YULETIDE 2008! \0/
Dear Yuletide Santa,
First and foremost: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for signing up this year to take on one of your many obscure fannish interests by way of some random chick's wishes. I can't WAIT to see what you come up with, oh my goodness!!!, so thank you thank you thank you! I do hope that at least one of my four prompts tickles your fancy!
This is my first time at yuletiding, so forgive me if I'm overzealous and long in this letter. PLEASE NOTE that if you don't like any of these suggestions, you could write about anything in these four fandoms, rlly, and I'd be bouncy-gleeful….
…FOR I LOVE ALL FOUR OF THESE FANDOM ON A LEVEL THAT IS QUITE EMBARRASSING.
Blade Runner and the Terminator and Alien series are my Big Three of my academic obsession of the ladiez of scifi; The Magic Flute is my first and FAVORITE opera with Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen being my best OMG-I'M-SO-ANGRY! therapy. So yes, I love these fandoms with ALL MY SOUL, omg. You can't go wrong, I will love anything set in these worlds!
THAT SAID: Here's my likes and dislikes:
I REALLY REALLY LIKE:
- Innocent characters facing crises and growing up to be fierce and fabulous by their experiences
- Exploring issues with the author's text, specifically plot holes, missing scenes, missing character motivations
- Alien-ness and the Other
- ROBOTS. ROBOTS WITH AAAAANGST. Characters that are Other and have BIG ISSUES with who they are and why they are what they are.
- Post apocalyptic setting
- Strong and interesting relationships, both romantic and otherwise
- Awesome villainy from well dressed villains; I specifically love a good B-movie-esque evil temptress woman character
- Chosen one/Protectoress is a favorite otp trope of mine. All great heroic leaderish men who are here to SAVE THE WORLD should be paired with a badass woman who will protect him.
- ERRR MY FAVORITE PLOT DEVICE IN THE WHOLE WORLD (which really has no place with these four prompts, but HERE IT IS ANYWAY) is Sociopath/Good Girl OTP where the Villain falls in love with the Heroine and kidnaps her and offers his heart, his throne, his life to her so that they WILL RULE THE GALAXY AS KING AND QUEEN OF EVIL AND AWESOME FOR ETERNITY. (oh man I love this plot device ALL OVER THE PLACE)
- Epic romance where it's just DESTINY but NOT EASY and I'd like to quote something that medie quotes in her yuletide letter: you want your romantic pairing to say "I can live without you, but I just don't want to."
- I love looooooooooooonging, hopeless longing from male characters who are in love with heroines (and I love it even more when it's finally consummated).
- Smut, if written well, is quite nice!
SO. There are some tropes that I love. If you look at my interests/icons you can get a better idea of the specifics that thrill me if that is useful to you
I have *no* idea if this will help or not, but these are three of my favorite fics:
- BSG, Eleusis (and by my God have I leaped over a wall) by fahye
- Narnia, Many and Beautiful Things by loki013
- Veronica Mars, '06 Bonnie and Clyde by sainfoin_fields
And favorites of my own are: here and here and here.
Things I really don't like:
- Boyslash, specifically really porny boyslash. Bromance is fabulous but I prefer it on screen than in the written word, howevez. No thanks!
- Describing a scene in the text as if you're writing a novelization of the movie/opera. I've seen it three hundred times already, don't spell it out for me again.
- Sweeney Todd (specifically: that level of intense darkness and insane/vengeful rape victims all over the place and lead characters that you just can't root for)
- On the other side of the spectrum: Kittens and unicorns.
- Femmeslash that's just there because OMG GIRLS TOGETHER WHOO or if it's extremely casual. (I do love it if GREAT EPIC ROMANCE is involved)
- When the lady characters are sidelined, ignored, avoided, and/or extremely badly written (I'm looking at you, SGA writers)
WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE HEART OF THIS LETTER:
I love strong, inspiring female characters. Women who are brilliant leaders with a firm, fierce soul and a mean left-hook. They don't play by the rules, they live in a man's world and they, in their own ways, combat that enforced patriarchy with their AWESOME. Which is not to say that they don't respect, love and protect menfolk (either their lovers, brothers, friends, bosses, enemies, etc); it's just that they don't let anything get in the way of their resolve, their intentions, their dreams.
I want to read about and watch these characters ALL THE TIME which is why I cordially request that you explore the lives and stories of either (and in no particular order):
- Zhora, a replicant trained for an off world kick murder squad (assassin?)
- Ellen Ripley, a space trucker turned survivor turned surrogate mother turned actual mother turned clone/alien hybrid
- Kate Brewster Connor, the human resistance's second in command and John Connor's wife
or
- The Queen of the Night, a goddess-type creature who commands great magic with a willful heart (and can hit notes in the freakin' straaaaaaaaatosphere)
FINALLY, THE OFFICIAL REQUESTS:
1) Blade Runner
Characters: Zhora, Any
This is perhaps the most flexible of requests because the canon for Zhora is so limited - and is especially why I want to know: What is Zhora’s story? Who is she? Tell me about her and her struggles and her desires and aspirations. How does she fit in her society? What’s her struggle with her not-human identity? How does she relate to the other characters, specifically her fellow replicants? What does the off-world worlds look and feel and taste like?
2) Aliens series (movie)
Characters: Ellen Ripley, and if you would (but if they don't fit, don't worry about it) Dwayne Hicks and Annalee Call
Ellen might be the hardest of the four prompts as there is four movies of canon and a bazillion years of her existence and the complexity of her story as the four movies (specifically the last two) don't jive well narratively speaking. So, beyond what we know and what we see in the films, what is Ellen Ripley's story? From glorified trucker to the first successful human/alien hybrid, she walks a strange path and rises above and beyond EVERY occasion, EVERY issue, EVERY new horror. I'd love to know more about her issues with her own identity as it CHANGES so abruptly and constantly. I'd love to know more about how she relates to the alien throughout the years. I'm most in love with the Ripley in Alien Resurrection as her identity is so turned on its head - Dallas and Hicks and Clemens would never recognize this person! Write me a story about her! Post-Alien Resurrection featuring her and Annalee Call would be AWESOME, but seriously, I'D LOVE ANYTHING featuring Ripley.
3) Terminator Universe (movies)
Characters: Kate Brewster and John Connor
Here's the deal. I sort of hate (sort of love?) Terminator 3 while loving the heck out of T1, T2 and SCC and OMFG I CANNOT WAIT FOR T4. So, I really don't mind if you pick and choose what canon lines you want to follow. Judgment Day happens whenever you'd like it to happen and however you'd like it to happen! So! Tell me Kate Brewster Connor's story and why it is that she marries John, is his trusted advisor, eventually takes over when he's killed! What molds her path, and how does she fit into the Connor-Reese Clan? And the question I really want the answer to is what is her opinion of John sending (a) Kyle Reese back in time and (b) reprogrammed Terminators back. Any SCC references would be appreciated!
Note: I ship both John/Cameron AND John/Kate pretty intensely, fyi, if that influences you at all!
4) The Magic Flute aka Die Zauberflote
Characters: The Queen of the Night and featuring Sarastro, The Three Ladies and Pamina as they fit in your story if at all possible.
First, watch Erika Miklosa's fabulous performance of Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen from Julie Taymor's staging, featuring a really excellent English translation.
Okay. Now. Who is this crazy sociopathic chick? What is her story? Tell me about her romance with Sarastro (and/or others…?) What's her relationship with Pamina? What made her who she is? What happens to her at the end of the opera? The more mystical crazy myth stuff the better! She is so intense, so evil! So misunderstood (?) !
TO CONCLUDE, SWEET YULETIDE SANTA, these are all suggestions to tempt and inspire your creativity. As I said in the beginning, you could write anything in these four worlds and I will LOVE it.
Thank you for reading this, I know I got a bit long and ridiculous, eeep. YOU'RE THE BEST!
Thank you and xo's,
Lizzen