entirely ruined her disposition with books

It's Yuletide reveals already! I got to write for Le Guin's Five/Four Ways to Forgiveness when it was fresh in my mind and created a missing scene for it to flesh out two scenes from canon--one of the most disturbing ones, and one of the most hopeful ones. Combining them was a fruitful challenge.

four names for freedom (2908 words) by Lirazel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Four Ways to Forgiveness - Ursula K. Le Guin, Five Ways to Forgiveness - Ursula K. Le Guin, Hainish Cycle - Ursula K. Le Guin
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Original Female Character(s)
Additional Tags: Worldbuilding, Canon-Typical Violence, allusions to canon-typical sexual violence, Missing Scene
Summary:

A chain of watchwords for women on the path to freedom.

It's that time of year! fandomtrees is happening and here is my tree. I can't wait to look through everyone else's!

Trying to decide what to nominate!

Here's what I'm definitely nominating:

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion
+ Emma M. Lion
+ Nigel Hawkes
+ Mary Barriage
+ worldbuilding

Fiddler on the Roof (1974)
+ Hodel
+ Perchik
+ Whoever anyone asks for


Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang
+ Worldbuilding




And for my final slot...I don't know!

There's the old standbys: Life with Derek, The Guest, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, This Is New Gehesran Calling, James Asher vampire series, etc.

Some new ideas: I realize I've never requested Yentl and never has a movie needed a fix-it fic more than that one! Or perhaps Miss Silver series and request Miss Silver backstory?

Atm, I'm leaning towards asking for JS&MN worldbuilding or Yentl fix-it fic. But we'll see how I feel when I actually go to the nominate.


What are y'all nominating?

Title: bearing a chalice, open, golden, wide
Fandom: Chalice - Robin McKinley
Written for: Worldbuilding Exchange
Characters: Original characters
Rating: T
Wordcount: 4,198
Summary: Sola woke to the Vinelands bucking like a startled foal and shrieking like a peregrine in the dive, and she knew.

A wine Chalice and a time of change.

Dear Author,

Yay! Best exchange! (By which I mean: most tailored to my specific wants!) Thanks for writing for one of my fandoms--I hope you enjoy the process! I am certain that whatever you write, I will enjoy.

( General thoughts )


( The Untamed )


( 손 : The Guest (TV) )


( The Queen's Thief )


( Life with Derek )


( Crash Landing on You )

Worldbuilding Exchange fandom noms are open now! I don't think I've done this one before? But I definitely want to participate now!

So this is a post for brainstorming about which fandoms to nominate. I would love to hear about what fandoms you'd like to see worldbuilding fic for, even if you don't anticipate participating in the actual exchange!

I am going to nominate Chalice, as usual, and also "Seventy-Two Letters," a short story by Ted Chiang. I'm also thinking about the Mossa & Pleiti Series since The Mimicking of Known Successes had some of my favorite worldbuilding of the past year. Probably Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and "This Is New Gehesran Calling." And maybe I'll try to read another Ted Chiang collection in the next few days since he definitely fires up my mind in the worldbuilding arena.

Tell me about any canon that has worldbuilding that you really love!

Whoever is running the exchange is hilarious. Per the nomination guidelines: "Real Person Fiction (RPF) will not be allowed, on the grounds that "real world worldbuilding", if it means anything at all, covers essentially all forms of human intellectual enquiry from quantum cosmology to celebrity journalism, and is therefore outside the scope of a fanworks exchange." Lol!



[eta] And I just saw the Hurt/Comfort Exchange is about to do signups too!!!! I love that exchange!!! But I'm already doing the MXTX Remix and then I do want to do Worldbuilding right after that and...that is too many exchanges!!! We cannot fight them all!!!

So maybe I should take the fact that I missed fandom noms for Hurt/Comfort as a sign not to do it this year? Why are there so many awesome exchanges? And why do I have to have a full-time job instead of being able to stay at home and write fic all the time???

[eta] You know what? I'm going to do both. There's a whole month separating the due dates, I should be fine!

Lol I'll have a fic assignment due March 29, April 21, and May 31!

Popping in briefly from the liminal space of the end/beginning of the year to say: Omg Yuletide was SO fun this year! (and also that it's odd that liminal isn't recognized by spellcheck. Get with it, spellcheck!)

I wrote a fic for my favorite book when I was 11 years old (and 12, and 13, and 14), Mara: Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. My recipient also had an intense childhood affection for the book, which made it a delight to write--truly my favorite thing about Yuletide is the way that you can end up delighting someone else who loves an obscure thing the way you do! It's what keeps me participating year after year!

My recipient seemed to love it and that is what makes me happiest about Yuletide.

Special thanks to jo_lasalle for beta-ing, especially for making the ending much stronger than it would have been and for reminding me to keep things rooted in the physical space instead of living only in Sheftu's head. Several commenters mentioned that the details of the inn in particular worked for them, and there wasn't nearly as much of that until you pointed out how long I have him ~thinking~

Fic: At the Sign of the Falcon
Fandom: Mara: Daughter of the Nile - Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Characters/Pairing: Sheftu-centric, Sheftu/Mara
Rating: T
Wordcount: 4,238 words
Summary: After years of planning, the time drew near—he could taste it in the air, like an approaching storm. And now here he was, waiting for the signal to plunge into the darkness and commit the worst of sins, to stare death in the face in an attempt to keep his dream alive. Were his nerves fraying like an old rope past its usefulness? How else to explain the way this one, infuriating girl kept preying on his mind?

An evening at the Inn of the Falcon.

Dear author:

Hello and happy Yuletide! Thanks for choosing one of my fandoms and thanks in advance for the story! I always find that the writing is the most enjoyable, rewarding part of Yuletide and I hope you feel the same way.

( details here )


( Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell )


( Earthsea )


( This Is New Gehesran Calling )


( Chalice )


( Seventy-Two Letters )


( Life with Derek )

Dear author,

I'm so excited to participate in this particular exchange! I think I will be easy to please, so while I've included a few prompts and thoughts about what I like generally in each fandom, I do want to encourage you to follow where your muse takes you. In my experience, writing is the most rewarding part of participating in an exchange, and I hope you feel that way about writing for me. Thank you for loving one of my fandoms!

( General preferences and thoughts )



( The Untamed )


( The Queen's Thief )


( Much Ado About Nothing )


( The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) )


( Ted Lasso )


( Life with Derek )


( Women Talking (2022) )

Dear Author,

I'm so excited about this exchange! I adore this particular exchange! Hurt/comfort is one of my ultimate tropes, because I love watching a character trying to be strong, being overcome by some kind of vulnerability (physical/mental/emotional/whatever), and someone(s) they love comforting them. So I am certain that whatever you end up writing about some of these favorite characters of mine will be delightful.

This letter is based on my letter for last year so it's possible there might be a few additional tags that aren't in the tagset this year. You can ignore or embrace those as you see fit.


( General preferences and thoughts )



( The Untamed )



( Life with Derek )



( Crash Landing on You )



( The Queen's Thief )



( Six of Crows Series )



( Summers at Castle Auburn )



( Chalice )