Yuletide letter 2015
Oct. 26th, 2015 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ageorwizardryThis Yuletide letter is now complete!
General notes:
First of all, thank you, yuletide writer! I love this exchange, and I hope you have fun doing it too. :-)
If you already have something you want to write for one of these fandoms, or you get a great idea that's nothing like what I've outlined here, please go for it; some of my favorite things in yuletide stories of years past are things it would never have occurred to me to ask for. (Also, please don't take it that the length at which I talk about each fandom has any relationship with how much I want a story for it!)
Cool bits/some stuff I like (not necessarily relevant to every fandom/prompt!): time travel, hurt/comfort, robots, threesomes, trust, friendship, competence, worldbuilding, audacity, responsible use of authority, the moment where everything changes. Racebending, transgender characters, and similar character interpretations/modifications are always welcome.
Good news: I don't have any squicks or triggers! Yay! I do tend to find love triangles and jealousy a bit boring/uninteresting, but basically there's not a huge "Avoid this!" list for you to worry about.
I don't know how useful it would be, but I'm also on tumblr in case that's a thing that's relevant to your interests: http://ageorwizardry.tumblr.com/
I've also added notes about the source material for each fandom in case you are curious/casting around for possible backup fandoms.
Fandom: Sweeney Todd - Sondheim/Wheeler
Characters: Johanna Barker (Sondheim/Wheeler) Anthony Hope (Sondheim/Wheeler)
Optional details: I love stories about people trying to be good to each other and take care of each other after terrible things have happened to them, and I'd love to see that with these two. While we don't know much of Anthony's background, what we know of Johanna's certainly makes it seem plausible that she may have the more traumatic background, of the two of them--still, I don't think I'd like a story with a dynamic of Anthony being the Normal Person who's here to Make Johanna Better--so feel free to invent any kind of complementary backstory for him you like. (I'm actually kind of fond of the idea that he gets depressed, for instance--and his positive outlook is a practiced defense against it. This isn't required, though; I only mention it in case the idea grabs you, too!)
I had initially toyed with the idea of asking for Sweeney Todd Trauma Recovery Fic over a broader range of possible characters (what if Mrs. Lovett was genuinely nurturing, instead of just putting on a show of it occasionally when she felt like it? or what if Sweeney Todd took the energy he devotes to his revenge and instead directed it toward finding and rebuilding his family?), but it ended up seeming like those might be AUs too universe-breaking to ask for. :-P If you do happen to feel called to any of those ideas, though, I'd love to see what you do with them. (And this is explicit permission to focus on characters other than the ones I've requested if you go with one of those story ideas instead.)
Source: A musical play whose cast recording is commercially available.
Reading alllll the Bucky Barnes recovery fic that came out of Captain America: The Winter Soldier last year has kind of made me want the same kind of trauma recovery fic for EVERY FANDOM. (Don't sweat it if you're not familiar with the Marvel movies/fandom; I'm just using that as a jumping off point.) In a historical setting like this, of course, there's a balance to strike: the characters certainly wouldn't have anything like the modern conception of PTSD, but humans have had a fairly consistent range of reactions to traumatic events documented over long stretches of history (I'm thinking here of Rachel Manija Brown's post on PTSD that points out a speech in a Shakespeare play that practically lists the modern diagnostic criteria for PTSD). At the time the play is set, psychology sort of hadn't been invented yet as a field of knowledge, but people obviously still had feelings about things; they just wouldn't have had psychology as we know it as a tool for understanding and dealing with them.
If "trauma recovery" is seeming to you like a Big Deal, heavy-research-y label, I don't want to scare you off—try thinking of it as hurt/comfort? Or, just a hopeful ending for these characters that doesn't ignore how they got there, if that entire kind of thing isn't up your alley.
Fandom: August: Osage County (2013)
Character: Johnna Monevata
Optional details: MOTHERFUCKING SUPERHERO JOHNNA MONEVATA.
I walked out of the theater feeling like Johnna going after Steve with a shovel in defense of Jean just might just be the one unambiguously good act in the entire movie. After re-watching it before Yuletide this year, I still think that may be right.
Johnna’s job requires her to perform both physical and emotional care while concealing whatever her real feelings may be. Aside from her clear and immediate conviction that a grown man making advances on a young teenager is Wrong and Must Be Stopped, we see very little of what Johnna thinks—just her calm professionalism as she keeps her sphere of things running smoothly (while just about the entire situtation around her is falling into various kinds of pieces). So: show some of what Johnna's thinking. What does she think of the book of poetry Bev lent her that she’s reading? What does she read when she's reading for herself? What else is in her head and her heart and her life besides this messed up family she's working for that the movie focuses on?
Source: A 2-hour film of fairly recent release.
At the end, when Violet finally turns to Johnna for comfort after driving everyone else in her life away, Johnna is kind, but I feel so bad for the situation she’s in—everyone else can choose to leave, forever if they like, but she’s obligated to stay. I mean, it's a job, and one she may (?) be able to quit if she wants to, but it's still a difficult, different kind of emotional labor from being family—and a burden that falls disproportionately on women of color, like Johnna.
I also really respect how good at her job Johnna clearly is. Based on how capably she handles things in a situation like this—where the actual person who hired her has died abruptly, and practically everything about her day-to-day work must have changed dramatically, and there must be nobody providing anything like a coherent set of guidelines or instructions—I'd think this can't be the first time she's done work like this; there's no apparent learning curve. Remember above where I said I liked competence? I admire how Johnna evidently just figures out what needs to be done and does it, and keeps herself as clear of the surrounding fray as possible (I'm thinking here specifically of that time she says, "I'll eat in my room," and glides straight through and out of the room the family's next horrible conversation is happening in).
One thing I realized, upon re-watching this movie, is how tired I am of stories about people doing terrible things to each other because terrible things have happened to them. Terrible things happen to people, and their stories matter—but those stories I'm most interested in are the ones about people trying to figure out how to do good and be kind after great hurt. Which is to say: don’t feel you need to mimic the tone or philosophy of the play/movie, necessarily; the hopeless tragedy of the dysfunctional American family is not what I’m here for.
Fandom: Change of Scenery paintings - Rob Gonsalves
Characters: [none requested]
Optional details: In these two paintings, people cut away pieces of curtains to change the shape of the view outside--and perhaps change the view itself?
In the world of the paintings, *is* it just an optical illusion? A game of some kind? Something to do if you have enough imagination, or if you can't travel to see the things you want to yourself? Or are the windows actually becoming portals to entirely different landscapes? (Is it just the view that changes, or also where you end up if you step through the window?) Is it a known skill in this world, something you can hire people to do for you or DIY, or something secret only a few have stumbled upon? In both scenes, there are open books that it seems like the people might be referring to as they work. Let your imagination fly free! I'd be fascinated to see what you come up with. Feel free either to focus on the specific people in the paintings if you'd like to, or to explore the wider world/make up new characters if you don't.
Source: Two paintings, viewable here: A Change of Scenery and Change of Scenery II (Making Mountains). If you're seeking a backup fandom, this is probably the best in terms of quickness and ease of accessing and familiarizing yourself with the source!
Fandom: 커피프린스 1호점 | Coffee Prince
Characters: Choi Han Seong Go Eun Chan
Optional details: So, I'm pretty curious about the alternate universe where Eun Chan and Han Seong ended up together instead--aside from the ordained-to-be-together factor of the canon pairings, it seems like not very much would have had to go differently for that to happen. So if you write that, you will interest me very much! If you'd rather not write a romantic relationship between them, I will also be happy with a story about their relationship in the canon universe--platonic friendships are always relevant to my interests as well.
Source: A 17-episode Korean television show. Episodes subtitled in English are available (in the U.S. at least) to hulu subscribers; I'm not sure where else this may be currently available.
My favorite single line in the entire show is when Han Kyul is shopping for an engagement ring for Eun Chan, and the salesgirl suggests one that Han Kyul rejects because "She's not very feminine." And he says it with such a smile on his face, because he adores her, and she does not have to change at all in order to win his love. That's Han Kyul and I requested Han Seong, of course, but he also adores Eun Chan without her having to change anything. It's such a refreshing change from all the stories where a girl has to go through a makeover or become more sexy/feminine before the love story can happen. (Okay, the end of the last episode seems a little makeover-y--she certainly comes back from Italy looking a lot more feminine than she did before. I just... kind of... ignore that :-P) (Of course, there's also that early episode where Eun Chan actually does get a makeover in order to go to the party. But even that I was okay with because a) Han Seong explicitly told her she didn't have to change anything to go to the party, and b) Eun Chan preferred the offered makeover to her family's attempt at doing the same thing. And it was just a one-off, special occasion thing, not part of a transformation arc for Eun Chan.) So basically: I love how awesome Eun Chan is and how so many other characters recognize how awesome she is and adore her just the way she is.
Fandom: The Long Walk - Richard Bachman
Characters: [none requested]
Optional details: So, I didn’t request any characters because this really is a “worldbuilding” request for me; I don’t care whether you focus on or even include any of the characters from the book, but I’d love to learn more about the world the Long Walk happens in. Of course, you may have signed up to write specific characters, so if you do want to include or focus on those book characters: go for it! Just, that’s not required, and original characters are totally fine by me.
Some ideas: So, if most kids over twelve take the test, why are there only boys on the Long Walk? (Did the author and/or the characters forget that "almost all kids" includes girls, too?) Does a token girl ever make it to the Walk, or is there a separate event for girls (perhaps not as well-publicized, just like women's sports in our world)? Or tell me more about the experience from outside the Long Walk, since we see the event from the inside in the book. Or how about a historical perspective on this time period from the future—a future that could be better, worse, or simply differently horrible?
And please don’t think that “worldbuilding” means that I only want some grand, sweeping epic; I’d be just as happy to see how the larger wrongness of the world is reflected in the small events and everyday lives of ordinary people, the ways in which their "normal" is skewed.
Source: A novel of moderate length (300-400 pages, it seems depending on edition) by Richard Bachman, an alias of Stephen King. (As you might tell from the optional details above, also hella depressing, if that's a consideration.)
I'm excited to be able to repeat my Long Walk request from last year! I wasn't planning to, at all; I only discovered it had been nominated again during the sign-ups phase. :-) Honestly, I wrote an unreasonably long Yuletide letter for this fandom last year, at the link if you want to check it out! I think I did a much better job of condensing it down to the most important parts in my request for this year.
Fandom: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Characters: Mike Timlin (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Optional details: So why did Mike Timlin throw himself off the George Washington Bridge?
He's the ghost that haunts the entirety of this movie, hanging over everything but never seen, a mystery. Tell me something about him from before, when he was still alive; show me something about this man who's a motivating factor for so much in this movie, for the people he's left behind. A snapshot, something about his work with Llewyn, anything--up to and including his suicide or not, as you wish.
Source: A ~100-minute film of fairly recent release.
I thought this was a beautiful film, and I felt such sympathy for Llewyn, even as I could absolutely see how frustrating he'd be for everyone around him—lord knows I also wouldn't be at my best when bouncing around between places to stay and often not knowing where I'd sleep the next night! It seems likely things might have been better for him, at least in some respects, when Mike Timlin was still alive. This is about Llewyn so far and my request is for Mike, but that's part of where it comes from—we learn barely anything about Mike in the course of the film; we just see the effect his death has had on Llewyn and other characters, and we hear his voice in just one song. The film is all about Llewyn, but he can have as small or large a role in your story about Mike as you like—or be absent entirely. I'm not very knowledgeable about the time and place of the setting, so historical research/expertise on your part will be admired but not required. :-)
General notes:
First of all, thank you, yuletide writer! I love this exchange, and I hope you have fun doing it too. :-)
If you already have something you want to write for one of these fandoms, or you get a great idea that's nothing like what I've outlined here, please go for it; some of my favorite things in yuletide stories of years past are things it would never have occurred to me to ask for. (Also, please don't take it that the length at which I talk about each fandom has any relationship with how much I want a story for it!)
Cool bits/some stuff I like (not necessarily relevant to every fandom/prompt!): time travel, hurt/comfort, robots, threesomes, trust, friendship, competence, worldbuilding, audacity, responsible use of authority, the moment where everything changes. Racebending, transgender characters, and similar character interpretations/modifications are always welcome.
Good news: I don't have any squicks or triggers! Yay! I do tend to find love triangles and jealousy a bit boring/uninteresting, but basically there's not a huge "Avoid this!" list for you to worry about.
I don't know how useful it would be, but I'm also on tumblr in case that's a thing that's relevant to your interests: http://ageorwizardry.tumblr.com/
I've also added notes about the source material for each fandom in case you are curious/casting around for possible backup fandoms.
Fandom: Sweeney Todd - Sondheim/Wheeler
Characters: Johanna Barker (Sondheim/Wheeler) Anthony Hope (Sondheim/Wheeler)
Optional details: I love stories about people trying to be good to each other and take care of each other after terrible things have happened to them, and I'd love to see that with these two. While we don't know much of Anthony's background, what we know of Johanna's certainly makes it seem plausible that she may have the more traumatic background, of the two of them--still, I don't think I'd like a story with a dynamic of Anthony being the Normal Person who's here to Make Johanna Better--so feel free to invent any kind of complementary backstory for him you like. (I'm actually kind of fond of the idea that he gets depressed, for instance--and his positive outlook is a practiced defense against it. This isn't required, though; I only mention it in case the idea grabs you, too!)
I had initially toyed with the idea of asking for Sweeney Todd Trauma Recovery Fic over a broader range of possible characters (what if Mrs. Lovett was genuinely nurturing, instead of just putting on a show of it occasionally when she felt like it? or what if Sweeney Todd took the energy he devotes to his revenge and instead directed it toward finding and rebuilding his family?), but it ended up seeming like those might be AUs too universe-breaking to ask for. :-P If you do happen to feel called to any of those ideas, though, I'd love to see what you do with them. (And this is explicit permission to focus on characters other than the ones I've requested if you go with one of those story ideas instead.)
Source: A musical play whose cast recording is commercially available.
Reading alllll the Bucky Barnes recovery fic that came out of Captain America: The Winter Soldier last year has kind of made me want the same kind of trauma recovery fic for EVERY FANDOM. (Don't sweat it if you're not familiar with the Marvel movies/fandom; I'm just using that as a jumping off point.) In a historical setting like this, of course, there's a balance to strike: the characters certainly wouldn't have anything like the modern conception of PTSD, but humans have had a fairly consistent range of reactions to traumatic events documented over long stretches of history (I'm thinking here of Rachel Manija Brown's post on PTSD that points out a speech in a Shakespeare play that practically lists the modern diagnostic criteria for PTSD). At the time the play is set, psychology sort of hadn't been invented yet as a field of knowledge, but people obviously still had feelings about things; they just wouldn't have had psychology as we know it as a tool for understanding and dealing with them.
If "trauma recovery" is seeming to you like a Big Deal, heavy-research-y label, I don't want to scare you off—try thinking of it as hurt/comfort? Or, just a hopeful ending for these characters that doesn't ignore how they got there, if that entire kind of thing isn't up your alley.
Fandom: August: Osage County (2013)
Character: Johnna Monevata
Optional details: MOTHERFUCKING SUPERHERO JOHNNA MONEVATA.
I walked out of the theater feeling like Johnna going after Steve with a shovel in defense of Jean just might just be the one unambiguously good act in the entire movie. After re-watching it before Yuletide this year, I still think that may be right.
Johnna’s job requires her to perform both physical and emotional care while concealing whatever her real feelings may be. Aside from her clear and immediate conviction that a grown man making advances on a young teenager is Wrong and Must Be Stopped, we see very little of what Johnna thinks—just her calm professionalism as she keeps her sphere of things running smoothly (while just about the entire situtation around her is falling into various kinds of pieces). So: show some of what Johnna's thinking. What does she think of the book of poetry Bev lent her that she’s reading? What does she read when she's reading for herself? What else is in her head and her heart and her life besides this messed up family she's working for that the movie focuses on?
Source: A 2-hour film of fairly recent release.
At the end, when Violet finally turns to Johnna for comfort after driving everyone else in her life away, Johnna is kind, but I feel so bad for the situation she’s in—everyone else can choose to leave, forever if they like, but she’s obligated to stay. I mean, it's a job, and one she may (?) be able to quit if she wants to, but it's still a difficult, different kind of emotional labor from being family—and a burden that falls disproportionately on women of color, like Johnna.
I also really respect how good at her job Johnna clearly is. Based on how capably she handles things in a situation like this—where the actual person who hired her has died abruptly, and practically everything about her day-to-day work must have changed dramatically, and there must be nobody providing anything like a coherent set of guidelines or instructions—I'd think this can't be the first time she's done work like this; there's no apparent learning curve. Remember above where I said I liked competence? I admire how Johnna evidently just figures out what needs to be done and does it, and keeps herself as clear of the surrounding fray as possible (I'm thinking here specifically of that time she says, "I'll eat in my room," and glides straight through and out of the room the family's next horrible conversation is happening in).
One thing I realized, upon re-watching this movie, is how tired I am of stories about people doing terrible things to each other because terrible things have happened to them. Terrible things happen to people, and their stories matter—but those stories I'm most interested in are the ones about people trying to figure out how to do good and be kind after great hurt. Which is to say: don’t feel you need to mimic the tone or philosophy of the play/movie, necessarily; the hopeless tragedy of the dysfunctional American family is not what I’m here for.
Fandom: Change of Scenery paintings - Rob Gonsalves
Characters: [none requested]
Optional details: In these two paintings, people cut away pieces of curtains to change the shape of the view outside--and perhaps change the view itself?
In the world of the paintings, *is* it just an optical illusion? A game of some kind? Something to do if you have enough imagination, or if you can't travel to see the things you want to yourself? Or are the windows actually becoming portals to entirely different landscapes? (Is it just the view that changes, or also where you end up if you step through the window?) Is it a known skill in this world, something you can hire people to do for you or DIY, or something secret only a few have stumbled upon? In both scenes, there are open books that it seems like the people might be referring to as they work. Let your imagination fly free! I'd be fascinated to see what you come up with. Feel free either to focus on the specific people in the paintings if you'd like to, or to explore the wider world/make up new characters if you don't.
Source: Two paintings, viewable here: A Change of Scenery and Change of Scenery II (Making Mountains). If you're seeking a backup fandom, this is probably the best in terms of quickness and ease of accessing and familiarizing yourself with the source!
Fandom: 커피프린스 1호점 | Coffee Prince
Characters: Choi Han Seong Go Eun Chan
Optional details: So, I'm pretty curious about the alternate universe where Eun Chan and Han Seong ended up together instead--aside from the ordained-to-be-together factor of the canon pairings, it seems like not very much would have had to go differently for that to happen. So if you write that, you will interest me very much! If you'd rather not write a romantic relationship between them, I will also be happy with a story about their relationship in the canon universe--platonic friendships are always relevant to my interests as well.
Source: A 17-episode Korean television show. Episodes subtitled in English are available (in the U.S. at least) to hulu subscribers; I'm not sure where else this may be currently available.
My favorite single line in the entire show is when Han Kyul is shopping for an engagement ring for Eun Chan, and the salesgirl suggests one that Han Kyul rejects because "She's not very feminine." And he says it with such a smile on his face, because he adores her, and she does not have to change at all in order to win his love. That's Han Kyul and I requested Han Seong, of course, but he also adores Eun Chan without her having to change anything. It's such a refreshing change from all the stories where a girl has to go through a makeover or become more sexy/feminine before the love story can happen. (Okay, the end of the last episode seems a little makeover-y--she certainly comes back from Italy looking a lot more feminine than she did before. I just... kind of... ignore that :-P) (Of course, there's also that early episode where Eun Chan actually does get a makeover in order to go to the party. But even that I was okay with because a) Han Seong explicitly told her she didn't have to change anything to go to the party, and b) Eun Chan preferred the offered makeover to her family's attempt at doing the same thing. And it was just a one-off, special occasion thing, not part of a transformation arc for Eun Chan.) So basically: I love how awesome Eun Chan is and how so many other characters recognize how awesome she is and adore her just the way she is.
Fandom: The Long Walk - Richard Bachman
Characters: [none requested]
Optional details: So, I didn’t request any characters because this really is a “worldbuilding” request for me; I don’t care whether you focus on or even include any of the characters from the book, but I’d love to learn more about the world the Long Walk happens in. Of course, you may have signed up to write specific characters, so if you do want to include or focus on those book characters: go for it! Just, that’s not required, and original characters are totally fine by me.
Some ideas: So, if most kids over twelve take the test, why are there only boys on the Long Walk? (Did the author and/or the characters forget that "almost all kids" includes girls, too?) Does a token girl ever make it to the Walk, or is there a separate event for girls (perhaps not as well-publicized, just like women's sports in our world)? Or tell me more about the experience from outside the Long Walk, since we see the event from the inside in the book. Or how about a historical perspective on this time period from the future—a future that could be better, worse, or simply differently horrible?
And please don’t think that “worldbuilding” means that I only want some grand, sweeping epic; I’d be just as happy to see how the larger wrongness of the world is reflected in the small events and everyday lives of ordinary people, the ways in which their "normal" is skewed.
Source: A novel of moderate length (300-400 pages, it seems depending on edition) by Richard Bachman, an alias of Stephen King. (As you might tell from the optional details above, also hella depressing, if that's a consideration.)
I'm excited to be able to repeat my Long Walk request from last year! I wasn't planning to, at all; I only discovered it had been nominated again during the sign-ups phase. :-) Honestly, I wrote an unreasonably long Yuletide letter for this fandom last year, at the link if you want to check it out! I think I did a much better job of condensing it down to the most important parts in my request for this year.
Fandom: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Characters: Mike Timlin (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Optional details: So why did Mike Timlin throw himself off the George Washington Bridge?
He's the ghost that haunts the entirety of this movie, hanging over everything but never seen, a mystery. Tell me something about him from before, when he was still alive; show me something about this man who's a motivating factor for so much in this movie, for the people he's left behind. A snapshot, something about his work with Llewyn, anything--up to and including his suicide or not, as you wish.
Source: A ~100-minute film of fairly recent release.
I thought this was a beautiful film, and I felt such sympathy for Llewyn, even as I could absolutely see how frustrating he'd be for everyone around him—lord knows I also wouldn't be at my best when bouncing around between places to stay and often not knowing where I'd sleep the next night! It seems likely things might have been better for him, at least in some respects, when Mike Timlin was still alive. This is about Llewyn so far and my request is for Mike, but that's part of where it comes from—we learn barely anything about Mike in the course of the film; we just see the effect his death has had on Llewyn and other characters, and we hear his voice in just one song. The film is all about Llewyn, but he can have as small or large a role in your story about Mike as you like—or be absent entirely. I'm not very knowledgeable about the time and place of the setting, so historical research/expertise on your part will be admired but not required. :-)