), give me a battle of wits between Isabella and Harry (is Harry just fascinatingly creepy, or what?), give me Isabella and Galavant somehow corresponding by carrier pigeon post-finale (or trying to, at least).
Completely optional but worth many, many bonus points: including a musical number or numbers in the story.
Not much to add here, either, save perhaps much the same observation as above: while I've mostly supplied prompts for one lady or the other, you're welcome to do a story featuring both. As to romantic sparks? On one hand, canon would seem to argue strongly against the idea; OTOH, Galavant is nothing if not cracktastic, and a lot of things are possible in a sufficiently cracktastic context....
Valdemar series - Mercedes Lackey (Tarma, Kethry, Kerowyn)
I'd be interested in any of: a Sword & Sorceress-style set-piece adventure, either from Tarma & Kethry's travelling days or Kerowyn's mercenary years (in particular, Kerowyn's perpetually grouchy relationship with Need amuses me immensely); a Kethry-and-Jadrek family tale, post-Oathblood; a Kerowyn-vs.-Heraldic-tradition story, post-By the Sword. Bonus points for Leslac the Bard getting something entertainingly wrong yet again and for creative uses of Need. If you can find a way to tell a story about Kerowyn and Need in the window late in the MageStorms after the sword has woken up and become vocally self-aware again -- admittedly, the logistics for this would be challenging -- I'd be especially impressed.
I think the only prompt I might add beyond those supplied above would be this: it would be interesting and perhaps enlightening to see an adventure that gives Warrl a more significant role, explores his back story, or otherwise expands on his character. (Let me be clear about this: I do *not* mean to request Warrl as a protagonist or central figure. That Would Be Wrong, since Warrl isn't in the exchange tag set. But it strikes me that Warrl's neuter-ness makes "him" a totally appropriate person to include in a story for this particular exchange, alongside one or more of our official heroines.)
Note that the foregoing should be counted an alternative to any of the prompts from the request proper; there are a lot of possible directions you could go with these characters, and I emphatically don't mean this or any other suggestion to limit what you come up with.
