Yuletide 2007: Dear Santa
To my lovely yuletide Santa:
Thank you for offering to write one of my requests! Please click below for an explanation of why I love the rare fandom and characters that I do.
The Devil Wears Prada - Andrea Sachs, Miranda Priestly
I first saw The Devil Wears Prada movie in French, without subtitles, and I admit I lost a lot of the nuances in the dubbing. Probably would not have even noted the Cerulean speech, now one of my favorite monologues ever, if not for a clip of it shown on YouTube in Streep's original voice. I fell in love a bit then. It sent me scouring the web for Miranda fics, but unfortunately not many are out there. And few do justice to Miranda Priestly as the deserving elitist bitch that she is, while still conveying the brittle vulnerability exposed in that hotel-without-makeup scene. Pairings of Miranda that I read ran the gamut from reconciliation with ex-husbands to OMCs to Emily to Andrea. The gen and het fics bored me. As sapphic fics go, there at first seemed to be more canon support for the Miranda/Emily pairing. Unfortunately, the obvious power imbalance in that relationship put me off. And the Miranda/Andrea wasn't much better and seemed even less plausible: there was almost zero chemistry between Hathaway and Streep. Then I came across Telanu's fanfic. The "She Likes a Prizefight"-verse single-handedly converted me to the Miranda/Andy pairing. And I would love to read more about them, whether the women are relatively happy together or painfully unsuited.
C.J. Cherryh's Fortress Series - Tristen (Barrakketh)
The first book in the series, Fortress in the Eye of Time, is one of the few fantasy books I own in hardcover - and with reason. Since then, I've reread that book several times, each time finding something new to admire, and also working my way steadily through the rest of the series. However, my first reason for my fannish love has always been the innocent and yet deceptively dangerous Tristen. I've waxed poetic about his and Cefwyn's friendship in my last year's Dear Yuletide Santa letter, so I'll keep this one brief. Having finished Fortress of Owls, I just realized that Tristen seems to have that strangely intimate relationship with nearly all the male characters he meet; having read Cyteen by the same author, I know C.J. Cherryh is not adverse to homoerotic relationships. But I digress. What truly interests me, beside his childlike innocence and wonder in the first book, is the startling violence and destruction he is able to unleash, a unwelcome heritage as a revenant of the blood-thristy Sidhe conqueror Barrakketh. I would love an exploration of exactly how much of that power and violence lies sleeping in Tristen, and exactly how much of Barrakketh remains in the gentle pigeon-lover.
Sanctuary - Asami Chiaki, Hojo Akira
Sanctuary is one of the most engaging Yakuza-focused seinan manga I've read. Beside the sweeping political drama, the companionship between the two main characters - two brilliant and ruthless young men - utterly captured me. This is a story where anyone who's met them, even their two girlfriends, readily acknowledge that they are each other's most important, irreplacable person. Throughout the story, we are shown various other government offical and criminal leader partnerships - from Secretary General Isaoka and his yakuza friend, to the Russians - but no one comes close to the friendship and accomplishments of these two young men. To me, the crux of their friendship is illustrated when their partnership is revealed to the press just as Asami is about to win the election. Understandably, Asami is asked if he'll resign now that his criminal financial backer is revealed. But Asami replies adamantly that there's only one man who has such control over him. And then he turns to Hojo sitting beside him, and says, "Well?" The look they share then. And when Hojo calmly tells him to resign... This is one canon friendship that is neither added nor substracted with the lack of on-page eros. We get that for Asami and Hojo both, there is no one else as important and, when compared, no one else they truly, utterly love. The canon ending being what it is, I'm fine with a deathfic. However, a happier earlier story or an alternate non-death ending would be much appreciated.
Download the manga from free_manga at Sanctuary. You need to be a member of the community and be logged-in, but that's really easy. Even if you don't plan on writing for this source, I would definitely recommend reading it.
Thank you for offering to write one of my requests! Please click below for an explanation of why I love the rare fandom and characters that I do.
The Devil Wears Prada - Andrea Sachs, Miranda Priestly
I first saw The Devil Wears Prada movie in French, without subtitles, and I admit I lost a lot of the nuances in the dubbing. Probably would not have even noted the Cerulean speech, now one of my favorite monologues ever, if not for a clip of it shown on YouTube in Streep's original voice. I fell in love a bit then. It sent me scouring the web for Miranda fics, but unfortunately not many are out there. And few do justice to Miranda Priestly as the deserving elitist bitch that she is, while still conveying the brittle vulnerability exposed in that hotel-without-makeup scene. Pairings of Miranda that I read ran the gamut from reconciliation with ex-husbands to OMCs to Emily to Andrea. The gen and het fics bored me. As sapphic fics go, there at first seemed to be more canon support for the Miranda/Emily pairing. Unfortunately, the obvious power imbalance in that relationship put me off. And the Miranda/Andrea wasn't much better and seemed even less plausible: there was almost zero chemistry between Hathaway and Streep. Then I came across Telanu's fanfic. The "She Likes a Prizefight"-verse single-handedly converted me to the Miranda/Andy pairing. And I would love to read more about them, whether the women are relatively happy together or painfully unsuited.
C.J. Cherryh's Fortress Series - Tristen (Barrakketh)
The first book in the series, Fortress in the Eye of Time, is one of the few fantasy books I own in hardcover - and with reason. Since then, I've reread that book several times, each time finding something new to admire, and also working my way steadily through the rest of the series. However, my first reason for my fannish love has always been the innocent and yet deceptively dangerous Tristen. I've waxed poetic about his and Cefwyn's friendship in my last year's Dear Yuletide Santa letter, so I'll keep this one brief. Having finished Fortress of Owls, I just realized that Tristen seems to have that strangely intimate relationship with nearly all the male characters he meet; having read Cyteen by the same author, I know C.J. Cherryh is not adverse to homoerotic relationships. But I digress. What truly interests me, beside his childlike innocence and wonder in the first book, is the startling violence and destruction he is able to unleash, a unwelcome heritage as a revenant of the blood-thristy Sidhe conqueror Barrakketh. I would love an exploration of exactly how much of that power and violence lies sleeping in Tristen, and exactly how much of Barrakketh remains in the gentle pigeon-lover.
Sanctuary - Asami Chiaki, Hojo Akira
Sanctuary is one of the most engaging Yakuza-focused seinan manga I've read. Beside the sweeping political drama, the companionship between the two main characters - two brilliant and ruthless young men - utterly captured me. This is a story where anyone who's met them, even their two girlfriends, readily acknowledge that they are each other's most important, irreplacable person. Throughout the story, we are shown various other government offical and criminal leader partnerships - from Secretary General Isaoka and his yakuza friend, to the Russians - but no one comes close to the friendship and accomplishments of these two young men. To me, the crux of their friendship is illustrated when their partnership is revealed to the press just as Asami is about to win the election. Understandably, Asami is asked if he'll resign now that his criminal financial backer is revealed. But Asami replies adamantly that there's only one man who has such control over him. And then he turns to Hojo sitting beside him, and says, "Well?" The look they share then. And when Hojo calmly tells him to resign... This is one canon friendship that is neither added nor substracted with the lack of on-page eros. We get that for Asami and Hojo both, there is no one else as important and, when compared, no one else they truly, utterly love. The canon ending being what it is, I'm fine with a deathfic. However, a happier earlier story or an alternate non-death ending would be much appreciated.
Download the manga from free_manga at Sanctuary. You need to be a member of the community and be logged-in, but that's really easy. Even if you don't plan on writing for this source, I would definitely recommend reading it.