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Dear Yuletide Writer!
Year twelve, here we come!
After years of writing and rewriting and rewriting, I feel I may actually have reached the zenith of letter-writing last year, so the whole preamble is almost verbatim from my previous letter (with a few tweaks to account for new fandoms). Or maybe I was just eager to get to the fandom love.
Dear Yuletide Writer:
We share a tiny fandom! How cool is that? First of all, thank you so much for writing for me. I can't wait to see what you do! For me, Yuletide is meant to be a fun and joyful experience, so don't stress about any of this. I offer ideas and details to give you insight into the things that I like or the ways that I view the canon and characters, but they're all meant to inspire and not to limit. If none of it speaks to you, just take the fandom and character request and go your own way. I'm totally cool with that.
Overall, I have very broad tastes. I'm a slash and femslash fan who also enjoys het and poly relationships, or no foregrounded romantic relationships at all. Porn is great. Gen is great. Action is great. Character study is great. Complicated plotty stories that include everything up to and including the kitchen sink are great. Long stories, short stories, screenplays, epic poems, dioramas: all good. (Well, maybe not the dioramas, but only because they come under the required word count. Funny story: when we were doing our aptitude testing in school when I was thirteen or fourteen, my highest rated option was diorama maker. Like, that was a legit career path the computer program spit out for me.) Dark is good, funny is good, melancholy is good, joyous is good... This obviously doesn't offer much in the way of helpful parameters, but I wanted you to know that whatever tone or length or style your story comes out in, it's going to be something that I'm open to.
I'm fine with holiday stories (for any holiday) if that's your pleasure, but I'm not looking for that specifically. I also welcome original characters, if that's something you're into--I think the dynamic of introducing an original character as a significant other (especially in a queer relationship) can do really interesting things in terms of character and relationship development with existing friends and families in stories, I don't have an OTP in any fandom--there are pairings I like to explore more than others, but a good story can convince me of anything.
I do enjoy AUs of the sort that are fork-in-the-road, or otherwise a divergence from canon ("What if Character Pi had chosen the red door instead of the blue door?"); when it comes to the other sort, recasting the characters in an entirely different scenario ("What if the Avengers were a baseball team?") I do enjoy them in RPF fandoms but less so in fictional canons (with exception noted below). Unless it's a coffeshop/bakery AU, which I will read in pretty much any canon ever, in infinite variations. We all have our weaknesses. I also am fine with crossovers with any canon that I know; since I can't really give an exhaustive list of canons I know, things I've discussed in my journal and elsewhere on the internet will have to do. I don't generally suggest crossovers because I feel like they're the kind of thing that needs to be inspired rather than forced or shoehorned, but if you're inspired, go with it.
Things I particularly enjoy (not all of which will necessarily be applicable or compatible): complex relationships (romantic and otherwise); the supernatural and paranormal; queer themes (including coming out) or even just worldviews that incorporate queerness; prominent and well-rounded female characters (whether or not they're the requested characters); interesting small details; zombies and apocalypses, not necessarily at the same time; roadtrips of all kinds
Things I don't particularly enjoy: bodyswap; amnesia; plots that revolve around misunderstandings, especially ones that are easily resolved if people just communicate; evil with no underlying motivation or logic; significant power imbalances in romantic or sexual relationships (including but not limited to D/s and teacher/student); serious or terminal illness, especially cancer
Most importantly, no matter what happens or what you write, you will not Ruin Yuletide. So don't sweat it. ♥
If you'd like to see my letters from previous years, the best place to look is at http://cjmarlowe.livejournal.com/tag/yuletide. (Because I didn't import my entire journal, the same tag on dreamwidth only covers the last few years.)
AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/users/cjmarlowe
Tumblr: http://rocksaur.tumblr.com/
Twitter: @coollikebugs
Now, to the specific fandoms/requests, in no particular order:
:: Faking It (TV 2014) [ Amy Raudenfeld ]
Mission: get Amy a girlfriend. A girlfriend who is cool with her platonic lifemate Karma, thus showing that those two relationships can co-exist and it doesn't all have to be about jealousy and competition, that there are ways to strike a balance and make these things work. That said, teenagers aren't necessarily the most mature decision makers when it comes to relationships (or anything), so it might take some time. Amy and Karma's friendship is the core of the show and I think it's fantastic—I'd hate to lose it no matter what happens or what directions they go in their individual lives. ::
I really did not expect to like this show, based on the premise, but I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. And I'm glad they had Amy's personal revelation happen right away because that was the hook for me and that's why I stayed. It doesn't always do things I like or appreciate (for instance, if we wanted to forget that Amy and Liam got drunk and slept together, that would be fine by me), but overall it's pretty smart and well-meaning and has a nice mix of characters (other favourites include Shane and Lauren). If you're a hardcore Amy/Karma shipper, I don't object to that either! Or you can just focus on their friendship without pairing Amy with someone else, which is also awesome (as is writing about Amy's relationship with any other friends or family).
:: Looking (TV) [ Richie Donado ]
I love Richie and Patrick together, largely because I love Richie and the way he challenges Patrick, his relative fearlessness and his level of self-respect (and also, damn, they are hot together). So I'd be happy to get Richie/Patrick, but I'd also be happy to get Richie alone or with anyone, maybe his life before he met Patrick (or after, if things go that way), or his life outside of Patrick and his friends and his issues. I think Richie and Patrick are interesting because they have to work for it a little, because Patrick has some growing to do; joining characters for their growth—separately and together—makes for interesting television and interesting things to explore in fiction, so if you're into Richie/Patrick those are the things I'd like to see (though ultimately I would certainly like to see them happy). But I'm not OTP about them so if you want to pair Richie with an OMC or someone else I'm definitely down with that. ::
Looking is such an interesting show because the characters all feel so genuine, and collectively they show a lot of facets of the gay male community (in San Francisco specifically, but also more broadly) and a lot of stages of life. I like a lot of the characters (if I could request the same fandom twice, I'd probably ask for something about Lynn, or Lynn and Dom), so I'd be happy with the whole ensemble showing up, but I'd be equally happy with just Richie.
:: Star-Crossed (TV 2014) [ Drake, Roman ]
The show made a point of saying that all Atrians don't distinguish between genders when it comes to relationships, but the only time we got to see that was with Sophia. I'd really like to see that idea in terms of the other characters as well, whether it's through a relationship or school project or just plain friendly conversation... or even something like Atrian art or literature—any personal or cultural way in which the idea might be explored. In general, I'm less interested in the larger political or terrorist plots of the show (for the purposes of Yuletide, anyway) and more interested in Atrian culture and on Atrians entering the human world on a smaller or more personal level. ::
Drake and Roman are the nominated Atrian characters, and (along with Teri) they're definitely the first ones that come to mind for this prompt (together or separately), but if you're into any of the others I'd be happy to see this idea explored with any of the Atrian characters, male or female (particularly, but not exclusively, the Atrian students). Something about Atrian culture in general would also be welcome—we got to see pieces of it on the show but there's so much more that could be built. I'm genuinely sad we're not getting any more episodes, but at least we'll always have fanfiction!
:: Fresh Meat (TV) [ Vod Nordstrom ]
Give me all of the Vod. All of it. I tend to ship her with Oregon, but you do you and match her with whoever you like, man, woman, other gender, alien, robot, whatever, or decide that Vod doesn't need anybody else, thank you very much. Go anywhere at all with this, within canon (she has great dynamics with just about anybody, and a lot of complex character traits to work with or work through) or AU. Vod Nordstrom: Pirate Queen! Vod Nordstrom: Space Mercenary! Vod Nordstrom: Rock Goddess! Vod Nordstrom: International Jewel Thief! The possibilities are wide open. ::
Clearly this is the exception to my AU preferences. :) Anything goes. And despite my worshipping at the altar of Vod this year (especially when she puts on a suit, damn), I love the whole cast and would be into an ensemble piece, canon or AU.
:: Promised Land - Connie Willis & Cynthia Felice [ Delanna Milleflores, Cadiz Flaherty ]
What if Delanna had been betrothed to Cadiz and not Sonny? Ever since this occurred to me, the more I think about it the more I want to know. How would those two personalities clash under those different circumstances? What would be the role of the Tanner boys or Jay Madog? How does it change everything? Or nothing?
That all said, I would love anything for this fandom. If the prompt doesn't do it for you, I'm interested in Delanna and Cadiz's friendship too, or a relationship under other circumstances, and there are so many worldbuilding roads to go down outside of that. What does the world look like through the eyes of someone raised there? What parts of the planet and the culture have we not seen yet?::
Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel universe is a Yuletide staple, but I love this little book too. I won't call it a guilty pleasure because there's absolutely nothing guilty about it, but it might be the only romance book I'd list among my favourites. Of course, for all its romance and romantic comedy tropes, I'd still call it anything but traditional. The science fiction elements appeal to me a lot too, the interplanetary travel, the far-flung planet, the strange flora and fauna and culture. But for all its strangenesses, there's something very close and homey about it all. I am happy to see any of the characters from the book, so consider this permission to go outside the box if that's where your gut takes you.
:: Rebel Without a Cause [ Jim Stark, Buzz Gunderson ]
There's a moment in the movie, right before the chickie race, when Buzz and Jim are standing on the cliff and Jim lights a cigarette and Buzz just reaches over and takes it out of his mouth and smokes it, and I've always thought that was one of the most unexpectedly sexy things I've ever seen. It precedes the lines that afterwards were said to sum up that whole teen culture ("Why do we do this?" asks Jim. "You've gotta do something, now don’t you?" says Buzz) and the entire interaction just makes me want more of them. So I'd love to see what would have happened between them if Buzz hadn't died that night. Slash is excellent, but friendship (whatever form that might end up taking) between them is welcome too. ::
I've loved this movie since I was in high school, and I continue to love it whenever I watch, even though it breaks my heart every time. I love Plato and Judy and the temporary family that they form together, but that little moment between Jim and Buzz has stuck with me for years and I finally figured I would ask for something about the two of them. This doesn't mean it has to be exclusively about them, so I would be happy to see the other characters--particularly Plato and Judy--too, and how they would fit into a world where that whole tragic turn and what came after never happened.
Have fun, and I look forward to meeting you in January!
This entry was originally posted at http://cj.dreamwidth.org/26406.html.
After years of writing and rewriting and rewriting, I feel I may actually have reached the zenith of letter-writing last year, so the whole preamble is almost verbatim from my previous letter (with a few tweaks to account for new fandoms). Or maybe I was just eager to get to the fandom love.
Dear Yuletide Writer:
We share a tiny fandom! How cool is that? First of all, thank you so much for writing for me. I can't wait to see what you do! For me, Yuletide is meant to be a fun and joyful experience, so don't stress about any of this. I offer ideas and details to give you insight into the things that I like or the ways that I view the canon and characters, but they're all meant to inspire and not to limit. If none of it speaks to you, just take the fandom and character request and go your own way. I'm totally cool with that.
Overall, I have very broad tastes. I'm a slash and femslash fan who also enjoys het and poly relationships, or no foregrounded romantic relationships at all. Porn is great. Gen is great. Action is great. Character study is great. Complicated plotty stories that include everything up to and including the kitchen sink are great. Long stories, short stories, screenplays, epic poems, dioramas: all good. (Well, maybe not the dioramas, but only because they come under the required word count. Funny story: when we were doing our aptitude testing in school when I was thirteen or fourteen, my highest rated option was diorama maker. Like, that was a legit career path the computer program spit out for me.) Dark is good, funny is good, melancholy is good, joyous is good... This obviously doesn't offer much in the way of helpful parameters, but I wanted you to know that whatever tone or length or style your story comes out in, it's going to be something that I'm open to.
I'm fine with holiday stories (for any holiday) if that's your pleasure, but I'm not looking for that specifically. I also welcome original characters, if that's something you're into--I think the dynamic of introducing an original character as a significant other (especially in a queer relationship) can do really interesting things in terms of character and relationship development with existing friends and families in stories, I don't have an OTP in any fandom--there are pairings I like to explore more than others, but a good story can convince me of anything.
I do enjoy AUs of the sort that are fork-in-the-road, or otherwise a divergence from canon ("What if Character Pi had chosen the red door instead of the blue door?"); when it comes to the other sort, recasting the characters in an entirely different scenario ("What if the Avengers were a baseball team?") I do enjoy them in RPF fandoms but less so in fictional canons (with exception noted below). Unless it's a coffeshop/bakery AU, which I will read in pretty much any canon ever, in infinite variations. We all have our weaknesses. I also am fine with crossovers with any canon that I know; since I can't really give an exhaustive list of canons I know, things I've discussed in my journal and elsewhere on the internet will have to do. I don't generally suggest crossovers because I feel like they're the kind of thing that needs to be inspired rather than forced or shoehorned, but if you're inspired, go with it.
Things I particularly enjoy (not all of which will necessarily be applicable or compatible): complex relationships (romantic and otherwise); the supernatural and paranormal; queer themes (including coming out) or even just worldviews that incorporate queerness; prominent and well-rounded female characters (whether or not they're the requested characters); interesting small details; zombies and apocalypses, not necessarily at the same time; roadtrips of all kinds
Things I don't particularly enjoy: bodyswap; amnesia; plots that revolve around misunderstandings, especially ones that are easily resolved if people just communicate; evil with no underlying motivation or logic; significant power imbalances in romantic or sexual relationships (including but not limited to D/s and teacher/student); serious or terminal illness, especially cancer
Most importantly, no matter what happens or what you write, you will not Ruin Yuletide. So don't sweat it. ♥
If you'd like to see my letters from previous years, the best place to look is at http://cjmarlowe.livejournal.com/tag/yuletide. (Because I didn't import my entire journal, the same tag on dreamwidth only covers the last few years.)
AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/users/cjmarlowe
Tumblr: http://rocksaur.tumblr.com/
Twitter: @coollikebugs
Now, to the specific fandoms/requests, in no particular order:
:: Faking It (TV 2014) [ Amy Raudenfeld ]
Mission: get Amy a girlfriend. A girlfriend who is cool with her platonic lifemate Karma, thus showing that those two relationships can co-exist and it doesn't all have to be about jealousy and competition, that there are ways to strike a balance and make these things work. That said, teenagers aren't necessarily the most mature decision makers when it comes to relationships (or anything), so it might take some time. Amy and Karma's friendship is the core of the show and I think it's fantastic—I'd hate to lose it no matter what happens or what directions they go in their individual lives. ::
I really did not expect to like this show, based on the premise, but I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. And I'm glad they had Amy's personal revelation happen right away because that was the hook for me and that's why I stayed. It doesn't always do things I like or appreciate (for instance, if we wanted to forget that Amy and Liam got drunk and slept together, that would be fine by me), but overall it's pretty smart and well-meaning and has a nice mix of characters (other favourites include Shane and Lauren). If you're a hardcore Amy/Karma shipper, I don't object to that either! Or you can just focus on their friendship without pairing Amy with someone else, which is also awesome (as is writing about Amy's relationship with any other friends or family).
:: Looking (TV) [ Richie Donado ]
I love Richie and Patrick together, largely because I love Richie and the way he challenges Patrick, his relative fearlessness and his level of self-respect (and also, damn, they are hot together). So I'd be happy to get Richie/Patrick, but I'd also be happy to get Richie alone or with anyone, maybe his life before he met Patrick (or after, if things go that way), or his life outside of Patrick and his friends and his issues. I think Richie and Patrick are interesting because they have to work for it a little, because Patrick has some growing to do; joining characters for their growth—separately and together—makes for interesting television and interesting things to explore in fiction, so if you're into Richie/Patrick those are the things I'd like to see (though ultimately I would certainly like to see them happy). But I'm not OTP about them so if you want to pair Richie with an OMC or someone else I'm definitely down with that. ::
Looking is such an interesting show because the characters all feel so genuine, and collectively they show a lot of facets of the gay male community (in San Francisco specifically, but also more broadly) and a lot of stages of life. I like a lot of the characters (if I could request the same fandom twice, I'd probably ask for something about Lynn, or Lynn and Dom), so I'd be happy with the whole ensemble showing up, but I'd be equally happy with just Richie.
:: Star-Crossed (TV 2014) [ Drake, Roman ]
The show made a point of saying that all Atrians don't distinguish between genders when it comes to relationships, but the only time we got to see that was with Sophia. I'd really like to see that idea in terms of the other characters as well, whether it's through a relationship or school project or just plain friendly conversation... or even something like Atrian art or literature—any personal or cultural way in which the idea might be explored. In general, I'm less interested in the larger political or terrorist plots of the show (for the purposes of Yuletide, anyway) and more interested in Atrian culture and on Atrians entering the human world on a smaller or more personal level. ::
Drake and Roman are the nominated Atrian characters, and (along with Teri) they're definitely the first ones that come to mind for this prompt (together or separately), but if you're into any of the others I'd be happy to see this idea explored with any of the Atrian characters, male or female (particularly, but not exclusively, the Atrian students). Something about Atrian culture in general would also be welcome—we got to see pieces of it on the show but there's so much more that could be built. I'm genuinely sad we're not getting any more episodes, but at least we'll always have fanfiction!
:: Fresh Meat (TV) [ Vod Nordstrom ]
Give me all of the Vod. All of it. I tend to ship her with Oregon, but you do you and match her with whoever you like, man, woman, other gender, alien, robot, whatever, or decide that Vod doesn't need anybody else, thank you very much. Go anywhere at all with this, within canon (she has great dynamics with just about anybody, and a lot of complex character traits to work with or work through) or AU. Vod Nordstrom: Pirate Queen! Vod Nordstrom: Space Mercenary! Vod Nordstrom: Rock Goddess! Vod Nordstrom: International Jewel Thief! The possibilities are wide open. ::
Clearly this is the exception to my AU preferences. :) Anything goes. And despite my worshipping at the altar of Vod this year (especially when she puts on a suit, damn), I love the whole cast and would be into an ensemble piece, canon or AU.
:: Promised Land - Connie Willis & Cynthia Felice [ Delanna Milleflores, Cadiz Flaherty ]
What if Delanna had been betrothed to Cadiz and not Sonny? Ever since this occurred to me, the more I think about it the more I want to know. How would those two personalities clash under those different circumstances? What would be the role of the Tanner boys or Jay Madog? How does it change everything? Or nothing?
That all said, I would love anything for this fandom. If the prompt doesn't do it for you, I'm interested in Delanna and Cadiz's friendship too, or a relationship under other circumstances, and there are so many worldbuilding roads to go down outside of that. What does the world look like through the eyes of someone raised there? What parts of the planet and the culture have we not seen yet?::
Connie Willis's Oxford Time Travel universe is a Yuletide staple, but I love this little book too. I won't call it a guilty pleasure because there's absolutely nothing guilty about it, but it might be the only romance book I'd list among my favourites. Of course, for all its romance and romantic comedy tropes, I'd still call it anything but traditional. The science fiction elements appeal to me a lot too, the interplanetary travel, the far-flung planet, the strange flora and fauna and culture. But for all its strangenesses, there's something very close and homey about it all. I am happy to see any of the characters from the book, so consider this permission to go outside the box if that's where your gut takes you.
:: Rebel Without a Cause [ Jim Stark, Buzz Gunderson ]
There's a moment in the movie, right before the chickie race, when Buzz and Jim are standing on the cliff and Jim lights a cigarette and Buzz just reaches over and takes it out of his mouth and smokes it, and I've always thought that was one of the most unexpectedly sexy things I've ever seen. It precedes the lines that afterwards were said to sum up that whole teen culture ("Why do we do this?" asks Jim. "You've gotta do something, now don’t you?" says Buzz) and the entire interaction just makes me want more of them. So I'd love to see what would have happened between them if Buzz hadn't died that night. Slash is excellent, but friendship (whatever form that might end up taking) between them is welcome too. ::
I've loved this movie since I was in high school, and I continue to love it whenever I watch, even though it breaks my heart every time. I love Plato and Judy and the temporary family that they form together, but that little moment between Jim and Buzz has stuck with me for years and I finally figured I would ask for something about the two of them. This doesn't mean it has to be exclusively about them, so I would be happy to see the other characters--particularly Plato and Judy--too, and how they would fit into a world where that whole tragic turn and what came after never happened.
Have fun, and I look forward to meeting you in January!
This entry was originally posted at http://cj.dreamwidth.org/26406.html.