Dear Trick or Treat Author 2020
Dear Trick or Treat Author,
Hi! This is my second year doing Trick or Treat, and I copied a lot of this letter from last year's letter, but 2020 has just been A Lot, okay? 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 six 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 Maverick Mitchell'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 I do love them.
Let's talk about my requests!
Thunderheart (1992)
- Ray Levoi
- Walter Crow Horse
Why I love it: The 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.
The Old Guard (TV 2020)
- Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani
- Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
- Andy | Andromache of Scythia
- Nile Freeman
Why I love it: Everything about this movie is great, but THESE CHARACTERS. I love them so much, and I love how they love each other. I love how they are badass and lethal, but they're not hard. They still have soft parts; they love and they feel and they laugh, and they honestly want to do good things for other people and for the world. They're heroes, and they're family, and I just love them. (Also, I took two years of Italian in undergrad, and I was thrilled at all the conversational Italian that apparently I still remember.)
Shipping: I ship Joe/Nicky pretty hard.
Tricks: You don't have to push canon very hard to get to a trick, but I'm also totally up for whatever horror or supernatural elements you'd like to bring in.
Treats: Just the family being family! Joe and Nicky on a romantic outing, Andy teaches Nile some new combat techniques, anything you want.
Mortel (TV 2019)
- Sofiane Kada
- Victor Wanderwelt
- Luisa Manjimbe
Why I love it: This show is ridiculous and fun, but there are also serious things going on in all the characters' lives, for maximum feels. I love Sofiane's reckless bravery, Victor's heart, and pretty much everything about Luisa.
Shipping: This kind of seems like a scenario that could really benefit from polyamory, doesn't it? I don't know if it's a V-shaped relationship with Sofiane and Luisa sharing Victor or if the three of them can all make it work, but I am here for it.
Tricks: Canon-compliant fic for this show very easily becomes a trick, but I'm also open to whatever horror or supernatural aspects you could bring in from outside canon. Sofiane and Victor versus vampires? Love it. Luisa puts her powers up against a coven of witches? Here for it. I'm also really interested in the boys learning how to better control their powers, and finding out everything they're capable of.
Treats: Date night! Figuring out how their relationship works! Romance! You can get soft with this, it'll be great.
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
- Slevin Kelevra
- Lindsey
Why I love it: The writing is so good. It's so good. And I love these characters, and I love how they love each other.
Shipping: Slevin/Lindsey is one of my all-time favorite ships. I ADORE them.
Tricks: I would prefer post-film for any story, tbh. I think Slevin and Lindsey could really fuck up a monster's night, you know what I'm saying? I would absolutely love to see them against the paranormal.
Treats: Again, I prefer a post-film setting, but these two can be so sweet and soft together. More date nights? Their first Valentine's Day? Give me anything with the two of them being totally gone for each other, and I'll love it.
Teenage Bounty Hunters (TV 2020)
- Blair Wesley
- Sterling Wesley
- Bowser Simmons
Why I love it: It's so fun! And I really love the relationship between the girls, and the relationship they come to have with Bowser.
Shipping: I don't have any romantic ships for this fandom.
Tricks: This could be the funnest slasher movie. Murderer takes aim at Blair and Sterling, not realizing how much ass they can kick.
Treats: More shenanigans! Nabbing a skip and still making it to the school dance! More Bowser being the girls' family and helping them with everything from their relationship problems to proper taser use.