Dear Yuletide Writer...
Thank you! I'm really looking forward to the story you're going to write, and I hope you have a good time with Yuletide. (Also, my AO3 handle is DaisyNinjaGirl. :-) )
General Stuff About Me
I'm relatively recent to the world of fan fiction (about two years, I guess?), although I've been enjoying myself wading through various archives (my AO3 handle is DaisyNinjaGirl). Some things I've noticed about myself is that I tend to enjoy more stories that are reasonably consistent with the original canon - so sequels and prequels and inbetween scenes, and I love it when a minor character gets their story expanded or someone does a nifty bit of world building on some little detail and makes it all make sense. AUs and crossovers are less my thing, although there have been some definite exceptions that really blew me away, so please take this paragraph as an 'optional details are optional' section and write the story that will make you happy. The prompts I've given are also optional, please have fun with what you choose to write. Also, stories that pass the Bechdel Test Are Love!
Squicks
I'm seriously not into non-consensual or underage sex. I also don't like graphic torture scenes or incest. Consensual BDSM isn't a squick for me (no problem with consenting adults doing what makes them happy), but it's also not something I'm particularly interested in reading about (sorry, if that's one of your things.) I don't have a problem with where you want to write characters on the Kinsey Kaleidoscope with respect to pairings, but I guess I'm more interested in how characters' relationships work out with each other than erotica. (I generally read in the Gen and Teen brackets.)
Territory - Emma Bull
The shootout at the OK Coral... except not at all. This is an alternate history version of the events in Tombstone, mostly told from the point of view of some original characters who were in Tombstone in the months leading up to the big shootout. The book does the typical Emma Bull thing of building really interesting characters and, while, they're involved with a big crisis that affects their lives in a material way, they're also dealing with issues of creative fulfillment. And there's magic! Other things I like about it - a lot of detail about women's concerns and how they might go about their professional lives, some very sympathetic portrayals of Chinese people in the American West, a wealth of historical detail - Bull really did her research on this one.
Possible Prompts:
I would love to see a story that picks up on one of the loose ends in the novel (there are so many!) and fills it out a little. For instance, what happened in San Francisco that it didn't feel simpler at the time, and why did Jesse Fox and Chow Lung need to hire an opera singer? How did Mildred's career as a writer for Gallagher's Weekly turn out? Did Jesse ever make it to Mexico and do his horse training job? What's the story behind Chu working for Chow Lung? What happened to Jesse's sister from the sister's point of view? Anything like that would be great, really.
Dan in Real Life (2007)
Dan in Real Life is a very sweet, very gentle movie about this guy who's seriously good at coping (widowed father, writer of an advice column) except when all of a sudden he isn't (he falls in love with the woman his brother brought home to a family party and things get Awkward.) Things I like about it are the big messy family, and how they've got their shared history and traditions, and their layers, and even when they're having problems with each other they keep on going back to a place of love. I like how Dan has to deal with his hormonal teenager daughter and at the same time realises how he's going through exactly the same experience she is. I like how they draw a line in the physical humour between embarrassing and humiliating. I like the light and how beautifully it's filmed and the sound track. Basically, it's all good. :-)
Possible Prompts:
1. The events of the movie but from someone else's point of view (one of the kids, or the grandparents maybe?)
2. What the next family get together a year later was like. How do Dan and Mitch and Marie deal with each other? Did Mitch find the person he can settle down with?
3. What was Dan's relationship with his first wife like? How did they meet? What was special about her? What was it like when she came to meet the family the first time?
The Pirates' Mixed-Up Voyage - Margaret Mahy
This is the most glorious book of all time! Pirates! Orphans! A diamond doorknob the size of a piano mover's fist! And the piano mover. This book has been a delight to me since I was about 8 and just starting to buy books from Scholastic Book Club. It has beautiful singing prose, a crazy plot that yet fits together as a thing perfectly formed, and a wonderful zaniness. And pirates!
Possible Prompts:
I would love a story about The Week After the events of the novel are resolved. Because obviously, they couldn't get any less complicated. Or possibly fill in some backstory for one of the characters? Like maybe for Humbert Cash-Cash's life in the orphanage before he made good? Or what terrible sin did Toothpick commit that he ended up as a Pirate Parrot. Is that something to do with how he became so fascinated by Fate? What did the story look like from the hot air balloon?
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012):
So, as superhero movies go, I thought this was a really well built one - really strong performances from the actors, a narrative that's about being the underdog and a regular guy (rather than the popular alternate design pattern of superhero as Really Rich Guy Who Is A Dick But Happens To Take It Out On Bad People), that Peter's motivation as a vigilante is a direct result of the grief he's feeling over his uncle, that they set the stakes right at the beginning on what the movie is about (finding and losing your father-figure) and keep pushing the motif the whole way through. I also found it visually great - just watching the actors/stunties move is fascinating (I love watching the extra feature of the stunts being practiced, just as a way to see that the things they have Spidey do are within the scope of a real person), and I really loved the bit with the cranes and the way it made the whole city feel connected.
Possible Prompts:
I'm really interested in a Gwen Stacey story. Emma Stone does a great nuanced performance, but the character is basically there as a supporter for Peter - what's going through Gwen's head when everything's going down? She's got father issues of her own - caught between her Dad's desire to protect her and keep her safe up in her high tower (and I noticed that she wears white a lot, to boot), and her interest in Peter and his rather grubbier world. How does this work out after the movie is over, does she find a compromise that works for her? Does she make friends with Aunt May at all?
Thanks again, I hope you have a great time with the exchange.
Stephanie
General Stuff About Me
I'm relatively recent to the world of fan fiction (about two years, I guess?), although I've been enjoying myself wading through various archives (my AO3 handle is DaisyNinjaGirl). Some things I've noticed about myself is that I tend to enjoy more stories that are reasonably consistent with the original canon - so sequels and prequels and inbetween scenes, and I love it when a minor character gets their story expanded or someone does a nifty bit of world building on some little detail and makes it all make sense. AUs and crossovers are less my thing, although there have been some definite exceptions that really blew me away, so please take this paragraph as an 'optional details are optional' section and write the story that will make you happy. The prompts I've given are also optional, please have fun with what you choose to write. Also, stories that pass the Bechdel Test Are Love!
Squicks
I'm seriously not into non-consensual or underage sex. I also don't like graphic torture scenes or incest. Consensual BDSM isn't a squick for me (no problem with consenting adults doing what makes them happy), but it's also not something I'm particularly interested in reading about (sorry, if that's one of your things.) I don't have a problem with where you want to write characters on the Kinsey Kaleidoscope with respect to pairings, but I guess I'm more interested in how characters' relationships work out with each other than erotica. (I generally read in the Gen and Teen brackets.)
Territory - Emma Bull
The shootout at the OK Coral... except not at all. This is an alternate history version of the events in Tombstone, mostly told from the point of view of some original characters who were in Tombstone in the months leading up to the big shootout. The book does the typical Emma Bull thing of building really interesting characters and, while, they're involved with a big crisis that affects their lives in a material way, they're also dealing with issues of creative fulfillment. And there's magic! Other things I like about it - a lot of detail about women's concerns and how they might go about their professional lives, some very sympathetic portrayals of Chinese people in the American West, a wealth of historical detail - Bull really did her research on this one.
Possible Prompts:
I would love to see a story that picks up on one of the loose ends in the novel (there are so many!) and fills it out a little. For instance, what happened in San Francisco that it didn't feel simpler at the time, and why did Jesse Fox and Chow Lung need to hire an opera singer? How did Mildred's career as a writer for Gallagher's Weekly turn out? Did Jesse ever make it to Mexico and do his horse training job? What's the story behind Chu working for Chow Lung? What happened to Jesse's sister from the sister's point of view? Anything like that would be great, really.
Dan in Real Life (2007)
Dan in Real Life is a very sweet, very gentle movie about this guy who's seriously good at coping (widowed father, writer of an advice column) except when all of a sudden he isn't (he falls in love with the woman his brother brought home to a family party and things get Awkward.) Things I like about it are the big messy family, and how they've got their shared history and traditions, and their layers, and even when they're having problems with each other they keep on going back to a place of love. I like how Dan has to deal with his hormonal teenager daughter and at the same time realises how he's going through exactly the same experience she is. I like how they draw a line in the physical humour between embarrassing and humiliating. I like the light and how beautifully it's filmed and the sound track. Basically, it's all good. :-)
Possible Prompts:
1. The events of the movie but from someone else's point of view (one of the kids, or the grandparents maybe?)
2. What the next family get together a year later was like. How do Dan and Mitch and Marie deal with each other? Did Mitch find the person he can settle down with?
3. What was Dan's relationship with his first wife like? How did they meet? What was special about her? What was it like when she came to meet the family the first time?
The Pirates' Mixed-Up Voyage - Margaret Mahy
This is the most glorious book of all time! Pirates! Orphans! A diamond doorknob the size of a piano mover's fist! And the piano mover. This book has been a delight to me since I was about 8 and just starting to buy books from Scholastic Book Club. It has beautiful singing prose, a crazy plot that yet fits together as a thing perfectly formed, and a wonderful zaniness. And pirates!
Possible Prompts:
I would love a story about The Week After the events of the novel are resolved. Because obviously, they couldn't get any less complicated. Or possibly fill in some backstory for one of the characters? Like maybe for Humbert Cash-Cash's life in the orphanage before he made good? Or what terrible sin did Toothpick commit that he ended up as a Pirate Parrot. Is that something to do with how he became so fascinated by Fate? What did the story look like from the hot air balloon?
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012):
So, as superhero movies go, I thought this was a really well built one - really strong performances from the actors, a narrative that's about being the underdog and a regular guy (rather than the popular alternate design pattern of superhero as Really Rich Guy Who Is A Dick But Happens To Take It Out On Bad People), that Peter's motivation as a vigilante is a direct result of the grief he's feeling over his uncle, that they set the stakes right at the beginning on what the movie is about (finding and losing your father-figure) and keep pushing the motif the whole way through. I also found it visually great - just watching the actors/stunties move is fascinating (I love watching the extra feature of the stunts being practiced, just as a way to see that the things they have Spidey do are within the scope of a real person), and I really loved the bit with the cranes and the way it made the whole city feel connected.
Possible Prompts:
I'm really interested in a Gwen Stacey story. Emma Stone does a great nuanced performance, but the character is basically there as a supporter for Peter - what's going through Gwen's head when everything's going down? She's got father issues of her own - caught between her Dad's desire to protect her and keep her safe up in her high tower (and I noticed that she wears white a lot, to boot), and her interest in Peter and his rather grubbier world. How does this work out after the movie is over, does she find a compromise that works for her? Does she make friends with Aunt May at all?
Thanks again, I hope you have a great time with the exchange.
Stephanie