Yuletide letter! Yay!
Last I looked, three of the four fandoms listed here have very tiny numbers of offers (the other isn't exactly swimming in 'em), so first hi, friend!
Generally, what I like:
--Complications and examination thereof; it's not much of a plot when everything is perfect!
--Family (of birth and of choice), including sibling (or fake-sibling) and parent-child issues and relationships. Parent-child in either direction from the focal character.
--The kind of crack in which the initial situation is absurd, but the story that unfolds from it makes sense and follows from the premise.
--Hurt/comfort that is not about magical cock; broad definitions of hurt and comfort, and while it's okay to make the hurt big and real and deep, the comfort needs to make it right or make me feel like it's a hopeful first step toward right.
--Happy and hopeful endings.
I like porn, but if that's not where this story is going, that's lovely, too. Some of the broad prompts in my requests totally don't lend themselves to porn, and it'd be weird to try and make them.
Generally, what I do not like:
--A ton of trauma without fixing it (no putting a tiny bandaid on an amputation, right?)
--Situations in which characters I am meant to identify with are doing evil/illegal/unacceptable things (per their own ethics; I get that Han Solo is always going to be a smuggler) with no rationale, no sense of consequences.
--Rape and violent assault can be an effective part of a story, but tread carefully unless you know me well enough to guess my response, yes?
--Most of my requests involve women; I know many of them do girly things like wear heels and makeup and stuff. I'm a really not girly-girl, so while I appreciate pretty things, and also I appreciate that these things are part of the armor people wear, in the event you find yourself describing beauty routines at length or wardrobes in extreme detail, please consider whether this is relevant to the character or plot. No, I know, you probably weren't going to spend 1500 words on the joy of eyeliner, but I'm just saying.
--Crack fic of the type where there are lots of random events that are just random, but which don't make up a plot or anything, or where the crack element is that the characters are totally not themselves for no apparent reason, or where the crack is comprised of in-jokes I may or may not get.
Generally what you might have noticed so far: I am wordy like a wordy thing. Don't panic, and if I'm freaking you out, write what you want to write and stuff. ♥
Specific fandoms: (this is the same stuff that's in the actual prompts)
Hawthorne: Isabel Walsh, Gail Strummer, Candy Sullivan, Bobbie Jackson
Things I like about this show include that they have given us a character (Isabel) who from the start has been a character that in many real and fictional settings would be thrice-discounted (she is black, homeless, and probably mentally ill), but she is a real character who interacts and has interests and needs, and I like that the show comments on how Christina sees herself failing to realize this sometimes. I like that they have characters who want things but are conflicted (Ray lusts after Candy but tries not to be an ass about it with her or with Brenda; Christina wants a relationship with Tom but has Issues), and that they regularly give characters second chances (Malia did something seriously crappy, but she is not now forever a villain; we were not supposed to like Gail because Christina didn't, but she is sympathetic anyway). I would be sad to see all that depth of character be discounted in the fic you write.
Specific prompts: an adventure or experience Isabel had that Christina doesn't know about (or, Christina learning this story); why Candy went to war; Gail's perspective on the whole hospital change thing; how Bobbie and Christina became friends; a time one of these women learned something from or taught something to another; some way in which these characters' past(s) make their present(s). Or, something else you think would be interesting to write about.
Also, OMG, I totally forgot to talk about Kelly (Kelli? Anyway.), whom I also love a lot for the sequence in which she comes out to a patient and subsequently to her boss. Because she doesn't read as any of the stereotypes of a lesbian, you know? Also, she is awesome and pulls off cheerful and wearing her heart on her sleeve without being incapable or sappy or, I don't know, otherwise weird. Feel so very free to include her if it works and you like her too. There are too many awesome characters on this show!!
Covert Affairs: Annie Walker, Danielle Brooks, Joan Campbell
Things I like about this show: that Annie is often over her head and scared, but takes a breath and does what she needs to, that the relationship between Joan and Arthur is the one I utterly buy as long-standing, complicated, and heated (even though when we see them in bed it's always where they are talking, still, I'm fairly convinced they like their sex life a lot?), that Joan is hard on Annie but also takes care of her, that Annie has this whole life she keeps from her sister but also they have ...sisterness, I suppose. I like that this show always has several women doing interesting things and having voices. I would be sad to see fic that is all about Auggie/Annie or Ben/Annie or Jai/Annie meaningless smut (which is not to say there should be none of those pairs present; meaningless is the key word). On the other hand, putting Annie and/or Joan in a situation in which meaningless smut is the right choice as far as getting out of the situation has a ton of potential (so, making it plot).
Specific prompts: Danielle's view of Annie when she comes home all beat to shit; Joan's observations of how Annie is or is not the same kind of girl she was; a time Annie learned something from or taught something to Danielle. Or something else you think would be interesting to write about for these women.
Royal Pains: Divya Katdare
I love Divya to pieces, because she is smart, effective, no-nonsense, and despite all this is conflicted about Raj and her mother and how this is all going to play.
I don't know that I have a specific prompt here, but I would like to see Divya being awesome. It's okay if you want to write smut, but I would hope you would keep her smart and independent and conflicted (regardless of the identity of her partner), and would be sad to see something like her suddenly falling into Evan's lap for no particular reason, or her suddenly deciding to chuck her cultural traditions because whee. I also like Jill and Libby quite a lot (and Hank and Evan; I'm not trying to suggest they should be absent). But, okay, Divya deciding to become a PA in the first place (how did that happen? what experience(s) led her there), or a time Divya learned something from or taught something to another character, or Divya deciding not to marry Raj, or the negotiation between Divya and Raj together as they figure out how to be a couple where she is her awesome self and both their needs for family approval are met, or Divya in a nonmedical crisis being awesome. Um, so to sum up: Divya being awesome.
Feminist Hulk (Twitter): Feminist Hulk, J (Feminist Hulk)
So, there was this interview in which J and Feminist Hulk sat down with a magazine. I laughed and laughed. So: more of that, or of the interaction between F!Hulk and J in another context. I know this prompt is made for crack, and I will expand on things I do and don't like about crack scenarios in my letter (short version: I love nutty scenarios expanded upon; I don't love the kind of crack where there is just one wild random event after another with no actual plot), but I mean, seriously, go to town. I know this is the shortest of my requests, but that ought not to be taken as an indication of lesser interest. Feel free also to enjoy yourself with the format; this thing is a Twitter feed, so it's in tiny 140-character segments, and I can totally see how that might lead to an unusual format. Or, you can make F!Hulk be, I don't know, a soothing late-night radio personality that talks for hours.
As LJ says it has disabled the facebook crossposts to protected comments, LJ commenting is re-enabled. However, if you'd like to comment on the the Dreamwidth copy of this post, where there are
comments, you can log in there via OpenID and do so.
Generally, what I like:
--Complications and examination thereof; it's not much of a plot when everything is perfect!
--Family (of birth and of choice), including sibling (or fake-sibling) and parent-child issues and relationships. Parent-child in either direction from the focal character.
--The kind of crack in which the initial situation is absurd, but the story that unfolds from it makes sense and follows from the premise.
--Hurt/comfort that is not about magical cock; broad definitions of hurt and comfort, and while it's okay to make the hurt big and real and deep, the comfort needs to make it right or make me feel like it's a hopeful first step toward right.
--Happy and hopeful endings.
I like porn, but if that's not where this story is going, that's lovely, too. Some of the broad prompts in my requests totally don't lend themselves to porn, and it'd be weird to try and make them.
Generally, what I do not like:
--A ton of trauma without fixing it (no putting a tiny bandaid on an amputation, right?)
--Situations in which characters I am meant to identify with are doing evil/illegal/unacceptable things (per their own ethics; I get that Han Solo is always going to be a smuggler) with no rationale, no sense of consequences.
--Rape and violent assault can be an effective part of a story, but tread carefully unless you know me well enough to guess my response, yes?
--Most of my requests involve women; I know many of them do girly things like wear heels and makeup and stuff. I'm a really not girly-girl, so while I appreciate pretty things, and also I appreciate that these things are part of the armor people wear, in the event you find yourself describing beauty routines at length or wardrobes in extreme detail, please consider whether this is relevant to the character or plot. No, I know, you probably weren't going to spend 1500 words on the joy of eyeliner, but I'm just saying.
--Crack fic of the type where there are lots of random events that are just random, but which don't make up a plot or anything, or where the crack element is that the characters are totally not themselves for no apparent reason, or where the crack is comprised of in-jokes I may or may not get.
Generally what you might have noticed so far: I am wordy like a wordy thing. Don't panic, and if I'm freaking you out, write what you want to write and stuff. ♥
Specific fandoms: (this is the same stuff that's in the actual prompts)
Hawthorne: Isabel Walsh, Gail Strummer, Candy Sullivan, Bobbie Jackson
Things I like about this show include that they have given us a character (Isabel) who from the start has been a character that in many real and fictional settings would be thrice-discounted (she is black, homeless, and probably mentally ill), but she is a real character who interacts and has interests and needs, and I like that the show comments on how Christina sees herself failing to realize this sometimes. I like that they have characters who want things but are conflicted (Ray lusts after Candy but tries not to be an ass about it with her or with Brenda; Christina wants a relationship with Tom but has Issues), and that they regularly give characters second chances (Malia did something seriously crappy, but she is not now forever a villain; we were not supposed to like Gail because Christina didn't, but she is sympathetic anyway). I would be sad to see all that depth of character be discounted in the fic you write.
Specific prompts: an adventure or experience Isabel had that Christina doesn't know about (or, Christina learning this story); why Candy went to war; Gail's perspective on the whole hospital change thing; how Bobbie and Christina became friends; a time one of these women learned something from or taught something to another; some way in which these characters' past(s) make their present(s). Or, something else you think would be interesting to write about.
Also, OMG, I totally forgot to talk about Kelly (Kelli? Anyway.), whom I also love a lot for the sequence in which she comes out to a patient and subsequently to her boss. Because she doesn't read as any of the stereotypes of a lesbian, you know? Also, she is awesome and pulls off cheerful and wearing her heart on her sleeve without being incapable or sappy or, I don't know, otherwise weird. Feel so very free to include her if it works and you like her too. There are too many awesome characters on this show!!
Covert Affairs: Annie Walker, Danielle Brooks, Joan Campbell
Things I like about this show: that Annie is often over her head and scared, but takes a breath and does what she needs to, that the relationship between Joan and Arthur is the one I utterly buy as long-standing, complicated, and heated (even though when we see them in bed it's always where they are talking, still, I'm fairly convinced they like their sex life a lot?), that Joan is hard on Annie but also takes care of her, that Annie has this whole life she keeps from her sister but also they have ...sisterness, I suppose. I like that this show always has several women doing interesting things and having voices. I would be sad to see fic that is all about Auggie/Annie or Ben/Annie or Jai/Annie meaningless smut (which is not to say there should be none of those pairs present; meaningless is the key word). On the other hand, putting Annie and/or Joan in a situation in which meaningless smut is the right choice as far as getting out of the situation has a ton of potential (so, making it plot).
Specific prompts: Danielle's view of Annie when she comes home all beat to shit; Joan's observations of how Annie is or is not the same kind of girl she was; a time Annie learned something from or taught something to Danielle. Or something else you think would be interesting to write about for these women.
Royal Pains: Divya Katdare
I love Divya to pieces, because she is smart, effective, no-nonsense, and despite all this is conflicted about Raj and her mother and how this is all going to play.
I don't know that I have a specific prompt here, but I would like to see Divya being awesome. It's okay if you want to write smut, but I would hope you would keep her smart and independent and conflicted (regardless of the identity of her partner), and would be sad to see something like her suddenly falling into Evan's lap for no particular reason, or her suddenly deciding to chuck her cultural traditions because whee. I also like Jill and Libby quite a lot (and Hank and Evan; I'm not trying to suggest they should be absent). But, okay, Divya deciding to become a PA in the first place (how did that happen? what experience(s) led her there), or a time Divya learned something from or taught something to another character, or Divya deciding not to marry Raj, or the negotiation between Divya and Raj together as they figure out how to be a couple where she is her awesome self and both their needs for family approval are met, or Divya in a nonmedical crisis being awesome. Um, so to sum up: Divya being awesome.
Feminist Hulk (Twitter): Feminist Hulk, J (Feminist Hulk)
So, there was this interview in which J and Feminist Hulk sat down with a magazine. I laughed and laughed. So: more of that, or of the interaction between F!Hulk and J in another context. I know this prompt is made for crack, and I will expand on things I do and don't like about crack scenarios in my letter (short version: I love nutty scenarios expanded upon; I don't love the kind of crack where there is just one wild random event after another with no actual plot), but I mean, seriously, go to town. I know this is the shortest of my requests, but that ought not to be taken as an indication of lesser interest. Feel free also to enjoy yourself with the format; this thing is a Twitter feed, so it's in tiny 140-character segments, and I can totally see how that might lead to an unusual format. Or, you can make F!Hulk be, I don't know, a soothing late-night radio personality that talks for hours.
As LJ says it has disabled the facebook crossposts to protected comments, LJ commenting is re-enabled. However, if you'd like to comment on the the Dreamwidth copy of this post, where there are
comments, you can log in there via OpenID and do so.