Happy Yuletide!
Aug. 14th, 2013 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slippyDear author
While this letter ended up pretty long, rest assured the "optional details are optional" policy applies. I've given ideas I'd like to see, but take them at most as possible guidelines or inspiration rather than the absolute exact thing you must write. I'm easy to please, and I hope you have fun with what you want to write.
That said, there are a few things I'd really prefer not to have in the fic: gore, explicit or in-scene rape (references to it are fine, especially in cases where it's canon), humiliation, infidelity. Exception to the infidelity bit - for The Last Hero, the Lady Bride can sleep with whoever she likes if that's what you want to write. She was kidnapped, it's not like that's a committed relationship.
Depending on which fandom we matched on you might look at this letter and think oh no, she really wants Doom. That section is larger than the others only because the movie has a lot of little points I thought could be interesting to see explored, whereas with the others I'm interested in more particular things but no less sincere about wanting fic for them.
Doom (2005 movie)
Requested characters: Samantha Grimm, John Grimm, Goat, Duke
This movie hit some magical sweetspot of implied worldbuilding, asskicking and explosions, and interesting character sketches/interactions, and it all made me want more. Explore practically any of those aspects in relation to my listed characters and I'll be happy.
I like varying/contrasting/many explanations for Olduvai and Mars at large being in the state that they are. In the movie the monsters are all down to C-24, but throw in demons, or a dimensional rift, or more (living) aliens - anything. I'd also really like Sam and John to live and be reasonably okay, as at the end of the movie, regardless of who else lived or died.
Ideas:
Why does a Christian fanatic go with the nickname Goat when it has the obvious satanic connotations; how does the rest of the team react to his weirder moments?
Alternately, a Christian fanatic zombie. I.e, Goat doesn't re-kill himself once he wakes up and starts transforming, but wanders around half-aware of who he is and who he wants to be, and half-monstrous.
AU/childhood fic with "sensitive, empathetic" John, as Sam described him as being before joining the Marines. Possibly going into what happened to kill their parents and scare him off to Earth?
Duke/Samantha/John. yeah, I know. I have this rather regrettable thing where if a guy flirts horribly inappropriately and the woman's response is basically "lol", I tend to start shipping them. And Samantha and Duke spend a chunk of their screentime talking about John, which is an obvious thing to do and has no romantic connotations whatsoever, and yet suddenly I really wanted this ship anyway. I see it as the slight AU with: more brotherly Marine bonding under fire & paradigm-shifting discoveries + inappropriate sibling tensions that no one's really talking about in the light of all else that's going on + attraction and possibly, maybe, ever-so-slightly growing affection. (+ discovering wacky Martian mysteries that will shred you). And actually, the slightly greater AU of Samantha/Duke/sensitive, empathetic, non-Marine John would be ace.
So there was a thriving Martian civilisation, and the planet supported life and all. Did Sam/the Grimm parents ever uncover anything that indicated what happened to make it such a very dead planet?
Backstory with Duke and Destroyer, and how they grew up together. Especially if there is the opportunity for another cage match with Destroyer, because that one in the movie was pretty damn impressive.
Sarge and Reaper's history. Did John ever pick up hints of what Sarge could be?
Post-movie fic. Apparently we're all Martians since they used the portal to escape to Earth, so what are Samantha and John's opinion on that? And hiding John's enhancements, explaining why everyone else involved with the rescue mission is dead, etc.
Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones
Requested character: Flower-in-the-Night
Flower-in-the-Night charms me with her intense readiness to experience life in contrast to how little of it she's been allowed to experience. and when she has the opportunity to go for it, she goes for it!
I'd be interested in seeing her being a diplomat post-series as she visits all the princesses she got to know, or a slight AU where the Ingary crowd never comes into her life (and possibly, the same goes for the djinns) - though I don't mind at all if Abdullah does. I think they're adorable together and wouldn't mind shippiness. Then again, perhaps the future that was seen for her (that she'd marry the first man she ever saw aside from her dad) never comes true, and then what does she do? I'd like if there were fairytale-type magic in the story that gets its tropes gently subverted, in the manner of the rest of the series.
Crossover with other Diana Wynne Jones canons could be neat - Magidsverse, Eight Days of Luke, Dogsbody, The Homeward Bounders... If I don't have all the DWJ books then I'm close to it, so if this possibility sounds appealing then feel free to use any of them.
The Last Hero (a link to the poem)
Requested characters: The Last Hero, The Lady Bride
I'd enjoy this as a straightforward romp through epic battle and journeys and magic, or something of a subversion that goes into the abduction of the bride and maybe a bit of meta about what makes a "hero", anyway. The latter option could possibly go into the differences of back in the hero's day and when GK Chesterton was writing, or back in the day and the present. I love the poem and the Last Hero's unremitting delight, self-aggrandizement, and simple hedonism, but though it's a pretty standard trope for this kind of story, find the abduction of the Lady Bride creepy enough that it would be interesting to see the Hero as more of a villain.
It would also be great to see the story from the Lady Bride's side and what it took her to remain "imperial in duresse", especially if her point of view was in its own way epic like the Hero's. What does she do after the battle? Or perhaps something about why this is a story of the last hero, and what else faded out of the world.
I also really like the imagery. There are certain lines I'd be happy to see a story centered around, without even needing to refer much to the one broadly sketched in the poem if the inspiration takes you there:
Soon I Will Be Invincible
Requested characters: Fatale, Elphin
I'd really enjoy a case story or teamfic with a focus on these two, and if it was Elphin/Fatale, that would be great. While reading the book, it just hit me hard how Fatale was becoming more stable and genuinely open to other people at about the same time Elphin turned into a more fleshed-out character and also reached a point of transition in her life, and then I wanted them to continue getting to know each other and fight crime off-into-the-sunset together. Buddyfic with no shipping would also be cool - basically it's hard to beat a cyborg + fairy team-up where I'm concerned.
For individual options for the characters, I'd like basically anything about Elphin - the book from her POV, backstory exploration, or what's going to happen now that she's fulfilled her quest. Possibly alongside meta on the fantasy genre in the same way that the book commented on the comics genre. Or a story about what it's like being a magical being on a superhero team that's majority not-magical, just because I like that trope.
For Fatale I just kinda want happy endings. Not exactly, since her circumstances don't allow for easy fixes, but something where she continues to settle into her new life and works on her issues. I liked how the book tackled a semi-realistic take on being a formerly brainwashed cyborg soldier - while still having some fun with the out there wilds of comic book tropes - and it could be cool to see something new crop up with Fatale's cyborg parts that she has to deal with, whether it's an advantage, disadvantage, or bit of both.
While this letter ended up pretty long, rest assured the "optional details are optional" policy applies. I've given ideas I'd like to see, but take them at most as possible guidelines or inspiration rather than the absolute exact thing you must write. I'm easy to please, and I hope you have fun with what you want to write.
That said, there are a few things I'd really prefer not to have in the fic: gore, explicit or in-scene rape (references to it are fine, especially in cases where it's canon), humiliation, infidelity. Exception to the infidelity bit - for The Last Hero, the Lady Bride can sleep with whoever she likes if that's what you want to write. She was kidnapped, it's not like that's a committed relationship.
Depending on which fandom we matched on you might look at this letter and think oh no, she really wants Doom. That section is larger than the others only because the movie has a lot of little points I thought could be interesting to see explored, whereas with the others I'm interested in more particular things but no less sincere about wanting fic for them.
Doom (2005 movie)
Requested characters: Samantha Grimm, John Grimm, Goat, Duke
This movie hit some magical sweetspot of implied worldbuilding, asskicking and explosions, and interesting character sketches/interactions, and it all made me want more. Explore practically any of those aspects in relation to my listed characters and I'll be happy.
I like varying/contrasting/many explanations for Olduvai and Mars at large being in the state that they are. In the movie the monsters are all down to C-24, but throw in demons, or a dimensional rift, or more (living) aliens - anything. I'd also really like Sam and John to live and be reasonably okay, as at the end of the movie, regardless of who else lived or died.
Ideas:
Why does a Christian fanatic go with the nickname Goat when it has the obvious satanic connotations; how does the rest of the team react to his weirder moments?
Alternately, a Christian fanatic zombie. I.e, Goat doesn't re-kill himself once he wakes up and starts transforming, but wanders around half-aware of who he is and who he wants to be, and half-monstrous.
AU/childhood fic with "sensitive, empathetic" John, as Sam described him as being before joining the Marines. Possibly going into what happened to kill their parents and scare him off to Earth?
Duke/Samantha/John. yeah, I know. I have this rather regrettable thing where if a guy flirts horribly inappropriately and the woman's response is basically "lol", I tend to start shipping them. And Samantha and Duke spend a chunk of their screentime talking about John, which is an obvious thing to do and has no romantic connotations whatsoever, and yet suddenly I really wanted this ship anyway. I see it as the slight AU with: more brotherly Marine bonding under fire & paradigm-shifting discoveries + inappropriate sibling tensions that no one's really talking about in the light of all else that's going on + attraction and possibly, maybe, ever-so-slightly growing affection. (+ discovering wacky Martian mysteries that will shred you). And actually, the slightly greater AU of Samantha/Duke/sensitive, empathetic, non-Marine John would be ace.
So there was a thriving Martian civilisation, and the planet supported life and all. Did Sam/the Grimm parents ever uncover anything that indicated what happened to make it such a very dead planet?
Backstory with Duke and Destroyer, and how they grew up together. Especially if there is the opportunity for another cage match with Destroyer, because that one in the movie was pretty damn impressive.
Sarge and Reaper's history. Did John ever pick up hints of what Sarge could be?
Post-movie fic. Apparently we're all Martians since they used the portal to escape to Earth, so what are Samantha and John's opinion on that? And hiding John's enhancements, explaining why everyone else involved with the rescue mission is dead, etc.
Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones
Requested character: Flower-in-the-Night
Flower-in-the-Night charms me with her intense readiness to experience life in contrast to how little of it she's been allowed to experience. and when she has the opportunity to go for it, she goes for it!
I'd be interested in seeing her being a diplomat post-series as she visits all the princesses she got to know, or a slight AU where the Ingary crowd never comes into her life (and possibly, the same goes for the djinns) - though I don't mind at all if Abdullah does. I think they're adorable together and wouldn't mind shippiness. Then again, perhaps the future that was seen for her (that she'd marry the first man she ever saw aside from her dad) never comes true, and then what does she do? I'd like if there were fairytale-type magic in the story that gets its tropes gently subverted, in the manner of the rest of the series.
Crossover with other Diana Wynne Jones canons could be neat - Magidsverse, Eight Days of Luke, Dogsbody, The Homeward Bounders... If I don't have all the DWJ books then I'm close to it, so if this possibility sounds appealing then feel free to use any of them.
The Last Hero (a link to the poem)
Requested characters: The Last Hero, The Lady Bride
I'd enjoy this as a straightforward romp through epic battle and journeys and magic, or something of a subversion that goes into the abduction of the bride and maybe a bit of meta about what makes a "hero", anyway. The latter option could possibly go into the differences of back in the hero's day and when GK Chesterton was writing, or back in the day and the present. I love the poem and the Last Hero's unremitting delight, self-aggrandizement, and simple hedonism, but though it's a pretty standard trope for this kind of story, find the abduction of the Lady Bride creepy enough that it would be interesting to see the Hero as more of a villain.
It would also be great to see the story from the Lady Bride's side and what it took her to remain "imperial in duresse", especially if her point of view was in its own way epic like the Hero's. What does she do after the battle? Or perhaps something about why this is a story of the last hero, and what else faded out of the world.
I also really like the imagery. There are certain lines I'd be happy to see a story centered around, without even needing to refer much to the one broadly sketched in the poem if the inspiration takes you there:
- The heavens are bowed about my head, shouting like seraph wars (seraph wars sound awesome)
- Rains like the fall of ruined seas from secret worlds above
- You never loved your friends, my friends, as I shall love my foes.
- Ruffling the purple plumage of strange and secret seas.
- To see this fair earth as it is to me alone was given (taking it literally that this was a skill/gift/right given to him could be interesting)
- The skies I saw, the trees I saw after no eyes shall see (if the Last Hero somehow landed on a spaceship to see those strange skies, that would be neat.)
- You never laughed in all your life as I shall laugh in death.
Soon I Will Be Invincible
Requested characters: Fatale, Elphin
I'd really enjoy a case story or teamfic with a focus on these two, and if it was Elphin/Fatale, that would be great. While reading the book, it just hit me hard how Fatale was becoming more stable and genuinely open to other people at about the same time Elphin turned into a more fleshed-out character and also reached a point of transition in her life, and then I wanted them to continue getting to know each other and fight crime off-into-the-sunset together. Buddyfic with no shipping would also be cool - basically it's hard to beat a cyborg + fairy team-up where I'm concerned.
For individual options for the characters, I'd like basically anything about Elphin - the book from her POV, backstory exploration, or what's going to happen now that she's fulfilled her quest. Possibly alongside meta on the fantasy genre in the same way that the book commented on the comics genre. Or a story about what it's like being a magical being on a superhero team that's majority not-magical, just because I like that trope.
For Fatale I just kinda want happy endings. Not exactly, since her circumstances don't allow for easy fixes, but something where she continues to settle into her new life and works on her issues. I liked how the book tackled a semi-realistic take on being a formerly brainwashed cyborg soldier - while still having some fun with the out there wilds of comic book tropes - and it could be cool to see something new crop up with Fatale's cyborg parts that she has to deal with, whether it's an advantage, disadvantage, or bit of both.