Rarepairs Exchange Dear Author Letter
Jun. 4th, 2021 11:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybird97Hi, Rarepairs Writer! Thank you in advance - I’m really happy and grateful that you’re writing for me.
Welcome to my All Femslash All the Time prompts :) I’m OK with ratings up to M, and generally prefer stories that are more focused on romance, emotion, and plot.
Things I Love: Strong friendship. Found family. Inclusivity. Teamwork. Smart people getting to show their intelligence; competent people getting to do what they're best at. Stories that replicate the tone and style of the original. Stories about people making discoveries about themselves: discovering their inner strength, discovering that they're in love, discovering the strength of their friendship. Well-researched history. Snappy dialogue. Hurt/comfort. Kidfic. Hopeless romanticism. Gift-giving. Epistolary. Crossovers/fusions. Time travel and just-add-magic AUs.
Absolute Do Not Want: Graphic violence. PWP. Rape, non-con, dubcon. Humiliation. (Seriously, I can't even watch The Office because humiliation makes me cringe so hard.) Sexual relationships between adults and teens. Violence against children, child abuse, or other children-in-peril. Physical or psychological torture. Homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, racism, other bigotry. (In some of these canons, those things are pretty deeply engrained into the background, so I’m OK with a mention or two, but I don’t want that to be what the story is _about_.) And please, no 'they act like they hate each other but that's actually because they're in love,' unless that's already been established in canon. I want "no" to mean "no."
And, because it is this year (sigh): no COVID, no stories about other epidemics, and no present-day politics.
Would Rather Not Have: The Five Things structure. Angst. Major character death. Plotless character studies. Modern or sci-fi AUs.
Canons and Pairings, in alphabetical order:
Black Sails: Anne/Max
I love the delicacy and hesitancy of this pair: the world has hurt them both so badly that they have a hard time trusting themselves, let alone each other, but they can recognize that they have that in common, and slowly open up to each other.
What I most want to see is something post-canon: Anne returning after months or years away to reconnect with Max. How have they both changed? What shows them that they still have the same love that they shared before? Or, maybe Max needs Anne’s help with something - a problem that she knows only Anne will understand, or that only Anne can solve - and seeks her out.
I’m OK with some of the other characters being around. It would make a lot of sense for Jack Rackham to be there, and he is such a glorious hot mess that he’ll always be a fun addition to any story; but I don’t want it to be a Max/Anne/Jack story, I want it to be Anne/Max.
Downton Abbey: Edith/Laura
Edith spent most of the series deserving SO MUCH BETTER than the storylines she was given, and Laura’s presence was one of those better things that never followed through. I love Laura’s boldness and compassion and intelligence. I love that Edith is always searching for a way to be _useful_ - to the world and to individuals alike. I love Edith’s resilience; I love the way that over the course of the series, she learns how to recognize what _she_ wants out of life rather than just defining herself for or against what her family expects.
As a pair, I love their energy together in the editing room on those late nights when they’re both working hard and finding joy in the job that they love. I love how they connect intellectually. I love that they can laugh together! I love that Laura _respects_ Edith because she can see her for who she really is, and I love that in Laura’s presence, outside the repressive expectations of her family, Edith starts to believe that she’s deserving of respect too.
I’d love a workplace-rom-com-esque story, where they start discovering their feelings while they’re working on a story together, working late nights in the editing room. Or, to go a little farther afield, maybe casefic? They’re both curious and intelligent enough to recognize that there’s a mystery that needs to be solved, and Laura’s confidence would help pull Edith along even if Edith doubted herself. And couldn’t you just see these two being those ‘companion’ ladies in an Agatha Christie-type small-village mystery?
Ted Lasso: Keeley Jones/Rebecca Welton
I love these two SO MUCH. I love their supportive friendship. I love the way that Keeley’s presence inspires Rebecca to understand that she can use her power to help rather than to harm; I love the way that Keeley looks up to Rebecca and sees a potential example to follow - but at the same time, that Keeley sees Rebecca’s vulnerability and isn’t afraid to reach out to help Rebecca heal.
I love Keeley’s humor, confidence, and utter comfort in who she is - and that that comfort doesn’t prevent her from re-examining herself and trying to change for the better. I love that Keeley sees the goodness in people even when they can’t see it themselves.
I love that Rebecca wants to be a better person even if she doesn’t realize it yet, and that though the support of her friends, she comes to understand just how much she’s lost her way. I love Rebecca’s confidence: it’s still there, even if it was buried by Rupert’s abuse. So is her compassion.
As for specific prompts: we’re in a weird position with this show because S2 is going to start during the writing period! So these prompts will be pretty closely focused on S1-specific moments so that there will be less risk of any contradictions or other weirdness from S2 developments.
The two clearest moments opportunities for connection are in 1-4 after the gala and 1-7 late at night. In 1-4, that post-gala scene practically writes itself: Rebecca and Keeley ride off in the pedicab with their champagne, and the rest is history. Maybe they have some kind of adventure while they’re riding around London - maybe Keeley spots someone who needs help and drags Rebecca along? Either way, I’d love to see them talking and sharing and having fun and opening up and supporting each other.
In 1-7, the setup also just writes itself: instead of going off alone after Roy says good night, Keeley goes to Rebecca’s room to vent about what’s just happened, and again, the rest is history.
I’m also happy if you’ve got other ideas, of course! Mostly I want to see Rebecca learning that it’s possible for her to be happy again, and these two supporting each other.
Untamed: Jiang Yanli/Wen Qing
I love Jiang Yanli’s sincerity, dedication, gentleness, kindness. I love that she keeps faith with the people she loves; I love her quiet resistance; I love the way she holds her family together.
I love Wen Qing’s intelligence, confidence, dedication, professional skill. I respect the way she grapples with her conflicted feelings about her family, and I admire how she makes the decision to turn towards doing the right thing.
As a pair, I love their combination of opposites-attract and common ground. They would both do anything for their brothers; they both take family obligations seriously; they both hope deep down that they can solve any problem just by loving people hard enough, but take action when it's needed.
My favorite interactions between them are the moments when each is the only one to notice the other: they will sometimes neglect their own needs for the sake of others - but that is exactly when each steps in to take care of the other.
I’d love a canon-divergence story where they run away to live happily ever after together. It would probably entail some kind of intrigue - one or both faking their deaths through Wen Qing’s phenomenally skilled medical cultivation techniques, maybe? Even better would be if they both continued working for justice and their families in secret. Or, hurt/comfort with Wen Qing doing her usual brilliant medical treatment - or, maybe role reversal where Jiang Yanli has to be the one to help Wen Qing.
This is also the exception to my usual rule of not being super excited about modern AUs: I love the modern AUs where Wen Qing is a driven med student/doctor and Jiang Yanli is the soft friend-to-lover.
Welcome to my All Femslash All the Time prompts :) I’m OK with ratings up to M, and generally prefer stories that are more focused on romance, emotion, and plot.
Things I Love: Strong friendship. Found family. Inclusivity. Teamwork. Smart people getting to show their intelligence; competent people getting to do what they're best at. Stories that replicate the tone and style of the original. Stories about people making discoveries about themselves: discovering their inner strength, discovering that they're in love, discovering the strength of their friendship. Well-researched history. Snappy dialogue. Hurt/comfort. Kidfic. Hopeless romanticism. Gift-giving. Epistolary. Crossovers/fusions. Time travel and just-add-magic AUs.
Absolute Do Not Want: Graphic violence. PWP. Rape, non-con, dubcon. Humiliation. (Seriously, I can't even watch The Office because humiliation makes me cringe so hard.) Sexual relationships between adults and teens. Violence against children, child abuse, or other children-in-peril. Physical or psychological torture. Homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, racism, other bigotry. (In some of these canons, those things are pretty deeply engrained into the background, so I’m OK with a mention or two, but I don’t want that to be what the story is _about_.) And please, no 'they act like they hate each other but that's actually because they're in love,' unless that's already been established in canon. I want "no" to mean "no."
And, because it is this year (sigh): no COVID, no stories about other epidemics, and no present-day politics.
Would Rather Not Have: The Five Things structure. Angst. Major character death. Plotless character studies. Modern or sci-fi AUs.
Canons and Pairings, in alphabetical order:
Black Sails: Anne/Max
I love the delicacy and hesitancy of this pair: the world has hurt them both so badly that they have a hard time trusting themselves, let alone each other, but they can recognize that they have that in common, and slowly open up to each other.
What I most want to see is something post-canon: Anne returning after months or years away to reconnect with Max. How have they both changed? What shows them that they still have the same love that they shared before? Or, maybe Max needs Anne’s help with something - a problem that she knows only Anne will understand, or that only Anne can solve - and seeks her out.
I’m OK with some of the other characters being around. It would make a lot of sense for Jack Rackham to be there, and he is such a glorious hot mess that he’ll always be a fun addition to any story; but I don’t want it to be a Max/Anne/Jack story, I want it to be Anne/Max.
Downton Abbey: Edith/Laura
Edith spent most of the series deserving SO MUCH BETTER than the storylines she was given, and Laura’s presence was one of those better things that never followed through. I love Laura’s boldness and compassion and intelligence. I love that Edith is always searching for a way to be _useful_ - to the world and to individuals alike. I love Edith’s resilience; I love the way that over the course of the series, she learns how to recognize what _she_ wants out of life rather than just defining herself for or against what her family expects.
As a pair, I love their energy together in the editing room on those late nights when they’re both working hard and finding joy in the job that they love. I love how they connect intellectually. I love that they can laugh together! I love that Laura _respects_ Edith because she can see her for who she really is, and I love that in Laura’s presence, outside the repressive expectations of her family, Edith starts to believe that she’s deserving of respect too.
I’d love a workplace-rom-com-esque story, where they start discovering their feelings while they’re working on a story together, working late nights in the editing room. Or, to go a little farther afield, maybe casefic? They’re both curious and intelligent enough to recognize that there’s a mystery that needs to be solved, and Laura’s confidence would help pull Edith along even if Edith doubted herself. And couldn’t you just see these two being those ‘companion’ ladies in an Agatha Christie-type small-village mystery?
Ted Lasso: Keeley Jones/Rebecca Welton
I love these two SO MUCH. I love their supportive friendship. I love the way that Keeley’s presence inspires Rebecca to understand that she can use her power to help rather than to harm; I love the way that Keeley looks up to Rebecca and sees a potential example to follow - but at the same time, that Keeley sees Rebecca’s vulnerability and isn’t afraid to reach out to help Rebecca heal.
I love Keeley’s humor, confidence, and utter comfort in who she is - and that that comfort doesn’t prevent her from re-examining herself and trying to change for the better. I love that Keeley sees the goodness in people even when they can’t see it themselves.
I love that Rebecca wants to be a better person even if she doesn’t realize it yet, and that though the support of her friends, she comes to understand just how much she’s lost her way. I love Rebecca’s confidence: it’s still there, even if it was buried by Rupert’s abuse. So is her compassion.
As for specific prompts: we’re in a weird position with this show because S2 is going to start during the writing period! So these prompts will be pretty closely focused on S1-specific moments so that there will be less risk of any contradictions or other weirdness from S2 developments.
The two clearest moments opportunities for connection are in 1-4 after the gala and 1-7 late at night. In 1-4, that post-gala scene practically writes itself: Rebecca and Keeley ride off in the pedicab with their champagne, and the rest is history. Maybe they have some kind of adventure while they’re riding around London - maybe Keeley spots someone who needs help and drags Rebecca along? Either way, I’d love to see them talking and sharing and having fun and opening up and supporting each other.
In 1-7, the setup also just writes itself: instead of going off alone after Roy says good night, Keeley goes to Rebecca’s room to vent about what’s just happened, and again, the rest is history.
I’m also happy if you’ve got other ideas, of course! Mostly I want to see Rebecca learning that it’s possible for her to be happy again, and these two supporting each other.
Untamed: Jiang Yanli/Wen Qing
I love Jiang Yanli’s sincerity, dedication, gentleness, kindness. I love that she keeps faith with the people she loves; I love her quiet resistance; I love the way she holds her family together.
I love Wen Qing’s intelligence, confidence, dedication, professional skill. I respect the way she grapples with her conflicted feelings about her family, and I admire how she makes the decision to turn towards doing the right thing.
As a pair, I love their combination of opposites-attract and common ground. They would both do anything for their brothers; they both take family obligations seriously; they both hope deep down that they can solve any problem just by loving people hard enough, but take action when it's needed.
My favorite interactions between them are the moments when each is the only one to notice the other: they will sometimes neglect their own needs for the sake of others - but that is exactly when each steps in to take care of the other.
I’d love a canon-divergence story where they run away to live happily ever after together. It would probably entail some kind of intrigue - one or both faking their deaths through Wen Qing’s phenomenally skilled medical cultivation techniques, maybe? Even better would be if they both continued working for justice and their families in secret. Or, hurt/comfort with Wen Qing doing her usual brilliant medical treatment - or, maybe role reversal where Jiang Yanli has to be the one to help Wen Qing.
This is also the exception to my usual rule of not being super excited about modern AUs: I love the modern AUs where Wen Qing is a driven med student/doctor and Jiang Yanli is the soft friend-to-lover.
