Dear Yuletide Author 2021!
First of all, thank you so much for offering to write about one of more of the absurdly rare fandoms I've wished for this year! Knowing that someone out there is as nerdy as me helps a lot when I feel overwhelmed by the hetero-abled-bodied-middle-class-normativity of the Christmas season. Your story will be the gift I look the most forward to opening this year! No matter what you write, just knowing that you spent time making something for me, is a gift in and of itself. So thank you!
This Yuletide letter is intended to make your job a bit easier by offering some inspiration. Of course, it's all optional - if your plot bunnies take you elsewhere, feel free to follow them.
Looking forward to reading your story!
- KateKane
General DNWs - and general likes:
Avoid incest, non-con and beastiality, and don't kill off my favourite characters. Feel free to give them a rough time for a while, as long as they get a happy ending befitting the season.
No pregnancy storylines - too many pregnant friends in my life atm.
I'm also not too fond of crack fic, kidfic and AUs that have no connection to canon whatsoever. (Minor AU stuff is fine though, like, feel free to change a character's sexuality or gender.)
I adore stories that offer feministy, queer and crip twists on canon. I love stories depicting strong female or nonbinary characters and relationship and/or romances between strong female or nonbinary characters. I love it when disabilities are just there, as part of the story, not something to be overcome.
To me, fan fiction is a great place for rebellion! So I find it empowering when a heteronormative canon is moulded into a femslash romance, I love it when an innocent and fragile woman of the canon turns out to be less innocent and fragile, I love it when a character with a disability breaks stereotypes and doesn't have to be neither pitiful nor a supercrip. I also love imaginative cross-overs, as long as they stay true to the psychology of the characters. Basically - fan fiction is your playground, and if you put a bit of female/queer/crip empowerment and Christmas sap in there, I'll cheer all the way to New Year's Eve!
About my specific requests...
REQUEST 1: Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Requested characters: Maggie Fitzgerald, Billie "The Blue Bear" Osterman, Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris, Frankie Dunn - but honestly, it's also fine if you just center on Maggie.
DNWs: No dead crips, no anti-German-sentiments.
I liked Hillary Swank's character Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby". I mean, a fierce sort of butch woman from a working class background, what's not to like? The inherent queerness is almost tangible!
However, I was furious about the "Better Dead Than Disabled" ending that republican douchebag Clint Eastwood chose for her. She's injured in a boxing match - against Billie "The Blue Bear" from East Germany, who's totally unfairly villainized by the way - and because of that Maggie becomes disabled.
To Clint Eastwood, disability clearly poses a problem. He's a proponent of the idea that everyone has their chance to pursue happiness, so the state shouldn't meddle. For this reason, he has actually publically spoken out against the "Americans with Disabilities Act" - because disability rights are less important to him than his freedom to not pay taxes. Disability in and of itself is also a problem, because it often means not being able to pursue happiness on equal terms unless you get help, unless you have community and state. In "Million Dollar Baby" Clint Eastwood solves this conundrum by having Maggie want to die rather than live as disabled. She's the ultimate hero from his point of view, because she doesn't want disability rights og personal care assistants or a publically funded wheelchair. She just wants to die! It's cheap! It's freedom (for everyone else at least)! And it's borderline supportive of eugenics to hail the "Better Dead Than Disabled" trope the way Eastwood does with "Million Dollar Baby".
I won't have it! I need a fix it fic! I need Maggie to live. I need her to demand to live, to demand quality of life, to say hell to the no when faced with able-bodied people's prejudices and notions of "better dead than disabled". I really don't want an able-bodied person to be the one convincing her to live - have her be the one wanting to live or feel free to make up original disabled characters as you please. Just give me a disability positive rewrite, and I'll cheer! If you add feminism, class consciousness, queer relationships I'll probably cry happy tears.
REQUEST 2: Trois couleurs | Three Colours (Movies)
Requested characters: Old lady recycling bottles in Paris (Trois couleurs: Bleu), Old man recycling bottles in Paris (Trois couleurs: Blanc), Old woman recycling bottles in Geneva (Trois couleurs: Rouge)
DNWs: No deaths please, it's Christmas.
Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colours trilogy were part of the reason why I ended up choosing film studies at university. I saw "Blue" when I was quite young - and it was the first time I realized the film medium could do something that, say, a book couldn't. Instead of having Juliette Binoche's character verbally express her feelings, this film used colours, light, music to hint at her inner life. I was in awe, and "Blue" remains my favourite film from the trilogy.
The three films are full of symbolism, and one curious detail is the inclusion in each film of a scene where an old person tries to recycle bottles. If you blinked and missed it, here's a link to all three scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b426alRKcbg
It's obvious that these scenes are supposed to tell us something about the respective main characters of the three movies: In "Blue", Julie doesn't notice the old lady because she's too busy exploring her 'freedom' from any human connections. In "White", the main character Karol is too busy pursuing 'equality' in a pretty narcissistic way, so he actually stares at the old man with bottles with a sort of condescending grimace. In "Red", the film about 'brotherhood', the main character Valentine helps the old lady with her bottles.
What I'd like to know is - who are these old people? Not just as part of metaphors for liberty, equality and brotherhood, but as actual people? Why are they so obsessed with recycling bottles? Do they live alone? Are they lonely? Do they have stories to share? How do they celebrate Christmas? Since there's so little about them in the movies you can make up whatever you want. Feel free to include other characters from the movie trilogy. Go for social realism, or make a neat plot where everyone knows or meets each other in spite of the fact that the movies take place in two different cities. Just have fun with it! As long as I get to know these old people and nobody dies in the fic itself, I'll be happy! As always, feminism and queer storylines make me extra happy.
REQUEST 3: Badehotellet | Seaside Hotel (Danish TV)
Requested characters: Otilia, Count Ditmar, Philip Dupont, Lydia Vetterstrøm
DNWs: Just the usual ones - no con-con, incest, bestiality, and no killing of my main characters.
So this is a long shot: Would anyone out there want to write about a Danish tv show? I hope so, because I've watched all seasons of this admittedly kind of mediocre period dramady, and I sucked it up. I love the endless summer holiday feel of it, I love the 30s and 40s clothing and references to historical stuff happening in the background. And I loved Otilia, the no-nonsense, efficient maid of the Seaside Hotel, who remains the only young woman to never really have a male love interest on the show.
Now, I know the actress playing her is queer, and perhaps the vibe carries over, but I always imagine Otilia is queer herself. And I want to hear all about her romances! I realize the queer dating scene of the 30s/40s was probably tricky, even if sex between women was never illegal in Denmark, and male homosexuality was legalized as early as 1930. Of course, prejudices and discrimination were and still are a fact (and during the 2. world war things might have been particularly dire). The Seaside Hotel's one official queer couple - Count Ditmar and his Philip Dupont - knows this. I'm sure they could help Otilia out? Maybe go out together? And then there's the odd Lydia Vetterstrøm, who believes in the supernatural and spirits. Maybe she has extra good gaydar and can also help Otilia along?
No matter what you write, I'll just be happy to know more about Otilia's life. Her love life, especially. Bonus for anything Christmas themed! I'm a sucker for Holiday fluff. Oh, and if you prefer writing in Danish, that's also fine by me.
REQUEST 4: House of Cards (US TV)
Requested characters: Rachel Posner, Lisa Williams
DNWs: No rape, and neither Rachel nor Lisa can die (feel free to kill off Doug or other misogynist characters though).
Poor Rachel. She had the most heartbreaking storyline on "House of Card". Extremely young sex worker, more like a child prostitute really, who is then forced into hiding by Doug Stamper, the (eventual) president's right hand. She manages to find a new life and love with Lisa Williams, but Doug's jealousy comes between them. He forces her to flee again, and she eventually ends up in Mexico, alone and miserable. Again, Rachel manages to get back on her feet, but Doug hunts her down in the end. We don't see him killing her, but it is strongly insinuated as we see him digging her grave.
I cannot have any of this. I need a fix-it fic for this young queer character. Let Rachel have a new life! Let her and Lisa have love, and please flesh out their journey towards discovering their feelings for one another. And let Rachel be free from Doug, even if it means he has to die. Just, happy queer ending and justice for Rachel, please!
REQUEST 5: Masters of Sex (TV)
Requested characters: Lillian DePaul, Virginia Johnson
DNWs: No rape, no deaths.
I never cared much for the romance between Virginia Johnson and William Masters, but I cared so much for Lillian DePaul. The deceptively strict seeming doctor who wants pap smear testing to become standard and has little time for nonsense - because she is in fact sick herself with cancer that could have been discovered through a pap smear test. She thaws a little eventually, especially where Virginia Johnson is concerned. A friendship might blossom or something more, because we see Virginia tugging Lillian in and giving her a kiss on the lips. A kiss on the lips!! Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Nothing more comes of it, though, because Lillian commits suicide before the two see each other again. It feels a bit like the "Better Dead Than Disabled" trope, except here it's "Better Dead Than With Cancer". I was devastated by the plot development regardless.
This is where you come in, dear Yuletide author: Please give Lillian a better storyline. You can let her completely survive cancer (with some permanent consequences, for instance it seems likely that she'd have her ovaries and uterus removed) or you can simply let her live with it for a lot longer. Whatever you do, just please don't let her die within your fic. Allow her to experience love and sex - I suspect she hasn't had time for either, and her shyness contrasted with Virginia's forwardness in this area makes them such an awesome pairing. They cannot simply have that one ambiguous kiss, they should have so much more! Any period-specific stuff is a bonus. Also feel free to include the official queer couple from the show - Helen and Betty - do ignore Helen's untimely demise though. No dead lesbians in my fic please! Just give me a lot of feels and a less bleak outlook on queer life, and I'll be thrilled :)
This Yuletide letter is intended to make your job a bit easier by offering some inspiration. Of course, it's all optional - if your plot bunnies take you elsewhere, feel free to follow them.
Looking forward to reading your story!
- KateKane
General DNWs - and general likes:
Avoid incest, non-con and beastiality, and don't kill off my favourite characters. Feel free to give them a rough time for a while, as long as they get a happy ending befitting the season.
No pregnancy storylines - too many pregnant friends in my life atm.
I'm also not too fond of crack fic, kidfic and AUs that have no connection to canon whatsoever. (Minor AU stuff is fine though, like, feel free to change a character's sexuality or gender.)
I adore stories that offer feministy, queer and crip twists on canon. I love stories depicting strong female or nonbinary characters and relationship and/or romances between strong female or nonbinary characters. I love it when disabilities are just there, as part of the story, not something to be overcome.
To me, fan fiction is a great place for rebellion! So I find it empowering when a heteronormative canon is moulded into a femslash romance, I love it when an innocent and fragile woman of the canon turns out to be less innocent and fragile, I love it when a character with a disability breaks stereotypes and doesn't have to be neither pitiful nor a supercrip. I also love imaginative cross-overs, as long as they stay true to the psychology of the characters. Basically - fan fiction is your playground, and if you put a bit of female/queer/crip empowerment and Christmas sap in there, I'll cheer all the way to New Year's Eve!
About my specific requests...
REQUEST 1: Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Requested characters: Maggie Fitzgerald, Billie "The Blue Bear" Osterman, Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris, Frankie Dunn - but honestly, it's also fine if you just center on Maggie.
DNWs: No dead crips, no anti-German-sentiments.
I liked Hillary Swank's character Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby". I mean, a fierce sort of butch woman from a working class background, what's not to like? The inherent queerness is almost tangible!
However, I was furious about the "Better Dead Than Disabled" ending that republican douchebag Clint Eastwood chose for her. She's injured in a boxing match - against Billie "The Blue Bear" from East Germany, who's totally unfairly villainized by the way - and because of that Maggie becomes disabled.
To Clint Eastwood, disability clearly poses a problem. He's a proponent of the idea that everyone has their chance to pursue happiness, so the state shouldn't meddle. For this reason, he has actually publically spoken out against the "Americans with Disabilities Act" - because disability rights are less important to him than his freedom to not pay taxes. Disability in and of itself is also a problem, because it often means not being able to pursue happiness on equal terms unless you get help, unless you have community and state. In "Million Dollar Baby" Clint Eastwood solves this conundrum by having Maggie want to die rather than live as disabled. She's the ultimate hero from his point of view, because she doesn't want disability rights og personal care assistants or a publically funded wheelchair. She just wants to die! It's cheap! It's freedom (for everyone else at least)! And it's borderline supportive of eugenics to hail the "Better Dead Than Disabled" trope the way Eastwood does with "Million Dollar Baby".
I won't have it! I need a fix it fic! I need Maggie to live. I need her to demand to live, to demand quality of life, to say hell to the no when faced with able-bodied people's prejudices and notions of "better dead than disabled". I really don't want an able-bodied person to be the one convincing her to live - have her be the one wanting to live or feel free to make up original disabled characters as you please. Just give me a disability positive rewrite, and I'll cheer! If you add feminism, class consciousness, queer relationships I'll probably cry happy tears.
REQUEST 2: Trois couleurs | Three Colours (Movies)
Requested characters: Old lady recycling bottles in Paris (Trois couleurs: Bleu), Old man recycling bottles in Paris (Trois couleurs: Blanc), Old woman recycling bottles in Geneva (Trois couleurs: Rouge)
DNWs: No deaths please, it's Christmas.
Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colours trilogy were part of the reason why I ended up choosing film studies at university. I saw "Blue" when I was quite young - and it was the first time I realized the film medium could do something that, say, a book couldn't. Instead of having Juliette Binoche's character verbally express her feelings, this film used colours, light, music to hint at her inner life. I was in awe, and "Blue" remains my favourite film from the trilogy.
The three films are full of symbolism, and one curious detail is the inclusion in each film of a scene where an old person tries to recycle bottles. If you blinked and missed it, here's a link to all three scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b426alRKcbg
It's obvious that these scenes are supposed to tell us something about the respective main characters of the three movies: In "Blue", Julie doesn't notice the old lady because she's too busy exploring her 'freedom' from any human connections. In "White", the main character Karol is too busy pursuing 'equality' in a pretty narcissistic way, so he actually stares at the old man with bottles with a sort of condescending grimace. In "Red", the film about 'brotherhood', the main character Valentine helps the old lady with her bottles.
What I'd like to know is - who are these old people? Not just as part of metaphors for liberty, equality and brotherhood, but as actual people? Why are they so obsessed with recycling bottles? Do they live alone? Are they lonely? Do they have stories to share? How do they celebrate Christmas? Since there's so little about them in the movies you can make up whatever you want. Feel free to include other characters from the movie trilogy. Go for social realism, or make a neat plot where everyone knows or meets each other in spite of the fact that the movies take place in two different cities. Just have fun with it! As long as I get to know these old people and nobody dies in the fic itself, I'll be happy! As always, feminism and queer storylines make me extra happy.
REQUEST 3: Badehotellet | Seaside Hotel (Danish TV)
Requested characters: Otilia, Count Ditmar, Philip Dupont, Lydia Vetterstrøm
DNWs: Just the usual ones - no con-con, incest, bestiality, and no killing of my main characters.
So this is a long shot: Would anyone out there want to write about a Danish tv show? I hope so, because I've watched all seasons of this admittedly kind of mediocre period dramady, and I sucked it up. I love the endless summer holiday feel of it, I love the 30s and 40s clothing and references to historical stuff happening in the background. And I loved Otilia, the no-nonsense, efficient maid of the Seaside Hotel, who remains the only young woman to never really have a male love interest on the show.
Now, I know the actress playing her is queer, and perhaps the vibe carries over, but I always imagine Otilia is queer herself. And I want to hear all about her romances! I realize the queer dating scene of the 30s/40s was probably tricky, even if sex between women was never illegal in Denmark, and male homosexuality was legalized as early as 1930. Of course, prejudices and discrimination were and still are a fact (and during the 2. world war things might have been particularly dire). The Seaside Hotel's one official queer couple - Count Ditmar and his Philip Dupont - knows this. I'm sure they could help Otilia out? Maybe go out together? And then there's the odd Lydia Vetterstrøm, who believes in the supernatural and spirits. Maybe she has extra good gaydar and can also help Otilia along?
No matter what you write, I'll just be happy to know more about Otilia's life. Her love life, especially. Bonus for anything Christmas themed! I'm a sucker for Holiday fluff. Oh, and if you prefer writing in Danish, that's also fine by me.
REQUEST 4: House of Cards (US TV)
Requested characters: Rachel Posner, Lisa Williams
DNWs: No rape, and neither Rachel nor Lisa can die (feel free to kill off Doug or other misogynist characters though).
Poor Rachel. She had the most heartbreaking storyline on "House of Card". Extremely young sex worker, more like a child prostitute really, who is then forced into hiding by Doug Stamper, the (eventual) president's right hand. She manages to find a new life and love with Lisa Williams, but Doug's jealousy comes between them. He forces her to flee again, and she eventually ends up in Mexico, alone and miserable. Again, Rachel manages to get back on her feet, but Doug hunts her down in the end. We don't see him killing her, but it is strongly insinuated as we see him digging her grave.
I cannot have any of this. I need a fix-it fic for this young queer character. Let Rachel have a new life! Let her and Lisa have love, and please flesh out their journey towards discovering their feelings for one another. And let Rachel be free from Doug, even if it means he has to die. Just, happy queer ending and justice for Rachel, please!
REQUEST 5: Masters of Sex (TV)
Requested characters: Lillian DePaul, Virginia Johnson
DNWs: No rape, no deaths.
I never cared much for the romance between Virginia Johnson and William Masters, but I cared so much for Lillian DePaul. The deceptively strict seeming doctor who wants pap smear testing to become standard and has little time for nonsense - because she is in fact sick herself with cancer that could have been discovered through a pap smear test. She thaws a little eventually, especially where Virginia Johnson is concerned. A friendship might blossom or something more, because we see Virginia tugging Lillian in and giving her a kiss on the lips. A kiss on the lips!! Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Nothing more comes of it, though, because Lillian commits suicide before the two see each other again. It feels a bit like the "Better Dead Than Disabled" trope, except here it's "Better Dead Than With Cancer". I was devastated by the plot development regardless.
This is where you come in, dear Yuletide author: Please give Lillian a better storyline. You can let her completely survive cancer (with some permanent consequences, for instance it seems likely that she'd have her ovaries and uterus removed) or you can simply let her live with it for a lot longer. Whatever you do, just please don't let her die within your fic. Allow her to experience love and sex - I suspect she hasn't had time for either, and her shyness contrasted with Virginia's forwardness in this area makes them such an awesome pairing. They cannot simply have that one ambiguous kiss, they should have so much more! Any period-specific stuff is a bonus. Also feel free to include the official queer couple from the show - Helen and Betty - do ignore Helen's untimely demise though. No dead lesbians in my fic please! Just give me a lot of feels and a less bleak outlook on queer life, and I'll be thrilled :)