Gracious Yuletide Author
First, thanks so much for writing a story for me. I'm excited to read something new about these characters that I love.
Second, if the specifics of my request are too daunting for you, follow your muse. I'd much rather read a story that isn't exactly what I wanted that comes from the heart than a tortured attempt to write something you hate just to please me.
Third, just in case I need to mention it, I don't care for cruelty. I can enjoy stories in which bad things happen to good people, or in which good people have to do bad things, but I don't care for deliberate evil (except for brief examples of supervillains being supervillains.)
Anyway, here's some more specifics about my fandoms:
.
Ultraviolet:
I loved this series, and I am really, really sad that the BBC never made more. I find all the characters really interesting, and I enjoyed the show both for its characterization (oh, Angie, can't you see the blazing torch Vaughan carries for you?) as for its smart SF qualities (grant that there are vampires, and that they have these properties, and then we're off!) and for its commitment to NOT giving us simple answers. Leeches don't come with an owner’s manual, anymore than ordinary humans do. Anything you can do to give me more of this wonderful show will be great. I settled on Frances because that was the burning question for me. She's nice, she's smart, she's already in some sort of secret government spook show, and she's helping out this guy she still kinda likes and suddenly BOOM she's down the rabbit hole. She doesn't have to be the main character, but I definitely want to know if she joins the team, and so forth.
Sarantine Mosaic:
Man, these are two great books. As with Ultraviolet, I just want more. The particular interaction that I wondered about was: given how extraordinary Alexius, empress Alixana and Gisel are as people, and how high the stakes are, it struck me as a bit of a lapse that they never explored the possibility of finding a way for it to work between the three of them, somehow. To merge the kingdoms, and make a better world, and do it through marriage, sex, negotiation, and maybe even love. In short, if there was ever set up where polyamory made perfect sense, that was it. Of course, just because it's logical doesn't mean people can actually do it. (the heart wants what it wants....) So, please, if can, write something focusing on this triangle and the sexual, personal, and political tensions. But, I don't know what happens (that's why I haven't written it myself.) You could cleave to canon, and it all turns to shit, or go AU, and write about things going well, or do some other thing and surprise me. It's all good. NB, I like every single damn character in these books, so feel free to bring any or all of your favorites in, or use someone surprising as a view point character, and tell this story indirectly, or whatever.
Wonder Woman:
Wonder Woman is a shamefully under-utilized, under-appreciated, under-developed character. Unlike, say, Batman or Superman she has what I would call a genuine super power, i.e. an ability that we simply can't duplicate under any circumstances: she can force people to speak the absolute truth. She's also from a foreign culture, one with distinctive values that contrast favorably with our own, and which she has been sent to the USA to evangelize. (At least, in the stories that I have enjoyed most.)
She is, in a way, much more like a villain than a hero, in that she has a transformative social agenda, a plan to change human society, rather than preserve the status quo. Her insistence on saving lives and respecting others are what makes her an admirable rather than a loathsome figure. And, really, she could, and should, scare the bejesus out of every political leader on earth, because she can force them to proclaim all their darkest secrets.
Anyway, I really dug Greg Rucka's run on the book, as well as the Hiketeia original graphic novel. I enjoyed the mythological characters, the Olympian politics, the battle with Medousa in the stadium, the journey into the underworld, as well as the jealous scheming of Veronica Cale. But I also liked the day to day life of the Amazonian embassy and its mission. All of those threads, I felt, got lost in all the nonsense of Infinite Crisis. I'd really like to see more about Diana and her life before all that happened, or else an AU story in which her story isn't lost in tedious crossover bullshit.
Anyway, thanks again for making me a special holiday story. I hope you have as much fun writing it as I will reading it.
Second, if the specifics of my request are too daunting for you, follow your muse. I'd much rather read a story that isn't exactly what I wanted that comes from the heart than a tortured attempt to write something you hate just to please me.
Third, just in case I need to mention it, I don't care for cruelty. I can enjoy stories in which bad things happen to good people, or in which good people have to do bad things, but I don't care for deliberate evil (except for brief examples of supervillains being supervillains.)
Anyway, here's some more specifics about my fandoms:
.
Ultraviolet:
I loved this series, and I am really, really sad that the BBC never made more. I find all the characters really interesting, and I enjoyed the show both for its characterization (oh, Angie, can't you see the blazing torch Vaughan carries for you?) as for its smart SF qualities (grant that there are vampires, and that they have these properties, and then we're off!) and for its commitment to NOT giving us simple answers. Leeches don't come with an owner’s manual, anymore than ordinary humans do. Anything you can do to give me more of this wonderful show will be great. I settled on Frances because that was the burning question for me. She's nice, she's smart, she's already in some sort of secret government spook show, and she's helping out this guy she still kinda likes and suddenly BOOM she's down the rabbit hole. She doesn't have to be the main character, but I definitely want to know if she joins the team, and so forth.
Sarantine Mosaic:
Man, these are two great books. As with Ultraviolet, I just want more. The particular interaction that I wondered about was: given how extraordinary Alexius, empress Alixana and Gisel are as people, and how high the stakes are, it struck me as a bit of a lapse that they never explored the possibility of finding a way for it to work between the three of them, somehow. To merge the kingdoms, and make a better world, and do it through marriage, sex, negotiation, and maybe even love. In short, if there was ever set up where polyamory made perfect sense, that was it. Of course, just because it's logical doesn't mean people can actually do it. (the heart wants what it wants....) So, please, if can, write something focusing on this triangle and the sexual, personal, and political tensions. But, I don't know what happens (that's why I haven't written it myself.) You could cleave to canon, and it all turns to shit, or go AU, and write about things going well, or do some other thing and surprise me. It's all good. NB, I like every single damn character in these books, so feel free to bring any or all of your favorites in, or use someone surprising as a view point character, and tell this story indirectly, or whatever.
Wonder Woman:
Wonder Woman is a shamefully under-utilized, under-appreciated, under-developed character. Unlike, say, Batman or Superman she has what I would call a genuine super power, i.e. an ability that we simply can't duplicate under any circumstances: she can force people to speak the absolute truth. She's also from a foreign culture, one with distinctive values that contrast favorably with our own, and which she has been sent to the USA to evangelize. (At least, in the stories that I have enjoyed most.)
She is, in a way, much more like a villain than a hero, in that she has a transformative social agenda, a plan to change human society, rather than preserve the status quo. Her insistence on saving lives and respecting others are what makes her an admirable rather than a loathsome figure. And, really, she could, and should, scare the bejesus out of every political leader on earth, because she can force them to proclaim all their darkest secrets.
Anyway, I really dug Greg Rucka's run on the book, as well as the Hiketeia original graphic novel. I enjoyed the mythological characters, the Olympian politics, the battle with Medousa in the stadium, the journey into the underworld, as well as the jealous scheming of Veronica Cale. But I also liked the day to day life of the Amazonian embassy and its mission. All of those threads, I felt, got lost in all the nonsense of Infinite Crisis. I'd really like to see more about Diana and her life before all that happened, or else an AU story in which her story isn't lost in tedious crossover bullshit.
Anyway, thanks again for making me a special holiday story. I hope you have as much fun writing it as I will reading it.