Yuletide!
Dear Yuletide Writer of Wondrousness,
Hello there! If you've actually matched me on any of the fandoms below . . . well, I'm astounded and delighted and am mentally bestowing virtual hugs and cookies on you as you read this. You obviously have excellent taste in 90's horror movies. :D
So, my general preferences? Whatever serves the story works perfectly for me! I've chosen 'Any' for all of my requests, because I'd genuinely be delighted with any fic at all for these three films. I read across a ridiculously wide gamut of fic: from outright porn to world-building, from epic adventures to tiny vignette-ish slices of life. I like gen, slash, femslash and het equally. My random (and totally optional!) prompts might seem pretty gen-oriented, but if you have a hankering to write NC-17 John Trent/Sutter Cane slash, I'll be just as delighted-nay, grabby-handed! I tend to veer towards stories of the darker persuasion, as you may have gathered by my fandom choices, but I also get giddy over stories in which RayK and Fraser from Due South banter adorably whilst buying groceries, so, y'know! Also, I'm almost impossible to squick; these are three pretty dark films, so please don't be concerned about shocking me. That said, don't feel you have to write something terribly dark to please me: I'd be equally happy with something lighter in tone! I'm also totally happy if you want to play with original characters.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is: write whatever you want to write and have fun with it! If you enjoy writing your story, I know I'll enjoy reading it. Thank you so much for writing for me!
And now on to the fandoms:
Dust Devil (1992)
"The dreams came first. The dark man, his face hidden, his hat pulled low, his coat gathered around him, standing alone in the wasteland, staring towards the lights of the town, a storm brewing somewhere not far behind him."
I prevaricated madly between this and Richard Stanley's Hardware, as I love both films a whole heck of a lot, but I'm captivated by the mythology of Dust Devil and, ultimately, it's the world I most want to hear more about. Sadly, not many people seem to have seen this film, but if you've matched me on this, well, please feel free to take this request as permission to write whatever you want! I adore the tone of the film: the colour and detail of Stanley's South Africa, the dust and heat haze, the weaving of myths, the way that the personal tragedies of the characters draw them into a irrevocable spiral of darkness, echoing the titular whirlwind.
More information: you can find an earlier draft of Richard Stanley's script for the film here, as well as the diary he wrote during filming.
Random Ideas Are Random and Completely Optional: Anything you want to tell me about this universe is a-okay by me, whether it be a slice in the life of Ben Mukorob, details of one of the Dust Devil's previous kills, a South African fable, or What Wendy Does Next. I am, of course, particularly interested in the Dust Devil himself: did he spring from the desert a fully-formed creature of myth, or is there another story there? Joe's voiceover would seem to indicate that he was just a man before 'he grew wings'-what was the story behind his fall?
-
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
"Every species can smell its own extinction. The last ones left won't have a pretty time with it. In ten years, maybe less, the human race will just be a bedtime story for their children. A myth, nothing more."
Oh, this film! I'm a huge John Carpenter fan, and I always declare that In the Mouth of Madness is my favourite of his films-it's a very close tie with The Thing, anyway. To my mind, ItMoM is the best Lovecraftian adaptation ever made, despite it Not Actually Being Lovecraft. No other film has given me quite the same sense of innumerable, insanity-inducing horrors lurking at the edge of the very thin membrane between their dimension and ours. I love the sense of overlapping layers of reality: the real, the fictional and the meta-fictional. This is not reality-or is it?
(Plus, Sam Neill and Jürgen Prochnow are made of win. ♥)
Random Ideas Are Random and Completely Optional: So, *props chin on hands* what's the fall of our world to the elder gods actually like, then? Tell me more about Sutter Cane and the story behind his corruption. Tell me a Sutter Cane story! What about a crossover with King or Lovecraft? Is Linda just a Sutter Cane character, or is she something more? Something from the PoV of one of Cane's fans (the guy with the axe?) would be interesting: what's the descent into Cane-induced insanity actually like? It might be fun to explore Arcane Publishing, Cane's publishing house: if simply reading his books induces insanity, then surely the people who actually produce the physical books must feel some side effects? What about the cover artist who helped Cane insert hints as to the location of Hobb's End? The plot is framed by Trent's session with Doctor Wrenn, who dismisses Trent's story entirely, so a Wrenn encounter with a stygian horror would be entertaining indeed! I'd also love to read Trent's psychological profile, or transcripts from his sessions. Mmmtranscripts.
-
Wishmaster (1997)
"Match wits with a creature older than time? Match wits with a prince of the dark dominions? Pit your tiny, twentieth-century mind against one who walked the spaces between the worlds, and trod the wings of angels beneath his conquering feet? Alexandra, you're a delight! Really, you are."
If you match me on this? I may actually flail and send you cupcakes. This film has such a place in my heart that it's transcended guilty pleasure and moved into the realms of unabashed love. Wishmaster is the only fandom of the three that I've actually found (a very minimal amount of) fic for, although all of it has been of the Djinn/OFC sexytimes variety. There's nothing wrong with that (*cough* Wishmaster 4), but I'm more interested in the mythology of the film itself, and I like my Djinn vicious and snarky, with just a soupçon of seductive charm. That's not to say I'd be averse to porntastic shenanigans-anything but! I'd just rather it serve the Djinn's nefarious agenda. I'm not fond of the third and fourth films (Andrew Divoff is the Wishmaster for me), but bringing in elements from Wishmaster II would be grand. I, er, may have pondered Wishmaster/HBO's Oz crossover fic, thanks to all the prison scenes. ;)
Random Ideas Are Random and Completely Optional: Tell me about ancient Persia! The prologue scene in the Sultan's court is one of my favourites of the film; how did Zoroaster initially summon the Djinn and what was the Sultan's first wish? Post-movie: what does Alexandra do next? I can't help thinking it would be nigh-on impossible to rest easy, knowing the opal is still nestling in the heart of the statue, waiting to be stumbled upon by an inept art thief with micro-bangs. I'm intrigued by the creepy psychic connection between the Djinn and his waker, so a piece exploring that bond would please me immensely. I'd like to know more about Robert Englund's character: what prompted him to go to such effort and expense getting the statue? Were there nefarious influences at work? Oh, and I love Wendy Derleth, the folklore professor! Anything involving her would be fabulous. Finally, tell me more about the Djinn himself! Who was the John Doe whose face the Djinn seems to enjoy so much, and how did he die? There's an interesting bit in the original script about Demerest having a minor attack of claustrophobia in an elevator: what was it like being trapped in a gem for a thousand years? Is his jealousy of humans the key to his almost masochistic self-sabotage? He could grant three wishes to the letter, and free his people in record time, but he invariably chooses to play with his prey - why is that? And, of course, a Monkey's Paw-ish tale of a wish gone horribly wrong would be entirely fabulous.
Can you tell I've been thinking about Wishmaster fic for a long, long time? Ahem.
Hello there! If you've actually matched me on any of the fandoms below . . . well, I'm astounded and delighted and am mentally bestowing virtual hugs and cookies on you as you read this. You obviously have excellent taste in 90's horror movies. :D
So, my general preferences? Whatever serves the story works perfectly for me! I've chosen 'Any' for all of my requests, because I'd genuinely be delighted with any fic at all for these three films. I read across a ridiculously wide gamut of fic: from outright porn to world-building, from epic adventures to tiny vignette-ish slices of life. I like gen, slash, femslash and het equally. My random (and totally optional!) prompts might seem pretty gen-oriented, but if you have a hankering to write NC-17 John Trent/Sutter Cane slash, I'll be just as delighted-nay, grabby-handed! I tend to veer towards stories of the darker persuasion, as you may have gathered by my fandom choices, but I also get giddy over stories in which RayK and Fraser from Due South banter adorably whilst buying groceries, so, y'know! Also, I'm almost impossible to squick; these are three pretty dark films, so please don't be concerned about shocking me. That said, don't feel you have to write something terribly dark to please me: I'd be equally happy with something lighter in tone! I'm also totally happy if you want to play with original characters.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is: write whatever you want to write and have fun with it! If you enjoy writing your story, I know I'll enjoy reading it. Thank you so much for writing for me!
And now on to the fandoms:
Dust Devil (1992)
"The dreams came first. The dark man, his face hidden, his hat pulled low, his coat gathered around him, standing alone in the wasteland, staring towards the lights of the town, a storm brewing somewhere not far behind him."
Click to viewI prevaricated madly between this and Richard Stanley's Hardware, as I love both films a whole heck of a lot, but I'm captivated by the mythology of Dust Devil and, ultimately, it's the world I most want to hear more about. Sadly, not many people seem to have seen this film, but if you've matched me on this, well, please feel free to take this request as permission to write whatever you want! I adore the tone of the film: the colour and detail of Stanley's South Africa, the dust and heat haze, the weaving of myths, the way that the personal tragedies of the characters draw them into a irrevocable spiral of darkness, echoing the titular whirlwind.
More information: you can find an earlier draft of Richard Stanley's script for the film here, as well as the diary he wrote during filming.
Random Ideas Are Random and Completely Optional: Anything you want to tell me about this universe is a-okay by me, whether it be a slice in the life of Ben Mukorob, details of one of the Dust Devil's previous kills, a South African fable, or What Wendy Does Next. I am, of course, particularly interested in the Dust Devil himself: did he spring from the desert a fully-formed creature of myth, or is there another story there? Joe's voiceover would seem to indicate that he was just a man before 'he grew wings'-what was the story behind his fall?
-
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
"Every species can smell its own extinction. The last ones left won't have a pretty time with it. In ten years, maybe less, the human race will just be a bedtime story for their children. A myth, nothing more."
Oh, this film! I'm a huge John Carpenter fan, and I always declare that In the Mouth of Madness is my favourite of his films-it's a very close tie with The Thing, anyway. To my mind, ItMoM is the best Lovecraftian adaptation ever made, despite it Not Actually Being Lovecraft. No other film has given me quite the same sense of innumerable, insanity-inducing horrors lurking at the edge of the very thin membrane between their dimension and ours. I love the sense of overlapping layers of reality: the real, the fictional and the meta-fictional. This is not reality-or is it?
(Plus, Sam Neill and Jürgen Prochnow are made of win. ♥)
Random Ideas Are Random and Completely Optional: So, *props chin on hands* what's the fall of our world to the elder gods actually like, then? Tell me more about Sutter Cane and the story behind his corruption. Tell me a Sutter Cane story! What about a crossover with King or Lovecraft? Is Linda just a Sutter Cane character, or is she something more? Something from the PoV of one of Cane's fans (the guy with the axe?) would be interesting: what's the descent into Cane-induced insanity actually like? It might be fun to explore Arcane Publishing, Cane's publishing house: if simply reading his books induces insanity, then surely the people who actually produce the physical books must feel some side effects? What about the cover artist who helped Cane insert hints as to the location of Hobb's End? The plot is framed by Trent's session with Doctor Wrenn, who dismisses Trent's story entirely, so a Wrenn encounter with a stygian horror would be entertaining indeed! I'd also love to read Trent's psychological profile, or transcripts from his sessions. Mmmtranscripts.
-
Wishmaster (1997)
"Match wits with a creature older than time? Match wits with a prince of the dark dominions? Pit your tiny, twentieth-century mind against one who walked the spaces between the worlds, and trod the wings of angels beneath his conquering feet? Alexandra, you're a delight! Really, you are."
If you match me on this? I may actually flail and send you cupcakes. This film has such a place in my heart that it's transcended guilty pleasure and moved into the realms of unabashed love. Wishmaster is the only fandom of the three that I've actually found (a very minimal amount of) fic for, although all of it has been of the Djinn/OFC sexytimes variety. There's nothing wrong with that (*cough* Wishmaster 4), but I'm more interested in the mythology of the film itself, and I like my Djinn vicious and snarky, with just a soupçon of seductive charm. That's not to say I'd be averse to porntastic shenanigans-anything but! I'd just rather it serve the Djinn's nefarious agenda. I'm not fond of the third and fourth films (Andrew Divoff is the Wishmaster for me), but bringing in elements from Wishmaster II would be grand. I, er, may have pondered Wishmaster/HBO's Oz crossover fic, thanks to all the prison scenes. ;)
Random Ideas Are Random and Completely Optional: Tell me about ancient Persia! The prologue scene in the Sultan's court is one of my favourites of the film; how did Zoroaster initially summon the Djinn and what was the Sultan's first wish? Post-movie: what does Alexandra do next? I can't help thinking it would be nigh-on impossible to rest easy, knowing the opal is still nestling in the heart of the statue, waiting to be stumbled upon by an inept art thief with micro-bangs. I'm intrigued by the creepy psychic connection between the Djinn and his waker, so a piece exploring that bond would please me immensely. I'd like to know more about Robert Englund's character: what prompted him to go to such effort and expense getting the statue? Were there nefarious influences at work? Oh, and I love Wendy Derleth, the folklore professor! Anything involving her would be fabulous. Finally, tell me more about the Djinn himself! Who was the John Doe whose face the Djinn seems to enjoy so much, and how did he die? There's an interesting bit in the original script about Demerest having a minor attack of claustrophobia in an elevator: what was it like being trapped in a gem for a thousand years? Is his jealousy of humans the key to his almost masochistic self-sabotage? He could grant three wishes to the letter, and free his people in record time, but he invariably chooses to play with his prey - why is that? And, of course, a Monkey's Paw-ish tale of a wish gone horribly wrong would be entirely fabulous.
Can you tell I've been thinking about Wishmaster fic for a long, long time? Ahem.