Dear Shipswap Author
Dear Shipswap Author,
Thank you so much for writing for me! I love all of the pairings I've listed here, and I'm sure I'll adore whatever you write.
First, me say that all optional details here are optional. Use 'em if they're helpful, and please feel free to ignore them if they're not. Write the story you want to write, whatever that is. (Although if you can try to avoid my "do not wants," I'd appreciate that.)
I'm flexible on both genre and rating. Action, introspection, plot, character studies, slice of life...it's all good. And anything from G to NC-17 is absolutely fine. Fade-to-black, full-out porn, and too busy plotting/shooting/talking to even think about sex are all equally welcome. If you go the NC-17 route, please know that I'm pretty vanilla in my tastes.
Things I Like: In general, I'm a fan of first times of all kinds, competence (so much love for characters being competence!), friendship, understated romance, secrets being revealed, stories that draw on the characters' pasts, and stories that pick up dropped plot threads. Happy fic is good, and so is mild to moderate angst with a happy or hopeful or bittersweet ending.
Things I'd Rather Not Read: I'd rather avoid any sort of major power imbalance in romantic relationships (including A/B/O and BDSM AUs). I also prefer to avoid betrayal and cheating in my romantic relationships. I'm not big on long, detailed descriptions of recoveries from traumatic events. Finally, fork-in-the-road AUs are great, but I'd rather not read an AU that changes the setting or the characters entirely (e.g., coffee shop-type AUs, always-been-the-opposite-gender, crack, etc.). Well, unless it's a hardboiled detective AU. I'll always take a good hardboiled detective story.
Other Things: I have squicks but no triggers. I'm okay with character death, except where otherwise indicated below. Non-con is fine in the background if it's needed for the story, but I'd rather it not be the primary focus of the story, and I'd prefer it if none of the protagonists were responsible. I sometimes enjoy the happy, shiny, fandom version of dubcon where two people who were already attracted to each other are led by aliens or sex pollen or some such thing to act on that attraction in a mutual sort of way. Or the version where they're pushed by external factors a bit, but still retain some agency. I'm less interested in the traumatizing or severely angsty versions of the trope.
If you're looking for more information, I have a bunch of rambling about what I like and don't like in fic here. Please don't think it's necessary to read that. I'm just dropping the link in case all of my specific suggestions have you pulling out your hair, and you're desperately seeking an alternative idea.
Fandom: Being Human (US/Canada)
Requested Pairing: Kat Neely/Aidan Waite
I think Aidan and Kat are adorable together, geeking out over history and comparing romantic pasts. I also think there's at least a 99% chance that things will end badly for them on the show, because this is not a show where things generally end well for the characters. And frankly, Aidan deserves to be called on semi-accidentally killing Kat's ex, and having Blake tamper with her memory. Even so, I'd kind of like to see the two of them happy together in fic the way they won't be allowed to be on the show. Or at least happy with each other, even if things are less happy in other respects.
One request: please don't allow Kat to be killed or seriously harmed because of who Aidan is or something he does. Being placed in danger is okay, as long as she is rescued or rescues herself in time. But I'd really rather not see Aidan more guilt-ridden over Kat than he already has cause to be.
If you'd like some specific (totally optional) suggestions: I'd love to see more of Aidan supplying Kat with historical details and Kat starting to wonder where he's getting this stuff from. Or maybe he has a source! Old journals that he lets her read? Something? Or I'd like to see Kat run into a supernatural problem (Family curse? Haunted classroom? Student/young cousin who sees ghosts?) that Aidan is able to help her with (without necessarily revealing the entirety of his own secret). Or anything with the two of them and kids. (Babysitting nieces and nephews? Kat bringing up adoption?) Or the two of them dealing with some sort of crisis together. Or addressing the Jeff and/or memory tampering issues, giving them some hope of successfully moving past them. Or dealing with some of the issues that go with dating a vampire, like having to decide if you want to become one too.
Note: Please feel free to ignore whatever parts of season four you like, or go AU from it at any point. If you want to take it AU before Aidan tells Kat the truth (or have him tell her in a different way), that's fine. If you want to create some sort of imaginary version of season four where Josh and Sally are both fine or Kenny or Susanna aren't around or something like that, that's fine too. Or include all of the current problems. Or set it earlier or later than season four. Whatever you like.
Due South, Ben Fraser/Mark Smithbauer
Mark Smithbauer is kind of an ass for most of "The Blue Line," but the ending (and Fraser's enduring loyalty) suggests he can do better than that. I'd like to see him given the opportunity to try.
I'd love something that focuses on Mark and Fraser developing an ongoing relationship as adults (either at some point after "The Blue Line," or in a canon-ish AU from "The Blue Line" if you want to play with the timeline or keep Mark in hockey or something). Long-term doesn't necessarily have to work out as long as they try; I'll take almost anything as long as it's more than a one-night stand accompanied by a vague promise to keep in touch.
If you'd like specific (totally optional) suggestions: Seeing how they first get together would be awesome. Or start them off with a one-night stand or friends-with-benefits set-up, then have them realize they both want more. Or I'd enjoy seeing one of them drawn into the other's world a little (hockey/post-hockey or police work or both). Or a trip back to Inuvik. Or Fraser helping Mark figure out what to do post-hockey. Or coming out to old friends. Or dealing with things if Mark came out publicly, either by choice or accidentally. (Especially if he were still in hockey.) Or working through issues that might arise in their relationship. Or just a little bit of quiet interaction between them.
Fandom: Earth: Final Conflict
Requested Pairing: Liam Kincaid/Renee Palmer
I love Liam & Renee's friendship on the show, with their unconditional support and smooth partnership (at least once they're past their initial trust issues). I think it's lovely in itself and a great starting point for something more. I don't necessarily need a grand romance here, although you can certainly write one if you want to. But a one-night stand or friends-with-benefits scenario or using classic sci-fi tropes would be totally fine too.
Liam and sex/romance are kind of complicated issues, given his background. If you'd like to explore that somehow--how he integrates the memories and experiences of his parents to form a coherent basis for his own personality and decisions and what that means in a romantic or sexual context or something along those lines, that could be interesting. (Clearly he's an adult by our standards, but how does it actually work for him?) Or maybe it's Renee who's concerned about it, while Liam is nonchalant. Alternately, if you'd like to do something tropey like Taelon-created sex pollen or a portal malfunction leading to a temporary body swap, that could be fun too. Or go more serious. What would it mean for the resistance if its two leaders became involved with each other? What would happen if Sandoval or Da'an or Zo'or found out? Etc.
If you'd rather go more pre-romance or just stick to straight-up friendship, something where Renee really deals with Liam's alien ancestry would be interesting, especially since she kind of avoids it on the show. Or maybe another undercover-as-a-couple scenario, perhaps longer-term than they generally did on the show? Or giving advice to each other on their love lives. Or just anything dealing with the canonical issues they face in their jobs and their work in the resistance.
Or talk about what happens to them post-series, romantic or more gen.
Fandom: Murdoch Mysteries
Requested Pairing: William Murdoch/James Pendrick
Murdoch and Pendrick have so much in common as men of science who are enthralled with the future that it seems a shame that the show nearly always sets them at odds. I'd love to see them on the same side for once. Or ending up on the same side, after their work through their issues. They ought to be engaged in some grand adventure or scientific endeavour together! (Although I will confess that I kind of like the idea that the reason Murdoch gets so exasperated so quickly around Pendrick is because he's secretly (unconsciously?) attracted to Pendrick.)
If you're writing this pairing, I'd appreciate not having anything truly terrible happen to Dr. Ogden to enable this to go forward. Feel free to leave her in Buffalo, or have her in Toronto happily married to Darcy, or just keep Murdoch and Ogden from ever being more than good friends, perhaps because Murdoch has always realized that his interests lay elsewhere, whether or not he ever acted on it.
If you'd like some specific (totally optional) suggestions: Maybe they're brought together by some fabulous new invention. Maybe Pendrick is stubbornly determined to finally win Murdoch over, and takes steps to do so. Maybe they're forced to rely on each other in some crisis. (Snowed in? Lost in the woods? Once again battling American spies? Feel free to embrace the tropes.) Or maybe some other situation arises that forces them to acknowledge their feelings. (I'd rather not bring outright magic into the show because Science!, but if you want to have someone invent bracelets whose wearers can't be more than twenty feet apart without passing out, or a hat that allows its wearer to read minds, or have one of them ingest some of Murdoch's newly invented truth serum and then talk to the other, or anything along those lines, I'd be all over that.) Or maybe examine how Murdoch (or Pendrick) might reconcile this relationship with his faith or the social mores of their time? I don't mind a bit of angsty inner turmoil here, if that's the way you'd like to go.
Fandom: Stargate
Requested Pairings: Sam Carter/Cameron Mitchell, Sam Carter/John Sheppard
I excluded this fandom initially because I got matched on it last year and I didn't want my writer to feel like I was dissatisfied! But I'm editing it in now to make life easier for potential pinch hitters. I promise I'd genuinely love either of these pairings!
Sam Carter/Cameron Mitchell
I really like that Sam and Cam seemed to have a solid friendship even before Cam joined SG-1, and I kind of love the idea of the two of them growing old together. I'd love to see them get together while they're working together on SG-1, or after both shows are over and Sam's come back from Atlantis.
Established relationship fic is also great. Some sort of mission fic could be fun--working together to escape a hostage situation or going undercover on an alien world. Or Sam with Cam's family or Cam with Sam's family. Or kidfic where kids are something they've chosen. Pretty much anything that has them together and happy with each other.
Feel free to embrace the tropes here! Or not. Whatever you prefer.
Sam Carter/John Sheppard
With Sam/John, my main preference is that it to be set up in a way such that there's not a major power differential between them while they're in a relationship (e.g., sometime after Sam leaves Atlantis, or at some point just before Sam leaves when it's clear she's only his commanding officer for a couple more days, or an AU where Atlantis is cut off from Earth and the two of them are basically co-commanding it, or a one-night stand back when they're young pilots who have never heard of the stargate, etc.). I'm pretty flexible on how you set that up.
Apart from that, I'm good. Set it on Earth, set it on Atlantis, set it on another planet entirely. Show them getting together or have them already in an established relationship. Meeting family is always good, and so is dealing with an unexpected crisis on Earth. Whatever you feel like writing.
(Also, not an official request, but if you have a brilliant idea for Sam/Cam/John, I'll totally read that.)
This entry was originally posted at http://skieswideopen.dreamwidth.org/146801.html, where it has
comments. Comments are equally welcome on either entry.
Thank you so much for writing for me! I love all of the pairings I've listed here, and I'm sure I'll adore whatever you write.
First, me say that all optional details here are optional. Use 'em if they're helpful, and please feel free to ignore them if they're not. Write the story you want to write, whatever that is. (Although if you can try to avoid my "do not wants," I'd appreciate that.)
I'm flexible on both genre and rating. Action, introspection, plot, character studies, slice of life...it's all good. And anything from G to NC-17 is absolutely fine. Fade-to-black, full-out porn, and too busy plotting/shooting/talking to even think about sex are all equally welcome. If you go the NC-17 route, please know that I'm pretty vanilla in my tastes.
Things I Like: In general, I'm a fan of first times of all kinds, competence (so much love for characters being competence!), friendship, understated romance, secrets being revealed, stories that draw on the characters' pasts, and stories that pick up dropped plot threads. Happy fic is good, and so is mild to moderate angst with a happy or hopeful or bittersweet ending.
Things I'd Rather Not Read: I'd rather avoid any sort of major power imbalance in romantic relationships (including A/B/O and BDSM AUs). I also prefer to avoid betrayal and cheating in my romantic relationships. I'm not big on long, detailed descriptions of recoveries from traumatic events. Finally, fork-in-the-road AUs are great, but I'd rather not read an AU that changes the setting or the characters entirely (e.g., coffee shop-type AUs, always-been-the-opposite-gender, crack, etc.). Well, unless it's a hardboiled detective AU. I'll always take a good hardboiled detective story.
Other Things: I have squicks but no triggers. I'm okay with character death, except where otherwise indicated below. Non-con is fine in the background if it's needed for the story, but I'd rather it not be the primary focus of the story, and I'd prefer it if none of the protagonists were responsible. I sometimes enjoy the happy, shiny, fandom version of dubcon where two people who were already attracted to each other are led by aliens or sex pollen or some such thing to act on that attraction in a mutual sort of way. Or the version where they're pushed by external factors a bit, but still retain some agency. I'm less interested in the traumatizing or severely angsty versions of the trope.
If you're looking for more information, I have a bunch of rambling about what I like and don't like in fic here. Please don't think it's necessary to read that. I'm just dropping the link in case all of my specific suggestions have you pulling out your hair, and you're desperately seeking an alternative idea.
Fandom: Being Human (US/Canada)
Requested Pairing: Kat Neely/Aidan Waite
I think Aidan and Kat are adorable together, geeking out over history and comparing romantic pasts. I also think there's at least a 99% chance that things will end badly for them on the show, because this is not a show where things generally end well for the characters. And frankly, Aidan deserves to be called on semi-accidentally killing Kat's ex, and having Blake tamper with her memory. Even so, I'd kind of like to see the two of them happy together in fic the way they won't be allowed to be on the show. Or at least happy with each other, even if things are less happy in other respects.
One request: please don't allow Kat to be killed or seriously harmed because of who Aidan is or something he does. Being placed in danger is okay, as long as she is rescued or rescues herself in time. But I'd really rather not see Aidan more guilt-ridden over Kat than he already has cause to be.
If you'd like some specific (totally optional) suggestions: I'd love to see more of Aidan supplying Kat with historical details and Kat starting to wonder where he's getting this stuff from. Or maybe he has a source! Old journals that he lets her read? Something? Or I'd like to see Kat run into a supernatural problem (Family curse? Haunted classroom? Student/young cousin who sees ghosts?) that Aidan is able to help her with (without necessarily revealing the entirety of his own secret). Or anything with the two of them and kids. (Babysitting nieces and nephews? Kat bringing up adoption?) Or the two of them dealing with some sort of crisis together. Or addressing the Jeff and/or memory tampering issues, giving them some hope of successfully moving past them. Or dealing with some of the issues that go with dating a vampire, like having to decide if you want to become one too.
Note: Please feel free to ignore whatever parts of season four you like, or go AU from it at any point. If you want to take it AU before Aidan tells Kat the truth (or have him tell her in a different way), that's fine. If you want to create some sort of imaginary version of season four where Josh and Sally are both fine or Kenny or Susanna aren't around or something like that, that's fine too. Or include all of the current problems. Or set it earlier or later than season four. Whatever you like.
Due South, Ben Fraser/Mark Smithbauer
Mark Smithbauer is kind of an ass for most of "The Blue Line," but the ending (and Fraser's enduring loyalty) suggests he can do better than that. I'd like to see him given the opportunity to try.
I'd love something that focuses on Mark and Fraser developing an ongoing relationship as adults (either at some point after "The Blue Line," or in a canon-ish AU from "The Blue Line" if you want to play with the timeline or keep Mark in hockey or something). Long-term doesn't necessarily have to work out as long as they try; I'll take almost anything as long as it's more than a one-night stand accompanied by a vague promise to keep in touch.
If you'd like specific (totally optional) suggestions: Seeing how they first get together would be awesome. Or start them off with a one-night stand or friends-with-benefits set-up, then have them realize they both want more. Or I'd enjoy seeing one of them drawn into the other's world a little (hockey/post-hockey or police work or both). Or a trip back to Inuvik. Or Fraser helping Mark figure out what to do post-hockey. Or coming out to old friends. Or dealing with things if Mark came out publicly, either by choice or accidentally. (Especially if he were still in hockey.) Or working through issues that might arise in their relationship. Or just a little bit of quiet interaction between them.
Fandom: Earth: Final Conflict
Requested Pairing: Liam Kincaid/Renee Palmer
I love Liam & Renee's friendship on the show, with their unconditional support and smooth partnership (at least once they're past their initial trust issues). I think it's lovely in itself and a great starting point for something more. I don't necessarily need a grand romance here, although you can certainly write one if you want to. But a one-night stand or friends-with-benefits scenario or using classic sci-fi tropes would be totally fine too.
Liam and sex/romance are kind of complicated issues, given his background. If you'd like to explore that somehow--how he integrates the memories and experiences of his parents to form a coherent basis for his own personality and decisions and what that means in a romantic or sexual context or something along those lines, that could be interesting. (Clearly he's an adult by our standards, but how does it actually work for him?) Or maybe it's Renee who's concerned about it, while Liam is nonchalant. Alternately, if you'd like to do something tropey like Taelon-created sex pollen or a portal malfunction leading to a temporary body swap, that could be fun too. Or go more serious. What would it mean for the resistance if its two leaders became involved with each other? What would happen if Sandoval or Da'an or Zo'or found out? Etc.
If you'd rather go more pre-romance or just stick to straight-up friendship, something where Renee really deals with Liam's alien ancestry would be interesting, especially since she kind of avoids it on the show. Or maybe another undercover-as-a-couple scenario, perhaps longer-term than they generally did on the show? Or giving advice to each other on their love lives. Or just anything dealing with the canonical issues they face in their jobs and their work in the resistance.
Or talk about what happens to them post-series, romantic or more gen.
Fandom: Murdoch Mysteries
Requested Pairing: William Murdoch/James Pendrick
Murdoch and Pendrick have so much in common as men of science who are enthralled with the future that it seems a shame that the show nearly always sets them at odds. I'd love to see them on the same side for once. Or ending up on the same side, after their work through their issues. They ought to be engaged in some grand adventure or scientific endeavour together! (Although I will confess that I kind of like the idea that the reason Murdoch gets so exasperated so quickly around Pendrick is because he's secretly (unconsciously?) attracted to Pendrick.)
If you're writing this pairing, I'd appreciate not having anything truly terrible happen to Dr. Ogden to enable this to go forward. Feel free to leave her in Buffalo, or have her in Toronto happily married to Darcy, or just keep Murdoch and Ogden from ever being more than good friends, perhaps because Murdoch has always realized that his interests lay elsewhere, whether or not he ever acted on it.
If you'd like some specific (totally optional) suggestions: Maybe they're brought together by some fabulous new invention. Maybe Pendrick is stubbornly determined to finally win Murdoch over, and takes steps to do so. Maybe they're forced to rely on each other in some crisis. (Snowed in? Lost in the woods? Once again battling American spies? Feel free to embrace the tropes.) Or maybe some other situation arises that forces them to acknowledge their feelings. (I'd rather not bring outright magic into the show because Science!, but if you want to have someone invent bracelets whose wearers can't be more than twenty feet apart without passing out, or a hat that allows its wearer to read minds, or have one of them ingest some of Murdoch's newly invented truth serum and then talk to the other, or anything along those lines, I'd be all over that.) Or maybe examine how Murdoch (or Pendrick) might reconcile this relationship with his faith or the social mores of their time? I don't mind a bit of angsty inner turmoil here, if that's the way you'd like to go.
Fandom: Stargate
Requested Pairings: Sam Carter/Cameron Mitchell, Sam Carter/John Sheppard
I excluded this fandom initially because I got matched on it last year and I didn't want my writer to feel like I was dissatisfied! But I'm editing it in now to make life easier for potential pinch hitters. I promise I'd genuinely love either of these pairings!
Sam Carter/Cameron Mitchell
I really like that Sam and Cam seemed to have a solid friendship even before Cam joined SG-1, and I kind of love the idea of the two of them growing old together. I'd love to see them get together while they're working together on SG-1, or after both shows are over and Sam's come back from Atlantis.
Established relationship fic is also great. Some sort of mission fic could be fun--working together to escape a hostage situation or going undercover on an alien world. Or Sam with Cam's family or Cam with Sam's family. Or kidfic where kids are something they've chosen. Pretty much anything that has them together and happy with each other.
Feel free to embrace the tropes here! Or not. Whatever you prefer.
Sam Carter/John Sheppard
With Sam/John, my main preference is that it to be set up in a way such that there's not a major power differential between them while they're in a relationship (e.g., sometime after Sam leaves Atlantis, or at some point just before Sam leaves when it's clear she's only his commanding officer for a couple more days, or an AU where Atlantis is cut off from Earth and the two of them are basically co-commanding it, or a one-night stand back when they're young pilots who have never heard of the stargate, etc.). I'm pretty flexible on how you set that up.
Apart from that, I'm good. Set it on Earth, set it on Atlantis, set it on another planet entirely. Show them getting together or have them already in an established relationship. Meeting family is always good, and so is dealing with an unexpected crisis on Earth. Whatever you feel like writing.
(Also, not an official request, but if you have a brilliant idea for Sam/Cam/John, I'll totally read that.)
This entry was originally posted at http://skieswideopen.dreamwidth.org/146801.html, where it has
comments. Comments are equally welcome on either entry.