Dear Trick or Treat Author
Dear Trick or Treat Author,
Hi! This is my first year doing Trick or Treat after several years of meaning to and then forgetting, and I'm very excited. I'm Carly, thecarlysutra on AO3, and I'm so happy that this ficswap has brought us together because I legitimately adore these fandoms and these characters, and I know you must like at least one of them, too, or you wouldn't be here. I want to be as helpful to you as possible, so I have tried to be comprehensive and organized, and before I discuss my individual requests, I am going to tell you a little bit about my general likes and dislikes. I just know that as an author the more information I have about my recipient, the easier things are for me. Your mileage may vary, but I'd rather give you too much information than not enough.
I would prefer my actual gift is a story, but am happy with fic or art for anything extra. I requested four fandoms, and I am happy with tricks or treats for all of them.
Let's do dislikes first, to get the unpleasantness out of the way. I am not really well-versed in horror, but I know that I really dislike body horror. I would prefer none of the characters I've requested die or become monsters (or start the stories as monsters), but I am not averse to monsters in general. I'm pretty sensitive to rape stuff, and I really don't like reading about institutionalization or other bad things done to the mentally ill. I know some horror movies have a big twist at the end like, "Oh, it's because he was crazy the whole time!" but please don't play that card here. Please avoid in depth or graphic discussion on suicide or self-injury.
And now for the fun stuff! I love stories. They are my favorite thing. I love all kinds of stories, but my favorites tend to be character driven. They have dialogue and small moments that illustrate relationships or grow characters, not just move the plot along. I love small character details. I want to know the song that gets stuck in Ethan Hunt's head when he's bored. I want to know what Ray Levoi dreams about when they're not visions. I want everything. You cannot give me too much.
I love found families, and close relationships both romantic and non. I love all the different kinds of love the Greeks had that are all in Tumblr gifsets now. I love people loving each other and enjoying each other's company. It's fucking great, okay? It's the best thing.
I love hurt/comfort (and its cousin, sexual healing) and sudden! intimacy tropes like arranged marriage, fake dating, and "there was only one bed!" I love soulmate stuff, especially soulmarks. I love humor and softness and competence and sexiness and playfulness. I love happy endings. It's not a requirement because of the nature of this challenge, but do love them.
Let's talk about my requests!
Thunderheart (1992)
- Ray Levoi
- Walter Crow Horse
Why I love it: Its script is near perfect, the acting is incredible, the issues are explored in a real and unflinching way. This is a really good movie by any reasonable metric, and I really care about the characters and I want to know more about them.
Shipping: I ship Ray and Crow Horse hard, and would love if they're together in the story, but if you're not down for it, please just try to keep up their banter and mutual trust from the film.
Tricks: I would prefer this not be an AU. What I mean is: please bring in supernatural or horror elements, but please bring them into the world of the film. (Preferably post-film.) I am eight million percent here for Ray Levoi and Walter Crow Horse hunting werewolves or dealing with a haunted house, etc. If you want to do a ghost story, remember that Maggie Eagle Bear was based on a real person who died for her cause, and tread gently.
Treats: I love Ray and Walter and I love them together doing basically anything. I love them working a case, and I love them embroiled in domestic fluff. If you don't ship them, you could write me some backstory on either character. I'm particularly interested in Ray's time working deep cover.
Top Gun (1986)
- Tom "Iceman" Kazansky
- Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Why I love it: I love these stupid boys so much. I love them so much.
Shipping: I ship Iceman/Maverick like mad, but it's okay if you don't, just please don't match them with other partners unless they're going to be endgame.
Tricks: AU this one as much (or as little) as you like. To be honest, I was just going to request treats for this one, but then I started thinking about Scream Queens (I blame you, Glen Powell), and I think it could work? If you go with the season one plot, there's a masked killer terrorizing (the TOPGUN or some other) campus, and Ice and Maverick have to quit bickering and eye fucking long enough to stay alive. The SQ season two plot works great for TG2: Goose's kid has a vendetta against TOPGUN after his father died there, and, once again, Ice and Maverick have to quit bickering and eye fucking long enough to stay alive. It practically writes itself. I would prefer a happy(ish) ending and neither Ice nor Maverick actually dying, but beyond that, go ham.
Treats: I love soft things about these boys, and I love sexy things. Write them flirting over the comms up in the air, or write domestic fluff when they're in their 50s and married. Write Maverick accidentally picking up Ice's dogtags from the bedside table instead of his own, and then it becoming a huge deal because he ends up unconscious in the infirmary. Write Maverick buying one of those "paint with your naked body!" kits to decorate the living room and Ice being a million percent against it until Mav makes it into a competition. Write them accidentally getting really drunk at a dinner party because Maverick thinks, "The alcohol just cooks out!" even when it's in a sauce served on the side that isn't heated. Write ridiculous bets and intimate moments exploring each other's bodies and discovering each other's scars for the first time. You cannot go wrong, I will love anything you write about these two, even if they're just friends.
Mission Impossible (Movies)
- Ethan Hunt
- William Brandt
- Benji Dunn
- Luther Stickell
Why I love it: What I love about these movies is the found family, the depths of trust and affection and the insane lengths these characters go ride or dying for each other. And Ethan. Bless his heart. He's like 85% unbridled, bulletproof chaotic neutral mayhem, and 15% that's easy for you to say; I'm the one climbing to the 130th floor on the outside of the building! I love it. I love him.
Shipping: I don't have any strong ships for this fandom, and would really prefer this story to be gen.
Tricks: Give these guys some monsters to fight, would you? Vampires? No problem. Zombie apocalypse? Just another day at the office.
Treats: All the found family fluff! They get together for Thanksgiving, they keep each other awake over comms while surveilling, they play a stupid game. Give me any little thing.
Batman (Movies 1989-1997)
- Bruce Wayne
- Chase Meridian
- Alfred Pennyworth
What it is: You can probably guess by my chosen characters, but I am in this for Batman Forever, which is the first Batman film after Warner Brothers decided they wanted to make more merchandising money; they toned things waaaaaay down from Keaton's run, and cast Val Kilmer, the prettiest and softest Batman.
Why I love it: I love the ridiculousness, the lightness, the certainty that the good guys always win. I don't like dark superhero movies, because that's not what superheroes are for. I love Val's turn as a solid, competent Bruce Wayne who wears sweaters and goes to therapy to deal with his Bat Issues.
Shipping: I ship Bruce and Chase, but as long as there's no slash, I'm okay with whatever you do.
Tricks: So, when I first started thinking about this challenge, I thought, "What if the home invasion in Batman Forever was a little more horror movie?" And then I thought, "How much would that suck, to break into some rich guy's house hoping to rob or kill him, not knowing he's the goddamn Batman?" Please don't kill any of the good guys, and please let them win, but otherwise, do your worst. Have fun with it.
Treats: LET BLOND BRUCE WAYNE BE HAPPY 2019.