( WARNING POLICY )
( STORY INDEX )

( Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern )
( Buffy the Vampire Slayer )
( Cherry Ames )
( The Disappearing Man )
( The Door Into... by Diane Duane (Crosses over with Pern, X/1999, and The X-Men) )
( Dragonlance )
( Emily of New Moon )
( Weetzie Bat )
( Fullmetal Alchemist )
( Godchild )
( Gundam Wing )
( Heroes )
( Kushiel's Dart )
( L. J. Smith's The Secret Circle )
( Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles )
( Mushishi )
( Naruto )
( Saiyuki )
( Samurai Champloo )
( Sandman )
( The Sarah Connor Chronicles )
( Spooks/MI-5 )
( Suzanne Vega's The Queen and the Soldier )
( Tsubasa/Xxxholic )
( Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea )
( Watership Down )
( V. C. Andrews's Flowers in the Attic and Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling series )
( Veronica Mars )
( Westmark )
( X/1999 )
( Yami no Matsuei )

Dear Yuletide writer,

I am very unfussy about Yuletide. To make me even less fussy, this year I have requested three of four fandoms in which I have not only never received a story, I have never even seen a story. So I will be happy with anything so long as you don’t do something I specifically disrequested.

As for specific disrequests, please, no non-con, no adults having sex with teenagers, and no vomit. AUs are fine if they come from canon what-if, but I don't like ones set in another world entirely. That is, no "Mirrim, Menolly, and Kylara are vampires/pirates/vampirates/American Idol contestants." If I requested a fandom, it’s partly because I like the setting it has. (Though now that I mention it, if anyone wanted to write me a stocking stuffer where they’re all on Project Runway or Top Chef, that could be hilarious.)

If you have any questions about my tastes in fiction, coraa or Oyceter at Dreamwidth can put you on the right path.

If you’re interested in diversity, note that two of my fandoms (Thousand Worlds and Dreamsnake) could involve characters of absolutely any race, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.

In general, and this will be more appropriate for some canons than others, I like adventure, action, heroism, friendship, luscious descriptions of food and landscape, a strong sense of place, worldbuilding, and hurt/comfort with the emphasis on comfort (not necessarily sexual). I don’t usually like curtainfic, babies, and stories with no plot whatsoever. I'm fine with adding in original characters.

All my fic is linked at a sticky post at the top of this LJ, if you’d like to check it out.

Psychologists RPF
Characters: Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud

I'm a psychology student and I got fascinated by the personal lives of psychologists, and how their theories seem informed by, and inform, their lives. I'm hoping for a story in which you use the theories of the psychologists to inform your story about them: like, a story with mythic resonance for Jung, or a story exploring the Freudian undercurrents of Freud's relationship with Jung. A solo story about either of them individually would be fine too. If you want to throw in any contemporaries of them, like Anna Freud, Alfred Adler, etc, go for it!

I got the idea here. You don't have to do Freud/Jung slash, though! On the flip side, if you want to, go right ahead. Whatever you think would be psychologically plausible and fun to read. ;) Also, I'm not really up on the period, so if you make any historical errors, I will neither nitpick nor, in all likelihood, notice.

Anne McCaffrey's Pern
Character: Mirrim.

I loved Mirrim in Dragonsong, and was thrilled when she impressed Path. And then there was the misogyny-fest that was The White Dragon. OH ANNE MCCAFFREY NO.

Please give me the awesome, dragon-riding Mirrim who should have been. Feel free to either ignore or work with post-Impression canon, though I’d prefer to keep that damn computer offstage or AU it up so they never found the thing. Pairings are fine but not necessary; I love her with Menolly, either as friends or romantically, but any pairing emphasizing equality, respect, and consent would work for me.

What I loved about McCaffrey was the intensity of dragon/rider relationships, the military-esque camaraderie of the Weyr, the poignance of misfits finding a purpose and a home, and the shameless wish-fulfillment of the whole set-up.

What I did not love was the unconscious sexism, classism, homophobia, and glamorized rape. I was fine with the in-canon sexism that Menolly and Mirrim struggled with, because McCaffrey recognized that it was a problem. I was creeped out by what she didn't seem to recognize, like the all-male Weyrleader meeting in Dragonquest, the drudges, etc. So if you want to address Mirrim facing sexism and so forth that's totally fine, and if you want to not even get into that sort of thing and have bronze riders having lots of totally accepted gay sex and Weyrwomen having summit meetings, that's fine too. But I'm not really looking for a story whose main purpose is deconstructing Pern.

For instance, I'm fine with making F’nor a nice guy who did not actually rape Brekke. But I'm not really looking for a story in which she realizes that he raped her and angsts about it and the point is that rape is bad. (Or for a story where rape is good, but I doubt anyone would write that one anyway.) Again, just give me Mirrim being awesome, and I'll be happy. Regarding other characters, I am fond of pretty much everyone other than AIVAS and any characters introduced post-AIVAS. I haven't read most of the prequel books or any of the Todd books.

I am totally fine with dragon-mating as long as the humans already wanted to have sex, realized in that moment that they wanted to have sex, etc -- just don't make it be a case where they didn't want to but were overcome by dragon-lust or regret it afterward.

George R. R. Martin’s "Thousand Worlds"
Characters: Any

These are collected in various editions: try Dreamsongs (two volumes), A Song for Lya, Sandkings, Portraits of My Children, Nightflyers, etc.

Why I love it: The grand sweeping romance of it all, the multitude of strange aliens and planets, the sense of great panoramas and infinite depths of history, the bittersweet quality of most of the stories, the beauty and the awe of the idea of a thousand worlds.

My favorite stories are "The Stone City," the ultimate romance of space story with its perfect last line, "A Song for Lya" for its doomed romance and emotional intensity and weird yet plausible culture, "The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr" for more doomed romance and fairytale imagery, "The Glass Flower" for a plausible happy ending for once, and "Sandkings" for worldbuilding, structure, and intensity. "Bitterblooms," "The Stone Tower," "Nightflyers," and "The Way of Cross and Dragon" are good too.

What I’d like: Most of the stories don’t have room for more tales of their protagonists, so I was thinking more of original characters in Martin’s world, based on his settings and tone. They don’t have to be set anywhere he directly described, just feel like they’re taking place in the same universe. Alternatively, I love the brief references to legendary characters like Celia Marcyan and Erika Stormjones, so maybe you could tell a story about one of them. Or if you have a great idea involving one of the existing characters, feel free. (If you're dying to write something based on Dying of the Light, though, I have to warn you that I really only liked Gwen in that novel.)

I mentioned doomed romance a lot, but feel free to either not do that or to use your own version of what that might mean. Martin’s work for me by sheer intensity, but I am not into his particular hang-ups about male-female relationships, which can shade into misogyny. I’d love to see gay or lesbian relationships, non-romantic relationships, or simply a different take on straight relationships. I also think his thing about romance (in the non-sexytimes sense) being destroyed by science is ridiculous, so no need to mimic that.

Dreamsongs: Volume I

Vonda N. McIntyre's Dreamsnake.
Character: Snake

How do I love this book? Let me count the ways. I love the entire concept. I love the biology. I love the post-apocalypticness. I love Snake. I love Melissa. I love the sense of caring and hope and love that pervades the story, the way that terrible things happen but people try to make them better, and people can always, as long as they live, choose to change themselves, change the lives of others, change the ways of the world. And I love the snakes.

I do not particularly love Arevin, so ideally your story would not involve him. Ditto any of the villains. I’d like a story either about Snake and Melissa post-novel, or about Snake’s earlier adventures. If you’d like a plot idea (and feel free to ignore these), does Snake ever get into one of the walled cities? What does Melissa decide on for a career? Snake seems to be bisexual, but all her canonical romantic relationships are with men; what kind of woman would appeal to her romantically?

Cheap e-book here: http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/Dreamsnake

A while back, I wrote an original story inspired by Gundam Wing; if you read it and squint really hard, you can even figure out which of the pilots provided the inspiration. It's called "Steel Rider," and is set in a version of the Wild West. With Gundams. Telepathic Gundams whom only women can pilot.

Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk can now be ordered from Torquere Press. It should be available from Amazon in a couple days; I'll link when it is.

I don't normally do extensive promotion for my works, but I'm making an exception for this one because it's only one-fifteenth my work, and it's a small-press anthology about lesbians, with most stories taking place outside of England. The characters are often women of color, plus a trio of Jews. This is not your standard sf anthology, and it could probably use all the support it can get. Plus, I think it's really fun. It has zeppelins, dreams cut into crystal, cyborg bounty hunters, Emperor Norton, the Mughal Empire, and, of course, Wild West gunslingers soul-bonded to giant steel robots.

If you'd like more info on the entire book, here's a link to a round-up of reviews.

So if you order or have ordered, you may enter a drawing to win a custom-made adorable clay figurine, made by myself.

If you order it or have already pre-ordered it and would like to participate in the drawing for a custom figurine, please comment to this post to say so. No proof of purchase needed - this is on the honor system. I will put your names in a hat, and draw one on February 10. So you have till then to order and comment.

My memoir is All The Fishes Come Home To Roost, published by Rodale, Hodder/Sceptre, and Mouria. Click below to buy a beautiful, first-edition, autographed hardcover direct from me, for only $12.00 plus shipping and handling.

Read free samples of and buy my manga here! Gorgeous art by telophase, martial arts, angsty psychics, and men kissing men: what more can anyone want?

Dear Yuletide writer,

I am very unfussy about Yuletide. To make me even less fussy, this year I have requested three of four fandoms in which I have not only never received a story, I have never even seen a story. So I will be happy with anything so long as you don’t do something I specifically disrequested.

As for specific disrequests, please, no incest, no non-con, no dub-con, no under-age/over-age sex, and no vomit. AUs are fine if they come from canon what-if, but I don't like ones set in another world entirely. That is, no “Mirrim, Menolly, and Kylara are vampires/pirates/vampirates/American Idol contestants.” If I requested a fandom, it’s partly because I like the setting it has. (Though now that I mention it, if anyone wanted to write me a stocking stuffer where they’re all on Project Runway or Top Chef, that could be hilarious.)

If you have any questions about my tastes in fiction, oyceter or coraa can put you on the right path.

If you’re interested in diversity, note that two of my fandoms (Thousand Worlds and “The Mountain”) could star characters of absolutely any race, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.

In general, and this will be more appropriate for some canons than others, I like adventure, action, heroism, friendship, luscious descriptions of food and landscape, a strong sense of place, and hurt/comfort with the emphasis on comfort (not necessarily sexual). I don’t usually like curtainfic, babies, and stories with no plot whatsoever.

All my fic is linked at a sticky post at the top of this LJ, if you’d like to check it out.


Willo Davis Roberts’ The Girl with the Silver Eyes
Characters: Katie Welker.

Why I love it: I loved this book SO MUCH when I was a little girl, and I’ve re-read it several times as an adult and I still love it. I love the comedy, the sweetness, the well-drawn supporting cast, and of course, the psychic kids and their budding friendships.

What I’d like: I always wished Roberts would write a sequel, with the kids attending psychic school, exploring their abilities, getting to know each other, meeting non-silver-eyed psychic kids, and having adventures. But since she didn’t, you can write it for me!

I don’t mind if you want to write in a more sophisticated style, use more YA themes, or age the kids up a bit (or not – something in Roberts’ own style would be great), but please don’t write anything porny, even if you do catch the kids when they’re teenagers. If you write them in psychic kid school, diversity in their classmates would be good and is canonically implied. Please don’t write anything sad or depressing.

On Amazon: The Girl With the Silver Eyes (Apple Paperbacks)

The Mountain – song by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
Characters: Narrator

Why I love it: It’s so beautiful and evocative, and yet almost entirely ambiguous. Is the mountain, which is clearly metaphorical, also literal? Is anything in the song literal? Is the narrator a hero, a mystic, a con artist, a prophet, an obsessed seeker, a lunatic, all of the above, or something completely different? Is it a good thing for the mountain to be all that you see? When and where is it set? Is it realism or fantasy or something in between?

What I’d like: Absolutely any interpretation, story, and style that seems true to you and inspires you. If you offered this at all, you’re the right person to write it.

On Amazon: Tanglewood Tree

Live performance at a folk festival: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILgEavonpQU

Anne McCaffrey's Pern
Character: Mirrim.

I loved Mirrim in Dragonsong (Harper Hall Trilogy), and was thrilled when she impressed Path. And then there was the misogyny-fest that was The White Dragon (Dragonriders of Pern Vol 3). OH ANNE MCCAFFREY NO.

Please give me the awesome, dragon-riding Mirrim who should have been. Feel free to either ignore or work with post-Impression canon, though I’d prefer to keep that damn computer offstage or AU it up so they never found the thing. Pairings are fine but not necessary; I love her with Menolly, either as friends or romantically, but any pairing emphasizing equality, respect, and consent would work for me.

If that request doesn’t work for you, I’d be thrilled with anything set in the Dragonflight/Dragonsong/Dragonquest time, starring any or all of the following: Mirrim, Menolly, T’gellan, F’nor, G’sel, Brekke, Lessa, and/or their respective dragons and firelizards. Or go further back into the past and write about Lytol when he was L’tol.

What I loved about McCaffrey was the intensity of dragon/rider relationships, the military-esque camaraderie of the Weyr, the poignance of misfits finding a purpose and a home, and the shameless wish-fulfillment of the whole set-up.

What I did not love was the unconscious sexism, classism, homophobia, and glamorized rape. I was fine with the in-canon sexism that Menolly and Mirrim struggled with, because McCaffrey recognized that it was a problem. I was creeped out by what she didn't seem to recognize, like the all-male Weyrleader meeting in Dragonquest, the drudges, etc. So if you want to address Mirrim facing sexism and so forth that's totally fine, and if you want to not even get into that sort of thing and have bronze riders having lots of totally accepted gay sex and Weyrwomen having summit meetings, that's fine too. But I'm not really looking for a story whose main purpose is deconstructing Pern.

For instance, I'm fine with making F’nor a nice guy who did not actually rape Brekke. But I'm not really looking for a story in which she realizes that he raped her and angsts about it and the point is that rape is bad. (Or for a story where rape is good, but I doubt anyone would write that one anyway.) Again, just give me Mirrim being awesome, and I'll be happy.

I am totally fine with dragon-mating as long as the humans already wanted to have sex, realized in that moment that they wanted to have sex, etc -- just don't make it be a case where they didn't want to but were overcome by dragon-lust or regret it afterward.

George R. R. Martin’s “Thousand Worlds”
Characters: Any

These are collected in various editions: try Dreamsongs (two volumes), A Song for Lya, Sandkings, Portraits of My Children, Nightflyers, etc.

Why I love it: The grand sweeping romance of it all, the multitude of strange aliens and planets, the sense of great panoramas and infinite depths of history, the bittersweet quality of most of the stories, the beauty and the awe of the idea of a thousand worlds.

My favorite stories are “The Stone City,” the ultimate “romance of space” story with its perfect last line, “A Song for Lya” for its doomed romance and emotional intensity and weird yet plausible culture, “The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr” for more doomed romance and fairytale imagery, “The Glass Flower” for a plausible happy ending for once, and “Sandkings” for worldbuilding, structure, and intensity. “Bitterblooms,” “The Stone Tower,” “Nightflyers,” and “The Way of Cross and Dragon” are good too.

What I’d like: Most of the stories don’t have room for more tales of their protagonists, so I was thinking more of original characters in Martin’s world, based on his settings and tone. They don’t have to be set anywhere he directly described, just feel like they’re taking place in the same universe. But if you have an idea for a story involving his existing characters, go for it!

The form made me pick characters, but you don't actually have to write about Holt, Lya, or the rather unlikely event of Holt meeting Lya. I wanted to pick "any."

I mentioned doomed romance a lot, but feel free to either not do that or to use your own version of what that might mean – Martin’s work for me by sheer intensity, but I am not into his particular hang-ups about male-female relationships, which can shade into misogyny. I’d love to see gay or lesbian relationships, non-romantic relationships, or simply a different take on straight relationships. I also think his thing about romance (in the non-sexytimes sense) being destroyed by science is ridiculous, so no need to mimic that.

View on Amazon: Dreamsongs: Volume I

"The Doors Into Otherwheres: Five Women Segnbora Didn’t Sleep With (And Three She Did)"
A multi-fandom femmeslash extravaganza
starring Segnbora of Diane Duane’s “The Door Into…” series
co-starring Kylara of Pern, Karen Kasumi of X/1999, and Storm of the X-Men
and featuring several mystery cameos

Fandoms: Diane Duane’s “Door” books, Anne McCaffrey’s Pern, The X-Men (Chris Claremont-era comicverse), and X/1999
Word Count: 6600
Rating: R
Warnings: Consensual sex including mild BDSM; adventure-style mild violence.
Synopsis: Segnbora travels to other universes via the worldgate doors, meeting women, saving lives, having adventures, and getting new perspectives on herself.

This story is for cmattg, who won it in the helphaiti auction.

If you haven’t read the Door books, Segnbora is a failed wizard who is canonically bisexual and polyamorous. The Fire or Flame is the magic she can’t access, though she does have other magical abilities. The story takes place during the first book, The Door Into Fire, when she and her friends are hanging out in the ruin with the doors into otherworlds.

It’s not significantly spoilery for anything in any canon. But if you want to know what was up with the dragons, you will have to read the second book, The Door Into Shadow.

This story contains several additional bonus surprise crossovers. The person who correctly identifies the highest number of them in comments can make an original or fic prompt request, and I will attempt to fill it.

( The trailing ends of Storm’s hair fell across Segnbora’s shoulders, caressing them like a breath of wind. )

Title: A Light in Dark Places
Fandom: Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain
Words: 550
Rated: G
Spoilers: None as such, but it takes place after The Castle of Llyr.
Synopsis: Eilonwy does more than just learn to be a lady while she’s away at Mona.

For rilina, who resembles the title.

( “Newts,” explained Eilonwy. )

Please spread the word! You can do it easily by copying the first four paragraphs here to your own blog.

helptheproject is a fandom auction to benefit the The Virginia Avenue Project, a free afterschool arts and academics program. 100% of participating children graduate from high school. 95% go on to college. 98% are the first person in their family to go.

Due to budget cuts, unless we can raise $15,000 by mid-March, we will lose our centerpiece program, the One-on-Ones. In this program, professional actor/writers write a short play to act in with the kid they're paired with, rehearse it with them in a beautiful countryside summer camp, and then return to Los Angeles to put on a show. This program has been running continuously for 20 years - let's not lose it now!

Please help save the One-on-Ones by spreading the word, bidding at the auction, and/or offering something for people to bid on. Click on the "offered" or "seller" tags on the right-hand side of the page to see who's got an auction up and what people are offering. The local gift and treat boxes and baked goods look especially good...

I've been the stage manager for the Project for the last fifteen years, and have watched the kids gain confidence, grow up, and, in one case, make it to the White House!

My own offers, for original poetry, original fiction, fanfiction, a professional critique, a year of postcard-stories of Los Angeles, signed copies of my book, and a review of (almost) absolutely anything can be found here.

My enormous thanks go out to my co-mods coraa, rushthatspeaks, and co-mod AND site designer telophase.

I'm making a couple offers on help_haiti, which goes to various groups helping after the earthquake.

I am offering a review of absolutely anything here.

I am offering fanfic here.

I am offering original fiction or poetry here.

And finally, a special offer: ionescribens and I wrote a full-length script for an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender a while back, in which, after the events of "The Western Air Temple," Jet returns, Katara once again gets entangled in one of his schemes, and Zuko's past comes back to haunt him.

We've been thinking for over a year now of turning it into a long story in regular prose, but keep not getting around to it. Kick our butts and make it do so! And now for that special offer.

Speaking of whom, ionescribens is offering a story. She's linked to samples of her work.

I wrote a lot this year: four full-length stories (one the single longest short piece I've ever written) and one short Madness story. I will post longer notes on individual stories later. I hope some of you do the same, as I always enjoy reading them.

My Yuletide assignment, for Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern novels, was The Ballad of Mirrim and Menolly's Ride, for calenlily. Rated PG for non-graphic violence; gen.

Menolly, Mirrim, and Mirrim's dragon Path travel through times that were, will be, and might have been to warn Pern of a deadly new threat. Long but hopefully worth it. If you vaguely recall the premise of the books (humans ride telepathic dragons to fight caustic Thread) you should be good to go.

The Marvels We Have Seen, from Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, was a Treat for boosette, who wrote the lovely Menolly-centric Lend Song a Sweeter Grace last year.

A fire lizard mating flight brings Mirrim and Menolly closer together in more ways than one. Rated R for moderately explicit sex. It works as a prequel to my gen Mirrim and Menolly story, if you care to take it that way.

Will You Bloom Bright And Fierce was a Yuletide Treat for teaotter, who wrote the fabulous Steerswoman story Dumb Animals last year.

It's based on the gorgeous Dave Carter and Tracy Grammar song The Disappearing Man. The story itself requires no familiarity with the song or anything else. Rated R for brief but somewhat explicit sex.

Thistledown. From Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series, accessible if you've read the first book. For Doire, who requested something about Vetch, one of my favorite characters. Rated G.

It was inspired by my thoughts on Le Guin's thoughts on heroism (traditionally male) and domesticity (traditionally female). She seems to value the latter more highly and also tries to reclaim the designated-feminine spheres as heroic in their own right, which is valid but which can make it seem like men have all the fun. This was my attempt to reconcile the two in a way which fits both her first trilogy and the later books.

The deeds of women are not often written into songs.

Color All Days Blue, But Save One For Many Colors. For Shannon C, who requested a cracky crossover with V. C. Andrews' Flowers in the Attic. I hastily checked her blog and found that she had read Nalini Singh's cracktastic Psy-Changeling series, in which Psys are psychics, Changelings are shapeshifters, and extra-powerful Psys have eyes like the night sky and the stars become fireworks during orgasm. Rated R for underage incest. I know, I know...

Momma explained that we were the forbidden children of an incestuous Psy-Changeling marriage and that she, a powerful Cardinal Psy, had fled PsyNet to marry her half-Changeling, half-Psy, half-uncle.

I blame Oyce for both the "half-uncle" line and the phrase "the dark blot of our existence."