pink bows and the apocalypse

Thank you in advance for your awesomeness, author! I hope you find this letter helpful, but feel free to ignore any and all of it. Optional details are optional, and I would rather read a fic my author was invested in than one catering to my whims.

(Also, yes, large chunks of this were c/p'ed from previous year’s letters. Also, all three of these are variants on things I've requested in the past. This doesn't mean I wasn't delighted with what I received before, it just means that I'm greedy.)

Here is some non-fandom specific stuff that might help you:

• Find me: Kristin (Ao3) | kristin (#yuletide)


• I tend to throw out a lot of prompts in my requests. There are none I would like to see more than the others and no need to try and combine all of the prompts into a frankenfic.


• I am OK with character death/in-fic violence/gore/swearing/unhappy endings etc. and I love apocafic. If you run out of other ideas, kill (almost) everybody in the world off and I will love it. The darker and creepier the better.


• I prefer gen to het/slash/femslash


• I prefer not to read: character bashing, infidelity, pregnancy/kidfic, incest, schmoop, 2nd person and PWPs.


• I love: plot, ensembles, adventures, banter, found families, fully realized characters and settings, interesting narrative voices and people who bring the funny.

( The Wire )


( NewsRadio )


( Graceland - Paul Simon (Album) )

ALL HAIL THE YULETIDE WRITER

First off, thank you so much for writing for me. I am sure I will love whatever you create. Optional details are optional, so feel free to ignore all of this blather as I would rather have you enjoy writing a fic than worrying about trying to please me. (Also, yes, bits of this were c/p'ed from last year's letter, of which some was copied from the year before that, and even some stuff from the year before that or the year before that.)

Here is some non-fandom specific stuff that might help you:

• I tend to throw out a lot of prompts in my requests. Not only are they all optional, but there is no need to try to cram all of the prompts into one, and there are none I would like to see more than the others.


• I am OK with character death and in-fic violence and I love apocafic. If you run out of other ideas, kill (almost) everybody in the world off and I will love it. The darker and creepier the better.


• I prefer gen to het/slash/femslash and would not like to receive porn for Yuletide.


• I like: plot, ensembles, banter, found families, fully realized characters and settings, adventures, interesting narrative voices and people who bring the funny.


• I dislike: character bashing, infidelity, kidfic, ignoring the women and characters of color, introspective character pieces, incest, schmoop and pwp.


• IRC I can often be found in the #yuletide chatroom. I use the nickname kristin (or sometimes hippo-kristin), so you can avoid or stalk as you please.

( Lupe Fiasco is the Cool )

( The League )

( The Unusuals )

( The Wire )

Yuletide has come and almost gone, and I haven't posted about my marvelous gifts. Clearly that is a fact that needs to be fixed. This year, as in the past, I am overwhelmed by the awesome fics Yuletide has produced. I haven't had as much of a chance to write or read this year (damn awesome new job and the beginnings of a social life! clearly I need to forgo you during Yuletide) but I did get a chance to read the trio of wonderful fics all for me!

Just a Passageway (3074 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: The Wire
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Ellis Carver, Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, Preston 'Bodie' Broadus, Original Female Character
Summary:

Sergeant Carver needs to get out from behind his desk once in a while, so he pays a call on a resident of the Western, and learns a few things.
Set early in Season 4

OMG, circle. This fic is amazingness incarnate, The author took the time to include my favorite characters (Carver! Bodie! Bubbles!) as well as an amazing OFC to tell a perfectly Wire tale. So much love for this fic. Seriously, why are you still reading this entry and not the fic?

A Pharaoh From The West (100 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Hip Hop RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Kanye West, Jay Pharaoh
Summary:

Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh?

You must go read this fic. It is a little piece of perfection in drabble form. I obviously have no idea who could write such awesomeness *cough* but if I did, I would twirl them because this, this is greatness.

Consequences (Brap Brap Brap) (543 words) by Anonymous
Fandom: Attack the Block (2011)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Moses
Summary:

Moses was a legend on the block

I am seriously the luckiest. Just read that summary and tell me that I am not. See, you can't. &Moses; &thisfic; &thisauthor; <33333333333333

Also, a non-Yuletide rec that is a long time coming because I suck.

Every year I try to do some art for the Fall Fandom Free-for-All. This year I did a few wallpapers, and in return I got something so amazing it blows my mind. bardofcogs did a freaking amazing podfic of my fic Down in the Valley. And she did it awesomely. I've been traveling quite a bit lately and have listened to this a ton and I love it more with every listen. And that has nothing to do with my sub-par writing and everything to do with her awesome reading. Love Love Love.

Lastly, if you guess any of the five fics I wrote for Yuletide, you can claim either a drabble or 3 icons. Now for some hints.

• All the fics were over 1k words, and not in the Madness collection. None are crossovers, and all of them are under 5k.


• My assignment fic was written for a canon I have never written before, but I adore for being hilarious.


• Unless you already knew, you will not guess my first pinch hit. But the title of the fic comes from a hymn.


• I wrote one treat, which is so obvious I might as well have put my name on it. It features both a fandom and characters I have written before.


• My second pinch hit is another fandom I have never mentioned before. It is also the weirdest thing I have ever written. (Yes, even more so than the Leverage/Othello crossover.)


• My third, and final, pinch hit was titled from a lyric from one of my favorite hip hop artists.

number of fics: 8
number of fandoms: 7
total wordcount: 22.5k words
number of pictures created (for myself and others): 4


I wrote, well, quite a few Yuletide fics. I’m going to go in more detail on the individual fics below, but it was interesting experience.

Assignment: Phalangeridae Didelphimorphia (or an Opossum’s Adventure) (Fantastic Mr. Fox)

My assignment was for a Fantastic Mr. Fox fic for Satchelfoot. They didn’t include any details, or put up a letter, which made things interesting. They did, luckily, use the Gen tag in addition to the characters (Kylie, Badger & Coach Skip) so I didn’t end up stressing about writing a threesome between an opossum, badger and … whatever the coach is. Instead I just wrote a gen adventure in which Kylie goes on a quest to find the wolves.

I spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what I was going to do with this one, rather than actually writing it. It was my first Yuletide assignment with no details, so I had to just guess what my recipient would like. I also had an issue in that when I offered this fandom I didn’t realize how much of love of this fic is about the visuals. I love the characters and the whimsical plot, but really; I see this fandom rather than hear it, and had a hard time getting the visuals across in my fic.

I also included two images with that fic (under the cut at the end of the post) illustrating two of Kylie’s dreams. I did this mostly to make up for my lackluster prose.


Pinch Hit Number One: Bordellos, Brothels and Berries, Oh My! (Pushing Daisies)

OK, so here is something you need to know about me. I am a pinch hit addict. I can’t help it. I see the emails come flooding into my inbox and I click reply as quickly as I can. The first pinch hit I picked up was very early in the process, which gave me time to write this a Pushing Daisies fic for hllangel.

This fic was notable for two reasons: A. It is very much NOT GEN. (My first non-gen fic!) B. I managed to make it exactly 6666 words. (Unintentional? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.)

I love Pushing Daisies and had fun mimicking the narrator voice. It is the fic I fretted over the most, because it was so very far out of my wheelhouse. I am not sure the emotional resolution happens, or if my fade-to-black was satisfying. Also, now I can’t say I’ve never written anything but gen.


Pinch Hit Number Two: Honey Pie (Pushing Daisies/Telephone music video)

So yes, I also wrote this year’s crazy crossover for ladyofjest, which is a Pushing Daisies mash-up with Lady Gaga’s Telephone video. My rationalization? They are both bright, colorful, over-the-top with occasional song and dance bits. (Also, when I snagged the pinch hit I realized I could do either and couldn’t decide.)

Now, I knew I wanted to write Emerson fic. Not only because Emerson is awesome, but because I had been failing to write much that fit the dark_agenda challenge. I already had been working on my Pushing Daisies narrative voice for the previous pinch hit, so I knew I was going to use that. From there, this was actually pretty quick to write. I banged it out over the course of a couple days and am pretty satisfied with it. (I am, however, ticked that I misspelled a main character’s name through out. Honey B, no Honey Bee, self!)


Pinch Hit Number Four: Just Moments (Mad Men)

(Yes, I can count. I just want to discuss the third one a little later.)

This was a very very very last minute thing. I have said before I don’t feel the need to read or write Mad Men fic. And for the most part, that remains true. But a couple hours before the collection closed, elyn sent out last frantic pinch hits, including one for bowdlerized, who wanted “I'm interesting in seeing Don and Rachel Menken together again--either in a flashback or in the future, if you can find a way to wrangle it. If that doesn't appeal, I also love Don and Peggy's working relationship, and I love Joan, too. In general, I'm most interested in life at Sterling Cooper (Draper Pryce) and not at home..” And I thought, I can do that.

So I did. I wrote a 5 Times fic about Peggy and Don and the growth of their relationship. (OK, really, mostly just Peggy.) It is rather sparse, as my fics tend to be anyway, but due to time constraints it was especially abbreviated. But I think I did well enough under the circumstances. But this is one I would love to expand at some point, if only so you can tell who is saying what.


Treats 1&2: Waiting to Play, Practical Legends (The Wire)

I am sure you are all suitably shocked. *crickets*

OK, yes, I realize I am not subtle. There was no chance in hell I wasn’t going to write Wire treats for mjules and novembersmith. I suggested (forced) both of them to start watching the Wire as well as to request it. ILTHEM FOR THAT (as well as just in general.)

Jules wanted high school Bunk and Omar and so she got them! My darling huckleberry wanted Omar and Ziggy and so she go them! (See, you should watch the Wire, yes you, so you too can get what you want.)

Both of these were quick things. I actually started and finished both of these on the same day. There is not really much to say about them.


Treats 3: Fine Dining in Baltimore (The Wire)

You know who is awesome? Elyn is awesome. everywherestars is awesome. I couldn’t choose who to write for, so I wrote this fic for both of them. Again, this was a last minute thing written on the 20th at about 3am. (I wrote an awful lot that day.)

It is a 5 times Wire fic featuring four times meals were missed and one that wasn’t. I still haven’t decided if the last section is ridiculous or awesome. Again, I wish I had started writing this, say, oh, at the beginning. Because each section is so short. If I had time there would be more letters of the alphabet and more fully realized scenarios rather than the tiny snippets.

There is actually a lot I was trying to do with this stylistically, that because of the time management issues I was not able to work in. The alphabet thing (the POV characters are in alphabetical order), the no one actually eating etc. Originally, all the vignettes were meant to tell the story of Randy’s death. But I never actually managed to get that plotted well enough to include it.


Pictures!!! aka Something I don’t suck as much at!

Click to be taken to the full sized images
( fantastic mr fox )

( haven: for novembersmith )

( love, actually: for mjules )


Pinch Hit Number Three: Meta Yuletide Fic (The Fic You Wish Your Fic Smelled Like)

So yeah. That happened?

Seriously, I am so overwhelmed by the response to this fic. I have never ever received so much fannish love at once. (I am predicting that most people will see who wrote it will go: Who? Or maybe: The crazy Wire lady?) I am not going to lie. When I came up with this idea I knew it would get hits. I just wasn’t sure people would actually like it rather than just wanting to see the train-wreck.

You know how people are always talking about who the most popular this is the quickest thing they wrote? Yeah. That was completely the case for this one. I sat down, typed it up and had it done within a couple hours (except for the footnotes which were a later addition).

But I am thrilled with the response (and I’ll admit, a little scared by it). So:

Hello, Yuletiders. I see you have descended on my journal of thoughts and icon thingies. Are you here to see me write things for you while whistling a tune that perfectly mimics the song of that rare bird you once saw a television special about? Or do you come to witness the perfection I render in pixels of the icon variety while baking cookies that melt in your mouth with bursts of the flavor of awesome?

Oh, it doesn’t matter. I am here (and, I suppose, you are too.). Let us go forth with the merry making and fresh water fish.

Dear lovely Yuletide author,

Most importantly: you are awesome.

Thank you so much for writing a fic for me! I am sure I will love whatever you create! I want a fic that the author was happy writing, so feel free to ignore this if you work best without extra info.

I've included my requests as well as some additional information about why these fandoms are awesome. But first here is some non-fandom specific stuff that might help you.

• If you include porn in your fic I will probably scroll past it.


• I am ok with character death and I love apocafic. If you run out of other ideas, kill (almost) everybody in the world off and I will love it.


• I also love positive racial diversity lots. If you want some beta help in that regards, or just want to check out an awesome project, go to dark_agenda. (Also, should go without saying, but please don't racefail.)


• I like: plot, ensembles, banter, found families, fully realized settings, adventures, interesting narrative voices and people who bring the funny.


• I dislike: character bashing, romance-centric fic, infidelity, kidfic, ignoring women and characters of color, introspective character pieces, incest, schmoop, gratuitous angst, h/c, pwp, and mpreg.


• How to stalk me: It is a time honored Yuletide tradition to stalk your recipient. To that end: my delicious & my fic. I can often be found in the #yuletide chatroom. I use the nickname kristin, so you can avoid or stalk as you please.

( The Wire )

( Strange Days at Blake Holsey High )

( Kanye West )

( Runaway )

Wow! Ok, so this yule letter is long enough to qualify to be a Yuletide fic. Congrats for making it through, and again, thank you for writing for one of my small fandoms.

Teaser:
. .

( the rest under the cut )

Feel free to snag, please credit.

i shall end 2009 with pleasure. i am currently still in maine due to car trouble. this has led to some excessive free time. however, i must not have been using it wisely, as i have no recced to you the amazing fic i have received for yuletide!

i got an embarrassment of riches: four fics for me, me, me! (two full length and two treats)

the lovely fic from the author assigned to me:
How We Begin to Remember: (Graceland) This is a gorgeous gorgeous fic based on Graceland. Not just the song, but the whole album. This fic surprised me, not in a bad way. Now, I never would have thought of a child's POV, but it worked so well. Really amazing stuff. Plus the references to the other song... awesome.

The full length treat:
Synthesis Song Soul: (The Metropolis Chase Suite) OMG, this fic amazed me. It sounds punny to say, but this is the perfect sythesis of robotics and musicology. Its prose reads like poetry, and actually cites sources I want to look into now. Wonderful.

My TWO yuletide madness treats:
They're Gunning for Me: (The Metropolis Chase Suite) First Person Cindi Maywheather POV. The structure is cool and I love the way they empowered Cindi.

Staccato Signals of Constant Information: (Graceland) This is great fic based on "The Boy in the Bubble."

Now, if you look for gift fic for me, you might also find 612.8. In #yuletide we have been having 'story time' where someone tell another person a story in chat to cheer them up. When my car broke down, Snow wrote me this Adam Lambert/Metropolis Suite fic, with bonus zombie and puppy.

Now, I have also written a fic for storytime, which I just posted today. Skience vs. Science (Or the Fox who Ran for President). This is crack fic of the highest order, in which a skientist (as opposed to scientist), turns into a fox. I don't even know.

so, in the process of trying to figure out how best to stalk my yuletide recipient (what, it is a time-honored tradition!) i realized i hadn't really given my author much to work with lately.

this is mostly due to work, which has been crazy in terrifying ways that mean i still have a job, but also more responsibility at the same rate of pay. (in this economy, that has to be good enough.)

but it also is partly a lack of fannish enthusiasm. i have only kept up with a few shows, one of whom was recently canceled. i have art for the ncis big bang i haven't yet finished, but just can't seem to finish. (note to self, no working on yuletide assigment until this is done!)

as to my assignment... well, i opened it and laughed out loud. make of that what you will.

these are the recs compiled from my first day of reading the yuletide 2008 archive. i have collected 41 recs in 29 fandoms. i didn't read in any particular order, so the collection of fandoms is scattered across the alphabet.

fandoms: arrested development, arthurian legend, castle in the sky, chrono trigger, die anstalt, dr horrible, dr seuss, entourage, fringe, macdonald hall, how i met your mother, into the woods, sense and sensibility, ladyhawke, life, little miss sunshine, vorkosigan, princess bride, psych, pushing daisies, scrubs, shawshank redemption, richard ii, singing in the rain, sneakers, stardust (movie), white christmas and the wire.

( recs thisaway )

the fics with a star next to them means i was a beta for them.
eta: links fixed