Yuletide letter 2012
Dear Yuletide Writer,
Hello! Thank you very much for agreeing to write me a story! This year my request form was pretty bare-bones on purpose, so this letter is where you will find all the 'optional details are optional' stuff. I figured that way, if you're someone who doesn't like a lot of optional details mucking up the works, you could just ignore my letter. But if you're someone who does like lots of details and incoherent squee, you've come to the right place.
Please know right up front that I would cherish fic in any one of these fandoms equally. I like lots of things, from the overly sentimental holiday feel-good fluff to the witty and sarcastic, and even an occasional sprinkling of angst. So regardless of what we matched on, I am excited for you to write me a story.
My general preferences, particularly during Yuletide, are for lighter stories. I'm fine with a little melancholy, but if there can be some hope in the ending, that would be fantastic. It's been a pretty bad year for me, health-wise, so my general tendency toward happy endings is even more pronounced than usual lately.
Dislikes include break-ups and character death. I won't read incest, though I don't think that would be much of an issue with any of these fandoms. Also I apparently have a new trigger, which is bleeding out of the eyes. Who knew that happened in real life? Turns out it does, and I'd prefer not to read about it. I realize this is a very specific squick, and not something you were likely to write for any of these fandoms. I only bring it up because it was a *really* bad summer, health-wise, and I'm not willing to take any chances.
Other than that I'll read whatever, though. Romance is my default setting, but if you want to go darker I will be interested to see what you do with it. I'm not fussed about ratings, so take things wherever you like.
If you're heavily into stalking, you can find me here at AO3 and here at tumblr. This journal is my main fannish and personal journal, and most of it's unlocked. Okay? Okay! On to my requests:
1) Santa Claus: The Movie
Characters: Joe, Cornelia
So I have seen this movie an embarrassing number of times. I was a kid when it first came out, and I have shipped Joe and Corny since way back then. I mean, clearly they were meant to be shipped, so I don’t even feel bad about it.
The good news is that this film is streaming on Netflix (and if you don’t have Netflix, the entire thing is on Youtube) so if you need a canon that’s easy to brush up on, this one is it. I love this movie so much that I would basically be happy with any exploration or continuation of canon. If you feel like aging up Corny and Joe and writing their romance, I would love you forever. If you’d rather tell the story of their year in the North Pole (and, I hope, subsequent adoption by Santa and Mrs. Claus) then I would love that too.
Obviously, given that it’s a Christmas film, if you want to write a holiday-themed fic I will roll around with glee and probably spend the entire day reading and re-reading and then tell all my friends to read it too. But I will do all that even if you set your story in, say, March.
There are plenty of dark themes in this film, which I suppose is typical, considering the time period. The evil uncle, the exploding candy, the badly made toys, the homeless kid, orphans, problematic class distinctions, and, as my mother pointed out to me during a recent rewatch, the fact that Anya and Claus actually froze to death in order to become Santa and Mrs. Claus. I suppose as a kid that fact didn't register, and as an adult I chose not to see it until my mother pointed it out. Thanks for ruining Christmas, Mom!
I kid. My point is that there's plenty of dark stuff going on in this film, but the characters never give up hope, and that's what makes you root for them. So if you want to explore the darkness that would be interesting, but if you want to keep the lightness of the film at the core of your story, that would be great too.
Feeding the reindeer, toy building shenanigans, hanging out with the elves, Mrs. Claus’ feelings at finally being a mother...I will take any of it, as long as Joe and Corny are there in some way. Feel free to age them up if you want; I am cool with any rating once they’re older. I really love this movie an embarrassing amount, so basically you can’t go wrong.
2) Big Eden
Characters: Pike, Henry
Oh, fandom of my heart. There are a whole nine fics on AO3, and I wrote one of them, so to say this fandom needs some love wouldn’t be overstating things.
This is my go-to movie when I can’t deal with the world or anything in it, so I’m going to need Pike and Henry to keep their happily ever after. What I mean by that is not ‘no angst’ or ‘fluff only’; what I mean is ‘no break-up fic’. The movie is bittersweet, after all, what with Henry’s past and Pike’s social anxiety disorder and Sam’s death. If you want to explore some of the more bittersweet angles, that’s cool with me, just as long as Pike and Henry still have each other.
Other completely random ideas that have crossed my mind about these two: Their first date (the one without the rest of the town there), their fiftieth date, their tenth anniversary, their cheesy hometown wedding, Christmas together, walking the dog, Henry coaxing Pike to go swimming with him, the scar on Pike's back -- how he got it; what Henry thinks of it -- whether or not Widow Thayer tries to take credit for fixing up Pike and Henry in spite of the fact that it was all Grace, Pike and/or Henry hanging out at the store getting teased by Lloyd and the boys...whatever, I’m not picky. I will take anything at all, any rating.
There are so many things I love about this movie. I love the town, I love Henry's relationship with Grace, I love Widow Thayer, I love Sampa, I love Jim and the boys, and most of all I love Pike. You really can't go wrong.
3) Suri’s Burn Book
Characters: any
First of all, if we matched on this fandom, I can tell that we already understand each other. I will say that I haven’t read the book because I don’t really see the point, but I adore the blog and Suri’s persona and I am excited to see what you’re going to do with it. One of my favorite things about the blog is that New York feels like a character in its own right, so if you want to explore the setting itself, I would welcome that too.
A day in the life of Suri and Katie? The intervention in which Suri tries to remove Katie from those ridiculous boots? Suri snarking on Shiloh and the entire Jolie-Pitt clan? A thousand words of RPF in which Suri writes fic of herself as Kiernan Shipka’s BFF? The tragic decline of Suri and Cruz Beckham's romance told in epistolary form?
Whatever you want, dear author, I am up for it. Please feel free to use any characters from the blog you like, or if you have an idea already, by all means, run with it. I am literally up for whatever when it comes to this request.
For what it’s worth, this post is probably my favorite ever.
4) Broadway Or Bust RPF
Characters: Josh, Evan
Okay, so I feel a little guilty about this one, mainly because Josh and Evan are real people, and at the time of filming they were probably underage. Broadway Or Bust, in case you are wandering by and unfamiliar with it, was a three hour miniseries on PBS that told the story of top competitors from all over the U.S. who competed in the National High School Theater Awards. They all stayed in the dorms at NYU, and Josh and Evan were roommates. Josh is from Florida and Evan hails from Georgia.
The two of them hit it off and they are really adorable together in the series. Mostly I would just love to see more of their adventures, either during the competition, or maybe after high school when they move to the big city and try to make it on Broadway. I’d love it if they got some lousy apartment in Queens and commuted to NYU on the train together, went to auditions, or just hung out and played tourist. I won't pretend I don't ship it, because I do, but I really just love their dynamic and will take whatever you feel inspired to write.
You can watch the entire series on the PBS website.
It’s a really fun show if you’re any kind of theater geek at all. These kids certainly are, and watching their first experience in New York is really endearing.
In conclusion, Dear Author, write whatever you want, have fun, optional details are optional, you probably know the drill. Thanks for writing for me! I know I'm going to love your story.