yet another yuletide letter
Thank you in advance for your awesomeness, author! I hope you find this letter helpful, but feel free to ignore any and all of it. Optional details are optional, and I would rather read a fic my author was invested in than one catering to my whims.
(Also, yes, large chunks of this were c/p'ed from previous year’s letters. What can I say, my tastes haven’t changed that much.)
Here is some non-fandom specific stuff that might help you:
The Wire (Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins)
Request - I would love any fic for this fandom, truly. Feel free to ignore all my prompts and write whatever you want. If you want some ideas, though, I have plenty:
How did Stringer and Avon get to their positions at the beginning of the series? What does a Barksdale family dinner look like? (And what about Stringer’s family? We know a lot about Avon’s.) Or how about an AU where one of them got out of the game?
Also, I know this is a ridiculously specific and hard prompt probably of interest only to me, but if you did want to write me the AU where Stringer became a baseball player and Avon followed his canon trajectory while they still remain codependent, and the messiness that would ensue, I would certainly not object.
As for Bubbles, I would love anything. How did he meet Kima? Does he ever see his son again? What about 5 awkward dinners he had with his sister and her family? Any sort of future fic would be amazing, really. Does he ever try to mentor another kid? Basically I adore Bubbles and you could not do wrong writing about him for me.
Also, I realize I have two very separate sections of my prompts involving the characters I requested. I would be fine if you didn't include all three in your fic.
About the Fandom - The Wire is an HBO drama about Baltimore that ran for 5 seasons. It is deeply realistic, with a wide range of characters. While it is often billed as a procedural, it is so much more. Each season focused on a different aspect of Baltimore: the cops and dealers in the projects, the docks, politics, schools and newspapers. And it was utterly brilliant.
It is like a great novel put on screen, with layers and histories building up. Each season adds more depth to the city and the characters in it. It is well acted, directed and written. All the pieces work together at a high level to create something wonderful.
Every bit of this universe is so fully realized. Everything has consequences The impacts of each decision ripple out throughout the city and community. There are not characters existing in isolation, or plot-lines that exist only for sweeps. Everything matters, because everything works together. As a result, things change and grow.
I recommend this pimping post if you are considering starting this canon.
My favorite characters I didn’t request include Bodie, Carver, Shardene and Bunny, while I am least interested in the season 5 characters, McNulty or Carcetti.
About my request - I love this show and just want more fic for it. I love these characters. I love the bleakness. I love that the good guys don’t always win, and when they do win it doesn’t mean that things improve. I love that everything has consequences. Basically ♥ my show.
This year my request can be broken into two different requests that don't need to be combined.
The first is for Avon and Stringer. Yes, I do ship them. And yes, I would love fic about their relationship, though it does not have to be slashy.
I love their codependency (B&B enterprises!) I love how their skill sets balance out each other and their temperaments do too. I love that after the events of season 1 they keep growing in different directions and yet how they can never disentangle from one another. I love the heartbreak of their canon endings, so unless you go full blown AU, please don’t try to fix that. I would rather have a fic in this fandom stay grounded in the show’s reality and break my heart than go for a false happily ever after.
As for Bubbles, well, he is one of my all-time favorite characters. He was hilarious, heartbreaking and everything inbetween. The juxtaposition between his wisdom and his addiction really drew me to the character. His season 4 arc almost broke me (really that entire season did, but oh, Bubs). I love his relative optimism and the joy he takes in small moments.
Feel free explore any facet of his character. An AU where he never got hooked? 5 times he got clean (or conversely, 5 trips he took). Bubbles is one of the relatively older characters in the series, so exploring how he got there could be interesting. Or future fic would also be lovely. Basically, go wild and tell me the Bubble’s story of your heart.
Wayne’s World (Garth Algar)
Request - I recently rewatched this movie on Netflix and realized I wanted, no, needed fic. Wayne’s World is so very anchored in that one time and space, and I want to see what happens when you move Wayne and Garth to the present. This can either be an AU where they are teenagers now doing a Youtube show - or are they too cool for that?
Or what about Wayne and Garth growing up, after the movies? Do they try and change with the time or are they still in that same basement, making Nickleback jokes and railing against the current state of rock? Or did they grow apart over the years and meet again and try and recapture the magic? What if the first ending of the movie was the real one? How would they look now in that case?
If you do want to stick to the timeframe of the movies, give me all the Garth fic. He is so zany and wonderful and smart. Write me him going to a sci fi convention or geeking out overs cymbals.
Prefer gen or canon pairings for this fandom. Party on Author!
About the Fandom - Wayne’s World started as an SNL sketch, which was then turned into two movies. Most of the sketches (and lets be honest, the movies too) are available on YouTube. Caveat, I haven’t recently watched SNL sketches, so don’t feel the need to track down and watch them all. My requests are pretty focused on the movies.
Wayne’s World spawned an overload of quotes and iconic gags, from the schwing to the headbanging to any number of things. Even if you have never seen the movie, you have seen its influence. I recently rewatched it and while some of the jokes are pretty stale, the underlying premise of two friends trying to make it is universal. And yes, it is still hilarious.
The cast is great, from the confident Wayne to quirky Garth to the amazing Cassandra and more. It’s easy for characters in comedy to be one-dimensional, and the fact that Wayne’s World avoided that trap is a big part of its greatness. All the minor background characters are amazing. (I love you too, Terry! And I want to hear your story Glen.)
One of my favorite things about the movie is the reverence it has for music and the people who make it (after all one of the most iconic scenes of the movie is the Bohemian Rhapsody lip sync). Music is as much a character in the movie as any other.
I also have an inordinate love for the way they break the fourth wall, both explicitly (I will never not laugh at the diner scene where Wayne tells off the Mikita’s manager for talking to the camera) and more subtly (the classic sponsor scene). If you want to go meta, this is the fandom for you (Garth does Yuletide?).
About the Request - I realize my request is pretty specific, so I don’t have too much to say here. But I was watching the movie and just wanted future fic, or a present day set fic like whoa. I love the characters, especially Garth and want to see them in those alternate settings I suggested.
I also love the multiple ending conceit, so if you want to play with that, go for it.
And really, if none of that appeals to you I would adore a rambling Garth POV about, well, anything. I love every little thing about Garth, from his friendship with Wayne to his tongue tied reaction to the woman he likes (not to mention his day dream musical sequences). I love his random abilities (especially the drumming) and his insults and basically he is my OTC for these movies. His sci fi geekery with his wish to boldly go and use satellites to track things are honestly the cherry on top of the Sunday.
Attack the Block (2011) (Moses)
Request - I want future-fic like whoa for this fandom. It could be Sam and Moses forming a found family (no romance between the two, please), or the survivors testifying to either to a court/other authority/Parliament/media, or Biggz visiting Moses and Pest in jail (if they really ended up there). Or maybe Moses trying to deal with becoming a cult/public figure? Really, I would just love something that explores the consequences of the events of the movie on the characters. Alternatively, if you want to do something pre/during the movie, possibly something about Moses and superheros and Dennis' sword. If you really want something out there, how about an AU where there are superheros, and Moses becomes one. Would prefer gen.
About the Fandom - Attack the Block is a recentish (as in the past few year) movie and therefore easily acquired and consumed if you are looking for a new fandom. From the moment I heard about this movie I knew I was going to love it. (The first three reviews I read all referenced the influence of the Wire, which really piqued my interest.) Luckily, I was not proven wrong. Attack the Block is a British alien invasion movie from 2011 about teens from a London housing project going up against alien invaders. And it is even more amazing than that summary seems.
The characters, even though some we only see for a small time, are fully realized and distinct. And yes, because of the nature of these types of movies, there is massive amounts of character death. More than anything, though, it is a smart movie. It plays with your expectations and does so well. The ‘twist’ of the first scene alone makes it worth the viewing.
About the Request - I am a big fan of how real the movie felt. Well, real for a movie where alien creatures invade, so please don't forget that these are teenage boys who play video games, and oh, yeah, mug people. I don't want saccharine sweet or Sam as Moses' white savior. (Sam is awesome, but DNW a British version of The Blind Side.)
I love way the movie flips expectations about who and what a hero is. Most movies I come out of loving the side-kick best, but no, Moses is it for me. He is strong and silent and so freaking young, yet he rises so spectacularly to the situation.
And because he defies the typical expectations, I want to see the world react to him. I want to see if there is a cult of Moses supporters, or if he is ignored, buried by the government or derided as mass murderer ala speaker of the dead.
I am also fascinated by the idea of Moses in a mask as a superhero.
I am American, so I don't know much Britain's court system or media, so if you look at my list of requests and go, well, that would never happen here, feel free to write what would.
In addition to the characters I requested, I love, well, all of them. Tia and Dimples (she killed that thing with her skate!) and Pest were all most great as was Biggz in the bins and Sam in general. As for ships, I vaguely ship Moses/Tia in that I think that is what canon was aiming at and appreciate the realism of it, but really I want something plot/character driven, not romance.
This entry was originally posted at http://kristin.dreamwidth.org/49369.html. Feel free to comment where you feel more comfortable.
(Also, yes, large chunks of this were c/p'ed from previous year’s letters. What can I say, my tastes haven’t changed that much.)
Here is some non-fandom specific stuff that might help you:
- Find me:
Kristin (Ao3) | attempt-unique (LJ) |
kristin (DW) | kristin (#yuletide) - I tend to throw out a lot of prompts in my requests. There are none I would like to see more than the others and no need to try and combine all of the prompts into a frankenfic.
- I am OK with character death/in-fic violence/gore/swearing/unhappy endings etc. and I love apocafic. If you run out of other ideas, kill (almost) everybody in the world off and I will love it. The darker and creepier the better.
- I prefer gen to het/slash/femslash
- I prefer not to read: character bashing, infidelity, pregnancy/kidfic, incest, schmoop, 2nd person and PWPs.
- I love: plot, ensembles, adventures, banter, found families, fully realized characters and settings, interesting narrative voices and people who bring the funny.
The Wire (Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins)
Request - I would love any fic for this fandom, truly. Feel free to ignore all my prompts and write whatever you want. If you want some ideas, though, I have plenty:
How did Stringer and Avon get to their positions at the beginning of the series? What does a Barksdale family dinner look like? (And what about Stringer’s family? We know a lot about Avon’s.) Or how about an AU where one of them got out of the game?
Also, I know this is a ridiculously specific and hard prompt probably of interest only to me, but if you did want to write me the AU where Stringer became a baseball player and Avon followed his canon trajectory while they still remain codependent, and the messiness that would ensue, I would certainly not object.
As for Bubbles, I would love anything. How did he meet Kima? Does he ever see his son again? What about 5 awkward dinners he had with his sister and her family? Any sort of future fic would be amazing, really. Does he ever try to mentor another kid? Basically I adore Bubbles and you could not do wrong writing about him for me.
Also, I realize I have two very separate sections of my prompts involving the characters I requested. I would be fine if you didn't include all three in your fic.
About the Fandom - The Wire is an HBO drama about Baltimore that ran for 5 seasons. It is deeply realistic, with a wide range of characters. While it is often billed as a procedural, it is so much more. Each season focused on a different aspect of Baltimore: the cops and dealers in the projects, the docks, politics, schools and newspapers. And it was utterly brilliant.
It is like a great novel put on screen, with layers and histories building up. Each season adds more depth to the city and the characters in it. It is well acted, directed and written. All the pieces work together at a high level to create something wonderful.
Every bit of this universe is so fully realized. Everything has consequences The impacts of each decision ripple out throughout the city and community. There are not characters existing in isolation, or plot-lines that exist only for sweeps. Everything matters, because everything works together. As a result, things change and grow.
I recommend this pimping post if you are considering starting this canon.
My favorite characters I didn’t request include Bodie, Carver, Shardene and Bunny, while I am least interested in the season 5 characters, McNulty or Carcetti.
About my request - I love this show and just want more fic for it. I love these characters. I love the bleakness. I love that the good guys don’t always win, and when they do win it doesn’t mean that things improve. I love that everything has consequences. Basically ♥ my show.
This year my request can be broken into two different requests that don't need to be combined.
The first is for Avon and Stringer. Yes, I do ship them. And yes, I would love fic about their relationship, though it does not have to be slashy.
I love their codependency (B&B enterprises!) I love how their skill sets balance out each other and their temperaments do too. I love that after the events of season 1 they keep growing in different directions and yet how they can never disentangle from one another. I love the heartbreak of their canon endings, so unless you go full blown AU, please don’t try to fix that. I would rather have a fic in this fandom stay grounded in the show’s reality and break my heart than go for a false happily ever after.
As for Bubbles, well, he is one of my all-time favorite characters. He was hilarious, heartbreaking and everything inbetween. The juxtaposition between his wisdom and his addiction really drew me to the character. His season 4 arc almost broke me (really that entire season did, but oh, Bubs). I love his relative optimism and the joy he takes in small moments.
Feel free explore any facet of his character. An AU where he never got hooked? 5 times he got clean (or conversely, 5 trips he took). Bubbles is one of the relatively older characters in the series, so exploring how he got there could be interesting. Or future fic would also be lovely. Basically, go wild and tell me the Bubble’s story of your heart.
Wayne’s World (Garth Algar)
Request - I recently rewatched this movie on Netflix and realized I wanted, no, needed fic. Wayne’s World is so very anchored in that one time and space, and I want to see what happens when you move Wayne and Garth to the present. This can either be an AU where they are teenagers now doing a Youtube show - or are they too cool for that?
Or what about Wayne and Garth growing up, after the movies? Do they try and change with the time or are they still in that same basement, making Nickleback jokes and railing against the current state of rock? Or did they grow apart over the years and meet again and try and recapture the magic? What if the first ending of the movie was the real one? How would they look now in that case?
If you do want to stick to the timeframe of the movies, give me all the Garth fic. He is so zany and wonderful and smart. Write me him going to a sci fi convention or geeking out overs cymbals.
Prefer gen or canon pairings for this fandom. Party on Author!
About the Fandom - Wayne’s World started as an SNL sketch, which was then turned into two movies. Most of the sketches (and lets be honest, the movies too) are available on YouTube. Caveat, I haven’t recently watched SNL sketches, so don’t feel the need to track down and watch them all. My requests are pretty focused on the movies.
Wayne’s World spawned an overload of quotes and iconic gags, from the schwing to the headbanging to any number of things. Even if you have never seen the movie, you have seen its influence. I recently rewatched it and while some of the jokes are pretty stale, the underlying premise of two friends trying to make it is universal. And yes, it is still hilarious.
The cast is great, from the confident Wayne to quirky Garth to the amazing Cassandra and more. It’s easy for characters in comedy to be one-dimensional, and the fact that Wayne’s World avoided that trap is a big part of its greatness. All the minor background characters are amazing. (I love you too, Terry! And I want to hear your story Glen.)
One of my favorite things about the movie is the reverence it has for music and the people who make it (after all one of the most iconic scenes of the movie is the Bohemian Rhapsody lip sync). Music is as much a character in the movie as any other.
I also have an inordinate love for the way they break the fourth wall, both explicitly (I will never not laugh at the diner scene where Wayne tells off the Mikita’s manager for talking to the camera) and more subtly (the classic sponsor scene). If you want to go meta, this is the fandom for you (Garth does Yuletide?).
About the Request - I realize my request is pretty specific, so I don’t have too much to say here. But I was watching the movie and just wanted future fic, or a present day set fic like whoa. I love the characters, especially Garth and want to see them in those alternate settings I suggested.
I also love the multiple ending conceit, so if you want to play with that, go for it.
And really, if none of that appeals to you I would adore a rambling Garth POV about, well, anything. I love every little thing about Garth, from his friendship with Wayne to his tongue tied reaction to the woman he likes (not to mention his day dream musical sequences). I love his random abilities (especially the drumming) and his insults and basically he is my OTC for these movies. His sci fi geekery with his wish to boldly go and use satellites to track things are honestly the cherry on top of the Sunday.
Attack the Block (2011) (Moses)
Request - I want future-fic like whoa for this fandom. It could be Sam and Moses forming a found family (no romance between the two, please), or the survivors testifying to either to a court/other authority/Parliament/media, or Biggz visiting Moses and Pest in jail (if they really ended up there). Or maybe Moses trying to deal with becoming a cult/public figure? Really, I would just love something that explores the consequences of the events of the movie on the characters. Alternatively, if you want to do something pre/during the movie, possibly something about Moses and superheros and Dennis' sword. If you really want something out there, how about an AU where there are superheros, and Moses becomes one. Would prefer gen.
About the Fandom - Attack the Block is a recentish (as in the past few year) movie and therefore easily acquired and consumed if you are looking for a new fandom. From the moment I heard about this movie I knew I was going to love it. (The first three reviews I read all referenced the influence of the Wire, which really piqued my interest.) Luckily, I was not proven wrong. Attack the Block is a British alien invasion movie from 2011 about teens from a London housing project going up against alien invaders. And it is even more amazing than that summary seems.
The characters, even though some we only see for a small time, are fully realized and distinct. And yes, because of the nature of these types of movies, there is massive amounts of character death. More than anything, though, it is a smart movie. It plays with your expectations and does so well. The ‘twist’ of the first scene alone makes it worth the viewing.
About the Request - I am a big fan of how real the movie felt. Well, real for a movie where alien creatures invade, so please don't forget that these are teenage boys who play video games, and oh, yeah, mug people. I don't want saccharine sweet or Sam as Moses' white savior. (Sam is awesome, but DNW a British version of The Blind Side.)
I love way the movie flips expectations about who and what a hero is. Most movies I come out of loving the side-kick best, but no, Moses is it for me. He is strong and silent and so freaking young, yet he rises so spectacularly to the situation.
And because he defies the typical expectations, I want to see the world react to him. I want to see if there is a cult of Moses supporters, or if he is ignored, buried by the government or derided as mass murderer ala speaker of the dead.
I am also fascinated by the idea of Moses in a mask as a superhero.
I am American, so I don't know much Britain's court system or media, so if you look at my list of requests and go, well, that would never happen here, feel free to write what would.
In addition to the characters I requested, I love, well, all of them. Tia and Dimples (she killed that thing with her skate!) and Pest were all most great as was Biggz in the bins and Sam in general. As for ships, I vaguely ship Moses/Tia in that I think that is what canon was aiming at and appreciate the realism of it, but really I want something plot/character driven, not romance.
This entry was originally posted at http://kristin.dreamwidth.org/49369.html. Feel free to comment where you feel more comfortable.