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acenancy · 3 years

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The Ace x Nancy x Tamura of It All

I’m here as a hardcore Nace shipper (see the URL) to throw my two cents into the Ace x Nancy x Tamura discussion.

Some of you straight up hate Tamura and that’s cool, I get it, no judgement, but I personally like him a lot as a character. And I LOVE the connection he and Nancy have. Their repartee is entertaining, they share a passion for solving mysteries which is key to being Nancy’s friend, and their very different life experiences help balance each other out.

You know, since one of them is grounded in reality and the other is navigating through life in a supernaturally charged hellmouth.

That being said, I hope they grow closer during S3 WITHOUT becoming explicitly romantic. And I think that may be exactly what happens! At most, I think that while solving magical mysteries, Nancy and Tamura will engage in a fun little flirtationship that will lead to genuine friendship. His partnership with Nancy would be solidified this way as well as his honorary membership to the Drew Crew. This could serve three purposes:

Forcing Tamura to accept the supernatural elements of Horseshoe Bay, thus weaving him more intricately into the plot.

Creating tension between Nancy and Ace 😏

Exploring and adding depth to whatever sort of relationship they’re trying to establish between Tamura and Ace.

I see all of this playing out fairly simply: while Nick and George are busy juggling real life and a wedding, while Bess devotes her time and energy into researching her family history and finding love, and while Ace prioritizes Amanda, Nancy finds herself without proper backup. So! Perhaps unintentionally, Nancy gravitates to Tamura. There's crimes and mysteries to be solved and since her friends are not fully available to her, who better to turn to than the guy who’s job it is to investigate these things? And so begins the Nancy and Tamura buddy cop comedy that is both dreaded and highly anticipated depending on what social media outlet you’re using.

Though let me repeat: BUDDY COP.

I really don’t think we’re going to have an Ed and Lorraine Warren situation on our hands with these two. Truly, if the S2 finale is anything to go by, I think S3 will allow Nancy to grow into herself outside of a romantic or sexual relationship. She’s not running from herself and into someone else’s bed anymore. She’s embracing and learning to love herself. I’d even go so far as to say Nancy’s love interest next season will be...Nancy lmao.

As for Tamura, if they decide to give him a romantic interest, I think they would either have his ex-fiancée reenter the picture or maybe even do him dirty and stick him with Temperance for plot reasons. A doomed Tamura x Temperance romance would actually be fun to see, in my opinion, and would be a great way to open Tamura’s eyes to the supernatural. That’s just me spit-balling, though. Whether it’s because of Temperance or not, I think Tamura is finally going to have to accept ghosts and witches and magic are real this season. It’s just a requirement for working with Nancy Drew.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, we have to address the Nace of it all. Sorry to Tamura but I do believe you’re being used as an obstacle in True Love’s way next season. I think fandom’s general consensus is that the more time Nancy and Tamura spend together, romantic or not, the more jealous Ace will become. While I agree, I think Ace’s jealousy will stem from somewhere a little deeper than just seeing Nancy with another guy.

Take Gil, for example. Ace was sort of jealous of Gil, but more than anything he was wary of him and concerned for Nancy’s wellbeing when she was with him. Unlike Ace, Gil never had anything to offer Nancy except for sex and a getaway car. He sure as hell was never her number one person. In fact, he wasn’t even Nancy’s number five person. There was never a reason for Ace to be envious of him.

Tamura, on the other hand, can prove to be just as much of an equal to Nancy as Ace is. As chief/lead detective, he also has power and influence that Ace and Nancy do not, and access to people and resources that Ace does not have (unless he can hack into them). Tamura can help Nancy bend and break the law without consequence if need be, too. And, although naive in regards to the mystics of Horseshoe Bay, he is just as smart as Nancy and has, on the rare occasion, even been one step ahead of her. Tamura is an asset, to say the least. Together, he and Nancy make a formidable duo.

That’s what will make Ace jealous. More than the prospect of romance between Nancy and Tamura, I think that Nancy finding another intellectual match is what will rub Ace the wrong way. They’ll find themselves at a brief moment in time where Nancy will turn to Tamura for assistance before anyone, including Ace, and Ace will realize he absolutely hates that someone who is not him is Nancy’s partner in crime now.

Maybe Nancy won’t notice, but Ace will probably realize his love for her is not of the philia sort. I’m sure Amanda also will. And? Maybe Tamura will see it too.

Which brings me to one of my favorite dynamics of the show: Ace and Tamura’s.

I’m not gonna sit here and spin my crazy conspiracy theory that they’re brothers. Though that idea will always hold a special place in my heart, slowly but surely I am accepting that Ace’s long lost brother really is Grant. I’m being a total grownup about it. I swear.

Nevertheless, I do think they’ve been trying to build some kind of relationship between Ace and Tamura since before Tamura even met Nancy. What sort of relationship? God, I wish I knew.

They meet each other first, which doesn’t necessarily mean a lot, but it’s worth noting that they’re on each other’s funny little shit lists before Nancy even enters Tamura’s picture. It’s also Ace and Ace alone that hears from McGuinness that Tamura will be replacing him in the same episode. Then, of course, we have that crazy Shabbat dinner in 2x03 that exacerbates their antagonistic relationship further. Then there’s their snarky banter and all of those totally unnecessary side-by-side shots of them saving Noah in 2x10. Apart from Nancy, Ace is the only member of the Drew Crew that we’ve seen Tamura develop a real connection with, even if it is an unfriendly one. And, as of now, their relationship doesn’t even have anything to do with Nancy.

So where are the writers going with this hilarious and hostile bond between Ace and Tamura? Has all of this really just been buildup for a romantic rivalry? Hey, maybe! I really can’t figure out another reason why the writers have gone out of their way to create their dynamic since the Brother Theory has been disproven. But something tells me this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

And when I say “this”, I mean Tamura taking a step back from Nancy once he realizes he may just be filling in the love of her life’s shoes. Because that’s where I think all of this is going. Not necessarily anywhere romantic between Nancy and Tamura, but somewhere more friendly between Tamura and everyone.

At the end of it all, Tamura is going to finally embrace the supernatural, he’s going to become an ally to Nancy, Ace, and the rest of the Drew Crew, and, when the timing is right, he’s going to hop onboard the Nace ship with the rest of us.

I HOPE.

Side note: this is just where my head is at. I truly respect all of your opinions and ask that you respect mine too. If you agree with what I’ve said and want to talk, let’s talk! If you disagree and want to talk, we can talk too! Please, just don’t get nasty with me. This is a television show about fictional characters at the end of the day, and I am a real person. Much love to you all. ❤️

#nancy drew cw #nace #namura #abe tamura

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 4 years

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Have you noticed the thing in fanfics of children's lit where the writer gives the protagonist new parent figures? The parent figures say things like "no child should have had to do x!". PF's don't prevent protagonist from doing heroism but might ground them for it after. Under their care, the protagonist is likely to get a job, often at the business of the PF. Seems less common for the Animorph (more in ATLA and Harry Potter), but if you have seen this, what's going on? Why do writers do this?

Why do writers do this?

Welcome to the fandom renaissance, Nonny! My best stab as to what’s going on here is that we’re seeing fewer and fewer shipping wars due to a whole range of forces from “the average age of fandom is increasing” to “there’s an ongoing post-monogamy societal shift.” BUT that there’s still a desire to see relationship-building fic go in the gaps where (for instance) Pro-Jacob Anti-Edward fic used to go. So instead of writing about Edward and Bella’s romance, people are writing about Edward and Carlisle’s mentorship, or Leah and Rosalie’s friendship.

What’s going on?

Again, a stab in the dark: it’s a really fun story premise, one that can get away from the way ships are sometimes fraught with baggage. Found Family is intensely cathartic, in the sense that it takes characters who are miserable and/or lonely in canon and allows them to build loving relationships with each other. It also (IMHO) reflects that trend among Millennial Whippersnappers to move away from nuclear definitions of “family” and toward embracing everything from polyamory to sexless romance to adult adoption.

Not only that, but it’s awesome in that it lets writers play so much with foils. Stranger Things obviously does this Up to Eleven (pun intended): Steve’s an arrogant jerk when he’s interacting with Nancy but a dorky sweetheart around Dustin, Hopper’s at his worst around Joyce but at his best around El, Billy’s evil to Max but might be redeemable around his mom, etcetera. This premise gives fan writers the chance to get wildly different characters into a room together — what if the Tonks family adopted Neville Longbottom? — and start playing out the fun potential.

Why Avatar and Harry Potter (but not Animorphs)?

In a word: FOILS. Both AtLA and Harry Potter are series filled with good, bad, and ugly mentors, and both series have contrasts between the good and the bad. For AtLA, it’s no accident that Zuko finally reuniting with his father in S3E1 is intercut with the scene of Katara finally reuniting with her father. Katara’s fam airs their grievances, talks things out, yells, cries, apologizes, forgives, hugs, and affirms their ongoing love. Zuko’s fam deals with having 500 times as much baggage by... Zuko kowtowing silently on the floor while Ozai talks about everything but their problems with each other. After that sequence, the desire to get Zuko into a room with Hakoda for some proper fathering is practically overwhelming, and many brilliant fan writers have obliged us by doing exactly that.

For Harry Potter, there’s no scene that’s as in-your-face with the contrast between healthy vs. unhealthy disagreement with one’s father, but there are still plenty of mentor foils. Sirius and Petunia are probably the clearest examples. Sirius is a raging mess who (on the surface) has nothing to offer Harry: he’s an ex-con with a drinking problem and untreated mental health issues who spends much of the series homeless. Petunia has her shit together and (on the surface) is the perfect guardian for Harry: she’s a wealthy full-time parent who lives in a large suburban house, and is both his closest surviving relative and his legal guardian. But of course all Harry needs from a parent is love and support, and Sirius offers that in spades while Petunia has none to spare. Again, the desire to rip Harry away from the Dursleys and ship him off to go be a Black is overwhelming, and many beautiful works of fan fiction have done exactly that.

Animorphs... doesn’t have mentor characters. Like, none. Elfangor dies, Toby does her own thing, Erek can’t be trusted, neither Ax nor Jake wants to mentor, and all adults are possible controllers. Eva’s the closest we get, but by the time she’s free, everyone (especially Eva) recognizes that the Animorphs are already more experienced than her. We don’t even see a dynamic like the Teen Titans show where the villains mentor the heroes — Jake and Marco might occasionally parallel Visser Three and Visser One, but they don’t learn from the vissers the way that Robin does from Slade or Raven does from Trigon. The kids just... find their own way. So while people have written fic where Elfangor or Eva or Mertil or Tom mentors the team, there’s not this in-your-face missed opportunity for the kids to get the parenting they deserve in Animorphs the way there is with Harry Potter and Avatar.

Have you noticed the thing?

Personally, I love this trend. I’m not much of a shipper — I’m not fond of “will they or won’t they” romantic premises, and actively dislike “they will because they’re soulmates” premises. My favorite Ship Dynamics are all platonic. Like, my faves include (but are not limited to):

Grubby Semi-Feral Mentee and Aloof Socially-Incompetent Mentor Bond with Alarming Speed Over Niche Magical Interest (see: Briar and Rosethorn in Circle of Magic, Boy 412 and Marcia in Septimus Heap, Jason and Bruce in Batman, Wart and Merlin in The Once and Future King)

Well-Intentioned Loving Parent Irretrievably Fucks Up Child, Copes with Fallout (see: John and Dean in Supernatural, Adam and Cal in East of Eden, Soichiro and Light in Death Note, Elaine and T.J. in Political Animals)

I’ve Only Known This Person With Extremely Specific Shared Trauma for 10 Minutes But If Anything Happened to Them I Would Kill Everyone (see: Toph and Zuko in AtLA, Luke and Annabeth in Demigod Diaries, Ax and Tobias in Animorphs, Spike and Angel in Angel, Parker and Eliot in Leverage, Johanna and Finnick in Catching Fire)

Saving the World Sucks But At Least My Ultra-Competent Siblings Are Suffering With Me (see: Edmund and Lucy in Chronicles of Narnia, Sam and Dean in Supernatural, the Hargreeveses in Umbrella Academy, the Crains in Haunting of Hill House)

Just Because I Tried to Kill You That One Time Doesn’t Mean I Won’t Help You Hide a Body, JFC We’re Still Family and I Don’t Know What You Take Me For (see: the Robins in Batman, Septimus and Simon in Septimus Heap, Kyle and Ian in The Host)

We Were the Weird Cousins At All the Family Reunions and We’ve Only Gotten Weirder Since (see: Kate and George in Story Time, Jake and Rachel in Animorphs, Po and Bitterblue in Graceling Realm)

#fan fiction #animorphs #animorphs meta #animorphs fic #animorphs fandom #fan meta #fandom #harry potter #avatar the last airbender #ship dynamics #found family #atla #Anonymous #ask #mentoring #i write sibs not romance

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soldouthaz · 4 years

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hey all! it’s nearly the end of the year now and it’s time to finish the list of my favorite 2020 fics! (you can find part i of this rec here !) I can’t thank these authors and anyone else who published things this year enough. it’s been many long months where a distraction was much needed, and we got such amazing content for FREE. being able to escape into another world for even just a few minutes right now is priceless.

to everyone who wrote something, read something, or simply made it through this year, kudos to you! wishing everyone a much more relaxing 2021 with even more amazing fics to come. :) thank you guys for everything – happy holidays & new year, and happy reading!

there were so many good ones out this year and there’s no way I can include all of them, but I enjoyed so many more than just the ones on this list! the ones I picked just stood out to me for some reason based on how I was feeling or what I was going through at the time, and they all helped me in some way or another. :) not to mention, I am sooo behind on recent fics and most of the blff, so I will be making more recs slowly into the new year as well!

quick disclaimer! as with every time I put these together, this list is based on my own opinions and features a variety of different kinds of fics and tropes. I include the info next to them for a reason! please stick to your own preferences and leave any hate out of your choices. that being said, if you enjoy any of these, please leave the author a kudos, comment, or send them a message to let them know you liked it!

okay, in no particular order!:

a place with skeletons by @crazyupsetter / whoknows   E | 50k | b!L | veela!Louis

“I would choose anyone other than you,” Louis says, picking up his train of thought again. He feels a lot more cornered and defensive when they’re in Harry’s house, for some reason.

It doesn’t really make sense, considering that this time, Louis was the one who couldn’t hack it any longer. He broke first. There’s something about being in Harry’s space, though, the green and earthy feeling of it. It should feel like open space with all the plants, but Louis has never felt more claustrophobic than he does when he’s here. Harry’s chest moves against his back, a sharp intake of air.

Before he can open his mouth to defend himself, Louis keeps going, “If I had a choice in any of this, I would have been saved by that elderly security guard over you. I wouldn’t mind having to have the occasional cuddle with her.”

even the best laid plans by @falsegoodnight  E | 25k | b!L | uni au

Louis wants to have sex with someone and decides Harry is the perfect alpha for the job.

runaway darling by @solvetheminourdreams  E | 26k | no smut | wedding au

An AU where Louis hates weddings, Harry loves them, and together they help a bride skip hers.

three days in february by @mercurial-madhouse / writing_practice   E | 187k | b!L | magical realism

Louis is cursed after a night out with the lads and the five have just three days to figure out what happened and how to break it before Harry and Louis both lose their sanity and maybe something more. Louis can hear everything Harry thinks and Harry isn’t sure he can keep his feelings for Louis a secret from his own mind.

a springtime’s wilt, an autumn’s bloom by snowcaplou E | 20k | b!L | abo

Harry is Louis' personal chauffeur, and although he hides his feelings for his boss behind a wall of rigid professionalism, Louis still manages to squeeze through the cracks.

just a flicker in the dark by @falsegoodnight   E | 57k | b!L | witch!Louis

Louis is a struggling witch desperate to prove himself after yet another magic disaster and finds a calling in the haunted house of client Niall Horan. Things get more complicated when he’s assigned a case partner: acclaimed medium and ex-boyfriend, Harry Styles.

terror of surrender by @loubellies  E | 31k | b!L | yoga instructor!H

Louis is a recent divorcee with a new favorite yoga teacher, Harry.

loving you’s a bloodsport by @rosesau  M | 106k | no graphic smut | royalty au

harry is a bratty prince, louis is a guard who works in his palace, and niall is the only one who’s got his life in control.

spoonful of sugar by @zanniscaramouche (check out this part too!)  E | 43k | b!L | mob boss!Harry

Louis Tomlinson cares for his family above all else, a fact that’s led him on a twisted path peddling drugs to support them. Just as he’s made the decision to jump ship, Louis gets snared between the two largest crime syndicates in the city. To keep his family safe he’s forced to trust the man that failed to keep his promise two years ago, the resident drug lord he’s unknowingly been working for, Harry Styles.

quiet people have the loudest minds by @2tiedships2  M | 38k | referenced b!L | abo

The one where Louis is a nonverbal omega who has accepted the fact that he will never find an alpha that will treat him as an equal. On the other hand, he’s never met anyone like Harry.

works like a charm by @falsegoodnight  E | 18k | b!L | Hogwarts au

Ever since Louis joined the team in fifth year, a few facts have become set in stone.

One: Louis is the best chaser in Hogwarts.

Two: Harry is the best beater in Hogwarts.

Three: They do not get along.

So it’s really unfair of Liam to think that forcing them to spend time together as Louis recovers from his injury will make them the best of friends. The last thing Louis would do is get along with that git.

show you the stars in the daylight by @yvesaintlourent / bruisedhoney  E | 13k | b!L | friends to lovers

The one where Louis has a type and at sixteen and scrawy, it’s definitely not his best friend’s little brother Harry…ten years later, he changes his mind.

in a sea of mist by @tomlinvelvetfics  E | 126k | b!L | mythology au

A Greek Mythology/Camp Half-Blood AU where Harry is lost, the road to peace is a wretched one, and somehow, through a mist of confusion and regrets, Louis seems to be the only thing that makes sense and everything Harry needs.

confessions of a fabricated alpha by @jaerie  E | 18k | b!H/b!L mention | abo

famous alpha Harry Styles has a secret and paying an alpha to roleplay a relationship with him over the phone is the only way he can be himself.

take my whole life too by @goodmorninglou  E | 24k | b!L | d/s elements | WIP

Louis knows three things, at the base of it all.

He likes when Harry hurts him. He doesn’t know why, not really, but he knows that he likes it. Likes giving up control, likes feeling small and taken care of, likes being praised for taking whatever Harry gives him for as long as he gives it. He and Harry are meant to be. No matter what time they finally fall together, what day, what age, what place, the moment that they do, that’ll be it. It’s going to be them against everyone else, hand in hand for the rest of their lives. That’s been a given since they met. The half of Louis’ soul that’s missing is Harry’s.

And, sans those two things, he doesn’t really know much of anything at all.

sweet like honey by @falsegoodnight  E | 33k | b!L | amateur porn au

Harry and Louis need money and they find an unconventional solution in the form of PornHub. It’s not supposed to be a big deal.

a few rereads posted from before this year that I enjoyed again!

the case of the (definitely not haunted) styles mansion by briamaria  E | 40k | b!H | nancy drew au

the Nancy Drew AU where Marcel is a man of logic, Louis is a private detective who believes in ghosts, and the Styles Mansion is definitely, absolutely, positively *not* haunted.

canyon moon by @eeveelou  E | 40k | b!L | abo

For as long as Louis has remembered, he has been promised to be mated to Harry, his best friend and the future pack alpha. But Louis’s heart belonged to the forest and to the hunt more than he could ever imagine it belonging to Harry. Then Harry’s father dies in a violent accident, and Louis’s future alpha disappears on the wind.

An A/B/O Lion King AU

lemon eyes by @turnyourankle  E | 50k | b!H | abo

It’s not proper for omegas to mess around with alphas before finding their bondmate. But Harry doesn’t give a damn what’s proper and fully intends on getting as much experience as he can before even trying to find one. As far as he’s concerned, the right alpha won’t care, and he’ll have some fun on the way. And who better to start with than Louis Tomlinson, the alpha with the worst reputation on campus?

all this delusion in our heads by snowcaplou   E | 15k | b!L | exes to lovers

After Harry and Louis break up, they cope with it in very different ways. What will happen when Harry keeps calling his ex over when things go wrong in his life, but Louis just can’t take it anymore?

the way the storms blow by @rbbsbb  E | 21k | b!L | roommates au

Louis doesn’t have a habit of thinking about Harry’s dick.

That would be weird, seeing as they’re best mates, and they share a flat, and they’ve spent holidays at each other’s family homes.

Their friendship hasn’t ever risen to a point where Louis should want to see his mate’s dick, and he’s happy to keep it that way. Except, all that Louis can think about is exactly that. The size of it. The shape. The amount of people it’s been in.

Maybe it’s the tequila talking, or the fact that Louis’ just recently walked in to an eyeful of Harry taking turns on some slags that he’s never seen before, but. Louis’ mind can’t stop obsessing over the idea.

and a few more recs from some other fandoms for anyone who might be interested! (feel free to rec me some more if you know of any!)

burning the ground by lq_traintracks (drarry)  E | 10k | b!draco | abo

“Strap him down,” someone said, and Harry felt the rage thicken inside him – the viscous fear. Magical bindings pulled taut around his wrists … He felt a wand touch his arm and then a sharp bite as something punctured the skin, and a sweet, cool tonic rushed his veins. His breathing slowed. His eyelids drooped. The ceiling went grey and dark. And then he heard a woman’s voice sigh, “Someone, get Healer Malfoy.”

every step you take by nokomis (sterek)   E | 50k | light b!Stiles | abo

Stiles accidentally ends up magically bound to Derek. It’s super.

alright, I think that’s it for this rec! as always, please let me know if i’ve tagged anything incorrectly or if you’d like to be untagged from something!

and like I said before, I am wayyy behind on reading for these last few months and I need to catch up. when I do, I’ll definitely make some more recs into the new year!

I just want to say another thank you to anyone who wrote or read or created or just existed this year. it’s been hard on us all but having this outlet definitely made it easier. I can’t wait to see what else is published next year! happy reading everyone, and happy new year! :)

#okay trying to post this for the second time around!#fingers crossed!#y'all let me know if anything is messed up please!#fic recs #my fic recs #about me #2020

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petriichvrs · 4 years

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DAY SIX : one final word / a letter to noxtms.

dear : alyssa, amanda, atlas, bee, beth, birdie, blo, cherry, chris, daisy, dew, gabi, gia, hunter, j, la, lex, lucy, maeve, mozzie, nancy, plume, r, rosie, sam and last but never least, vicky.

here’s the thing. i try as much as possible to say how much i appreciate all of you having joined nox as often as i can, because i think as a person i have a tendency not to be entirely present of all the time, even while i seem it, and it’s important to me - as both admin and as someone who’s befriended what feels like everyone here - that you all know. the thing is, i’ve admined a lot of roleplays over the time i’ve been writing, some of them for longer than others, and i’ve met a bunch of you both in those groups and outside of them. i have a lot of experience, but i had never broken into the harry potter fandom ( in spite of it having formed such a key part of my childhood ) and i hadn’t realized that when i opened nox, i was going to discover such a community.

it’s really not me just saying it when i say that nox wouldn’t be NOXTMS without each and every one of you. i’m proud of the work i’ve put into the group and i accept however much i’m allowed to of the praise for it, but i’ve put maybe more into other groups and never had them feel the way that nox does. we’re all aware, obviously, it takes every writer in a group to make it something special, and i think that it’s every single one of you who has turned this group into my absolute favorite. there’s things in nox right now - like the marauders verse, but even just movie nights and a successful points system and little ic meetings - that i never could have done in another group because they just wouldn’t have worked, the combination wasn’t there, but i feel like... i struck gold with each of you, as members ? i feel like i got beyond LUCKY, and i have a tendency to over worry about nox, but you guys always make me feel a little bit safer in the knowledge that the group is okay, it’s doing good, and it’s everything i could have ever wanted.

i tried to find praise in other places for you all over the course of this meme, but i’m just going to go for one quick fire round. alyssa, you really are so fucking funny, and you created something really special with avalon and the king arthur myth thing she’s got going on. amanda, mary is the most thought out oc i’ve maybe ever seen and we might’ve had to wait a while for a ron, but he’s brilliant. atlas, you have a tendency to not see yourself the way you ought to, but heather and jo are two showstopping characters that we’re so lucky to have, and you yourself are a wonderful member who i’m so glad came back. bee, i’ve seen what you can do with harry elsewhere and i have you to thank for the fact nox even exists, really : you reminded me through your writing how much i love the world, and your takes on marietta and charlie are perfect. beth, lavender is such an unfairly hated character in canon, and she deserved someone like you picking her up and breathing fresh life into her, which you’re doing amazingly. birdie, for someone who likes to admit they haven’t done much in groups, you’ve really slotted yourself right in here, and i can’t pluck one character from your lineup - you do something admirable with all of them, and i really do hope you’ll RECONSIDER your stance on a fifth. blo... i love everything you do, i really always have, and your writing is a testament to just how talented you are, but i don’t know one person who puts as much continuous thought into their characters as you do, and it really shows.

cherry, i made a joke once about how if you could do something special with jughead jones i shouldn’t be shocked about what you can do with better source characters, but it’s not even a joke anymore... what you started with hermione you’re continuing with lucius and percy, and i love everything about them. chris, this is the second time you’ve joined nox as someone who doesn’t know much about it, but i’m so grateful you did it as my characters kid - i love when we get to play family dynamics most of all, and oriana is an absolute gem. daisy, chatting with you is a dream, and your mind is just... amazing - you do something with george that plays into my favorite sort of character tropes, and zephyrine is something so different and fun that i can’t wait to write with them too. dew, not just anyone would pick up gregory goyle and try and do something amazing with him, so i’ve been not-so-patiently waiting to toss everyone i’ve got at him since your intro. gabi, knox is one of my favorite ocs and for someone who only brought in an oc, to start with, you’ve managed to slot her in brilliantly. gia, what can i even say for you... as always you bring everything you have to the table, and i get to write not just connections that are genuinely FUN ( damien and niko, anybody? ) but also my favorite sort, which comprise of... family and friendships like molly / ginny & tonks / ginny with one of my favorite writers, yet again. hunter, i’m so glad i borderline peer pressured you into picking up pansy, because she’s been a joy to see in action, and a pretty great addition to your roster of characters - that already includes angelina and mason, two characters i love reading the replies of.

j, most astoria’s i’ve seen have gotten lost on the ‘draco’s dead wife’ thing and have forgotten to turn her into her own, unique character - the same can’t be said here, and astoria has fast become one of my favorite individual characters because you’re at her heart. la, i haven’t gotten to see enough of beatrix yet, but i think anyone who wants to play into an umbridge family is so brave and so talented, so i can’t wait to see and do more. lex... absolute love of my fuckin life ? not many people would join a group even though they don’t know much of the source material and absolutely immerse themself in it, but you’ve done this now... more than once- and each and every time, you manage to craft characters i really do ROOT for and love so much. please be fuckin nicer to yourself always, you’re so talented and i love you so much. lucy, gabrielle deserves to be given a character arc beyond ‘damsel in distress’, and so far, i’ve loved everything you’ve done with her. she’s a breath of fresh air on the dash and i think we’re lucky to have you ! maeve, LISTEN. LISTEN TO ME. I’M HOLDING YOUR FACE BETWEEN MY HANDS RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE THIS IS SO UNBELIEVABLY EMBARRASSING: YOU ARE SO TALENTED, YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT TO THE FUNDAMENTAL SOMETHING THAT MAKES UP WHAT NOX IS, YOU HAVE BROUGHT ME CHARACTERS I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW I NEEDED SO BADLY ( HELLO THEO N OLIVER ) AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, YOU’VE DONE SOMETHING SO WONDERFUL WITH EVERY PORTRAYAL AND YOUR AESTHETICS FOR DENNIS MADE ME CRY. mozzie, you are ALSO so fucking funny, and you are yet another writer that i feel.. so lucky has been drawn to nox - blaise and luna are fascinating characters in canon, sure, but you have done something so much BETTER with them here and i cannot stress that enough to you. nancy, selene is such a fun oc, and i really, really mean that. she’s something different to the status quo, and i feel blessed that i get to have as close a connection as i do with her.

plume, you yourself have been nothing short of the most lovely ooc presence, and i’m so glad that it’s someone like you who’s bringing parvati patil ( the noxtms variant ) to life, and so happy whenever i see her on the dash. r, i could go on for paragraphs on you alone - you were always one of my favorite writers in eq, and i was always so HOPEFUL you would finally cave and join nox. thank you for being here, and thank you for my daughter, thank you for my sister, thank you for these characters i love. rosie, you haven’t gotten a chance to even settle in yet, but that isn’t going to stop me from expressing how excited i am to have a bill weasley, finally, and to see what you do with him ! sam, the other love of my life... you don’t get enough CREDIT for just how brilliantly you’ve characterized viktor krum, especially, but you also don’t get enough for how you gave us the loveliest child of severus snape we could have ever asked for, and the hottest dowson i ever did see. you go through it far more than you should have to, but you’re such a talented writer and such a staunch friend who i feel lucky to have made. and vicky, once again : last in alphabetical order, but certainly not in my heart. did i expect in 2020 to bond with someone over buffy ? not even a little. but i really was so fuckin’ DELIGHTED to have something i could talk to you about cause you’re just... cool, vicky, you’re so so cool, and you’re so talented at seemingly... everything ? making gifs, being a pal, writing characters like dudley dursley but also somehow making alicia and penelope equally different and fascinating and cool ? have i said cool ? have i said it ENOUGH ?

i don’t want to be done, here, but i didn’t expect for this to take so many words, so i should probably wrap it up fairly snappily : thank you all so much for joining this group i love so much, and please know regardless of all else, i love everything you’re all DOING, and everything i see. i don’t say that enough, for certain, but i’m going to try and be better about it. beep beep, bitches : it’s my undying love and affection.

not to sound like severus snape but like. always,

rachel.

#nox.task #how am i meant to claim like .. points for this #this feels like something i cant claim points for

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rippaers · 5 years

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𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐎 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆

WHAT’S YOUR OTP FOR YOUR MUSE? : i think everyone knows by now that stelena is my number one. i ship stefan with a lot of muses, crossover fandoms and oc’s included. so as long as there’s chemistry and we’re both feeling it i’m down for it! but stelena is my top choice, always!

HOW LARGE DOES THE AGE GAP HAVE TO BE TO MAKE IT UNCOMFORTABLE? : well, since stefan is a vampire and over 100 years old as long as they’re 18+ he nor I really mind a large age gap. unless it’s in a verse where he’s human, then I’d say 7-10 years.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WHEN SHIPPING? : a little bit, depending on the pairing I guess. i’m usually okay with all faceclaims, but if I have an issue with one i’ll let you know. I don’t really want to be forced into a ship either, but I suppose we’re all that way. overall, if i’m not feeling a ship or don’t want something I’ll tell you right away.

HOW FAR DO STEAMY MOMENTS HAVE TO GO BEFORE THEY’RE CONSIDERED NS/FW? : when clothes start to come off or touching becomes intense, that’s usually when I’d tag nsfw.

WHO ARE OTHER MUSES YOU SHIP YOUR MUSE WITH? : in the tvd / to universes : klaus ( he’s my second choice for stefan ) , katherine, davina, hayley, perhaps jeremy, and rebekah. i also wouldn’t mind a steamy angsty relationship with kai, wink wink. as for other fandoms: betty cooper, bellamy blake, clarke griffin, raven reyes, john murphy, echo, stiles stilinski, lydia martin, malia tate, isaac lahey, jess mariano, rory gilmore, steve harrington, nancy wheeler, quinn fabray, blaine anderson, sam evans…..probably so many more I just can’t think of…. ANY NOTPS? : romantically, I don’t ship stefan and caroline, I love their friendship with my whole entire fat heart but I don’t ship them romantically. that also goes for stefan and lexi and stefan and bonnie. and it’s probably obvious but I don’t ship stefan with the twins considering he was their step-father.

DOES ONE HAVE TO ASK TO SHIP WITH YOU? : yes and no. if we’ve never written before then yes, I wanna be sure i’m comfortable with the ship before we start anything. if we’ve written before and you know I ship our muses or we’ve at least talked about it then you don’t need to ask!

HOW OFTEN DO YOU LIKE TO SHIP? : a lot! I love ships so much…. I love having the romantic feel or the platonic feel. literally anything tbh!

ARE YOU MULTISHIP? : yes! ARE YOU SHIP-OBSESSED OR SHIP MORE-OR-LESS? : i’m in between, I guess but I do lean more towards obsessed. I just think stefan needs all the love in the world no matter who it is tbh. but i’m also a big sucker for best friend type plots too. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SHIP IN YOUR CURRENT FANDOM? : besides stelena and klefan I would say forwood & carenzo! and if you add the originals / legacies then kolvina, klamille, klayley, marbekah, hosie & hafael own my heart along with my ass.

FINALLY, HOW DOES ONE SHIP WITH YOU? : honestly send me a meme or if you’re unsure just send me an IM and be like hey do you wanna test a ship or plot something or whatever! i’m most likely down to do whatever you have in mind, i get excited about everything lol.

TAGGED BY : @sheoptimist & @azgedaspy <3

TAGGING : @gemscreams , @prettyspecial , @crownmartyr , @imthelcstprincess , @crackmyhcart , @killerqueenpetrova , @icarusinvited , @nancy--wheeler , @leadspack , @selfishsoulstm , @stilesstylelinski , @astralgenius , @wvinterisms , @blackhearttm & you on the dash !

#╰ 𝐬𝐬. ( record scratch ) yup that's me. I bet you're wondering how I got in this situation › ooc.

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nadiawrimos · 6 years

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I've been nominated to choose 10 books which influenced me and continue to do so. No need for explanation or description, just post the cover.

My lovely friend @ladylilymalfoy904034 tagged me on facebook and I’ve decided to post my answers here because this blog could always use a bit more content. So, even though these paragraphs are unnecessary, here’s my list.

Walk Two Moons was gifted to me by my grade 3 teacher and it really resonated with me, especially the intergenerational friendship between Sal and her grandparents, Phoebe’s wild stories, and the national parks and monuments along the ‘turnpike’ which reminded me of travels with my parents. I re-read it many times throughout my childhood and adolescence and of course cried every time at the end. Huzza, Huzza.

Winnie the Pooh was given to me by my godfather and I’ve always loved all the characters, especially always-lonely Eeyore. I think this book really helped me fall in love with animals and storytelling and exploring my own imagination. The House at Pooh Corner and Now We Are Six are also on my bookshelf, waiting to be re-read

Nancy Drew if you know me in real life, you know that Nancy is one of my top tier role models. I love Nancy Drew mystery stories so much and I read as many of the books as I could get my hands on, usually after my bedtime. The books have been an important part of my life, from looking for old copies in second hand shops after skating practice, to bringing The Invisible Intruder to the hospital with me when I broke my elbow. I have 52 (?) of the original 56 yellow-spine hardcovers and one day I will complete my collection.

Eragon was a gift from my grandparents for Christmas one year and I remember really being excited to read it. Like most of the books on this list, I’ve re-read the book several times. It was my introduction to the realm of fantasy, along with The Magician’s Nephew and I still think it’s so cool and inspiring especially since Paolini had the idea for Eragon when he was 15.

Peeps I love almost all of Scott Westerfeld’s books so it was hard to choose just one. I decided on Peeps because it’s one of his lesser-known works and it represents the vampire stories that would come after - including the Vampire Diaries and (unfortunately) Twilight which were significant to me in grades 7 and 8, right around the time that I started writing. My first ‘novel’ ended up being a ‘MCR as vampires fanfiction’ and while it was a mistake, Scott Westerfeld really made me interested in writing sci-fi and urban fantasy.

Beauty Queens again, how do I choose just one book by Libba Bray? I love her books and how they can be both dark and depressing and ridiculously funny. Going Bovine is another fave but Beauty Queens, described as “Lord of the Flies with makeup” is just too good. Captains Bodacious is an excellent idea for a reality TV show and I’m ready to watch!

Fullmetal Alchemist might just have the best storyline of any media I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying. The world is so well developed, the characters are diverse and fascinating, and the fandom was my introduction to fanfiction and anime in general. Bless Hiromi Arakawa for her incredible talent and hard work.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy My dad got me into this one. He’s recommended a handful of books to me over the years but this one has been a part of our lives for the longest. I read his old copy from the 70s/80s(?) and we went to watch the movie together. HHGTG will always remind me of him and good times. The book also made me laugh and inspired an interest in science fiction.

Eating Animals this is one of the most recent additions to this list, as I read it as an adult earlier this year. What an incredible book. Although when I read it I had already been vegetarian for a couple of years, if you eat meat, I recommend you read it with an open heart and mind.

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is an excellent meditation on life, humanity, and philosophy. My boyfriend recommended it for me and I loved it so much, I’ve since lent the book to my mom and aunt and the boyfriend’s friends have read it too. Powerful.

I nominate: @kira-desomma, @cogwrites @scripturient-manipulator, @thespooniewrites, @jmlascar, and anyone else who wants to do this!

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sophygurl · 6 years

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WisCon 42 panel Female Friendship

Female Friendships in Our Stories panel description:

Women are often portrayed as competitive and territorial in media. In science fiction, this can be even stronger as the Smurfette principle often rules, and many of the women characters fill the "not like other girls" trope. It's rare to see genuine female friendships flourish in our stories. For many of us, the "mean girl" trope does not reflect the reality that we live in, and we're hungry for better depictions of our lived experiences. More stories are digging deeper into what female friendships can and do look like, however. Shows like Big Little Lies, Grace and Frankie, and Insecure; as well as female-led movies such as the new Ghostbusters and the Pitch Perfect series are some examples. Few of these are SFF-related though - we need more!

Moderator was Naomi Kritzer, with panelists Karin Gastreich, Crystal Huff, Lauren Jankowski, KJ, and Clarissa C. S. Ryan

Reminder that these panel notes are only my own recollections and the things I managed to write down - my notes are incomplete and likely faulty in places. Corrections and additions are always welcome. Especially please do correct me if I get names or pronouns wrong!

Also I name panelists as that’s publicly available information but not audience members unless requested by that person to have their named added.

[For context - I’ve been proposing a panel like this for years (due in large part to conversations with @prozacpark who sadly was not at-con this year) and was so excited to finally see it happen! It did not disappoint. It gave me ALLLLLL of the feelings and I plan to make some additional posts on the subject once I finish my panel write-ups. This will mostly just be about the panel itself, although knowing me I’ll add in the occasional aside. Also I’m really glad I got to this panel early enough to get a good seat up front because it filled up quickly and became standing room only with people sitting on the floor all over the place. Obviously a topic we WisCon-goers find close to our hearts.]

I neglected to get info down about the panelists introductions - sorry! I did jot down that Clarissa said she occasionally remembers to write male characters because it made me laugh. All of the panelists, I believe, are writers, so do look up their work if you want to find more female friendship rep in your reading!

Naomi started things off asking about the panelists’s fictional favorite female friendships and why they found them interesting. Her example was Anne of Green Gables - Anne and Diana. She liked that Anne comes into the friendship so needy and that Diana just accepts her as-is.

Lauren said Lost Girl’s Bo and Kenzi (YES) and that even tho Bo is attracted to women, she never sexualized Kenzi. (I especially love this in the context that Bo is a succubus and many of her relationships have a sexual component but she never turns that on Kenzi because Kenzi isn’t into that and it’s just inherently accepted between them that they are strictly platonic but deeply entwined friends - haaa see, I told you I’d have asides)

Crystal talked about Cold Magic by Kate Elliot. Crystal said she is unsure if the characters would choose their friendship over their new spouses in the end and has questions about the heteronormativity of that but overall loved the female friendships in the series.

Clarissa is a big fan of the Ghostbusters reboot. She doesn’t ship any of the women together, and finds that puts her on the outside of a lot of the fandom.

KJ reiterated Cold Magic and said that it is about cousins who are raised as sisters but who choose to be friends and the powerfulness of that choice. She also likes Kira and Dax from DS9.

Karin said she had a hard time finding examples from within SFF. She really likes the sister friendship in the Little House books, as well as Simple Magic, the Witches of Eastwick book (not the movie), and The Other Boleyn Girl (book).

Crystal talked about Alyc Holmes’s Dragons of Heaven and the transgressive ways it shows female friendship.

Naomi brought up the issues of shippiness and the line between friendship and romantic relationships and pushback within fandom.

Lauren talked about a personal story she had of a messy end of a friendship because she was told that adoption is pseudo-family as a defense of shipping adopted siblings. As an adoptee, this was very hurtful. She talked about her frustration with shippers who ship romantically and refuse to acknowledge the importance of friendship. The valuing of romance over friendship and friendship not being valid in and of itself. “Friendship is enough.” [I was kind of obnoxiously cheering this on because this is a huge issue for me. This might be the point at which I made some comment about there not being any way to dissuade shippers once they settle on a ship. For the record - I’m a huge shipper myself, I just happen to ALSO ship platonic and familial relationships and get super frustrated at fandom’s seeming inability to look at relationships in any other way than romantic.]

Crystal also talked about the extent that people will go to in order to ship something. She added “I know that my life isn’t mostly centered on getting people into bed.”

Clarissa added - why not both? She does want more queer female romances and finds herself sometimes going “oh they glanced at one another ... oooooh”. But friendship is so devalued and friendship breakups hurt!

Karin asked if making the friends sisters made the pressure to ship less - I mostly cackled from the audience, because no.

Naomi steered the conversation toward the topic of sisterhood - both literal and figurative. Also about friendship breakups. There is the classic romance plot of the couple breaking up and coming back together - do we find that in friendship narratives?

Clarissa said that Ghostbusters had an example of that at the start.

KJ said Buffy and Willow do this a couple of times.

Naomi said she often finds this in middle grade YA because this reflects reality at that age. Then asked about friendship tropes - for example she really loved the idea of blood sisterhood. She grew up in the 80′s when the idea of sharing blood = death and how doing that showed such a deep level of trust.

Crystal said it’s hard to come up with female friendship tropes because of how rare examples of female friendship are. Tropes are the things we see so much of they become ingrained.

Naomi asked - then what should be the tropes?

Karin said it’s hard to find books populated with female characters enough for there to be lots of female friendships in them. She doesn’t like the trope of the friend who only shows up when the main character is having romantic drama in their lives.

KJ she wants more examples of groups of female friends because that’s closer to real life. [YES] If these do exist in fiction, they are more in the background.

Clarissa wants more ride or die friendships. She gives Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Ghostbusters as examples of this.

Naomi wants more moments like the one in Ghosbusters where the one character was talking about her story of being haunted and being made of fun for it as a kid. The other character simply says - I believe you. This is a metaphor for sexual abuse. The validation that women give to one another around this. [Cue me sobbing tbh about being on both sides of this phenomenon]

Crystal wants more female friends who are not Mean Girls to one another. Example: Dreadnaught which is about a trans girl superhero.

Lauren talked about female friendships where the women are being supportive of one another. And women rescuing one another. Some personal stories about women rescuing one another were shared among the panelists.

KJ mentioned the graphic novel series Rat Queens.

Naomi brought up Sarah Dressen’s YA books. The example of a friend rescuing another friend from being left alone with a creepy “family friend”. The protectiveness of female friendships. [Me: crying again.]

Karin said she is all into rescuing between female friendships because we all need rescuing sometimes and thank goodness for the friends who rescue us. It’s a different dynamic than when men rescue women.

Clarissa said her “dirty fandom secret” is that she really loves hurt/comfort stories - they don’t have to be romantic in nature. An example is when she took care of a friend who had recently had surgery. She was like “wow this is so intimate - I’ve never seen your bodily fluids before.” [So much crying/laughing, thinking about taking care of my bestie after her double mastectomy last year.]

Crystal mentioned Foz Meadows - An Accident of Stars.

Lauren said that when she’s down, a friend will share pictures she’s taken of her books in bookstores to cheer her up. She also talked about wanting both more big adventure stories about female friendship, and more small snapshots of life.

Crystal said there is some of that in the Nancy Drew series, but looking back on those today - she is really turned off by the racism.

Naomi asked what is a story arc for friendship?

Crystal said that’s as varied as the individuals, and again there just isn’t enough of it in fiction to map out.

Karin talked about that initial connection or bond upon meeting someone that you know is going to become a friend. But then there is a process of trust building. The climactic moment is when that trust is solidified.

KJ said it’s more of an ebb and flow. She wants more honoring of the variety of friendships that exist as being equally valid.

Clarissa brought up a book - Stiletto? (I didn’t catch full name or author’s name) which includes the enemies to friends narrative.

Naomi said she loves enemies to friends even though she hates enemies to lovers stories.

Crystal said fiction needs to make more narrative sense than real life does, which causes us to simplify how relationships work.

Lauren wants more friendships that start with meet-cutes.

Naomi posited the question of what is a happily ever after for a friendship arc.

Crystal answered - the book isn’t over.

KJ said different friendships would have different happily ever afters.

Clarissa noted that different cultures have different types of friendships. She was talking about how our culture sees romance as the primary relationship in someone’s life and friendship is secondary or even tertiary.

KJ said she’s married to a man who is less social than she is, so she wouldn’t be able to meet all her social needs with him anyway. It’s very important to her to keep her friendships.

Crystal said friendships are often about surviving a thing together. But there is also the idea of creating something together. Naomi said fandom is often built on friendships like that.

Crystal also talked about the idea of rituals in friendships. As society has become less formal, we’ve lost some of those rituals. In fiction, we can create these.

An audience member asked about long distance friendship in fiction. Crystal said - all of my friendships are on the internet! She went on to talk about the tradition of epistolary friendships.

Naomi said the ritual of friendship these days is allowing someone to call us on the phone [HA].

Crystal brought up a book The Belles.

An audience member asked about unique sources of conflict in female friendships. Another audience member shouted out the video game Life is Strange in response.

Crystal said - let’s talk about the elephant in the room: no more conflict about boys. There can be disagreements between friends about politics or moral choices.

Naomi talked about the idea of losing a friend to a boy or the friend who only shows up when they are between relationships. Resolution to a conflict like that is the friend discovering the importance of their friendship.

KJ said another conflict involves distance - either physically moving away or becoming more emotionally distant, even a life change such as one friend having kids and the other one not.

Clarissa talked about trying to hold on to friendships through time and space as something SFF especially could explore.

Crystal added - or something like magical abilities manifesting in one friend but not the other.

Naomi mentioned fanfic about Hermione pre-Hogwarts and losing her friendships from that era.

An audience member added that part of the conflict in those types of situations would be that one friend couldn’t tell the other what was happening in their life.

Naomi loves it when the friend tells anyway because isn’t that what best friends do? They tell each other everything no matter what. The panelists all agree they hate secret keeping as plot device.

An audience member brought up a series - Heroine Complex about superheroes with secrets.

One audience member brought up Supergirl as an example and I continued while trying not to spoil current storylines for one of the panelists. I think I said it was doing interesting things in regards to how secret keeping was affecting a female friendship and also how the show in general does good at the valuing of friendship for it’s own sake.

Clarissa mentioned Cardcaptor Sakura, a manga/anime.

Crystal mentioned Gwenda Bond’s Lois Lane books.

An audience member brought up My Little Pony, someone else said Sailor Moon. Clarissa said anime/manga in general does a lot of this but we’re not on recs yet. Naomi said - oh, we’re on recs now. (lol)

Recs:

Clarissa - Princess Jellyfish. KJ - Agents of Shield for the mentor/friendships. Audience - Parasol Protectorate. Audience - Michael/Tily from ST:Disco, Call the Midwife. Audience - Hullmetal Girls, Spinning Silver. Audience - Tamora Pierce’s Magic Circle. Audience - Steerswoman. Audience - Jessica Jones.

Naomi asked - what do we want to see more of?

Karin said - just more female friendships.

Lauren said acceptance from friends for just who someone is.

Crystal said she is drawn to friendship arcs but also wants wants them normalized.

Naomi talked about found family.

KJ said more women interacting with one another in general.

Karin wants more of the female mentorship role.

Crystal suggested Meg Elison’s post-apocalyptic stuff for how female friendships function in that kind of environment.

aaaaaand phew! This was one feelsey-ride! I loved it so much and hope we get more panels like it in the future.

#wiscon #wiscon 42 #female friendship #female friendships in sff #friendship

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gehayi · 7 years

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge--Day 3

Day 3 In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create. For this, I thought I would rec all the stories that I have bookmarked that I thought need more love. All of them are complete (no WIPs, though I do wish some would continue). I made notes on some when I bookmarked them, so where those occur, they're included.

Also, this is LONG. You have been warned.

14th CENTURY CE RPF Hallowmas, Or Shortest Of Day by skazka Isabella, future girl-queen of England, receives a visit from a predecessor. Commentary: Melancholy and sweet, with wee Isabella as an adorable seven-year-old who's very much at sea and Anne of Bohemia as the gentlest and kindest of ghosts. It's A Terrible Reign by angevin2 A dying John of Gaunt, with the aid of his long-dead brother, walks the road not taken. Commentary: Wickedly deflates the "It's a Wonderful Life" premise simply by having John of Gaunt be himself--confident, convinced that what he wants is surely for the best, and blunt enough to point out that most of the awful stuff that could have happened DID happen anyway. Also, Gaunt and the Black Prince are both believable and hysterical as brothers. Jesu dulcis memoria by angevin2 Master Ladislaus's only regret is that his greatest masterpiece--the Wilton Diptych--is one born of grief. Commentary: Brief, sorrowful and stunningly beautiful. I had a lump in my throat when I finished reading it. Remembrance of a Weeping Queen by angevin2 Anne of Bohemia contemplates her purpose in life. Commentary: It’s not easy dealing with public crises while coping with private grief. If you like royal ladies who make a difference in their world and who smile sweetly and gently despite heartbreak, this is for you. *** A STUDY IN EMERALD - NEIL GAIMAN: R'Iyeh Is Not An Empty House by Trobadora It all began because of the woman. *** ARTHURIAN MYTHOLOGY Wheels Within Wheels by Philipa_Moss “Have you heard?” Linet asked. “She’s back.” *** AUSTIN & MURRY-O'KEEFE FAMILIES - MADELEINE L'ENGLE Galois Theory by primeideal Five times everything fell into place. That Unexpected Fateful Hour, Once Again at Hand by ElegantPi Charles Wallace is assigned two new classmates and a task, just before his winter holiday. Wordless by CG (NYCScribbler) Three times Calvin O'Keefe hasn't known what to say. *** BENJAMIN JANUARY MYSTERIES - BARBARA HAMBLY Escargots by Nary Rose was not one to offer platitudes for a man she hadn't known, to a man who hadn't cared about him. "What killed him?" she asked instead, for she couldn't think of any reason why Shaw would be telling her about this if it had been a natural death. "Poison's our best guess." He paused, as if considering how to most gently say what was coming next. "He took his final meal at the Hotel Iberville last night. So as you might imagine, I got a pressin' need to speak with your nephew, Gabriel Corbier." Commentary: This story belongs to the women, and deservedly so. Rose January/Janvier is brilliant and shrewd and a fantastic scientific detective in 1830s New Orleans, while her sister-in-law Olympe Corbier solves half the mystery by deducing what posion was used. It's sharp, smoothly written and as thoroughly researched as any of the books. Honestly, you could drop this into Barbara Hambly's Good Man Friday (the book in which Benjamin January goes off to Washington DC, a trip which Rose mentions in passing) and it would fit in seamlessly. I'm honestly not sure that the person who wrote this for me isn't Barbara Hambly. If you love historical mysteries, stories featuring characters of color, or both, then read this story. Five moments in the life of Augustus Mayerling by sevenofspade Becoming Augustus Mayerling is a process. Commentary: The details of how Augustus Mayerling became Augustus Mayerling. Detailed, sharp and utterly right. Headcanon accepted. Magnificat in New Orleans by Taabe On the eve of Benjamin and Rose Vitrac January's first Christmas in their new home, at the end of a Reveillón, Ben and Hannibal have a run-in with a less peaceful holiday tradition, and they and Rose take a in young stranger in more need of help than even they realize. Commentary: Dazzlingly beautiful, brilliantly researched, and powerful enough to make your heart ache. A magnificent Magnificat. *** BISCLAVRET - MARIE DE FRANCE J'ai Vu le Loup by Gileonnen The hunt collapses the distance between man and beast. Commentary: A canonical medieval gay werewolf. I love it. *** CADFAEL CHRONICLES - ELLIS PETERS A Flourish of Gold by thelittlestbird When a murder disrupts the peace conference that might end the Anarchy, Brother Cadfael must solve one last mystery. Fortunately, he has some very competent people to help him. *** CANTERBURY TALES - GEOFFREY CHAUCER Mordre, She Wroot by sistermagpie At least one pilgrim will not make it to Canterbury. *** CHRONICLES OF NARNIA - C.S.LEWIS Clipsie the Mariner by Transposable_Element The episode of the Dufflepuds and the Magician's book, from the point of view of the Chief's daughter, Clipsie. Dark and Deep by the_rck Tumnus delivers Lucy to the White Witch, and Aslan never comes. All four children end up in Jadis's hands, and she decides to see what she can mold them into. *** CROSSOVERS Chronicles of Narnia/Harry Potter And Bide the Danger by MiraMira Susan Pevensie: former Unspeakable, legendary beauty, possible Dark witch. A young Amelia Bones, eager to make her mark on MLE, has just been assigned to track her down. But the further Amelia proceeds with her investigation, the more questions she uncovers - especially once she meets Susan herself. Dark Tower/The Stand On the Plains of the Crimson King by magistera Eight years after Randall Flagg was defeated, life goes on in the much-reduced circumstances of post-Trips America. But when Fran and Stu's son begins to have disturbing (and all-too-familiar) dreams, it's a sign of change to come. Commentary: This ties together the stories of The Stand and The Dark Tower, blending the worlds and explaining why Flagg saw Fran Goldsmith's baby as so much of a threat. The tone and the characterization are spot-on, and there's one action scene early on that chilled me. And despite all the supernatural occurrences, which are handled beautifully, this world is solidly grounded. It feels real. Honest to God, if I didn't know better, I'd think that Stephen King fanficced himself. Doctor Who/Mrs. Pollifax - Dorothy Gilman Mrs. Pollifax and the Christmas Party by Emiline “Since you mention it, there was something else,” she admitted. “I’d like you both to come to my Christmas party this year.” With gate-crashing by the unstoppable Jack Harkness. Doctor Who/Wicked Voice - Vernon Lee The Sapphire of Rassilon by zopyrus All Grace Holloway wanted was an ordinary night at the San Francisco Opera. But when the Doctor shows up unexpectedly (again), Grace finds herself travelling back to 18th-century Venice—with a stop along the way to pick up the forgotten Victorian author, Vernon Lee. Murdered composers, lesbian drama, opera singers, and more! Commentary: A gorgeous crossover with the Eighth Doctor and a canon called A Wicked Voice, set mostly in Venice of the 1700s and 1800s. It's a gorgeous story--vivid and colorful, and capable of making you see the Venice of both time periods. This is a story to get lost it. Read it. You'll be glad that you did. Dresden Files - Jim Butcher/Tale of the Five Series - Diane Duane Fire Working by melannen Herewiss goes through a Door that is probably not the Door into Starlight, and meets a man who uses the Fire. Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare/Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare/Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie Perhaps. Perhaps. Perhaps. by fresne Perhaps, the story went this way. Perhaps, it went that way. Perhaps. *** DRESDEN FILES - JIM BUTCHER Johnny's Little Secret by shiplizard A mafia errand boy worries about his junior partner. Slash implied, friendship explicit. Rated Teen for language. *** EAGLES ARE TURNING PEOPLE INTO HORSES: THE MOVIE (2009) Eagles are Turning People Into Horses: The Movie: II: The Horses That Used To Be People But Were Turned Into Horses By Eagles Strike Back: The Revengening by KiaraSayre "This is real life, Brian. There's no ignoring the fact that eagles are turning people into horses. We just have to learn to live with it." Commentary: Glorious crackfic. Every line made me smile, grin or laugh. Quintessentially Yuletide. *** ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN THEATRE & LITERATURE RPF Sad Stories of the Death of Kings by angevin It's 1593, and Kit Marlowe is trying out a new genre. Commentary: If you're intimidated by the canon's title, don't be. Kit Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are playwrights and rivals, each criticizing each other's work while writing plays that are strongly influenced by the same. Marlowe is gloriously OTT, as he was in real life, and Shakespeare is the ultimate fanboy who can't quite tell if his idol is flirting or not. This made me smile. A lot. *** EVERY HEART A DOORWAY - SEANAN McGUIRE The Mirror Cracked From Side to Side by Amazing_E_Ko Nancy has left her old life behind, but when Jack comes tumbling through a portal bearing news of an apocalypse, her sister speaking prophecy from beyond death, Nancy is pulled back into the world of living, breathing things. With the help of Kade and Christopher they must unravel the mystery of the disappearing worlds, and uncover the truth behind all their journeys. Post-canon. Commentary: Absolute magic. I am not entirely certain that the writer isn't really Seanan McGuire. And I am so very grateful that I found this story. *** FAIRY TALES AND FOLKLORE Der Rattenfänger von Hameln | The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Fairy Tale) If I Miss You Call the Tune by lalalalalawhy It is 100 light years since our children left. Commentary: A fairy tale retelling in space. Heartwrenching and so, so good. Sneedronningen | The Snow Queen - Hans Christian Andersen The Enchanted Hawk by Alona In which the robber girl encounters a dysfunctional royal family and makes the most of it. Commentary: The robber girl--no longer so little--is beautifully sly, cunning and practical, defying conventions both in her world and in ours. She doesn't assume that enchanted animals are necessarily truthful, she takes the time to scout out a situation, and she knows what she wants and goes after it cheerfully and unashamedly. I'd love to read more about her and her adventures. *** FALLEN LONDON (FORMERLY ECHO BAZAAR) Fortune, Fate, Freedom by escritoireazul Are we the sum of our choices, or are we our fate? Commentary: A Choose Your Own Adventure tale about the Cheesemonger, the finest of all spies. Hard To Find by Kastaka As if the Comtessa would let a little thing like social ostracism stand in her way. Commentary: When this was first published, it was the first Echo Bazaar fic I'd ever seen, and it continues the story of the subject character--the Missing Comtessa--smashingly, not to mention capturing the atmosphere of the twisted world of Fallen London so well. If you know the game of Echo Bazaar, you'll love it. If you don't know the game, you'll STILL love it, plus the story may inspire interest in the game. Either way, you win! or leave it by anstaar A tough shares their story. *** FIREFLY Can’t Take The Sky by Glinda Serenity does not understand grief; Serenity understands grief all too well. Inundation by lilacsigil When knowledge is power, it's important to keep knowledge controlled. Shepherd Book is here to help. *** GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY Medusa's Tale by Area51Fugitive Ah. You've come. I knew you would. Commentary: The very best retelling of the Medusa myth I've ever read, and the only one that ever made me cry. *** HARRY POTTER - J.K. ROWLING Poseidon's Prisoner by esteoflorien Young Cassiopeia Black sets off in search of her brother - and receives assistance from an unlikely person, making her reconsider the way she previously viewed her world. *** HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES Mnemosyne by Medie Wounds of the flesh heal easily for Immortals, the ones of the soul, less so. Commentary: A sympathetic and angry Cassandra, after the Horsemen Arc. *** HIS DARK MATERIALS - PHILIP PULLMAN Valleys of the Shadows by finch (afinch) This is not a happy story. This is the story of three girls who find themselves in the middle of a new African war. There are witches' revolts, daring escapes, the killing of the bears, echoes of freedom, the lack of mercy of the pirates, chains stronger than any steel, and three deaths, one by one by one. This is not a happy story, there are no happy endings, no miracles, no subtle knife, and no angels. This is the story of three girls, a slave, an unwilling pawn, and a refugee. This is story of three girls and three dæmons. *** INVISIBLE LIBRARY: FANWORKS BASED ON IMAGINARY WORKS MENTIONED IN FICTION Miserable Les, Les Misérables - All Media Types, Discworld - Terry Pratchett Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably-priced love! And a black coffee! by greenet Wherein everybody is protesting, drinking a whole lot of coffee, and falling in and out of love. Nina Lightfingers learns to appreciate the elegance of a lady’s fan wielded with murderous intent, Petiterre is over-caffeinated, Evgeni is banned from reading self-help books, and Brusher is over-protective. Among other things. Commentary: If Terry Pratchett had written an in-universe musical about the events of Night Watch, it would have been this story. That is to say, it would have been perfect. P.S. Miserable Les is mentioned as a possible opera in Maskerade. *** JOHN LEWIS CHRISTMAS ADVERTS Please, please, please... by AdaptationDecay Lewis knows exactly what he wants for Christmas. Commentary: This is a stealth crossover, but I'm not going to mention what it's crossed with. That would spoil the impact of the reveal. *** MARY POPPINS (1964) Pictures in the Pavement and Magic in the Rain by El Staplador (elstaplador) Time moves on, and when the wind changes, things happen. Usually Mary Poppins is there, somewhere. *** NCIS No Such Thing by circ_bamboo There's no such thing as zombies. (Or: People should have realized that, sooner or later, pouring the liquefied remnants of corpses in the municipal water supply was going to lead to zombies.) Commentary: Absolutely the best and the funniest zombie story I've ever read! The NCIS team is spot-on as a bad situation snowballs gloriously. Also, I will never think of cedar shavings, sodium intake or tiki torches the same way again! P.S. Here are more sources about resomation: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-14114555 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaline_hydrolysis_(body_disposal) https://funeralbooker.com/blog/everything-need-know-resomation/ *** ONCE UPON A TIME (TV) Staying Found by misscam “I will always find you,” they say. And they did. Now they just have to get used to having been found again, together again, a relationship again, all the little things again. [Snow/Charming + minor Emma, Henry, Belle] *** PETER PAN - J.M. BARRIE The Art of Becoming by LostWendy1 “Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly. All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him he will love you again, but will never afterwards be the same boy. No one ever gets over the first unfairness; no one except Peter. He often met it, but he always forgot it. I suppose that was the real difference between him and all the rest.” (Peter Pan, Barrie) Commentary: The story of Mr. Darling--and the origins of Captain Hook. *** PRINCELESS There's No Such Thing As Elegators by psocoptera Sparky, Adrienne, and Bedelia have an encounter in the grasslands. Commentary: You don't often hear stories from the dragon's point of view. *** REBECCA - DAPHNE DU MAURIER A Thousand Words, Or Simply Three by Skogkatt Danny, faced with a new mistress of vastly inferior rank, ruminates on the past. *** RUBYQUEST Rubyquest II: The Island by AdaptationDecay In your inventory, you have two walkie-talkies and an empty champagne bottle. Time to save the world... *** SHAKESPEARE King Lear - Shakespeare 'Tis Strange by lorata Lear Enterprises' CEO prepares to divide his company's controlling shares between his daughters and their subsidiaries. Edmund, non-powered and disaffected son in a superhero family, plots to turn villain. Regan and Goneril abandon their father to the zombies after he endangers their safehouses one too many times. Gloucester scours open space for the former commander of the star system, set adrift in a malfunctioning lifepod. Cordelia and her dragon prepare to take on her sisters with the help of the French aerial dragon corps. Some stories aren't just universal, they're multiversal. The tale of King Lear, from eleven different worlds. When She Was Bad by lorata LEAR: Then let them anatomize Regan. See what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard hearts? Act 3, Scene 6 SERVANT: If she live long, And in the end meet the old course of death, Women will all turn monsters. Act 3, Scene 7 Even the sweetest pup will bite if handled roughly, and Regan is no innocent. The making of a girl who embraced her demons and turned them to her purpose. Richard II - Shakespeare A Signet On Thine Arm by skazka Kisse he me with the cos of his mouth. For thi tetis ben betere than wyn, and yyuen odour with beste oynementis. Richard and Anne make out in the bath. Privilege by angevin2 Richard kissed a girl and he liked it. And then things got really complicated. Six Variations on Loyalty by angevin2 The King's party (for it is, in fact, still the King's party) has not even left Flint Castle for London before Henry of Hereford, now styling himself Henry of Lancaster, begins trying to seduce Edward of Aumerle. Thy Rebuke Hath Broken His Heart by Aris Merquoni (ArisTGD) Soulbonds between men and women are the most romantic form of marriage in the known world. Soulbonds between men and men make bards and poets salivate with the prospect of terrible, epic tragedy. Richard and Henry think that bards and poets are assholes. Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare Starling by loathlylady Rosaline in the hot sun. *** STORIES BASED ON ARTWORKS La fiancée hésitante | The Hesitant Betrothed - Auguste Toulmouche Les Femmes Acharnées by Violsva Blanche has a plan, Céleste has a plan - really, everyone has a plan. Commentary: An excellent story of marriage, murder and female friendship. *** SWAN LAKE (BALLET) Juno's Swans by La Reine Noire (lareinenoire) And wheresoever we went, like Juno's swans, / Still we went coupled and inseparable. *** THE GOBLIN EMPEROR - KATHERINE ADDISON Passage by bigsunglasses Released from his role as Prince by the birth of a son to the Emperor and Empress, Idra is allowed to attend university. But he can't escape his past so easily, or perhaps at all, particularly not when he meets someone who walks under a similar shadow ... Three years post-canon. *** THE SANDMAN The First Conversation with Death by evilhippo What happens when someone is no longer an aspect of the Endless? (An imagined epilogue to The Wake.) *** THOMAS OF WOODSTOCK (PLAY) like brambles to the cedars by angevin2 Queen Anne isn't used to English customs. It doesn't help that her husband and his uncles can't agree on what they are. Commentary: This is the story of a gentle young woman adjusting to life far from home and adjusting to political currents she doesn’t quite understand. If you like sweet and feminine Sansa Stark singing songs or sewing expertly, you’ll love this. *** THURSDAY'S CHILDREN - RUMER GODDEN A Bitter God to Follow by Bakcheia In which everybody is in love with ballet dancer Yuri Koszorz, including Yuri. Commentary: A story of seductive charm and self-absorption. Yuri is a likable young man, even as he heedlessly captivates everyone around him, not caring whether anyone gets hurt. *** WATERSHIP DOWN - RICHARD ADAMS The Story of Hrayatha and the Rabbit Who Left No Tracks by Luzula Pipkin listens to a story. Post-canon. *** WENDY TRILOGY - S.J. TUCKER (SONG CYCLE) Always keep your head by LeaperSonata So Wendy'd got herself a crew of ruthless men and brave and they'd terrorize the Lost Boys each and every Saturday. One day Wendy says to Peter, "I'd like more girls on my crew." So Peter goes a-hunting Lost Girls and brings back Green-eyed Sue. Commentary: You don't have to know S.J. Tucker's songs--specifically, the Wendy Trilogy--to understand this story about the time when Wendy Darling became a pirate called Red-Handed Jill. This story is about Green-Eyed Sue, Jill's first mate, but more than that, it's about finding the place where you belong. Most of all, it's about identity and love and being honest with yourself. Highly recommended. Journey's End by eris_kyrall (kereia) The decision to go back home had not come easily to Wendy Darling, and the hardest part of it was saying goodbye. Commentary: This story deals with Wendy's departure from Neverland, but it treats her decision to leave as right and natural, as if Wendy were a potted plant that had outgrown its container. At the same time, it shows that those who didn't follow Wendy home were also right. Also, I love the female friendship in this story. Bittersweet.

#snowflake challenge 2018 #fic recs #long post

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forthegothicheroine · 7 years

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Dear Yuletide Author

I’m robberbaroness on Archive of Our Own, and I would just like to say how lovely to have you in my corner! The inescapable onslaught of Christmas becomes more bearable knowing I have some great fic waiting for me! Seriously, thank you for picking one of my weird-ass requests. I’ve bubbled over with ideas for these, so please don’t feel obligated to include *everything* I’ve suggested or put in my general likes. I really just want to see what you come up with!

General likes: Worldbuilding, hard-won happy endings, F/M, maledom (dubcon or noncon are okay, as long as they are acknowledged as such), historical AUs, fairy tale motifs, female-centric stories, gen friendship stories.

General dislikes: ABO, snuff fic, scat, mundane AUs, character bashing, female characters pushed aside.

Georgia Coffee “Twin Peaks” Commercials (characters: Dale Cooper, Ken, Asami)

The only Twin Peaks canon with a happy ending! I got a really cute treat for this last year, and now I’m anxious for more.

If you haven’t seen these delightful commercials (which have a whole story and everything!) you can watch them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3acm7j9k_1w . Agent Cooper and a Japanese detective investigate the disappearance of a beautiful woman from the Great Northern, take plenty of breaks for Georgia Coffee, and actually rescue her from the Black Lodge! No surprise downer twist! I really need this right now.

You can take this in either a comic or a serious direction, and set it anywhere in the series. (It seems like it would fit best either during the original run or after the Return.) Bring in more Twin Peaks characters if you like (Donna and Albert are always appreciated!) but don’t feel that you have to. I just want to know about how these events played out. Another idea- maybe Cooper reconnects with Ken and Asami in the new timeline at the end of Return and they help him set things right? But really, do whatever you want here as long as it has a happy ending.

Hard Candy (character: Hayley Stark)

Hayley is something between a hero and a monster, and I want to read about her. You can expand on the events in canon if you like (did she really know Donna? Will she kill again?) or give me an AU. Pre-revolutionary French Hayley, taking a dagger to libertines! Renaissance Italian Hayley, enacting her very own revenge tragedy! Film noir girl detective Hayley, with methods that are a bit more ruthless than those of Nancy Drew! Or go with the suggestion offered by Kim Newman in his book Nightmare Movies, and have her actually be a supernatural entity; a ghost, a goddess, an avenging angel, whatever you’d like.

The only things I don’t want are Hayley as an opportunistic sadist (she clearly cares about these events, even if she’s just a sociopath personally disgusted by child predators) or Hayley/Jeff. But you knew that last one, right?

I’m cool with Crueltide fic for this canon. Preferably no porn here, though.

Hope: The Other Side of Adventure

I keep asking for this every year, and one day I will get it. If you came here for another fandom, consider checking this out as well- it’s a free iphone game (yes, free, despite the fakeout about adding a quarter towards the end) which you check on once a day for five or so days for a couple of minutes of pure heartache. It’s basically about what Princess Peach or Zelda might be thinking while she waits for her videogame hero to rescue her, and it’ll make you think very differently about any damsel in distress games you play in the future.

I’ll take pretty much any kind of fic for this, but if you want some prompts, consider: what happens after she’s rescued? Was the hero dicking around collecting stars while she waited in dread or was he really trying his best to save her, getting irritated when nobody else in the world of the game seemed to take the quest seriously? Or give me some creepy stuff with the Duke as he threatens his captive- how does she respond? If you just want to write more of the Princess’ inner monologue as per the game, I’ll happily take that!

The only thing I specifically don’t want is victim blaming. Oddly enough, the article that first alerted me to this game described it as being about a wimpy princess who desperately needed to listen to some Beyonce and get empowered. Listen, you try breaking out of a castle locked and guarded by a warlord, then you get to criticize the Princess.

Horror of Dracula (character: Van Helsing)

Peter Cushing is one of my all time favorite actors, and his Van Helsing one of my all time greatest movie crushes. He’s a good guy in the truest sense of the word, that rare hero who does what he does because he’s actually kind and caring and wants to help people as opposed to just testing his strength against his foes. He’s a nerd and a swashbuckler, the perfect combination.

So, give me a story about him! He could do further battle with Dracula or any other monsters in the Hammer Horror lineup (bonus points for mistaken identity hijinks if it’s Frankenstein.) I would especially like to see him in a romance- with Mina, Lucy, Dracula’s bride, Marianne from Brides of Dracula, or an OC. But if you aren’t feeling shippy fic, then just give me some exciting, funny, angsty or otherwise interesting escapades.

Darkest Dungeon (character: Graverobber)

My beautiful, snarky noblewoman! There’s so much to play with here, be it in backstory, midgame or epilogue. Her backstory comic (http://www.darkestdungeon.com/darkest-dungeon-presents-the-grave-robber/ ) hints at a lot, but there’s still plenty to be elaborated upon. Was the man in the picture her father or her husband, and what was life like with him? Did she get into any amusing shenanigans robbing her own ancestral tombs? (Of course she did.) I would LOVE to see her interacting with members of the Crimson Court, almost her kind of people but oh so wrong. If you want to ship her with anyone feel free (my preference is the Houndmaster- ex-cop and ex-thief!- but pretty much anyone would lead to an interesting story.) And what about how her personality changes in the game with acquired strengths and weaknesses? If you just have a funny story from one of your playthroughs where she gets an odd quirk, I’d love to read it!

I’m cool with Crueltide fic here, too.

Kushiel’s Legacy

Unlike some of my other requests, I know exactly what I want here: Night Court worldbuilding! There are so many interesting houses that are either mysterious (what exactly does an adept of Orchis or Briony do?) or touched upon without elaboration (how far do adepts of Mandrake or Valerian who don’t have Phaedre’s super-masochism go?) Whether it’s smutty, romantic or behind the scenes and businesslike, featuring the characters we know and love or OCs of your own, I would really like some descriptive Night Court adventures.

#yuletide 2017

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faleronofkingsreach · 7 years

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Yuletide Letter 2017

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Hello, and thanks for writing for me! This is my third year doing Yuletide, I’ve had fantastic experiences both other times, and I’m really excited about all of my requests (and offers, though that’s probably less relevant to you). I actually had a hard time narrowing down my requests for this year, which I think bodes well.

I am alessandralee on AO3, faleronofkingsreach on tumblr, and alessandra_lee on LJ.

My fandom requests are: Orphan Island - Lauren Snyder, Call the Midwife, Emerald City, Provost’s Dog - Tamora Pierce, The Bold Type, and Wayward Children Series - Seanan McGuire.

General Likes: worldbuilding, fics that focus on the relationships between characters (be they romantic/platonic/familial/adversarial/etc.), backstory, slice of life, future fic, pining, happy endings, holiday fic (winter holidays, universe-specific holidays, or otherwise).

General dislikes: 1st/2nd person point of view, focus on non-canon pregnancy/children, non-canon character death, explicit sex, rape/noncon, incest, graphic violence, gore, character bashing. Also, I’m not really interested in receiving AUs for Yuletide this year (with 1 exception mentioned under Wayward Children).

The Bold Type (Jane Sloan & Ryan Decker) I let friends and a barrage of Facebook ads talk me into starting this show and I fell in love with it, and with Jane Sloan specifically. I love that things scare her and embarrass her, but she does them anyway (and then writes something honest and heartfelt about it). I love her friendship with Kat and Sutton, so feel free to include them and any other characters from the show in your fic. I like Ryan, hence my requesting him, but the TBT really only shows him from Jane’s point of view, so I have a hard time really pinning him down.

I really enjoy the two of them together, and would love to receive a fic that involves the two of them giving a serious, exclusive relationship a try. Jane clearly has a certain idea about what Ryan is looking for from a woman, but she hasn’t given him much of a chance to prove otherwise (nor has he put much effort into getting one). But what if he did want to date Jane seriously, and only date her? It seems like he at least entertained the idea. I’m sure there would be some missteps along the way, but I’d love to see them put in the effort. Maybe they have to go separate ways for a while, but run into each other years down the line and find that the attraction’s still there. Do they give it another go? Or do they give casual another shot, only to eventually find they want to be less casual, and then try to broach the topic again?

Call the Midwife (Trixie Franklin & Christopher Dockerill) I forget how I started watching this show, but I’ve watched the last few seasons over long weekends with my mother. I love the historical aspect (fashion! medical breakthroughs! the horrible trauma of a generation that survived World War II!), as well as the focus on women and all the different types of relationships that they have. It took me a season or two to warm up to Trixie, but as we’ve gotten to see more sides of her I’ve come to love the vulnerability that she hides under her perfectly applied eyeliner. I’ve been hoping she’ll get some sort of happy ending since she broke off her engagement to Tom, and I like the idea of Christopher being that for her. Neither one of them was entirely forthcoming about their pasts at the start of their relationship, but it was to avoid getting hurt (and in Christopher’s case, also to avoid his daughter getting hurt).

Please, please, please give me a happy ending (or middle) for these two. Whether it’s a sweet holiday interlude (I love the show’s Christmas episodes, but I’m also in for any other holiday), or something that has them both opening up a little more about their pasts (Trixie’s childhood and alcoholism, and Christopher’s divorce), and not letting that get in the way of their future. I’d love to see more of Trixie getting used to the idea of being in a relationship with a man who has a child. Trixie was really great with Alexandra during their first meeting, but things aren’t always that easy or pleasant when there’s a child involved. Alternately, I think there could be a lot to explore by having Christopher be formally introduced to the rest of the nuns and midwives. I love all of the canon pairings on the show, so feel free to include them, but I’d like the focus to be on Trixie and Christopher.

Emerald City (Dorothy Gale & Lucas/Roan) Oh man, this show sucked me in from the first episode and I was so sad to hear that it was canceled. I love tv shows/books/movies that take a well-known story and twist it up, and this was no exception. At the start, Dorothy was so clearly thrown off-kilter by being sent to a world with completely different rules than her own, but she learned to play by them and play by them well. I also love how emotional she could be. When something affected her, it was clear for everyone to see.

For this fandom, I’d like to see something that picks up where the show left off. I think there’s so much to explore there, with Dorothy returning to Oz and also being around Lucas/Roan again. Something that shows them trying to figure out where they stand with each other now would be much appreciated. They were lovers and they were enemies, and they very nearly killed each other. How do they reconcile that? Is he Lucas or is Roan or is he some combination of both of them now? Where are his loyalties now? Can they trust each other? So much of their relationship is completely up in the air and can go down so many different paths. It’s exciting to think about. I also really loved both of their relationships with Sylvie, so feel free to include her.

Orphan Island - Laurel Snyder (Abigail) I am a children’s librarian and I read this book for a committee I’m on at work. I wouldn’t say that I like the way it was open ended and mysterious, but I loved the book and the unanswered questions have definitely been circling around in my head since I finished. I will give Laurel Snyder a lot of credit, because usually books like this annoy me rather than intrigue me.

So I’d love to have your take any of the many unanswered questions. Who was Abigail, where was she from, and what happened to her? How did the first children end up on the Island? Where to the children start out from before coming to the Island, and where do they end up afterwards? Is there a purpose to the Island? How does the Island manage to provide the children with everything they need (at least until it’s rules are broke, and then how does it know the rules have been broken)? I know I requested Abigail, but if you’d like to focus on any other character or just give me worldbuilding, you do not need to include her.

Provost’s Dog - Tamora Pierce (Sabine) I’ve been reading Tamora Pierce’s books since I was a kid, and about two years ago I did a re-read of everything she’s written. I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the Provost’s Dog trilogy when it originally came out, but the second time around I got so much out of it. As an adult, I loved seeing the Tortall of the past, as well as all these events/trends/movements/etc that created the Tortall we see in Pierce’s other books.

Sabine in particular is a great example of this. We tend to think that as time moves forward society gets more progressive, but Sabine is a lady knight in a society that is becoming more narrow in its gender roles. It would be fantastic to receive something that explores that more. How does the Cult of Gentle Mother affect her life as a knight, or even her life farther down the line when she’s put down her sword? How does it affect women knights as a whole? Alternately, something that shows Sabine processing/recovering from Tunstall’s betrayal and coming to terms with the inequality he saw in their relationship would be wonderful, as would something showing her relationships with Bekah and/or Clary in the wake of this.

Wayward Children series - Seanan McGuire (any) Oh man, I was in love with this series from the moment I first read a description. And then I was completely awed by Seanan McGuire’s handling of it, especially in regards to the worlds she created for these children to have spent time in. I found every character in this tagset so interesting, and they each have so much about them to be explored, so whoever it was that you offered and whoever it is that you ended up writing about, I’m sure I’ll love it. I’m not really interested in anything shippy with regards to this series (I don’t think I really have ships for this series), so feel free to have any characters interacting in any way. Also, this is my first time requesting ‘any’ in an exchange, so I’m sorry if I’m explaining things I shouldn’t or not explaining things that I should.

Some ideas: We’ve seen/heard in first person what Nancy and the twins’ worlds were like, so I’d love to see or hear more about where Loriel, Christopher, Eleanor, and Kade went. That could be done set in their first trips to those worlds, or because one of them finds a portal back, or whatever interests you. I’d also love to see an alternate universe in which Loriel does make it back to her world. We know the Spider Queen mourned her for a long time; what was their relationship like? What happens to Jack, Jill, and/or Nancy now that they’re back in the worlds they longed for? Is it different now that things are permanent, now that they have a more concrete understanding of where they are and how they got there and where they were from? For Eleanor, what happens if she run out of time and her door closes? What happens when Eleanor goes through her door, and Kade is now in charge of the school? What would it be like for Kade to cross paths with someone who had been to the same world that he was in (maybe someone who wants to go back)? Also, any sort of worldbuilding would be much appreciated, regardless of which world you are building and which characters appear.

So that’s my letter. I hope it was easy to follow and that you now have an idea about what it is that you want to write. I am eagerly looking forward to opening your fic.

Best of luck!

Alessandra

#yuletide #yuletide 2017 #the bold type #call the midwife #emerald city #orphan island #provost's dog #wayward children

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