Merry Yulemas!
Hi, Yule Goat!
If you look a little (a VERY little!) further back in this LJ journal, you'll see that I don't use it at all for anything except Yuletide: the last entry that I did was last year at this time, for my very first Yuletide. I have to say, it was a rousing success: I loved the fic that I got, and I enjoyed the fics that I wrote (I did a treat on top of my regular assignment). it turned out to be one of the best fandom things that I've ever done--I can't wait to dive into it again this year. So welcome, and I'm delighted that you were assigned to me!
Here's the general stuff that I wrote about myself last year, and it's just as apt now as it was then:
What I like: relationships, angst, romance, humor, character studies, and lots and lots of feelings. Each of the fandoms that I’ve chosen contain particular pairings that I really groove on. If you stick close to the relationship dynamics, I’ll be very happy. I love AUs, particularly if they’re really alternative-I’m a fan of science fiction and fantasy, so setting one of these very real-world fics in a universe like that would be wonderful to me. I’m less interested in real-world alternative universes, but if you can make it work in a way that illuminates the characters, that’ll please me, too. And holiday stories are perfectly fine; I haven’t yet outgrown watching Christmas specials on TV every year. Then again, the character pairings I've chosen are so basically angsty that I can't imagine them frolicking with egg nog. But if you can, have at it.
What I hate: hard-core smut and violence, out-of-character portrayals, and sex scenes that aren’t arising from genuine emotion in the story (in other words, PWP need not apply!)
Here’s more about the specific fandoms that I requested:
Request #1: The Good Wife - Alicia Florrick and Kalinda Sharma
I feel a bit like an idiot requesting this one this year, even though Alicia and Kalinda are still hands down my favorite shipper pairing. The two of them haven’t had a scene together in a year and a half, so it’s pretty obvious that the powers that be are moving in a different direction. Still, I persevere. Show them to me! Show me why Alicia should care about Kalinda, and why Kalinda didn’t waste two and a half years pining after Alicia. I want it all!
A year ago, I requested Alicia and Kalinda for Yuletide, and I called their romantic pairing a “narrative necessity.” Unfortunately, that necessity isn’t so necessary any longer, but that doesn’t make me want to toss away their complex, compelling relationship the way the showrunners have. I love how unusual their friendship has always been-it’s the direct opposite of a Sex and the City sort of relationship, but I’ve always seen deep caring underneath everything else, and I’ll continue to see it until the credits roll on the last episode. If you can make me forget that Robert and Michelle King have bizarrely abandoned the most interesting part of their show, you’ll make me very happy this holiday season.
Request #2: The Americans - Elizabeth Jennings and Philip Jennings
I would love to read a fic exploring Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage and complex relationship. Do they love each other? Can they love each other? How has their relationship changed over time? Discuss!
The Americans quickly became one of my favorite new television shows of last season. The acting and writing were just stellar, and I’m just fascinated by all of the complicated relationships on the show. Elizabeth and Philip are very different people who relate to their old home in the Soviet Union and their new one in the United States in very different ways, but both of them struggle to balance their personal love and loyalties with their idealism and the practical business of living their lives. If you can write a fic showing me just a glimpse of some of that, that would be wonderful. I’ll be happy if you can work Paige and Henry in there too, because in many ways their children are both the center and the embodiment of all of those struggles.
Request #3: The Killing - Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder
I just love Linden and Holder-they’ve turned The Killing into one of my very favorite shows on television right now, and they’re the reason why I’m bitter that it’s been cancelled. I don’t see them as a romantic pair at all, and I’m not really interested in reading that in a fic. Rather, I think they’re both very complicated, broken people who really get each other on a visceral level: they’re friends, they’re partners, and they help each other navigate the world in ways that nobody else can. I want to see more of that.
Linden and Holder . . . sigh. How many ways do I love thee? I love Linden’s silences and ability to laugh nonetheless. I love the rhythm of Holder’s language. I love how they each respect the other’s detective work, and how different their styles of work really are. I love how Linden’s son Jack is the most important thing in her life, and yet nonetheless what an epically bad parent she actually is. I love Holder’s easy, effortless relationship with Jack. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Show me the depth of caring between these two in a fic, and I’ll be having a very happy holidays.
Request #4 - Bridge to Terabithia - Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke
Talk about middle school angst! This book is just about the saddest thing that I’ve ever read, and it’s something that I come back to again and again as an adult. What I love about it most is just how complex and real Jesse and Leslie seemed. I’d like to read a fic about what happens to Jesse when he grows up after losing Leslie. Does he go to college? Does he make a go of it as an artist? Or does he stay pretty much trapped in his circumstances? I’m more interested in a flash forward fic than in anything else, but optional details are optional: if you can give me a fic showing why their friendship was special and transformative, that would be completely wonderful.
For some reason, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Bridge to Terabithia lately. It’s really a wonderful book, because it shows just how desperately important friendships are when you’re twelve years old and feeling alone in the world. Jesse himself is such a compelling character, the ideal portrait of an artist as a young man. Every time I reread the book, I’m desperate to know how Jesse grew up. I hope the best for him, and I do think he went on to have a good life. But I’m also utterly sure that he would never forget Leslie, and however good his life might be, he’d carry her loss with him forever. If you love the book the way I love the book, there’s no way you’ll miss in writing a fic for me about it.
So that's it. Have a great holiday season. Go forth and create!
If you look a little (a VERY little!) further back in this LJ journal, you'll see that I don't use it at all for anything except Yuletide: the last entry that I did was last year at this time, for my very first Yuletide. I have to say, it was a rousing success: I loved the fic that I got, and I enjoyed the fics that I wrote (I did a treat on top of my regular assignment). it turned out to be one of the best fandom things that I've ever done--I can't wait to dive into it again this year. So welcome, and I'm delighted that you were assigned to me!
Here's the general stuff that I wrote about myself last year, and it's just as apt now as it was then:
What I like: relationships, angst, romance, humor, character studies, and lots and lots of feelings. Each of the fandoms that I’ve chosen contain particular pairings that I really groove on. If you stick close to the relationship dynamics, I’ll be very happy. I love AUs, particularly if they’re really alternative-I’m a fan of science fiction and fantasy, so setting one of these very real-world fics in a universe like that would be wonderful to me. I’m less interested in real-world alternative universes, but if you can make it work in a way that illuminates the characters, that’ll please me, too. And holiday stories are perfectly fine; I haven’t yet outgrown watching Christmas specials on TV every year. Then again, the character pairings I've chosen are so basically angsty that I can't imagine them frolicking with egg nog. But if you can, have at it.
What I hate: hard-core smut and violence, out-of-character portrayals, and sex scenes that aren’t arising from genuine emotion in the story (in other words, PWP need not apply!)
Here’s more about the specific fandoms that I requested:
Request #1: The Good Wife - Alicia Florrick and Kalinda Sharma
I feel a bit like an idiot requesting this one this year, even though Alicia and Kalinda are still hands down my favorite shipper pairing. The two of them haven’t had a scene together in a year and a half, so it’s pretty obvious that the powers that be are moving in a different direction. Still, I persevere. Show them to me! Show me why Alicia should care about Kalinda, and why Kalinda didn’t waste two and a half years pining after Alicia. I want it all!
A year ago, I requested Alicia and Kalinda for Yuletide, and I called their romantic pairing a “narrative necessity.” Unfortunately, that necessity isn’t so necessary any longer, but that doesn’t make me want to toss away their complex, compelling relationship the way the showrunners have. I love how unusual their friendship has always been-it’s the direct opposite of a Sex and the City sort of relationship, but I’ve always seen deep caring underneath everything else, and I’ll continue to see it until the credits roll on the last episode. If you can make me forget that Robert and Michelle King have bizarrely abandoned the most interesting part of their show, you’ll make me very happy this holiday season.
Request #2: The Americans - Elizabeth Jennings and Philip Jennings
I would love to read a fic exploring Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage and complex relationship. Do they love each other? Can they love each other? How has their relationship changed over time? Discuss!
The Americans quickly became one of my favorite new television shows of last season. The acting and writing were just stellar, and I’m just fascinated by all of the complicated relationships on the show. Elizabeth and Philip are very different people who relate to their old home in the Soviet Union and their new one in the United States in very different ways, but both of them struggle to balance their personal love and loyalties with their idealism and the practical business of living their lives. If you can write a fic showing me just a glimpse of some of that, that would be wonderful. I’ll be happy if you can work Paige and Henry in there too, because in many ways their children are both the center and the embodiment of all of those struggles.
Request #3: The Killing - Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder
I just love Linden and Holder-they’ve turned The Killing into one of my very favorite shows on television right now, and they’re the reason why I’m bitter that it’s been cancelled. I don’t see them as a romantic pair at all, and I’m not really interested in reading that in a fic. Rather, I think they’re both very complicated, broken people who really get each other on a visceral level: they’re friends, they’re partners, and they help each other navigate the world in ways that nobody else can. I want to see more of that.
Linden and Holder . . . sigh. How many ways do I love thee? I love Linden’s silences and ability to laugh nonetheless. I love the rhythm of Holder’s language. I love how they each respect the other’s detective work, and how different their styles of work really are. I love how Linden’s son Jack is the most important thing in her life, and yet nonetheless what an epically bad parent she actually is. I love Holder’s easy, effortless relationship with Jack. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Show me the depth of caring between these two in a fic, and I’ll be having a very happy holidays.
Request #4 - Bridge to Terabithia - Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke
Talk about middle school angst! This book is just about the saddest thing that I’ve ever read, and it’s something that I come back to again and again as an adult. What I love about it most is just how complex and real Jesse and Leslie seemed. I’d like to read a fic about what happens to Jesse when he grows up after losing Leslie. Does he go to college? Does he make a go of it as an artist? Or does he stay pretty much trapped in his circumstances? I’m more interested in a flash forward fic than in anything else, but optional details are optional: if you can give me a fic showing why their friendship was special and transformative, that would be completely wonderful.
For some reason, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about Bridge to Terabithia lately. It’s really a wonderful book, because it shows just how desperately important friendships are when you’re twelve years old and feeling alone in the world. Jesse himself is such a compelling character, the ideal portrait of an artist as a young man. Every time I reread the book, I’m desperate to know how Jesse grew up. I hope the best for him, and I do think he went on to have a good life. But I’m also utterly sure that he would never forget Leslie, and however good his life might be, he’d carry her loss with him forever. If you love the book the way I love the book, there’s no way you’ll miss in writing a fic for me about it.
So that's it. Have a great holiday season. Go forth and create!