Dear Yuletide writer!
Oct. 15th, 2024 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorindaHello, Writer! However you ended up writing something for me, I thank you--I'm glad and grateful. ♥
A note about treats, in case it's relevant: yes, I am all for them!
(Also, let me say that you'll notice it's very common for me to ask for some of the same fandoms from year to year. If you've written for me previously, please do not ever think this is because I don't still love your gift! I do--it's just that I am still-and-always in the mood for more of these characters and I love them so much. And I am greedy. :D)
If you already have something in mind you think I'll like, go ahead and write it! I want you to enjoy yourself.
If more information about my preferences would help and inspire you, then here's some:
Some of my preferences:
* Hopeful/happy endings. Melancholy/bittersweet tones can work too, just not hopeless/grim please.
* Shipping, if possible. Not mandatory, for non-canon ships--Optional Details Are Optional--but if you're willing, please pair the characters up romantically/sexually (and if you're not shipping them, please have their connection be at least as intense as it is in canon). On-page sex is fine but not required, whatever suits the story--I'm interested in dynamics like:
Discovery, realization
Breaking through fears and repression and damaging levels of self-denial/self-control
Reaching out, finding refuge
Stumbling/falling, only to find they are safely caught/can catch each other
Those tiny moments of intensity and connection, both emotional and physical
* Some tropes and approaches I particularly enjoy:
Trust
Loyalty
Worry
Protectiveness
Hurt/Comfort
Pining (eventually requited)
Tenderness, especially when unexpected
Angst (with a happy/hopeful resolution)
Uncovering a secret
A shell cracking to reveal vulnerability beneath
Physical care like tending wounds/washing/etc.
Nurturing with food/drink/warmth
Expressing deepest feelings with ordinary words (like, I love when there's some seemingly-innocuous phrase that they both know is actually a powerful declaration)
* Classic frameworks are always welcome! Including though not limited to:
Bedsharing
Huddling for warmth
Pretend couple
Discovering they became a couple without realizing
Undercover as a rentboy
Mistaken for a couple, including mistaken for sugar daddy/trade
Rescues
Suffering/sacrificing for the other
Stranded somewhere
Etc.
One jumps in the way of the other getting hurt? (Especially if the saved one is then mad about it?) One gets attacked and the other rises in wrath, GET BACK HE IS MINE? One awkwardly expresses the depth of his feelings with a painstakingly fried egg on toast? A desire to impress him, an effort to figure out how to be silently vulnerable with him, a need for him that he hadn't understood until now or had hidden while pining? Yes plz.
Big drama is good, quiet subtlety is good. ♥
Here are my signups, in alphabetical order: KeixYaku (TV), Peacemakers (2003), Spy Game (2001), The Sting (1973)
KeixYaku
Hanabusa Shirou, Kunishita Ichirou
My signup:
(In case it's relevant: I happily accept treats!)
I love the passionate, intense tropiness of this show--I mean, it has criminal/cop, fight club, undercover, childhood trauma, fever/caretaking, there was only one blanket, torture/rescue, rentboy, "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!", and more. ♥
I love Shirou so much! Driven and aggressive, but also sensitive and lonely. So competent! So seductive! A short king, a powerhouse, a sugar fiend, explosively emotional, an angsty abandoned canon-bi boy. Also such a sharp dresser.
I love Ichirou, who gets in way over his head. Skilled and focused, but awkward and isolated--and speaking of abandoned boys! Under his attempt at shaping himself into a by-the-book rule-follower, he's still a hot mess.
I love Rion, controlled and courageous, able to suffer (and more difficult, able to let those she loves suffer) for the greater good--and I love the way Shirou and Ichirou both look up to her with a junior's devotion. Feel free to include her in the story if you want--they're such a family/team now ♥--though I'd like it to be primarily about Shirou and Ichirou, or Shirou himself if you want to do a Shirou-focused backstory.
Some thoughts:
* More tropes? It's very well-suited to all the classics (or classics with a twist...like, what if Ichirou had to go undercover as a rentboy? Would Shirou give him rentboy lessons??).
* Shirou & Ichirou growing closer together? Domesticity? And how are they handling the aftermath of the show's events? I especially wonder about Shirou...he drastically reshaped himself & his entire life, as if he expected to burn up in a blaze of vengeful glory, but now Rion is right here. What's his motivation now?
* I liked the complexities of Shirou's relationship with the prime minister. It turns out to be deeper than just rentboy/intel-gathering. Both of them seemed to find something in it that touches a wound in the soul--son issues, daddy issues.
* Ichirou's virginity. He seems to be wound up tight about it--how might he go about losing it to Shirou? What would Shirou feel about that?
* When being tortured, Shirou refers to the many prominent people he's slept with, how "they've had all kinds of interests", and how some of them liked to hurt him. I'd be interested to hear more about any of that--how did he get started in that side of things, how did he use it to advance in the organization, how did he feel about it? Was the part about being hurt true, was it to psych out the torturers, was it a little of both...? And how does Ichirou feel about it, if Shirou trusts him with more and more of his checkered history?
* Case work? The show didn't wrap everything up... Or, another side case that comes up in the meantime?
Happy or at least hopeful ending please!
Peacemakers (2003)
Jared Stone, Larimer Finch
My signup:
(In case it's relevant: I happily accept treats!)
Stone and Finch are so different, and initially present themselves as so set in their different ways. No-nonsense old-school marshal! Cutting-edge technological scientist! Never the twain shall meet! And I love those differences, but also the underlying things they have in common that get them to mesh those differences so very quickly--an enormous curiosity, a drive for justice, a need to protect others--and that they're both the quickest one on their particular block. It's like, competence calls to competence, and they end up finding such satisfaction in working in harness together.
But we also see them running into problems because of the depth of those differences. Underestimating each other, for instance--how Finch's physical abilities surprise Stone; how Stone's thoughtfulness surprises Finch. Even after they've realized they're not the City Slicker or the Brutal Rube, they can rasp against each other when they're not expecting it (especially as the season progresses and Stone seems to get more depressed, seeing Finch as entirely pro-new-technology and feeling that he himself and his ways are being left behind).
Other characters are welcome, especially Katie. I'm not into het or the OT3, but I love Katie having a profound platonic dynamic with Finch or Stone or both. She and Stone have known each other longer and respect/rely on each other, but she and Finch have that instant Nerd Bond and will gladly science together all day.
Some thoughts:
* I love historical details. Especially the sensory details coming from The Western--horses/mules/other working animals and their equipment & tack, backcountry travel, low tech, small community, tradition--and how heading toward the turn of the twentieth century they're meeting (both clashing and blending) with the newer details of science, cities, advanced technologies, innovation, etc.
* Speaking of which--what if they went to the big city? Finch was the fish out of water on Stone's turf...what if it were Stone's turn? Does it distress him? Or is he more adaptable to it than Finch may suspect?
* What would it be like for them to travel a long distance together--either backcountry (horses? Mules/wagon?), or trains, or both?
* Working a case together would be welcome, but so would their off time, private time together, etc. I love it when they learn from each other--some new medical/scientific advance from Finch, some overlooked classic tradition from Stone.
* Any thoughts from the episodes? I'm always thinking, for instance, about all the high and unresolved emotion from the Cole Hawkins events. When they first take the kid into custody, he's going to have to go into the cell in Stone's office--how would Stone have handled it? Would he have trusted himself not to still want to hurt him? How might Stone's first emotional reactions (of rage and violence) turn to something softer (and frightening to him?) if he's unable to keep taking refuge in anger?
Happy or at least hopeful ending please!
Spy Game
Nathan Muir, Tom Bishop
My signup:
(In case it's relevant: I happily accept treats!)
I love the high level of skill and competence they both have. Nathan, especially, with his vast experience, and his ability to think on his feet, change plans in a moment, lie and charm and manipulate, and even to be as utterly cold-blooded as he has to be (but then to show himself ultimately more warm-hearted than he's ever admitted--in one particular arena).
I love the way they look, whew, two variations on the sun-brown Golden Boy.
I love the age difference and training relationship, and how it turned into a partnership.
I love how Tom is the only one who's been able to get down beneath Nathan's protective camouflage, and openly reaches out to him (like finding out his true birthday, in order to give him the flask. What did Nathan think of that? Did it scare him?). I love how Nathan is such a hard-shelled clam of a character, and yet when it comes to Tom, he gave up absolutely everything, and did things he explicitly said he would never do--in fact, things he had tried to teach Tom never to do. So intense and satisfying to see him blow up his own spot, all for Tom. Did he know all along that he would do that, but just successfully hid it the way he hid so much else? Or did he surprise himself?
Some thoughts:
Training scenes--what other skills does Nathan teach Tom? Training or missions--what other ways does Tom pull against Nathan's worldview, or share it?
The intimacy of that Cold War, isolated, paranoid me-and-him against the world. Did it ever turn into something more, back in the day? Did it threaten to, but not quite (maybe leaving a capital-A Almost that gets resolved post-canon?)? Others have pointed out the way these characters are perfectly suited for Undercover as Gay/Rentboy/Sugar Daddy And Trade, etc, and I certainly agree.
The global network of friends/comrades/colleagues, secretly pulling strings and doing favors, as we see with Nathan and Harry or Digger...what favors has Nathan done for those in his network? Did Tom learn how to do this too, networking/building trust, and how? Trust seems like such a complex linchpin of this canon.
Post-movie of course is full of delightful promise, especially ship-wise--how is it for Nathan, having given up everything he had and shattering his own rules all in one fell swoop? What would he do if Tom found him--would he be able to admit what he did and why, how he felt, or would Tom have to help him? Pry it (screw it??) out of him?
I really like Gladys and her dynamic with Nathan--feel free to include her in the story if you want, though I'd like it primarily to be about Nathan and Tom.
No need to spend time explaining why Elizabeth leaves--I'm fine with skipping the details (though it's entirely up to you).
Happy or at least hopeful ending please!
The Sting (1973)
Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker
Inspirational (and educational!) links from a menswear blog, using plenty of screencaps:
https://bamfstyle.com/2013/12/31/the-sting-newman-tux/
https://bamfstyle.com/2016/08/11/sting-redford-tux/
https://bamfstyle.com/2013/08/19/sting-redford-gray-suit/
https://bamfstyle.com/2013/01/10/the-sting-brown-pinstripe/
https://bamfstyle.com/2013/01/28/sting-newman-brn-plaid/
My signup:
(In case it's relevant: I happily accept treats!)
I love Henry's knowledge and competence, his history and status, his close and loyal inner circle. I love how protective and worried he gets, how he bears such weight on his shoulders. I love Johnny's eagerness to get involved and to learn, his neediness and hunger, even his risky-carelessness. The way he runs like a deer, the way his eyes glow across a crowded room.
Special mention to the way Henry and Johnny look in strap undershirts. Also: Henry's hat.
I love how their partnership changes, from awkward and uncertain to close and trusting, with barely-repressed emotional undertones. But there's that communication issue under the surface--Johnny keeping so many secrets, Henry aware he's hiding things and pleading with him to speak up ("You can't play your friends like marks, Hooker."). They depend on nuanced and wordless connection on the job, but backstage and onstage are different things, to Henry (even though he can still read Johnny either way). In the end he skips to the part where he discovered Johnny's secrets and protected him, but what's the aftereffect? Has Johnny learned to trust him more? Or is it going to take more time and effort?
Some thoughts:
What do they do after the end of the movie? Does Johnny get impatient? Does Henry teach him new things (and/or vice-versa)? How different are the world of the quick street-hustling Short Con and the high-stakes Big Con, and what's it like for Johnny in this new world?
How was Henry taught his trade back in the day, and does it still work? Why didn't Henry have an apprentice already? Did he before, did it go badly, or is Johnny a surprise exception?
What if something goes wrong? Relying on the grifter community--or, those times and places when all they have to rely on is each other. And what about Johnny being protective of Henry for a change?
A closeup on the Henry/Johnny relationship is great, but I also am totally into the whole parallel grifter society beneath the surface of the regular world, sort of a mixture of a huge extended family and an experienced repertory theater company. So if you want, feel free to paint a larger picture.
A new con, large or small, is welcome, but you don’t have to focus on that if you don’t want to. I’m also into the time between jobs (or offstage during a job), long train trips or fancy hotels or rides hitched in a dusty jalopy, risk-junkies on the road together.
Train travel is so very of the period--as high-end passengers, Pullman cars, sleepers, etc.-- or suddenly having to ride the rails, in a boxcar, buried in straw, staying in Hoovervilles along the way, the intimacies of the road. Ocean liners, thumbing rides, other kinds of travel, where the journey is the whole point. Luxury suites, enormous bathtubs--or a little cold-water flat, a creaky Murphy bed folding down from the wall. Johnny being brought out into the wider grifter community, seeing and being seen. Is he nervous about it? Is Henry? That feeling of grifting as a show, then the theater folks pack up and move on...is there a worry that wanting to stick together, pair up, is somehow against the script? The movie only shows them in cities...what about small towns, the countryside, someplace rural or rougher?
If it becomes relevant, I ask that the good guys’ cons be against deserving targets--fitting the Robin Hoodish tone of the movie, where you go after the well-heeled and greedy, using their own greed to trap them. The con as reparative justice.
Happy or at least hopeful ending please!
Thanks again for writing for me--I appreciate it! *\o/*
A note about treats, in case it's relevant: yes, I am all for them!
(Also, let me say that you'll notice it's very common for me to ask for some of the same fandoms from year to year. If you've written for me previously, please do not ever think this is because I don't still love your gift! I do--it's just that I am still-and-always in the mood for more of these characters and I love them so much. And I am greedy. :D)
If you already have something in mind you think I'll like, go ahead and write it! I want you to enjoy yourself.
If more information about my preferences would help and inspire you, then here's some:
Some of my preferences:
* Hopeful/happy endings. Melancholy/bittersweet tones can work too, just not hopeless/grim please.
* Shipping, if possible. Not mandatory, for non-canon ships--Optional Details Are Optional--but if you're willing, please pair the characters up romantically/sexually (and if you're not shipping them, please have their connection be at least as intense as it is in canon). On-page sex is fine but not required, whatever suits the story--I'm interested in dynamics like:
Discovery, realization
Breaking through fears and repression and damaging levels of self-denial/self-control
Reaching out, finding refuge
Stumbling/falling, only to find they are safely caught/can catch each other
Those tiny moments of intensity and connection, both emotional and physical
* Some tropes and approaches I particularly enjoy:
Trust
Loyalty
Worry
Protectiveness
Hurt/Comfort
Pining (eventually requited)
Tenderness, especially when unexpected
Angst (with a happy/hopeful resolution)
Uncovering a secret
A shell cracking to reveal vulnerability beneath
Physical care like tending wounds/washing/etc.
Nurturing with food/drink/warmth
Expressing deepest feelings with ordinary words (like, I love when there's some seemingly-innocuous phrase that they both know is actually a powerful declaration)
* Classic frameworks are always welcome! Including though not limited to:
Bedsharing
Huddling for warmth
Pretend couple
Discovering they became a couple without realizing
Undercover as a rentboy
Mistaken for a couple, including mistaken for sugar daddy/trade
Rescues
Suffering/sacrificing for the other
Stranded somewhere
Etc.
One jumps in the way of the other getting hurt? (Especially if the saved one is then mad about it?) One gets attacked and the other rises in wrath, GET BACK HE IS MINE? One awkwardly expresses the depth of his feelings with a painstakingly fried egg on toast? A desire to impress him, an effort to figure out how to be silently vulnerable with him, a need for him that he hadn't understood until now or had hidden while pining? Yes plz.
Big drama is good, quiet subtlety is good. ♥
Here are my signups, in alphabetical order: KeixYaku (TV), Peacemakers (2003), Spy Game (2001), The Sting (1973)
KeixYaku
Hanabusa Shirou, Kunishita Ichirou
My signup:
(In case it's relevant: I happily accept treats!)
I love the passionate, intense tropiness of this show--I mean, it has criminal/cop, fight club, undercover, childhood trauma, fever/caretaking, there was only one blanket, torture/rescue, rentboy, "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!", and more. ♥
I love Shirou so much! Driven and aggressive, but also sensitive and lonely. So competent! So seductive! A short king, a powerhouse, a sugar fiend, explosively emotional, an angsty abandoned canon-bi boy. Also such a sharp dresser.
I love Ichirou, who gets in way over his head. Skilled and focused, but awkward and isolated--and speaking of abandoned boys! Under his attempt at shaping himself into a by-the-book rule-follower, he's still a hot mess.
I love Rion, controlled and courageous, able to suffer (and more difficult, able to let those she loves suffer) for the greater good--and I love the way Shirou and Ichirou both look up to her with a junior's devotion. Feel free to include her in the story if you want--they're such a family/team now ♥--though I'd like it to be primarily about Shirou and Ichirou, or Shirou himself if you want to do a Shirou-focused backstory.
Some thoughts:
* More tropes? It's very well-suited to all the classics (or classics with a twist...like, what if Ichirou had to go undercover as a rentboy? Would Shirou give him rentboy lessons??).
* Shirou & Ichirou growing closer together? Domesticity? And how are they handling the aftermath of the show's events? I especially wonder about Shirou...he drastically reshaped himself & his entire life, as if he expected to burn up in a blaze of vengeful glory, but now Rion is right here. What's his motivation now?
* I liked the complexities of Shirou's relationship with the prime minister. It turns out to be deeper than just rentboy/intel-gathering. Both of them seemed to find something in it that touches a wound in the soul--son issues, daddy issues.
* Ichirou's virginity. He seems to be wound up tight about it--how might he go about losing it to Shirou? What would Shirou feel about that?
* When being tortured, Shirou refers to the many prominent people he's slept with, how "they've had all kinds of interests", and how some of them liked to hurt him. I'd be interested to hear more about any of that--how did he get started in that side of things, how did he use it to advance in the organization, how did he feel about it? Was the part about being hurt true, was it to psych out the torturers, was it a little of both...? And how does Ichirou feel about it, if Shirou trusts him with more and more of his checkered history?
* Case work? The show didn't wrap everything up... Or, another side case that comes up in the meantime?
Happy or at least hopeful ending please!
Peacemakers (2003)
Jared Stone, Larimer Finch
My signup:
(In case it's relevant: I happily accept treats!)
Stone and Finch are so different, and initially present themselves as so set in their different ways. No-nonsense old-school marshal! Cutting-edge technological scientist! Never the twain shall meet! And I love those differences, but also the underlying things they have in common that get them to mesh those differences so very quickly--an enormous curiosity, a drive for justice, a need to protect others--and that they're both the quickest one on their particular block. It's like, competence calls to competence, and they end up finding such satisfaction in working in harness together.
But we also see them running into problems because of the depth of those differences. Underestimating each other, for instance--how Finch's physical abilities surprise Stone; how Stone's thoughtfulness surprises Finch. Even after they've realized they're not the City Slicker or the Brutal Rube, they can rasp against each other when they're not expecting it (especially as the season progresses and Stone seems to get more depressed, seeing Finch as entirely pro-new-technology and feeling that he himself and his ways are being left behind).
Other characters are welcome, especially Katie. I'm not into het or the OT3, but I love Katie having a profound platonic dynamic with Finch or Stone or both. She and Stone have known each other longer and respect/rely on each other, but she and Finch have that instant Nerd Bond and will gladly science together all day.
Some thoughts:
* I love historical details. Especially the sensory details coming from The Western--horses/mules/other working animals and their equipment & tack, backcountry travel, low tech, small community, tradition--and how heading toward the turn of the twentieth century they're meeting (both clashing and blending) with the newer details of science, cities, advanced technologies, innovation, etc.
* Speaking of which--what if they went to the big city? Finch was the fish out of water on Stone's turf...what if it were Stone's turn? Does it distress him? Or is he more adaptable to it than Finch may suspect?
* What would it be like for them to travel a long distance together--either backcountry (horses? Mules/wagon?), or trains, or both?
* Working a case together would be welcome, but so would their off time, private time together, etc. I love it when they learn from each other--some new medical/scientific advance from Finch, some overlooked classic tradition from Stone.
* Any thoughts from the episodes? I'm always thinking, for instance, about all the high and unresolved emotion from the Cole Hawkins events. When they first take the kid into custody, he's going to have to go into the cell in Stone's office--how would Stone have handled it? Would he have trusted himself not to still want to hurt him? How might Stone's first emotional reactions (of rage and violence) turn to something softer (and frightening to him?) if he's unable to keep taking refuge in anger?
Happy or at least hopeful ending please!
Spy Game
Nathan Muir, Tom Bishop
My signup:
(In case it's relevant: I happily accept treats!)
I love the high level of skill and competence they both have. Nathan, especially, with his vast experience, and his ability to think on his feet, change plans in a moment, lie and charm and manipulate, and even to be as utterly cold-blooded as he has to be (but then to show himself ultimately more warm-hearted than he's ever admitted--in one particular arena).
I love the way they look, whew, two variations on the sun-brown Golden Boy.
I love the age difference and training relationship, and how it turned into a partnership.
I love how Tom is the only one who's been able to get down beneath Nathan's protective camouflage, and openly reaches out to him (like finding out his true birthday, in order to give him the flask. What did Nathan think of that? Did it scare him?). I love how Nathan is such a hard-shelled clam of a character, and yet when it comes to Tom, he gave up absolutely everything, and did things he explicitly said he would never do--in fact, things he had tried to teach Tom never to do. So intense and satisfying to see him blow up his own spot, all for Tom. Did he know all along that he would do that, but just successfully hid it the way he hid so much else? Or did he surprise himself?
Some thoughts:
Training scenes--what other skills does Nathan teach Tom? Training or missions--what other ways does Tom pull against Nathan's worldview, or share it?
The intimacy of that Cold War, isolated, paranoid me-and-him against the world. Did it ever turn into something more, back in the day? Did it threaten to, but not quite (maybe leaving a capital-A Almost that gets resolved post-canon?)? Others have pointed out the way these characters are perfectly suited for Undercover as Gay/Rentboy/Sugar Daddy And Trade, etc, and I certainly agree.
The global network of friends/comrades/colleagues, secretly pulling strings and doing favors, as we see with Nathan and Harry or Digger...what favors has Nathan done for those in his network? Did Tom learn how to do this too, networking/building trust, and how? Trust seems like such a complex linchpin of this canon.
Post-movie of course is full of delightful promise, especially ship-wise--how is it for Nathan, having given up everything he had and shattering his own rules all in one fell swoop? What would he do if Tom found him--would he be able to admit what he did and why, how he felt, or would Tom have to help him? Pry it (screw it??) out of him?
I really like Gladys and her dynamic with Nathan--feel free to include her in the story if you want, though I'd like it primarily to be about Nathan and Tom.
No need to spend time explaining why Elizabeth leaves--I'm fine with skipping the details (though it's entirely up to you).
Happy or at least hopeful ending please!
The Sting (1973)
Henry Gondorff, Johnny Hooker
Inspirational (and educational!) links from a menswear blog, using plenty of screencaps:
https://bamfstyle.com/2013/12/31/the-sting-newman-tux/
https://bamfstyle.com/2016/08/11/sting-redford-tux/
https://bamfstyle.com/2013/08/19/sting-redford-gray-suit/
https://bamfstyle.com/2013/01/10/the-sting-brown-pinstripe/
https://bamfstyle.com/2013/01/28/sting-newman-brn-plaid/
My signup:
(In case it's relevant: I happily accept treats!)
I love Henry's knowledge and competence, his history and status, his close and loyal inner circle. I love how protective and worried he gets, how he bears such weight on his shoulders. I love Johnny's eagerness to get involved and to learn, his neediness and hunger, even his risky-carelessness. The way he runs like a deer, the way his eyes glow across a crowded room.
Special mention to the way Henry and Johnny look in strap undershirts. Also: Henry's hat.
I love how their partnership changes, from awkward and uncertain to close and trusting, with barely-repressed emotional undertones. But there's that communication issue under the surface--Johnny keeping so many secrets, Henry aware he's hiding things and pleading with him to speak up ("You can't play your friends like marks, Hooker."). They depend on nuanced and wordless connection on the job, but backstage and onstage are different things, to Henry (even though he can still read Johnny either way). In the end he skips to the part where he discovered Johnny's secrets and protected him, but what's the aftereffect? Has Johnny learned to trust him more? Or is it going to take more time and effort?
Some thoughts:
What do they do after the end of the movie? Does Johnny get impatient? Does Henry teach him new things (and/or vice-versa)? How different are the world of the quick street-hustling Short Con and the high-stakes Big Con, and what's it like for Johnny in this new world?
How was Henry taught his trade back in the day, and does it still work? Why didn't Henry have an apprentice already? Did he before, did it go badly, or is Johnny a surprise exception?
What if something goes wrong? Relying on the grifter community--or, those times and places when all they have to rely on is each other. And what about Johnny being protective of Henry for a change?
A closeup on the Henry/Johnny relationship is great, but I also am totally into the whole parallel grifter society beneath the surface of the regular world, sort of a mixture of a huge extended family and an experienced repertory theater company. So if you want, feel free to paint a larger picture.
A new con, large or small, is welcome, but you don’t have to focus on that if you don’t want to. I’m also into the time between jobs (or offstage during a job), long train trips or fancy hotels or rides hitched in a dusty jalopy, risk-junkies on the road together.
Train travel is so very of the period--as high-end passengers, Pullman cars, sleepers, etc.-- or suddenly having to ride the rails, in a boxcar, buried in straw, staying in Hoovervilles along the way, the intimacies of the road. Ocean liners, thumbing rides, other kinds of travel, where the journey is the whole point. Luxury suites, enormous bathtubs--or a little cold-water flat, a creaky Murphy bed folding down from the wall. Johnny being brought out into the wider grifter community, seeing and being seen. Is he nervous about it? Is Henry? That feeling of grifting as a show, then the theater folks pack up and move on...is there a worry that wanting to stick together, pair up, is somehow against the script? The movie only shows them in cities...what about small towns, the countryside, someplace rural or rougher?
If it becomes relevant, I ask that the good guys’ cons be against deserving targets--fitting the Robin Hoodish tone of the movie, where you go after the well-heeled and greedy, using their own greed to trap them. The con as reparative justice.
Happy or at least hopeful ending please!
Thanks again for writing for me--I appreciate it! *\o/*
