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Dear Scribbler:
Hello! Mere words cannot contain my excitement for this exchange. Fanfic about children’s books! If there were chocolate involved, it would contain all of my favorite things in the world.
So basically I am going to be pretty easy to please. I like most things: gen, het, femmeslash, slash, OT3s, ridiculous adventure. Deliciously bittersweet fic is delightful, and so are fluff and rainbows and fun. I don’t really want anything more explicit than PG-13, though, even if the characters are aged up.
Likes
- Characters who understand each other, even if they sometimes drive each other up the wall
- Loyalty, especially characters doing stupidly amazing things out of loyalty for each other
- Characters who are passionate about something (aside from just each other) - who love their work, their art, their stamp-collecting, anything
- Hurt/comfort fics
- Friendship
- Witty banter
- “Five things…” stories
Dislikes
- Character death
American Girl: Rebecca
Characters: Rebecca
I love the American Girl books with a ridiculous love (I have a whole tag devoted to them), and Rebecca is one of my favorites. (My series review is here.) She’s just so plucky! She finds adventure everywhere she goes - no, not finds: she makes adventures with her own grit and liveliness.
I don’t have very clear fic ideas for Rebecca - although I do think a “Rebecca celebrates Purim” fic has the potential to be awesome, because you just know Rebecca would go wild with a holiday that involves putting on costumes. Or perhaps Rebecca and Ana get in some sort of scrape? Or maybe Rebecca goes out to Hollywood to visit Lily and Max? Even just “Rebecca reads Anne of Green Gables" could be delightful. I could totally see her trying to reenact the scenes, roping Ana into the role of Diana.
Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
Characters: Maddy, Julie
THIS BOOK OH MY HEART. I don’t want a fix-it for the Event, but I would love something set before: Maddie and Julie having a lovely time together, riding around the countryside or having tea or just chatting by the fireside. And possibly making out.
I don’t tend to see Maddie & Julie as having a full-blown romantic relationship (not least because it’s the forties, there would be some angst, I do not think I can handle Maddie & Julie angst). But there’s definitely a romantic element to the intensity of their friendship, and I could see them exploring that physically without ever going quite far enough that they have to face that head-on. It could be very bittersweet.
Another thought: a tropetastic story involving Maddie & Julie cuddling for warmth would be amazing.
Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith
Characters: any
I wrote a lengthy post about how much I love this book and its characters and its world, and how much great fic I think could be written for it; and I'll recap a couple of my favorite ideas again here.
1. Tamara fic. I find her a rather opaque character, so I would love a fic that explores the motivation behind her unkindness. Nee says that Tamara thirsts for the adulation of the populace, but I don’t think we actually see much evidence of that; so what does drive her?
I’d also like some more insight into Tamara’s relationship with Savona. What drives their attraction, beyond the fact that they’re the two prettiest people in court?
2. Speaking of court, I would adore fic that explored what it was like living in Galdran’s court. In particular, how did Nimiar and Elenet, both so gentle and sensitive, not just survive but maintain that gentleness despite the viper’s nest of Galdran’s court? Any fic about the two of them supporting each other would be awesome.
3. Bran and Nee's courtship. Because I bet it was adorable and involved Bran making all sorts of social mishaps and possibly falling in duck ponds.
The Egypt Game - Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Characters: April Hall, Melanie Ross
More imaginative games, please! They could invent the Ancient Greece Game - or the Ancient Rome Game - or the Middle Earth Game (you just know April and Melanie were all over Lord of the Rings when they found it!) - anything you like, really, the possibilities are endless! I loved this book to pieces as a child - I have a review of it here - so I'll be happy with pretty much anything. I just want to see the gang come up with a new game to play.
(I remain disappointed that this did not happen in The Gypsy Game. Surely someone could have gotten the “maybe you shouldn’t make up a game about an oppressed people” thing out of the way in chapter one, and then the story could have movedd on to something else. I tend to pretend the book didn’t happen)
April and Melanie are my favorite characters, but I love all the members of the Egypt Game crew, so I’ll be happy with either April & Melanie shenanigans or a game with the whole gang. (I am not really big on shipping for this book, though.)
Alternatively: how do April and Melanie incorporate their imagination into their lives as they grow older? I could totally see them as twenty-something roommates, getting up to shenanigans!
Queen’s Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Characters: Eugenides, Costis, Attolia
I adore this series endlessly: the style, sparse but evocative; the ancient/Renaissance/AU Greece setting; the characters - oh, the characters! I love Eugenides’ wit and trickery, and Attolia’s general imperious toughness, and Costis’ sense of duty and honor; and the intertwining of personal and political loyalty in these stories.
OH THE LOYALTY. Write anything about any of these characters being stupidly loyal to each other, and I will probably jump up and down shrieking with glee.
I adore the relationships between the characters, particularly Attolia/Gen: it’s this wonderful, compelling combination and adorable and FULL OF TRUST ISSUES. I also think Costis has a ridiculous adorable crush on Gen, so if you can write Costis/Gen that would be amazing, especially if you can make it make sense with Gen/Attolia.
If that doesn’t float your boat, then Eugenides Does Something Stupid and has to be rescued by his queen and/or his faithful bodyguard is probably good for endless entertainment.
Hello! Mere words cannot contain my excitement for this exchange. Fanfic about children’s books! If there were chocolate involved, it would contain all of my favorite things in the world.
So basically I am going to be pretty easy to please. I like most things: gen, het, femmeslash, slash, OT3s, ridiculous adventure. Deliciously bittersweet fic is delightful, and so are fluff and rainbows and fun. I don’t really want anything more explicit than PG-13, though, even if the characters are aged up.
Likes
- Characters who understand each other, even if they sometimes drive each other up the wall
- Loyalty, especially characters doing stupidly amazing things out of loyalty for each other
- Characters who are passionate about something (aside from just each other) - who love their work, their art, their stamp-collecting, anything
- Hurt/comfort fics
- Friendship
- Witty banter
- “Five things…” stories
Dislikes
- Character death
American Girl: Rebecca
Characters: Rebecca
I love the American Girl books with a ridiculous love (I have a whole tag devoted to them), and Rebecca is one of my favorites. (My series review is here.) She’s just so plucky! She finds adventure everywhere she goes - no, not finds: she makes adventures with her own grit and liveliness.
I don’t have very clear fic ideas for Rebecca - although I do think a “Rebecca celebrates Purim” fic has the potential to be awesome, because you just know Rebecca would go wild with a holiday that involves putting on costumes. Or perhaps Rebecca and Ana get in some sort of scrape? Or maybe Rebecca goes out to Hollywood to visit Lily and Max? Even just “Rebecca reads Anne of Green Gables" could be delightful. I could totally see her trying to reenact the scenes, roping Ana into the role of Diana.
Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
Characters: Maddy, Julie
THIS BOOK OH MY HEART. I don’t want a fix-it for the Event, but I would love something set before: Maddie and Julie having a lovely time together, riding around the countryside or having tea or just chatting by the fireside. And possibly making out.
I don’t tend to see Maddie & Julie as having a full-blown romantic relationship (not least because it’s the forties, there would be some angst, I do not think I can handle Maddie & Julie angst). But there’s definitely a romantic element to the intensity of their friendship, and I could see them exploring that physically without ever going quite far enough that they have to face that head-on. It could be very bittersweet.
Another thought: a tropetastic story involving Maddie & Julie cuddling for warmth would be amazing.
Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith
Characters: any
I wrote a lengthy post about how much I love this book and its characters and its world, and how much great fic I think could be written for it; and I'll recap a couple of my favorite ideas again here.
1. Tamara fic. I find her a rather opaque character, so I would love a fic that explores the motivation behind her unkindness. Nee says that Tamara thirsts for the adulation of the populace, but I don’t think we actually see much evidence of that; so what does drive her?
I’d also like some more insight into Tamara’s relationship with Savona. What drives their attraction, beyond the fact that they’re the two prettiest people in court?
2. Speaking of court, I would adore fic that explored what it was like living in Galdran’s court. In particular, how did Nimiar and Elenet, both so gentle and sensitive, not just survive but maintain that gentleness despite the viper’s nest of Galdran’s court? Any fic about the two of them supporting each other would be awesome.
3. Bran and Nee's courtship. Because I bet it was adorable and involved Bran making all sorts of social mishaps and possibly falling in duck ponds.
The Egypt Game - Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Characters: April Hall, Melanie Ross
More imaginative games, please! They could invent the Ancient Greece Game - or the Ancient Rome Game - or the Middle Earth Game (you just know April and Melanie were all over Lord of the Rings when they found it!) - anything you like, really, the possibilities are endless! I loved this book to pieces as a child - I have a review of it here - so I'll be happy with pretty much anything. I just want to see the gang come up with a new game to play.
(I remain disappointed that this did not happen in The Gypsy Game. Surely someone could have gotten the “maybe you shouldn’t make up a game about an oppressed people” thing out of the way in chapter one, and then the story could have movedd on to something else. I tend to pretend the book didn’t happen)
April and Melanie are my favorite characters, but I love all the members of the Egypt Game crew, so I’ll be happy with either April & Melanie shenanigans or a game with the whole gang. (I am not really big on shipping for this book, though.)
Alternatively: how do April and Melanie incorporate their imagination into their lives as they grow older? I could totally see them as twenty-something roommates, getting up to shenanigans!
Queen’s Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Characters: Eugenides, Costis, Attolia
I adore this series endlessly: the style, sparse but evocative; the ancient/Renaissance/AU Greece setting; the characters - oh, the characters! I love Eugenides’ wit and trickery, and Attolia’s general imperious toughness, and Costis’ sense of duty and honor; and the intertwining of personal and political loyalty in these stories.
OH THE LOYALTY. Write anything about any of these characters being stupidly loyal to each other, and I will probably jump up and down shrieking with glee.
I adore the relationships between the characters, particularly Attolia/Gen: it’s this wonderful, compelling combination and adorable and FULL OF TRUST ISSUES. I also think Costis has a ridiculous adorable crush on Gen, so if you can write Costis/Gen that would be amazing, especially if you can make it make sense with Gen/Attolia.
If that doesn’t float your boat, then Eugenides Does Something Stupid and has to be rescued by his queen and/or his faithful bodyguard is probably good for endless entertainment.