Dear Yuletide Writer
Dear writer!
Dear, dear writer. After all the technical bits and bobs of the sign-up form, the important thing to note is that Yuletide should be as much fun in the writing as in the receiving. Please write what makes you happy, and feel free to ignore any of the optional details that don't fit with your inspiration.
That said, if you enjoy the challenge of boundaries and direction, here are some general likes/dislikes, and fandom-specific thoughts:
General Likes and Dislikes
Gen fic is awesome, but het/slash/femslash/poly (threesomes! I love threesomes) when I like all the characters in the equation is wonderful too. I am not especially kinky; I am pretty unsentimental about sex, pregnancy and children. Sometimes, I actively avoid mpreg, pwp, h/c, domestic!fic and A/B/O. I am asexual myself, so my standards for reading about asexual characters is pretty high.
Other things I like: AUs and crossovers (you can browse my fandoms through my tags, AO3, or tumblr), character-centric pieces, characters being emotionally intelligent, competence, female-female friendships, non-romantic friendships, unapologetic and amoral anti-heroes, historical realism, world-building/scene-setting, SCIENCE, WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ensembles, power dynamics, characters existing in a web of connections, obligations and relationships.
1. Caprica (Lacy Rand)
Lacy's journey from acolyte to Blessed Mother. I'd love something that looked at Lacy's growth into becoming a leader, and a religious leader at that, and her relationship with her followers, particularly Odin (the former unbeliever).
This was the story that the abrupt end to the series left me most hungry for. Lacy's character arc from being a schoolgirl, best friend and second fiddle to Zoe, and secret follower of the One God, to becoming a powerful and inspiring leader of the monotheist church is wonderful and terrifying. We saw her starting to take a leadership role, but what happened in the time jump forward? What kind of a leader is she? What changes has she brought to the church? How has power changed her faith? What is her view on the cylons?
A secondary character I'm also interested in is Odin, who I think had a kind of come-to-God moment with Lacy, where he sees her as an almost messianic figure. Is Odin the pragmatist to Lacy's idealist? The soldier to Lacy's stateswoman? His perspective is interesting, because he knew Lacy when she was just an ordinary recruit, and because he didn't believe in the One God initially. Who does he serve: the church, or the woman?
2. The Code (Ned Weeks, Jesse Weeks)
Basically, I want the Firefly AU with these two: Ned the high-flying political journalist (who knows not to ruffle too many powerful feathers), and his genius brother who gets taken by the Academy. If you could work in the actual Aussie geography somehow - the architectural weirdness of Canberra, surrounded by all that desert and scrub - that would be aces.
I got sucked into this mini-series only this week. As an Aussie, I'm shocked by how good it is.
I think Ned and Jesse's relationship is the central one of the show, so any exploration of that would be fantastic. The details that make their fraternal bond so unique would make me very happy: Ned stepping in as Jesse's caregiver when their parents gave up on him; Jesse making Ned's romantic life a nightmare. I'm not opposed to incest per se, but I'd prefer it if it wasn't explicit.
If you really want to make me over the moon, you could write me an AU with Ned and Jesse in the Firefly-verse. There's a lot of similarities between them and the Tam siblings. Plus Tim and Alex would make great soldiers-turned-smugglers, don't you think?
3. The Knick (Algernon Edwards, Cornelia Robertson)
Growing up together. Wishes and dreams.
The season one finale was so much PAIN. It makes me want to revisit Algie and Neelie in happier, more innocent times.
What was Algernon's childhood with the Robertsons like? How did their friendship shape both of them? To what were they allowed to aspire, and what dreams did their parents foster? I would love to see Algie the pugnacious, always trying to test himself, prove himself. Was he in competition with Cornelia's brother? How long has he been in love with her? And her with him?
4. Byzantium (Clara)
I want to see Clara going to war against the Brotherhood, or at least spreading her own counter-philosophy: "To bring justice to those who prey on the weak and to curb the power of men." Eleanor and Darvell are optional. I thought Clara forgave Darvell too easily at the end of the movie ("You are a marvel..."), considering how he's never lifted a hand to decisively help her for all those centuries, so if he's going to be included, I want to see Darvell work to earn Clara's trust.
I love Clara. She's is a magnificent, vivacious, passionate character in a movie that's pretty bloodless otherwise. I think she has the potential to lead a real counter-movement against the Brotherhood, and everything that they represent. I love how she fights for her right to simply exist, despite being everything that the Brotherhood despise: female, poor, ill-educated, a sex worker, a single mother. Clara is an inveterate survivor, who's had to claw for every scrap she's ever gotten in life, and her battle has echoes of both feminist and class struggles against oppression. She is femininity weaponised. She is a female Prometheus.
I consider the movie to be a deeply problematic text. It is superficially feminist, but can't fully commit to it, most visibly with the character of Darvell, who gets too much credit and attention for...doing practically nothing. He does nothing while Clara is victimised twice over (by Ruthven and then by the Brotherhood), and when he finally has a change of heart and helps her, we're supposed to cheer and say what a great guy he is? It's too reminiscent of the low bar set for allies and male feminists: helping Clara is the least that a decent person would have done. So, I find Clara's gratefulness toward Darvell to be misplaced and out of character, given her radicalism and ruthlessness towards men.
5. Manhattan (Helen Prins)
God, anything about Helen would be great: her family back in the Netherlands, her time at university, meeting Frank, her feelings about the war, her relationship with her colleagues.
There are things that the show does well (looking into the minds of scientists), and things that it does less well (interpersonal relationships of the non-romantic kind). I feel like there's a lot of untapped stories in Helen's background, her life as the only female scientist in the camp. Does she socialise at all with the wives and partners of the other scientists? I'm sure she and Liza Winters would have lots to talk about.
I'm also fascinated in the physical realities/unrealities of living at Los Alamos, the communities formed, the stress of living under secrecy, the conditions of wartime, and the oppressiveness of the military presence.
6. Treme
I'd like to see something of Sofia's life in the years after the end of the show: Is she still politically active? Does she still call New Orleans home? Is she still friends with L.P. Everett, the journalist? I ship Sofia and L.P., in a quiet sort of way, but it would also be nice just to see them catching up, swapping music, discussing current events, etc.
Sofia, Toni and L.P. aside, if you have any headcanon about the futures of any of the characters in the show, write that! I love so many of the characters: Janette and Jacques, LaDonna and Antoine, Annie and Sonny, Terry and Delmond. The only one I could care less about is Davis.
Happy writing!
This entry was originally posted at http://the-grynne.dreamwidth.org/983749.html and has
comments.
Dear, dear writer. After all the technical bits and bobs of the sign-up form, the important thing to note is that Yuletide should be as much fun in the writing as in the receiving. Please write what makes you happy, and feel free to ignore any of the optional details that don't fit with your inspiration.
That said, if you enjoy the challenge of boundaries and direction, here are some general likes/dislikes, and fandom-specific thoughts:
General Likes and Dislikes
Gen fic is awesome, but het/slash/femslash/poly (threesomes! I love threesomes) when I like all the characters in the equation is wonderful too. I am not especially kinky; I am pretty unsentimental about sex, pregnancy and children. Sometimes, I actively avoid mpreg, pwp, h/c, domestic!fic and A/B/O. I am asexual myself, so my standards for reading about asexual characters is pretty high.
Other things I like: AUs and crossovers (you can browse my fandoms through my tags, AO3, or tumblr), character-centric pieces, characters being emotionally intelligent, competence, female-female friendships, non-romantic friendships, unapologetic and amoral anti-heroes, historical realism, world-building/scene-setting, SCIENCE, WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ensembles, power dynamics, characters existing in a web of connections, obligations and relationships.
1. Caprica (Lacy Rand)
Lacy's journey from acolyte to Blessed Mother. I'd love something that looked at Lacy's growth into becoming a leader, and a religious leader at that, and her relationship with her followers, particularly Odin (the former unbeliever).
This was the story that the abrupt end to the series left me most hungry for. Lacy's character arc from being a schoolgirl, best friend and second fiddle to Zoe, and secret follower of the One God, to becoming a powerful and inspiring leader of the monotheist church is wonderful and terrifying. We saw her starting to take a leadership role, but what happened in the time jump forward? What kind of a leader is she? What changes has she brought to the church? How has power changed her faith? What is her view on the cylons?
A secondary character I'm also interested in is Odin, who I think had a kind of come-to-God moment with Lacy, where he sees her as an almost messianic figure. Is Odin the pragmatist to Lacy's idealist? The soldier to Lacy's stateswoman? His perspective is interesting, because he knew Lacy when she was just an ordinary recruit, and because he didn't believe in the One God initially. Who does he serve: the church, or the woman?
2. The Code (Ned Weeks, Jesse Weeks)
Basically, I want the Firefly AU with these two: Ned the high-flying political journalist (who knows not to ruffle too many powerful feathers), and his genius brother who gets taken by the Academy. If you could work in the actual Aussie geography somehow - the architectural weirdness of Canberra, surrounded by all that desert and scrub - that would be aces.
I got sucked into this mini-series only this week. As an Aussie, I'm shocked by how good it is.
I think Ned and Jesse's relationship is the central one of the show, so any exploration of that would be fantastic. The details that make their fraternal bond so unique would make me very happy: Ned stepping in as Jesse's caregiver when their parents gave up on him; Jesse making Ned's romantic life a nightmare. I'm not opposed to incest per se, but I'd prefer it if it wasn't explicit.
If you really want to make me over the moon, you could write me an AU with Ned and Jesse in the Firefly-verse. There's a lot of similarities between them and the Tam siblings. Plus Tim and Alex would make great soldiers-turned-smugglers, don't you think?
3. The Knick (Algernon Edwards, Cornelia Robertson)
Growing up together. Wishes and dreams.
The season one finale was so much PAIN. It makes me want to revisit Algie and Neelie in happier, more innocent times.
What was Algernon's childhood with the Robertsons like? How did their friendship shape both of them? To what were they allowed to aspire, and what dreams did their parents foster? I would love to see Algie the pugnacious, always trying to test himself, prove himself. Was he in competition with Cornelia's brother? How long has he been in love with her? And her with him?
4. Byzantium (Clara)
I want to see Clara going to war against the Brotherhood, or at least spreading her own counter-philosophy: "To bring justice to those who prey on the weak and to curb the power of men." Eleanor and Darvell are optional. I thought Clara forgave Darvell too easily at the end of the movie ("You are a marvel..."), considering how he's never lifted a hand to decisively help her for all those centuries, so if he's going to be included, I want to see Darvell work to earn Clara's trust.
I love Clara. She's is a magnificent, vivacious, passionate character in a movie that's pretty bloodless otherwise. I think she has the potential to lead a real counter-movement against the Brotherhood, and everything that they represent. I love how she fights for her right to simply exist, despite being everything that the Brotherhood despise: female, poor, ill-educated, a sex worker, a single mother. Clara is an inveterate survivor, who's had to claw for every scrap she's ever gotten in life, and her battle has echoes of both feminist and class struggles against oppression. She is femininity weaponised. She is a female Prometheus.
I consider the movie to be a deeply problematic text. It is superficially feminist, but can't fully commit to it, most visibly with the character of Darvell, who gets too much credit and attention for...doing practically nothing. He does nothing while Clara is victimised twice over (by Ruthven and then by the Brotherhood), and when he finally has a change of heart and helps her, we're supposed to cheer and say what a great guy he is? It's too reminiscent of the low bar set for allies and male feminists: helping Clara is the least that a decent person would have done. So, I find Clara's gratefulness toward Darvell to be misplaced and out of character, given her radicalism and ruthlessness towards men.
5. Manhattan (Helen Prins)
God, anything about Helen would be great: her family back in the Netherlands, her time at university, meeting Frank, her feelings about the war, her relationship with her colleagues.
There are things that the show does well (looking into the minds of scientists), and things that it does less well (interpersonal relationships of the non-romantic kind). I feel like there's a lot of untapped stories in Helen's background, her life as the only female scientist in the camp. Does she socialise at all with the wives and partners of the other scientists? I'm sure she and Liza Winters would have lots to talk about.
I'm also fascinated in the physical realities/unrealities of living at Los Alamos, the communities formed, the stress of living under secrecy, the conditions of wartime, and the oppressiveness of the military presence.
6. Treme
I'd like to see something of Sofia's life in the years after the end of the show: Is she still politically active? Does she still call New Orleans home? Is she still friends with L.P. Everett, the journalist? I ship Sofia and L.P., in a quiet sort of way, but it would also be nice just to see them catching up, swapping music, discussing current events, etc.
Sofia, Toni and L.P. aside, if you have any headcanon about the futures of any of the characters in the show, write that! I love so many of the characters: Janette and Jacques, LaDonna and Antoine, Annie and Sonny, Terry and Delmond. The only one I could care less about is Davis.
Happy writing!
This entry was originally posted at http://the-grynne.dreamwidth.org/983749.html and has
comments.