YT letter, etc!
# It turned bitterly cold this week. Thank goodness for the TG 4-day weekend. I can huddle on my new bed for a few days, do homework and grade, with a wonderful day of cooking and eating and watching movies to start it all off. So far Akira is on the playlist, and we're looking for at least two other anime movies to watch. Any suggestions?
# I am very late with this, but Yuletide author, here is a letter for you!
Dear Wonderful Human Being,
*squishes you* First of all, thank you for writing me a story! Whatever you write will be just fine with me. I love the fandoms I requested and am very interested in any and all interpretations of them. Plus, the best stories, I believe, are the ones that grab the author first and foremost. So, write what you will! I will be happy if you enjoy yourself and feel good about the whole process.
In case you work best with prompts and guidelines, here are some of my thoughts on the fandoms. These aren't prompts or guidelines, though. More like descriptions of what interests me about each canon, why I like it, how I experience it. If it's helpful, great. If not, please show me what the canon says to YOU.
Beowulf
I've studied the poem a few times in lit classes and wrote a little about what the critics have to say about the monsters, a topic that was fascinating. (Haven't read James Gardner's Grendel yet.) One of the most interesting lines of discussion concerned Grendel's mother, her monstrousness, her namelessness, and how she herself lives by the Anglo-Saxon heroic warrior code. Another thing that intrigues me is the silent role of women in general. We have several women in a variety of circumstances whose lives and thoughts I wish I were privy to. Yet another thing that interests me is the poem itself. Who wrote it and when? What were the circumstances of it being written? Where did the story come from? Why was it transcribed and kept? Meta in the form of fic is always a good thing, if you wanted to go that route. Please, go crazy!
The Fall of Ile-Rien, by Martha Wells
What I like about this series is the characters and their relationships. I'm fascinated by how easily Ilias and Gilliead extend their partnership to include Tremaine--even before she marries Ilias. I and G are so close, and rather than changing that, Tremaine simply becomes a welcome part of their lives, no resentment or jealousy or regret at all, and she doesn't begrudge G an inch either. It's hard not to love characters like that. Tremaine's voice, I think, would be a critical element of any story from her point of view. She is acerbic and witty and ironic and highly pessimistic, yet resigned to it all, all while caring quite a bit about the people around her. Florian is dead-right in calling her a combination flighty artist and scary bitch. I really doubt that settling down will domesticate her--I see her going wizard-hunting with I and G all the time. I love all the other characters, too--Nicholas, GERARD, Florian, Ander, Arisilde, etc. Basically, anything true to character will delight me, no matter which character you choose to write about.
Hebrew Scripture
I'm Jewish, and feel pretty close to the stories and words, but I love midrash, and I love the idea that every line has a million alternative meanings and backstories, all of them true. It can be endlessly reinterpreted, which is part of the joy of it for me. I love seeing what other writers make of words, lines, stories, arcs. My favorite book is Genesis, followed by the beginning of Exodus. I'm not especially interested in Moses himself. There's this very small interlude between the burning bush and his return to Egypt where his family is travelling and something bizarre happens, resulting in Zipporah calling Moses "truly a bridegroom of blood." It's fascinating, and I have my own ideas about what it's about, and am really interested in other interpretations. You may have noticed that I have a thing for women in fic. Good observation. The matriarchs and their daughters are pretty intriguing. I have this idea that Sarah and Hagar were together, with Avraham as their beard, and Dinah's story is tragic, and the image of Rachel weeping for her children is a beautiful one. Skipping ahead, anything riffing off the psalms would be interesting, and the Song of Songs and its indeterminately gendered characters is gorgeously erotic and provocative. I adore the story of Jonah and its themes of solitude, penitence and redemption.
Zombieland
I wanted the movie to never, ever end. The characters are so quirky and funny; the actors play them to the hilt and succeed in making them memorable and lovable. Ensemble stories are my kryptonite, and so is plot, and the canon would seem to lend itself to both. That said, each of the characters is complex enough to star in his or her own story. I enjoy slash, but probably wouldn't in this fandom--I really hope that's okay. It may be the one real preference* in this whole letter, though you should feel free to flout it. :) Another thing that grabbed me about the movie is the road-trip theme, and the way they interact with the landscape on the way to SoCal. The transformation of America and its values and "official" narrative into Zombieland, which has a new but encompassing history as told by one guy--that's kinda cool.
I hope this made sense! Feel free to send me any questions, but remember it's all up to you. I am so looking forward to whatever you write.
Sincerely,
Port
* Oops, thought of another. Um, holiday-themed stories don't do much for me. Not to be a grinch, but by the time late December has rolled around, I am really worn out with the whole holidays shebang, especially the schmaltz, and just want to get to January already....
P.S. Anon commenting is on if you want to have a direct conversation about anything.
# Also related to gift-giving, everybody should at least consider insmallpackages:
# Oh, hey! Did I mention I got my YT assignment and it ROCKS? :D
# I am very late with this, but Yuletide author, here is a letter for you!
Dear Wonderful Human Being,
*squishes you* First of all, thank you for writing me a story! Whatever you write will be just fine with me. I love the fandoms I requested and am very interested in any and all interpretations of them. Plus, the best stories, I believe, are the ones that grab the author first and foremost. So, write what you will! I will be happy if you enjoy yourself and feel good about the whole process.
In case you work best with prompts and guidelines, here are some of my thoughts on the fandoms. These aren't prompts or guidelines, though. More like descriptions of what interests me about each canon, why I like it, how I experience it. If it's helpful, great. If not, please show me what the canon says to YOU.
Beowulf
I've studied the poem a few times in lit classes and wrote a little about what the critics have to say about the monsters, a topic that was fascinating. (Haven't read James Gardner's Grendel yet.) One of the most interesting lines of discussion concerned Grendel's mother, her monstrousness, her namelessness, and how she herself lives by the Anglo-Saxon heroic warrior code. Another thing that intrigues me is the silent role of women in general. We have several women in a variety of circumstances whose lives and thoughts I wish I were privy to. Yet another thing that interests me is the poem itself. Who wrote it and when? What were the circumstances of it being written? Where did the story come from? Why was it transcribed and kept? Meta in the form of fic is always a good thing, if you wanted to go that route. Please, go crazy!
The Fall of Ile-Rien, by Martha Wells
What I like about this series is the characters and their relationships. I'm fascinated by how easily Ilias and Gilliead extend their partnership to include Tremaine--even before she marries Ilias. I and G are so close, and rather than changing that, Tremaine simply becomes a welcome part of their lives, no resentment or jealousy or regret at all, and she doesn't begrudge G an inch either. It's hard not to love characters like that. Tremaine's voice, I think, would be a critical element of any story from her point of view. She is acerbic and witty and ironic and highly pessimistic, yet resigned to it all, all while caring quite a bit about the people around her. Florian is dead-right in calling her a combination flighty artist and scary bitch. I really doubt that settling down will domesticate her--I see her going wizard-hunting with I and G all the time. I love all the other characters, too--Nicholas, GERARD, Florian, Ander, Arisilde, etc. Basically, anything true to character will delight me, no matter which character you choose to write about.
Hebrew Scripture
I'm Jewish, and feel pretty close to the stories and words, but I love midrash, and I love the idea that every line has a million alternative meanings and backstories, all of them true. It can be endlessly reinterpreted, which is part of the joy of it for me. I love seeing what other writers make of words, lines, stories, arcs. My favorite book is Genesis, followed by the beginning of Exodus. I'm not especially interested in Moses himself. There's this very small interlude between the burning bush and his return to Egypt where his family is travelling and something bizarre happens, resulting in Zipporah calling Moses "truly a bridegroom of blood." It's fascinating, and I have my own ideas about what it's about, and am really interested in other interpretations. You may have noticed that I have a thing for women in fic. Good observation. The matriarchs and their daughters are pretty intriguing. I have this idea that Sarah and Hagar were together, with Avraham as their beard, and Dinah's story is tragic, and the image of Rachel weeping for her children is a beautiful one. Skipping ahead, anything riffing off the psalms would be interesting, and the Song of Songs and its indeterminately gendered characters is gorgeously erotic and provocative. I adore the story of Jonah and its themes of solitude, penitence and redemption.
Zombieland
I wanted the movie to never, ever end. The characters are so quirky and funny; the actors play them to the hilt and succeed in making them memorable and lovable. Ensemble stories are my kryptonite, and so is plot, and the canon would seem to lend itself to both. That said, each of the characters is complex enough to star in his or her own story. I enjoy slash, but probably wouldn't in this fandom--I really hope that's okay. It may be the one real preference* in this whole letter, though you should feel free to flout it. :) Another thing that grabbed me about the movie is the road-trip theme, and the way they interact with the landscape on the way to SoCal. The transformation of America and its values and "official" narrative into Zombieland, which has a new but encompassing history as told by one guy--that's kinda cool.
I hope this made sense! Feel free to send me any questions, but remember it's all up to you. I am so looking forward to whatever you write.
Sincerely,
Port
* Oops, thought of another. Um, holiday-themed stories don't do much for me. Not to be a grinch, but by the time late December has rolled around, I am really worn out with the whole holidays shebang, especially the schmaltz, and just want to get to January already....
P.S. Anon commenting is on if you want to have a direct conversation about anything.
# Also related to gift-giving, everybody should at least consider insmallpackages:
# Oh, hey! Did I mention I got my YT assignment and it ROCKS? :D