Dear Night on Fic Mountain Writer
You are awesome! Thank you for writing for me! I hope you'll enjoy writing your story as much as I'll enjoy reading it!
I love all of these fandoms and all of these characters and will love fic about any of them, so if you already have an idea, then go for it; I know it will be as rad as you are! If a little detail from me will make things easier/more fun for you, then I'll ramble about fic in general and these particular fandoms/characters below:
Do-Not-Wants: I'm fortunate not to have any triggers, but I do have a couple of back-button squicks that it would be great if you could avoid: romanticized/eroticized depictions of incest or rape are deal-breakers for me. If canon and/or the direction your story takes you include incest or rape, I'd prefer it not be depicted in great length or graphic detail. I'm also squicked by most romantic/sexual relationships between characters who have a major imbalance of power. If you'd like to go AU, I'd prefer no a/b/o 'verses or mpreg. If you're moved to porn, I'd prefer nothing that kinks on pain, fear, or danger/risk of death.
[General Likes and Other Details]Stuff I love, in general: banter, found families, redemption narratives, missing scenes and tags/codas, gallows humor, h/c that's light on the 'hurt' and heavy on the 'comfort', characters playing poker, women kicking literal and/or metaphorical ass, characters who own their mistakes (even if they can't seem to quit making them), double lives/secret identities, and hopeful, if imperfectly happy, endings. Most of my favorite stories could be distilled down to something like broken people make a home for each other and/or ragtag band of misfits save world, one another.
Shipping News: I love gen fic a lot, but I'm also open to stories that include m/f, f/f, m/m, and poly relationships. Generally, I don't have a lot of SRS BZNS shipping preferences, but if I have strong feelings about a ship, I'll mention it below.
Stylistically: I don't have a dog in the past tense vs. present tense fight; I read, write, and enjoy both. I will always be a sucker for any kind of unusual narration: second-person, 1st-person plural, outsider POV, unreliable narrator, epistolary fiction, omniscient narrator, etc., etc., ad infinitum. But, third-person-limited is popular for a reason -and that reason is that it works!- so please don't feel pressured to try something you wouldn't have fun with. Just know that if you were thinking about experimenting, you'd find a receptive audience in me!
Specific to this Exchange: I've requested "any" characters for all four fandoms, so please feel free to use as many or as few in your story as you like, as well as to include characters who weren't nominated.
[Banshee]Banshee - You're probably looking up at my DNWs and wondering how I even watch this show, let alone love it as much as I do. /0\ Basically, I was already a goner by the time I encountered the things that've made me nope out of other media. Pretty much anything you want to write for this show - short of incest ship-fic - will be met with delight from me, but if specific ideas for the nominated characters will be useful:
I can pinpoint the exact moment when this show forever snagged in my heart like a fishhook: the scene in episode 1.2 "The Rave", in which Hood drives home the daughter he's only just discovered and watches her run to the man who got to raise her for comfort. A story that explores Hood's relationship with Deva and/or with Ana/Carrie and the entire Hopewell family, whether set during the first two seasons or speculating on the future, would be wonderful.
I'd also love a flashback - sort of a fic equivalent of the Origins shorts? - to Hood and Job shenanigans prior to Hood's involvement with Rabbit; or Ana, Job, and Hood working a job or laying escape plans; or Job protecting Ana after Hood's arrest; or Ana learning to be under-the-radar Carrie; or really anything you might like to write about them prior to the pilot.
Sugar is wonderful, whether he's dispensing advice or unexpected grace along with his whiskey or sniping back and forth with Job (1000 words of Job and Sugar bickering would be excellent!). I'd be delighted to read more about his past - either in the boxing ring or in Proctor's corner - or to see him interact with any other cast member in the canon timeline.
Also awesome would be something about Siobhan during the years where she was transforming herself from victim of spousal abuse to Deputy Kelly, B.S.D. There was not space to nominate everyone, but I love the whole cast of deputies, so please feel free to write about how the department functions during the canon timeline or before Hood's arrival.
Siobhan/Hood is one of the exceptions to my general dislike of relationships with a power imbalance - I think the fact that he's not actually the Sheriff and the way that secret/her perceptiveness keep him in a precarious position must balance out the literal formal hierarchy of their roles in the Sheriff's Department for me? In any case, I just love how much and how genuinely they like each other. - so if you were inclined to write something shippy and/or porny, they would be an A+ place to start.
[Hart of Dixie]Hart of Dixie - This show just makes me vanilla happy on a week-in, week-out basis. It's silly and heartfelt and warm and surprisingly snarky. It's also my perennial small/rare exchange request, and I've been fortunate to receive lovely pieces of fic for it in past exchanges; rest assured that I'd be thrilled to read about three million stories about these characters.
My favorite parts of the show are when characters who don't actually like each other that well (or just aren't on speaking terms at the moment!) pull together to help a mutual friend or for the greater good of Bluebell and/or a zany/revered town event. I love that everyone in Bluebell is connected - whether they want to be or not - the weekly and on-going plots all spin out of character relationships, sometimes romantic, but just as often friendship or family or partnership or rivalry.
There are a huge number of characters nominated - which is awesome! - and I will love a story about any of them. If you'd find more specific ideas useful:
I really love the recent development that has Lemon and Zoe edging from grudging mutual respect into something that looks suspiciously like friendship. And I'm a sucker for stories about how people relate to their living spaces, so something about Zoe and the house she and Joel bought would be lovely.
Anything I've mentioned in previous exchange letters would be excellently welcome!
I think the only characters I haven't rambled about at some length for other exchanges are Tom, Wanda, and Joel.
For Tom and Wanda, I'd love to see some smaller moment(s) from their courtship, or from their life together, with their bees and goat and alpacas. For Joel, I'd love to see more of his awkward, early days in Bluebell and/or his friendship with Wade, which was great and fun and managed not to be built around or undermined by their relationships with Zoe.
In terms of shipping, I'd rather not receive Zoe/George (though references to an unsuccessful past relationship would be fine, and I do love George on his own or paired with anyone not Zoe and would prefer not to see him bashed) or Zoe/Lavon (because I love their friendship exactly as-is). Apart from that, feel free to include any canon pairing or to try to sell me on any relationship whose dynamic doesn't rely on incest or abuse of power.
[Redemption]Redemption - I love action movies, and this one - which was also released as Hummingbird and Crazy Joe - more than most! One of the things I love about it is that it's about trauma and recovery (imperfect, marginal, and plagued by setbacks as the latter may be). Another thing I love about it are all the ways it plays on identity: there's Joe Smith, potential war criminal; Crazy Joe, homeless alcoholic with debilitating PTSD symptoms; Joey the artist's-model/boytoy; Joey Jones, gangster, and shades in between where they overlap. And Cristina has a similar set of personas, as a Sister with glasses and severe hairstyle, a girl in a red dress who gets drunk on a little champagne, a ballet-patron shutting the door on her "crazy patch".
I'd love a story set during the weeks/months elapsed in the movie where either or both of them have near-misses and almost "blow their cover", as it were. I'd also love just a day-in-the-life with Cristina's successes and failures at the mission or Joey's errands for Choy.
In the scene where Joey and Cristina talk in the mission van, it's still dark when he offers to drive, but well past dawn when they pull up at the Convent's gates. I'd love to read the missing scene that covers those small morning hours - do they talk more? what about? do they stop and do something or just drive all night long?
If you were inclined to write future fic that either ignores or posits a non-incarcerated future following the discovery and arrest that are implied to come after the credits roll, then I'd love to see them building a life that lets Cristina help others without denying herself all kindnesses or delights and allows Joey to take care of other people and himself simultaneously.
I don't expect porn (in general or in this likely fandom-of-one in particular), though I'm absolutely open to it, especially if you wanted to fill in some details of their mostly-offscreen encounter in Damon's apartment. I don't particularly kink on celibacy/Cristina-as-a-nun, but something focused on this as her first consensual sexual experience and his attention to making it pleasurable for her with that knowledge would be lovely. Something bittersweet, in that they've both already decided that this is the last day of their "crazy patches", and so, both a first and last time together would also be great.
[The Whistler]The Whistler - If you really got me talking about OTR, you'd probably never get me to stop, and one of the shows I'd go on about at considerable length is The Whistler! I love crime fiction in general, and this show's stylistic elements, production values, and long (and well-preserved) radio run really set it apart. In particular, I love The Whistler's role as omniscient and unseen narrator, and the way he often drops into second-person: 'You've been waiting for this day, haven't you, Gerald? All your months of careful planning come to fruition', etc. I would be delighted if that were an element of your story. If you were inclined to format your fic as a script-for-radio, that would be likewise awesome, though certainly not necessary.
My favorite kind of Whistler stories are the ones that end with a sudden, ironic twist: like, the one thing the episode's protagonist did so carefully to cover her tracks is the thing that reveals her as a crook (or implicates her in more serious crimes she's actually innocent of), or a character falls fatefully (and/or fatally!) into the very trap he set for someone else.
The series being an anthology show without recurring characters apart from The Whistler himself, I don't have any really specific prompts, but I'm guessing that if you've offered it, you're probably comfortable writing original characters in a situation that invites The Whistler's attention. I can't wait to read the story you put together!
I'd also be cool with an expansion of or twist on an existing episode - many of which are available for streaming and download here - or something that explores who/what The Whistler is, and how he comes to "know many things" and "walk by night" or really any other idea you might have for this fandom.
The bottom line of all the above tl;dr: There are any number of delightful stories you could write for me in any of these fandoms, and a large part of my fun as a recip is to wonder about, and inevitably be surprised by!, the fic you'll ultimately gift me! I've gone on at length above - because, hey, opportunity to burble about teeny fandoms-of-my-heart? I am there! - and because I know some writers like to have the additional info; if you're not one of them, then please don't stress about incorporating anything here that's not helpful to or fun for you.
Thanks again for writing for me, and I hope you have a lovely Night on Fic Mountain! C:
I love all of these fandoms and all of these characters and will love fic about any of them, so if you already have an idea, then go for it; I know it will be as rad as you are! If a little detail from me will make things easier/more fun for you, then I'll ramble about fic in general and these particular fandoms/characters below:
Do-Not-Wants: I'm fortunate not to have any triggers, but I do have a couple of back-button squicks that it would be great if you could avoid: romanticized/eroticized depictions of incest or rape are deal-breakers for me. If canon and/or the direction your story takes you include incest or rape, I'd prefer it not be depicted in great length or graphic detail. I'm also squicked by most romantic/sexual relationships between characters who have a major imbalance of power. If you'd like to go AU, I'd prefer no a/b/o 'verses or mpreg. If you're moved to porn, I'd prefer nothing that kinks on pain, fear, or danger/risk of death.
[General Likes and Other Details]Stuff I love, in general: banter, found families, redemption narratives, missing scenes and tags/codas, gallows humor, h/c that's light on the 'hurt' and heavy on the 'comfort', characters playing poker, women kicking literal and/or metaphorical ass, characters who own their mistakes (even if they can't seem to quit making them), double lives/secret identities, and hopeful, if imperfectly happy, endings. Most of my favorite stories could be distilled down to something like broken people make a home for each other and/or ragtag band of misfits save world, one another.
Shipping News: I love gen fic a lot, but I'm also open to stories that include m/f, f/f, m/m, and poly relationships. Generally, I don't have a lot of SRS BZNS shipping preferences, but if I have strong feelings about a ship, I'll mention it below.
Stylistically: I don't have a dog in the past tense vs. present tense fight; I read, write, and enjoy both. I will always be a sucker for any kind of unusual narration: second-person, 1st-person plural, outsider POV, unreliable narrator, epistolary fiction, omniscient narrator, etc., etc., ad infinitum. But, third-person-limited is popular for a reason -and that reason is that it works!- so please don't feel pressured to try something you wouldn't have fun with. Just know that if you were thinking about experimenting, you'd find a receptive audience in me!
Specific to this Exchange: I've requested "any" characters for all four fandoms, so please feel free to use as many or as few in your story as you like, as well as to include characters who weren't nominated.
[Banshee]Banshee - You're probably looking up at my DNWs and wondering how I even watch this show, let alone love it as much as I do. /0\ Basically, I was already a goner by the time I encountered the things that've made me nope out of other media. Pretty much anything you want to write for this show - short of incest ship-fic - will be met with delight from me, but if specific ideas for the nominated characters will be useful:
I can pinpoint the exact moment when this show forever snagged in my heart like a fishhook: the scene in episode 1.2 "The Rave", in which Hood drives home the daughter he's only just discovered and watches her run to the man who got to raise her for comfort. A story that explores Hood's relationship with Deva and/or with Ana/Carrie and the entire Hopewell family, whether set during the first two seasons or speculating on the future, would be wonderful.
I'd also love a flashback - sort of a fic equivalent of the Origins shorts? - to Hood and Job shenanigans prior to Hood's involvement with Rabbit; or Ana, Job, and Hood working a job or laying escape plans; or Job protecting Ana after Hood's arrest; or Ana learning to be under-the-radar Carrie; or really anything you might like to write about them prior to the pilot.
Sugar is wonderful, whether he's dispensing advice or unexpected grace along with his whiskey or sniping back and forth with Job (1000 words of Job and Sugar bickering would be excellent!). I'd be delighted to read more about his past - either in the boxing ring or in Proctor's corner - or to see him interact with any other cast member in the canon timeline.
Also awesome would be something about Siobhan during the years where she was transforming herself from victim of spousal abuse to Deputy Kelly, B.S.D. There was not space to nominate everyone, but I love the whole cast of deputies, so please feel free to write about how the department functions during the canon timeline or before Hood's arrival.
Siobhan/Hood is one of the exceptions to my general dislike of relationships with a power imbalance - I think the fact that he's not actually the Sheriff and the way that secret/her perceptiveness keep him in a precarious position must balance out the literal formal hierarchy of their roles in the Sheriff's Department for me? In any case, I just love how much and how genuinely they like each other. - so if you were inclined to write something shippy and/or porny, they would be an A+ place to start.
[Hart of Dixie]Hart of Dixie - This show just makes me vanilla happy on a week-in, week-out basis. It's silly and heartfelt and warm and surprisingly snarky. It's also my perennial small/rare exchange request, and I've been fortunate to receive lovely pieces of fic for it in past exchanges; rest assured that I'd be thrilled to read about three million stories about these characters.
My favorite parts of the show are when characters who don't actually like each other that well (or just aren't on speaking terms at the moment!) pull together to help a mutual friend or for the greater good of Bluebell and/or a zany/revered town event. I love that everyone in Bluebell is connected - whether they want to be or not - the weekly and on-going plots all spin out of character relationships, sometimes romantic, but just as often friendship or family or partnership or rivalry.
There are a huge number of characters nominated - which is awesome! - and I will love a story about any of them. If you'd find more specific ideas useful:
I really love the recent development that has Lemon and Zoe edging from grudging mutual respect into something that looks suspiciously like friendship. And I'm a sucker for stories about how people relate to their living spaces, so something about Zoe and the house she and Joel bought would be lovely.
Anything I've mentioned in previous exchange letters would be excellently welcome!
I think the only characters I haven't rambled about at some length for other exchanges are Tom, Wanda, and Joel.
For Tom and Wanda, I'd love to see some smaller moment(s) from their courtship, or from their life together, with their bees and goat and alpacas. For Joel, I'd love to see more of his awkward, early days in Bluebell and/or his friendship with Wade, which was great and fun and managed not to be built around or undermined by their relationships with Zoe.
In terms of shipping, I'd rather not receive Zoe/George (though references to an unsuccessful past relationship would be fine, and I do love George on his own or paired with anyone not Zoe and would prefer not to see him bashed) or Zoe/Lavon (because I love their friendship exactly as-is). Apart from that, feel free to include any canon pairing or to try to sell me on any relationship whose dynamic doesn't rely on incest or abuse of power.
[Redemption]Redemption - I love action movies, and this one - which was also released as Hummingbird and Crazy Joe - more than most! One of the things I love about it is that it's about trauma and recovery (imperfect, marginal, and plagued by setbacks as the latter may be). Another thing I love about it are all the ways it plays on identity: there's Joe Smith, potential war criminal; Crazy Joe, homeless alcoholic with debilitating PTSD symptoms; Joey the artist's-model/boytoy; Joey Jones, gangster, and shades in between where they overlap. And Cristina has a similar set of personas, as a Sister with glasses and severe hairstyle, a girl in a red dress who gets drunk on a little champagne, a ballet-patron shutting the door on her "crazy patch".
I'd love a story set during the weeks/months elapsed in the movie where either or both of them have near-misses and almost "blow their cover", as it were. I'd also love just a day-in-the-life with Cristina's successes and failures at the mission or Joey's errands for Choy.
In the scene where Joey and Cristina talk in the mission van, it's still dark when he offers to drive, but well past dawn when they pull up at the Convent's gates. I'd love to read the missing scene that covers those small morning hours - do they talk more? what about? do they stop and do something or just drive all night long?
If you were inclined to write future fic that either ignores or posits a non-incarcerated future following the discovery and arrest that are implied to come after the credits roll, then I'd love to see them building a life that lets Cristina help others without denying herself all kindnesses or delights and allows Joey to take care of other people and himself simultaneously.
I don't expect porn (in general or in this likely fandom-of-one in particular), though I'm absolutely open to it, especially if you wanted to fill in some details of their mostly-offscreen encounter in Damon's apartment. I don't particularly kink on celibacy/Cristina-as-a-nun, but something focused on this as her first consensual sexual experience and his attention to making it pleasurable for her with that knowledge would be lovely. Something bittersweet, in that they've both already decided that this is the last day of their "crazy patches", and so, both a first and last time together would also be great.
[The Whistler]The Whistler - If you really got me talking about OTR, you'd probably never get me to stop, and one of the shows I'd go on about at considerable length is The Whistler! I love crime fiction in general, and this show's stylistic elements, production values, and long (and well-preserved) radio run really set it apart. In particular, I love The Whistler's role as omniscient and unseen narrator, and the way he often drops into second-person: 'You've been waiting for this day, haven't you, Gerald? All your months of careful planning come to fruition', etc. I would be delighted if that were an element of your story. If you were inclined to format your fic as a script-for-radio, that would be likewise awesome, though certainly not necessary.
My favorite kind of Whistler stories are the ones that end with a sudden, ironic twist: like, the one thing the episode's protagonist did so carefully to cover her tracks is the thing that reveals her as a crook (or implicates her in more serious crimes she's actually innocent of), or a character falls fatefully (and/or fatally!) into the very trap he set for someone else.
The series being an anthology show without recurring characters apart from The Whistler himself, I don't have any really specific prompts, but I'm guessing that if you've offered it, you're probably comfortable writing original characters in a situation that invites The Whistler's attention. I can't wait to read the story you put together!
I'd also be cool with an expansion of or twist on an existing episode - many of which are available for streaming and download here - or something that explores who/what The Whistler is, and how he comes to "know many things" and "walk by night" or really any other idea you might have for this fandom.
The bottom line of all the above tl;dr: There are any number of delightful stories you could write for me in any of these fandoms, and a large part of my fun as a recip is to wonder about, and inevitably be surprised by!, the fic you'll ultimately gift me! I've gone on at length above - because, hey, opportunity to burble about teeny fandoms-of-my-heart? I am there! - and because I know some writers like to have the additional info; if you're not one of them, then please don't stress about incorporating anything here that's not helpful to or fun for you.
Thanks again for writing for me, and I hope you have a lovely Night on Fic Mountain! C: