primeideal (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
primeideal) wrote2023-03-10 09:21 pm
primeideal) wrote2023-03-10 09:21 pm
Entry tags:
Dear Writer (Sufficiently Advanced Exchange 2023)
Dear Author,
Hello! I am also primeideal on Ao3, and I am requesting fic for all fandoms. I'm very excited for this exchange because I love speculative books in general and these fandoms in particular; anything involving the requested characters/relationships/worldbuilding will be wonderful, so feel free to use as little or as much of this as is helpful. Prompts will be spoilery. Treats are enabled on my Ao3 account.
I have many previous dear author letters from which much of this is copied, pasted, and endlessly rewritten. I've written/blogged more heavily about several of these fandoms than others at times, but I would be equally delighted with fic for any one of them.
Animorphs
Aftran & or / Cassie
How would anything post-29 have been different if Aftran had stayed either in Cassie or elsewhere in the human world? How does Aftran decide who to trust in the Peace Movement with the Animorphs' secret? One of the "canon AUs" (the 41 dystopia, time travel stuff) if Aftran had been there?
the team
Lighthearted moments when they're able to enjoy life without the war encroaching? More weird time travel/alternate universe nonsense? Which of their adventures make the history books later, and which are censored even after the invasion is revealed?
Ax & Tobias
Ax's misunderstandings about human culture? Tobias visits the Andalite homeworld with Ax post-canon? Some human developments encroach on the scoop and they have to move?
Elfangor/Loren
Rachel/Tobias
Battle Royale
Mizuho Inada
More from her perspective, seeing the conflict as part of her fantasy? Her relationships with other students before the Program? What if she had teamed up with someone else? Or hey, this is an SFF exchange--what if the Program really was some kind of VR game where deaths aren't permanent, but the kids have to decide whether they can go through with murdering their classmates or dare to break the rules and defy the system? Her gaming experience might be just what the class needs!
Shogo Kawada
Shogo as an unreliable narrator: what was his relationship with Keiko (or lack thereof) really like, and how has it changed in Shogo's memories/attempts to manipulate Shuya, Noriko, the adults, others? What were the other important events of his first Program? Does he have any regrets or compunctions about hacking the collars, even knowing it might put his new class at risk? What if he'd survived--would he be able to adapt to freedom or resent the spotlight?
Children of the Star
Noren & Stefred
Stefred is such a compelling antagonist--deeply on Noren's side, but he can't show it! I'd be interested in seeing something from his POV on Noren's ordeals at any point during canon. What was his heresy experience like, and did he ever talk about it with Noren? Or maybe a relatively peaceful moment where they actually can collaborate as Scholars on the same side.
Noren/Talyra
What first attracted them to each other, when they were students and Noren was still grappling with his skepticism? Talyra has a way of seeing Noren's hopeful, faithful side even when he can't see it in himself--where else does that play out? What if Talyra had survived--how would that change the research trajectory?
Original Founder
The Founders watched their home solar system annihilated, some of their peers died from suicide, their leader has proposed an oppressive caste-based hierarchy, they're living on barebones rations for the first time, and now the leader is coming up with a weird martyrdom scheme. I feel like it would be very hard to stay sane in these circumstances, much less work with science and faith towards a brighter future, but they did it. Tell me what was going through their heads.
Original Futurity Settler
The adults of Futurity are villagers who revere Noren as a prophet even though he tries to downplay it, who have new rituals that set them apart from the villages and let them drink untreated water. The adopted children are City-born whose biology parents are all very smart and rebellion-minded. And the children born in Futurity have never known a world except the one with the Archpriest. How do any of these people understand their neighbors in the villages? The Prophecy? Noren? What new rituals develop in the new city?
Mistborn
I have read Era 2, so if you want to bring anything from that in, feel free, but not expected.
Sazed
Sazed's patient, scholarly attitude seems like it could make for an awkward contrast to the skaa thieves--what were the early days like with Kelsier's crew? What kinds of history did Sazed and Tindwyl pass on to each other? What are some of the other religions he's studied? Or, Harmony in the era between the trilogies, watching over the planet while trying to balance the opposing forces of Ruin and Preservation? For Era 2 stuff: watching other planets to see how technology is advancing? Calculating some of the potential extremes of Allomancy? (Like the "Lost Metal" climax.)
Ryland Grace & or / Rocky
BFFs being nerds and saving each other's lives! How, if ever, does Grace tell Rocky the truth about his "volunteering" for the mission, or the irony/significance of his name? What's something that one takes for granted, and the other is shocked by? Do they ever have a serious argument--what was it about, and how did they reconcile?
Specifically for the shippy version: maybe Grace is touch-starved and Rocky wants to help, but they can't share each others' spaces, so...engineering to the rescue? (I'd prefer no infidelity, so Adrian isn't in the picture.)
Original Blip-A Crew Member
What was life like on the first Eridian spaceship in the early days? What were some of the other specialties the crew was chosen for? How did they react when the mysterious illness set in? A fix-it where more than one of them are alive when the Hail Mary gets there--do they disagree over how to interact with the squishy aliens?
Remembrance of Earth's Past
Cheng Xin
Secrets at Red Coast Base? Some more of the "declassified" documents? The early days of the ETO? What did she work out about Dark Forest theory before meeting Luo Ji? What if Yang Dong had talked to her about the documents she'd sneaked a look at? Or if Ye had lived long enough to discover more of Deterrence theory herself?
Original Galactic Human
Are humans fundamentally different for having left their homeworld under these circumstances? Do the crew of Gravity and Blue Space make a difference between their origins once they've merged? Do they have alien encounters that go better than the Trisolarans'? If "A Past Outside of Time" is Cheng Xin's legacy and testament to the new universe, do the galactic humans leave behind records of their own? What are the important parts of their history that they choose to highlight?
Steerswoman
Bel, Bel/Rowan
I love all the complexities of Outskirter society, and the differences among the various tribes. More about Bel's approach to life as a warrior and a bard--in her own tribe? With Kammeryn's people? How do Outskirters who only know her through her poetry imagine her? How did she learn to appreciate the "once upon a time" structure when adapting to the Inner Lands?
There are lots of great tropey moments with Bel and Rowan that can be either shippy or gen: huddling for warmth, teaching each other swordplay, taking care of each other when they get dysentery! I'd be interested to see a shippy expansion on any of these, or something else along these lines. Another misunderstanding with the courtship gifts outside the tent?
What Has Passed Shall In Kinder Light Appear
Xie Baosheng/Qiqi
-Let them be happy! More of the afterlife/dream world/reunion stuff glimpsed in the epilogue.
-I'm not interested in a completely mundane AU, but I'd be interested in something set in the "real world" timeline where one or both characters have memories of their canon timestream, or feel like something is off in some way. Other kinds of time travel/time loops/weird paradoxes?
-Something from Qiqi's POV showing her life as a person beyond just Xie Baosheng's love interest.
Historical events elsewhere in the world
I didn't know a great deal about Chinese history when I read this story, but the way events like the Olympics and the USA's Middle East policy are world news, to say nothing of all the fandom/nerd references, I had no trouble figuring out what was going on! I'd love to see something that took this premise/style and adapted it to another place and/or time. Write what you know! And/or what you think would be neat to delve into!
Wheel of Time
Egwene
I love Egwene's journey as someone who chooses to join the adventure, rather than being dragged along by destiny, and learns from every opportunity she faces. Tell me more about her time among the Aiel? Dealing with headaches, literal and figurative? Her private war against Elaida, combining the different Ajahs' strengths and inspiring the novices around her? What if she'd survived--would she really have led the Tower for centuries, or move on to new horizons?
Verin
We love an absentminded plump grandma triple agent! What was in some the other letters she sent? Her research on southeastern reptiles? The first time she realized she was in over her head with the Black Ajah, or the worst thing she's ever done to keep her cover? She was apparently a Moiraine/Siuan shipper back in the day, leaving out snacks while the Accepted studied...give me her POV on their relationship! A fix-it where the Oath Rod saves her?
Rand + Galad
Chosen One with three lovers and supremely chaste do-gooder discover they're long-lost family, hilarity ensues. They meet through Elayne and try to be polite for her sake but they're obviously not hitting it off? Does Rand introduce himself in the post-canon timeframe? Does Galad have any memories of Tigraine to share? What if Galad shows up at the Black Tower? (Some of the descriptions of his duel with Valda seem a little bit like channelers' awareness...)
Post-Canon Aiel
I am strongly of the opinion that Aviendha's vision was like the Ghost of Christmas Future in "A Christmas Carol"--these are only things that may be, not necessarily what will be. However, there's a lot to explore with the Aiel even in a peaceful setting. How do they adjust to the Wetlands? Do they form cities or remain nomadic? What is their relationship with the Tuatha'an like now, or with Cairhien? Do the Dragon's descendants have any special distinctions? What about the Shaido back in the Three-Fold Land: are they the "remnant of a remnant" that retain an Aiel identity in the old sense?
White Tower worldbuilding
I love all the details of the magic school, and I'd be interested in seeing a "normal" day in the life while we aren't worried about the protagonists or the end of the Age. What are all the other depositories in the library like? What little traditions/decorations/traits are unique to each Ajah? What are some of the other items of Power locked away in the storerooms?
Crossovers
Rowan (Steerswoman) & Noren (Children of the Star)
Their stories and worlds are so similar in terms of "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"--I think they should hang out and compare notes! Feel free to handwave whether it's set more in Rowan's world or Noren's, or whatever.
-Noren is awed by the existence of the Steerswomen and is jealous that a low-tech society still has such rigorous scientific research
-Rowan's vow of honesty gets her in trouble with Noren's neighbors, or maybe she's just floored at the authorities not answering her questions
-Something contrasting the role that religion plays as a source of authority in Noren's world and a marginal institution in Rowan's
-Post-canon where one or both is a space traveler and laughing at how much more sense everything makes now
----
Again, this is all optional--anything that excites you about these fandoms will be fascinating to me, too. Thanks for writing for me!
Hello! I am also primeideal on Ao3, and I am requesting fic for all fandoms. I'm very excited for this exchange because I love speculative books in general and these fandoms in particular; anything involving the requested characters/relationships/worldbuilding will be wonderful, so feel free to use as little or as much of this as is helpful. Prompts will be spoilery. Treats are enabled on my Ao3 account.
I have many previous dear author letters from which much of this is copied, pasted, and endlessly rewritten. I've written/blogged more heavily about several of these fandoms than others at times, but I would be equally delighted with fic for any one of them.
General Likes:
-canon-divergence AUs
-five things
-worldbuilding
-dialogue
-wit and wordplay
-nonstandard formats (documentation, epistolary, etc.)
-interactive fiction--I prefer formats like Twine to open-ended parsers.
-happy endings
-sad endings (when providing some measure of closure or melodrama; I'm fine with character death!)
General DNWs: (see fandom specific-notes for further details)
-explicit sex
-underage characters having sex
-rape/noncon
-second person POV (in "normal" prose, happy with it in IF or the like)
-neopronouns
-neopronouns
-moralizing/didactic stories (characters Learning An Important Lesson about the value of tolerance, etc.)
-non-canonical allegories of current events and/or contemporary politics (Ye Wenjie in the Cultural Revolution: fine; Cheng Xin comments on a Xi Jinping stand-in: no thanks. Marco flirts with the governor of California: fine; Marco flirts with the governor and this is a metaphor for the Newsom administration: no thanks.)
-character bashing
-cliffhanger endings
-themes of cynicism or futility, or that the (canon's) main plotlines "are for nothing"
Animorphs
Aftran & or / Cassie
How would anything post-29 have been different if Aftran had stayed either in Cassie or elsewhere in the human world? How does Aftran decide who to trust in the Peace Movement with the Animorphs' secret? One of the "canon AUs" (the 41 dystopia, time travel stuff) if Aftran had been there?
the team
Lighthearted moments when they're able to enjoy life without the war encroaching? More weird time travel/alternate universe nonsense? Which of their adventures make the history books later, and which are censored even after the invasion is revealed?
Ax & Tobias
Ax's misunderstandings about human culture? Tobias visits the Andalite homeworld with Ax post-canon? Some human developments encroach on the scoop and they have to move?
Elfangor/Loren
-their time building a life on Earth. Elfangor's reaction to human tastes? How did they acquire DNA for him to morph? Are Tobias' aunt and uncle Loren's sibling(s)/that person's ex?/related to the fake husband that the Ellimist retcons in?
-they use the Time Matrix to go somewhere else--a new "pocket universe"? Elsewhere in the past or future of canon?
-Elfangor stays on Earth and they organize a human resistance as the Yeerk threat grows
-Loren gets her memories back somehow (the hirac delest shows up? Something like the utzum ritual? Ellimist nonsense?)
Outsider POV on "who's that kid Rachel is dancing with, didn't he used to be in our class"? Tobias has to interact with Rachel's dad or sisters and is flustered? AU where Rachel survives but they're both struggling to pick up the pieces?
Battle Royale
Mizuho Inada
More from her perspective, seeing the conflict as part of her fantasy? Her relationships with other students before the Program? What if she had teamed up with someone else? Or hey, this is an SFF exchange--what if the Program really was some kind of VR game where deaths aren't permanent, but the kids have to decide whether they can go through with murdering their classmates or dare to break the rules and defy the system? Her gaming experience might be just what the class needs!
Shogo Kawada
Shogo as an unreliable narrator: what was his relationship with Keiko (or lack thereof) really like, and how has it changed in Shogo's memories/attempts to manipulate Shuya, Noriko, the adults, others? What were the other important events of his first Program? Does he have any regrets or compunctions about hacking the collars, even knowing it might put his new class at risk? What if he'd survived--would he be able to adapt to freedom or resent the spotlight?
Children of the Star
Noren & Stefred
Stefred is such a compelling antagonist--deeply on Noren's side, but he can't show it! I'd be interested in seeing something from his POV on Noren's ordeals at any point during canon. What was his heresy experience like, and did he ever talk about it with Noren? Or maybe a relatively peaceful moment where they actually can collaborate as Scholars on the same side.
Noren/Talyra
What first attracted them to each other, when they were students and Noren was still grappling with his skepticism? Talyra has a way of seeing Noren's hopeful, faithful side even when he can't see it in himself--where else does that play out? What if Talyra had survived--how would that change the research trajectory?
Original Founder
The Founders watched their home solar system annihilated, some of their peers died from suicide, their leader has proposed an oppressive caste-based hierarchy, they're living on barebones rations for the first time, and now the leader is coming up with a weird martyrdom scheme. I feel like it would be very hard to stay sane in these circumstances, much less work with science and faith towards a brighter future, but they did it. Tell me what was going through their heads.
Original Futurity Settler
The adults of Futurity are villagers who revere Noren as a prophet even though he tries to downplay it, who have new rituals that set them apart from the villages and let them drink untreated water. The adopted children are City-born whose biology parents are all very smart and rebellion-minded. And the children born in Futurity have never known a world except the one with the Archpriest. How do any of these people understand their neighbors in the villages? The Prophecy? Noren? What new rituals develop in the new city?
Mistborn
I have read Era 2, so if you want to bring anything from that in, feel free, but not expected.
Sazed
Sazed's patient, scholarly attitude seems like it could make for an awkward contrast to the skaa thieves--what were the early days like with Kelsier's crew? What kinds of history did Sazed and Tindwyl pass on to each other? What are some of the other religions he's studied? Or, Harmony in the era between the trilogies, watching over the planet while trying to balance the opposing forces of Ruin and Preservation? For Era 2 stuff: watching other planets to see how technology is advancing? Calculating some of the potential extremes of Allomancy? (Like the "Lost Metal" climax.)
Feruchemical use of lerasium
Lerasium is Preservation's essence. Feruchemy "preserves" attributes by letting them travel through time. Atium was used to store age. What kind of weirdness could lerasium be used for? Time travel? Something like Hemalurgy, but less violent? Duplicating memories without losing the originals? Go crazy.
Ryland Grace & or / Rocky
BFFs being nerds and saving each other's lives! How, if ever, does Grace tell Rocky the truth about his "volunteering" for the mission, or the irony/significance of his name? What's something that one takes for granted, and the other is shocked by? Do they ever have a serious argument--what was it about, and how did they reconcile?
Specifically for the shippy version: maybe Grace is touch-starved and Rocky wants to help, but they can't share each others' spaces, so...engineering to the rescue? (I'd prefer no infidelity, so Adrian isn't in the picture.)
Original Blip-A Crew Member
What was life like on the first Eridian spaceship in the early days? What were some of the other specialties the crew was chosen for? How did they react when the mysterious illness set in? A fix-it where more than one of them are alive when the Hail Mary gets there--do they disagree over how to interact with the squishy aliens?
Remembrance of Earth's Past
Cheng Xin
A fix-it where she doesn't miss Yun Tianming at their star? Any kind of outside POV on her and the many different hats she wears: Older men patronizing her during Project Staircase? The humans resenting her in Australia? Luo Ji and the museum? What if she'd stayed on the cylinder worlds near Jupiter where things felt "normal" and 2000s-y? Her relationship with Guan Yifan--is he really a different kind of human for having been to space, or are they more two sides of the same coin?
Ye WenjieSecrets at Red Coast Base? Some more of the "declassified" documents? The early days of the ETO? What did she work out about Dark Forest theory before meeting Luo Ji? What if Yang Dong had talked to her about the documents she'd sneaked a look at? Or if Ye had lived long enough to discover more of Deterrence theory herself?
Original Galactic Human
Are humans fundamentally different for having left their homeworld under these circumstances? Do the crew of Gravity and Blue Space make a difference between their origins once they've merged? Do they have alien encounters that go better than the Trisolarans'? If "A Past Outside of Time" is Cheng Xin's legacy and testament to the new universe, do the galactic humans leave behind records of their own? What are the important parts of their history that they choose to highlight?
Steerswoman
Bel, Bel/Rowan
I love all the complexities of Outskirter society, and the differences among the various tribes. More about Bel's approach to life as a warrior and a bard--in her own tribe? With Kammeryn's people? How do Outskirters who only know her through her poetry imagine her? How did she learn to appreciate the "once upon a time" structure when adapting to the Inner Lands?
There are lots of great tropey moments with Bel and Rowan that can be either shippy or gen: huddling for warmth, teaching each other swordplay, taking care of each other when they get dysentery! I'd be interested to see a shippy expansion on any of these, or something else along these lines. Another misunderstanding with the courtship gifts outside the tent?
What Has Passed Shall In Kinder Light Appear
Xie Baosheng/Qiqi
-Let them be happy! More of the afterlife/dream world/reunion stuff glimpsed in the epilogue.
-I'm not interested in a completely mundane AU, but I'd be interested in something set in the "real world" timeline where one or both characters have memories of their canon timestream, or feel like something is off in some way. Other kinds of time travel/time loops/weird paradoxes?
-Something from Qiqi's POV showing her life as a person beyond just Xie Baosheng's love interest.
Historical events elsewhere in the world
I didn't know a great deal about Chinese history when I read this story, but the way events like the Olympics and the USA's Middle East policy are world news, to say nothing of all the fandom/nerd references, I had no trouble figuring out what was going on! I'd love to see something that took this premise/style and adapted it to another place and/or time. Write what you know! And/or what you think would be neat to delve into!
Wheel of Time
Egwene
I love Egwene's journey as someone who chooses to join the adventure, rather than being dragged along by destiny, and learns from every opportunity she faces. Tell me more about her time among the Aiel? Dealing with headaches, literal and figurative? Her private war against Elaida, combining the different Ajahs' strengths and inspiring the novices around her? What if she'd survived--would she really have led the Tower for centuries, or move on to new horizons?
Verin
We love an absentminded plump grandma triple agent! What was in some the other letters she sent? Her research on southeastern reptiles? The first time she realized she was in over her head with the Black Ajah, or the worst thing she's ever done to keep her cover? She was apparently a Moiraine/Siuan shipper back in the day, leaving out snacks while the Accepted studied...give me her POV on their relationship! A fix-it where the Oath Rod saves her?
Rand + Galad
Chosen One with three lovers and supremely chaste do-gooder discover they're long-lost family, hilarity ensues. They meet through Elayne and try to be polite for her sake but they're obviously not hitting it off? Does Rand introduce himself in the post-canon timeframe? Does Galad have any memories of Tigraine to share? What if Galad shows up at the Black Tower? (Some of the descriptions of his duel with Valda seem a little bit like channelers' awareness...)
Post-Canon Aiel
I am strongly of the opinion that Aviendha's vision was like the Ghost of Christmas Future in "A Christmas Carol"--these are only things that may be, not necessarily what will be. However, there's a lot to explore with the Aiel even in a peaceful setting. How do they adjust to the Wetlands? Do they form cities or remain nomadic? What is their relationship with the Tuatha'an like now, or with Cairhien? Do the Dragon's descendants have any special distinctions? What about the Shaido back in the Three-Fold Land: are they the "remnant of a remnant" that retain an Aiel identity in the old sense?
White Tower worldbuilding
I love all the details of the magic school, and I'd be interested in seeing a "normal" day in the life while we aren't worried about the protagonists or the end of the Age. What are all the other depositories in the library like? What little traditions/decorations/traits are unique to each Ajah? What are some of the other items of Power locked away in the storerooms?
Crossovers
Rowan (Steerswoman) & Noren (Children of the Star)
Their stories and worlds are so similar in terms of "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"--I think they should hang out and compare notes! Feel free to handwave whether it's set more in Rowan's world or Noren's, or whatever.
-Noren is awed by the existence of the Steerswomen and is jealous that a low-tech society still has such rigorous scientific research
-Rowan's vow of honesty gets her in trouble with Noren's neighbors, or maybe she's just floored at the authorities not answering her questions
-Something contrasting the role that religion plays as a source of authority in Noren's world and a marginal institution in Rowan's
-Post-canon where one or both is a space traveler and laughing at how much more sense everything makes now
----
Again, this is all optional--anything that excites you about these fandoms will be fascinating to me, too. Thanks for writing for me!