Dear Yuletide Santa
Nov. 2nd, 2008 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragojustineOh my God, I WILL do some mini-nano writing before I sleep, but Yuletide signups opened and I am so excited I could die. For serious.
Dear Yuletide Santa,
First of all, thank you SO MUCH for agreeing to write me a present! I picked four fandoms I just love and crave fic in, and I hope you won't find my requests all impossible. I wasn't going to write a letter, but last year I saw some friends of mine freaking out because their recipients didn't, and I don't want to be difficult. So I shall go the "tell you what I love about these fandoms" route.
Earthsea series:
The first thing to know is that I am a book fan, and think the miniseries (and any other adaptation) is an abomination in the sight of the lord. I suspect you agree (or are saying, "what miniseries?" in which case I beg of you, do not watch it! Save yourself!). I love the beauty of LeGuin's prose, the deeply feminist and Taoist nature of her philosophy, the quiet empathy and humanity she suffuses all her work with. I love her conception of dragons (and what they say about freedom and civilization), I love the importance of language and names and learning in her world, and I love the backstory of myth and oral history she gave the Archipelago.
Slings&Arrows:
The best little show on television. As I said in my request: Banter and snark! Shakespeare, and Geoffrey's deep and abiding love of text and theater! Geoffrey Tenant is in a dead tie for the person I am most in love with in the entire world, simply because of the love and intensity and passion he brings to text.
Geoffrey is crazy, Ellen is narcissistic, Oliver is snarky, Richard is weak, Anna is lovable, Maria is bitchy, Darren is insufferable, and I love single every minute of interaction between them. The show did such a great job of creating some really unlikeable, nasty, borderline-psychotic people... and then making us love them SO MUCH. Het, slash, or gen. Bonus more specific prompt, if you want a jumping off place: Oliver totally had a thing for Darren. And Geoffrey and Darren totally had some kind of complicated thing, because that kind of love/hate intensity would appeal to the drama queens in both of them. And I'll bet THAT was a mess all around; it explains so much, right?
Rome:
Don't know what there is to say here except Vorenus/Pullo forever! I am an ancient Rome geek, and love the historical texture in the show and in my fic. I adore the way both Vorenus and Pullo are Roman men, not modern men shoved into an ancient setting; they have deep faith, in their own ways, in the gods and the traditions and the rituals of their time, and they hold many ideas and world views that we find distasteful but manage to be good and sympathetic men despite that. Vorenus is a wonderful tragic hero, strong but brittle, proud, not quite able enough to bend without breaking. Pullo forms the moral and emotional center of the show for me, with his big heart and limitless care and compassion beneath his rough exterior, and the intensity of love and boundless loyalty between them is beautiful.
But I love the historical characters as well! Antony drips sex, and I adore the way he uses it as a weapon; you can pair him with ANYBODY. Brutus is fascinatingly complex, Cicero is delightful in his rather weasel-like way, and I love the juxtaposition of sincerity and goodness with Machiavellian scheming in young Octavian's head.
You should note that I'm just about unsquickable (can you really be more horrifying than canon?) and I'm really all slash, all the time in this fandom. Het as well will not make me avert my eyes, though, and really intense friendshippy gen scratches pretty much the same itch.
Eyes:
I'm not ashamed to admit that I screamed like a little girl when I saw this on the fandoms list, because I thought I was the only person in the world who liked this show (apparently ABC thought so too). This post is pretty much my "Why I Love Eyes" manifesto, if you're interested. Mostly I think Chris is one of the all-time Good Characters. His relationship with Harlan avoids so many common traps; he's never forced into the role of stodgy antagonist, even as he has to play the mature one and restrain Harlan. Harlan, Jeff, and Trish are all far more complex characters than I ever expected. I love every minute of the snark all around.
I am a slasher, so obviously Harlan/Chris would make me a happy girl. Frankly, though, I think it's likely that while Chris is obviously devoted to Harlan, he is intelligent and together enough at this point in his life to realize that Harlan is a walking relationship disaster, and that he deserves a little more maturity than that. Which is to say that I can go either way, as long as their obvious loyalty and great bantery rapport remains intact.
I hope those were helpful rather than demanding; I'm sure that if you loved these fandoms enough to offer them, I'll love the story!
-DragoJustine, excitedly
Dear Yuletide Santa,
First of all, thank you SO MUCH for agreeing to write me a present! I picked four fandoms I just love and crave fic in, and I hope you won't find my requests all impossible. I wasn't going to write a letter, but last year I saw some friends of mine freaking out because their recipients didn't, and I don't want to be difficult. So I shall go the "tell you what I love about these fandoms" route.
Earthsea series:
The first thing to know is that I am a book fan, and think the miniseries (and any other adaptation) is an abomination in the sight of the lord. I suspect you agree (or are saying, "what miniseries?" in which case I beg of you, do not watch it! Save yourself!). I love the beauty of LeGuin's prose, the deeply feminist and Taoist nature of her philosophy, the quiet empathy and humanity she suffuses all her work with. I love her conception of dragons (and what they say about freedom and civilization), I love the importance of language and names and learning in her world, and I love the backstory of myth and oral history she gave the Archipelago.
Slings&Arrows:
The best little show on television. As I said in my request: Banter and snark! Shakespeare, and Geoffrey's deep and abiding love of text and theater! Geoffrey Tenant is in a dead tie for the person I am most in love with in the entire world, simply because of the love and intensity and passion he brings to text.
Geoffrey is crazy, Ellen is narcissistic, Oliver is snarky, Richard is weak, Anna is lovable, Maria is bitchy, Darren is insufferable, and I love single every minute of interaction between them. The show did such a great job of creating some really unlikeable, nasty, borderline-psychotic people... and then making us love them SO MUCH. Het, slash, or gen. Bonus more specific prompt, if you want a jumping off place: Oliver totally had a thing for Darren. And Geoffrey and Darren totally had some kind of complicated thing, because that kind of love/hate intensity would appeal to the drama queens in both of them. And I'll bet THAT was a mess all around; it explains so much, right?
Rome:
Don't know what there is to say here except Vorenus/Pullo forever! I am an ancient Rome geek, and love the historical texture in the show and in my fic. I adore the way both Vorenus and Pullo are Roman men, not modern men shoved into an ancient setting; they have deep faith, in their own ways, in the gods and the traditions and the rituals of their time, and they hold many ideas and world views that we find distasteful but manage to be good and sympathetic men despite that. Vorenus is a wonderful tragic hero, strong but brittle, proud, not quite able enough to bend without breaking. Pullo forms the moral and emotional center of the show for me, with his big heart and limitless care and compassion beneath his rough exterior, and the intensity of love and boundless loyalty between them is beautiful.
But I love the historical characters as well! Antony drips sex, and I adore the way he uses it as a weapon; you can pair him with ANYBODY. Brutus is fascinatingly complex, Cicero is delightful in his rather weasel-like way, and I love the juxtaposition of sincerity and goodness with Machiavellian scheming in young Octavian's head.
You should note that I'm just about unsquickable (can you really be more horrifying than canon?) and I'm really all slash, all the time in this fandom. Het as well will not make me avert my eyes, though, and really intense friendshippy gen scratches pretty much the same itch.
Eyes:
I'm not ashamed to admit that I screamed like a little girl when I saw this on the fandoms list, because I thought I was the only person in the world who liked this show (apparently ABC thought so too). This post is pretty much my "Why I Love Eyes" manifesto, if you're interested. Mostly I think Chris is one of the all-time Good Characters. His relationship with Harlan avoids so many common traps; he's never forced into the role of stodgy antagonist, even as he has to play the mature one and restrain Harlan. Harlan, Jeff, and Trish are all far more complex characters than I ever expected. I love every minute of the snark all around.
I am a slasher, so obviously Harlan/Chris would make me a happy girl. Frankly, though, I think it's likely that while Chris is obviously devoted to Harlan, he is intelligent and together enough at this point in his life to realize that Harlan is a walking relationship disaster, and that he deserves a little more maturity than that. Which is to say that I can go either way, as long as their obvious loyalty and great bantery rapport remains intact.
I hope those were helpful rather than demanding; I'm sure that if you loved these fandoms enough to offer them, I'll love the story!
-DragoJustine, excitedly