Dear Yuletide Author
Oct. 31st, 2012 01:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inmyriadbitsTo start with, hello! Sorry for being so late with this! Thank you so much for writing for me! :) I'm really excited to see what you come up with for the exchange.
I took the content of this largely from last year's Dear Yuletide Author letter, since it worked out pretty well for me last time. And I am late and lazy.
I don't have a lot of specific dislikes that you need to avoid -- mainly, my few hard lines involve incest, character-bashing, or major character death (unless you have a really awesome idea involving the first or third. There's really no excuse for character-bashing -- unless you're the Hulk, and it's literal bashing). I don't particularly enjoy public humiliation (things like the author-introduction speech in Bridget Jones's Diary or most of Steve Carrell's speeches in The Office just make me want to hide under a blanket and never come out again). I tend toward happy endings and a lighter tone for Yuletide, since I'm generally in a cheerful mood at the holidays -- but then again, my Yuletide present the year before last was scary enough that I had trouble going to sleep after reading it, and I was delighted, so...basically I'm pretty easy in that regard. Oh, who am I kidding; I'm pretty easy in general. :) I have no aversion to any mode -- gen, het, slash, polyamory, whatever, just as long as it's in-character.
Specific likes:
- wacky shenanigans
- con artistry and heists
- banter and clever dialogue
- competence! I have such a competence kink.
- friendship/partnership; also friends/partners slowly growing into something more
- strength in adversity
- hurt/comfort
- pining
- respect and admiration in romances (i.e., rationally actually liking the other person's qualities, in addition to more irrational, schmoopier feelings)
- epistolary fic (i.e., anything where people have long exchanges in letters/emails/text messages/memos/etc.)
- AUs and crossovers
- worldbuilding
Elaboration on requests:
1. Millennium Trilogy - All Media Types - Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist
I said: I would love more of the Lisbeth-and-Mikael show. Just MORE, really; preferably a casefile, if you're feeling it, and preferably dealing with the many involved issues of their relationship, especially following up on Lisbeth's decision to let Mikael in at the end of the third book. I find their not-a-romance/friendship fascinating; they're both very independent -- fiercely so on Lisbeth's part, and deceptively so on Mikael's -- and anything they work out would definitely never be co-dependent, but I'd love to see them reach a point where their dynamic is a solid, stable thing for both of them to rely on.
So, I guess some of that is a little convoluted, but basically I mean: theirs is a very unconventional friendship/partnership/relationship. Conventional romance and/or friendship tropes aren't going to scratch my itch in a story about them. I do think involving their work to at least some degree is important, since they have both centered their lives around that. On the other hand, I would be down with (unconventionally) domestic fic, too; I thought Mikael drooling over all Lisbeth's clearly-unused-but-awesome kitchen and practically wanting to cook something with it right then and there was hilarious, and just begs for a story where he breezes in to take over/covet her stove. Plus, all the ways in which the state of her apartment was an indicator of her emotional development (i.e., endearingly stunted) could definitely be the basis for a cute story.
2. Lockout (2012) - Agent Snow, Emily Warnock
I said: I would love more shenanigans with Emily and Snow! I want them to go bowling, and for Snow to buy Emily ice cream like he promised, and maybe to spy-craft/con artist himself into tagging along on one of her charity events (in spite of the Secret Service, obvs), just to hang out and banter with her. If you feel like getting plotty, well, surely they have to Do Something about the experiments that the deep space exploration company was doing, right?
Hmm...I think this one is pretty spot-on. I'm craving cute banter here, possibly with a side of spy shenanigans. What's not to like? :)
(One observation, and I'm not definitely attached to this but I think it could be potentially interesting -- I noticed in the movie that despite his massive authority issues and blatant vocal disrespect to his superiors, Snow was, in action, loyal and even kind of submissive to the few people he liked and respected. Like, he would give a token protest/dodge when Harry told him to do something, but as soon as Harry was like "Just do it," Snow would just go "...okay." Anyway, I think that might be an interesting dynamic to explore between him and Emily, if you're feeling it.)
3. Men in Black (Movies) - Agent Kay, Agent Jay, Agent O
I said: Okay, so...was I the only one who came out of the third movie shipping Agent Jay/young!Agent Kay? Awesome as Tommy Lee Jones is, I just cannot think of the man in a sexual context, sorry, but I do love the friend/partnership dynamic older!Kay and Jay have. How to reconcile the two? De-aging! Isn't it lucky this is a fandom rife with ridiculous aliens and science-y devices and so on?
:D?
Wow, so, now that it's not 3am, that was a pretty unhelpful prompt, wasn't it? Here's the backstory: I work in a movie theater. During long, boring shifts while working, I often plot fanfic for the movies I'm working, and for MIB3 this summer, it was really hard not to watch through slash goggles when people were saying "Wow, you must really love this guy a lot" and Jay and Kay were fighting like an old married couple. Now, as mentioned, I cannot think about TLJ is a sexual context. Just, no. Sorry, man. Josh Brolin, though.... :) But I really like all of the backstory and history between modern!Kay and Jay and want to keep it (especially since the ENTIRE second movie was about them fighting to get Kay's memories back, seriously), so, the only solution I could come up with for successful slashing was de-aging.
Ta-da! :)
That said, you really don't need to go for slash if you don't feel like it. I love the world-building of the MIB movies, and would love to see more of it. I thought the implication that MIB used to be a lot more xenophobic, sexist, and reluctant to involve itself in conflicts was fascinating -- and in a way, a callback to the scene in the shooting range in the first movie -- and if you want to write fic, say, all about how Kay and O and Zed slowly took over the organization in the 70s and revolutionized it and made it awesome, I would totally be down with that. Or Kay&Jay friendship fic! Or them all fighting aliens! Or hilarity with alien cultures and/or technology! Or whatever. :)
4. Banlieue 13 (2004) - Lola, Damien Tomaso, Leito
I said: I would love anything with Damien and Leito together -- fighting bad guys, sparring, working in B13, hanging out watching movies, wandering around Paris, anything you can think of! (I would be totally down with it if "having sex" is on that list for you, but no worries if it's not.) I just really adore their dynamic from the movies, and would love to see more of them being the awesome, competent characters that they are.
Yup, this one's still pretty good, too. I am stupidly fond of the two lead characters, and the world they live in and work so hard to defend and improve, and I love that they've found kindred spirits in each other despite their vast differences. I really enjoy the possibilities the ending of the second movie presented, and if you feel like exploring some of the fallout, that could be fun. And please include Lola! I know I didn't mention her in my prompt, but I love her. I'd even be down with her POV; I'm not sure I've even seen anyone write from her perspective yet, which is a damn shame. Something with her and Leito being siblings when they're not fighting heavily-armed thugs or stopping nuclear bombs could be fun (with bonus Damien, of course!)
Anyway, good luck! I hope my blathering was helpful rather than overwhelming; if you need to throw out all my optional details and follow your muse, please feel free. I'm going to be delighted to get fic in any of these fandoms, and I'm so very curious to see what you'll write; please don't tie yourself in knots feeling beholden to my prompts. If you feel the need for a sounding-board re: any of my likes/dislikes/preferences, I recommend my twin sister spatz for any queries.
A million thanks, and have fun writing!
Cheers,
Lindsey
I took the content of this largely from last year's Dear Yuletide Author letter, since it worked out pretty well for me last time. And I am late and lazy.
I don't have a lot of specific dislikes that you need to avoid -- mainly, my few hard lines involve incest, character-bashing, or major character death (unless you have a really awesome idea involving the first or third. There's really no excuse for character-bashing -- unless you're the Hulk, and it's literal bashing). I don't particularly enjoy public humiliation (things like the author-introduction speech in Bridget Jones's Diary or most of Steve Carrell's speeches in The Office just make me want to hide under a blanket and never come out again). I tend toward happy endings and a lighter tone for Yuletide, since I'm generally in a cheerful mood at the holidays -- but then again, my Yuletide present the year before last was scary enough that I had trouble going to sleep after reading it, and I was delighted, so...basically I'm pretty easy in that regard. Oh, who am I kidding; I'm pretty easy in general. :) I have no aversion to any mode -- gen, het, slash, polyamory, whatever, just as long as it's in-character.
Specific likes:
- wacky shenanigans
- con artistry and heists
- banter and clever dialogue
- competence! I have such a competence kink.
- friendship/partnership; also friends/partners slowly growing into something more
- strength in adversity
- hurt/comfort
- pining
- respect and admiration in romances (i.e., rationally actually liking the other person's qualities, in addition to more irrational, schmoopier feelings)
- epistolary fic (i.e., anything where people have long exchanges in letters/emails/text messages/memos/etc.)
- AUs and crossovers
- worldbuilding
Elaboration on requests:
1. Millennium Trilogy - All Media Types - Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist
I said: I would love more of the Lisbeth-and-Mikael show. Just MORE, really; preferably a casefile, if you're feeling it, and preferably dealing with the many involved issues of their relationship, especially following up on Lisbeth's decision to let Mikael in at the end of the third book. I find their not-a-romance/friendship fascinating; they're both very independent -- fiercely so on Lisbeth's part, and deceptively so on Mikael's -- and anything they work out would definitely never be co-dependent, but I'd love to see them reach a point where their dynamic is a solid, stable thing for both of them to rely on.
So, I guess some of that is a little convoluted, but basically I mean: theirs is a very unconventional friendship/partnership/relationship. Conventional romance and/or friendship tropes aren't going to scratch my itch in a story about them. I do think involving their work to at least some degree is important, since they have both centered their lives around that. On the other hand, I would be down with (unconventionally) domestic fic, too; I thought Mikael drooling over all Lisbeth's clearly-unused-but-awesome kitchen and practically wanting to cook something with it right then and there was hilarious, and just begs for a story where he breezes in to take over/covet her stove. Plus, all the ways in which the state of her apartment was an indicator of her emotional development (i.e., endearingly stunted) could definitely be the basis for a cute story.
2. Lockout (2012) - Agent Snow, Emily Warnock
I said: I would love more shenanigans with Emily and Snow! I want them to go bowling, and for Snow to buy Emily ice cream like he promised, and maybe to spy-craft/con artist himself into tagging along on one of her charity events (in spite of the Secret Service, obvs), just to hang out and banter with her. If you feel like getting plotty, well, surely they have to Do Something about the experiments that the deep space exploration company was doing, right?
Hmm...I think this one is pretty spot-on. I'm craving cute banter here, possibly with a side of spy shenanigans. What's not to like? :)
(One observation, and I'm not definitely attached to this but I think it could be potentially interesting -- I noticed in the movie that despite his massive authority issues and blatant vocal disrespect to his superiors, Snow was, in action, loyal and even kind of submissive to the few people he liked and respected. Like, he would give a token protest/dodge when Harry told him to do something, but as soon as Harry was like "Just do it," Snow would just go "...okay." Anyway, I think that might be an interesting dynamic to explore between him and Emily, if you're feeling it.)
3. Men in Black (Movies) - Agent Kay, Agent Jay, Agent O
I said: Okay, so...was I the only one who came out of the third movie shipping Agent Jay/young!Agent Kay? Awesome as Tommy Lee Jones is, I just cannot think of the man in a sexual context, sorry, but I do love the friend/partnership dynamic older!Kay and Jay have. How to reconcile the two? De-aging! Isn't it lucky this is a fandom rife with ridiculous aliens and science-y devices and so on?
:D?
Wow, so, now that it's not 3am, that was a pretty unhelpful prompt, wasn't it? Here's the backstory: I work in a movie theater. During long, boring shifts while working, I often plot fanfic for the movies I'm working, and for MIB3 this summer, it was really hard not to watch through slash goggles when people were saying "Wow, you must really love this guy a lot" and Jay and Kay were fighting like an old married couple. Now, as mentioned, I cannot think about TLJ is a sexual context. Just, no. Sorry, man. Josh Brolin, though.... :) But I really like all of the backstory and history between modern!Kay and Jay and want to keep it (especially since the ENTIRE second movie was about them fighting to get Kay's memories back, seriously), so, the only solution I could come up with for successful slashing was de-aging.
Ta-da! :)
That said, you really don't need to go for slash if you don't feel like it. I love the world-building of the MIB movies, and would love to see more of it. I thought the implication that MIB used to be a lot more xenophobic, sexist, and reluctant to involve itself in conflicts was fascinating -- and in a way, a callback to the scene in the shooting range in the first movie -- and if you want to write fic, say, all about how Kay and O and Zed slowly took over the organization in the 70s and revolutionized it and made it awesome, I would totally be down with that. Or Kay&Jay friendship fic! Or them all fighting aliens! Or hilarity with alien cultures and/or technology! Or whatever. :)
4. Banlieue 13 (2004) - Lola, Damien Tomaso, Leito
I said: I would love anything with Damien and Leito together -- fighting bad guys, sparring, working in B13, hanging out watching movies, wandering around Paris, anything you can think of! (I would be totally down with it if "having sex" is on that list for you, but no worries if it's not.) I just really adore their dynamic from the movies, and would love to see more of them being the awesome, competent characters that they are.
Yup, this one's still pretty good, too. I am stupidly fond of the two lead characters, and the world they live in and work so hard to defend and improve, and I love that they've found kindred spirits in each other despite their vast differences. I really enjoy the possibilities the ending of the second movie presented, and if you feel like exploring some of the fallout, that could be fun. And please include Lola! I know I didn't mention her in my prompt, but I love her. I'd even be down with her POV; I'm not sure I've even seen anyone write from her perspective yet, which is a damn shame. Something with her and Leito being siblings when they're not fighting heavily-armed thugs or stopping nuclear bombs could be fun (with bonus Damien, of course!)
Anyway, good luck! I hope my blathering was helpful rather than overwhelming; if you need to throw out all my optional details and follow your muse, please feel free. I'm going to be delighted to get fic in any of these fandoms, and I'm so very curious to see what you'll write; please don't tie yourself in knots feeling beholden to my prompts. If you feel the need for a sounding-board re: any of my likes/dislikes/preferences, I recommend my twin sister spatz for any queries.
A million thanks, and have fun writing!
Cheers,
Lindsey