I should be working or going to bed, but I don't feel like doing either, so this is what you get instead. A list of fics I want to write but probably never will because I am insufficiently motivated.

Icon relevant, by the way. You have been warned.


( Oh what the hey. Cut for spoilers. )

I have fed you, body, with real food that I cooked myself. What more do you want from me?

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I am monstrously behind on my Yuletide reading, but you can track my current and future recs on my Pinboard account.

I freaking love Pinboard, by the way. The ability to view multiple tags at once is just a beautiful, glorious thing, and makes organizing and linking so much easier.

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If you enjoy social justice and romance novels, please join us at thoughtfulromantics, which I created last night while hyped up on sleep deprivation and having spent too many hours reading through the archives of create_my_comm. It promises to be a lot of fun. Please join me!

You're the best. I don't know who you are, but you are writing me a story and that makes you the best. (No, I'm not biased, what are you talking about?) I tried to give some details in my sign-up form, but if you want a better sense of who I am and what I like, here you go.

Overall: I prefer stories that focus on women, and I really really really prefer stories that focus on relationships between women. Not necessarily romantic, though that's awesome, but any kind of relationship - familial, friendship, mere acquaintances. Communities of women are important to me, as well as acknowledgement that there are many different ways to be a "strong woman."

I love me some romance, but I prefer it bittersweet. I don't like the kind of romance that goes "MY LIFE IS OVER WITHOUT YOU!" I like love stories where the lovers go: "I have my own journey to make, but it would be a lot more fun with you along for the ride."


The Aeneid: Dido is my favorite literary woman of all time. I love that she is a powerful woman, and I love that she isn't powerful because she rejects her femininity (a la many "girl power" movies of this era) nor because she embraces it (a la the femme fatale). Her power comes from being clever and from being determined. In some ways, she's kind of like a female Odysseus, except not a philandering asshole.

It makes me angry how many scholars describe her storyline as proof that Vergil didn't think women should be in positions of power. Dido's downfall wasn't because of an inherent weakness on her part; it's because the gods made a toy of her, like they made a toy of everyone in the story and in mythology in general. You might as well say that sailor who was forced by the gods to fall asleep, fall out of the boat, and drown was Vergil saying that men should not be trusted to sail ships.

I also don't see Dido's end as entirely tragic. Yes, she doesn't make it to the Elysian fields, and her spirit remains incredibly angry with Aeneas (deservedly so - honestly, I don't understand how Aeneas thought that was the appropriate way to break up with a woman), but she is not, as Barbara Boyd's textbook claims, "consumed by her anger." She is reunited with her husband Sychaeus, who "responds to her grief" and "matches her love." Vergil's word choice makes it clear that Dido's love for Sychaeus remains. They might not have a sunshine and roses happy ending, but they are together and they are still in love.


I would love love love anything about Dido either before Aeneas' arrival, or about her time in the Underworld before he arrives and is all "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to hurt you, babe!" Whether it's about how she fled Phoenicia, or the early days of building Carthage and how she managed to keep her neighbors from invading the growing city… seriously, anything. She had a life before, after, and outside of Aeneas, and I want more of it.


Jekyll: I have a huge crush on Katherine Reimer, mostly because I had a gigantic crush on Nimueh from Merlin, who is played by the same actress. (Sidenote: If that inspires a crossover, I approve.) She's moony over a married man, which is kind of irritating, but she does it in a sassy, kind of snarky way, which I appreciate. And I appreciate her commitment to the agreement she made with both Jekyll and Hyde, and how she doesn't let her feelings for "Jekyll" get in the way of playing fair with both of them. Anything about her would be glorious.


Scarecrow and Mrs. King: What I loved about the early episodes of SMK is how competent Amanda is. Yes, she gets into ridiculous shenanigans in the spy world, but it's not because she's a goofy airhead, like later episodes make her out to be - it's because she's a normal, intelligent woman thrust into extraordinary circumstances. The humor comes from her being a fish out of water, not from her being a buffoon.

Any kind of story - plotty, not plotty, shippy, not shippy - that incorporates the humor of those early episodes would be well loved.




Really, anything you write me will be well-loved, because you are taking the time to write a story from a tiny fandom for a complete stranger. As Malcom Reynolds said, that makes you mighty. Or something like that. I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season, and I can't wait to read what you write!


All the love,
Your Lucky Yuletide Recepient



P.S. I'm esotaria on AO3.