General Preferences on Fanfic
Since I usually find myself copying and pasting the "general want/DNW stuff" from previous entries, I decided to go ahead and just make a sticky post that I can link to.
GENERAL WANTS
1. Stories don’t need to be super sappy and sugary/fluffy, but please don’t get all grim and dark. Bittersweet can work if there are hopeful tinges. Try not to make everything too dark - some darkness in the progress of the story is fine, but don't end it that way. Bittersweet or slightly creepy "do I want to turn on the lights before I go up" is always good. I'm okay with fluffy-but-not-unrelieved-sugar, bittersweet-but-not-despair-of-the-ages, humor, romance, adventure, mystery. I love a story that makes me think twice about climbing the stairs without turning ALL the lights on first. I'm also into shiny veneers that hide dark secrets. I like "skeletons in the closet". I'm also down for characters dealing with things using black humor. Tinges of hope at the end are generally good.
2. I generally prefer het or gen. Explicit sex can be good, romance is always in. However, fade to black can be just as satisfying, or enough detail to know they're getting down without sounding like a bad Letter to Penthouse. I'm good with explicit sex, but I am not really into any kinks. (Some light bondage or light D/s is okay - think restraints and blindfolds, not spanking or flogging). The main thing is, does it work for the characters?
3. I am a huge fan of "seemingly unrelated group of people trapped somewhere and discover they a) have something in common and b) can't just leave" - see Clue, see And Then There Were None. Even if this is not the fandom we're matched on, I'm always down for a scenario that plays out like one of these movies/books.
4. Please feel free to get soap opera-ish! Half-siblings no one knew about! Illegitimate siblings you thought were just family friends! Psycho-half-siblings who want to kill you and take your life over! Convenient accidents! Crazy wills and marriages of convenience! Year-long showers and cracked out "why not" seasons! (Yes, I'm a huge Dallas fan.)
5. I'm a fan of AU, but prefer canon-divergence or "what-if" scenarios, rather than "all the characters are at boarding school together" types. (Unless, of course, the characters are already together at boarding school together... then get on with it!)
6. I love crossovers, if you know more than one of the requested fandoms, or some of my other fandoms (particularly Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, Georgette Heyer or And Then There Were None). But only if you like to write them! If you want to smash a few of my prompts together, I would be A-OK with that. I'd also be cool with you dragging in characters from other fandoms into urban legends (i.e., Nancy Drew encounters a vanishing hitchhiker).
7. Stories where problems are solved by feminine insight/intuition rock!
8. I love urban legends - the vanishing hitchhiker in particular, but also "the call is coming from inside the house", "room for one more", and the psycho college killer one. Return to Glennascaul scenarios are also good.
9. I also have a fascination for unsolved crimes/mysteries, people who've disappeared, and bodies with no names. Yes, I loved Unsolved Mysteries.
10. I like humor, and I don't think I do a good job of writing it - sparkling snappy dialogue always works! Think Barbara Metzger in the romance arena.
11. Female-focused fics (Bechdel-compliant is good) are always good.
12. I like missing moments, missing scenes, slices of life (whether sexy or sweet), family relationships, dysfunctional family relationships, friendships, romantic relationships
DO NOT WANT UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED
1. No dubcon/non-con.
2. Graphic violence and gore. Nothing higher than what occurs in canon.
3. Graphic sexual violence - if the canon/story requires a mention of it, that's okay, but I do not want to read graphic descriptions.
4. Cruelty to animals and animal death. It bothers me more than some human deaths.
5. Graphic cruelty to children. If I'm requesting a story where it may play in, I'll tell you I want it. Again, brief mentions are acceptable, graphic descriptions are not.
6. No major character death that isn't canon. By "major character", I mean "characters I have requested". Feel free to kill extras off. If it's canon and plays into your story, go for it.
7. No unrelieved grimdark.
STAR WARS SPECIFIC (edited 18 Mar 21)
So, I'm a Star Wars fan who's a little sad that the Extended Universe got handwaved away - I really loved Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole, and my requests reflect that. I am a Legends girl at heart, and you can’t go wrong if you write me something that belongs in either a Timothy Zahn book or Stackpole’s Rogue Squadron books.
However, I'm also a Star Wars fan who thought Rogue One totally and completely rocked it out of the park. Loved it loved it loved it!
Please don't refer to anything that happened after the godawful Vector Prime and switch to Del Rey.
I'm also not a very active Star Wars fan.
I enjoyed the sequels (although that like is dwindling more every time I see a stupid handwave plot post) but didn’t LOVE them, especially after the ridiculously evident fact that they DIDN’T HAVE A PLAN.
I love the original three.
I am NOT a fan of the prequels. I wanted to like them, but I just couldn’t get past Phantom Menace and the stupidity of traveling around with young Obi-Wan Kenobi and falling for Anakin. I’m not familiar with the animated SW shows, and my ignoring the sequels means I also missed all the “Jedi don’t have emotional attachments” which maybe should have gone down as a bad idea.
I’m not currently familiar with The Mandalorian other than Baby Yoda memes but might have remedied that by the time May the Fourth 2021 opens.
I did enjoy the zaniness of the Star Wars Lego Holiday special, so feel free to play off that.
My heart is with the original 3 (and Rogue One, now that it exists) and the "waved away" Extended Universe. The more they make me feel like it requires me to do homework, the less interested I am.
I'm also not really a Luke fan. Give me Han and Wedge any day of the week. And maybe Ben Kenobi. Or an AU where Biggs Darklighter becomes the most famous pilot from Tatooine. And maybe find some way to make Rey a Kenobi descendant…? I really wanted her to be a Kenobi descendant.
NEED MORE?
If you want more about my writing likes/dislikes, check out the "dear Yuletide writer" tag or "dear writer" tag.
And most importantly - have fun writing it, because I guarantee I'll like it!
DV
This post can also be found on Dreamwidth.
GENERAL WANTS
1. Stories don’t need to be super sappy and sugary/fluffy, but please don’t get all grim and dark. Bittersweet can work if there are hopeful tinges. Try not to make everything too dark - some darkness in the progress of the story is fine, but don't end it that way. Bittersweet or slightly creepy "do I want to turn on the lights before I go up" is always good. I'm okay with fluffy-but-not-unrelieved-sugar, bittersweet-but-not-despair-of-the-ages, humor, romance, adventure, mystery. I love a story that makes me think twice about climbing the stairs without turning ALL the lights on first. I'm also into shiny veneers that hide dark secrets. I like "skeletons in the closet". I'm also down for characters dealing with things using black humor. Tinges of hope at the end are generally good.
2. I generally prefer het or gen. Explicit sex can be good, romance is always in. However, fade to black can be just as satisfying, or enough detail to know they're getting down without sounding like a bad Letter to Penthouse. I'm good with explicit sex, but I am not really into any kinks. (Some light bondage or light D/s is okay - think restraints and blindfolds, not spanking or flogging). The main thing is, does it work for the characters?
3. I am a huge fan of "seemingly unrelated group of people trapped somewhere and discover they a) have something in common and b) can't just leave" - see Clue, see And Then There Were None. Even if this is not the fandom we're matched on, I'm always down for a scenario that plays out like one of these movies/books.
4. Please feel free to get soap opera-ish! Half-siblings no one knew about! Illegitimate siblings you thought were just family friends! Psycho-half-siblings who want to kill you and take your life over! Convenient accidents! Crazy wills and marriages of convenience! Year-long showers and cracked out "why not" seasons! (Yes, I'm a huge Dallas fan.)
5. I'm a fan of AU, but prefer canon-divergence or "what-if" scenarios, rather than "all the characters are at boarding school together" types. (Unless, of course, the characters are already together at boarding school together... then get on with it!)
6. I love crossovers, if you know more than one of the requested fandoms, or some of my other fandoms (particularly Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, Georgette Heyer or And Then There Were None). But only if you like to write them! If you want to smash a few of my prompts together, I would be A-OK with that. I'd also be cool with you dragging in characters from other fandoms into urban legends (i.e., Nancy Drew encounters a vanishing hitchhiker).
7. Stories where problems are solved by feminine insight/intuition rock!
8. I love urban legends - the vanishing hitchhiker in particular, but also "the call is coming from inside the house", "room for one more", and the psycho college killer one. Return to Glennascaul scenarios are also good.
9. I also have a fascination for unsolved crimes/mysteries, people who've disappeared, and bodies with no names. Yes, I loved Unsolved Mysteries.
10. I like humor, and I don't think I do a good job of writing it - sparkling snappy dialogue always works! Think Barbara Metzger in the romance arena.
11. Female-focused fics (Bechdel-compliant is good) are always good.
12. I like missing moments, missing scenes, slices of life (whether sexy or sweet), family relationships, dysfunctional family relationships, friendships, romantic relationships
DO NOT WANT UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED
1. No dubcon/non-con.
2. Graphic violence and gore. Nothing higher than what occurs in canon.
3. Graphic sexual violence - if the canon/story requires a mention of it, that's okay, but I do not want to read graphic descriptions.
4. Cruelty to animals and animal death. It bothers me more than some human deaths.
5. Graphic cruelty to children. If I'm requesting a story where it may play in, I'll tell you I want it. Again, brief mentions are acceptable, graphic descriptions are not.
6. No major character death that isn't canon. By "major character", I mean "characters I have requested". Feel free to kill extras off. If it's canon and plays into your story, go for it.
7. No unrelieved grimdark.
STAR WARS SPECIFIC (edited 18 Mar 21)
So, I'm a Star Wars fan who's a little sad that the Extended Universe got handwaved away - I really loved Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole, and my requests reflect that. I am a Legends girl at heart, and you can’t go wrong if you write me something that belongs in either a Timothy Zahn book or Stackpole’s Rogue Squadron books.
However, I'm also a Star Wars fan who thought Rogue One totally and completely rocked it out of the park. Loved it loved it loved it!
Please don't refer to anything that happened after the godawful Vector Prime and switch to Del Rey.
I'm also not a very active Star Wars fan.
I enjoyed the sequels (although that like is dwindling more every time I see a stupid handwave plot post) but didn’t LOVE them, especially after the ridiculously evident fact that they DIDN’T HAVE A PLAN.
I love the original three.
I am NOT a fan of the prequels. I wanted to like them, but I just couldn’t get past Phantom Menace and the stupidity of traveling around with young Obi-Wan Kenobi and falling for Anakin. I’m not familiar with the animated SW shows, and my ignoring the sequels means I also missed all the “Jedi don’t have emotional attachments” which maybe should have gone down as a bad idea.
I’m not currently familiar with The Mandalorian other than Baby Yoda memes but might have remedied that by the time May the Fourth 2021 opens.
I did enjoy the zaniness of the Star Wars Lego Holiday special, so feel free to play off that.
My heart is with the original 3 (and Rogue One, now that it exists) and the "waved away" Extended Universe. The more they make me feel like it requires me to do homework, the less interested I am.
I'm also not really a Luke fan. Give me Han and Wedge any day of the week. And maybe Ben Kenobi. Or an AU where Biggs Darklighter becomes the most famous pilot from Tatooine. And maybe find some way to make Rey a Kenobi descendant…? I really wanted her to be a Kenobi descendant.
NEED MORE?
If you want more about my writing likes/dislikes, check out the "dear Yuletide writer" tag or "dear writer" tag.
And most importantly - have fun writing it, because I guarantee I'll like it!
DV
This post can also be found on Dreamwidth.