Sententiae Draconis

I can't believe it's here again! Another busy year in the life of Aderam has gone by.

Thank you so much for writing for me! I'm really looking forward to reading whatever it is that you write - it will be awesome!

I'm not sure what else to write in my letter this year. I included my big Do Not Wants in each prompt. If you like take a look at all my previous Yuletide Letters - they're on my Yuletide tag - and they'll give you an idea of what kind of things I've asked for in the past.

Have fun! And Thanks Again!

Hello! And thank you so much for writing for me!

This is my tenth Yuletide, and I can't really believe that it's been so long. And that I've managed to keep doing it every year. So I'm really looking forward to it!

I think I covered my basic prompts in the sign up form for each fandom, but here are some of my general fic likes/dislikes.

I like happy endings, witty banter and general fluffyness. I like works that are similar in tone to the source material (or maybe happier?). I don't mind angst as long as there's a happy ending.

I don't like incest, imbalanced power dynamics in relationships (teacher/student, boss/employee, etc), or overt cruelty from our heroes (as in the Star Trek Mirrorverse). I don't mind violence, I just don't like it when our characters are being violent for no reason other than for the sake of violence.

I'm not particularly active on DW anymore, but there's lots of info about me and my various requests over the years in my Yuletide tag (I've requested Swallows and Amazons a few times before, so if that's your assignment you might find some inspiration there). Or you can come check me out on Tumblr - which is also <a href="http://aderam.tumblr.com>Aderam</a>. I've got anonymous asks on, so if you have any questions please ask away. It might take me a few days to respond, but I promise I will! THANK YOU!

Just saw that the assignments have gone out! Super excited!

Author! Just so you know - you're lovely! Thanks for writing for me. I was going to write up a more detailed Dear Yuletide Author note, but I got busy and haven't done it yet.

I WILL write one for you within the next week! But in the meantime you can take a look at my Yuletide tag from previous years and that should give you an idea of what I'm probably going to say. (Or check out what I reblog over on Tumblr.)

THANKS!!!

Hello! And thank you for agreeing to write one of my prompts!

I don't have too much to say about my prompts that I didn't put in the optional details so I'll just add some of my general fic preferences.

I'm pretty easy to please and I read just about everything, but I generally prefer happy and funny stories. Witty banter is my kryptonite. I enjoy crossovers - most of the fandoms I'm familiar with are listed in my DW/LJ interests. And I also like AUs because I like to see how much the characters are still the same people when in different situations. Mostly I just want a story that fits with the tone of the canon even if it's an AU or crossover or whatever. I also love werewolves and spaceships, so any AU involving them would be welcome.

I don't like incest. Or imbalanced power dynamics in relationships (teacher/student, boss/employee, etc). Or overt cruelty from our heroes (as in the Star Trek Mirrorverse).

You can also look through my Yuletide tag to get a good idea of my previous requests and details and such. I've been doing Yuletide for a long time now - so there's some good info there.

Prompt specific notes:

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
- Please don't feel pressure that I mentioned Edward in my optional details and didn't request his character specifically! I put him in the optional details on purpose! Because he is optional. And I wasn't sure if I made that clear when I was writing the prompt.

The Internship
- Yes I partially watched this movie because of Dylan O'Brien. Crossovers with Teen Wolf are cool with me. Can you imagine Neha's reaction to Werewolves? Or Stuart's?

Blood Books - Tanya Huff
- I don't think I have anything to add here. I requested this last year as well. So you can always check out last year's letter.

Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
- This is another one I've requested a few times. And you can find some ramblings about the books here, here, and here.
- I'd prefer a story set during the same vague time as the books (or at least with the characters the same vague ages) and having similar book-type adventures.
- Fair warning, I'm a sailor. And one of the things I love about the books is his descriptions of being on the water and the feel of it. I'd prefer vague descriptions over ones that are wrong. I have friends who tease me by stringing random boat words together and it never fails to make me cringe.

The past two - two and a half - weeks have been ridiculous. I've had almost 4 job interviews, Graduated, entertained four family members while they were in town for said graduation, had dinner with relatives I'd never met before, got a job (!!!) and started my first week of full time employment, had to buy emergency black pants (and fix the other pair with duck tape for immediate use), and realized that it was December and that I'd have to get Christmas presents for everyone before the end of the week if I want them to actually arrive anywhere approaching on time without spending a fortune.

So I'm very tired. But in a good way.

Some things:

- I now work at a movie theatre. It's a small independent theatre with one screen. I'm working concessions which means that there is a lot of popcorn and butter and telling people that actually we only take cash. I also get to clean a lot of things. Currently we're showing Skyfall (which is so GOOD - and a great soundtrack to your work day) and next will be the Hobbit. I'm really hoping that we get a showing of the Hobbit before opening night because I really want to see it before I have to listen to it while working. At least with the Hobbit I know how it ends, so I'm not worried about spoilers.

- Just about all of my coworkers (with the exception of the managers) are younger than I am. A good portion of them are in grade 12. This is mostly okay, except every now and then I feel really old. There was some duck tape behind the concession the other day so I said "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy" - but my two coworkers hadn't even heard of the Red Green Show, for it is not on the Tee Vee anymore. Le sigh.

- The other day as I was cleaning the men's bathroom this guy came in who I swear was in Stargate, but I can't remember which episode for the life of me. I think he's one of those Vancouver actors that has smallish roles in everything. If we hadn't been in the bathroom I would've asked him and said that I liked his work (I remembered his face after all) - I've decided to try and compliment smaller-time actors when I see them since I don't think they get that very often. But we were in the bathroom, and that seemed odd.

- I need to work more on my Yuletide story. I've got some ideas for an outline of what I need to write next, but I haven't decided some things yet. I think I need to re-consume some of the canon, but I definitely don't have time to get through all of it. hobbitbabe I think we need a brainstorming chat soonish.

- I've been watching Hawaii Five-0 and I kind of love it. Especially because Steve and Danny are so married that multiple characters on the show comment on it. Boys. It's another one of those shows that I'm finding has a lot of little things that make me happy. The regular bits of the show are fun too - and there is LOTS of banter and explosions, so it's my type of show for sure. But I like that it's set in Hawaii - because I keep expecting Lilo and Stitch to show up (can you believe that there is only one crossover on the AO3 - I'm shocked! Shocked, I say!). I like that all of the main characters have extended families that exist even if only mentioned in passing - and that when family stuff comes up they have to go and be with family even if there is a crazy weapons dealer to catch or whatever, because family is important. I like that the governor is a badass lady. I like that Danny is the shortest person on the team including the women. And I like that Daniel Dae Kim is in it because even though everyone else remembers him from Lost, I loved him as Matheson in Crusade.

In conclusion: life is busy in a good way. And I've got a few random posts I want to make (about sailing, and some other things I've been thinking about lately) but I'm not sure when I'll get around to them.

HI! Thanks for offering one of my requests! I'm super stoked for this year's Yuletide, especially since all of my requests this year are very rare - 2 only have one fic on the AO3! So naturally this means that pretty much anything you write will make me super happy!

I've been doing Yuletide for many years now. And it's actually one of the only places where I end up finishing (rather than just starting) fic. So you can find the stuff that I've written over at the AO3 or at the old Yuletide Archive. You can also check out my previous Dear Yuletide Letters and various other complaints, squee etc at my Yuletide tag.

In terms of my general likes and dislikes in fic - I'm pretty eclectic. I usually prefer happy endings and generally joyful works with a lot of humour, but sad and angsty stuff can also be super awesome. Mostly I just like fic which is good (well, duh...) so if your strength is writing something a little more bittersweet, please do that!

Mostly I'm looking for something on a similar level of joyous/adorableness/happiness/snarkiness/banter to each canon, but I acknowledge that two of the three are actually set during war (and the third in the inter-war years), so life is not exactly a bucket of teddy bears. I hope that gives you an idea of what kind of tone I'd enjoy. If not please feel free to ignore all this.

( Fandom Specific Info )

I hope that was helpful and didn't confuse you further. If you need any clarification I'm sure hobbitbabe would be willing to act as a go between.

THANKS SO MUCH!

I went on a longer-than-anticipated walk around Stanley Park today because the weather was so lovely. It was longer than anticipated because I was being conservative in my original plans for how far I would go, and then didn't want to stop yet when I got the the easy place to turn back. So naturally I kept going, and naturally the pit stop place was further than I really wanted to go. And even more naturally the nearest bus stop was on the other side of the Park. So I walked all the the eastern seawall, from near the Yacht Club up to Lion's Gate Bridge, had to back-track to find a trail that would take me up to the café - which was up a cliff from the seawall walking path - and then walk the length of the Park along the causeway to get to the bus. Needless to say I stopped for food at the café before trekking back to the bus stop. It was a glorious day for walking. But I think next time I might try for something with easier stopping points. According to the map I got to almost 5km around the seawall. I have no idea how long the causeway was, but I think I walked about 8k today, in roughly three hours. Not bad for a day's work.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. I'm going to head to a pub with one of the other people from my department who's not off elsewhere at the moment. I'm looking forward to it actually. I don't hang out with her all that often because her desk is on the other side of the Reading Room, but I think she's really cool. So it should be nice to spend a bit more time with her. Hopefully some other people will come too. New Years is best with more people.

New Year's coming also means that the author reveal for Yuletide is just around the corner. Before that happens, I thought I'd do a little round up of what I've liked best. I'm by no means done with the archive yet, and I haven't hit up anyone else's recs lists yet either.

Things that were awesome about this year's Yuletide:

- the Archive is awesome. I'm so glad everything's been switched over now. I think it's really easy to navigate and the comments are set up very well. Also the Kudos button? Amazing. I always feel like I don't get what I actually want to say across in comments, or I have no idea what to say at all, so the button is great because it's an easy way to say "I liked this a lot!" without having to worry about what to say.

- I finished! This was probably the busiest I've been right before the Yuletide deadline, so I feel like this was a great accomplishment for me. I even thought about not signing up this year - Grad School will do that to a person. But I succeeded, and I've been getting some good feedback so far.

- My Gift Fic! It's All in a Day's Work, a RED fic about William Cooper. And it's pretty much exactly what I wanted from that fandom. Danger and excitement mixed with bizarre humour. I especially like the conversations Cooper has on the phone with his kids.

- On the Burning Deck, Swallows and Amazons. It's Nancy in the London Blitz, and it's wonderful in so many ways! I love it. It took my breath away in places, and just generally filled my heart with glee in others. I didn't even know I was looking for fic like this. I especially like the use of sailing metaphors, and the way the author brought in all of the different characters. Normally I don't bother going back to see who the authors were after the reveal, but I'm secretly hoping that this author has been prolific in fandoms I know, but who I've never read before so I'll have lots of new things to read.

- Mariposa Grove (A Caelo Usque Ad Centrum), Santuary. The Five being awesome with each other. Love the scope of it and the glimpses of the characters as they change.

- The Dying Gaul, Highlander: The Series, the Sculpture. This is putting Methos in the centre of things as part of the origins for one of my favourite statues. It brings together two of the things I like best: Methos and Classics. There needs to be more Methos in Rome fics out there, seriously.

- The Fic Your Fic Could Be Like, Old Spice Commercials. This fits the bizarre tone of that commercial so well. It made me laugh.

- Mountains, Molehills, Lilo and Stitch. Post-movie awesomeness featuring David (and everyone else too).

I was a little surprised that there wasn't any Blood and Smoke Series by Tanya Huff fic this year. Usually there's a good contingent, I even contributed to it a couple of years ago. But there was nothing at all this year. Very strange, but I suppose that's how these things go.

So have you read anything in Yuletide? What did you like best?

Perhaps I should have been thinking about this earlier, but I'm trying to decide whether or not I should sign up for Yuletide. I have about ten billion things to do before the end of term - which leads me to think that no, maybe I shouldn't do it.

But!

I've been doing it for years. And it's lovely to get a story all for myself on Christmas! And it's only 1000 words!

Maybe if I only offer things that I'm super comfortable with, and accept that my story might be just barely above the length limits. Is that even fair? We don't have a long time to write them this year! The time is getting shorter every year.

Plus I feel like I've got to keep trying to get that Valour's Choice fic - I've been asking for it for ages.

When are the fic going to be due anyway? I can't seem to find it. The closer it is to the 25th the closer I'll probably be able to do it...

Gah! At least I've got a week to decide.

I have so much work I need to do on Yuletide right now! So why am I working on Transcript request forms?

...

Oh.

Riiiiiight.

First of all: Thank you so much for offering to write something that I want to read! That is awesome! You are awesome! Yuletide is awesome! Awesome!

In other news - what I like in fic:

I'm pretty omnivorous in terms of fic. So I'll like pretty much anything. I prefer things that are fairly close to canon and/or the characters, but I also love AUs and Crossovers and such - really I just want the characters to be themselves. And banter is one of my favourite things in fic (and canon in general), if there is witty banter and dialogue I will be ecstatic. I feel this is reflected in my requests.

More info on the specific requests under the cut.

( Further Optional Details are Optional )

In conclusion - Yay! And Thank you!

If you have any other questions hobbitbabe can probably answer them for you.