Yuletide meta
Jan. 8th, 2023 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustNotes on Ulysses and Ozymandias in the Labyrinth (Gattaca)
I saw Gattaca when it first came out, and again just a few months ago. I was surprised to learn some people think of it as an obscure and overlooked film. I've always thought it was an instant hit and an enduring classic. Gattaca has become part of the vocabulary of popular culture - a shorthand for genetic selection and genetic discrimination - just as Minority Report is shorthand for preemptive punishment, and Terminator is shorthand for the robot apocalypse.
Anyway. My recipient had fascinating prompts about false identities, and the body as a tool and a shell and a prison, and becoming what you pretend to be. They also liked "never escaping the labyrinth (metaphorically)" and "literary/historical references and allusions". (I was planning to do a range of literary references, but it ended up being, "Well, I hope you like Greek mythology!")
These days, I try to label my fic with unique titles if possible, to make them easier to remember. I'm pretty pleased with this one.
"Ulysses" is my absolute favourite poem, and the character I immediately thought of in relation to Vincent. He is the restless seeker of new worlds, who embodies "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield". He knows that "Life piled on life / were all too little, and of one to me / Little remains", and yearns "To follow knowledge like a sinking star / Beyond the utmost bound of human thought".
"Ozymandias" is another favourite poem, and the obvious choice for Jerome, "king of kings". Wanting Olympic glory is wanting immortality and legacy: "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" And the "sneer of cold command" fits him to a tee (whose sculptor "well those passions read"). But he chooses to go into the fire, and "Nothing beside remains", only "the lone and level sands".
My headcanon for this fic is, Jerome is convinced that Vincent is not coming back from Titan. And that influences his future actions. He's not going to be Penelope, weaving and unweaving his work for ten years while patiently waiting. He's going to be Aegeus, throwing himself into the sea at the sight of the black sails.
My headcanon is 50/50 on whether Vincent actually does come back from Titan. "For my purpose holds / To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths / Of all the western stars, until I die."
When I posted the original draft of this fic, it didn't have the last section. It ended with Jerome lying beside Vincent, considering that maybe they themselves are all the legacy they need. Which was a nice personal revelation, but didn't feel like the right place to end. I thought about circling back to the books - maybe Jerome crossing out his name, and writing in Vincent's, or donating them to some future unknown person? - but that still felt a bit soft and shapeless.
It can be frustrating when you know something isn't right and don't know how to make it right. On the other hand, you do learn to sense when something does work. When the last section actually came together, it was like, "Okay! Time to pack up and go home."
Notes on Vows (Seafort Saga)
This is such a tiny fandom, I'm surprised whenever someone who isn't me orkangeiko nominates it for an exchange. (There are at least three of us!!!) Anyway, mystery nominator, if you were hoping to tempt this fandom into being requested and written, well, it worked.
My recipient prompted "marriage of convenience", and yes, I am a sucker for that kind of trope. Influenced by the fact that Nick and Edgar are canonically like an old married couple, and that a marriage of convenience would be exactly the kind of half impulsive, half inspired, solution that Nick would come up with. (Edgar is just along for the ride.)
I said above that I try to use unique titles, but for this fandom I tend to go for simple titles that are just one word. There was really only one thing it could be called.
I saw Gattaca when it first came out, and again just a few months ago. I was surprised to learn some people think of it as an obscure and overlooked film. I've always thought it was an instant hit and an enduring classic. Gattaca has become part of the vocabulary of popular culture - a shorthand for genetic selection and genetic discrimination - just as Minority Report is shorthand for preemptive punishment, and Terminator is shorthand for the robot apocalypse.
Anyway. My recipient had fascinating prompts about false identities, and the body as a tool and a shell and a prison, and becoming what you pretend to be. They also liked "never escaping the labyrinth (metaphorically)" and "literary/historical references and allusions". (I was planning to do a range of literary references, but it ended up being, "Well, I hope you like Greek mythology!")
These days, I try to label my fic with unique titles if possible, to make them easier to remember. I'm pretty pleased with this one.
"Ulysses" is my absolute favourite poem, and the character I immediately thought of in relation to Vincent. He is the restless seeker of new worlds, who embodies "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield". He knows that "Life piled on life / were all too little, and of one to me / Little remains", and yearns "To follow knowledge like a sinking star / Beyond the utmost bound of human thought".
"Ozymandias" is another favourite poem, and the obvious choice for Jerome, "king of kings". Wanting Olympic glory is wanting immortality and legacy: "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" And the "sneer of cold command" fits him to a tee (whose sculptor "well those passions read"). But he chooses to go into the fire, and "Nothing beside remains", only "the lone and level sands".
My headcanon for this fic is, Jerome is convinced that Vincent is not coming back from Titan. And that influences his future actions. He's not going to be Penelope, weaving and unweaving his work for ten years while patiently waiting. He's going to be Aegeus, throwing himself into the sea at the sight of the black sails.
My headcanon is 50/50 on whether Vincent actually does come back from Titan. "For my purpose holds / To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths / Of all the western stars, until I die."
When I posted the original draft of this fic, it didn't have the last section. It ended with Jerome lying beside Vincent, considering that maybe they themselves are all the legacy they need. Which was a nice personal revelation, but didn't feel like the right place to end. I thought about circling back to the books - maybe Jerome crossing out his name, and writing in Vincent's, or donating them to some future unknown person? - but that still felt a bit soft and shapeless.
It can be frustrating when you know something isn't right and don't know how to make it right. On the other hand, you do learn to sense when something does work. When the last section actually came together, it was like, "Okay! Time to pack up and go home."
Notes on Vows (Seafort Saga)
This is such a tiny fandom, I'm surprised whenever someone who isn't me or
kangeiko nominates it for an exchange. (There are at least three of us!!!) Anyway, mystery nominator, if you were hoping to tempt this fandom into being requested and written, well, it worked.My recipient prompted "marriage of convenience", and yes, I am a sucker for that kind of trope. Influenced by the fact that Nick and Edgar are canonically like an old married couple, and that a marriage of convenience would be exactly the kind of half impulsive, half inspired, solution that Nick would come up with. (Edgar is just along for the ride.)
I said above that I try to use unique titles, but for this fandom I tend to go for simple titles that are just one word. There was really only one thing it could be called.
