#132 The Bletchley Circle, The Queen's Gambit (TV), The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
44 views
Skip to first unread message
Yuletide Admin
Dec 15, 2023, 3:46:37 PM12/15/23
to yt...@googlegroups.com
The Bletchley Circle, The Queen's Gambit (TV), The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Request 1 by AngstBlanket
Fandom: The Bletchley Circle
Characters: Any
Character Requirement: My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)
Prompt:
Why I love it: Smart ladies! Who specialize in math! Well-defined characters with different strengths and ways of coping with a sexist society! Beautiful cinematography! Depicting internal thought processes is a challenge for visual mediums, so I love how the show depicts it as non-instantaneous, challenging, and also gorgeous. Teamwork!
Other notes: My gift may feature any characters from the tag set
If you've seen the San Francisco spinoff (I have), feel free to draw from that too.
DNW: PWP (explicit content fine, but not as the sole focus), gore (canon-typical crimes fine, just not detailed descriptions of injuries), character bashing (characters can be products of their time and have the universal trait of thinking of themselves first without being 1-dimensional antagonists)
Fic ideas: I’d love a fic focusing on any combination of 1, 2, 3, or 4 of these ladies, as a character study, friendship and/or romantic and/or sexual relationship. Some ideas:
-A character’s relationship to her skills, talents, the work she does.
-Bletchley era: snapshot of the work they’re doing.
-Bletchley era: what kinds of relationships are going on, when they’re able to visit each other more freely?
-Bletchley era: did they ever meet Joan Clarke, or Alan Turing?
-Millie seems to take Susan’s decision to get married instead of travelling the world very personally. Were they in a relationship at Bletchley? What happened?
-How did Susan end up deciding to marry Timothy? Does she decide to put more effort into repairing her marriage, or not? Does she succeed? Feel free to diverge before their decision to move away, or to elaborate on it.
General likes in letter. Treats are enabled.
Letter: http://www.tumblr.com/angstblanket1/731764075092164608/dear-yuletide-writer
Request 2 by AngstBlanket
Fandom: The Queen's Gambit (TV)
Characters: Beth Harmon (The Queen's Gambit)
Character Requirement: My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form
Prompt:
Why I love it: It keeps enough of the troubled genius trope to be fun for those of us who enjoy it, while deconstructing it enough to improve on it. She's a girl! Which impacts her story without being central to it! Her character struggles are a mix of inherent and a result of her experiences! She's talented, but does better when she admits she has to practice the parts that are less fun to her! And also when she learns to accept help! And she not only realizes drugs and madness are extraneous to her success, she does even better without them!
Other notes: My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form: I have listed prompts for the backstories of Alma, Annette, and Alice Harmon- if you want to focus on one of these characters, using my prompt or not, I don’t expect Beth to also be a main focus.
The extent of my chess knowledge is the basic rules and a vague idea of the tournament system. Trust me, I will not know if you are fudging the details.
DNW: PWP (explicit content fine, but not as the sole focus), gore, character bashing, Beth/Borgov
Fic ideas:
-tell me more about Annette Packer, that other girl at her first tournament? It must take a different type of courage to play against guys because you want to and should be allowed to and you’re just as good as them, instead of being able to prove that you’re superior.
-tell me more about Alma? It sounds like she was also very good at something (piano), and that she had to give it up, and that that cost her.
-Alice Harmon is clearly also a talented woman who's been through some stuff. What made her into the person we see?
-was being banned from playing chess the extent of her punishment for the pill incident? How did she cope?
-Beth clearly spends a lot of time alone reading chess books, while Jolene clearly has other friends to fill her time… what makes their bond special compared to the other girls at the orphanage?
-Beth and Mr. Shaibel are both very much not people people; I adore their special friendship. Maybe fill in some gaps about their thoughts during their fight? Why didn't Beth pay back the $10?
-for her chess friends/sometimes-lovers, I love domesticity, bonding over the shared love of the game, and the messiness of hurting each other without meaning to. More in-between moments of studying? Post canon or in an AU, does one of the canon pairings make it work? Or does Beth have more messy, complicated relationships like the young adult she is?
-It’s a shame Beth’s one same-sex encounter directly preceded a disastrous game, but hey, she’s perfectly capable of making bad decisions without encouragement. I’d like to see Beth spending more time in Paris or globetrotting with Cleo, having a fun but dysfunctional time getting involved in her polyamorous bohemian lifestyle- if you can make it a function of these particular characters in this particular time of their lives rather than an inherently dysfunctional choice, even better.
-Now that Beth is at the top of the chess world at barely 20… what does she do next? How does she stay sober? Or does she fall off the wagon a few more times?
-This canon is ripe for a 5+1 or something with different character’s perspectives on themes like gender, chess, genius, and/or madness. Don’t worry, I won’t be put of if you go hard on stuff like this.
-Just doing something fun with formatting to show us inside her head!
-I saw a suggestion that characters and events could be metaphors for chess pieces or moves, and: yes, please! Don't worry, I'm not a lit professor or a chess player, I'll eat up whatever halfway plausible ideas you come up with.
General likes in letter. Treats are enabled.
Letter: http://www.tumblr.com/angstblanket1/731764075092164608/dear-yuletide-writer
Request 3 by AngstBlanket
Fandom: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Characters: Arkady Patel, Sana Tripathi, Violet Liu
Character Requirement: My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)
Prompt:
The Strange Case of Starship Iris- Arkady Patel, Sana Tripathi, Violet Liu
Why I love it: Complex characters! Who are super important to each other! And who work together! On the work of making the universe a better place! With great world building about what differences there would and wouldn't be between different civilizations! Linguistics is key to unravelling the plot multiple times!
Other notes: My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)- I'd equally enjoy a fic about the whole S1 gang, or any subset!
DNW: PWP (explicit content fine, but not as the sole focus), gore, character bashing
Fic ideas:
-Everyone has such tantalizing backstories- I want all the details.
-More cultural comparisons. Do the humans learn about a Dwarnian culture different from Krejjh’s? Does the nanobot swarm struggle to understand the concept? What's the story behind fish bullying?
-Arkady- being gruff and not touchy-feely, getting embarrassed with Violet
-Sana- The stress of feeling responsible for everyone, does she find other “comfort out there”?
-Violet- fighting through the fear, getting embarrassed with Arkady
-Brian- How did he get from grad student to criminal underworld? What else does he uncover about aliens through linguistics?
-Krejjh- cultural differences/similarities, being cute with Brian
-How did Arkady & Sana become best friends?
-Just the crew hanging out and enjoying each others' company. Maybe they solve a manageable problem, or celebrate a 22nd century holiday.
-Alternately, putting them in dangerous situations where they have to worry about each other and protect each other.
General likes in letter. Treats are enabled.
Letter: http://www.tumblr.com/angstblanket1/731764075092164608/dear-yuletide-writer
Request 1 by AngstBlanket
Fandom: The Bletchley Circle
Characters: Any
Character Requirement: My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags (if 0: any from tag set)
Prompt:
Why I love it: Smart ladies! Who specialize in math! Well-defined characters with different strengths and ways of coping with a sexist society! Beautiful cinematography! Depicting internal thought processes is a challenge for visual mediums, so I love how the show depicts it as non-instantaneous, challenging, and also gorgeous. Teamwork!
Other notes: My gift may feature any characters from the tag set
If you've seen the San Francisco spinoff (I have), feel free to draw from that too.
DNW: PWP (explicit content fine, but not as the sole focus), gore (canon-typical crimes fine, just not detailed descriptions of injuries), character bashing (characters can be products of their time and have the universal trait of thinking of themselves first without being 1-dimensional antagonists)
Fic ideas: I’d love a fic focusing on any combination of 1, 2, 3, or 4 of these ladies, as a character study, friendship and/or romantic and/or sexual relationship. Some ideas:
-A character’s relationship to her skills, talents, the work she does.
-Bletchley era: snapshot of the work they’re doing.
-Bletchley era: what kinds of relationships are going on, when they’re able to visit each other more freely?
-Bletchley era: did they ever meet Joan Clarke, or Alan Turing?
-Millie seems to take Susan’s decision to get married instead of travelling the world very personally. Were they in a relationship at Bletchley? What happened?
-How did Susan end up deciding to marry Timothy? Does she decide to put more effort into repairing her marriage, or not? Does she succeed? Feel free to diverge before their decision to move away, or to elaborate on it.
General likes in letter. Treats are enabled.
Letter: http://www.tumblr.com/angstblanket1/731764075092164608/dear-yuletide-writer
Request 2 by AngstBlanket
Fandom: The Queen's Gambit (TV)
Characters: Beth Harmon (The Queen's Gambit)
Character Requirement: My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form
Prompt:
Why I love it: It keeps enough of the troubled genius trope to be fun for those of us who enjoy it, while deconstructing it enough to improve on it. She's a girl! Which impacts her story without being central to it! Her character struggles are a mix of inherent and a result of her experiences! She's talented, but does better when she admits she has to practice the parts that are less fun to her! And also when she learns to accept help! And she not only realizes drugs and madness are extraneous to her success, she does even better without them!
Other notes: My gift must feature all of my chosen character tags; or it may use exceptions I explain in the form: I have listed prompts for the backstories of Alma, Annette, and Alice Harmon- if you want to focus on one of these characters, using my prompt or not, I don’t expect Beth to also be a main focus.
The extent of my chess knowledge is the basic rules and a vague idea of the tournament system. Trust me, I will not know if you are fudging the details.
DNW: PWP (explicit content fine, but not as the sole focus), gore, character bashing, Beth/Borgov
Fic ideas:
-tell me more about Annette Packer, that other girl at her first tournament? It must take a different type of courage to play against guys because you want to and should be allowed to and you’re just as good as them, instead of being able to prove that you’re superior.
-tell me more about Alma? It sounds like she was also very good at something (piano), and that she had to give it up, and that that cost her.
-Alice Harmon is clearly also a talented woman who's been through some stuff. What made her into the person we see?
-was being banned from playing chess the extent of her punishment for the pill incident? How did she cope?
-Beth clearly spends a lot of time alone reading chess books, while Jolene clearly has other friends to fill her time… what makes their bond special compared to the other girls at the orphanage?
-Beth and Mr. Shaibel are both very much not people people; I adore their special friendship. Maybe fill in some gaps about their thoughts during their fight? Why didn't Beth pay back the $10?
-for her chess friends/sometimes-lovers, I love domesticity, bonding over the shared love of the game, and the messiness of hurting each other without meaning to. More in-between moments of studying? Post canon or in an AU, does one of the canon pairings make it work? Or does Beth have more messy, complicated relationships like the young adult she is?
-It’s a shame Beth’s one same-sex encounter directly preceded a disastrous game, but hey, she’s perfectly capable of making bad decisions without encouragement. I’d like to see Beth spending more time in Paris or globetrotting with Cleo, having a fun but dysfunctional time getting involved in her polyamorous bohemian lifestyle- if you can make it a function of these particular characters in this particular time of their lives rather than an inherently dysfunctional choice, even better.
-Now that Beth is at the top of the chess world at barely 20… what does she do next? How does she stay sober? Or does she fall off the wagon a few more times?
-This canon is ripe for a 5+1 or something with different character’s perspectives on themes like gender, chess, genius, and/or madness. Don’t worry, I won’t be put of if you go hard on stuff like this.
-Just doing something fun with formatting to show us inside her head!
-I saw a suggestion that characters and events could be metaphors for chess pieces or moves, and: yes, please! Don't worry, I'm not a lit professor or a chess player, I'll eat up whatever halfway plausible ideas you come up with.
General likes in letter. Treats are enabled.
Letter: http://www.tumblr.com/angstblanket1/731764075092164608/dear-yuletide-writer
Request 3 by AngstBlanket
Fandom: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Characters: Arkady Patel, Sana Tripathi, Violet Liu
Character Requirement: My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)
Prompt:
The Strange Case of Starship Iris- Arkady Patel, Sana Tripathi, Violet Liu
Why I love it: Complex characters! Who are super important to each other! And who work together! On the work of making the universe a better place! With great world building about what differences there would and wouldn't be between different civilizations! Linguistics is key to unravelling the plot multiple times!
Other notes: My gift must feature one or more of my chosen character tags (giver's choice)- I'd equally enjoy a fic about the whole S1 gang, or any subset!
DNW: PWP (explicit content fine, but not as the sole focus), gore, character bashing
Fic ideas:
-Everyone has such tantalizing backstories- I want all the details.
-More cultural comparisons. Do the humans learn about a Dwarnian culture different from Krejjh’s? Does the nanobot swarm struggle to understand the concept? What's the story behind fish bullying?
-Arkady- being gruff and not touchy-feely, getting embarrassed with Violet
-Sana- The stress of feeling responsible for everyone, does she find other “comfort out there”?
-Violet- fighting through the fear, getting embarrassed with Arkady
-Brian- How did he get from grad student to criminal underworld? What else does he uncover about aliens through linguistics?
-Krejjh- cultural differences/similarities, being cute with Brian
-How did Arkady & Sana become best friends?
-Just the crew hanging out and enjoying each others' company. Maybe they solve a manageable problem, or celebrate a 22nd century holiday.
-Alternately, putting them in dangerous situations where they have to worry about each other and protect each other.
General likes in letter. Treats are enabled.
Letter: http://www.tumblr.com/angstblanket1/731764075092164608/dear-yuletide-writer
Due date
This pinch hit is due at: 9am UTC on Wednesday 20 December 2023.
Check the links below to see when it is for you:
To claim this pinch hit
If you are getting pinch hits by email, reply to the email that has the pinch hit you want in it, and include your ao3 name.
If you're viewing the google group forum on a mobile device, you can claim a pinch hit by emailing yuleti...@gmail.com with your AO3 name and the number of the pinch hit you want to claim.
If you're viewing the google group forum through the desktop version, you can use the same method as mobile, or scroll the welcome post above the topics to see further options.
If you successfully claim the pinch hit, we will reply and confirm that it's yours, and assign the recipient to you on AO3. If you don't hear from us, it went to someone else.
What does it mean to pinch hit? Are there penalties? Are there perks?
For more info, please see the Yuletide FAQ, and specifically:
You can send other questions to yuleti...@gmail.com.
Thank you and good luck!
-Yuletide mods
Back to google group: https://groups.google.com/group/yt-ph
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages