Amy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
brightknightie) wrote2021-06-19 12:29 pm
brightknightie) wrote2021-06-19 12:29 pm
Entry tags:
Dear Everywoman Author (2021)
Dear Everywoman Author:
Hi! Thank you for also being interested in these dear fandoms, and their wonderful women characters. I’m sure that whatever you most want to celebrate in these characters will make a lovely story! If you’d like more story thoughts from me, read on.
Some feelings across fandoms
I often love best stories with the feel of canon, whether as a scene or episode that could have been added seamlessly, or as a different choice or chance that would have branched and led somewhere wholly unlike where canon went, yet rooted in that original reality.
With a few exceptions, I usually prefer gen to romance. Mystery, drama, history, reflection, confrontation, growth, discovery, tragedy! (I opt in for tragedy including character death, as long as the loss is shown as meaningful to the survivors; I generally like stories of grief and continuing on.) And, of course, the quiet times between adventures! For romance, I have fairly vanilla tastes. Whether m/f or f/f in this exchange, I especially value fidelity, mutuality, and complementarity, where the parties each bring strengths and weaknesses to the relationship such as to grow stronger together than apart.
Where applicable, I especially love protagonists who incidentally, without thinking they’re doing something special, show that they value others highly — that is, not only their own loved ones, but the dignity and abundant life of all people, especially those on the margins.
Please do mix and match the requested characters with other appropriate characters to build your story!
On dislikes: Villains can be redeemed — and, in tragedies, can win! — but I don’t enjoy stories that defend or celebrate evil. (FK note: I understand vampirism as an evil.) I’m happy to follow two competing ideals pitted against each other, and to cry over a good that is lost; I don’t like to be asked to root for that which is wrong.
Some fandom & character-specific feelings
D&DC: Dungeons & Dragons (the ‘80s cartoon)
Overall: I’m intrigued by the possibilities of stories of our gang grown up, whether in the Realm or back here. I also love stories of them in the midst of growing up as they are in canon, and every kind of quest for or journey home or back to the Realm. (Any romance should please be age-appropriate, whether teenager or adult.)
I see Diana as almost equally their leader alongside Hank, but in action and “under fire” rather than in diplomacy. And while canon lightly suggests that her deepest fear is growing old, I find that too simplistic; I think Diana’s deepest fear is actually losing control of her physical body, her agility and strength, and I wonder what planted that fear. Diana is too neglected in fanfic, I feel; we need more celebration of Diana. (If you’d like romance, Eric/Diana and Kosar/Diana are most viable for me.)
Sheila is a counselor rather than a leader, and she generally counsels caution. But she is brave in her own ways. Such responsibility she puts on herself, to take care of Bobby! I imagine her worrying about Bobby forgetting what he learned in school, or what she’ll do if they’re still in the Realm when it’s time to talk to him about the birds and the bees. (If you’d like romance, Hank/Sheila and Eric/Sheila are most viable for me. I’d consider Reformed!Karena/Shelia if Karena lost her powers, so they would be less unequal.)
If you pick Terri, I would like most to know all about her necklace; I suspect that the heart-shaped pendant or locket, like the weapons of power and the healing net, comes from the Dragon’s Graveyard, and was somehow passed on or passed down by a pupil of Dungeon Master’s (or perhaps it was given to Terri on coming into the Realm as the other weapons were given to our gang, and she just didn't mention it on screen, and we didn't hear Dungeon Master name her class on screen, but she is actually a cleric or seer or something).
And for Varla, perhaps learning more about how Venger stole and kept her, and for how long (always in her white nightgown?) (any feelings/knowledge on Venger's part about girls from his having a sister?). Or perhaps Presto/Varla when they’re older, and the inevitable but worthwhile strains of coming from separate worlds.
HL: Highlander: The Series
Overall: I love the underlying fairy tale of the character who lives on and on, doomed to lose everyone and be alone, but astonishingly brave enough to go on and care again. I most enjoy the first two seasons, when there are more mortal than immortal characters and that theme is most present. (Interactions between immortal characters generally interest me less than mortal interactions by individual immortal characters.) I also love the historical content and parallels between past and present; humans are humans in every age. I also rather like swords and swordplay (I fence foil); this is not to say I support violence — I don’t — but I appreciate and respect the martial art.
Tessa is one of my favorite TV characters. I’m absolutely delighted to follow her in action or to mourn her and feel her loss to the uttermost. Perhaps a plot about her interactions with her agent, or commissions? Perhaps a plot as she researches for a sculpture? Perhaps she gets to rescue Duncan for a change? Or she counsels Richie through a disappointment? Or a take on her childhood and family or growing up? (Or romance! Duncan/Tessa is one of those happy exceptions where I eagerly seek romance stories.)
Grace fascinates me with her principled commitments about life and violence. She survives by the strength of her brain and heart, not her sword arm — yet she survives. In a sadder way, she also fascinates as such a strong woman who nevertheless found herself in an abusive relationship, as does happen.
Greta is the psychic from “The Darkness.” Duncan promised to tell her what happened; on screen, he never did. I’ve read one spectacular fanfic featuring Greta, but it’s also, I think, the only fanfic I’ve ever read with Greta. Surely there’s more to her?
For Anne, I’d be most interested in seeing more of her after she knows about Duncan’s immortality and remains, if tangentially, in his life. She made her choice about how to live her values; she didn’t stop caring, and neither did he. (If you like romance, Duncan/Anne is most viable for me.)
BSG78: Battlestar Galactica (the original)
Overall: In my imagination, since childhood, this canon always seems like it must actually be several seasons long, and I’ve just somehow missed many episodes between the ones I’ve seen. So many more stories must have happened in the little span of canon, as well as on from it in both directions.
Cassiopeia has become my favorite BSG78 character, as an adult. Her professional transition from socialator to medtech matters in complex ways for herself and her refugee society. Her layered understanding of Starbuck matters. (If you like romance, thoughtful Starbuck/Cassiopeia is dear to my heart. Cain/Cassiopeia is less something to celebrate, but absolutely something real.)
Serina was my favorite BSG78 character, as a child. Her professional transition from reporter to shuttle pilot seemed exciting then, but as an adult I question the progress of civilian life and civil society in the fleet. Did they not still need reporters? Alternately, her relationship with Boxey in the circumstances is something I haven’t seen explored. (Also, Serina/Apollo absolutely works for me.)
Ila of course has next to no canon presence, but likely we all have head-canon about her by now. I’d like to see a story from before the annihilation of the colonies, perhaps from her children’s childhoods, reconstructing her from her influence on them as we know them. Or perhaps a technological or psychological plot that confronts her adult children or Adama with her memory or presence?
Sheba, I never really liked or understood, until I read James’s Yuletide story about her relationship with her father. Now, I see her more deeply, and I’m interested in the struggles of being Cain’s daughter, and of the awkwardness of personal feelings she develops toward Apollo, and therefore involving Boxey, in the wake of Serina’s death and all the death of the annihilation of the Colonies.
YB: Young Blades
Overall: With only thirteen episodes, YB had barely found its feet before cancellation, but oh! So much potential! The back half of its little season lifted it up out of some early silliness toward a rich storytelling of historical adventure.
Jacqueline pushes many of my buttons, as a survivor grieving her parents and missing her brother, as a woman making a not-too-anachronistic entry into an historical man’s world in the only way she could, as a woman of faith, and as someone frequently choosing between goals — her mission on behalf of her king and country, her vengeance on behalf of her father and Mazarin’s other victims, and her own personal development and hopes.
Queen Anne, properly Anne of Austria as a real historical figure, seems foolish and superficial where it serves her, yet reveals herself as shrewd and deep in other moments. She’s holding power through her son, tenuously, and she has her own battles with Mazarin. Could she and Jacqueline ever trade secrets and work together? Or will their truths necessarily always be ships passing in the night?
FK: Forever Knight
Overall: I love the way history, mystery, metaphysics, and morals come together in FK. First season, where Nick is free of Lacroix and striving toward a bright — if distant and imperiled — future, is my favorite. I love the metaphor of Nick as everyman struggling his way toward salvation, with vampirism a metaphor for whatever evil served the tale of the week: often addiction, sometimes marginalization or discrimination, but other times also selfishness, greed, brutality, domination, and other sins. I also love the underlying fairy tale of the character who lives on and on, doomed to lose everyone and be alone, but astonishingly brave enough to go on and care again.
Urs is the best thing to come out of the otherwise dire third season. I enjoy her possibilities for growth, her own moral positions, her largely unexplored history, and her superficial differences from FK’s other strong women characters, which recede when you look under her surface. What did Vachon mean when he said she didn’t know her own strength? Where did she go from the realization that recognizing and admitting her challenges may not alone be enough to overcome them? (In this case, romance, yes, please! I ship Nick/Urs! I believe that they could be stronger together, for each other, and divert third season from its doomed path by the strength of joint faith in each other’s better angels and understanding of each other’s demons. Or what if they’d met at another key moment in Nick’s history?)
Janette is as close as I get to accepting vampirism as a neutral state, because that is simply necessary to enjoy Janette, and I do. I’d love a story about one of her side ventures that Lacroix and Nick either don’t know about or don’t understand, whether in the present or throughout history. I’d love a story about her dealing with the mortal world in her time at the Raven, whether suppliers, regulators, customers, or whomever. (And, yes, if you like romance, Nick/Janette is viable for me.)
Natalie is many wonderful things, of course! I think that I would most enjoy a story of her friendship with Nick or her efforts toward a cure, in the mood of first season, even if set in an alternate timeline or future. Or for a darker mood, how about a flashback interaction with one of the many people she loses over the course of the series, and then a strong Natalie both grieving and successfully carrying on and growing from that loss? (If you like romance, Nick/Natalie is viable for me, but no vampire/mortal sex, please; if they’re not both in the same state, then it should be longing, not physical.)
Tracy gets short-shrift from canon and the fandom, imo. She got off to an unfortunate start, and then the season was over all too soon. I would enjoy a story that takes her fraught situations with her family, the police, and vampires seriously and respects her attempts to deal with them from what she knows. I think that the series started out trying to make her contrast with Nick, as Schanke did, but ended up paralleling them instead, and never fully grappled with what that change offered the story.
The Equalizer (TV 2021)
Overall: So far, I'm loving this procedural with a twist, and wishing it a bright future of episodic stories and unfolding season arcs, in the good old broadcast-network way. I'm enjoying all the recurring characters on their own terms.
Mel: I suspect that Mel's club was meant to be a very important center of events and contacts, but that pandemic filming restrictions interfered. I'd enjoy a story celebrating Mel supporting and facilitating Robyn's efforts from her club, exhibiting her skills beyond her marksmanship. (Relatedly, while it's adorable how Mel and her husband hold hands at arms' length, I suspect that, too, was a pandemic precaution. Yet now it's canon. I'd be interested in a story giving that behavior a story-level meaning. I also would enjoy them getting a good cuddle up close; they deserve it.)
Do Not Want (DNW)
Thank you for taking these into consideration; I appreciate it! Please:
If that isn’t far more than enough ;-) I have a standing likes and dislikes post. Check it out.
Thank you very much!
Hi! Thank you for also being interested in these dear fandoms, and their wonderful women characters. I’m sure that whatever you most want to celebrate in these characters will make a lovely story! If you’d like more story thoughts from me, read on.
Some feelings across fandoms
I often love best stories with the feel of canon, whether as a scene or episode that could have been added seamlessly, or as a different choice or chance that would have branched and led somewhere wholly unlike where canon went, yet rooted in that original reality.
With a few exceptions, I usually prefer gen to romance. Mystery, drama, history, reflection, confrontation, growth, discovery, tragedy! (I opt in for tragedy including character death, as long as the loss is shown as meaningful to the survivors; I generally like stories of grief and continuing on.) And, of course, the quiet times between adventures! For romance, I have fairly vanilla tastes. Whether m/f or f/f in this exchange, I especially value fidelity, mutuality, and complementarity, where the parties each bring strengths and weaknesses to the relationship such as to grow stronger together than apart.
Where applicable, I especially love protagonists who incidentally, without thinking they’re doing something special, show that they value others highly — that is, not only their own loved ones, but the dignity and abundant life of all people, especially those on the margins.
Please do mix and match the requested characters with other appropriate characters to build your story!
On dislikes: Villains can be redeemed — and, in tragedies, can win! — but I don’t enjoy stories that defend or celebrate evil. (FK note: I understand vampirism as an evil.) I’m happy to follow two competing ideals pitted against each other, and to cry over a good that is lost; I don’t like to be asked to root for that which is wrong.
Some fandom & character-specific feelings
D&DC: Dungeons & Dragons (the ‘80s cartoon)
Overall: I’m intrigued by the possibilities of stories of our gang grown up, whether in the Realm or back here. I also love stories of them in the midst of growing up as they are in canon, and every kind of quest for or journey home or back to the Realm. (Any romance should please be age-appropriate, whether teenager or adult.)
I see Diana as almost equally their leader alongside Hank, but in action and “under fire” rather than in diplomacy. And while canon lightly suggests that her deepest fear is growing old, I find that too simplistic; I think Diana’s deepest fear is actually losing control of her physical body, her agility and strength, and I wonder what planted that fear. Diana is too neglected in fanfic, I feel; we need more celebration of Diana. (If you’d like romance, Eric/Diana and Kosar/Diana are most viable for me.)
Sheila is a counselor rather than a leader, and she generally counsels caution. But she is brave in her own ways. Such responsibility she puts on herself, to take care of Bobby! I imagine her worrying about Bobby forgetting what he learned in school, or what she’ll do if they’re still in the Realm when it’s time to talk to him about the birds and the bees. (If you’d like romance, Hank/Sheila and Eric/Sheila are most viable for me. I’d consider Reformed!Karena/Shelia if Karena lost her powers, so they would be less unequal.)
If you pick Terri, I would like most to know all about her necklace; I suspect that the heart-shaped pendant or locket, like the weapons of power and the healing net, comes from the Dragon’s Graveyard, and was somehow passed on or passed down by a pupil of Dungeon Master’s (or perhaps it was given to Terri on coming into the Realm as the other weapons were given to our gang, and she just didn't mention it on screen, and we didn't hear Dungeon Master name her class on screen, but she is actually a cleric or seer or something).
And for Varla, perhaps learning more about how Venger stole and kept her, and for how long (always in her white nightgown?) (any feelings/knowledge on Venger's part about girls from his having a sister?). Or perhaps Presto/Varla when they’re older, and the inevitable but worthwhile strains of coming from separate worlds.
HL: Highlander: The Series
Overall: I love the underlying fairy tale of the character who lives on and on, doomed to lose everyone and be alone, but astonishingly brave enough to go on and care again. I most enjoy the first two seasons, when there are more mortal than immortal characters and that theme is most present. (Interactions between immortal characters generally interest me less than mortal interactions by individual immortal characters.) I also love the historical content and parallels between past and present; humans are humans in every age. I also rather like swords and swordplay (I fence foil); this is not to say I support violence — I don’t — but I appreciate and respect the martial art.
Tessa is one of my favorite TV characters. I’m absolutely delighted to follow her in action or to mourn her and feel her loss to the uttermost. Perhaps a plot about her interactions with her agent, or commissions? Perhaps a plot as she researches for a sculpture? Perhaps she gets to rescue Duncan for a change? Or she counsels Richie through a disappointment? Or a take on her childhood and family or growing up? (Or romance! Duncan/Tessa is one of those happy exceptions where I eagerly seek romance stories.)
Grace fascinates me with her principled commitments about life and violence. She survives by the strength of her brain and heart, not her sword arm — yet she survives. In a sadder way, she also fascinates as such a strong woman who nevertheless found herself in an abusive relationship, as does happen.
Greta is the psychic from “The Darkness.” Duncan promised to tell her what happened; on screen, he never did. I’ve read one spectacular fanfic featuring Greta, but it’s also, I think, the only fanfic I’ve ever read with Greta. Surely there’s more to her?
For Anne, I’d be most interested in seeing more of her after she knows about Duncan’s immortality and remains, if tangentially, in his life. She made her choice about how to live her values; she didn’t stop caring, and neither did he. (If you like romance, Duncan/Anne is most viable for me.)
BSG78: Battlestar Galactica (the original)
Overall: In my imagination, since childhood, this canon always seems like it must actually be several seasons long, and I’ve just somehow missed many episodes between the ones I’ve seen. So many more stories must have happened in the little span of canon, as well as on from it in both directions.
Cassiopeia has become my favorite BSG78 character, as an adult. Her professional transition from socialator to medtech matters in complex ways for herself and her refugee society. Her layered understanding of Starbuck matters. (If you like romance, thoughtful Starbuck/Cassiopeia is dear to my heart. Cain/Cassiopeia is less something to celebrate, but absolutely something real.)
Serina was my favorite BSG78 character, as a child. Her professional transition from reporter to shuttle pilot seemed exciting then, but as an adult I question the progress of civilian life and civil society in the fleet. Did they not still need reporters? Alternately, her relationship with Boxey in the circumstances is something I haven’t seen explored. (Also, Serina/Apollo absolutely works for me.)
Ila of course has next to no canon presence, but likely we all have head-canon about her by now. I’d like to see a story from before the annihilation of the colonies, perhaps from her children’s childhoods, reconstructing her from her influence on them as we know them. Or perhaps a technological or psychological plot that confronts her adult children or Adama with her memory or presence?
Sheba, I never really liked or understood, until I read James’s Yuletide story about her relationship with her father. Now, I see her more deeply, and I’m interested in the struggles of being Cain’s daughter, and of the awkwardness of personal feelings she develops toward Apollo, and therefore involving Boxey, in the wake of Serina’s death and all the death of the annihilation of the Colonies.
YB: Young Blades
Overall: With only thirteen episodes, YB had barely found its feet before cancellation, but oh! So much potential! The back half of its little season lifted it up out of some early silliness toward a rich storytelling of historical adventure.
Jacqueline pushes many of my buttons, as a survivor grieving her parents and missing her brother, as a woman making a not-too-anachronistic entry into an historical man’s world in the only way she could, as a woman of faith, and as someone frequently choosing between goals — her mission on behalf of her king and country, her vengeance on behalf of her father and Mazarin’s other victims, and her own personal development and hopes.
Queen Anne, properly Anne of Austria as a real historical figure, seems foolish and superficial where it serves her, yet reveals herself as shrewd and deep in other moments. She’s holding power through her son, tenuously, and she has her own battles with Mazarin. Could she and Jacqueline ever trade secrets and work together? Or will their truths necessarily always be ships passing in the night?
FK: Forever Knight
Overall: I love the way history, mystery, metaphysics, and morals come together in FK. First season, where Nick is free of Lacroix and striving toward a bright — if distant and imperiled — future, is my favorite. I love the metaphor of Nick as everyman struggling his way toward salvation, with vampirism a metaphor for whatever evil served the tale of the week: often addiction, sometimes marginalization or discrimination, but other times also selfishness, greed, brutality, domination, and other sins. I also love the underlying fairy tale of the character who lives on and on, doomed to lose everyone and be alone, but astonishingly brave enough to go on and care again.
Urs is the best thing to come out of the otherwise dire third season. I enjoy her possibilities for growth, her own moral positions, her largely unexplored history, and her superficial differences from FK’s other strong women characters, which recede when you look under her surface. What did Vachon mean when he said she didn’t know her own strength? Where did she go from the realization that recognizing and admitting her challenges may not alone be enough to overcome them? (In this case, romance, yes, please! I ship Nick/Urs! I believe that they could be stronger together, for each other, and divert third season from its doomed path by the strength of joint faith in each other’s better angels and understanding of each other’s demons. Or what if they’d met at another key moment in Nick’s history?)
Janette is as close as I get to accepting vampirism as a neutral state, because that is simply necessary to enjoy Janette, and I do. I’d love a story about one of her side ventures that Lacroix and Nick either don’t know about or don’t understand, whether in the present or throughout history. I’d love a story about her dealing with the mortal world in her time at the Raven, whether suppliers, regulators, customers, or whomever. (And, yes, if you like romance, Nick/Janette is viable for me.)
Natalie is many wonderful things, of course! I think that I would most enjoy a story of her friendship with Nick or her efforts toward a cure, in the mood of first season, even if set in an alternate timeline or future. Or for a darker mood, how about a flashback interaction with one of the many people she loses over the course of the series, and then a strong Natalie both grieving and successfully carrying on and growing from that loss? (If you like romance, Nick/Natalie is viable for me, but no vampire/mortal sex, please; if they’re not both in the same state, then it should be longing, not physical.)
Tracy gets short-shrift from canon and the fandom, imo. She got off to an unfortunate start, and then the season was over all too soon. I would enjoy a story that takes her fraught situations with her family, the police, and vampires seriously and respects her attempts to deal with them from what she knows. I think that the series started out trying to make her contrast with Nick, as Schanke did, but ended up paralleling them instead, and never fully grappled with what that change offered the story.
The Equalizer (TV 2021)
Overall: So far, I'm loving this procedural with a twist, and wishing it a bright future of episodic stories and unfolding season arcs, in the good old broadcast-network way. I'm enjoying all the recurring characters on their own terms.
Mel: I suspect that Mel's club was meant to be a very important center of events and contacts, but that pandemic filming restrictions interfered. I'd enjoy a story celebrating Mel supporting and facilitating Robyn's efforts from her club, exhibiting her skills beyond her marksmanship. (Relatedly, while it's adorable how Mel and her husband hold hands at arms' length, I suspect that, too, was a pandemic precaution. Yet now it's canon. I'd be interested in a story giving that behavior a story-level meaning. I also would enjoy them getting a good cuddle up close; they deserve it.)
Do Not Want (DNW)
Thank you for taking these into consideration; I appreciate it! Please:
- No pro-evil, including pro-bigotry (and pro-vampirism, where relevant)
- No non-con or dub-con
- No incest, underage, adult/child, mentor/student, boss/employee, monarch/subject, vampire/human, vampire maker/convert, or similar power discrepancies
- No BDSM or other activities commonly referred to as kinks
- No mpreg, ABO, or similar mechanisms
- No “plotless” violence or sex, and no violent sex (vampire biology excepted, where relevant)
- No anti-religion
If that isn’t far more than enough ;-) I have a standing likes and dislikes post. Check it out.
Thank you very much!