The Request - Naughty Girl Pick

The Request

Emmett/Kate

So, I picked the brain of the very talented winterstale. Her o/s won the Naughty Girl Pick in our Best Domination Ever contest. Congratulations on a job well done!  Here is what she had to say...

Hmmmm…I wrote my first fic in the second grade. It was based on a Sherlock Holmes story and I won the school Creative Writing award for it. Then, later that afternoon had an argument with another girl in my class over the validity of fan fiction versus original fiction. I wish I’d had my Beta Vi with me who constantly reminds me there are only three stories in the world and they are just re-told again and again with different circumstances. Lol

I trained in classical theatre at the college level in the US and London and if forced to leave the South would live in the UK.

I think the biggest blooper in all of the Twilight books is in Breaking Dawn where Emmett yells “Go Gators” at the TV screen. Um, Tennessee boy? From Sevier County? Not happening.

What inspired you to start writing Fan Fiction?

The first story I wrote for Twilight was about Edward, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett when they lived in Appalachia. Their residence in my part of the country was intriguing and I wanted to know how these vampires would exist in environments that were totally familiar to me. Carlisle was a major focus because I wanted his story. He’s been witness to so much rapid change in the way humans live and because he interacted with the human world, must have a really interesting perspective on how we have evolved.

So, what is it about Emmett that does it for you? Where did you come up with the idea of an Emmett/Kate pairing?

Oh. Emmett.*eyes glaze over* http://s945.photobucket.com/albums/ad292/winterstale_album/?action=view¤t=gerard-butler-1-sized.jpg


I’m sorry, Steph, did you say something?

Cullen818 interjects - I'll have to agree, I've seen this picture!

Emmett is just incredible and so tragically undeveloped, in the source material and in fanfic. I think he is extremely charismatic, loyal, intuitive, intense, and sensitive. I’m a sucker for big guys so stick those character traits in that sizable package, add the dimples and…just wow.

As for Kate, she and Siobhan are my favorite OOC pairings for Emmett. I see Kate as a frosty and slightly remote intellectual and I think pairing a woman like her with a man as earthy, sensual and engaged with life (or..um – existence?) as Emmett is really interesting. The first time I wrote Em and Kate together was in a one-shot called Bunnyhead. Something about them together, her reserve, his genial nature (although it’s slightly obscured under a hangover in Bunnyhead) appealed to me because I wanted him to come to the foreground.

I think playing around with different pairings, universes, and circumstances is fun and what writing fic is all about for me. It’s a creative outlet; entirely about having fun with characters I thought had loads of potential in the original works but didn’t have much depth. For me, I feel like I really know canon Bella. She told me the majority of four stories and I have a fairly good idea of who she is. Now Esme – I have sketchy details and the way Bella perceives her in the books – that’s it. I suppose I’m a research nerd but I love it. I’m happy as I can be, for example, taking the few tidbits we have about Es and ‘fluffing’ her out. I respect readers and writers who are staunch canonists but that doesn’t interest me as a writer - or a reader. I think both approaches are valid and wish people who write out of canon were afforded the same amount of respect canon writers are. In other fandoms, this really isn’t an issue (see Draco/Hermione in the Potter fandom), but so many readers in our fandom refuse to even go beyond canon pairings, even Bella and Edward. There’s so much more out there and limiting oneself as a reader to canon pairings only makes you miss some great stories.


*steps off soapbox*



The Request deals with some serious domination. How much research went into writing such a story? What drew you to that genre?


I’ve been places on the internet that I never thought I’d go as I’ve developed “The Request” and “The Garden”. I am not a player, I don’t practice the lifestyle. Because of Garden, I’ve now got BDSM books, have looked in depth at some of the Alternative Lifestyle websites like the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom and The Iron Gate, and for “The Request” I watched some lesbian-made-for-lesbian porn called The Crash Pad series by a director named Shine Louise Houston. It’s been very educational! I had no frame of reference for Ro’s buddy Cedric so I had to see how that worked, how Ro might interact with a strap-on, even how she would wear it. I also had to do some research about playing with gender identity, although Ro absolutely does things her own way as we would expect from her.


I think I’m drawn to the idea of BDSM because it is intimate theatre. Unless you’re in a 24/7 slave arrangement, my opinion is that it’s essentially role playing and a lot of it happens in the mind. In a safe real life scene there is usually some sort of negotiation about what will happen, what limits are set, and how the scene resolves. As an actor, I understand that scenario pretty well. From my view up in the cheap seats, BDSM seems like acting in the most dramatic of scenes…with a happy ending.

I thought, and expressed very much in the tone of a whiny ten year old to my beta Viola Cornuta who is also my fic broker, that there just wasn’t much Em-centric BDSM stuff out there. We also frequently digressed into a discussion about BDSM fic clichés, and that’s how Garden was born. She quite literally told me to STFU and write it myself, just as I say in the author’s notes.



Do you find it a challenge to write a o/s within the confines of a specific theme or contest? Or, does that make it easier, more specific for you?

I love writing within a theme! It’s very similar to my own approach to developing a story.

Because I feel like I know Emmett so well now, those themes just open the plot bunny cage for me. The only issue I have with writing a one shot is word count. I tend to run on a bit (oh really? Lol) and I struggle with editing. Thank goodness my Beta, Viola Cornuta and my pre-readers Rosmarina and JulieJulieJulie don’t flinch at selecting strike-thru, occasionally with great abandon. ; )


What are your favorite Fan Fics to read? Do you only read canon or will you dabble in other pairings? Who is the most intriguing Cullen for you to write? Why?

Obviously I will give anything with Emmett a chance but the minute I read ‘booming laugh’ anywhere in proximity to him, my flounce-a-matic starts to itch. It’s not about pairings or universe for me but the story.

My favorite fics right now are “Youth Without Age, Life Without Death” and “Dead Confederates” by Goldenmeadow, “Potential” by Rosmarina, “Goodnight Noises, Everywhere” by Feisty Y. Beden, “The Long Way Home” by TheHeartofLife, “Neverending Math Equation” by Twanza, “Independent Variables” by emibella, “Down and Across” by Hmonster4 and HeartofLife and “Edward Wallbanger” by feathersmmmm. Those are the stories that make me stop writing and run over to fanfic.net to read.


“Broken Doll” by Rowan Moon is incredibly detailed and brings in another, completely original, piece of mythology to the residents of Forks. It’s complete now as well so from a technical aspect it’s really interesting to see how MistressMoon’s innate talent develops over the time she wrote the story. My girl Juliejuliejulie’s “Catastrophic Love Implosion” is sooooo good. I love her Emmett.


One other completed fic that will always own me is “Kindred Spirits” by PhoenixRising. She wrote an incredible story with an OC/Edward pairing. I love developing OCs and inserting them in the Twilight world. It’s not really that different that working with some of the minor characters in the source material. PhoenixRising taught me, both by example and in correspondence, how to handle working with an OC, and was incredibly generous with her guidance. She took some snark over pairing Edward with an OC and I think her work stands as all the answer the naysayers need to their objections.



Other than Emmett, I find myself turning to Jasper

cullen818 interjects again - Now that's my girl! lol

http://s945.photobucket.com/albums/ad292/winterstale_album/?action=view¤t=jasper.jpg a lot. Probably due to the length of their ‘lives’ I find him and Carlisle rife for research and exploration. The idea of Jasper, a violent vampire struggling to become something of a pacifist, as well as his empath abilities are really interesting qualities to me. Oh, and sweet Esme. I adore her and love giving her something to do other than standing around and nodding kindly.

Besides Em and Jas, the Denali girls and the Irish coven are my loves. The Romanians make me swoon with evil glee. All of these covens contain older vampires with hints of really interesting histories and personalities. I think as time goes on, if the Twilight fandom continues to exist at a level even close to what we see now, those peripheral characters are going to become more important to fic writers.



The Naughty Girls Have Their Say...

Cullen818 - I fell in  love with this o/s. I never considered Emmett in an AH, Dominant fic, but winterstale has captivated and intrigued me. I can't stop thinking about this characterization of Emmett. You have to read it to fully get what I'm saying. The details and description of this fic go beyond any other that I've read.  The bonus here is that this was a o/s based off the full story, The Garden, so you'll be able to see how the whole relationship started.

Emmett and Kate go beyond the roles of a dominant and his submissive, but I love the fact that we never forget the true meaning of their relationship. My favorite part of the o/s was in the kitchen when Kate steals a piece of pepperoni from Emmett's pizza. It's so cute. Go read this, you'll love it!

TwiCarol - What can I say about The Request? It’s brilliant & well worth reading, for a start. It is well-written and it’s wonderful to see the love and respect that the characters have for each other, no matter what they are doing together. You may not be used to seeing Emmett and Kate together, but don’t let that stop you from reading this. They make a great pair and will make you want to continue reading about them (which you luckily can do, in The Garden, the fic that this o/s is based on).


Jasper's Darlin' Kathy - I have to say that this was the first time that I ever read Emmett and Kate, but this o/s was amazing. I loved it and the more that I read, the more I could totally picture Emmett and Kate together. They seem like the perfect fit in this fic. The author wrote these characters like they were made for each other. I would definitely recommend this fic to anyone. Oh and if you've read this fic, you'll want to read  The Garden, its Emmett and Kate too and well worth the read.