Dear Santa Letter
Thank you so much for writing me a story.
My theme this year seems to be wee Scotsmen. Which is actually rather Christmasy now that I think about it. (Granted Philip is a decidedly not wee Canadian, but Kilbourn is a northern English name and kind of slips in there.)
I'm one of those terrible people to shop for who tell you, 'Oh, don't worry I'm sure I'll like whatever you get.' But I will. In no small part because where else would I ever get a chance to see more about these characters. So I know I’ll love what you come up with, but because I know some people like more details on how their recipient views things, here are some rambles that pass for my thoughts on the characters. Total grain of salt here. Take what you like, leave what you don’t or just blow things off completely. I really do like being surprised.
Generalities.
Not really into slash. That's not to say that I haven't read it, and enjoyed it when it's well done and believable, but I'm a hard sell on the believable part. If canon has the character involved in het relationships, it's going to take seriously heavy lifting to get me to buy a change of heart. Come to that I expect even the het relationships to be grounded in some kind of realistic chemistry; emotional commitment improves both the sex and the story. However, I've got
nothing against smut. Smut can be a wonderful thing. Feel free to indulge if you're inclined. I do tend to prefer story to PWP.
Don't feel you have to be light and fluffy. I'm perfectly happy with angst if that's what you want to write. I do kind of lean toward upbeat endings, but have a fairly loose definition of upbeat. They don't have to end with a traditional 'happy ending', just not completely hopeless please.
Plunkett and MacLeaneI said in my optional details that I'd like a And Then What Happened, piece, but really I'd be perfectly happy with something set before they met or during the film. I originally nominated Mary as a character in case you wanted to explore earlier, but then realized that if I asked for her you might feel you had to somehow fit her in, which could get awkward in a canon or post canon piece. Of course if you
want to do a flashback or have Plunkett just talking about her, I'm good with that.
I see these two fellows as bromance rather than slash, but if you don't that's okay, too. I have to confess I'm rather intrigued by the idea of how the addition of Lady Rebecca is going to change their dynamic. I can almost see a threesome developing here or even MacLeane's eye wandering and Lady Rebecca winding up with Plunkett. Or you could explore the class distinction between the characters. It's not going to magically disappear once they get to America.
Canon: I don't think you can get this movie on Region 1 DVD, but Netflix has it streaming.
Criminal Instinct (Joanne Kilbourn/Philip Millard)
The relationship here (aside from one very hawt kiss) is more subtext than text, but there is much UST going on which I would dearly love to come out. I don’t think there was an overtly sexual relationship between these two before Joanne’s husband died, but who knows. There is strong subtext that Philip had feelings for Joanne long before she became a widow. Which she was either deliberately ignoring or didn't recognize. Philip strikes me as too old fashioned to make a move on a married woman and Joanne doesn't seem the type to cheat, but they did work very closely for years. How they managed to make it through stakeouts without fogging up the patrol car windows is beyond me. And I have to think some of the anger Joanne feels toward Philip in the first movie may be as much related to guilt (possibly subconscious) about how she felt about Philip before her husband died, as the to the fact that Philip didn't find her husband's killer.
Joanne's a Mom. Whatever happens between her and Philip should take that into account. Philip interacting with any of the kids would be great. And like I said in my prompt crime solving would be a definite plus. Their work is really kind of fundamental to how these two react to each other after all.
Oh, and I haven’t seen the movies they made without Victor Garber and am blithely pretending they doesn’t exist.
Canon: The second two movies are out on DVD. The first two, uh, well, I’ve
heard that there are purveyors on the Internet that will hook you up with copies-- like on Ioffer.com. They also get rerun on Lifetime quite often here in the States and various Canadian networks if you’ve got contacts north of the border.
Stargate UniverseRush is now officially my favorite ever Stargate character. And the reason I'm on a Robert Carlyle craze this Yuletide. I'd love to see him interacting with the rest of the crew. He taught for years and is close to, if not actually, a generation older than the other folks on Destiny (the actors playing Young, Wray and Telford aren't actually that much younger than Carlyle, but Carlyle seems to be playing his age whereas the others are playing at least a decade younger.) That has to impact on how he views his shipmates. I'd particularly like to see him interacting with Eli in a positive way. Eli could use a father figure/mentor to make him live up to his potential and Rush could use some lightening up. The man does have a sense of humor after all. Just not too light. Part of Rush's charm is the whole dark snarky mad scientist thing he's got going.
Another character I'd love to see Rush interacting with is Lisa Park. Or for that matter any of the other smart woman aboard the Destiny. Smart competent women seem to be attractive to him. Let's explore it.
Canon: Both seasons are on DVD
Once Upon A TimeThis show is new enough as I write this that I'm not real sure where things are going, so if my take could change radically as they progress. So far though, I like the real world version of the characters more then fairytale land. And I am, as you can see, quite taken with Mr. Gold. Whom I don't see as capitol E Evil. Or at least no more so than say Bank of America. Less actually. B of A can be down right dastardly. He's a facilitator. He makes deals. The fact that the folks he's dealing with don't want to pay up after they get the benefit of the deal reflects badly on them not him.
This character fits much better into the shades of gray reality of our world than the black and white of Fairytale Land. Beyond that I really don't have any specific ideas here so take it where you will and pair him with who you want. Well, maybe not Regina. At best I'd say those two are frienemies.
Canon: So far all the eps are on line. Legally