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Dear Author (Yuletide 2021)
Oct. 17th, 2021 10:07 pmDear Author:
Thanks for checking out my letter! I've included some general notes about my preferences up front, some detailed prompts and thoughts about each of my requested fandoms, and then a big list of "Things I Generally Like in Fic" at the very end. Please note that I'm a regular participant in fanfic exchanges and so I had a lot of this already written up - don't feel you have to read every word or stick closely to the prompts given if you're inspired differently! I am generally very easy to please.
Overall, I am open to fic of any rating, and including any AO3 Archive Warning if appropriate to the story. When prompting for romantic pairings or shippy content I'm happy to receive (but in no way require) sexual content.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Edith Grayston & Sherlock Holmes
I received a wonderful gift for this fandom last year focusing on Enola and Sherlock's complicated familial relationship, so I thought I'd prompt for a different sort of relationship this year. I quite loved the brief scene between Edith and Sherlock in canon; Edith reads Sherlock so easily and thoroughly and is so utterly done with his nonsense from the first moment of their interaction. He, in turn, makes a half-hearted attempt at making a veiled threat but mostly looks totally chagrinned from Edith's first words back because she's summed him up accurately and the total wasn't all that impressive. It's rather as if they had a brief round of verbal sparring over a tea set and Edith left Sherlock metaphorically flat on his back on the mat.
I am very curious about the ways in which they might connect again either through Enola or Eudoria. Enola seems ready to set herself up independently in London and do her own thing, while Eudora seems ready, now that her youngest fledgling has left the nest, to devote herself entirely to the cause of women's suffrage. Edith seems a likely contact for Enola in the future, as well as a possible co-conspirator with Eudoria. Sherlock, on the other hand, seems amused by Enola's antics and possibly perturbed by whatever political activism Eudoria might be contemplating. I could see Edith and Sherlock teaming up to assist either Enola or Eudoria, to try to find them after something goes wrong, or even for Edith to work against Sherlock to keep him from interfering in Enola or Eudoria's work.
I'm amused by the idea of Sherlock deciding to regularly stop into the tea shop on increasingly transparent pretenses, ostensibly to learn more about Edith and her connection to his mother and sister, but increasingly because he's so intrigued by Edith herself.
I do ship them, primarily in a "she tells him off, he's unexpectedly charmed by the accuracy of her verbal barbs" sort of way, where they might challenge and annoy (and turn on) one another in the future.
Likes for this fandom and characters: Banter, case fic, winning each other over the hard way, grudgingly teaming up, sparring (verbally or physically), disguise/undercover work, chance meetings/meetings in unexpected circumstances,
DNW: Incest, death or harm to young (under 13) children (Enola and/or Tewky getting into trouble or peril is good, though!)
Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Sarah Alder & Worldbuilding
Note for this fandom: Please feel free to treat this as Sarah Alder OR Worldbuilding if you wish - Alder can feature very minimally in the fic, and anything you might write about Alder is very likely to include Worldbuildling content I'd be interested to see.
I am obsessed with the setting of this fandom and the richness of the alternate history and alternate universe that it sets up, and about which we know so frustratingly little. ANYTHING you want to tell me about your ideas for this world would be like water on parched soil for me. A few ideas, but do not limit yourself:
New World (Video Game)
Worldbuilding
This is my wildcard of a prompt, and will be pretty vague - this game is weird. It's an incredibly well-designed MMO from a gameplay standpoint - they've made missteps, but the gameplay overall is well-balanced and engaging. But the lore, to be frank, is a nonsensical mess. You expect me to believe that this is taking place in the 17th century in the REAL WORLD and there are castaways and sailors and pirates from Europe, Africa and Asia have washed up on this creepy magical island and EVERYONE has just ignored all political and cultural difference and teamed up without a blink?
Look, I understand why the game doesn't touch the politics of the setting with a ten-foot pole: by it's nature the game is already disturbingly framed as a colonialism narrative because they erased Native American references from the game as a "solution" to the Unfortunate Implications, which honestly just kind of made it worse. Apparently the game developers wanted this to be "the world stumbles upon the legend of Atlantis and puts aside conflict to survive the bigger threat" but kept faceplanting into the fact that Age of Sail/Age of Exploration narratives can't be divorced from racism and colonialism very easily. But it doesn't make sense.
That said: Tell me any kind of story you like about this world and how it became a terrifying magical cesspit of demons and undead. Go weird. Go meta. Go critical. Whatever floats your boat! (And sends it hurtling into a jagged shoreline of a weird magical island.)
DNW: death or harm to young (under 13) children
Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale)
Little Red Riding Hood
As a huge fan of wolves and werewolves in mythology, I love this fairy tale to no end. I am interested in any kind of retelling, angle, prequel or sequel of the tale (and feel free to use versions other than Grimm as your inspiration if you wish) and a focus on Red herself.
I'm a huge fan of anything where Red is just as Big and Bad as the wolf in her own way (or maybe even the same way). The Wolf may be an ally or enemy, same for the Woodcutter, but I'm interested in any kind of fic or art where Red is mostly standing on her own two (or four) feet, and the tale isn't quite the way it's usually told. Lighthearted or dark, comic or totally serious, whatever seems interesting, go for it!
I like any kind of play with the metaphors of Red, well, wearing Red, or going on a dangerous journey alone, or what the battling Woodcutter and Wolf represent, or speculation about why Red's visiting her grandmother in the first place, or what makes her such an appealing target of the wolf.
DNW: Incest, death or harm to young (under 13) children
The Wicker Man (1973)
Lord Summerisle
General Likes and Preferences
Setting tropes and AU premises I love
The thing I really like the most about h/c and whump is the intimacy of it all. The caring for another person in h/c, and/or the traumatic headspace/emotional rollercoaster of pain and angst the whumped character goes through are absolutely my personal catnip.
Sex tropes I love
Thanks for checking out my letter! I've included some general notes about my preferences up front, some detailed prompts and thoughts about each of my requested fandoms, and then a big list of "Things I Generally Like in Fic" at the very end. Please note that I'm a regular participant in fanfic exchanges and so I had a lot of this already written up - don't feel you have to read every word or stick closely to the prompts given if you're inspired differently! I am generally very easy to please.
Overall, I am open to fic of any rating, and including any AO3 Archive Warning if appropriate to the story. When prompting for romantic pairings or shippy content I'm happy to receive (but in no way require) sexual content.
Enola Holmes (2020) | Motherland:Fort Salem (TV) | New World (Video Game) | Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale) |The Wicker Man (1973) | General Likes and Preferences
Enola Holmes (2020)
Edith Grayston & Sherlock Holmes
I received a wonderful gift for this fandom last year focusing on Enola and Sherlock's complicated familial relationship, so I thought I'd prompt for a different sort of relationship this year. I quite loved the brief scene between Edith and Sherlock in canon; Edith reads Sherlock so easily and thoroughly and is so utterly done with his nonsense from the first moment of their interaction. He, in turn, makes a half-hearted attempt at making a veiled threat but mostly looks totally chagrinned from Edith's first words back because she's summed him up accurately and the total wasn't all that impressive. It's rather as if they had a brief round of verbal sparring over a tea set and Edith left Sherlock metaphorically flat on his back on the mat.
I am very curious about the ways in which they might connect again either through Enola or Eudoria. Enola seems ready to set herself up independently in London and do her own thing, while Eudora seems ready, now that her youngest fledgling has left the nest, to devote herself entirely to the cause of women's suffrage. Edith seems a likely contact for Enola in the future, as well as a possible co-conspirator with Eudoria. Sherlock, on the other hand, seems amused by Enola's antics and possibly perturbed by whatever political activism Eudoria might be contemplating. I could see Edith and Sherlock teaming up to assist either Enola or Eudoria, to try to find them after something goes wrong, or even for Edith to work against Sherlock to keep him from interfering in Enola or Eudoria's work.
I'm amused by the idea of Sherlock deciding to regularly stop into the tea shop on increasingly transparent pretenses, ostensibly to learn more about Edith and her connection to his mother and sister, but increasingly because he's so intrigued by Edith herself.
I do ship them, primarily in a "she tells him off, he's unexpectedly charmed by the accuracy of her verbal barbs" sort of way, where they might challenge and annoy (and turn on) one another in the future.
Likes for this fandom and characters: Banter, case fic, winning each other over the hard way, grudgingly teaming up, sparring (verbally or physically), disguise/undercover work, chance meetings/meetings in unexpected circumstances,
DNW: Incest, death or harm to young (under 13) children (Enola and/or Tewky getting into trouble or peril is good, though!)
Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Sarah Alder & Worldbuilding
Note for this fandom: Please feel free to treat this as Sarah Alder OR Worldbuilding if you wish - Alder can feature very minimally in the fic, and anything you might write about Alder is very likely to include Worldbuildling content I'd be interested to see.
I am obsessed with the setting of this fandom and the richness of the alternate history and alternate universe that it sets up, and about which we know so frustratingly little. ANYTHING you want to tell me about your ideas for this world would be like water on parched soil for me. A few ideas, but do not limit yourself:
I'm really curious about the Imperatrix and the whole witch "breeding program" - and how the heck she specifically (unlike every other witch we see) is not under Alder's authority. How did that happen? How has she lost track of so many witch lines? Is this cultural myopia or is something specifically sinister going on with her or her office? Are there similar programs in other countries? Relatedly, what are "Matrifocal Compounds" (like where Tally grew up) besides women-only spaces? The Imperatrix seemed very unimpressed by her background - was it just that her mother received a dispensation not to serve, or something else? Are non-military witches like Tally's mother leading Mother Goddess cults in California?
What's up with male witches? They seem capable of performing magic, albeit more low-powered than what women can do. We finally learn in S2 that the child of a male witch and a non-witch can never be a witch, while a female witch's children are always witches, which explains the firm hand placed on arranged marriages, but why don't male witches seem to be part of military units beyond something of an auxillary flirtaton force?
What's up with male witches? They seem capable of performing magic, albeit more low-powered than what women can do. We finally learn in S2 that the child of a male witch and a non-witch can never be a witch, while a female witch's children are always witches, which explains the firm hand placed on arranged marriages, but why don't male witches seem to be part of military units beyond something of an auxillary flirtaton force?
Interviews with the showrunners have suggested that Sarah Alder's first and closest companions after the Salem Accords were previously enslaved witches, and seemed to strongly imply that most of High Atlantic society descends from former slaves, which is pretty fascinating! What would that have meant for society, both army and civilian?
What does the rest of the world's witch population/agreements look like? The Salem Accords seem to be a US thing - what about the UK, Russia, India, and other nations we briefly see members of
What does the rest of the world's witch population/agreements look like? The Salem Accords seem to be a US thing - what about the UK, Russia, India, and other nations we briefly see members of
The Cession's existence is really interesting - what is it's relationship to the United States and to the Salem Accords? Are Native American/American Indian witches exempt from the Salem Accords? It seems to be something of a safe haven for witches who aren't entirely enthused about army life and a lot of Dodgers, but there are also many army veterans there, like Quinn. Non-Native people seem to live here, and obviously Raelle was still conscripted and Alder sent the army there a few times, but it does seem like there might be political considerations that mean that some "outsiders" are there and are at least tolerated, and possibly welcome.
For Alder herself, I'm very interested in any glimpse of her history - the actual Salem Accords, the early years of the military (perhaps with an early Bellweather ancestor at her right hand), any of the various conflicts throughout history, more about the Liberian conflict and "martyrdom" and what inspired Nicte Batan to create the Spree. I love her relationships with Petra, Anacostia, and Tally, if you'd like to explore any of them as colleagues, enemies, or lovers. I'd also be really interested to see any kind of further exploration of her connection to her Biddies, and how that magic (apparently from Native American witches) came to preserve her immortality. I love her complexity, and the sorts of factors that come into play besides the effective immortality to remain leader of what seems to be the most powerful military in the world.
DNW: death or harm to young (under 13) children
For Alder herself, I'm very interested in any glimpse of her history - the actual Salem Accords, the early years of the military (perhaps with an early Bellweather ancestor at her right hand), any of the various conflicts throughout history, more about the Liberian conflict and "martyrdom" and what inspired Nicte Batan to create the Spree. I love her relationships with Petra, Anacostia, and Tally, if you'd like to explore any of them as colleagues, enemies, or lovers. I'd also be really interested to see any kind of further exploration of her connection to her Biddies, and how that magic (apparently from Native American witches) came to preserve her immortality. I love her complexity, and the sorts of factors that come into play besides the effective immortality to remain leader of what seems to be the most powerful military in the world.
DNW: death or harm to young (under 13) children
New World (Video Game)
Worldbuilding
This is my wildcard of a prompt, and will be pretty vague - this game is weird. It's an incredibly well-designed MMO from a gameplay standpoint - they've made missteps, but the gameplay overall is well-balanced and engaging. But the lore, to be frank, is a nonsensical mess. You expect me to believe that this is taking place in the 17th century in the REAL WORLD and there are castaways and sailors and pirates from Europe, Africa and Asia have washed up on this creepy magical island and EVERYONE has just ignored all political and cultural difference and teamed up without a blink?
Look, I understand why the game doesn't touch the politics of the setting with a ten-foot pole: by it's nature the game is already disturbingly framed as a colonialism narrative because they erased Native American references from the game as a "solution" to the Unfortunate Implications, which honestly just kind of made it worse. Apparently the game developers wanted this to be "the world stumbles upon the legend of Atlantis and puts aside conflict to survive the bigger threat" but kept faceplanting into the fact that Age of Sail/Age of Exploration narratives can't be divorced from racism and colonialism very easily. But it doesn't make sense.
That said: Tell me any kind of story you like about this world and how it became a terrifying magical cesspit of demons and undead. Go weird. Go meta. Go critical. Whatever floats your boat! (And sends it hurtling into a jagged shoreline of a weird magical island.)
DNW: death or harm to young (under 13) children
Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale)
Little Red Riding Hood
As a huge fan of wolves and werewolves in mythology, I love this fairy tale to no end. I am interested in any kind of retelling, angle, prequel or sequel of the tale (and feel free to use versions other than Grimm as your inspiration if you wish) and a focus on Red herself.
I'm a huge fan of anything where Red is just as Big and Bad as the wolf in her own way (or maybe even the same way). The Wolf may be an ally or enemy, same for the Woodcutter, but I'm interested in any kind of fic or art where Red is mostly standing on her own two (or four) feet, and the tale isn't quite the way it's usually told. Lighthearted or dark, comic or totally serious, whatever seems interesting, go for it!
I like any kind of play with the metaphors of Red, well, wearing Red, or going on a dangerous journey alone, or what the battling Woodcutter and Wolf represent, or speculation about why Red's visiting her grandmother in the first place, or what makes her such an appealing target of the wolf.
DNW: Incest, death or harm to young (under 13) children
The Wicker Man (1973)
Lord Summerisle
This movie is chilling and strange and engaging and not a little terrifying, and I have been in love since the first time I saw it years ago. I am fascinated by the character of Lord Summerisle--his easy confidence and powerful charm--and would be happy to receive any fic that focuses on him as a character. Despite him having quite considerable monologue opportunities in the film to lay out the whole of his belief and viewpoint to Sergeant Howie, I still feel like he's a bit of a mystery.
- What would happen if, as the Fool warned, in a future year the crops fail once more and only a lordly sacrifice will do? How would it happen? How would he feel about it? Is he as ready for that to happen as he says he is?
- Something exploring Summerisle's youth or how he became a figure imbued with authority and trusted in his role as both ruling lord and High Priest would be interesting, too.
- What's his relationship with Miss Rose like? Obviously they are High Priest and High Priestess and there are symbolic roles they both fulfill, but they seem to have a very intimate and loving relationship beyond that as well.
- Alternately, his relationship with other members of the community such as Willow MacGreagor or the young man he "introduces" to her (how did he come to honor Willow as an embodiment of Aphrodite?), or perhaps how he came to choose Rowan Morrison to serve in her particular role would be interesting ideas to explore.
- I would also love to see an expansion on his interaction with Sergeant Howie - what if they'd had more time to talk during Howie's escalating investigation? What if Summerisle, recognizing that Willow would not be a proper temptation for the Fool to resist, had attempted to seduce Howie himself? Every time I watch the movie I half wonder if Summerisle sized Howie up and thought he would be too tempting and too likely to succeed if he made a move on the man, and they really needed the sacrifice...
General Likes and Preferences
Setting tropes and AU premises I love
- canon divergence/"what if" AUs - I love butterfly effect, "change one thing" AUs especially!
- soulmates and soul bonds - and soulmate subversion, and soulmates played dark or strange - feel free to play it straight but I also love characters choosing someone(s) other than a soulmate, or the notion of soulmates being as much trouble as they are a joy. The worldbuilding would be wild in a world where soulmates are A Thing - I love exploring the effects of that, and the ambiguous bits of such an AU.
- battle couples/trios - ties neatly into competency kink and loyalty kink sexual likes, but non-sexual love and romance among folks who fight together is A+ also
- magical aus (give non-magical characters/canons magic - telepathy, mind magic, arcane magic, spellcasting. Though many of the canons I tend to like have magic of some kind, feel free to go on a worldbuilding dive into what any of my non-magical canon requests might look like if magic was real.)
- alternate magical system AUs (keep the canon magic, but make it different somehow)
- fairy tale AUs
- daemon AUs (or any other "sentient animal companion" magic settings - Valdemar's Companions, Chronicles of the Cheysuli's lir, the "Animalled" of Beukes' Zoo City, witch familiars, etc)
- time loops/Groundhog Day premise (via magic or weird science or no explanation whatsoever)
- undercover antics and/or identity porn - undercover fake married, partners or lovers undercover as enemies, or characters having overlapping complex arrangements of fake identities are all good
- future fic and "next gen" fic (about children of canonical characters as older teens or adults)
- ghosts, communicating with the dead (via magic or weird science)
- enemies to lovers
- werewolves and other were-creatures/animal shapeshifters - tying into magical AUs, I like "everyone's a werewolf" or some kind of magical critter AUs, or just one particular character being "other". Mixing and matching - werewolf and vampire, or werewolf and magical creature hunter, for example, is also a lot of fun.
- sharing a bed (sexual, romantic, or platonic) - enforced intimacy!
- huddling for warmth - more enforced intimacy!
- trapped in a cabin in a blizzard - are you seeing the trend about enforced intimacy?!
- Hurt/Comfort - see the whole section on this trope below
The thing I really like the most about h/c and whump is the intimacy of it all. The caring for another person in h/c, and/or the traumatic headspace/emotional rollercoaster of pain and angst the whumped character goes through are absolutely my personal catnip.
Hurt and Whump Preferences:
- torture - I'm generally interested in the emotions and sensory elements more than the gore here. Exhaustion, pain, lingering emotional/mental trauma and mild-to-moderate long-term physical effects are my preferences. I'm less interested in super-severe injury, amputation, or mindbreak-levels of torture.
- sleep deprivation/exhaustion
- noble self-sacrifice - risking harm or death (by performing a noble last stand, or being a distraction, or playing the honeypot, or offering yourself up for torture/assault) to spare others punishment or to allow them to escape
- drugging
- hallucinations
- forced to watch others being hurt
Comfort Preferences:
- hair touching/running fingers through hair
- helping others with personal care - hair washing, shaving, injury tending
- small acts of intimacy/care - preparing food, standing guard while the hurt one sleeps, sharpening the hurt one's edged weapons or cleaning their guns
- sex (with some consideration for the seriousness of the hurt, but I do not expect medical accuracy)
Sex tropes I love
- dubcon - specifically in situations when both/all parties are consenting under duress due to outside forces, such as "sex pollen", "bad guys made them do it", or character(s) consenting to spare another character from having to do so. I like all kinds of outcomes from this plot - the somewhat positive outcomes of admitting hidden feelings or strengthening a relationship after such a difficult experience; a more tragic or negative outcome such as the end of a relationship/partnership, or tragedy; or something ambiguously between the two - I'm happy with any direction unless otherwise requested in my DNWs for a particular fandom/character/ship.
- bondage - particularly of stoic or restrained characters getting tied up and absolutely wrecked
- first time sex - both first time sex ever or first time performing a particular sex act for a character if there's a reasonable characterization of said character as inexperienced, and also first time sex with a particular partner
- sex magic
- pegging (both f/m and f/f)
- praise kink - particularly of stoic and/or damaged characters unused to and undone by praise
- casual physical intimacy between partners - falling asleep on partner's shoulder, cuddling, spooning, etc., especially of characters not used to casual physical intimacy becoming comfortable with it - this could include both characters who have lots of casual sex but not much casual cuddling, or characters who are touch starved or anything in between
- begging during sex ("please!")
- sex as an emotional outlet in the wake of tragedy or grief, such as friends grieving the loss of a mutual friend or loved one or getting over a shared bad experience
- Dominance/submission (though I prefer it NOT be formalized BDSM, such as negotiating safewords and "Master/sir" address, etc. Also, if it's f/m I generally prefer the female character be dominant unless otherwise requested. For my various gender composition OT3+ ships I either don't care or will specify in the prompts.)
- sex between platonic friends
- competence kink
- threesomes
- loyalty kink
- oral sex and fingering/handjobs, both as a precursor to vaginal or anal sex, and as its own thing
