rthstewart (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rthstewart) wrote2020-07-12 03:23 pm
rthstewart) wrote2020-07-12 03:23 pm
Entry tags:
Dear Author for AU Exchange
Thanks so much AU PINCH HITTER author! I hope you have fun with the assignment [DESPITE THE CRUSHING DEADLINE] and that it doesn't cause you stress. (BUT OF COURSE IT WILL CAUSE YOU STRESS]
This sign up was the most complicated thing I've ever done and I got it wrong in a few places with prompts I didn't mean to include and ones that I omitted by accident. Woops. So, if you have a question or feel too limited, please drop me an anon comment and I'll try to give you some ideas and clarifications.
Edit to add: to be clear, in any of the fandoms I've identified below, I'd be happy with almost anything so long as it's not on the DNW. I LOVE AUs, fusions, and xovers with an ending that is happier than the one we got in canon so whatever idea you have will be great. If you believe it, I will too. Put two of any of my favorite ladies in a yoga class or bar fight or anger management, and I'm good. Dump them in another 'verse? I'm here for it. Everybody lives, nobody dies? Excellent.
Despite the character-centric match up, the fact is, I’m pretty agnostic as to particular characters and I find the matching limitations very stressful as I don't primarily think of my fan fic in terms of pairings. Whatever we've been matched on, don't worry because I like just about anything and what I don't like has to do with tone and characterization, not particular characters. If you see something you'd prefer to try instead, go for it.
My likes and dislikes don't change much from exchange to exchange or year after year. My 2018 crossovering letter and my 2018-2019 Narnia Fic Exchange gave some additional insights.
So, generally, what I love:
Notes on Crossovers and Fusions: Among the fandoms that I like: Narnia, Star Wars (though I bailed on the NJO books and never picked them up again and I love love love the original Thrawn trilogy and especially Mara Jade), Doctor Who, the Expanse (book and novels), Wonder Woman movie, Elementary, Temeraire, Bujold's Chalion and Vorkosigan, Old Guard, Leverage, Buffy, Firefly, Warrior Nun, Person of Interest, Warehouse 13, Librarians, LOTR, Pern, Prydain, Pacific Rim, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Pride and Prejudice in all its interpretations; a lot of (but not all) of the MCU (i.e., Captain America, Thor, Peggy Carter, Black Panther, Avengers (I'm very meh on Iron Man and Tony). Feel free to mix and match. And if the story is otherwise compelling, I'll read anything. I went down a rabbit hole last night for a Harry Potter/Assasin's Creed xover and I have no idea what AC even is.
A few more details on my requests:
Narnia
See my Narnia exchange letter from 2018 and 2019. I love the idea of Susan's horn pulling someone in from another verse. I'm not crazy about the Telmarine Age of Conquest and anything that is Jadis-centric. Otherwise, I'm good with just about anything. If you know my work and want to spin something from it, that's great too! I'm definitely up for AUs where Everyone Stays/Nobody Leaves or Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies. I had a lot of problems with the character matching here. It didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me, so to be clear, any character from the Narnia chronicles is good, or OCs except maybe the Telmarines like Miraz and Jadis.
MCU
Wow, it's such a huge 'verse. Feel free to cross over or fuse with anything in the above or that's in my prompts. I especially LOVED Thor Ragnaork and Black Panther's takes on immigration and colonialism. I love the women of the MCU kicking asses, taking names and working together. I'd love to see something where characters we love don't die or are brought back by their friends and family. You could add: dragons; (more) magic; dinosaurs; Hogwarts; Jaegers and Kaiju; the One Ring; a journey to the underworld; Susan's horn. The character matching is always so weird, but I love Gamorra, Nebula, Steve, Peggy, Rocket, Thor, Loki, Frigga, Jane, Darcy, Maria, Nat, Pepper, Bruce, Clint, Valkyrie, Shuri, Nakia, Okoye, Ramonda, and Wanda. Anything with one or more of them would be great.
Crossovers
You can see what my crossovering requests were from 2018 with a prominent request for punching Nazis. I feel that more than ever. Most of the offered characters were in pairings but I would love anything with any of the characters (alone or together) identified or any of the fandoms I've identified in the prompt or above -- basically any Star Wars meets other Star Wars meets Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings meets Narnia meets MCU characters meets Sansa or Arya Stark or Daenerys or Brienne meets Diana meets Elizabeth Swan. I admit to a secret yearning for Peter Pevensie/Sansa Stark. I'd love to see Leia Organa in anything (I'd meant to include her in an xover with Rogue One and didn't -- woops). Obi-Wan and the Rogue One group. Cara Dune and anybody. Same as above with one character traveling to bring another one back from the dead. Forming a secret resistance. Weapons practice. Someone gets summoned into Narnia. Someone runs into the Order of the Phoenix or thwarts Deatheaters. Draw a couple of names, find something you want to write, and I'll love it.
Or, you know, just have two characters join forces to punch Nazis or their in-universe equivalent (colonizers, Empire, etc.)
Edit to add, optional is optional and completely post-sign up but I've fallen in love with Padme again and if you want to pair her with Obi-Wan or do something where she doesn't die, that would great.
Harry Potter
Wow, I've never asked for HP before.... I'm totally ready for fix-it fic, portals, spies, everybody lives, journeys to the underworld to bring back people back, secret resistance, and the aforementioned cross-overs and fusions and any of the tags I included. I don't know HP fic all that well but I know I'm not interested in Snape or Malfoy and I like a lot of the improvements fanon has made over the years (e.g., Harry is from Southeast Asia).
Optional is optional but: In the intervening years, I'm one of those who has been dissatisfied with things in HP: the simplistic representations of the Slytherins as all evil; the representation of motherhood in Lily and Molly; the whitewashing and poor representation; the transphobia, the happy enslaved house elves, and basically my belief at the end of the books that the Wizarding World was so racist, it needed to burned to the ground and rebuilt. So, if you feel that way and want to do something about it, I'm an eager audience.
This sign up was the most complicated thing I've ever done and I got it wrong in a few places with prompts I didn't mean to include and ones that I omitted by accident. Woops. So, if you have a question or feel too limited, please drop me an anon comment and I'll try to give you some ideas and clarifications.
Edit to add: to be clear, in any of the fandoms I've identified below, I'd be happy with almost anything so long as it's not on the DNW. I LOVE AUs, fusions, and xovers with an ending that is happier than the one we got in canon so whatever idea you have will be great. If you believe it, I will too. Put two of any of my favorite ladies in a yoga class or bar fight or anger management, and I'm good. Dump them in another 'verse? I'm here for it. Everybody lives, nobody dies? Excellent.
Despite the character-centric match up, the fact is, I’m pretty agnostic as to particular characters and I find the matching limitations very stressful as I don't primarily think of my fan fic in terms of pairings. Whatever we've been matched on, don't worry because I like just about anything and what I don't like has to do with tone and characterization, not particular characters. If you see something you'd prefer to try instead, go for it.
My likes and dislikes don't change much from exchange to exchange or year after year. My 2018 crossovering letter and my 2018-2019 Narnia Fic Exchange gave some additional insights.
So, generally, what I love:
- Really I LOVE AU, canon divergence, xovers, and fusions.
- UST; witty banter and snark; Politics, finance or military strategy; espionage, World War 2; Worldbuilding; Gap-filling; Culture clash healthy, romantic relationship between exuberantly consenting adults (canon pairing or OC); someone being extraordinarily clever and getting out of a jam; any canon character being observed from a third person point of view where you know more than the 3rd person pov; anything sly, wry, and silly; rapid fire dialogue; a delightful sense of the absurd
- I don't mind character-driven rather than plotty fic, though plot is great too!
- A happy ending, delightful characterization, and to laugh at least once
- I prefer humor over angst and sex over violence.
- Ladies being good at what they do, whatever that is.
- In terms of ships, I'm good with just about anything or none at all. If you get shippy, I generally prefer m/f, f/f and poly. if you go m/m, please see DNW below.
- Feel free to introduce OCs, BIPOC, and characters that are non-binary, not gender conforming, neuro-atypical, and not human, etc. Go ahead and race and gender bend.
- And hey, it's not for everybody but if you want to include recent events (American mess of politics, Brexit, COVID), that's fine too.
Notes on Crossovers and Fusions: Among the fandoms that I like: Narnia, Star Wars (though I bailed on the NJO books and never picked them up again and I love love love the original Thrawn trilogy and especially Mara Jade), Doctor Who, the Expanse (book and novels), Wonder Woman movie, Elementary, Temeraire, Bujold's Chalion and Vorkosigan, Old Guard, Leverage, Buffy, Firefly, Warrior Nun, Person of Interest, Warehouse 13, Librarians, LOTR, Pern, Prydain, Pacific Rim, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Pride and Prejudice in all its interpretations; a lot of (but not all) of the MCU (i.e., Captain America, Thor, Peggy Carter, Black Panther, Avengers (I'm very meh on Iron Man and Tony). Feel free to mix and match. And if the story is otherwise compelling, I'll read anything. I went down a rabbit hole last night for a Harry Potter/Assasin's Creed xover and I have no idea what AC even is.
A few more details on my requests:
Narnia
See my Narnia exchange letter from 2018 and 2019. I love the idea of Susan's horn pulling someone in from another verse. I'm not crazy about the Telmarine Age of Conquest and anything that is Jadis-centric. Otherwise, I'm good with just about anything. If you know my work and want to spin something from it, that's great too! I'm definitely up for AUs where Everyone Stays/Nobody Leaves or Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies. I had a lot of problems with the character matching here. It didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me, so to be clear, any character from the Narnia chronicles is good, or OCs except maybe the Telmarines like Miraz and Jadis.
MCU
Wow, it's such a huge 'verse. Feel free to cross over or fuse with anything in the above or that's in my prompts. I especially LOVED Thor Ragnaork and Black Panther's takes on immigration and colonialism. I love the women of the MCU kicking asses, taking names and working together. I'd love to see something where characters we love don't die or are brought back by their friends and family. You could add: dragons; (more) magic; dinosaurs; Hogwarts; Jaegers and Kaiju; the One Ring; a journey to the underworld; Susan's horn. The character matching is always so weird, but I love Gamorra, Nebula, Steve, Peggy, Rocket, Thor, Loki, Frigga, Jane, Darcy, Maria, Nat, Pepper, Bruce, Clint, Valkyrie, Shuri, Nakia, Okoye, Ramonda, and Wanda. Anything with one or more of them would be great.
Crossovers
You can see what my crossovering requests were from 2018 with a prominent request for punching Nazis. I feel that more than ever. Most of the offered characters were in pairings but I would love anything with any of the characters (alone or together) identified or any of the fandoms I've identified in the prompt or above -- basically any Star Wars meets other Star Wars meets Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings meets Narnia meets MCU characters meets Sansa or Arya Stark or Daenerys or Brienne meets Diana meets Elizabeth Swan. I admit to a secret yearning for Peter Pevensie/Sansa Stark. I'd love to see Leia Organa in anything (I'd meant to include her in an xover with Rogue One and didn't -- woops). Obi-Wan and the Rogue One group. Cara Dune and anybody. Same as above with one character traveling to bring another one back from the dead. Forming a secret resistance. Weapons practice. Someone gets summoned into Narnia. Someone runs into the Order of the Phoenix or thwarts Deatheaters. Draw a couple of names, find something you want to write, and I'll love it.
Or, you know, just have two characters join forces to punch Nazis or their in-universe equivalent (colonizers, Empire, etc.)
Edit to add, optional is optional and completely post-sign up but I've fallen in love with Padme again and if you want to pair her with Obi-Wan or do something where she doesn't die, that would great.
Harry Potter
Wow, I've never asked for HP before.... I'm totally ready for fix-it fic, portals, spies, everybody lives, journeys to the underworld to bring back people back, secret resistance, and the aforementioned cross-overs and fusions and any of the tags I included. I don't know HP fic all that well but I know I'm not interested in Snape or Malfoy and I like a lot of the improvements fanon has made over the years (e.g., Harry is from Southeast Asia).
Optional is optional but: In the intervening years, I'm one of those who has been dissatisfied with things in HP: the simplistic representations of the Slytherins as all evil; the representation of motherhood in Lily and Molly; the whitewashing and poor representation; the transphobia, the happy enslaved house elves, and basically my belief at the end of the books that the Wizarding World was so racist, it needed to burned to the ground and rebuilt. So, if you feel that way and want to do something about it, I'm an eager audience.