Rarelywritten placeholder
I'm out of the country till the 18th of March with very limited free time, but I plan to update this placeholder with an actual letter as soon as I return. Thank you for your patience, Rarelywritten writer. :)
Please, check back here on the 19th for the letter.
Dear Rarelywritten Writer,
Thank you for offering to write one or more of the awesome women of my super rare fandoms. I love fictional women almost more than anything else in the entire world, so I am going to be ridiculously easy to please on this one.
Besides that, I also love women interacting with each other, women maintaining complex bonds with each other, women supporting each other, and generally being awesome. I like het, gen, and femslash (m/m is really not my cup of tea because of, you guessed it, the lack of women.) If there's going to be a power imbalance in a het relationship, I prefer the scales to be tipped over at the female side (I have a huge kink for good/moral men in love with complicated/morally ambiguous women). I love polyamory fic, but I would prefer the focus there to be on the emotional/relationship dynamics aspects of it and not on the hot threesomes. Character study, plotty fic with a characterization focus, relationship study, etc are all awesome. I am not a huge fan of porn without plot, mainly because I would rather have something that's more grounded in characterization, but I don't have a problem with smut itself as long as it comes as part of a larger story. I enjoy stories with complex characterization and interactions that reveal those bits of the characters. I am okay with any rating you feel up to.
Some of my squicks include: non-con sex and it's very likely that what most of fandom considers dub-con will also push the wrong buttons for me. I dislike the fictional trope of building one woman up at the expense of another, tearing one woman down to build up another, women fighting over men, women's lives revolving around the men in their lives. I do love conflict, though, and women who love each other despite conflict (PLL is an excellent example of something that maintains complex conflicts and interests while still having women loving women at its heart.)
Thoughts on specific requests/fandoms:
Dragon Age - All Media Types
Sophia Dryden -
I find Sophia incredibly fascinating in all her aspects. I love the brief glimpses we get into her ambition, her survival skills, her pragmatism, and I love her tragic ending. Now, I generally hate women having tragic endings, but I am a huge fan of the horror elements of Dragon Age, and the bit with Sophia really creeped me out. And I can't help but wonder about her last days there, before she was taken over by a demon. Did she make a deal with the devil in order to survive (a bit like Avernus did? And it would fit with what we know of her) or were there other circumstances there?
I also highly suspect and am intrigued by the fact that Avernus seems to have "Courtly Love" levels of admiration for Sophia, and I am interested in them being the only two survivors at Soldier's Peak as the demons slowly took over the place, as well as what seems to have been previously made mutual agreement to summon demons as a last resort. I would love to see an evolution of this relationship from the days of actual war and fighting to the days of waiting as the demons consumed them in different ways.
Similarly, I would love an evolution of Sophia or glimpses of Sophia in different parts of her life. Really, I don't think there's any Sophia fic out there, so any way you can add to her woefully brief existing canon would be appreciated!
Bethany Hawke -
My only request here is for Warden!Bethany. I find her infinitely more interesting than the more popular Circle!Bethany. While people seem to go with Circle!Bethany because it makes Bethany happy, I would argue that ultimately, the Warden path is what brings Bethany into her own, which I suspect would lead to awesome things for her post-game. The Circle path doesn't remove Bethany from her former life, it just isolates her to a tiny corner of it, and still fits into expectations she had for herself.
But I absolutely love how the Warden path really is a kind of death and rebirth, how absolutely it takes her away from the life that she and her sister (I do have a huge preference for a female!Hawke, and nothing gets me like bonds between sisters) built for herself, forcing her to reinvent her self/life. So it just takes her a bit longer to find herself again in this new life, but I love how it makes her to question her faith in the Maker (which is so great initially that she seems to have internalized the Chantry's teachings against mages), forces her to question things she took for granted, and just...how it gives her a bitter edge.
I am especially interested in Warden!Bethany colliding with her old life, when she makes such an effort to forget it, and all the conflict and struggle that comes with that. I ship her with Fenris, Isabela, and Sebastian (possibly in that order, but it really depends on the story), so I am happy with any interaction with these characters, and I would especially love seeing Bethany post-game, fighting for survival away from Kirkwall with the rest of the companions, trying to fit in the place she left behind, but finding it too small for her now.
.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Morrigan, Leliana
This game had so much potential and SO MANY MISSED opporutnities when it came to developing characters and their connections that it's painful to think about. Among these missed opportunities was the lack of focus on the relationships developed in previous games. I really, REALLY wish that we had gotten a more nuanced view of the Morrigan and Leliana relationship than we actually did. I mean, they started out as not getting along, but they did save the world together, and spent a considerable amount of time together. And Leliana is way too smart and way too good at reading people to not have read Morrigan's abrasiveness as the act that it was, and Morrigan had to have admired Leliana's skills at playing roles.
They're so similar, and have such parallel journeys. Leliana who has a dark past that she's trying to forget while pretending to be nice and naive, and Morrigan who IS naive and lost in the world of humans, but pretends to be dark and abrasive to push people away, and the way the game slowly reveals their layers to reveal that dichotomy that makes them opposites but also the same the core is one of my favorite things about the first game EVER.
Leliana has changed and grown and adapted and in same ways, come back to her darker past since the first game, but we don't see as much of a focus on all the way Morrigan has changed and adapted and learned things about herself. I want a fic to explore more of that, and explore Morrigan and Leliana coming to appreciate each other and learn each other again. Um, I should admit here that I ship them incredibly hard, and I would love femslash.
Given all these layers and connections, it strikes me as odd that Leliana is so dimissive about Morrigan and has nothing good to say about her when she first mentions her. The only thing that makes sense to me is if they have a tragically short-lived ill-fated affair the last time Leliana was in Orlais, which would explain Leliana's bitterness. I would love a story set in the present that takes that as a possible explanation for Leliana's thoughts on Morrigan. Or even a story about that affair.
But honestly...I just want interesting, nuanced interaction between my two favorite Dragon Age ladies, that takes into account their histories, and their commonalities.
.
Nancy Drew - Video Games
Nancy Drew, Zoe Wolfe
"The Silent Spy" - So, I totally fell in love with this game, and it may be my favorite of the series, not least because it featured not just Nancy kicking ass, but featured MULTIPLE female spies. I loved Kate Drew and her backstory, and Zoe Wolfe is just the kind of abrasive, aggressive antagonist-ish character that I tend to fall for all the time. I loved Nancy's connection to her mother, and her push-pull powerplay with Zoe that eventually turned into grudging respect that allowed them to work together. I just want more of that dynamic.
What I would ABSOLUTELY love is seeing Zoe and Nancy working together on a case again, growing closer, and learning to like/care about each other. I WOULD LOVE FEMSLASH, but it's not required, if you don't ship them. I would love it extra hard if the case they're working on together is related to Revanant and Kate Drew, and if Kate actually turns out to be alive (which is ALL I wanted from the game, but the game failed me.)
So, um, I loved this game and just want more of these epic women.
.
Christopher Pike - The Season of Passage
Lauren Wagner
My preference here is for Lauren/Gary shippy fic, but Lauren is my favorite, and I promise you that Lauren gen will make me equally happy, if you're not up to writing het fic.
It's been many years since I read the book last, and so my memory of this is a little vague. I don't usually ship in books, especially if it's not part of a series, but I loved their relationship and every aspect of it so, so much. Honestly, I would really love anything with them and some shippy interaction, but here are some of the things I'm especially interested in:
So, a lot of people don't like angst and pain for exchanges. I am not one of those people. I'm generally fond of the character insights and psychological complexity brought on by difficult circumstances. This is likely why book four is my favorite, wherein Lauren and Gary are the only ones left behind on the spaceship. That book, more than anything, makes me ship them. I love the uncertainty of survival mixed with the hope they have of getting out. I love that they've lost everyone but it doesn't matter because they still have each other. Really, anything set within this book will make me insanely happy. Comfort sex, fun confessions, delusional pretending and plans for when they get back home? Will all be awesome.
Alternatively, if you're not comfortable writing within the continuity of the book, one thing that I always wondered about while reading the book was why Lauren and Gary weren't together since they seemed better suited to each other than Terry did to Lauren. I'm convinced that Gary was, at least, half (if not completely) in love with Lauren, which is especially apparent in book four. And Lauren also had some fun, complex feelings regarding him. I would not be opposed to some fun, shippy interaction pre-book, after Lauren first joined the crew. Or even a one-night stand.
As for Lauren, I am interested in SO many things about her, not least of all is her relationship with Jenny, and her continued devotion to her despite the fact that Jenny leads to her predictment in many ways. I love fictional sisters more than anything else ever, so I definitely don't want anything that would undermine their bond, but a complex exploration of some complicated feelings would be lovely.
I also love, love, love this book's horror elements, and would absolutely love something that explores Lauren's mind while she's possessed.
Also! Lauren/Jessica! Would make me happy.
I will also be equally happy to have anything set within any other time during the book that inspires you.
.
I really hope that I don't sound too hard to please. I just have lots of thoughts on all of these women and I don't often get a chance to squee over them. Please, feel free to do something creative with the details/characters, if you think it would make a better story. My ideas are more to inspire your creativity than to limit it.
I am looking forward to reading whatever you come up with and to building altars to the power of your awesome creative powers.
Lastly, if you have any questions about something you want to do or something you're unsure about, you can ask either
aphrodite_mine or
meganbmoore . Both of them are familiar with my fictional preferences and some or all of these fandoms.
This entry was originally posted at http://prozacpark.dreamwidth.org/126844.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Please, check back here on the 19th for the letter.
Dear Rarelywritten Writer,
Thank you for offering to write one or more of the awesome women of my super rare fandoms. I love fictional women almost more than anything else in the entire world, so I am going to be ridiculously easy to please on this one.
Besides that, I also love women interacting with each other, women maintaining complex bonds with each other, women supporting each other, and generally being awesome. I like het, gen, and femslash (m/m is really not my cup of tea because of, you guessed it, the lack of women.) If there's going to be a power imbalance in a het relationship, I prefer the scales to be tipped over at the female side (I have a huge kink for good/moral men in love with complicated/morally ambiguous women). I love polyamory fic, but I would prefer the focus there to be on the emotional/relationship dynamics aspects of it and not on the hot threesomes. Character study, plotty fic with a characterization focus, relationship study, etc are all awesome. I am not a huge fan of porn without plot, mainly because I would rather have something that's more grounded in characterization, but I don't have a problem with smut itself as long as it comes as part of a larger story. I enjoy stories with complex characterization and interactions that reveal those bits of the characters. I am okay with any rating you feel up to.
Some of my squicks include: non-con sex and it's very likely that what most of fandom considers dub-con will also push the wrong buttons for me. I dislike the fictional trope of building one woman up at the expense of another, tearing one woman down to build up another, women fighting over men, women's lives revolving around the men in their lives. I do love conflict, though, and women who love each other despite conflict (PLL is an excellent example of something that maintains complex conflicts and interests while still having women loving women at its heart.)
Thoughts on specific requests/fandoms:
Dragon Age - All Media Types
Sophia Dryden -
I find Sophia incredibly fascinating in all her aspects. I love the brief glimpses we get into her ambition, her survival skills, her pragmatism, and I love her tragic ending. Now, I generally hate women having tragic endings, but I am a huge fan of the horror elements of Dragon Age, and the bit with Sophia really creeped me out. And I can't help but wonder about her last days there, before she was taken over by a demon. Did she make a deal with the devil in order to survive (a bit like Avernus did? And it would fit with what we know of her) or were there other circumstances there?
I also highly suspect and am intrigued by the fact that Avernus seems to have "Courtly Love" levels of admiration for Sophia, and I am interested in them being the only two survivors at Soldier's Peak as the demons slowly took over the place, as well as what seems to have been previously made mutual agreement to summon demons as a last resort. I would love to see an evolution of this relationship from the days of actual war and fighting to the days of waiting as the demons consumed them in different ways.
Similarly, I would love an evolution of Sophia or glimpses of Sophia in different parts of her life. Really, I don't think there's any Sophia fic out there, so any way you can add to her woefully brief existing canon would be appreciated!
Bethany Hawke -
My only request here is for Warden!Bethany. I find her infinitely more interesting than the more popular Circle!Bethany. While people seem to go with Circle!Bethany because it makes Bethany happy, I would argue that ultimately, the Warden path is what brings Bethany into her own, which I suspect would lead to awesome things for her post-game. The Circle path doesn't remove Bethany from her former life, it just isolates her to a tiny corner of it, and still fits into expectations she had for herself.
But I absolutely love how the Warden path really is a kind of death and rebirth, how absolutely it takes her away from the life that she and her sister (I do have a huge preference for a female!Hawke, and nothing gets me like bonds between sisters) built for herself, forcing her to reinvent her self/life. So it just takes her a bit longer to find herself again in this new life, but I love how it makes her to question her faith in the Maker (which is so great initially that she seems to have internalized the Chantry's teachings against mages), forces her to question things she took for granted, and just...how it gives her a bitter edge.
I am especially interested in Warden!Bethany colliding with her old life, when she makes such an effort to forget it, and all the conflict and struggle that comes with that. I ship her with Fenris, Isabela, and Sebastian (possibly in that order, but it really depends on the story), so I am happy with any interaction with these characters, and I would especially love seeing Bethany post-game, fighting for survival away from Kirkwall with the rest of the companions, trying to fit in the place she left behind, but finding it too small for her now.
.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Morrigan, Leliana
This game had so much potential and SO MANY MISSED opporutnities when it came to developing characters and their connections that it's painful to think about. Among these missed opportunities was the lack of focus on the relationships developed in previous games. I really, REALLY wish that we had gotten a more nuanced view of the Morrigan and Leliana relationship than we actually did. I mean, they started out as not getting along, but they did save the world together, and spent a considerable amount of time together. And Leliana is way too smart and way too good at reading people to not have read Morrigan's abrasiveness as the act that it was, and Morrigan had to have admired Leliana's skills at playing roles.
They're so similar, and have such parallel journeys. Leliana who has a dark past that she's trying to forget while pretending to be nice and naive, and Morrigan who IS naive and lost in the world of humans, but pretends to be dark and abrasive to push people away, and the way the game slowly reveals their layers to reveal that dichotomy that makes them opposites but also the same the core is one of my favorite things about the first game EVER.
Leliana has changed and grown and adapted and in same ways, come back to her darker past since the first game, but we don't see as much of a focus on all the way Morrigan has changed and adapted and learned things about herself. I want a fic to explore more of that, and explore Morrigan and Leliana coming to appreciate each other and learn each other again. Um, I should admit here that I ship them incredibly hard, and I would love femslash.
Given all these layers and connections, it strikes me as odd that Leliana is so dimissive about Morrigan and has nothing good to say about her when she first mentions her. The only thing that makes sense to me is if they have a tragically short-lived ill-fated affair the last time Leliana was in Orlais, which would explain Leliana's bitterness. I would love a story set in the present that takes that as a possible explanation for Leliana's thoughts on Morrigan. Or even a story about that affair.
But honestly...I just want interesting, nuanced interaction between my two favorite Dragon Age ladies, that takes into account their histories, and their commonalities.
.
Nancy Drew - Video Games
Nancy Drew, Zoe Wolfe
"The Silent Spy" - So, I totally fell in love with this game, and it may be my favorite of the series, not least because it featured not just Nancy kicking ass, but featured MULTIPLE female spies. I loved Kate Drew and her backstory, and Zoe Wolfe is just the kind of abrasive, aggressive antagonist-ish character that I tend to fall for all the time. I loved Nancy's connection to her mother, and her push-pull powerplay with Zoe that eventually turned into grudging respect that allowed them to work together. I just want more of that dynamic.
What I would ABSOLUTELY love is seeing Zoe and Nancy working together on a case again, growing closer, and learning to like/care about each other. I WOULD LOVE FEMSLASH, but it's not required, if you don't ship them. I would love it extra hard if the case they're working on together is related to Revanant and Kate Drew, and if Kate actually turns out to be alive (which is ALL I wanted from the game, but the game failed me.)
So, um, I loved this game and just want more of these epic women.
.
Christopher Pike - The Season of Passage
Lauren Wagner
My preference here is for Lauren/Gary shippy fic, but Lauren is my favorite, and I promise you that Lauren gen will make me equally happy, if you're not up to writing het fic.
It's been many years since I read the book last, and so my memory of this is a little vague. I don't usually ship in books, especially if it's not part of a series, but I loved their relationship and every aspect of it so, so much. Honestly, I would really love anything with them and some shippy interaction, but here are some of the things I'm especially interested in:
So, a lot of people don't like angst and pain for exchanges. I am not one of those people. I'm generally fond of the character insights and psychological complexity brought on by difficult circumstances. This is likely why book four is my favorite, wherein Lauren and Gary are the only ones left behind on the spaceship. That book, more than anything, makes me ship them. I love the uncertainty of survival mixed with the hope they have of getting out. I love that they've lost everyone but it doesn't matter because they still have each other. Really, anything set within this book will make me insanely happy. Comfort sex, fun confessions, delusional pretending and plans for when they get back home? Will all be awesome.
Alternatively, if you're not comfortable writing within the continuity of the book, one thing that I always wondered about while reading the book was why Lauren and Gary weren't together since they seemed better suited to each other than Terry did to Lauren. I'm convinced that Gary was, at least, half (if not completely) in love with Lauren, which is especially apparent in book four. And Lauren also had some fun, complex feelings regarding him. I would not be opposed to some fun, shippy interaction pre-book, after Lauren first joined the crew. Or even a one-night stand.
As for Lauren, I am interested in SO many things about her, not least of all is her relationship with Jenny, and her continued devotion to her despite the fact that Jenny leads to her predictment in many ways. I love fictional sisters more than anything else ever, so I definitely don't want anything that would undermine their bond, but a complex exploration of some complicated feelings would be lovely.
I also love, love, love this book's horror elements, and would absolutely love something that explores Lauren's mind while she's possessed.
Also! Lauren/Jessica! Would make me happy.
I will also be equally happy to have anything set within any other time during the book that inspires you.
.
I really hope that I don't sound too hard to please. I just have lots of thoughts on all of these women and I don't often get a chance to squee over them. Please, feel free to do something creative with the details/characters, if you think it would make a better story. My ideas are more to inspire your creativity than to limit it.
I am looking forward to reading whatever you come up with and to building altars to the power of your awesome creative powers.
Lastly, if you have any questions about something you want to do or something you're unsure about, you can ask either
aphrodite_mine or
meganbmoore . Both of them are familiar with my fictional preferences and some or all of these fandoms.
This entry was originally posted at http://prozacpark.dreamwidth.org/126844.html. Please comment there using OpenID.