Dear Yuletide Writer
[Note: I am icepixie across LJ, DW, and AO3.]
Dear Yuletide Writer,
THANK YOU for writing for me! I love all these fandoms and characters dearly, and I know I'll love whatever you come up with for them. I'm offering specific prompts for each fandom if you're the kind of writer who prefers them, but please don't feel constrained by them if you're not.
General likes: I love shippy fluff (or friendshippy fluff). I love slice of life stories. I really love humor, especially amusing dialogue. I also enjoy the odd madcap antic, snarky narration, and just reading about characters who enjoy being with each other. As long as it's not relentlessly bleak, I can dig angst, particularly if it's bittersweet or wistful. Holiday stories of any tradition that would work for the characters are fine if you're so inclined. I'm familiar with the entire canons for all my requests, so spoilers are not an issue.
General dislikes: The big one is explicit sex. Innuendo is endlessly entertaining, but I'm all over fade-to-black after we hit, say, light R territory. I would also prefer no character death for any of my requested characters and no gender-bending.
Northern Exposure
Maggie O'Connell and Joel Fleischman
[I received a lovely fic for this request last year, but I will never not want MOAR FIC for this fandom and these characters, so I'm requesting it this year as well.]
This is the show of my heart. I love that the writers weren't afraid to tackle complex topics and incorporate philosophy, literature, religion, and other things you don't usually find on network TV. I also love the benign magical realism, and the feeling the show gives me that there's so much wonder out in the world, if we can just open our eyes to it. I did a fandom pitch last year for smallfandomfest where I talked a lot more about what I like about this show in general.
What I really like about Maggie and Joel is their verbal back and forth. The more banter they get, the happier I am. I definitely ship them (though if you don't, that's cool, as I would love gen where they interact as well!), and I find them fascinating both when they're burning up the screen with UST and after they settle into a relationship later in the series. I've always found it interesting how the universe appears to push them together and indicate to the audience that they're meant to connect, from natural events such as the ice melt in "Spring Break" causing them to make out, to their significant dreams (like the Clue-inspired one in "What I Did for Love"), to their alter egos in "Cicely" and "Zarya" getting together.
Some specific prompts if you need them:
Robson Arms
Sault Ste. Marie
This show won my heart because it manages to walk the line between wacky/zany/blackly hilarious and oddly affecting, without ever going too far in either direction. I also like the multiplicity of relationships portrayed, from parent/child, to roommate, to friend, to enemy, to etc., and the way that alliances and relationships change over the years.
And oh my god, I love Sault. She is such a snarky, insecure, utterly wacky trainwreck. I think the actress once said that Sault voices the things that we'd all like to say at one time or another and bears the consequences of it, and that is so true. She makes me want to laugh, groan, and hug her all at the same time.
I would love to see more of her painful adjustment to Vancouver or her awkward attempts to make friends even though she basically hates everyone. Perhaps she can give a party (that turns into a disaster)? Or be shanghaied into babysitting little Robbie Briggs (and it ends disastrously)? Or hey, she could pull a Nancy Drew and investigate why the hell these mysterious Troubadours keep lounging around the apartment complex and singing all the time (and probably it ends disastrously)!
As long as the focus remains on Sault, feel free to include whoever else from the cast you want. FWIW, my other favorites are Geoff, Stanley, Toni, Grandma Tan, Nick, and Hal, but I can imagine a great fic being written that features Sault and any other character(s).
Corner Gas
Karen Pelly and Davis Quinton
Karen and Davis are such buddies, and it warms the very cockles of my heart when they tease/insult/exasperate one another and yet still stick up for each other when push comes to shove. I always enjoy Karen being uber-serious about random not-serious things and Davis being oblivious and weird in his special Davis way.
Also, I ship it. I ship it like FedEx. I will not complain at all if you write something where they're more than just friends, or where they become so. :D
I really like the sense of community that comes through on the show, so while Karen and Davis are my favorites, I'm happy to see the other characters wander in and out.
Specific prompts are hard, because one of the real strengths of this show was the writers' ability to make a funny story out of any old mundane thing, as well as the way they could inject weirdness into those stories. So I really think you could go anywhere with this request, and I'll adore it. But if you're totally stumped, it would be fun to see the other characters read some innocuous interaction between Karen and Davis as romantic (like the earrings in "Census Sensibility"), and then because K&D don't want the real reason behind whatever they were doing to get out, they have to pretend to be together. Depending on whether you ship them or not, this could lead to actual romance. :)
Shall We Dance (1937)
Peter Peters (Petrov) and Linda Keene
Shall We Dance is my favorite of the Astaire/Rogers films. Marriage of convenience is my bulletproof narrative kink, and I just really like these characters as well. Linda is so wonderfully independent, yet she also seems to long for companionship in her rather guarded way. Peter is so adorable when he susses his way past her defenses, and I like how he's definitely cocky, but also has a vulnerability that lies pretty close to the surface.
I would love to know what happens after the movie ends. Do Peter and Linda start their own dance company in New York? Go off to Hollywood to star in dance musicals? Go back to Paris to dance there? Something else I haven't even thought of?
I'm also keen on missing scenes. Besides dancing on roller skates, what else did they do in the park when they were evading reporters? What happened between the scene where they decided to get married and the scene in the judge's office?
Basically, I kind of am the fandom for this movie, and I would love to see more fic for it!
The Cutting Edge
Kate Moseley and Doug Dorsey
Banter! Skating! Spandex! Cheesy training montages! Highly opinionated people coming into conflict, yet still working with each other and (of course) falling in love! Who doesn't enjoy a movie like that?
One thing I very much like about Kate and Doug is their competitiveness with each other, which eases into a friendly sort of rivalry as they fall in love, but never quite goes away. (I mean, the last two lines of the movie are "Because I love you." / "Just remember who said it first." Just...yeah.) I also enjoy how they kind of push and goad and taunt each other into becoming better people, and how they also over the course of the movie lead each other to enjoy skating qua skating, rather than as a means to fatherly approval, or on rigid hockey-centric terms.
What do you think happened after the movie? Did they win the gold medal, or was the Pamchenko Twist declared illegal and points deducted? Did they stay in eligible competition through Lillehammer in '94, or turn pro? Join a tour? Start a business where they teach hockey players how to skate better? (Apparently Barb Underhill actually does this now.)
Or, I'd like to see more of their interaction during the timeframe covered by the movie. From the scene where Doug is crowing about how Kate would have to be scraped off the ceiling if he'd gotten her any higher on the throw triple Salchow, it sounds like they went to Sectionals (a regional qualifying competition for Nationals), so what happened there? What about testing-did Doug have to take all the USFSA moves and freeskate tests to qualify for competing at Nationals, even the easy stuff like crossovers? Did he bitch the whole time, and did Kate mock him? And then perhaps encourage him in a backhanded, stealthy sort of way?
(I realize I'm giving some prompts that would require lots of research if you aren't a skater or serious skating fan, so please don't feel beholden to them if that doesn't interest you. I'll love anything that has them interacting!)
Figure Skating RPF
Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur
This year, I'm dipping my toe into RPF. And I'm doing it by fixating on the most obscure pairing I can find. *facepalm* For those who have no idea, Roca & Sur were the first Russian-American ice dance team to compete for the US. They started skating together when he defected from the Soviet Union in 1990.
I've loved their skating for years, but I recently got the opportunity to read a bunch of old newspaper articles about them, and in doing so, I realized they hit a whole bunch of my buttons:
Since the fandom for these two doesn't actually exist, I am thrilled if you've made it this far and are considering writing anything with them. Truly. Whatever you can do with them will make my day. Snarky getting-to-know-you fic? Cultural misunderstandings? Tour hijinks? Schmoopy romance? Hurt/comfort after the broken wrist incident? What if he actually succeeded in asking her out in '88? Fic about the mammoth dance test session Gorsha went through because the USFSA wouldn't accept his RSSF tests? It's all good.
P.S. I have a trove of videos (programs and interviews) and articles I am more than willing to upload for anyone who wants them. Even if you have no interest in writing for these characters and just want to see them; I am all about spreading the fannish love. Just leave me a comment (anonymous comments are enabled and IP tracking is off).
This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/916565.html. It has
comments over there.
Dear Yuletide Writer,
THANK YOU for writing for me! I love all these fandoms and characters dearly, and I know I'll love whatever you come up with for them. I'm offering specific prompts for each fandom if you're the kind of writer who prefers them, but please don't feel constrained by them if you're not.
General likes: I love shippy fluff (or friendshippy fluff). I love slice of life stories. I really love humor, especially amusing dialogue. I also enjoy the odd madcap antic, snarky narration, and just reading about characters who enjoy being with each other. As long as it's not relentlessly bleak, I can dig angst, particularly if it's bittersweet or wistful. Holiday stories of any tradition that would work for the characters are fine if you're so inclined. I'm familiar with the entire canons for all my requests, so spoilers are not an issue.
General dislikes: The big one is explicit sex. Innuendo is endlessly entertaining, but I'm all over fade-to-black after we hit, say, light R territory. I would also prefer no character death for any of my requested characters and no gender-bending.
Northern Exposure
Maggie O'Connell and Joel Fleischman
[I received a lovely fic for this request last year, but I will never not want MOAR FIC for this fandom and these characters, so I'm requesting it this year as well.]
This is the show of my heart. I love that the writers weren't afraid to tackle complex topics and incorporate philosophy, literature, religion, and other things you don't usually find on network TV. I also love the benign magical realism, and the feeling the show gives me that there's so much wonder out in the world, if we can just open our eyes to it. I did a fandom pitch last year for smallfandomfest where I talked a lot more about what I like about this show in general.
What I really like about Maggie and Joel is their verbal back and forth. The more banter they get, the happier I am. I definitely ship them (though if you don't, that's cool, as I would love gen where they interact as well!), and I find them fascinating both when they're burning up the screen with UST and after they settle into a relationship later in the series. I've always found it interesting how the universe appears to push them together and indicate to the audience that they're meant to connect, from natural events such as the ice melt in "Spring Break" causing them to make out, to their significant dreams (like the Clue-inspired one in "What I Did for Love"), to their alter egos in "Cicely" and "Zarya" getting together.
Some specific prompts if you need them:
- What made Joel finally ask Maggie on a date in "Mite Makes Right"? It's always bothered me that there was no defining event that led him to that decision (other than that the episode aired during sweeps month).
- "Fish Story" is one of my favorite episodes, so it would be cool to see how they handle another holiday as an interfaith couple. If you're going for gen, something around a holiday and religious differences between them as friends/enemies/whatever you want them to be at this point in time would be lovely.
- How does being forced to work together on something, a la the election in "Democracy in America," bring out their differences and/or similarities? I always wanted to see them attempt a home improvement project of some sort together, for example.
Robson Arms
Sault Ste. Marie
This show won my heart because it manages to walk the line between wacky/zany/blackly hilarious and oddly affecting, without ever going too far in either direction. I also like the multiplicity of relationships portrayed, from parent/child, to roommate, to friend, to enemy, to etc., and the way that alliances and relationships change over the years.
And oh my god, I love Sault. She is such a snarky, insecure, utterly wacky trainwreck. I think the actress once said that Sault voices the things that we'd all like to say at one time or another and bears the consequences of it, and that is so true. She makes me want to laugh, groan, and hug her all at the same time.
I would love to see more of her painful adjustment to Vancouver or her awkward attempts to make friends even though she basically hates everyone. Perhaps she can give a party (that turns into a disaster)? Or be shanghaied into babysitting little Robbie Briggs (and it ends disastrously)? Or hey, she could pull a Nancy Drew and investigate why the hell these mysterious Troubadours keep lounging around the apartment complex and singing all the time (and probably it ends disastrously)!
As long as the focus remains on Sault, feel free to include whoever else from the cast you want. FWIW, my other favorites are Geoff, Stanley, Toni, Grandma Tan, Nick, and Hal, but I can imagine a great fic being written that features Sault and any other character(s).
Corner Gas
Karen Pelly and Davis Quinton
Karen and Davis are such buddies, and it warms the very cockles of my heart when they tease/insult/exasperate one another and yet still stick up for each other when push comes to shove. I always enjoy Karen being uber-serious about random not-serious things and Davis being oblivious and weird in his special Davis way.
Also, I ship it. I ship it like FedEx. I will not complain at all if you write something where they're more than just friends, or where they become so. :D
I really like the sense of community that comes through on the show, so while Karen and Davis are my favorites, I'm happy to see the other characters wander in and out.
Specific prompts are hard, because one of the real strengths of this show was the writers' ability to make a funny story out of any old mundane thing, as well as the way they could inject weirdness into those stories. So I really think you could go anywhere with this request, and I'll adore it. But if you're totally stumped, it would be fun to see the other characters read some innocuous interaction between Karen and Davis as romantic (like the earrings in "Census Sensibility"), and then because K&D don't want the real reason behind whatever they were doing to get out, they have to pretend to be together. Depending on whether you ship them or not, this could lead to actual romance. :)
Shall We Dance (1937)
Peter Peters (Petrov) and Linda Keene
Shall We Dance is my favorite of the Astaire/Rogers films. Marriage of convenience is my bulletproof narrative kink, and I just really like these characters as well. Linda is so wonderfully independent, yet she also seems to long for companionship in her rather guarded way. Peter is so adorable when he susses his way past her defenses, and I like how he's definitely cocky, but also has a vulnerability that lies pretty close to the surface.
I would love to know what happens after the movie ends. Do Peter and Linda start their own dance company in New York? Go off to Hollywood to star in dance musicals? Go back to Paris to dance there? Something else I haven't even thought of?
I'm also keen on missing scenes. Besides dancing on roller skates, what else did they do in the park when they were evading reporters? What happened between the scene where they decided to get married and the scene in the judge's office?
Basically, I kind of am the fandom for this movie, and I would love to see more fic for it!
The Cutting Edge
Kate Moseley and Doug Dorsey
Banter! Skating! Spandex! Cheesy training montages! Highly opinionated people coming into conflict, yet still working with each other and (of course) falling in love! Who doesn't enjoy a movie like that?
One thing I very much like about Kate and Doug is their competitiveness with each other, which eases into a friendly sort of rivalry as they fall in love, but never quite goes away. (I mean, the last two lines of the movie are "Because I love you." / "Just remember who said it first." Just...yeah.) I also enjoy how they kind of push and goad and taunt each other into becoming better people, and how they also over the course of the movie lead each other to enjoy skating qua skating, rather than as a means to fatherly approval, or on rigid hockey-centric terms.
What do you think happened after the movie? Did they win the gold medal, or was the Pamchenko Twist declared illegal and points deducted? Did they stay in eligible competition through Lillehammer in '94, or turn pro? Join a tour? Start a business where they teach hockey players how to skate better? (Apparently Barb Underhill actually does this now.)
Or, I'd like to see more of their interaction during the timeframe covered by the movie. From the scene where Doug is crowing about how Kate would have to be scraped off the ceiling if he'd gotten her any higher on the throw triple Salchow, it sounds like they went to Sectionals (a regional qualifying competition for Nationals), so what happened there? What about testing-did Doug have to take all the USFSA moves and freeskate tests to qualify for competing at Nationals, even the easy stuff like crossovers? Did he bitch the whole time, and did Kate mock him? And then perhaps encourage him in a backhanded, stealthy sort of way?
(I realize I'm giving some prompts that would require lots of research if you aren't a skater or serious skating fan, so please don't feel beholden to them if that doesn't interest you. I'll love anything that has them interacting!)
Figure Skating RPF
Renee Roca and Gorsha Sur
This year, I'm dipping my toe into RPF. And I'm doing it by fixating on the most obscure pairing I can find. *facepalm* For those who have no idea, Roca & Sur were the first Russian-American ice dance team to compete for the US. They started skating together when he defected from the Soviet Union in 1990.
I've loved their skating for years, but I recently got the opportunity to read a bunch of old newspaper articles about them, and in doing so, I realized they hit a whole bunch of my buttons:
- People from different cultures having to work together;
- Two people with excellent work ethics who wind up getting competitive about whose is better (cf. this article, where their coach says, "Renee has finally found her match. She works as hard and is just as opinionated. We've got two strong-willed people, and they both try to outwork each other.");
- A shared love of what they do and what they're working toward that overcomes their differences;
- Happy-go-lucky guy talking a more straightlaced girl into stuff (like going back to the competitive circuit, or skating together at all!). I'm a huge sucker for the Defrosting Ice Queen trope, as you may have noticed from a couple of my other requests.
Since the fandom for these two doesn't actually exist, I am thrilled if you've made it this far and are considering writing anything with them. Truly. Whatever you can do with them will make my day. Snarky getting-to-know-you fic? Cultural misunderstandings? Tour hijinks? Schmoopy romance? Hurt/comfort after the broken wrist incident? What if he actually succeeded in asking her out in '88? Fic about the mammoth dance test session Gorsha went through because the USFSA wouldn't accept his RSSF tests? It's all good.
P.S. I have a trove of videos (programs and interviews) and articles I am more than willing to upload for anyone who wants them. Even if you have no interest in writing for these characters and just want to see them; I am all about spreading the fannish love. Just leave me a comment (anonymous comments are enabled and IP tracking is off).
This entry was originally posted at http://icepixie.dreamwidth.org/916565.html. It has
comments over there.