Yuletide 2015
This is my first year participating in Yuletide so thanks in advance for writing a fic for me! I'm excited to see where this whole thing goes and you're awesome for taking on one of my requests! One day people will write 80s hairband ballads in your honor!
It was a pretty great summer for movies and Hollywood hit the perfect combo of spies and space and robots and dinosaurs and another Fast & Furious film! The last one has nothing to do with the contents of this letter, but if Vin Diesel can live his life a quarter mile at a time, the least we can do is reference its baller status as often as possible. This letter has already gone off the rails and I haven't even gotten to the important stuff.
The important stuff being that I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to fic. I don't love pure fluff nor do I love total maudlin angst, but anywhere in between would be great. Go where the wind takes you! There is an entire world - and, in some cases, an entire universe - of untapped potential in the fandoms I've requested. I'm sure whatever you come up with will be fantastic. Incept the hell out of it!
For a little bit more guidance--
LIKES: pop culture references when appropriate; fake dating/fake marriage; found families; physicality (lovin', touchin', squeeeeeezin' each other); roommates to pining roommates to lovers; banter; BONING; character-driven stories in all their messy and destructive glory; spy AUs; space AUs; spies in space AUs probably?; noir-ish political thriller/reporter AUs (ugh, why didn't more people love the movie version of State of Play?); heists!
DISLIKES: baby!fic, song!fic, high school AUs, non-con/dub-con, A/B/O, BDSM, mpreg, humiliation, misogyny, character bashing, characters-as-children AUs, first person POV
I tend not to read a lot of G-rated fic and most of my requests probably won't lend themselves well to it (because space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence!), but all ratings are welcome! And, dear writer, if you want to make them bone down like they're chilling in the Olympic Village, I'll probably love you forever for that.
Now onto the good stuff:
VEEP
Amy Brookheimer, Dan Egan
Requests: They've secretly been hooking up all season! Give me THAT backstory in parallel with what we actually saw of S4 so that it's like the greatest deleted scenes compilation ever! Or they keep gravitating towards each other after they lose their jobs (...a moment of silence for Dan Egan's salt and pepper beard) but don't want to admit that it probably means something! Their adventures in lobbying! Dan getting her a job because he was totally pining over her! Or you can even go further back in time to their failed relationship and give me ALL THE BACKSTORY ABOUT THAT! Or - and this one is pretty out there - the AU where they are spies(/assassins/the fedora wearing folks from that terrible Matt Damon movie?) inspired by that exchange in "B/ill" (4x08) when Dan is freaking out because he is afraid that the congressman will check their story and is baffled that Amy isn't worried and she says, "I'm kind of having fun. I like having a cover story - makes me feel like a Charlie's Angel. God, it was a rush!" You could always run with that. Think of all the double crossing! Basically, any story with these jerks trying to one-up each other and also making out is good!
I love everything about this show but what I love most is the antagonistic but endlessly entertaining dynamic between these two. There is not nearly enough fic of them, which is tragic. They hate each other but they're also two sides of the same coin and would be SO GOOD TOGETHER because of that. I think it's important to remember that they're both kind of awful people and that's what makes them so great. I can't ever see them having a 3.5 kids and a white picket fence rom-com story nor would I ever want that. The reason they work so well together and apart is that they are both very driven people who also happen to be kind of awful and have no qualms about that. They are Machiavellian with everyone except, usually, each other but they are too stubborn to deal with why that is. If the fantastic show You're The Worst had a political slant, it would be the Amy/Dan relationship. (...I would also read that AU.)
EX MACHINA RPF
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina RPF), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina RPF), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina RPF)
Requests: Anything with Vikander/Gleeson! Or Vikander/Gleeson/Isaac! Or my favorite: Vikander/Gleeson with Oscar Isaac offering commentary and unsolicited advice at every turn! (He makes it erotic and weird!) It can take place during filming or during the press tour or after they've wrapped and Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac are doing Star Wars promotion. Maybe Domhnall runs into Alicia at TIFF and calls Oscar who makes convoluted fish analogies? Or maybe Alicia invites herself to crash on Domhnall's couch after the Fassbender break up, takes over his Netflix, and fills his queue with Swedish shows to Oscar's dismay because Domhnall hasn't even drunkenly made out with her yet! Maybe it's a roommate AU! Wherever your heart goes, just know that there will probably be a lot of dancing! Plus, the best thing about RPF is all the random cameos you can throw in there!
I've loved Alicia Vikander and Domhnall Gleeson together ever since they were the best part of Anna Karenina and all of their interviews talking about how much they love working with each other and would do it again (or Eddie Redmayne talking about how Domhnall couldn't stop talking about how much he loves working with Alicia...oh buddy, you're like an Usher song!) do not help the situation. He always looks so smitten and he's probably pining like the forest and I am all about that mess! Do five million more movies together, you two!
Also, that Interview photo shoot is amazing. (...SPIES)
Which brings me to:
EX MACHINA (2015)
Ava (Ex Machina), Caleb Smith, Nathan Bateman
Requests: What would have happened if Ava and Caleb actually had run away together at the end of the movie - would Ava's sinister slant manifest (again) or would they be a cool hipster couple who went to farmer's markets and listened to The National on rainy weekends? Would she learn how to approximate being human? Or an AU where Caleb isn't a real boy after all and all the implications of that! Or what that secluded house was like before Nathan invited Caleb up for the week, when it was just him and his AIs and Ava secretly hating him with all she knew.
This was one of my favorite movies of this year and it only seems to get better with each rewatch. There are subtle acting choices and decisions that become poignant once you already know what is going to happen. Even though I enjoyed all the beats the film took, I can't help but wish that it had more make outs between Ava and Caleb (come on!). How can you have Nathan randomly talking about pleasure centers and then not go anywhere with that? I loved that I never knew whether Caleb was just a means to an end for Ava or if she was actually interested in him or if it was this fantastic combination of both and in the end she made the tough choice to escape her prison even if it meant trapping him there because she wanted to feel what the world was really like even at the expense of maybe feeling what it was like to be loved by him! The other thing I wanted more of was that egomaniac Nathan! Everything about him and his interactions with others was fascinating - from the binge drinking and extreme exercise to his God complex to the ease with which he was willing to break down his creations without a second thought. His pursuit of perfection was relentless and I would've loved to see more of how it started and morphed into something so callous. I want more on that slow build to the end where Ava had to kill him because she hated him so much.
JURASSIC PARK (MOVIES)
Claire Dearing, Owen Grady
Requests: The classic film Speed once proposed that relationships based on intense experiences never work. It doesn't get more intense than hybrid dinosaurs! What happens post-Jurassic World when Claire and Owen have to take the spur of the moment decision to stick together and actually integrate that into regular life? Other possible ideas: I want to know every disastrous detail of that goddamn terrible date that will continue to haunt everyone until they, hopefully, sprinkle in more details about it in the sequel! Or what does Claire Dearing do with her time now that she doesn't have a park to run and all this blood on her hands? The post-Indominus landscape is rich with fic potential! Bonus points if you include characters from the original - perhaps intersperse CNN interviews with Alan Grant or snippets from New York Times thinkpieces from Ian Malcolm. Maybe Lex meets up with Claire to have coffee and talk about how she still has nightmares about meatosauruses? Go wild with it!
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Gaby Teller, Illya Kuryakin
Requests: Finish one of those kisses! Honeypot mission! The trials and tribulations of Illya teaching Gaby Teller Russian! The UNCLE team during the Camelot era (because everything is better with a Kennedy!). Fake marrieds trying to infiltrate a suburban neighborhood that is front for something sinister (basically the "Arcadia" episode of X-Files except without the Pier 1 monster)! Mission fic where they have to infiltrate a gala! AU where Gaby is actually a triple agent and playing them all! You could pretty much go anywhere and I'd be happy because SPIES.
This film was a GEM and I'm sad that it didn't do better in the theaters. It was the movie we all wanted The Debt to be when it was too busy being sad and not following through on the one time Sam Worthington has chemistry with someone! This movie was so aesthetically pleasing and, in general, so much fun. I loved the terrific trio and would not mind at all if Solo was in on the fic as well to needle and lounge around, but I'd love a focus on Illya/Gaby. They had such great chemistry and Guy was such a withholder with the actual make outs.
THE MARTIAN (2015)
Beth Johanssen (The Martian (2015)), Chris Beck (The Martian (2015))
Requests: In the movie, we saw them gazing and then there was that super adorable helmet kiss, but we didn't get any of the stuff in between! I loved all of the Watney stuff, but I really wanted to know about how the crew was coping the entire time that he was planting potatoes and blowing himself up! I want to know all about their shenanigans. With regards to these two: how did they get to the end where they were having A BABY? Did they always like each other or was it something that developed by virtue of being the only two single people on the ship and also by being hipsters? Who made the first move? DID THEY SECRETLY BONE? What were their interactions like during the weeks of training before they went to space? She talks about everyone except Beck in the clip for the isolation experiment. What's up with that? I want so much backstory or forward story! Basically, just write me a story!
The Martian was such an amazing space movie full of compelling characters so you can feel free to include any of those folks as well. (WATNEY/LEWIS! I CAN'T WITH HOW MUCH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL THAT HOLDS!) It almost makes up for the garbage fire that was the extreme fridging of poor Kate Mara in Fantastic Four.
Once again, lovely writer, these are just suggestions! As long as you have fun writing it, I'll have fun reading it!
It was a pretty great summer for movies and Hollywood hit the perfect combo of spies and space and robots and dinosaurs and another Fast & Furious film! The last one has nothing to do with the contents of this letter, but if Vin Diesel can live his life a quarter mile at a time, the least we can do is reference its baller status as often as possible. This letter has already gone off the rails and I haven't even gotten to the important stuff.
The important stuff being that I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to fic. I don't love pure fluff nor do I love total maudlin angst, but anywhere in between would be great. Go where the wind takes you! There is an entire world - and, in some cases, an entire universe - of untapped potential in the fandoms I've requested. I'm sure whatever you come up with will be fantastic. Incept the hell out of it!
For a little bit more guidance--
LIKES: pop culture references when appropriate; fake dating/fake marriage; found families; physicality (lovin', touchin', squeeeeeezin' each other); roommates to pining roommates to lovers; banter; BONING; character-driven stories in all their messy and destructive glory; spy AUs; space AUs; spies in space AUs probably?; noir-ish political thriller/reporter AUs (ugh, why didn't more people love the movie version of State of Play?); heists!
DISLIKES: baby!fic, song!fic, high school AUs, non-con/dub-con, A/B/O, BDSM, mpreg, humiliation, misogyny, character bashing, characters-as-children AUs, first person POV
I tend not to read a lot of G-rated fic and most of my requests probably won't lend themselves well to it (because space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence!), but all ratings are welcome! And, dear writer, if you want to make them bone down like they're chilling in the Olympic Village, I'll probably love you forever for that.
Now onto the good stuff:
VEEP
Amy Brookheimer, Dan Egan
Requests: They've secretly been hooking up all season! Give me THAT backstory in parallel with what we actually saw of S4 so that it's like the greatest deleted scenes compilation ever! Or they keep gravitating towards each other after they lose their jobs (...a moment of silence for Dan Egan's salt and pepper beard) but don't want to admit that it probably means something! Their adventures in lobbying! Dan getting her a job because he was totally pining over her! Or you can even go further back in time to their failed relationship and give me ALL THE BACKSTORY ABOUT THAT! Or - and this one is pretty out there - the AU where they are spies(/assassins/the fedora wearing folks from that terrible Matt Damon movie?) inspired by that exchange in "B/ill" (4x08) when Dan is freaking out because he is afraid that the congressman will check their story and is baffled that Amy isn't worried and she says, "I'm kind of having fun. I like having a cover story - makes me feel like a Charlie's Angel. God, it was a rush!" You could always run with that. Think of all the double crossing! Basically, any story with these jerks trying to one-up each other and also making out is good!
I love everything about this show but what I love most is the antagonistic but endlessly entertaining dynamic between these two. There is not nearly enough fic of them, which is tragic. They hate each other but they're also two sides of the same coin and would be SO GOOD TOGETHER because of that. I think it's important to remember that they're both kind of awful people and that's what makes them so great. I can't ever see them having a 3.5 kids and a white picket fence rom-com story nor would I ever want that. The reason they work so well together and apart is that they are both very driven people who also happen to be kind of awful and have no qualms about that. They are Machiavellian with everyone except, usually, each other but they are too stubborn to deal with why that is. If the fantastic show You're The Worst had a political slant, it would be the Amy/Dan relationship. (...I would also read that AU.)
EX MACHINA RPF
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina RPF), Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina RPF), Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina RPF)
Requests: Anything with Vikander/Gleeson! Or Vikander/Gleeson/Isaac! Or my favorite: Vikander/Gleeson with Oscar Isaac offering commentary and unsolicited advice at every turn! (He makes it erotic and weird!) It can take place during filming or during the press tour or after they've wrapped and Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac are doing Star Wars promotion. Maybe Domhnall runs into Alicia at TIFF and calls Oscar who makes convoluted fish analogies? Or maybe Alicia invites herself to crash on Domhnall's couch after the Fassbender break up, takes over his Netflix, and fills his queue with Swedish shows to Oscar's dismay because Domhnall hasn't even drunkenly made out with her yet! Maybe it's a roommate AU! Wherever your heart goes, just know that there will probably be a lot of dancing! Plus, the best thing about RPF is all the random cameos you can throw in there!
I've loved Alicia Vikander and Domhnall Gleeson together ever since they were the best part of Anna Karenina and all of their interviews talking about how much they love working with each other and would do it again (or Eddie Redmayne talking about how Domhnall couldn't stop talking about how much he loves working with Alicia...oh buddy, you're like an Usher song!) do not help the situation. He always looks so smitten and he's probably pining like the forest and I am all about that mess! Do five million more movies together, you two!
Also, that Interview photo shoot is amazing. (...SPIES)
Which brings me to:
EX MACHINA (2015)
Ava (Ex Machina), Caleb Smith, Nathan Bateman
Requests: What would have happened if Ava and Caleb actually had run away together at the end of the movie - would Ava's sinister slant manifest (again) or would they be a cool hipster couple who went to farmer's markets and listened to The National on rainy weekends? Would she learn how to approximate being human? Or an AU where Caleb isn't a real boy after all and all the implications of that! Or what that secluded house was like before Nathan invited Caleb up for the week, when it was just him and his AIs and Ava secretly hating him with all she knew.
This was one of my favorite movies of this year and it only seems to get better with each rewatch. There are subtle acting choices and decisions that become poignant once you already know what is going to happen. Even though I enjoyed all the beats the film took, I can't help but wish that it had more make outs between Ava and Caleb (come on!). How can you have Nathan randomly talking about pleasure centers and then not go anywhere with that? I loved that I never knew whether Caleb was just a means to an end for Ava or if she was actually interested in him or if it was this fantastic combination of both and in the end she made the tough choice to escape her prison even if it meant trapping him there because she wanted to feel what the world was really like even at the expense of maybe feeling what it was like to be loved by him! The other thing I wanted more of was that egomaniac Nathan! Everything about him and his interactions with others was fascinating - from the binge drinking and extreme exercise to his God complex to the ease with which he was willing to break down his creations without a second thought. His pursuit of perfection was relentless and I would've loved to see more of how it started and morphed into something so callous. I want more on that slow build to the end where Ava had to kill him because she hated him so much.
JURASSIC PARK (MOVIES)
Claire Dearing, Owen Grady
Requests: The classic film Speed once proposed that relationships based on intense experiences never work. It doesn't get more intense than hybrid dinosaurs! What happens post-Jurassic World when Claire and Owen have to take the spur of the moment decision to stick together and actually integrate that into regular life? Other possible ideas: I want to know every disastrous detail of that goddamn terrible date that will continue to haunt everyone until they, hopefully, sprinkle in more details about it in the sequel! Or what does Claire Dearing do with her time now that she doesn't have a park to run and all this blood on her hands? The post-Indominus landscape is rich with fic potential! Bonus points if you include characters from the original - perhaps intersperse CNN interviews with Alan Grant or snippets from New York Times thinkpieces from Ian Malcolm. Maybe Lex meets up with Claire to have coffee and talk about how she still has nightmares about meatosauruses? Go wild with it!
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Gaby Teller, Illya Kuryakin
Requests: Finish one of those kisses! Honeypot mission! The trials and tribulations of Illya teaching Gaby Teller Russian! The UNCLE team during the Camelot era (because everything is better with a Kennedy!). Fake marrieds trying to infiltrate a suburban neighborhood that is front for something sinister (basically the "Arcadia" episode of X-Files except without the Pier 1 monster)! Mission fic where they have to infiltrate a gala! AU where Gaby is actually a triple agent and playing them all! You could pretty much go anywhere and I'd be happy because SPIES.
This film was a GEM and I'm sad that it didn't do better in the theaters. It was the movie we all wanted The Debt to be when it was too busy being sad and not following through on the one time Sam Worthington has chemistry with someone! This movie was so aesthetically pleasing and, in general, so much fun. I loved the terrific trio and would not mind at all if Solo was in on the fic as well to needle and lounge around, but I'd love a focus on Illya/Gaby. They had such great chemistry and Guy was such a withholder with the actual make outs.
THE MARTIAN (2015)
Beth Johanssen (The Martian (2015)), Chris Beck (The Martian (2015))
Requests: In the movie, we saw them gazing and then there was that super adorable helmet kiss, but we didn't get any of the stuff in between! I loved all of the Watney stuff, but I really wanted to know about how the crew was coping the entire time that he was planting potatoes and blowing himself up! I want to know all about their shenanigans. With regards to these two: how did they get to the end where they were having A BABY? Did they always like each other or was it something that developed by virtue of being the only two single people on the ship and also by being hipsters? Who made the first move? DID THEY SECRETLY BONE? What were their interactions like during the weeks of training before they went to space? She talks about everyone except Beck in the clip for the isolation experiment. What's up with that? I want so much backstory or forward story! Basically, just write me a story!
The Martian was such an amazing space movie full of compelling characters so you can feel free to include any of those folks as well. (WATNEY/LEWIS! I CAN'T WITH HOW MUCH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL THAT HOLDS!) It almost makes up for the garbage fire that was the extreme fridging of poor Kate Mara in Fantastic Four.
Once again, lovely writer, these are just suggestions! As long as you have fun writing it, I'll have fun reading it!