satchelfoot

Dear, Good Yuletide Author,

Hi. You doing okay? How’s this year been treating you? Me, I’ve been through some shit during 2018, and so has seemingly everyone I know and everyone they know. I hope it’s going as well as can be for you.

Hey, whatever else is going on, the year is almost over, and whatever else that may mean for us, it definitely means Yuletide is here! So here are my requests. Three of them are in honor of deaths or anniversaries from this year, because that’s part of how I process these things.

I’d like to think this goes without saying most of the time, but I’m feeling kind of driven to emphasize it right now: what I most want to see is a story that reflects you as fully as you want it to—your moment, your time of life, what’s important to you right now. Beyond the definite Do Not Wants in my sign-up, I want to give you as much freedom as possible to write something you want to write and perhaps will want to read yourself. I’m happy to give you some loose suggestions for each fandom.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Fiftieth anniversary fic! If you feel like celebrating with a commemorative story, go right ahead. Intriguingly, the only characters in the tag set are Bowman and the doomed scientists in the cryo pods, so no Poole and… no HAL? I’m not sure how that’s supposed to work, and I won’t hold it against you if you end up having to include our favorite insecure supercomputer.

The Left Hand of Darkness

I was so sad when we lost Le Guin at the start of the year. I have to admit I still haven’t read a huge amount of her work, but Left Hand might be my favorite among the books of hers that I have read. Anything you want to do to further explore Gethen, perhaps in some post-canon accounts of diplomatic relations with the Ekumen, would be welcome.

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

This one hurt. I’d never watched Bourdain’s shows before his death, but I’d read about him and his work and deeply respected him. If there are any parts of the real world or any imaginary worlds where you think he would have enjoyed himself and eaten well if he’d visited, do send him there.

Lock In Series

I just finally read Lock In this year. It made me happy, as just about everything John Scalzi touches makes me happy. I have not yet read Head On, and perhaps you have, so feel free to use both books in writing your story. I’ll make sure and read Head On before gifts get revealed. Feel free to write me any kind of mystery and/or family story about Chris and Vann.

Wayfarers
My favorite SF series currently going, alongside Scalzi’s Interdependency. I love the whole Wayfarer crew and all their friends, but right now I seem to be most interested in the techs as well as Sidra and Pepper. If you want to take on the task of imagining what it will be like when Sidra finally meets Jenks, feel free. If something a little more calm and lighthearted is more your speed, like maybe that trip Rosemary takes to visit Kizzie’s dads, feel free to do that instead. Or anything in between, really. I just completely love playing in this universe and I hope you do too.

Thank you SO much in advance for your story. Really, entirely, thank you. I look forward to reading absolutely anything you choose to write. Please take care of yourself.

All my regards, esteem, and support,
Mitchell (Satchelfoot)