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The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks just don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a good story with good spelling and grammar and everyone in character and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.
If you want to make me the happiest recipient ever, here are some other things to keep in mind: I like strong women, and I love the acknowledgment that strength comes in many forms, of which the kinds put forward by modern western feminism are only a few. I like cultural diversity, and to know that culture matters to people, but I don't like it when non-western culture is fetishized or exoticised. I like quirky characters. I like acknowledgment that different people can have different points of view without either of them being wrong. I like stories that engage with problematic aspects of the source, and which deal with privilege in one way or another. If you don't know what I mean by privilege, here are a few links: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, and possibly the Spock/Uhura Racefail Prevention Post and associated links.
I like plotty, gen stories, and plotty stories in general, but I don't like explicit sex of any kind, nor sex thrown in just because. If there's going to be sex, there needs to be a reason for it within the story--it advances the plot, or characterization, or something (and, again, if you have to do it, please don't make it explicit). I'm asexual; a lot of the time I don't even bother to read the sex scenes. Romance is awesome (as long as both are in character and the romantic plot doesn't hinge on one or both of them being an idiot), but sex-for-the-sake-of-sex is pretty boring to me. I would prefer no slash.
I enjoy crossovers, if you would like to write one, but prefer them with fandoms I'm familiar with (check my tags). I have kind of a high bar for crossovers, though. Either the two universes have to fit together very well or it should be hilarious crackfic. Examples with mostly non-Yuletide fandoms: I can buy Jack O'Neill finding out about slayers and paying Rupert Giles a visit. I can buy the Criminal Minds team investigating "notorious terrorist" Sarah Connor. I can buy the Doctor showing up just about anywhere. I don't buy B5 suddenly appearing next to DS9 because the Star Trek universe and the B5 universe are just too different from one another. If it's not plausible that the two fictional universes coexist or (within the world of the two universes) that they could meet, I tend to spend most of the fic going "wait, what?" instead of enjoying it.
I like AUs, but not complete AUs (i.e. no highschool or college AUs, etc.). I like fork-in-the-road type AUs, where one thing is different and the changes all result from that one thing, and you explore what might have been if such-and-such happened. Crackfic is really hit and miss for me, sometimes I love it and sometimes I can't stand it. Basically, if it's the characters we know and love in an insane situation, that's okay. If they're OOC or parodied in order to make something funny ... it's not funny to me. I like angst, but not complete and unrelieved angst, and not angst of the type that people cause themselves, i.e. "I love him/her/it but he/she/it could never love me, so I will go off in a corner and cry rather than talk about it and take a chance on a possibility of relationship!" just makes me roll my eyes. Yes, I know people do it in real life, but it annoys me there too. Please no apocafic.
Donovan's Reef
Amelia Deham, Leilani Dedham, gen preferred. At the end of the movie, Amelia has accepted her siblings, but she's still a privileged Boston upper-class woman, with no real understanding of the gap between her experience and theirs. I'd love some exploration of the relationship between the two of them. And, you know, I love all of the other characters too, so any of them you want to include would be wonderful.
Here is my picspam/pimp post from last year. Please be very careful with this story. I love the movie, I grew up watching it regularly, but it has problems. For all its progressive (for its day) handling of the situation with the Dedham children, it handled the Asian characters poorly. Also, it was fairly misogynist in its treatment of Amelia. I would absolutely adore fic that handled the issues the film raised (and didn't raise) with more delicacy than was possible in a John Wayne action comedy of the early 1960s. Also, there really isn't much chemistry between Amelia and Gunns in the movie, so if you want to make their romance a major point you're going to have to work to convince me that they're in love, or find other reasons for them to be getting married. The Duke is a lot of fun, but my absolute favorite character is Lelani. She's young, but she's very intelligent, and very sensitive, and can stand up for herself when she has to. (I love the scene where Amelia mocks her for giving thanks to the goddess of the canyon for the Christmas tree, and Lelani quietly puts her in her place.)
Chalion series
Ingrey kin Wolfcliffe/Ijada dy Castos. Anything with these two characters, but particularly something post-book dealing with their spirit animals and the theology and politics around that.
What I love about this series is the way it brings theology to life without being preachy about it. The way theology is shown to have concrete impact on the way people act, and the way they respond to the world. It's not just gods and goddesses throwing lightning bolts around, but a truly deep spirituality that is fully integrated into the world and the characters. What I also love about the characters is that they are realistic and flawed and still manage great things despite (and sometimes because of) their flaws. What I love about Lois' works in general is the lyrical nature of her prose, the depth and breadth and weight of the way she uses words and themes and mood, though that's harder to pull off. If that's not your style of writing, I'd rather something plainly written than something overflowing with purple prose because you're not used to writing that way.
Batman Beyond
Terry McGinnis, Maxine Gibson. I would enjoy just about anything set in this universe. Some ideas: casefic. Something about Bruce training Terry to be Batman and/or Max being trained by Commisioner Gordon to be Batgirl (although obviously focusing on Terry and Max, not their mentors). Something about how Terry and/or Max make the legacy of the Bat their own. An adventure with the Justice League (not focusing on Superman).
I love the whole series and all the characters. I adore Terry and Max and Dana. I love how old and grim Bruce has gotten. I love Barbara Gordon, police commissioner. I love piecing together the history, how we got there from Justice League/BtAS/Superman. I wish we'd seen more of how Terry gets trained, because you know Batman has got to be giving him more than we see on the series. I wish we'd seen more of Max, and I wish we'd gotten to see more of Dana than just "Terry's Girlfriend". I love characters from the rest of the DC universe too, but I can get stories about them anywhere. If you bring in, say, Green Lantern or Superman or Wonder Woman I'll enjoy it, but I can get those stories anywhere. I can't get BB fic anywhere, so please do focus on the BB characters.
Bride and Prejudice
So they get married. And then what? In movies that's the end, but in real life it's just the beginning. William and Lalita come from two very different cultures, and neither of them is going to just give up their culture. And Darcy suffers from foot-in-mouth and Lalita's not the type to just let him get away with it. There will be some big adjustments for both. Then there's Balraj and Jaya--less culture gap, but still a big gap in experience. Then there's Chandra, whom I'd love to see more of (though please as little Mr. Kohli as possible). There are so many possibilities.
I love Bride and Prejudice for how vibrant it is, and how over the top, and I adore the musical numbers (though I really don't like songfic, that's one part of the movie that I don't think translates well to fic). I love how Lalita is such a forceful personality.
If you want to make me the happiest recipient ever, here are some other things to keep in mind: I like strong women, and I love the acknowledgment that strength comes in many forms, of which the kinds put forward by modern western feminism are only a few. I like cultural diversity, and to know that culture matters to people, but I don't like it when non-western culture is fetishized or exoticised. I like quirky characters. I like acknowledgment that different people can have different points of view without either of them being wrong. I like stories that engage with problematic aspects of the source, and which deal with privilege in one way or another. If you don't know what I mean by privilege, here are a few links: White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, and possibly the Spock/Uhura Racefail Prevention Post and associated links.
I like plotty, gen stories, and plotty stories in general, but I don't like explicit sex of any kind, nor sex thrown in just because. If there's going to be sex, there needs to be a reason for it within the story--it advances the plot, or characterization, or something (and, again, if you have to do it, please don't make it explicit). I'm asexual; a lot of the time I don't even bother to read the sex scenes. Romance is awesome (as long as both are in character and the romantic plot doesn't hinge on one or both of them being an idiot), but sex-for-the-sake-of-sex is pretty boring to me. I would prefer no slash.
I enjoy crossovers, if you would like to write one, but prefer them with fandoms I'm familiar with (check my tags). I have kind of a high bar for crossovers, though. Either the two universes have to fit together very well or it should be hilarious crackfic. Examples with mostly non-Yuletide fandoms: I can buy Jack O'Neill finding out about slayers and paying Rupert Giles a visit. I can buy the Criminal Minds team investigating "notorious terrorist" Sarah Connor. I can buy the Doctor showing up just about anywhere. I don't buy B5 suddenly appearing next to DS9 because the Star Trek universe and the B5 universe are just too different from one another. If it's not plausible that the two fictional universes coexist or (within the world of the two universes) that they could meet, I tend to spend most of the fic going "wait, what?" instead of enjoying it.
I like AUs, but not complete AUs (i.e. no highschool or college AUs, etc.). I like fork-in-the-road type AUs, where one thing is different and the changes all result from that one thing, and you explore what might have been if such-and-such happened. Crackfic is really hit and miss for me, sometimes I love it and sometimes I can't stand it. Basically, if it's the characters we know and love in an insane situation, that's okay. If they're OOC or parodied in order to make something funny ... it's not funny to me. I like angst, but not complete and unrelieved angst, and not angst of the type that people cause themselves, i.e. "I love him/her/it but he/she/it could never love me, so I will go off in a corner and cry rather than talk about it and take a chance on a possibility of relationship!" just makes me roll my eyes. Yes, I know people do it in real life, but it annoys me there too. Please no apocafic.
Donovan's Reef
Amelia Deham, Leilani Dedham, gen preferred. At the end of the movie, Amelia has accepted her siblings, but she's still a privileged Boston upper-class woman, with no real understanding of the gap between her experience and theirs. I'd love some exploration of the relationship between the two of them. And, you know, I love all of the other characters too, so any of them you want to include would be wonderful.
Here is my picspam/pimp post from last year. Please be very careful with this story. I love the movie, I grew up watching it regularly, but it has problems. For all its progressive (for its day) handling of the situation with the Dedham children, it handled the Asian characters poorly. Also, it was fairly misogynist in its treatment of Amelia. I would absolutely adore fic that handled the issues the film raised (and didn't raise) with more delicacy than was possible in a John Wayne action comedy of the early 1960s. Also, there really isn't much chemistry between Amelia and Gunns in the movie, so if you want to make their romance a major point you're going to have to work to convince me that they're in love, or find other reasons for them to be getting married. The Duke is a lot of fun, but my absolute favorite character is Lelani. She's young, but she's very intelligent, and very sensitive, and can stand up for herself when she has to. (I love the scene where Amelia mocks her for giving thanks to the goddess of the canyon for the Christmas tree, and Lelani quietly puts her in her place.)
Chalion series
Ingrey kin Wolfcliffe/Ijada dy Castos. Anything with these two characters, but particularly something post-book dealing with their spirit animals and the theology and politics around that.
What I love about this series is the way it brings theology to life without being preachy about it. The way theology is shown to have concrete impact on the way people act, and the way they respond to the world. It's not just gods and goddesses throwing lightning bolts around, but a truly deep spirituality that is fully integrated into the world and the characters. What I also love about the characters is that they are realistic and flawed and still manage great things despite (and sometimes because of) their flaws. What I love about Lois' works in general is the lyrical nature of her prose, the depth and breadth and weight of the way she uses words and themes and mood, though that's harder to pull off. If that's not your style of writing, I'd rather something plainly written than something overflowing with purple prose because you're not used to writing that way.
Batman Beyond
Terry McGinnis, Maxine Gibson. I would enjoy just about anything set in this universe. Some ideas: casefic. Something about Bruce training Terry to be Batman and/or Max being trained by Commisioner Gordon to be Batgirl (although obviously focusing on Terry and Max, not their mentors). Something about how Terry and/or Max make the legacy of the Bat their own. An adventure with the Justice League (not focusing on Superman).
I love the whole series and all the characters. I adore Terry and Max and Dana. I love how old and grim Bruce has gotten. I love Barbara Gordon, police commissioner. I love piecing together the history, how we got there from Justice League/BtAS/Superman. I wish we'd seen more of how Terry gets trained, because you know Batman has got to be giving him more than we see on the series. I wish we'd seen more of Max, and I wish we'd gotten to see more of Dana than just "Terry's Girlfriend". I love characters from the rest of the DC universe too, but I can get stories about them anywhere. If you bring in, say, Green Lantern or Superman or Wonder Woman I'll enjoy it, but I can get those stories anywhere. I can't get BB fic anywhere, so please do focus on the BB characters.
Bride and Prejudice
So they get married. And then what? In movies that's the end, but in real life it's just the beginning. William and Lalita come from two very different cultures, and neither of them is going to just give up their culture. And Darcy suffers from foot-in-mouth and Lalita's not the type to just let him get away with it. There will be some big adjustments for both. Then there's Balraj and Jaya--less culture gap, but still a big gap in experience. Then there's Chandra, whom I'd love to see more of (though please as little Mr. Kohli as possible). There are so many possibilities.
I love Bride and Prejudice for how vibrant it is, and how over the top, and I adore the musical numbers (though I really don't like songfic, that's one part of the movie that I don't think translates well to fic). I love how Lalita is such a forceful personality.
