Dear Yuletide Author <3
First of all, whoever you are, thanks in advance! :D
Second of all, I’ve never done Yuletide before, so I’m pretty nervous about cocking something up. Everyone’s seems to be pretty nice though, so I’m sure somebody will help me if I accidentally embarrass myself in some way. That probably isn’t relevant at all to you, but it’s hard writing a letter to a stranger, so I figure the easiest way to do it is if I pretend I already know you.
How’ve you been, then?
Anyway, you probably aren’t going to find much of anything useful about me on this LJ, or anything else really, because I can’t ever keep up with writing a journal or anything like that. Maybe you’re the same? I know I’m not the only person like that. There isn’t even much fanfiction on here, because as much I love writing fanfic I usually don’t post it anywhere because I flit from fandom to fandom like a butterfly on Ritalin, and I’m always just a little bit scared that if I start posting fic somewhere in some community or something, I’ll leave the fandom and then I’ll feel all awkward.
I’ve enabled anonymous comment posting, so if you fancy a bit of a chat then feel free :D
Honestly (like most other people participating, I imagine) I will be happy with pretty much whatever I get, but that’s not very helpful. So, I go for slash mostly, but I’m certainly not opposed to het or femmeslash- there’s plenty of love to go around, IMO.
Usually, I like angst, hurt/comfort, I’m down with sex and violence too, and I like seeing power struggles and that sort of thing- the relationships between characters with strong personalities.
On the other side of the coin I love a good romance, so long as it’s got some backbone to it and everyone’s IC. I absolutely love it when ridiculous ideas are written dead seriously, and when jokes are slipped into smut or other serious pieces. I also love when fics reference other movies (sometimes when I write for a character, I’ll slip in a line of dialogue from one of the actor’s other films, to see if anyone gets it), and other silly little things like that.
There isn’t much I wouldn’t like to see so long as it’s appropriate to the canon, but I’m not a fan of any extreme kinks. Also, I don’t like deathfic unless it’s canon, but then again, with my fandoms, it frequently is.
Fandom specifics!
League Of Gentlemen
(Pauline/Bernice/Cathy Carter-Smith/ Ross)
League is seriously one of my most favourite things ever. I’m 20 now and I remember watching series one when it was first on TV, when I would have been about seven I have no idea why my dad let me have anything to do with it, come to think of it...
All the characters are fantastic and I would honestly love fic of any of them (even the obscure ones like Iris. Even the really obscure ones like Judith Buckle. Even Pop, who frightens me.) and I’ve probably written fic about most of them, in one form or another.
Anyway, one thing I love about League is the way Pauline got paired up with, what? Four different characters in various different canons? Mickey, Ross, Bernice and Cathy Carter-Smith. I’m dying to read something about her romantic exploits. I bet she’s a real tiger.
Reservoir Dogs
I have this obsession with Steve Buscemi. I think he’s just so badass. So I decided that I was going to watch as many of his films as I could this summer, and was part way through the list when I saw Reservoir Dogs. It was one of those films where I could tell after the first thirty seconds that I was going to love it, and then the opening credits faded to Mister Orange screaming and rolling around in his own blood, and I knew I was in for something really special.
I’m totally fascinated by the homosexuality in it. It’s totally canon, in my opinion.
The kicker, for me, is that there’s a shot of a painting of Saint Sebastian in Joe Cabot’s office. There’s only one reason why you’d ever reference Saint Sebastian today, and that’s to imply homosexuality. It’s in shot when Eddie and Blonde hug in Joe’s office. I’m dying for some Eddie/Blonde (because this fandom is all about the White/Orange), and I’d love some sort of story explaining where that print of Saint Sebastian came from and why it’s hanging in that office.
Make it smutty if you feel like it, because both Eddie and Blonde are very handsome men. Or not, because that’s fine too, but I’d definitely like some light-hearted stuff mixed with some not-so-light-hearted stuff. Friendly banter contrasting with implied violence is what I like most about Reservoir Dogs.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
I watched this for the first time just before my birthday, at the beginning of November. I won’t lie to you, whoever you are- the only reason I watched it in the first place is because I seriously have the hots for Tim Roth and I wanted some eye candy. It was a birthday treat to myself- Gary Oldman and the period costumes were an added bonus. But I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it, and I would still love it even if Roth didn’t have one of the lead roles.
Anyway, after I watched it I thought I’d go read the script, which had me raising my eyebrows at the subtle/not-so-subtle gay in it. I find it hard not to ship Ros and Guil because they really only have each other, seeing as they’re never really sure of anything else. I’m a big one for the angst, don’t get me wrong, but seeing as their story is doomed to end badly every time, I like to see them relatively happy, at least for a little while. Also, if you really felt like writing Alfred into it I wouldn’t complain- I have a soft spot for Alfred.
Anything you can pull out of the air will be awesome because the whole fandom lends itself perfectly to everything I love in fic- there’s a potential of huge amounts of angst, tounge-in-cheek melodrama, hurt/comfort, cool period costumes, descriptive prose, slash, banter, smut, love, blood and rhetoric. Also there’s room for saucy Elizabethan puns, which are hilarious.
I think that’s it. This was pretty tricky to write, actually.
Thanks for reading, whoever you are. I hope this wasn’t too wordy, and I hope it was helpful, and I hope you get written something you really love.
All the very best-
MSMercy x