Yuletide Letter '09
Dear Yuletide Writer,
I'm kind of a bundle of nerves and excitement, this is the first time I've done Yuletide and I've got this niggling suspicion that I'm doing everything wrong. I hope this letter is somehow helpful and my prompts aren't too frustrating.
First off, thanks so much in advance! I love all of these fandoms desperately and that there's someone else out there who loves one of 'em enough to write about them makes me exceedingly happy.
In general I'm pretty easily pleased, I love smut!fic and long plotty things, humor and drama, angst and fluff, gen, het, and slash (although you may have surmised I have a particular weakness for slash by this point). In the end, anything you write in any of these fandoms will make me happy.
The only two things I can think of that will really turn me off a fic are mpreg and character bashing.
I like my fic to fit neatly within the bounds of canon as frequently as possible, characterization is really important to me. I love banter and in-depth character studies.
Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Request Character: Josef Kavalier/Sam Clay
Request Detail: I'd love a story focusing on the one-sided crush the novel suggests Sammy has on Joe. Perhaps set early on, when they're working together and Sam doesn't even really realize he feels this way? Or maybe Sam coming to terms with it later, while being a father, or even after he leaves for Los Angeles?
I love this book immensely. Its sprawling detail, the seamless way it works itself into historical fact, the way it tickles my nerdy love of comics, it all leaves me breathless. I've got a particularly strong love for Sam Clay, my heart aches for him every time I read this novel. The way he is subtly broken really gets to me, and his relationships with every other character are so well-drawn and believable. I love the false show of confidence he projects, and the way he writes amazing stories without realizing they are amazing. As a slasher by nature I saw something between him and Joe from the night they met and shared a cigarette and a bed. Their creative partnership speaks to me.
I should also mention how much I love Rosa, I think she is a fantastic and immensely sympathetic character. One of the things I really wish that we'd gotten to see more of in the book was the family dynamic between Rosa, Sammy, and Tommy before Joe returned.
Moon (movie)
Request Character: Any
Request Detail: I'd love a slash fic between the Sams, or between one of the Sams and Gerty. (It gets lonely up there.)
This and The Fall are probably my two favorite films. I've loved Sam Rockwell for a long time and I thought he was astounding in this. Also the script was tight, the score was amazing, the cinematography left you lurching, so, uh, yeah, I love this film. Once again, as an unrepetant slasher, I left the theater with a strong desire for some Sam/Sam or some Sam/Gerty (he's programmed to do whatever Sam needs... three years is a long time...) Have you ever talked about whether you'd fuck yourself given the chance? Do you think Sam Bell has? How much has the loneliness gotten to him? Er, this is the request I feel weirdest about, but I think it could actually lead to some really interesting fic about the effects of isolation and the concept of identity. Not to get highbrow on you, some plain old sexing would be just as fantastic.
Blackpool
Request Character: DI Peter Carlisle
Request Detail: I'd love a fic exploring Carlisle's relationship with either Ripley Holden, Danny Holden, or DCI Jim Albright--or any combination of the three. (If it was slashy that'd be icing on the cake.) Is there another reason Jim is so bugged by Carlisle's affair with Natalie? Does Danny harbor a burning crush?
I watched this on a whim the other day cuz David Tennant makes me exceedingly happy and was blown away. It was just the right mix of cheesetastic and angsty and the chemistry between Tennant and, well, everyone, was pretty astounding. I really wanted to know more about Jim Allbright and his working relationship (and maybe more) with Carlisle. I also really liked Danny, for many of the same reasons I like Sam in Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
I really enjoyed the role music played in this, I nearly bounced out of my seat when Carlisle and Ripley sang 'These Boots are Made for Walking' at each other. It's the way this miniseries played with so many standard tropes while still managing to feel fresh and new that I think I enjoyed the most. (Well, that and simply lusting after Tennant.)
The Fall (2006)
Request Character: Darwin
Request Detail: I'd love a story that takes place inside the story Roy is telling. About a crazy adventure we didn't see in the movie? About one of the outlaws' undying love for another? Something about the colorful characters in that world.
So, as I mentioned above, this is one of my favorite films. And while I've really enjoyed the few fics I've been able to find, most of them are set in the real world and focus on the relationship between Roy and Alexandria, which is fantastic, but I'm really hankering for something that's set in the fictional world Alexandria and Roy create together. I loved Darwin the best of the outlaws, so would really appreciate a fic that focused on him (and Wallace was adorable, obviously) but anything that explores this world in more depth would make me exceedingly happy.
I think it could be really interesting to explore something kind of metafictional with this, does one of the characters know they're in a story? How do the rules of the world change because it is a fictional invention? But that could just be the English Major in me talking, and a simple story exploring that world and the characters in it would be just as fantastic as one that got all meta-y.
Finally thanks again for doing this. I'm so excited to take part in this project this year. It sounds like it'll be tremendous amounts of fun. Also, my internet access will be vaguely spotty over Winter Break, so if I don't reply promptly it's not cuz I don't love it, it's cuz I can't get at the internet (though I'll be trying desperately).
I'm kind of a bundle of nerves and excitement, this is the first time I've done Yuletide and I've got this niggling suspicion that I'm doing everything wrong. I hope this letter is somehow helpful and my prompts aren't too frustrating.
First off, thanks so much in advance! I love all of these fandoms desperately and that there's someone else out there who loves one of 'em enough to write about them makes me exceedingly happy.
In general I'm pretty easily pleased, I love smut!fic and long plotty things, humor and drama, angst and fluff, gen, het, and slash (although you may have surmised I have a particular weakness for slash by this point). In the end, anything you write in any of these fandoms will make me happy.
The only two things I can think of that will really turn me off a fic are mpreg and character bashing.
I like my fic to fit neatly within the bounds of canon as frequently as possible, characterization is really important to me. I love banter and in-depth character studies.
Michael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Request Character: Josef Kavalier/Sam Clay
Request Detail: I'd love a story focusing on the one-sided crush the novel suggests Sammy has on Joe. Perhaps set early on, when they're working together and Sam doesn't even really realize he feels this way? Or maybe Sam coming to terms with it later, while being a father, or even after he leaves for Los Angeles?
I love this book immensely. Its sprawling detail, the seamless way it works itself into historical fact, the way it tickles my nerdy love of comics, it all leaves me breathless. I've got a particularly strong love for Sam Clay, my heart aches for him every time I read this novel. The way he is subtly broken really gets to me, and his relationships with every other character are so well-drawn and believable. I love the false show of confidence he projects, and the way he writes amazing stories without realizing they are amazing. As a slasher by nature I saw something between him and Joe from the night they met and shared a cigarette and a bed. Their creative partnership speaks to me.
I should also mention how much I love Rosa, I think she is a fantastic and immensely sympathetic character. One of the things I really wish that we'd gotten to see more of in the book was the family dynamic between Rosa, Sammy, and Tommy before Joe returned.
Moon (movie)
Request Character: Any
Request Detail: I'd love a slash fic between the Sams, or between one of the Sams and Gerty. (It gets lonely up there.)
This and The Fall are probably my two favorite films. I've loved Sam Rockwell for a long time and I thought he was astounding in this. Also the script was tight, the score was amazing, the cinematography left you lurching, so, uh, yeah, I love this film. Once again, as an unrepetant slasher, I left the theater with a strong desire for some Sam/Sam or some Sam/Gerty (he's programmed to do whatever Sam needs... three years is a long time...) Have you ever talked about whether you'd fuck yourself given the chance? Do you think Sam Bell has? How much has the loneliness gotten to him? Er, this is the request I feel weirdest about, but I think it could actually lead to some really interesting fic about the effects of isolation and the concept of identity. Not to get highbrow on you, some plain old sexing would be just as fantastic.
Blackpool
Request Character: DI Peter Carlisle
Request Detail: I'd love a fic exploring Carlisle's relationship with either Ripley Holden, Danny Holden, or DCI Jim Albright--or any combination of the three. (If it was slashy that'd be icing on the cake.) Is there another reason Jim is so bugged by Carlisle's affair with Natalie? Does Danny harbor a burning crush?
I watched this on a whim the other day cuz David Tennant makes me exceedingly happy and was blown away. It was just the right mix of cheesetastic and angsty and the chemistry between Tennant and, well, everyone, was pretty astounding. I really wanted to know more about Jim Allbright and his working relationship (and maybe more) with Carlisle. I also really liked Danny, for many of the same reasons I like Sam in Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
I really enjoyed the role music played in this, I nearly bounced out of my seat when Carlisle and Ripley sang 'These Boots are Made for Walking' at each other. It's the way this miniseries played with so many standard tropes while still managing to feel fresh and new that I think I enjoyed the most. (Well, that and simply lusting after Tennant.)
The Fall (2006)
Request Character: Darwin
Request Detail: I'd love a story that takes place inside the story Roy is telling. About a crazy adventure we didn't see in the movie? About one of the outlaws' undying love for another? Something about the colorful characters in that world.
So, as I mentioned above, this is one of my favorite films. And while I've really enjoyed the few fics I've been able to find, most of them are set in the real world and focus on the relationship between Roy and Alexandria, which is fantastic, but I'm really hankering for something that's set in the fictional world Alexandria and Roy create together. I loved Darwin the best of the outlaws, so would really appreciate a fic that focused on him (and Wallace was adorable, obviously) but anything that explores this world in more depth would make me exceedingly happy.
I think it could be really interesting to explore something kind of metafictional with this, does one of the characters know they're in a story? How do the rules of the world change because it is a fictional invention? But that could just be the English Major in me talking, and a simple story exploring that world and the characters in it would be just as fantastic as one that got all meta-y.
Finally thanks again for doing this. I'm so excited to take part in this project this year. It sounds like it'll be tremendous amounts of fun. Also, my internet access will be vaguely spotty over Winter Break, so if I don't reply promptly it's not cuz I don't love it, it's cuz I can't get at the internet (though I'll be trying desperately).