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Yuletide Dear Creator Letter
Oct. 14th, 2018 03:08 pmHello lovely creator! You're the best for making me a thing. I already know I'm going to love it. A bit more information about me, some of it copy/pasted from previous Dear Creator letters:
I am INTO: formidable yet complex women being formidable and complex together; clothes, fashion, and the storytelling potential of both those things; performative self-presentation; sex writing that is emotionally nuanced and/or ratchets up the narrative tension more than it resolves it; unreliable narrators; atmospheric settings; power dynamics that play out in unexpected ways; lovely turns of phrase; strong narrative voices, and weird narrative tricks.
I am NOT INTO: My huge, body-horror-level squick is pregnancy and babies; please avoid them if at all possible. Also I'd love it if you'd avoid animal cruelty or death.
Other than that, I'm up for pretty much whatever, including dub-con or even non-con as long as the treatment depicts them as such (i.e. doesn't confuse rape with consensual sex—though I do recognize, and enjoy exploring in fiction myself, the areas where issues of consent may be complicated). I write a ton of porn and I love to read and/or view it, but it's in no way required or expected. I also write a ton of stories in which a single person sits alone in a room worrying for thousands of words, so what I'm saying here is I enjoy a range of media.
Feel free to disregard fandom-specific ramblings; but if you're interested, I've gone into a bit more detail below. Thanks again for making me a thing! You rock. :-D
1. Only Lovers Left Alive (Eve, Adam)
I'm a Jim Jarmusch fangirl from way back, so of course the addition of Tilda Swinton and existential artist vampires got me even further on board a train in which I have already invested heavily (and on which I might already own a compartment). In all Jarmusch's stuff I love the quality of the dialogue and the humor: dry, understated, yet with an edge of the bizarre and unexpected. (Another filmmaker I enjoy is David Lynch, so plainly I'm all about the eerie or curious non sequitur.)
Dynamics I love about this canon: The potential for exploring the historical backstory between these two characters—or the backstory of just one of them (this seems like it has lots of potential for a visual-art application as well as for written fiction). I really appreciate that have been periods when Adam and Eve were off doing their own things, not necessarily together (for example, when Adam was apparently hangin' with Byron!), but that they then come back together periodically to shore up themselves and their connection. As mentioned above, I love the the dialogue: its oddity (Eve's comment about fungi, for example) but also the way it illustrates so self-evidently the shared history and level of comfort and understanding between these two. I also love their commitment to art—anything that delves into Eve's centuries of literary exploration, and/or Adam's centuries of music-making, and/or the ways that those two vocations might inform each other, would be lovely.
2. The Good Place (Tahani Al-Jamil)
I liked a lot of things about the second season of The Good Place, but was disappointed by the lack of development for Tahani. I'd really just like to spend some more time with her, whether it builds on the (as I write this) unfolding back-on-Earth plotline of Season 3, or goes into one of the failed versions of her time in the fake Good Place, or a snippet of the time she spent in the real Bad Place in that adorable disguise, doing that amazing John Wayne impression, omg. I do ship Tahani/Eleanor, so if you want to go that direction I'd definitely be into it; but if not, I'd be just as excited for any kind of Tahani-centric character study.
Dynamics I love about this canon: everyone is an asshole. (Really: feel free to play up the horrible qualities of every character on this show.) Yet, despite being assholes they come to genuinely care about each other, and I enjoy watching that progression play out. In particular the Eleanor/Tahani progression from enemies to frenemies to friends melts my heart, as does Eleanor's frank admission that their dynamic is weird yet precious. I mentioned it before but Tahani's short-haired John Wayne-ish American persona just kills me dead. I love the density of the banter, and the clever visual gags (for example: the rotating cast of frozen yogurt/clam chowder/what-have-you restaurants in the Neighborhood.) And really, although Tahani's my favorite I love all the characters: Michael's obsession with human fallibility; Chidi's extremely relatable nervous indecisiveness; Janet's frank and cheerful, yet immovable, demeanor even in the face of probable disaster.
Since I know a lot of the above is more helpful to a writer than a visual artist, here are some specifically visual things I love about this show: the Tahani/Eleanor height difference; Tahani's dresses; Tahani's short-haired American Bad Place altar ego; the bright color palette; the wonderful absurdity of that montage where Eleanor is realizing over & over that they're in the bad place (balloons; pigs; bees; monks, etc.).
3. GLOW (Carmen Wade, Rhonda Richardson, Yolanda Rivas, Arthie Premkumar)
What I really wanted out of the first two seasons of GLOW was less focus on Ruth/Debbie (and WAY less focus on Sam), and more fleshed-out narratives for the wide, diverse cast of female characters. In particular, Carmen deserves so much more excavation and personal growth than the writers have so far given her. Carmen is the knowledge base of the operation and a compulsive people-pleaser; what does that mean for HER? It's pretty clear her background being outshone and walked all over by her brothers contributes to the way she is with other people, but I'd love a closer look at this or a look at her starting to break out of this pattern. On a shippier note, it is easy for me to read her dynamic with Rhonda as having the potential for closeness, whether romantic/sexual or not. I'd love a look at the rest of their night after Bash ditched them at the gay bar, for example! But really anything to do with Carmen would be A+.
The other characters I crave more of in canon are Yoyo and Arthie; the evolution of their relationship felt rushed, and I would love a snapshot of either one of them, at any point in the process, or a more leisurely look at the evolution of their dynamic. Or a look at the future of their relationship would be great too! If you don't want to go a shippy route, I'd love anything about Yoyo: her life as a queer Latina stripper, her dynamic with her bartender ex who she likes to antagonize; wherever you want to go with this, I will love it.
Dynamics I love about this canon: The over-the-top outfits and makeup, obviously (I think everyone who is into this show must love the outfits). The complex dynamics amongst many different female characters, which often encompass rage, pettiness, and taking each other for granted, but which also encompass tenderness and support. I love it when the women are able to wrest some creative control away from the men, and I love how viscerally rewarding they obviously find that. Yoyo's and Arthie's facial expressions during that scene at the stripclub were also fan-freaking-tastic.
4. Sneaky Pete (Marius Josipovic, Maggie Murphy)
I love a heist/con plot and this show may be my favorite ever addition to the genre. All the characters are such self-involved trainwrecks, out for number one, and yet somehow they end up entangled in ways that (arguably) add value to one another's lives. I only listed Maggie and Marius in my character request, and they are my favorites (and I ship the two of them like whoa, if you're inclined to go that route), but really I love all the characters on this show, so if you're inclined more toward an ensemble scene or story, I would eat that up as well. Other particular faves include Audrey (her compulsive suspicion; her prickliness; her stubborn refusal to apologize or forgive); Carly (surly teen delinquent in the making); Gina (pulled into yet more cons against her will); Marjorie (the struggle of knowing Marius is real, and also I love her bookshop cover).
With Marius, I love how he is constantly put-upon about the elaborate binds in which he finds himself, even though those binds are all the direct results of actions he himself has taken. With Maggie, I love how controlled she is, and how morally ambiguous: she plays her cards so close to the chest and she never breaks character, and so the viewer is guessing at who she really is and what her game is just as much as the other characters are. With the dynamic between the two of them, whether you interpret it sexually or not, it's pretty plain that Marius is alternately intensely frustrated and absolutely delighted to come across another person better at his own game than he is. At any given moment he's never sure whether Maggie is conning him or not, but he absolutely knows she could be, and that is super compelling for him. And even though she's more circumspect, I think it's pretty plain that she feels some of the same recognition when she works with him. I'd love any kind of exploration of that: running a con together, feeling each other out. Or navigating the prickly fallout with her family. Or some combination of the above! I have a weakness for horrible dinner parties in fiction, which I'm just throwing out there because this canon seems like a natural fit.
Dynamics I love about this canon: All the found family feels. Which is funny because really it's more like "stolen family," but it still gets me in the gut. Other than that, I think I more or less covered it above. For visual art, anything with Marius and Maggie on a con job, or an awkward Murphy family meal, or an out-take scene from an episode... really anything with Maggie and Marius I will love!
I am INTO: formidable yet complex women being formidable and complex together; clothes, fashion, and the storytelling potential of both those things; performative self-presentation; sex writing that is emotionally nuanced and/or ratchets up the narrative tension more than it resolves it; unreliable narrators; atmospheric settings; power dynamics that play out in unexpected ways; lovely turns of phrase; strong narrative voices, and weird narrative tricks.
I am NOT INTO: My huge, body-horror-level squick is pregnancy and babies; please avoid them if at all possible. Also I'd love it if you'd avoid animal cruelty or death.
Other than that, I'm up for pretty much whatever, including dub-con or even non-con as long as the treatment depicts them as such (i.e. doesn't confuse rape with consensual sex—though I do recognize, and enjoy exploring in fiction myself, the areas where issues of consent may be complicated). I write a ton of porn and I love to read and/or view it, but it's in no way required or expected. I also write a ton of stories in which a single person sits alone in a room worrying for thousands of words, so what I'm saying here is I enjoy a range of media.
Feel free to disregard fandom-specific ramblings; but if you're interested, I've gone into a bit more detail below. Thanks again for making me a thing! You rock. :-D
1. Only Lovers Left Alive (Eve, Adam)
I'm a Jim Jarmusch fangirl from way back, so of course the addition of Tilda Swinton and existential artist vampires got me even further on board a train in which I have already invested heavily (and on which I might already own a compartment). In all Jarmusch's stuff I love the quality of the dialogue and the humor: dry, understated, yet with an edge of the bizarre and unexpected. (Another filmmaker I enjoy is David Lynch, so plainly I'm all about the eerie or curious non sequitur.)
Dynamics I love about this canon: The potential for exploring the historical backstory between these two characters—or the backstory of just one of them (this seems like it has lots of potential for a visual-art application as well as for written fiction). I really appreciate that have been periods when Adam and Eve were off doing their own things, not necessarily together (for example, when Adam was apparently hangin' with Byron!), but that they then come back together periodically to shore up themselves and their connection. As mentioned above, I love the the dialogue: its oddity (Eve's comment about fungi, for example) but also the way it illustrates so self-evidently the shared history and level of comfort and understanding between these two. I also love their commitment to art—anything that delves into Eve's centuries of literary exploration, and/or Adam's centuries of music-making, and/or the ways that those two vocations might inform each other, would be lovely.
2. The Good Place (Tahani Al-Jamil)
I liked a lot of things about the second season of The Good Place, but was disappointed by the lack of development for Tahani. I'd really just like to spend some more time with her, whether it builds on the (as I write this) unfolding back-on-Earth plotline of Season 3, or goes into one of the failed versions of her time in the fake Good Place, or a snippet of the time she spent in the real Bad Place in that adorable disguise, doing that amazing John Wayne impression, omg. I do ship Tahani/Eleanor, so if you want to go that direction I'd definitely be into it; but if not, I'd be just as excited for any kind of Tahani-centric character study.
Dynamics I love about this canon: everyone is an asshole. (Really: feel free to play up the horrible qualities of every character on this show.) Yet, despite being assholes they come to genuinely care about each other, and I enjoy watching that progression play out. In particular the Eleanor/Tahani progression from enemies to frenemies to friends melts my heart, as does Eleanor's frank admission that their dynamic is weird yet precious. I mentioned it before but Tahani's short-haired John Wayne-ish American persona just kills me dead. I love the density of the banter, and the clever visual gags (for example: the rotating cast of frozen yogurt/clam chowder/what-have-you restaurants in the Neighborhood.) And really, although Tahani's my favorite I love all the characters: Michael's obsession with human fallibility; Chidi's extremely relatable nervous indecisiveness; Janet's frank and cheerful, yet immovable, demeanor even in the face of probable disaster.
Since I know a lot of the above is more helpful to a writer than a visual artist, here are some specifically visual things I love about this show: the Tahani/Eleanor height difference; Tahani's dresses; Tahani's short-haired American Bad Place altar ego; the bright color palette; the wonderful absurdity of that montage where Eleanor is realizing over & over that they're in the bad place (balloons; pigs; bees; monks, etc.).
3. GLOW (Carmen Wade, Rhonda Richardson, Yolanda Rivas, Arthie Premkumar)
What I really wanted out of the first two seasons of GLOW was less focus on Ruth/Debbie (and WAY less focus on Sam), and more fleshed-out narratives for the wide, diverse cast of female characters. In particular, Carmen deserves so much more excavation and personal growth than the writers have so far given her. Carmen is the knowledge base of the operation and a compulsive people-pleaser; what does that mean for HER? It's pretty clear her background being outshone and walked all over by her brothers contributes to the way she is with other people, but I'd love a closer look at this or a look at her starting to break out of this pattern. On a shippier note, it is easy for me to read her dynamic with Rhonda as having the potential for closeness, whether romantic/sexual or not. I'd love a look at the rest of their night after Bash ditched them at the gay bar, for example! But really anything to do with Carmen would be A+.
The other characters I crave more of in canon are Yoyo and Arthie; the evolution of their relationship felt rushed, and I would love a snapshot of either one of them, at any point in the process, or a more leisurely look at the evolution of their dynamic. Or a look at the future of their relationship would be great too! If you don't want to go a shippy route, I'd love anything about Yoyo: her life as a queer Latina stripper, her dynamic with her bartender ex who she likes to antagonize; wherever you want to go with this, I will love it.
Dynamics I love about this canon: The over-the-top outfits and makeup, obviously (I think everyone who is into this show must love the outfits). The complex dynamics amongst many different female characters, which often encompass rage, pettiness, and taking each other for granted, but which also encompass tenderness and support. I love it when the women are able to wrest some creative control away from the men, and I love how viscerally rewarding they obviously find that. Yoyo's and Arthie's facial expressions during that scene at the stripclub were also fan-freaking-tastic.
4. Sneaky Pete (Marius Josipovic, Maggie Murphy)
I love a heist/con plot and this show may be my favorite ever addition to the genre. All the characters are such self-involved trainwrecks, out for number one, and yet somehow they end up entangled in ways that (arguably) add value to one another's lives. I only listed Maggie and Marius in my character request, and they are my favorites (and I ship the two of them like whoa, if you're inclined to go that route), but really I love all the characters on this show, so if you're inclined more toward an ensemble scene or story, I would eat that up as well. Other particular faves include Audrey (her compulsive suspicion; her prickliness; her stubborn refusal to apologize or forgive); Carly (surly teen delinquent in the making); Gina (pulled into yet more cons against her will); Marjorie (the struggle of knowing Marius is real, and also I love her bookshop cover).
With Marius, I love how he is constantly put-upon about the elaborate binds in which he finds himself, even though those binds are all the direct results of actions he himself has taken. With Maggie, I love how controlled she is, and how morally ambiguous: she plays her cards so close to the chest and she never breaks character, and so the viewer is guessing at who she really is and what her game is just as much as the other characters are. With the dynamic between the two of them, whether you interpret it sexually or not, it's pretty plain that Marius is alternately intensely frustrated and absolutely delighted to come across another person better at his own game than he is. At any given moment he's never sure whether Maggie is conning him or not, but he absolutely knows she could be, and that is super compelling for him. And even though she's more circumspect, I think it's pretty plain that she feels some of the same recognition when she works with him. I'd love any kind of exploration of that: running a con together, feeling each other out. Or navigating the prickly fallout with her family. Or some combination of the above! I have a weakness for horrible dinner parties in fiction, which I'm just throwing out there because this canon seems like a natural fit.
Dynamics I love about this canon: All the found family feels. Which is funny because really it's more like "stolen family," but it still gets me in the gut. Other than that, I think I more or less covered it above. For visual art, anything with Marius and Maggie on a con job, or an awkward Murphy family meal, or an out-take scene from an episode... really anything with Maggie and Marius I will love!
