Merry Happy Yuletide

Oct 23, 2014 18:00

My dearest Yulewriter,

You are such a darling for writing for me, and I hope that something I want sparks an idea that grabs on and won't let go-- I want you to have the joy writing that I'm sure I will in reading.


Likes: I'm really in love with chosen families, non-traditional relationships/partnerships, LADIES BEING FABULOUS, historical context shaping characters, heists, cheerful criminality, and mutual dependency. There are so many ways for people to love each other in this world, and boiling it down to heteronormativity or even monosexuality like nothing else matters is so boring. Asexuals making a life together, heterosexual life partners, OT3s where everybody has their own unique relationship with each other, twins who have nobody but each other so they claim each other completely, families that come together for more reasons than sharing DNA.

Dislikes: I'm not into the dynamics that come with a low degree of respect-- like I love mutually dependent characters, but I'm not usually into seeing how fucked up actual co-dependency can be. No cross-generational incest, please- it needs to be consensual and have an equal balance of power for me to read it. No non-con or dub-con. I don't care too much about body stuff, I'm sure I've smelled things that are far worse than you could write, but body horror for the sake of horror doesn't interest me much, so don't worry about detail if there's amputation or cannibalism involved (which, in these requests, I think should mostly be avoidable? I add this mostly for the sake of Newsflesh, I guess.)

Shaun/Georgia, Newsflesh

These two, I tell you. They've been through hell and back and been rebuilt from scratch and they've only gotten tighter than ever. While I don't want morose contemplation of George 2.0 being a different person, I will love any exploration of the ways they are true partners and have each other's backs in every situation. Off the top of my head, I'd happily read about them as teenagers, getting their education and licenses; I'd read missing scenes from the campaign trail; the contents of their shared journal; their visit to Dr. Abbey's lab on the way to Canada to surprise her with the reason Shaun has immunity; adventures in the Canadian wilderness where zombie moose roam free but likely any Canadians they meet just shrug and bundle up a little tighter on the way to Tim Hortons for coffee and timbits. I'd even consider something from Stacy Mason's POV, about these kids she adopted but has forgotten how to love, and how she's not sure she could break through the rock-solid love they have for each other even if she thought she might.

There's so much gold to mine when it comes to George and Shaun, and I treasure all of it.

Myrna Loy/William Powell- Golden Age Hollywood RPF

I am absolutely in love with these two in their movies, especially the Thin Man movies (obviously), and the things they have said about each other makes me just as fond of them in real life. They were such friends, and did so many movies where they were married-- and everyone at the time shipped it too; there's some story about how hotels would book them in the same room because they thought the two of them were married, and then they and their costars had to sort out bed arrangements. (If you wanted to write THAT fic, I would love it!)  Like, look at this!

Myrna Loy first met William Powell on the set of the movie ‘Manhattan Melodrama’. Their first scene involved Loy’s character forcing her way into Powell’s cab. However, when shooting began and she landed on his lap, instead of saying his scripted line, Powell said “Miss Loy, I presume?” Both actors dissolved into a fit of laughter.
It was the first one of fourteen movies they shot together.

***
Several wirehaired terriers played our scene-stealing pet over the years, but we weren’t allowed to make friends with any of them. Their trainer feared it would break the dogs’ concentration. The first one, Skippy, bit me once, so our relationship was hardly idyllic. My relationship with Bill was. We became very close friends, but, contrary to popular belief, we were never really married or even close to it. Oh, there were times when Bill had a crush on me and times when I had a crush on Bill, but we never made anything of it. We worked around it and stayed pals. In this world today, nobody seems to understand how you can just be terribly close and love somebody a whole lot and not sleep with him. If Bill and I had been lovers, then we would have had fights. And if we’d been married, it would have been even worse. -Myrna Loy

***

“Even my best friends tell me that the smartest thing I ever did was to marry Myrna Loy on the screen. And it was the pleasantest, I might add. We were married in thirteen pictures, including Libeled Lady (I think we were married; it was a little confusing), and I never saw Myrna go into a temperamental tantrum, rave and rant, or walk off the set in a huff. She never lets her emotions come too near the surface, and remains calm and poised in the most difficult situations. There were days on the set when she liked to sit alone, and other days when she felt rowdyhow and wanted to play pranks.
When we did a scene together, we forgot about technique, camera angles. and microphones. We weren´t acting. We were just to people in perfect harmony. Many times I´ve played with an actress who seemed to be separated from me by a plate-glass window; there was no contact at all. But Myrna, unlike some actresses who only think of themselves, has the happy faculty of being able to listen while the other fellow actor says his lines. She has the give and take of acting that brings out the best. -William Powell

***

Powell was a divine man and a great friend. If an actor thought he could get any place by having tantrums, watching Bill Powell would have altered his opinion. I remember a story conference during which he objected to a scene that he felt wasn’t right for him. He was at once imperious and lucid. “It’s beyond my histrionic ability to do this,” he said. I thought that was delicious. | ROSALIND RUSSELL
***

Okay, I'm getting quote-crazy here, but if you go check out The Thin Man, Nick and Nora, Myrna Loy, and William Powell tags on my tumblr, you will see what I adore about them. If you want to write them as BFFs who are always mistaken for a couple, or their platonic love and occasional unfulfilled crushes, that would be lovely. If you want to write them as secretly together/married, or navigating the line between fiction and reality when they're spending so very much time together. Any dynamic, as long as it's them!

Gravity Falls, Prohibition AU

First, take a look at this art created by the talented Limey. I was the girlfriend in question who received this, and my god did I screech with joy when I saw it.

Now imagine: Grunkle Stan’s a moonshiner and general huckster; Dipper and Mabel are in for the summer of their lives when they find out they’re going to learn to drive…. illegal booze across state lines at speeds that the police can’t match.

I've got some resources here for you if you want to know about being a bootlegger in a time of forbidden alcohol and burgeoning car mechanical improvements:

How Stuff Works: Nascar history (also find the free podcast on iTunes; it's well worth the listen) and Stockcar Racing
Prohibition in Portland, Oregon
Booze Routes to Spokane
Rum-runners and Renegades
The upside of Prohibition
How Whiskey Cars Worked
If you don't want to write a historical AU, I would certainly welcome any adventure that features the strong bond between Mabel and Dipper, and how they have each other's backs no matter what weirdness comes up.

Thank you so much! I am so eager to see what you write!

Much love and gratitude,

Katie

yuletide!

Previous post Next post
Up