grifters, con artists, and thieves, or, my 2016 yuletide letter
Dear yuletide writer:
First of all, I want to say a big thank you for agreeing to write a story for me. I love all the fandoms I've chosen, so I will be happy with a story for any request. If you've already got a story in mind, then go for it! These are all just possible jumping off points if, like me, you like having prompts as a starting point.
Since it's entirely possible we don't know each other, I figured I'd give you some basics about me and some tips on the kinds of things I like/dislike in stories.
Where to find me: I am
musesfool on DW/LJ, victoria_p/
musesfool on AO3, and
cacchieressa on tumblr, plus I have a recs journal at
unfitforsociety.
Likes:
I also like stories that are wistful/bittersweet/achy or that leave me laughing and crying, so if you can make me laugh and cry at the same time, I will make heart-eyes at you.
I enjoy five things type stories, and I know that sometimes in an exchange with a deadline it's easiest to build a story that way, so if that's how you roll, I am here for it.
If you're writing sex, I like it when it's fun and a little awkward, but that's okay because everybody's having a good time. If they're bantering and laughing during sex, that is my favorite. I especially like it when people exchange I love yous without actually saying the words. (a prime example: "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer." "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights.") Otoh, if the characters have a habit of saying, "I love you" (e.g., Coach and Mrs. Coach), then by all means, let them.
If you're writing gen, I still like banter and insults as endearments and the recollection of shared history, either hanging out at the bar or over coffee or a good meal, or if there's an adventure happening, while being tied up and threatened with death or sitting around a campfire etc.
Oh, and Christmas/New Year's/holiday stories are obviously not necessary, but if it strikes you that way, they are okay by me!
Dislikes:
To sum up, mostly what I want is for the characters to have fun hanging out with each other, because I love hanging out with them. If it can be described by the phrase "hijinks ensue," you're probably nailing it.
In all cases, if you have an idea that uses all the characters I've requested, that's awesome, but if you don't/can't, that's okay, too. Certainly my suggestions include ideas that may not use all the requested characters, so don't feel like you need to shoehorn someone in if it doesn't work with what you're writing.
2016
This year, I consciously chose to have a theme of con artists, grifters, and thieves in my requests, so if you are up for writing heist fic, I sure hope we get matched! If that is not in your wheelhouse (certainly, writing it is not in mine, though I love reading it), I've provided a bunch of other options, so I hope you find something here that sparks for you.
Specifics
In terms of specifics, I tried to expand a little in this letter about what I like about the source (actual request details are in italics, addenda in plain text). I hope you find it helpful.
Note: these are in alpha order by fandom; I really do want all of them, so don't worry about which one you match on - I will be happy with any of them!
♣ The Middleman: The Middleman; Wendy Watson; Noser
This is the one fandom that doesn't really fit in with the aforementioned theme, but WHAT IF Wendy and the Middleman had to pull off a heist? Maybe Middleman HQ gets stolen right out from under them and they have to get it back! Or they have to impersonate arms dealers or something to save the world! Or something in the style of "How to Steal a Million"? Imagine Wendy dressed like Audrey Hepburn! Anyway! I leave the details to you, but I'm sure there's some way there could be a Middleman-via-Leverage thing, if that's your jam.
Other ideas: What happens to Wendy and Noser's friendship when he discovers her job as a Middleman-in-training? Or how about some straight-up Middleman & Wendy saving the universe (or one small patch of it) hijinks? What happens if aliens crash Art Crawl? What if they want to make Noser their god? Maybe he saves the planet with a really intense round of Stump the Band! I think that would be great, if that's what you're into writing.
Otoh, I do ship Wendy and the Middleman, so if you want to have aliens make them do it (or make them get married! I love marriages of convenience that become real marriages!), or they have to huddle for warmth, or have to fake date, that'd be amazing.
I love this show and its characters a lot and there is never enough fic, so I'll be happier than a bird with a French fry if we matched on this.
The things I love about The Middleman - both the show and the character - are too numerous to list, but a few of them include the show's meta commentary on superhero stories (and Wendy's genre-savviness), the dedication to pop culture references in all aspects (the Ghostbusters episode, the Die Hard episode, etc.), its willingness to allow Wendy to try to have both a superhero life and a "normal" life without making her angst too much about it, but still showing what it costs her in terms of her relationships, the tempering of the Middleman's optimism with pragmatism. Also, I've read both the 13th episode comic and the crowd-sourced comic, so no need to worry about spoilers.
♦ Ocean's (Movies): Danny Ocean; Rusty Ryan
I OTP them really hard and I hope you do too! As with my other requests, if you are the type of writer who can write a heist story, that would be AMAZING. It could be shippy or gen and set any time or place and with any of the rest of the crew involved and I'd eat it up with a spoon! (I'd only ask that no other ships be highlighted if you're not shipping them together.)
Other ideas: how bad are they at being retired and how long does it take for them to give in and get back in the game? What was the first job they ever pulled together? What was the thing with the guy in Belize? Why were Incan matrimonial head masks a bad idea? Has a tiny con Danny pulled because he was bored ever spiraled out of control into something truly ridiculous? How much does Rusty mock him for it?
I love these movies and enjoy the smooth as silk partnership between Danny and Rusty, the platonic ideal of an idea man and a detail man working together like a well-oiled machine - they don't even have to finish each other's sentences! They don't need sentences at all! They pass the broccoli test without even trying, while others are still figuring out where the produce section is! *happy sigh* (for real, I'd read all about them doing "normal life" stuff like grocery shopping etc. in their own inimitable ways.)
♥ Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo: Inej Ghafa; Kaz Brekker
Grifters, con artists, and thieves! If case fic/heist fic is your thing, tell me about some unbelievable heist Kaz planned and the gang executed! Either pre- or post-canon. If you're familiar with the Grisha trilogy, I would love a story where Nikolai hires Kaz and he has to get the band back together to pull off some amazing heist in Ravka (crown jewels hidden by the Apparat? Some other magical or otherwise sacred object? I'm sure you'll come up with something great!).
Inej is my favorite and I ship her and Kaz hard. Some potential ideas: tell me about the hours they spent trying to figure out that locked room murder mentioned at the beginning of Six of Crows (obviously neither of them guessed correctly), or Inej's first few months with the Dregs and their slow descent into "oh no! feelings!" especially if there's a lot of stoic pining going on. I adore stoical pining. Tell me about how they have fraught UST in planning sessions or at the end of the day when Inej visits his room, but they have to put that aside to do a job.
I'd also love to read about how the reunion with Inej's parents goes.
Or tell me how they slowly (so slowly) start to work around Kaz's issues. Maybe they have to share a bed, or pretend to be a couple for a con, or this time, Kaz gets hurt (no need to dwell on how) and Inej has to tend his wounds and it gets all fraught again.
Alternately, tell me about Inej's adventures as the captain of her own ship, living on the high seas and being the scourge of slavers everywhere. (And then she could come back to Ketterdam every few months for waffles with Kaz and they have a long distance relationship with lots of veiled yearning in the letters he writes to her; maybe she provides him with dirt on foreign powers and pirate kings, as well.)
These books - and Kaz/Inej in particular - hit a lot of my bulletproof kinks (his response when she asks if he'd come for her made me literally gasp and clutch my chest in shippy glee) in addition to being about heists, which is a genre I love a lot (if you couldn't tell by this ridiculous letter *hands*). I've read Crooked Kingdom and the Grisha trilogy, so no worries about spoilers. Feel free to bring in any other characters you need if you're writing a heist. I ship all three canon couples, but obviously would like the focus to be on Inej and Kaz.
♠ A Year and A Day in Old Theradane - Scott Lynch: Amarelle Parathis; Brandwin Miris; Sophara Miris; Shraplin Self-Made
[Amarelle said,] "I stole the sound of the sunrise and the tears of a shark. I borrowed a book from the library of Hazar and didn't return it. I crossed the Labyrinth of the Death Spiders in Moraska TWICE-"
"I know," said Sophara. "I was there."
"...and then I went back and stole all the Death Spiders!"
If you are up for it, I'd love to hear how they pulled any of those off! Alternately, I'd be really interested in learning how they get out from under Ivovandas' thumb (are she and Amarelle having wall-banging hatesex? I'd read that, too!), or how they put the band together in the first place (how did Amarelle become the Duchess Unseen?), or how Sophara and Brandwin ended up a couple, or how they freed Shraplin and had him join the gang, etc. Or just show me a night at The Sign of the Fallen Fire, with Sophara behind the bar, working that mixology magic and listening to the tall tales other people tell. Or tell me how she learned to be a bartender, and how she got that job.
If we matched on another fandom and you're stuck and need a quick out, this is a short story by Scott Lynch (of Gentleman Bastards fame) available on the web here, featuring a retired gang of thieves living in a city run by wizards. They end up having to pull off one last heist to save their leader, and it's not without its complications. The story is a lot of fun, with some fascinating worldbuilding I wouldn't mind seeing explored in greater detail, and a little lighter on the murder and angst than the Gentleman Bastards books.
Thanks again, dear writer! I hope you have a great
yuletide!
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/874878.html.
people have commented there.
First of all, I want to say a big thank you for agreeing to write a story for me. I love all the fandoms I've chosen, so I will be happy with a story for any request. If you've already got a story in mind, then go for it! These are all just possible jumping off points if, like me, you like having prompts as a starting point.
Since it's entirely possible we don't know each other, I figured I'd give you some basics about me and some tips on the kinds of things I like/dislike in stories.
Where to find me: I am
musesfool on DW/LJ, victoria_p/
musesfool on AO3, and
cacchieressa on tumblr, plus I have a recs journal at
unfitforsociety.
Likes:
- Banter
- friends to lovers pairings
- people who are friends having fun/adventures together
- people being good friends to each other
- baking
- competence
- crossovers (between canons I'm familiar with)
- insults as endearments
- roadtrips
- humor
- meet-cutes
- fake dating
- reunionating
- mutual oblivious pining (bonus if it's also stoic)
- seemingly unrequited love that is requited in the end!
- hugs!
- enthusiastic consent
- desperate, up against a wall, half-clothed sex
- ridiculous rom com tropes (e.g., there's only one bed at the hotel! or "we have to get out of these wet clothes!" etc.)
- hopeful endings
- canon-divergent AUs
I also like stories that are wistful/bittersweet/achy or that leave me laughing and crying, so if you can make me laugh and cry at the same time, I will make heart-eyes at you.
I enjoy five things type stories, and I know that sometimes in an exchange with a deadline it's easiest to build a story that way, so if that's how you roll, I am here for it.
If you're writing sex, I like it when it's fun and a little awkward, but that's okay because everybody's having a good time. If they're bantering and laughing during sex, that is my favorite. I especially like it when people exchange I love yous without actually saying the words. (a prime example: "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for a beer." "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights.") Otoh, if the characters have a habit of saying, "I love you" (e.g., Coach and Mrs. Coach), then by all means, let them.
If you're writing gen, I still like banter and insults as endearments and the recollection of shared history, either hanging out at the bar or over coffee or a good meal, or if there's an adventure happening, while being tied up and threatened with death or sitting around a campfire etc.
Oh, and Christmas/New Year's/holiday stories are obviously not necessary, but if it strikes you that way, they are okay by me!
Dislikes:
- rape
- non-con
- partner betrayal/infidelity
- graphic sexual violence
- graphic description of injuries
- a/b/o
- mpreg
- any kind of soulmate/soulmark kind of thing
- child or animal harm
- super dark, unhopeful, "rocks fall everyone dies" types of stories
- embarrassment/humiliation
- first person POV
- high school AUs
To sum up, mostly what I want is for the characters to have fun hanging out with each other, because I love hanging out with them. If it can be described by the phrase "hijinks ensue," you're probably nailing it.
In all cases, if you have an idea that uses all the characters I've requested, that's awesome, but if you don't/can't, that's okay, too. Certainly my suggestions include ideas that may not use all the requested characters, so don't feel like you need to shoehorn someone in if it doesn't work with what you're writing.
2016
This year, I consciously chose to have a theme of con artists, grifters, and thieves in my requests, so if you are up for writing heist fic, I sure hope we get matched! If that is not in your wheelhouse (certainly, writing it is not in mine, though I love reading it), I've provided a bunch of other options, so I hope you find something here that sparks for you.
Specifics
In terms of specifics, I tried to expand a little in this letter about what I like about the source (actual request details are in italics, addenda in plain text). I hope you find it helpful.
Note: these are in alpha order by fandom; I really do want all of them, so don't worry about which one you match on - I will be happy with any of them!
♣ The Middleman: The Middleman; Wendy Watson; Noser
This is the one fandom that doesn't really fit in with the aforementioned theme, but WHAT IF Wendy and the Middleman had to pull off a heist? Maybe Middleman HQ gets stolen right out from under them and they have to get it back! Or they have to impersonate arms dealers or something to save the world! Or something in the style of "How to Steal a Million"? Imagine Wendy dressed like Audrey Hepburn! Anyway! I leave the details to you, but I'm sure there's some way there could be a Middleman-via-Leverage thing, if that's your jam.
Other ideas: What happens to Wendy and Noser's friendship when he discovers her job as a Middleman-in-training? Or how about some straight-up Middleman & Wendy saving the universe (or one small patch of it) hijinks? What happens if aliens crash Art Crawl? What if they want to make Noser their god? Maybe he saves the planet with a really intense round of Stump the Band! I think that would be great, if that's what you're into writing.
Otoh, I do ship Wendy and the Middleman, so if you want to have aliens make them do it (or make them get married! I love marriages of convenience that become real marriages!), or they have to huddle for warmth, or have to fake date, that'd be amazing.
I love this show and its characters a lot and there is never enough fic, so I'll be happier than a bird with a French fry if we matched on this.
The things I love about The Middleman - both the show and the character - are too numerous to list, but a few of them include the show's meta commentary on superhero stories (and Wendy's genre-savviness), the dedication to pop culture references in all aspects (the Ghostbusters episode, the Die Hard episode, etc.), its willingness to allow Wendy to try to have both a superhero life and a "normal" life without making her angst too much about it, but still showing what it costs her in terms of her relationships, the tempering of the Middleman's optimism with pragmatism. Also, I've read both the 13th episode comic and the crowd-sourced comic, so no need to worry about spoilers.
♦ Ocean's (Movies): Danny Ocean; Rusty Ryan
I OTP them really hard and I hope you do too! As with my other requests, if you are the type of writer who can write a heist story, that would be AMAZING. It could be shippy or gen and set any time or place and with any of the rest of the crew involved and I'd eat it up with a spoon! (I'd only ask that no other ships be highlighted if you're not shipping them together.)
Other ideas: how bad are they at being retired and how long does it take for them to give in and get back in the game? What was the first job they ever pulled together? What was the thing with the guy in Belize? Why were Incan matrimonial head masks a bad idea? Has a tiny con Danny pulled because he was bored ever spiraled out of control into something truly ridiculous? How much does Rusty mock him for it?
I love these movies and enjoy the smooth as silk partnership between Danny and Rusty, the platonic ideal of an idea man and a detail man working together like a well-oiled machine - they don't even have to finish each other's sentences! They don't need sentences at all! They pass the broccoli test without even trying, while others are still figuring out where the produce section is! *happy sigh* (for real, I'd read all about them doing "normal life" stuff like grocery shopping etc. in their own inimitable ways.)
♥ Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo: Inej Ghafa; Kaz Brekker
Grifters, con artists, and thieves! If case fic/heist fic is your thing, tell me about some unbelievable heist Kaz planned and the gang executed! Either pre- or post-canon. If you're familiar with the Grisha trilogy, I would love a story where Nikolai hires Kaz and he has to get the band back together to pull off some amazing heist in Ravka (crown jewels hidden by the Apparat? Some other magical or otherwise sacred object? I'm sure you'll come up with something great!).
Inej is my favorite and I ship her and Kaz hard. Some potential ideas: tell me about the hours they spent trying to figure out that locked room murder mentioned at the beginning of Six of Crows (obviously neither of them guessed correctly), or Inej's first few months with the Dregs and their slow descent into "oh no! feelings!" especially if there's a lot of stoic pining going on. I adore stoical pining. Tell me about how they have fraught UST in planning sessions or at the end of the day when Inej visits his room, but they have to put that aside to do a job.
I'd also love to read about how the reunion with Inej's parents goes.
Or tell me how they slowly (so slowly) start to work around Kaz's issues. Maybe they have to share a bed, or pretend to be a couple for a con, or this time, Kaz gets hurt (no need to dwell on how) and Inej has to tend his wounds and it gets all fraught again.
Alternately, tell me about Inej's adventures as the captain of her own ship, living on the high seas and being the scourge of slavers everywhere. (And then she could come back to Ketterdam every few months for waffles with Kaz and they have a long distance relationship with lots of veiled yearning in the letters he writes to her; maybe she provides him with dirt on foreign powers and pirate kings, as well.)
These books - and Kaz/Inej in particular - hit a lot of my bulletproof kinks (his response when she asks if he'd come for her made me literally gasp and clutch my chest in shippy glee) in addition to being about heists, which is a genre I love a lot (if you couldn't tell by this ridiculous letter *hands*). I've read Crooked Kingdom and the Grisha trilogy, so no worries about spoilers. Feel free to bring in any other characters you need if you're writing a heist. I ship all three canon couples, but obviously would like the focus to be on Inej and Kaz.
♠ A Year and A Day in Old Theradane - Scott Lynch: Amarelle Parathis; Brandwin Miris; Sophara Miris; Shraplin Self-Made
[Amarelle said,] "I stole the sound of the sunrise and the tears of a shark. I borrowed a book from the library of Hazar and didn't return it. I crossed the Labyrinth of the Death Spiders in Moraska TWICE-"
"I know," said Sophara. "I was there."
"...and then I went back and stole all the Death Spiders!"
If you are up for it, I'd love to hear how they pulled any of those off! Alternately, I'd be really interested in learning how they get out from under Ivovandas' thumb (are she and Amarelle having wall-banging hatesex? I'd read that, too!), or how they put the band together in the first place (how did Amarelle become the Duchess Unseen?), or how Sophara and Brandwin ended up a couple, or how they freed Shraplin and had him join the gang, etc. Or just show me a night at The Sign of the Fallen Fire, with Sophara behind the bar, working that mixology magic and listening to the tall tales other people tell. Or tell me how she learned to be a bartender, and how she got that job.
If we matched on another fandom and you're stuck and need a quick out, this is a short story by Scott Lynch (of Gentleman Bastards fame) available on the web here, featuring a retired gang of thieves living in a city run by wizards. They end up having to pull off one last heist to save their leader, and it's not without its complications. The story is a lot of fun, with some fascinating worldbuilding I wouldn't mind seeing explored in greater detail, and a little lighter on the murder and angst than the Gentleman Bastards books.
Thanks again, dear writer! I hope you have a great
yuletide!
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/874878.html.
people have commented there.