Dear Everywoman Writer...

[fleurlb]

 Hello,

Thank you so much for volunteering to write a story for a stranger (I assure you, I am quite strange). I am delighted we share common fandom interests and I look forward to seeing what you come up with. This letter is packed to the gills with prompts, but feel free to ignore them if you want. Optional details are, after all, optional. But if prompts help you, you've come to the right place!

My hard-and-fast DNWs list is fairly short. I do not want incest, non-con, porn without plot, child death or grievous injury (unless it's canon and even then, no need to dwell on the details), animal cruelty or abuse, scat/watersports/extreme kink, or first-person narration. Yeah, I know that last one is maybe a little weird, but I find first-person difficult to warm up to and it takes me out of the story. 

 

In general, I love fan fiction. I love the way it lets me spend time with beloved characters. I love the way it opens up new adventures and possibilities. I love the way it lets me rethink and reimagine known worlds. 

 

I love, love, love so many tropes. (And I also love stories that subvert tropes.) I love 

Fake dating

Using dating/relationships as a cover for a mission/con/job/plan

Secret weddings/marriages

Elopement, and accidental marriages

Unexpected tenderness

Hurt/comfort

Cooking comfort foods

Grand romantic gestures

Repressed feelings

Found families

Slow burning love that develops slowly through mundane activities

Starting a new life

Ghost stories

Spooky settings

Haunted houses

Stupid dares

Camping

Accidental demon summoning

Disasters – natural or manmade 

Post-apocalytpic fights to survive

Man vs wilderness

Angst

Unresolved sexual tension

Zombies

Roads not taken in canon

Wacky roadtrips

 

That's quite a grab bag to choose from, but I would like anything from it. Here are a few starting points for a gift:

So here are some general things I like:

A natural or manmade disaster strikes and characters must work together to save themselves and others

AU - The Zombie Apocalypse strikes - what is life like and how do the characters manage?

Character backstories - I love a good backstory!

The road not taken...what happens when a character makes a different decision than in canon. How does the story (and more importantly, the character) change as a result of the decision.

First times - first kisses, first loves, first day of school/prison/the army/whatever

5+1 (As in Five times X happened and 1 time it didn't)  is a tried and true format - I'd eat any 5+1 with a spoon. (And it doesn't have to be 5 +1, it could be 3 or 7 or whatever works for you.)

Song fic - I don't even need to know the song. (But if you're a fan of The National, you literally cannot go wrong with any of their songs.)

Crossovers - I love crossovers like Whoa! They are seriously my favourite fandom genre. I would be delighted to see crossovers between any of my requests or with any of these fandoms: Friday Night Lights, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Good Place, The Big C, Stranger Things, Sons of Anarchy, or Leverage.

 

This letter is basically a gooey letter of all things I love, and it's only going to get worse as I get to my fandoms. I love each of these fandoms deeply and beyond all reason. And I think this love is even worse because I've not found any communities or places that love these shows the way I do.

 

 

Titanic – Group: Rose and Molly. 

We watched this movie again recently, and it just seemed to be crying out for fan fiction. :) I'm happy for something set on the ship or afterwards. I love the idea of Rose somehow running into Molly Brown and Molly advising her and maybe even looking after her somehow 

 

Game of Thrones - Brienne of Tarth (GoT), Group: Arya Stark & Sansa Stark (GoT), Group: Daenerys Targaryen & Brienne of Tarth (GoT)

I am so very late to the Game of Thrones party. As of right now, I've seen the first three season and the Long Night episode in S8. I have a rough idea of what happens at the end of S8 and some fuzzy spoilers on S4-7. I don't know a lot of the lore and deep background, but I love all of these women and just want more of them. Drop in any of my favorite tropes and I'll be happy forever. (And you can mix and match the characters any way that suits your story, as long as at least one of the four are in the story.)

 

Harry Potter

1. Group: Hermione Granger & Luna Lovegood – For these two, I'd love to see something set in Hogwarts, kind of like a buddy roadtrip comedy. I imagine that Hermione would learn something from Luna, despite her reservations about some of the wacky things that Luna believes. 

2. Group: Hermione Granger and Mrs. Granger – That scene of Hermione walking out of her home after Oblivating her parents always breaks my heart. I'd love anything about that – maybe what Hermione's last day with her mother was like. I also have this vision in my head of Hermione doing something as Minister for Magic in partnership with muggles and meeting her mother through that. Would her mother somehow still recognize her, given that love is a strong a form of magic?

3. Minerva McGonagall – Backstory, future story, anything set during the books. I just want to see Minerva being a little salty. :)

 

 

Happy Valley – Catherine, Ann, Joyce, Clare -  Catherine is the kick-ass awesome woman of my dreams. She doesn't always get it right, but she tries so hard. She is the epitome of "be brave and be kind". Her relationship with Clare is so real to me - any slice of life fic there would be much appreciated. And I'd love to see a story where Catherine mentors and mothers Ann - where's the line between trying to make up for Kirsten? I also love the relationship with Joyce - they are clearly old friends who adore each other - stories from back in the day wouldn't go amiss! Back story, front story, contemporary story - I am happy with whatever as long as there is more Catherine. Also, feel free to not include all requested characters if that works best for your story. (But please don't skip Catherine!) 

 

Last Tango – Caroline, Kate, Gillian, Flora, Celia - This show is my emotional home place. I return to it whenever I feel on the edge of depression because it makes me feel so many things. I ship Kate and Caroline like whoa and would love fix-it fic/AU where the senseless death does not happen. Alternatively, I'd enjoy something in the canon where Gillian helps Caroline pick up the pieces. Or a sweet but messy slice of live fic about raising Flora. Basically, I love the people on this show and just want more of them interacting and being messy but loving and just trying to figure out life. Also, feel free to not include all requested characters if that works best for your story.