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Dear Author Letter
Hello there, mystery author!
Since you've been paired with me, that means we share an interest in at least one less-loved piece of media, and that makes you awesome in my book already. I expect to be delighted with any piece of writing about these series, but that doesn't mean some pointers on what I love and loathe in stories would be amiss.
Things I Love:
Good characterization, good pacing, good worldbuilding. Each of the series I picked for this exchange I love because I think either the characters or the world are especially vivid, interesting, and just well-done overall. I love examinations of friendship and the ways people depend on each other. I love competition and rivalry in relationships. I like seeing tropes inverted or played with in unexpected ways. I like touches of humor, in prose that's otherwise more sober.
Things I Loathe:
For these fandoms, I don't want anything really dark or tragic. Usually I really love AUs, but I would prefer stories that stay within the canon world, and I'd like for my story not to include subject matter heavier than the source material. While some of these sources (Hunterxhunter, Gattaca) will touch briefly on difficult topics, they aren't entirely weighted down by the tough issues, and I'd prefer my story not be, either.
I don't want PWP. I'm actually not that interested in receiving a story with sexual content even with plot in this exchange, but for several of my fandoms I am really interested in shipping fic. I just ask that if the characters do the do, it not be the central focus of the story. If there is sex, for these premises I don't want any noncon or dubcon. I would much prefer enthusiasic consent and communication and negotiation.
Twitch Plays Pokemon
Like I said in the prompt, I really, really want something set during the Red or Crystal playthrough, since I stopped watching after that. I'd prefer something in Red over Crystal, even, but at the same time I'd love something with AJ that includes Red.
The story that would make my day would be one that really digs deep into the mythology that formed around the game, with Lord Helix and Bird Jesus and all of the pseudo-religious mythos that got established. I'd love to see all of those details played straight. And while I don't want a super heavy story, I would be very down for something that examines Red or AJ's mental state and possible mental deterioration, and how Red or AJ appear to outsiders in their world.
I'd also love a rivalry story, because I love rivalries. There have been comics with Blue just marveling in discomfited fascination about how weird Red is being, so anything playing with Red and Blue or AJ and Silver would be super neat, as well as something between Red and AJ as rivals. Or even just Red and AJ bonding over shared experiences, or with their pokemon.
Basically, this is a canon where I'm in it for the worldbuilding more than the characters, but where I think the world opens up a lot of possibilities to play with the characters' mindsets and struggles in a more realistic way than watching the videogame itself allows for.
Gunnerkrigg Court
I love this comic to absolute pieces, and there are a lot of fanfics I could conceivably ask for. Regarding the prompt I gave, I know that Donald Donlan was not one of the characters available to be requested, so if he's not your cup of tea or you don't feel up to writing him, I totally understand.
If you do feel up to writing him, that Anja/Donald/James fic is the fic of my dreams. I love happy polyamory, so I'd love to see the tattoo scene written out in an OT3 way, or just any story about them negotiating a three person relationship. Since Anja and Donald marry and have Kat, was the three person thing something that ran its course? Or something that quietly continues to exist even in present day? How did Anja and Donald getting married affect James and how he relates to them as partners? There are so many ways this could go and I will take all of them.
The other thing I'd really like to see is Anthony Carver in his school days. From what little the comic shows, he seems to have a great deal of difficulty relating to his peers. I'm not really interested in an Anthony/Surma fic, since the comic itself serves those needs for me as far as I have them, but I'd really love to see Anthony+Donald or Anthony+James. If you're so inclined, I'll take either of those in a shippy way, but mostly I just want to see how the friendships work and how Donald and James deal with the more abrasive parts of Anthony Carver's personality.
I didn't mention it in my request, but if Jones is the requested character you'd rather write, I actually find her very fascinating as well! If character study is more your thing, I'd love to see a fic about the impact Jones has made on the world over the centuries. Is there some kind of hidden cult of Jones, or people who track traces of her a la X-Files tier conspiracy theorists? I'd like to have it explored!
Chihayafuru
This is one of those series where I'm all about the characters. I love every single one of them and I love how supportive they are of each other, and how driven they all are to succeed, if for different reasons and to different degrees/capacities.
The story I'd love to see the most would be a Taichi/Chihaya/Arata OT3 exploration. I'll even take romance as minimal or intense as you want to give, in exchange for a story that examines how each "bar" of the triangle relate to each other in contrast to how the other "bars" work. I particularly want to see it touched on how single-focused Chihaya becomes, and how Taichi and Arata would have to put in extra work to make a relationship with her work because Chihaya honestly takes more than she gives. Super bonus points for Taichi and Arata having to be each other's support as they support Chihaya, because she just gets so hyper-focused and sometimes forgets their needs.
Or, if you're not feeling writing Chihaya or would just rather focus on slash, I'd also really love a fic about Taichi and Arata. I want to see what they mean to each other and how they support each other, or them commiserating over how frustrating Chihaya is, or just friendship fic about them that isn't romantic at all. The series doesn't show them interacting with each other as much as it shows Chihaya+Taichi and Chihaya+Arata and I'd love fic to rectify that.
If you're not feeling either of those things, the third thing I'd love to pieces would be a Chihaya/Oe or Chihaya/Shinobu fic. I'd prefer romancey connotations, but gen is also great. I just find it really interesting what Oe gets out of Karuta, as someone who loves it for the poetry more than the competition, and would love to see that contrasted with Chihaya's bull-headed stubbornness. I think they would be really good for each other, with their contrasting personalities.
On the flipside, Shinobu is pretty much the exact same personality type as Chihaya, and that's why I'd really like to see them butting heads as rivals and feeding off of each other's competitive sides. They also both have their individual points of weirdness, and I'd love fic that touches on the ways in which they are both just strange, strange people.
HunterxHunter
The nominated characters made this easy for me. I don't care about the other three who were suggested, but Gon/Killua is my lifeblood in this fandom. I would vastly prefer if it were shippy, but considering they're about thirteen in canon, that should probably veer more towards the fluffy than the sexual.
I will state right now that I do not actually mind sexual content between them at thirteen, but that I am very picky about characterization being foregone for the sake of porn, and that I don't like a lot of the shota tropes that get projected onto them when they're portrayed sexually at that age. If that's really the story you want to tell, where their codependence includes sexual activity at thirteen, and you think you can do it with empathy and good characterization, by all means bring it on. But I'll pass on really textbook-shota tab-A-into-slot-B fic, if it's all the same.
I'd also like to point out that I am familiar with the original anime, the manga, and the reboot anime canon, but that at the present time I stopped reading the manga midway into the chimera ants arc, and am currently at the beginning of that arc in the new anime. I'd prefer canon compliant fic and mostly I'm happy with it set at any point after the hunter exam, but I'd prefer if whatever you write doesn't include plot details from the chimera ants arc and beyond, because I'm not sure I'll get current on the series by the time fics are revealed. Fic nebulously set during that time or later is totally cool! But a lack of direct spoilers would be super great.
That said, while my main goal is "shippy or at least really friendshippy and codependent fic about Gon and Killua and what they meant to each other and how much they've changed each other," I also really love Kurapika, Leorio, and Hisoka. I'd suggest some Gon/Hisoka ideas as well because that is something I ship, but since he wasn't a nominated character I'll just put out there that "I like it/him" and not pressure to have it written. If you'd like to go a more gen/friendshippy route and like writing Kurapika and Leorio, bring them in! (I also ship them together, if you'd like to write them as a side couple. I'm very down for that.)
Really, anything with Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, and/or Hisoka in any combination will make my day, if we're honest.
UPDATE: I successfully got current up through episode 131 of the 2011 anime, though I'm still not current on the manga. I'd still kind of prefer not to receive something with a focus on the chimera ant arc, though, because it's heartbreaking.
Tamora Pierce's Emelan Books
I feel like I'm really easy with this one. I want the four main characters the books started with being main-character-y with each other. Seems pretty simple!
I'd like anything that focuses on contrasts with their individual relationships. I'd like it set up as an OT4, but mostly what I'm interested in is seeing how each character supports the other three, and how, say, the way Briar supports Tris differs from the way Sandry supports Tris. If you're not interested in the full OT4, I'll also take implications of any ship between the four, but considering that it's pretty overtly canon that Daja is a lesbian, by now, I will state that I don't want Daja/Briar in isolation. Or: Daja-Tris-Briar, good, Daja-Briar, less good, I would rather not read it.
I'm not really looking for something porny or sexual, but more something "quiet." I'm cool with seeing any of the four deal with new magical struggles, but I particularly like seeing them use their gifts in more ordinary ways. I also love Lark/Rosethorn, if you want to throw them into your story somewhere.
Gattaca
Like I said with the request, this is a canon that I like for the world, more so than the characters. I also kind of threw it into my set on the off-chance we were matched for one of my other fandoms, only for you to end up not feeling that canon/request. Unlike my other choices, which consist of many episodes or books or chapters of a comic, this is a movie you can watch in two hours. I figure it's a good backup if you want to scratch your first plan and try something different.
Anyway, I really dig the world and would love to see the ramifications of genetic modifications explored in ways the movie didn't get into. But aside from that, this movie pings a lot of my atypical romance interest. If you're really jonesing to write sex, this is the one to do it with.
I really like couples with a disparity in power of some sort. Often I get that from differing social positions in terms of economic/social class, but this movie gives it to me through genetics. I also have a thing for fictional incest. So I'd really love a Vincent/Anton or Vincent/Eugene fic that really focuses on the disparity society sees between them (and y'know the incest taboo with Vincent/Anton) and the kind of strain that puts on whatever relationship they manage to build.
The canonical Vincent/Irene also plays into my thing for "disparity of worth" but if you're feeling handling Irene, I would tempt you to hand me Vincent/Irene/Eugene OT3 fic. Again, I really love poly, and Eugene really pings me as some flavor of queer, besides there being that scene where he's playing at "being himself" and demands a kiss from Irene. Just. Run anywhere with this. Unrequited love where Eugene is interested in Vincent, but Vincent only has eyes for Irene? Carefully negotiated poly where their respective perceptions of each other's genetics put interesting extra strain on things? The version where Vincent and Eugene were in a relationship, and he comes back from the mission only to find Eugene dead and how that messes up his relationship with Irene when he needs too much support from her? Or where they all three were in a relationship, and Irene dealing with Eugene's death without even Vincent around to comfort her?
The possibilities are endless. Just give me any relationships ravaged by the effects of genetics-based discrimination, that is all I ask.
Anyway, I know this is really huge and long and if you've read all of it, I'm very impressed! I kind of take for granted that my author will just read the fandom section or two for the fandom(s) they're familiar with, so I may have repeated myself. Mostly, I've tried to give lots of basic ideas and starting points that I think are really cool, while not limiting you too much as a writer and while also trying to mention anything with each fandom I really don't want to see. I appreciate you doing your best to avoid the things I don't like, but beyond that, go crazy and have fun writing about these series and characters that you and I both happen to enjoy!
Since you've been paired with me, that means we share an interest in at least one less-loved piece of media, and that makes you awesome in my book already. I expect to be delighted with any piece of writing about these series, but that doesn't mean some pointers on what I love and loathe in stories would be amiss.
Things I Love:
Good characterization, good pacing, good worldbuilding. Each of the series I picked for this exchange I love because I think either the characters or the world are especially vivid, interesting, and just well-done overall. I love examinations of friendship and the ways people depend on each other. I love competition and rivalry in relationships. I like seeing tropes inverted or played with in unexpected ways. I like touches of humor, in prose that's otherwise more sober.
Things I Loathe:
For these fandoms, I don't want anything really dark or tragic. Usually I really love AUs, but I would prefer stories that stay within the canon world, and I'd like for my story not to include subject matter heavier than the source material. While some of these sources (Hunterxhunter, Gattaca) will touch briefly on difficult topics, they aren't entirely weighted down by the tough issues, and I'd prefer my story not be, either.
I don't want PWP. I'm actually not that interested in receiving a story with sexual content even with plot in this exchange, but for several of my fandoms I am really interested in shipping fic. I just ask that if the characters do the do, it not be the central focus of the story. If there is sex, for these premises I don't want any noncon or dubcon. I would much prefer enthusiasic consent and communication and negotiation.
Twitch Plays Pokemon
Like I said in the prompt, I really, really want something set during the Red or Crystal playthrough, since I stopped watching after that. I'd prefer something in Red over Crystal, even, but at the same time I'd love something with AJ that includes Red.
The story that would make my day would be one that really digs deep into the mythology that formed around the game, with Lord Helix and Bird Jesus and all of the pseudo-religious mythos that got established. I'd love to see all of those details played straight. And while I don't want a super heavy story, I would be very down for something that examines Red or AJ's mental state and possible mental deterioration, and how Red or AJ appear to outsiders in their world.
I'd also love a rivalry story, because I love rivalries. There have been comics with Blue just marveling in discomfited fascination about how weird Red is being, so anything playing with Red and Blue or AJ and Silver would be super neat, as well as something between Red and AJ as rivals. Or even just Red and AJ bonding over shared experiences, or with their pokemon.
Basically, this is a canon where I'm in it for the worldbuilding more than the characters, but where I think the world opens up a lot of possibilities to play with the characters' mindsets and struggles in a more realistic way than watching the videogame itself allows for.
Gunnerkrigg Court
I love this comic to absolute pieces, and there are a lot of fanfics I could conceivably ask for. Regarding the prompt I gave, I know that Donald Donlan was not one of the characters available to be requested, so if he's not your cup of tea or you don't feel up to writing him, I totally understand.
If you do feel up to writing him, that Anja/Donald/James fic is the fic of my dreams. I love happy polyamory, so I'd love to see the tattoo scene written out in an OT3 way, or just any story about them negotiating a three person relationship. Since Anja and Donald marry and have Kat, was the three person thing something that ran its course? Or something that quietly continues to exist even in present day? How did Anja and Donald getting married affect James and how he relates to them as partners? There are so many ways this could go and I will take all of them.
The other thing I'd really like to see is Anthony Carver in his school days. From what little the comic shows, he seems to have a great deal of difficulty relating to his peers. I'm not really interested in an Anthony/Surma fic, since the comic itself serves those needs for me as far as I have them, but I'd really love to see Anthony+Donald or Anthony+James. If you're so inclined, I'll take either of those in a shippy way, but mostly I just want to see how the friendships work and how Donald and James deal with the more abrasive parts of Anthony Carver's personality.
I didn't mention it in my request, but if Jones is the requested character you'd rather write, I actually find her very fascinating as well! If character study is more your thing, I'd love to see a fic about the impact Jones has made on the world over the centuries. Is there some kind of hidden cult of Jones, or people who track traces of her a la X-Files tier conspiracy theorists? I'd like to have it explored!
Chihayafuru
This is one of those series where I'm all about the characters. I love every single one of them and I love how supportive they are of each other, and how driven they all are to succeed, if for different reasons and to different degrees/capacities.
The story I'd love to see the most would be a Taichi/Chihaya/Arata OT3 exploration. I'll even take romance as minimal or intense as you want to give, in exchange for a story that examines how each "bar" of the triangle relate to each other in contrast to how the other "bars" work. I particularly want to see it touched on how single-focused Chihaya becomes, and how Taichi and Arata would have to put in extra work to make a relationship with her work because Chihaya honestly takes more than she gives. Super bonus points for Taichi and Arata having to be each other's support as they support Chihaya, because she just gets so hyper-focused and sometimes forgets their needs.
Or, if you're not feeling writing Chihaya or would just rather focus on slash, I'd also really love a fic about Taichi and Arata. I want to see what they mean to each other and how they support each other, or them commiserating over how frustrating Chihaya is, or just friendship fic about them that isn't romantic at all. The series doesn't show them interacting with each other as much as it shows Chihaya+Taichi and Chihaya+Arata and I'd love fic to rectify that.
If you're not feeling either of those things, the third thing I'd love to pieces would be a Chihaya/Oe or Chihaya/Shinobu fic. I'd prefer romancey connotations, but gen is also great. I just find it really interesting what Oe gets out of Karuta, as someone who loves it for the poetry more than the competition, and would love to see that contrasted with Chihaya's bull-headed stubbornness. I think they would be really good for each other, with their contrasting personalities.
On the flipside, Shinobu is pretty much the exact same personality type as Chihaya, and that's why I'd really like to see them butting heads as rivals and feeding off of each other's competitive sides. They also both have their individual points of weirdness, and I'd love fic that touches on the ways in which they are both just strange, strange people.
HunterxHunter
The nominated characters made this easy for me. I don't care about the other three who were suggested, but Gon/Killua is my lifeblood in this fandom. I would vastly prefer if it were shippy, but considering they're about thirteen in canon, that should probably veer more towards the fluffy than the sexual.
I will state right now that I do not actually mind sexual content between them at thirteen, but that I am very picky about characterization being foregone for the sake of porn, and that I don't like a lot of the shota tropes that get projected onto them when they're portrayed sexually at that age. If that's really the story you want to tell, where their codependence includes sexual activity at thirteen, and you think you can do it with empathy and good characterization, by all means bring it on. But I'll pass on really textbook-shota tab-A-into-slot-B fic, if it's all the same.
I'd also like to point out that I am familiar with the original anime, the manga, and the reboot anime canon, but that at the present time I stopped reading the manga midway into the chimera ants arc, and am currently at the beginning of that arc in the new anime. I'd prefer canon compliant fic and mostly I'm happy with it set at any point after the hunter exam, but I'd prefer if whatever you write doesn't include plot details from the chimera ants arc and beyond, because I'm not sure I'll get current on the series by the time fics are revealed. Fic nebulously set during that time or later is totally cool! But a lack of direct spoilers would be super great.
That said, while my main goal is "shippy or at least really friendshippy and codependent fic about Gon and Killua and what they meant to each other and how much they've changed each other," I also really love Kurapika, Leorio, and Hisoka. I'd suggest some Gon/Hisoka ideas as well because that is something I ship, but since he wasn't a nominated character I'll just put out there that "I like it/him" and not pressure to have it written. If you'd like to go a more gen/friendshippy route and like writing Kurapika and Leorio, bring them in! (I also ship them together, if you'd like to write them as a side couple. I'm very down for that.)
Really, anything with Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Leorio, and/or Hisoka in any combination will make my day, if we're honest.
UPDATE: I successfully got current up through episode 131 of the 2011 anime, though I'm still not current on the manga. I'd still kind of prefer not to receive something with a focus on the chimera ant arc, though, because it's heartbreaking.
Tamora Pierce's Emelan Books
I feel like I'm really easy with this one. I want the four main characters the books started with being main-character-y with each other. Seems pretty simple!
I'd like anything that focuses on contrasts with their individual relationships. I'd like it set up as an OT4, but mostly what I'm interested in is seeing how each character supports the other three, and how, say, the way Briar supports Tris differs from the way Sandry supports Tris. If you're not interested in the full OT4, I'll also take implications of any ship between the four, but considering that it's pretty overtly canon that Daja is a lesbian, by now, I will state that I don't want Daja/Briar in isolation. Or: Daja-Tris-Briar, good, Daja-Briar, less good, I would rather not read it.
I'm not really looking for something porny or sexual, but more something "quiet." I'm cool with seeing any of the four deal with new magical struggles, but I particularly like seeing them use their gifts in more ordinary ways. I also love Lark/Rosethorn, if you want to throw them into your story somewhere.
Gattaca
Like I said with the request, this is a canon that I like for the world, more so than the characters. I also kind of threw it into my set on the off-chance we were matched for one of my other fandoms, only for you to end up not feeling that canon/request. Unlike my other choices, which consist of many episodes or books or chapters of a comic, this is a movie you can watch in two hours. I figure it's a good backup if you want to scratch your first plan and try something different.
Anyway, I really dig the world and would love to see the ramifications of genetic modifications explored in ways the movie didn't get into. But aside from that, this movie pings a lot of my atypical romance interest. If you're really jonesing to write sex, this is the one to do it with.
I really like couples with a disparity in power of some sort. Often I get that from differing social positions in terms of economic/social class, but this movie gives it to me through genetics. I also have a thing for fictional incest. So I'd really love a Vincent/Anton or Vincent/Eugene fic that really focuses on the disparity society sees between them (and y'know the incest taboo with Vincent/Anton) and the kind of strain that puts on whatever relationship they manage to build.
The canonical Vincent/Irene also plays into my thing for "disparity of worth" but if you're feeling handling Irene, I would tempt you to hand me Vincent/Irene/Eugene OT3 fic. Again, I really love poly, and Eugene really pings me as some flavor of queer, besides there being that scene where he's playing at "being himself" and demands a kiss from Irene. Just. Run anywhere with this. Unrequited love where Eugene is interested in Vincent, but Vincent only has eyes for Irene? Carefully negotiated poly where their respective perceptions of each other's genetics put interesting extra strain on things? The version where Vincent and Eugene were in a relationship, and he comes back from the mission only to find Eugene dead and how that messes up his relationship with Irene when he needs too much support from her? Or where they all three were in a relationship, and Irene dealing with Eugene's death without even Vincent around to comfort her?
The possibilities are endless. Just give me any relationships ravaged by the effects of genetics-based discrimination, that is all I ask.
Anyway, I know this is really huge and long and if you've read all of it, I'm very impressed! I kind of take for granted that my author will just read the fandom section or two for the fandom(s) they're familiar with, so I may have repeated myself. Mostly, I've tried to give lots of basic ideas and starting points that I think are really cool, while not limiting you too much as a writer and while also trying to mention anything with each fandom I really don't want to see. I appreciate you doing your best to avoid the things I don't like, but beyond that, go crazy and have fun writing about these series and characters that you and I both happen to enjoy!