YULETIDE SANTA LETTER

[wakeupnew]

HI NEW SANTA. I don't know if you'll actually see this, if you've already looked this way, but I just wanted to say thank you, so so much, for agreeing to do this at the last moment. Eleventh hour pinch hits are terrifying, I know, and I really appreciate this. I also just wanted to say that my letter is kind of psychotic, because I was really excited (and I did not write very much at all, especially anything specific, in my letter last year, so this year, I apparently decided to go as far as possible in the opposite direction), so seriously -- I am not as picky as the letter probably makes it seem. I am, however, as excitable as it probably makes me sound, so trust me: I will love anything that you write for me. Thank you! I hope you're not stressing too much!

I signed up for yuletide today. Yay! Most of the beginning of my letter is recycled from last year, but with added fandom specificity. BWEE.

(No, I am not giddy; why do you ask?)

Dear Santa:

Hi! Thank you so much for signing up for Yuletide, and for writing my request. Just a few notes about my likes, though really, I'm utterly delighted to be receiving fic in any of these underappreciated fandoms, and I am very Not Picky. The following is me rambling a bit about my general tastes because I already gave what few ideas I had in the prompts, but really, if you throw the prompt to the wind, I am not going to mind all that much.

I'll read gen, het, slash, femslash -- anything, essentially, though I do tend toward canon pairings these days. I ordinarily don't mind sex scenes, but with the fandoms that I gave -- I am a little unsure. However, if it's really going to work and advance the plot and etc., do it! My fandoms are not all children's books this year! So I am down with sex scenes, as long as they're tasteful and, you know, their inclusion makes sense. Your artistic judgement is clearly what's important here.

What's important to me are characters and voices. Involved plot is, like, sprinkles on top of the icing on the cake. It adds a lovely consistency and a satisfying crunch, and I love how colorful it is and how it ties everything together in a cohesive way, but I can totally eat cake without it. Honestly, I can eat frosting out of the can with a spoon, but that's neither here nor there. My point is -- characters, voices, little moments, love them.

I like realism and I live for subtlety. That said, little humorous bits, banter, a good one-liner -- I'm a sucker for humor. I love when pieces are true to the tone of the original source material (I would say 'even if that means dark and broody,' but I really don't think any of my fandoms qualify!). I am also occasionally a sucker for dark humor, and always, always for strong women blowing shit up.

Not -- that my fandoms reflect this in a REALLY BIG WAY, or anything. *rueful*

Dislikes: incest, nonconsensual sex, sex of dubious consent, character bashing, excessive (and out of character!) weepiness.

My fandoms!

Hellboy (movie)
Hellboy, Liz Sherman

I only checked off Hellboy and Liz on the characters form, because they're MY FAVORITES / the two who I absolutely want to see no matter what, but I would love a story that incorporates Abe and/or Broom and/or Myers and/or Johann and/or -- well, you get the drift, depending on the time period.

I'm not necessarily looking for a romance-centered story (though I'd be happy with that, too!), though something that takes into account the fact that they totally love each other would make me happy. A case-fic from while they're still with the BPRD would be cool (if you need ideas for monsters, you know what are terrifying? WENDIGOS). A 'day in the life' sort of fic, or how Myers got sent to Antarctica, or Liz moving in, or ANYTHING, SERIOUSLY; my main request is for a strong, capable Liz. Mad bonus points for Liz saving Hellboy's butt in some way or another.

Another option that would be cool: backstory. I think that the Pittsburgh incident is referenced in the movie (though now I can't remember for sure), and I've always been fascinated by it. Here's what del Toro's biography of Liz on the DVD says on the subject:

2002, BRADDOCK TOWN, PA.
An abandoned steel town outside of Pittsburgh. Six BPRD agents enter the shell of a foundry. Demonic entities in the basement take possession of several of the agent's bodies. They fight back. So does Liz, but something is triggered inside her that cannot be contained. In spite of her warnings and the swift reaction of everybody around her, a mile-wide explosion takes place. Only two survivors: Liz and Hellboy.

Publicly, Liz is charged as an arson suspect. The cover works and the investigation is quickly buried. Nevertheless, Liz feels it is time to go. This time is harder, both for her and Hellboy. This time, she has him on her mind.

Or go your own way! I am basically throwing all the ideas ever that I have had for fics (but have never gotten around to writing) at you. These are just ideas! As I mentioned above -- honestly, any sort of a Hellboy/Liz fic would be a dream.

(I have read some of the comics [and still prefer the movies, like the philistine I am], so if you want to work in references, go for it!)

Iron Man (comic)
Bethany Cabe, Jim Rhodes aka Rhodey aka War Machine, Rae LaCoste, Tony Stark aka Iron Man

I basically just went through and checked off my four favorite characters. I know that they're not necessarily all in the comic at the same time, so I completely don't expect them all to be in the story! My one request is for a Rhodey-centric story. He is, hands down, my absolute favorite Iron Man character, and maybe my favorite comics character in general, and very few things would make me happier than a story about Rhodey at some point while he's wearing the armor, whether it's Iron Man or War Machine. I love Rhodey/Rae and Tony/Bethany, but I am not against Rhodey/Tony, either (point of fact: I love it, too). Honestly, you could have Rhodey and zero other characters, and I would be thrilled.

I love '80s and '90s Iron Man canon; I haven't read anything past 1996 or so, other than the current Iron Man War Machine: Director Weapon of SHIELD arc. I would totally get a kick out of a story based on Extremis or Civil War or something like that, though I wouldn't really understand a lot (or, well, okay, any) of the references. So I'd prefer a story based on older canon, if at all possible, but if it isn't, A) IT'S ALL GOOD, I really just want a Rhodey story, and B) well, it's an excuse for me to go buy comics, isn't it? :DDDDD

Run, Fatboy, Run
Dennis Doyle, Elizabeth Olivia O'Dell aka Libby, Gordon, Jake O'Dell

This is one of those fandoms where I love it and I really just want there to be fic for it that I didn't write. What I loved about this movie: how sweet Dennis was at heart, under what an ass he acted, and how sad and lonely he was without Libby; Dennis and Jake's relationship; how firm Libby was; that Gordon A) was hilarious and B) really cared for his best friend and his cousin under all that apathy and nuttiness and self-centeredness; the fabulous sense of the city that I got. It felt like real London, rather than the touristy bits you usually see on TV and in movies, at least in the U.S. I lived in southeast London last year, and it made me really happy to see places like Hackney and Hampstead Heath (which is, okay, not so much southeast London) featured so prominently.

Anything involving some combination of Dennis, Libby, Jake, and Gordon would delight me!

Burn Notice
Fiona Glenanne, Michael Westen, Sam Axe

I would love to see a story going over Michael and Fiona's Irish backstory; how they met, how their relationship worked, and how it went down when it all went bad and Michael had to leave. Crazy, crazy bonus points for somehow working in even a mention of Sam, who is actually my favorite character. If that doesn't work out for you, a Miami case-fic would be very cool, too; I love the episodes where the crew has to don accents and sunglasses and disguises. And whatever you wind up doing, Fiona + explosives and/or heavy assault weapons = GOLD.

Side note: As someone from New England who spends a good chunk of her year in Massachusetts, Michael Westen's Boston accent is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. It's almost as good as his New York/New Jersey accent in the one where he plays a con artist, where he sounds so much like this.

Again, thank you, Santa, and if you think this was a lot of flailing and capslock, rest assured, there will be at least three times this much headed your way come December!

Comments

[nepheliad.livejournal.com]

I ... am not even doing Yuletide and don't write fanfic anymore and suddenly really want to write Hellboy/Liz case-fic! Involving wendigos!

[wakeupnew]

... !!! AHHHHHHH DO IT. I want to see it written so badly!

[tiltingheartand]

I LOVE MICHAEL WESTEN'S ACCENTS LIKE I LOVE LIFE.

[wakeupnew]

ME TOO. SO HILARIOUS.

[hockeyiris.livejournal.com]

Ok, so I was just playing around and stumbled across this and I had to giggle because you've got hellboy AND burn notice on there.

I *ADORE* Burn Notice. I'm starting to count the days until the new eps instead of the weeks. I love that Jeffrey is from Mass and he does all the crazy accents, but you still hear hints of it in Michael and I love him so incredibly much.

I also love what you said about the Pittsburgh thing because I've never read that and it's really interesting and making me think of things that I should not be thinking. I've been writing too much Burn Notice and Hellboy as it is, I don't need to do more.

Anyway, sorry for the random drop-in, but Burn Notice gets so very little love that I had to comment about it.

[wakeupnew]

Random drop-ins are love! Sadly, this is my only Burn Notice icon. XD

I love the show, too! I got totally hooked over this summer. It'll feel pretty weird watching it over January, since it was always my summer show, but I think I'll deal somehow! Especially since, you know, NEW BURN NOTICE. I had no idea that Donovan was from Massachusetts! I don't know now if that makes his Boston accent funnier or inexcusable! :D

I'm pretty fascinated by the Pittsburgh incident; I've got a ton of ideas rambling around about it in my head, though I'm lazy and have never finished any of them. Guillermo del Toro has all this fascinating extra information on the DVD's; it's great! There is no such thing as writing too much Burn Notice and Hellboy. :DDD

[hockeyiris.livejournal.com]

But it's an awesome icon! Because that was adorable when Michael did that. Poor boy.

I choose to believe the accents are over the top on purpose. It's funnier listening to him speak normally and still end up with a few little goofs. (he dropped the R in hard in one episode and I giggled because my favorite hockey player is from Boston and he can't say hard with the R to save his life). Fiona's actress is British and was using the Irish accent at first, so that was amusing in and of itself as well.

I got hooked in the summer too. Then got the first season DVDs and managed to get the others for season two put on my hard drive on my PS3. Then, of course, I hooked my parents and that was pretty amusing.

I've written two Burn Notice, two Burn Notice crossovers, and one tiny Hellboy that I've actually posted. I've got another dozen spinning around in my head and now that I finished my own Yuletide (first time ever to do Yuletide, kind of proud of myself) I might have to end up writing more.

But you should write yours too. Small fandoms totally need the extra love.

[wakeupnew]

I know! But it's a crankyface icon, and I was not making a crankyface. XD

Oh, God, Gabrielle Anwar's accents are so atrocious. The one where she affects a southern accent? Holy yikes. Of course, I'm not the biggest fan of her as Fiona in the first place, so I may be biased. And I totally hooked my parents, too! They haven't seen season 2 yet, though, because they refuse to watch things on computers and obviously the DVD isn't out yet.

I realized right after I responded to your first comment that my request had not been filled and I was thus on the pinch hit and Yuletide treat lists (which is probably how you found this post, now that I think about it; I was very surprised, at first!); it's a little disheartening, but the good thing is that last year, the same thing happened to me, and I wound up with four beautiful Mary Poppins stories! So on the up side, my prompts are out there for the world to see (and someone brave and kind volunteered to write me something at the last second), and I'm kind of hoping that this means more awesome Hellboy and/or Burn Notice fic in the world at large!

(You should totally be proud! Yuletide's a commitment and an experience, and the first one's super exciting.)

I may try my hand at some of my ideas, after the Yuletide rush is after; at the moment, I'm working on about a million treats based on other people's ideas. :D

[hockeyiris.livejournal.com]

I hadn't wanted to say how I made it here, honestly. Didn't want to spoil things. But I did see you on it and I was so very tempted to try it, but my fics are usually well below the 1000 word limit and I worked my ass off just to get up to it for this.

I'm waiting for Madness to try my hand at ficlets that catch my fancy without the OMG 1000 WORDS panic I got into.

[wakeupnew]

Very kind of you to spare me! I'm on the pinch hit list, though, so I saw it when I read my email this afternoon. XD I'm going to friend you, if that's cool!

I'm excited for Madness! I'm already getting to work on stories for it and lining them up for Tuesday's upload. :D

[hockeyiris.livejournal.com]

Totally cool!

I don't have enough Burn Notice and Hellboy friends!

In fact... you'll bring my total up to two.