Yuletide Letter
Alright, Yuletide, I'm ready! Are you? To help you get prepared, here are my thoughts on some specific fandoms. Don't worry about sticking to the letter of my ramblings too much, though, because frankly I'm pretty easy to please :)
Perilous Gard - Elizabeth Marie Pope
Every time I re-read this book, I always end up thinking about the 'what-if's for different characters. What if Cecily Heron remembers her time under the hill? What if she goes searching for the Folk again and what does she end up finding? What does the Lady in Green do after the story ends? Are there others like her that she can join? Does she persist on through til modern times? How many people does she trick? Do she and Kate ever cross paths again? And how do Kate and Christopher, two fairly logical people, deal with their brush with the Folk and magic as the years go by? Clearly, I have a lot of questions and if any of them can be answered, I would be very happy, indeed.
Magic School Bus
Where do I start with this fandom? I would love to see a fic about how Ms. Frizzle picks her classes - the classes in the past, present, and future. What were the kids like before they were in the Frizz's class together - were they friends, enemies, casual acquaintances? What were Dorothy Ann & Carlos like in preschool (I am a huge fan of them, btw, both as friends and as a pairing)? What were they like in high school? College? What sorts of adventures does Wanda have on her own without the rest of her class with her? Does she ever take over the world accidentally-on-purpose?
I would love to see a fic where Dorothy Ann and Carlos try to quantify magic (because if the bus exists, what other magical things exist in their world?). Or what about the class play that everybody puts on - what play do they do, how does it go wrong, and how does it go right in the end? Ooo or a good mystery, that would be fun. Maybe something a tad more serious and adult that is hard for the kids to grasp OR something light and funny that drags the adult-versions of the kids out of their routine lives. The possibilities are endless!
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
I love so many characters in this movie, it's hard to focus on just a few. But again, I have burning questions that need answering.
Chihiro: does she ever dream (before she finds the bath house) of the time when Haku rescued her? Does she ever see spirits before her time at the bath house? Maybe she is shining, marked as special in a way only certain spirits can see, because of her future that has yet to unfold. And after the bath house, how does she go back to living an ordinary life without Haku? How does she find magic again (or does she)?
Haku: What is it like being the god of a dying river? What is it like to forget yourself, whether by force or by choice? And what is it like to surface again from that fog and be aware of your true self once more?
Yubaaba: What was it like growing up with Zeniiba? Were they ever close or was there always tension between them? Why did she have a baby? What was it like learning magic and when did she start taking on apprentices?
Rin: Why does she help Chihiro? What sort of adventures does she have before/after Chihiro's time at the bath house? Does she ever meet Chihiro again?
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
My biggest question is: who are the Hempstocks? A definite answer is not required, but an exploration of who they are would be fantastic.
What is the Hemstocks' relationship with each other and the universe? How many universes have they seen? Do they live anywhere besides the English countryside? Have their been other children like the narrator who have become entangled in their universe?
Fire and Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones
Again, I have questions (I have a lot of questions - this is how my brain works). For Polly and Thomas, what happens after? How do they go on? And what about Thomas's perspective? What sort of a world does he see considering that there is such a thin line between his imagination and reality? And as for Seb, does he ever feel anything for Polly? Is it all an act for him? Does he ever want to rebel against Laurel? Inquiring minds want to know!
And now for some more general likes and dislikes. I love gen fic, love it to pieces. Character explorations, introspection, adventures, mysteries... all great things in my book. Subtleties are fantastic, as is the exploration of concepts through the characters (like the beauty of a mathematical theory as displayed by the relationship between two characters). But I love romance, too, so long as it's not too sappy and unrealistic. I love those awkward sorts of love where everything fits but the characters might not quite see it yet. Banter is for me like caffeine is for other people: it runs in my veins and I need it to live. Bittersweet is good but if the balance tips too much towards bitter with almost no sweet, that is less good. I'm really not a fan of anything with torture, unnecessary darkness (like, not in keeping with where a character is in canon), and non-consensual sex. I enjoy any rating of fic, so feel free to go where your muse takes you. I actually rather enjoy crossovers, so long as the crossovers keep all of the characters feeling true and one fandom or the other doesn't come off as flat. And that the crossover isn't completely unrealistic and hard to get my head around. Something like Polly running into the Hempstocks on a drive through the country would be fun, for example, because conceivably that could happen pretty easily in either book.
This all said, as I mentioned above, I really am easy to please. I've listed a number of questions/ideas that I have but by no means are these the only things you could explore within a fandom. Please, by all means, let your imagination run wild and have fun!!! I look forward to the results.
Perilous Gard - Elizabeth Marie Pope
Every time I re-read this book, I always end up thinking about the 'what-if's for different characters. What if Cecily Heron remembers her time under the hill? What if she goes searching for the Folk again and what does she end up finding? What does the Lady in Green do after the story ends? Are there others like her that she can join? Does she persist on through til modern times? How many people does she trick? Do she and Kate ever cross paths again? And how do Kate and Christopher, two fairly logical people, deal with their brush with the Folk and magic as the years go by? Clearly, I have a lot of questions and if any of them can be answered, I would be very happy, indeed.
Magic School Bus
Where do I start with this fandom? I would love to see a fic about how Ms. Frizzle picks her classes - the classes in the past, present, and future. What were the kids like before they were in the Frizz's class together - were they friends, enemies, casual acquaintances? What were Dorothy Ann & Carlos like in preschool (I am a huge fan of them, btw, both as friends and as a pairing)? What were they like in high school? College? What sorts of adventures does Wanda have on her own without the rest of her class with her? Does she ever take over the world accidentally-on-purpose?
I would love to see a fic where Dorothy Ann and Carlos try to quantify magic (because if the bus exists, what other magical things exist in their world?). Or what about the class play that everybody puts on - what play do they do, how does it go wrong, and how does it go right in the end? Ooo or a good mystery, that would be fun. Maybe something a tad more serious and adult that is hard for the kids to grasp OR something light and funny that drags the adult-versions of the kids out of their routine lives. The possibilities are endless!
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
I love so many characters in this movie, it's hard to focus on just a few. But again, I have burning questions that need answering.
Chihiro: does she ever dream (before she finds the bath house) of the time when Haku rescued her? Does she ever see spirits before her time at the bath house? Maybe she is shining, marked as special in a way only certain spirits can see, because of her future that has yet to unfold. And after the bath house, how does she go back to living an ordinary life without Haku? How does she find magic again (or does she)?
Haku: What is it like being the god of a dying river? What is it like to forget yourself, whether by force or by choice? And what is it like to surface again from that fog and be aware of your true self once more?
Yubaaba: What was it like growing up with Zeniiba? Were they ever close or was there always tension between them? Why did she have a baby? What was it like learning magic and when did she start taking on apprentices?
Rin: Why does she help Chihiro? What sort of adventures does she have before/after Chihiro's time at the bath house? Does she ever meet Chihiro again?
The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
My biggest question is: who are the Hempstocks? A definite answer is not required, but an exploration of who they are would be fantastic.
What is the Hemstocks' relationship with each other and the universe? How many universes have they seen? Do they live anywhere besides the English countryside? Have their been other children like the narrator who have become entangled in their universe?
Fire and Hemlock - Diana Wynne Jones
Again, I have questions (I have a lot of questions - this is how my brain works). For Polly and Thomas, what happens after? How do they go on? And what about Thomas's perspective? What sort of a world does he see considering that there is such a thin line between his imagination and reality? And as for Seb, does he ever feel anything for Polly? Is it all an act for him? Does he ever want to rebel against Laurel? Inquiring minds want to know!
And now for some more general likes and dislikes. I love gen fic, love it to pieces. Character explorations, introspection, adventures, mysteries... all great things in my book. Subtleties are fantastic, as is the exploration of concepts through the characters (like the beauty of a mathematical theory as displayed by the relationship between two characters). But I love romance, too, so long as it's not too sappy and unrealistic. I love those awkward sorts of love where everything fits but the characters might not quite see it yet. Banter is for me like caffeine is for other people: it runs in my veins and I need it to live. Bittersweet is good but if the balance tips too much towards bitter with almost no sweet, that is less good. I'm really not a fan of anything with torture, unnecessary darkness (like, not in keeping with where a character is in canon), and non-consensual sex. I enjoy any rating of fic, so feel free to go where your muse takes you. I actually rather enjoy crossovers, so long as the crossovers keep all of the characters feeling true and one fandom or the other doesn't come off as flat. And that the crossover isn't completely unrealistic and hard to get my head around. Something like Polly running into the Hempstocks on a drive through the country would be fun, for example, because conceivably that could happen pretty easily in either book.
This all said, as I mentioned above, I really am easy to please. I've listed a number of questions/ideas that I have but by no means are these the only things you could explore within a fandom. Please, by all means, let your imagination run wild and have fun!!! I look forward to the results.