Yuletide Letter, or, my 2 cents on Wire in the Blood, Brotherhood of the Wolf, and Casino Royale
Dear Yuletide Writer,
Thank you for working on one of my prompts! Whatever you end up writing, I'm so happy that you've put your time and creativity into designing a story for me, and for one of these underserved fandoms. Little fandoms need all the love they can get.
I'm going to talk a little about each of my prompts, but first I'd refer you to this 99 Fic Kinks Meme that I filled out a couple years ago. Certainly don't feel constrained by it, but each of these things makes me very happy. Overall I do prefer happy endings, although they're often sweetest when they follow poignant angst or difficult circumstances. I also prefer consummation to endless UST or fade to black, but that is up to you and your comfort level.
Wire in the Blood: My love for this series cannot be overstated. I'm completely fascinated by the cases, desperate to delve further into Tony's psychology, and completely in love with the squad's strong female characters.
One of my favorite things in the world is seeing people who don't think they can ever have love or affection or stable human relationships eventually find that happiness, and after six seasons of dancing around it, WitB has made Tony+intimacy one tough nut to crack, but I'd love to read about how it might be done. I don't think it would be terribly fluffy or socially normative, but something that works for him and his partner. I adore and pour over every little hint WitB gives about Tony's sexual desires, fantasies, and practices (my goodness, does he even masturbate? How alienated is he from his body? And *why*? And how can we *change that*?), and if you are so moved as to write on the subject, I promise to relish your every thought. If you're interested in more background on my approach to WitB there's an extended conversation about my take on Tony's masculinity in the comments under my fic Four Quartets, but take or leave that - I'm interested in how *you* think about it!
Carol, Alex, and Paula all rock my world. I don't need to see all of them in a story, but I think they're wonderful: accomplished, sturdy, compassionate, and well adjusted. I'd like to see them happy - maybe with Tony, maybe with each other. I think Carol still misses Tony in South Africa. I think Alex is ready to move on from Ben's dad, and mature enough to cut through most of the courtship structures and rituals. I think Paula is inquisitive, dedicated, a little socially isolated, and possibly lesbian/bisexual (as from the novels).
Brotherhood of the Wolf: It's absolutely crazy of me, but I'm interested by attempts to place BotW within actual historical circumstances. Ok, the entire thing is preposterous, but it ties so well into nearly every major social force of the era: the rise of empiricism and the enlightenment, colonialism and the attendant economic/cultural/military repercussions, nature/culture, the madonna/whore complex and even rational men's inability to include deconstruction of patriarchy in their analyses, monarchy and democracy, French regionalism and hierarchies within France, self versus Other - human/animal and insider/outsider, and several that I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention.
Also? Mani, Fronsac, and Marianne are really, really pretty. But more seriously, I love the bond between Mani and Fronsac, but I'm concerned about how it plays into and resists representations of the white hero and his faithful othered sidekick - I'd like to hear more about how they function in daily life, because I think we get hints about the way they view each other as equals, but how is that relation actually constructed given the constraints of the time? And how would Marianne reconcile Fronsac and Mani's relationship? How would Mani feel about sharing Fronsac's affection and loyalty with Marianne?
Anyway those are my thoughts - but, really, it's a movie about gorgeous people in implausible situations with an evil arm. Go nuts!
James Bond: Casino Royale: This one is completely shallow - Bond/M is scorching hot. I was captivated by Daniel Craig's tiny swim trunks the glimpses of Bond's vulnerability in Casino Royale, but I'm a little concerned that they're never to be seen again - that Casino Royale and Vesper's betrayal are the blueprints by which Bond's arrogance, misogyny, and disregard for his own life are to be built. M is going to be about the only person left who will always be wise to Bond's game, and his origins - the only one he can't play who he needs more than she needs him. Meanwhile, M seems to have a special fascination with Bond, and her position as an older, powerful female boss is highly unusual and highly charged.
Also, Casino Royale firmly convinced me that the Bond series is about the state's exploitation of vulnerable men for violent purposes (to commit violence and to put themselves in danger for a state which gave them few other options), and that the center of the story is about nihilism - the drinking, the disposable human relationships and bodies, and Bond's lack of concern for his own life. That's very interesting to me and I'd love a discussion of those themes, but I'd also like something more than nihilism for those characters - something other than despair in the fact of inevitable self-destruction at the behest of a cold and indifferent state (anthropomorphized as the distant and rejecting father figure). What? I don't know, but I'd like there to be something more.
This is a bit of an aside, but my very favorite moment in the film was at the hotel in the Bahamas, when Bond held the door open for a black maid. In a series so focused on destruction and violence on the behalf of Britain, a country that violently colonized peoples it deemed inferior, I love that little glimpse of Bond looking at a woman he has every reason to see as nothing but a part of the scenery, if that, and instead sees *her* and acts with courtesy. A torrid romance between the two would make me ecstatic, but that's a bit much to ask for, so I'll just say that I find the contradictions of that moment hugely evocative.
So, hopefully that's enough to give a sense of my preferences and pleasures. The most important thing, though, is that I'm completely grateful for the gift of your talent, and I can't wait to see what you put together - none of this is binding, and I do like surprises :)
Thank you!!!
Thank you for working on one of my prompts! Whatever you end up writing, I'm so happy that you've put your time and creativity into designing a story for me, and for one of these underserved fandoms. Little fandoms need all the love they can get.
I'm going to talk a little about each of my prompts, but first I'd refer you to this 99 Fic Kinks Meme that I filled out a couple years ago. Certainly don't feel constrained by it, but each of these things makes me very happy. Overall I do prefer happy endings, although they're often sweetest when they follow poignant angst or difficult circumstances. I also prefer consummation to endless UST or fade to black, but that is up to you and your comfort level.
Wire in the Blood: My love for this series cannot be overstated. I'm completely fascinated by the cases, desperate to delve further into Tony's psychology, and completely in love with the squad's strong female characters.
One of my favorite things in the world is seeing people who don't think they can ever have love or affection or stable human relationships eventually find that happiness, and after six seasons of dancing around it, WitB has made Tony+intimacy one tough nut to crack, but I'd love to read about how it might be done. I don't think it would be terribly fluffy or socially normative, but something that works for him and his partner. I adore and pour over every little hint WitB gives about Tony's sexual desires, fantasies, and practices (my goodness, does he even masturbate? How alienated is he from his body? And *why*? And how can we *change that*?), and if you are so moved as to write on the subject, I promise to relish your every thought. If you're interested in more background on my approach to WitB there's an extended conversation about my take on Tony's masculinity in the comments under my fic Four Quartets, but take or leave that - I'm interested in how *you* think about it!
Carol, Alex, and Paula all rock my world. I don't need to see all of them in a story, but I think they're wonderful: accomplished, sturdy, compassionate, and well adjusted. I'd like to see them happy - maybe with Tony, maybe with each other. I think Carol still misses Tony in South Africa. I think Alex is ready to move on from Ben's dad, and mature enough to cut through most of the courtship structures and rituals. I think Paula is inquisitive, dedicated, a little socially isolated, and possibly lesbian/bisexual (as from the novels).
Brotherhood of the Wolf: It's absolutely crazy of me, but I'm interested by attempts to place BotW within actual historical circumstances. Ok, the entire thing is preposterous, but it ties so well into nearly every major social force of the era: the rise of empiricism and the enlightenment, colonialism and the attendant economic/cultural/military repercussions, nature/culture, the madonna/whore complex and even rational men's inability to include deconstruction of patriarchy in their analyses, monarchy and democracy, French regionalism and hierarchies within France, self versus Other - human/animal and insider/outsider, and several that I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention.
Also? Mani, Fronsac, and Marianne are really, really pretty. But more seriously, I love the bond between Mani and Fronsac, but I'm concerned about how it plays into and resists representations of the white hero and his faithful othered sidekick - I'd like to hear more about how they function in daily life, because I think we get hints about the way they view each other as equals, but how is that relation actually constructed given the constraints of the time? And how would Marianne reconcile Fronsac and Mani's relationship? How would Mani feel about sharing Fronsac's affection and loyalty with Marianne?
Anyway those are my thoughts - but, really, it's a movie about gorgeous people in implausible situations with an evil arm. Go nuts!
James Bond: Casino Royale: This one is completely shallow - Bond/M is scorching hot. I was captivated by Daniel Craig's tiny swim trunks the glimpses of Bond's vulnerability in Casino Royale, but I'm a little concerned that they're never to be seen again - that Casino Royale and Vesper's betrayal are the blueprints by which Bond's arrogance, misogyny, and disregard for his own life are to be built. M is going to be about the only person left who will always be wise to Bond's game, and his origins - the only one he can't play who he needs more than she needs him. Meanwhile, M seems to have a special fascination with Bond, and her position as an older, powerful female boss is highly unusual and highly charged.
Also, Casino Royale firmly convinced me that the Bond series is about the state's exploitation of vulnerable men for violent purposes (to commit violence and to put themselves in danger for a state which gave them few other options), and that the center of the story is about nihilism - the drinking, the disposable human relationships and bodies, and Bond's lack of concern for his own life. That's very interesting to me and I'd love a discussion of those themes, but I'd also like something more than nihilism for those characters - something other than despair in the fact of inevitable self-destruction at the behest of a cold and indifferent state (anthropomorphized as the distant and rejecting father figure). What? I don't know, but I'd like there to be something more.
This is a bit of an aside, but my very favorite moment in the film was at the hotel in the Bahamas, when Bond held the door open for a black maid. In a series so focused on destruction and violence on the behalf of Britain, a country that violently colonized peoples it deemed inferior, I love that little glimpse of Bond looking at a woman he has every reason to see as nothing but a part of the scenery, if that, and instead sees *her* and acts with courtesy. A torrid romance between the two would make me ecstatic, but that's a bit much to ask for, so I'll just say that I find the contradictions of that moment hugely evocative.
So, hopefully that's enough to give a sense of my preferences and pleasures. The most important thing, though, is that I'm completely grateful for the gift of your talent, and I can't wait to see what you put together - none of this is binding, and I do like surprises :)
Thank you!!!