Dear Fandom Growth Writer 2023

 

 Dear Fandom Growth Writer,

 

You are amazing. I want to tell you that up front, because you are.

 

Please don’t stress about this assignment. Just the fact that you are writing for any of these micro fandoms in the first place will make me ridiculously happy. Also, I love gifts in general, so I’ll be chuffed to get a prize of any shape and size. I know this letter is ridiculously long as again I love these fandoms and tend to babble, but don’t let that scare you off.

 

The only thing I do ask is that my DNW list be avoided.

 

DNW:  On the page infertility and/or miscarriage of major characters, discussion of plagues/pandemics, slave worlds, demon-possession, mind control, prostitution, noncon, dubcon, major character death unless part of canon, infidelity unless part of canon, love triangles/jealousy focus (I am far more fond of OT3ing it up), characters de-aged/aged back up during the story (if you make one of the characters a child, make them “canon” children for that story if that makes sense), A/B/O, crackfic, gangster/mob, noir settings, Modern AUs that remove canon SFF elements, amnesia, loss of limb/amputations, mpreg, underage/adult relationships, gender swap, teacher/student relationships, focus on drug abuse/alcoholism, or non-canon sibling incest. Please no 2nd person or 1st person POVs (Unless the source material for the fandom is in 1st person – then go for it!). 

 

For M-rated fics, please no knife play/blood play/gun play (only in a sexual context – canon level plot/action violence is fine), scat, watersports, rape-as-fantasy-scenes, anal for M/F pairings, and any kind of direct blow in a sexual connotation, including spanking/flogging.

 

Yes Please: Post-apocalypse, slice of life/domestic/curtainfic, epistolary stories, found family, crossovers between requested fandoms, crossovers with characters ending up at the Gertrude Hunt of Ilona Andrews’ Innkeeper Chronicles series, AUs (particularly zombie apocalypse, Black Jewels trilogy verse, daemons, steampunk/neo-Victorian, Sentinel/Guide, Old West, and Pacific Rim fusions) – tho as above I’d prefer no Modern AUs that erase any magical/supernatural elements, outsider POVs, supernatural elements like hauntings/werewolves/fae/etc., badass chicks and men who respect/lust after them for it, fixit fics to bring back killed off characters, fics where characters have kids and are adorable parents, or 5 and 1 style fics.

 

I’m definitely OK with an M-rating, and for smutty fics, I particularly love dirty talk, a clear top ordering their bottom around, hair-pulling, restraint i.e.: ropes/shibari/handcuffs/holding partner down, wall sex, shower sex, cramped vehicular sex, biting/marking (without major blood being drawn), mate bonds, “OMG we didn’t die” sex, and “sharing body heat” leading to sex.

 

Optional Re Crossovers: I also wanted to specifically mention that crossovers between any of my requested fandoms would be awesome if that’s your thing.

 

Northmen: A Viking Saga

Asbjorn/Inghean

Tom Hopper pulled me into this teeny tiny fandom after Black Sails moved him onto my fandom boyfriend list. I gotta admit, it’s such a terrible movie objectively, but it totally appeals to my love of questionable action movies. We get all the Tom Hopper biceps you might hope for in his character (and the lead) Asbjorn, though sadly he never takes the shirt completely off. As the leader of the exiled and shipwrecked Vikings, he’s awesomely competent and has mad chemistry with the female lead (the only one in the entire film sadly), Inghean. She is a Scottish princess the Vikings kidnap in hopes of ransom only to discover her father prefers to see her dead than pay for her safe return. She also is the source of the one fantasy element in the film: an earth sense that warns her when the group is in danger. All in all, I just desperately want a post-movie fic with these two. The movie ended so very abruptly, and there was so much more of the story hanging. How do they all survive the long boat? Do they ever find safety? Is it at the Viking encampment they hoped to find? Does Inghean’s earth sense end up more under control or cause people to see her as a witch? Will Inghean and Asbjorn EVER do more than stare at each other longingly?

 

Post WWI Linked Ghost Story Romances – Simone St. James
Sarah Piper & Jillian Leigh; Sarah Piper & Jillian Leigh & Kitty Weekes & Jo Manders & Ellie Winter

A friend dragged me kicking and screaming (occasionally literally thanks to the creepy factor lol) into this author’s ghost story romances, but I have loved every one of them so far and am super sad that I’m literally the only person who has written for any of the books. While not listed as a specific series, each of the books is set in the same timeframe, and there are little Easter egg mentions of various characters from earlier books showing up in the later books making all of this a true connected canon. The love interests are great, but the real stars are definitely the main characters of the ladies getting drawn into the ghostly world in one way or another. The one thing this series is lacking for me, however, are really great women friendships, and honestly, who better to be friends than these heroines? It’s not as if they could talk about what they’ve experienced with just anyone, now could they? While SILENCE OF THE DEAD is my fave, and I’ve read INQUIRY INTO LOVE AND DEATH most recently, all five of the books are a delight, and I’d love to see letters between any of these ladies or even something like a “Ladies Paranormalist Meeting” minutes. Mentions of the men from the series will of course be welcome, but I really want a focus on these women being friends and/or correspondents with each other.

 

An Inquiry into Love and Death – Simone St. James 
Jillian Leigh/Drew Merriken, Jillian Leigh & Toby Leigh
As I mentioned above, INQUIRY is the book I’ve read most recently for the series (and the only one already with an archive listing), so I figured I’d go ahead and request it separately. For Drew and Jillian, I would love a glimpse into how their courtship goes after she returns to University. This is a fandom where I think epistolary stories/romance would be especially fun, though I also wouldn’t mind seeing a few ghostly letters show up from her Father/Uncle as if he was able to follow her home and finally manage to almost be family from the other side as he never was capable of in life. But regardless, Drew and Jillian are a delight on their own! For other prompts, glimpses of the book Toby might have written or even a coauthored book by Toby and Jillian for a posthumous release could be really cool to play with.

 

The Innkeeper Chronicles - Ilona Andrews

Dina Demille/Sean Evans, Dina Demille & Gertrude Hunt, Sean Evans & Gertrude Hunt, Gertrude Hunt & None

Really what’s not to love about an intergalactic Bed and Breakfast? Dina/Sean have my whole heart I swear, though honestly I really love all of the characters in this story, especially the inn itself, Gertrude Hunt which DEFINITELY feels like a character all on its own (Inn POV fic?). So, prompt/concepts I’m excited about: I’d love to have a 1st POV fic ala the books (though from any character you like – Dina, of course, is always a win as the book’s POV character, but I’m game for a look into anyone’s head, especially outsider POV on Dina/Sean), & I’d like it mostly set in and around Gertrude Hunt since the inn is a delight and the other “character” I specifically requested. Domestic fic in particular would make me super happy here. We always see Dina in a panic, but rarely get those calm moments of life running like normal or even with a guest that ISN’T close to causing an intergalactic incident. Of course, if you do want to write an action fic I’d be happy to read that as well. Seriously run wild – this series just makes me happy in general. BTW, I would definitely be thrilled to have a crossover with any of the other Ilona Andrews series as long as it’s taking place in the Innkeeper universe.

 

The Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (2008)

Jacob Thain
Y’all, this movie is so SO bad in the best of ways. It’s just the embodiment of “crack taken seriously” for me with well known actors trying SO HARD to save this movie from its questionable script and really terrible special effects. My fave character (unsurprisingly for anyone who knows my various fandom boyfriends) was Jacob Thain (played by Michael Shanks aka Daniel Jackson from Stargate who is once again delightfully playing an archeologist which just WORKS for me lol) the seemingly snooty useless academic caricature who slowly reveals his competency over the course of the movie, complete with a fluency in an “ancient” Aztec language and familiarity in escaping traps that gives the strong impression he has in fact been in the field many times, despite the impression everyone else on the dig has of him being useless. Basically he’s a walking competency kink for me, and I really REALLY enjoy Michael Shanks speaking various languages LOL. As to prompts, I’d love to see prequel type adventures dealing with his past and where he’s gained his skills, or alternately sequel type stories with or without Susan Jordan as an ongoing love interest (her character was very meh to me sadly). Also fun would possibly be crossovers with other adventure/archeologist characters be they from The Librarians or The Mummy movies. Mostly I just want to see this fandom get its first fic in the archive!

Christmas Lodge (2011)

Jack Rand & Charlene Rand, Mary Tobin/Jack Rand
Oh hey it’s another random Michael Shanks fandom (why yes I tend to have the current fandom boyfriend in multiple exchange requests – I regret nothing! LOL). This one is an utterly sticky sweet comfort movie for me. It’s very Hallmark movie, but while yes, it’s got a huge amount of Christian scripture (which you can DEFINITELY skip both in the movie and in the fic), it’s surprisingly feminist with Mary getting to both get the guy AND still keep the job she’s amazing at, to the point that her job opens a new office just for her to allow her to work in the rural area with the small towns she loves. Jack Rand (Michael Shanks’s character) is my catnip as far as romance hero bait: he’s a single dad who cooks and adores his daughter and who’s struggling to rebuild the lodge his family has built and run for so long but that fell to ruin while he was mourning his wife and helping his late parents through ill health before their deaths, as well. The costume director definitely leaned into the romance novel tropes, dressing him in flannels and sweaters and henleys and bonus tool belts just in case we weren’t quite sold on him as yet another walking competency kink LOLOL. It’s just a really sweet low stakes romance, y’all, and it screams the holiday season mood for me. Prompt wise, I’d really love domestic fic vibes with anything from Jack and Charlene as their tiny family prior to the movie to Mary and Jack and Charlene building their family together and continuing to run Christmas Lodge as a functioning vacation lodge/B&B for years to come (I don’t know what it is but I really do love B&Bs). I’d also love more of Mary and Jack as a couple, whether it’s getting together or them as a couple. And yes, yes, this DOES mean I would welcome smut – the movie literally doesn’t even have them kiss until Jack proposes LOL, so uh, a little more chemistry and physicality would be great. For a completely off the wall, specific prompt – if you have read and are a fan of the Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews, I think it could be a blast to see Christmas Lodge as one of the magical intergalactic Inns with Jack Rand as an Innkeeper and Mary having to learn just how magical the lodge actually is. Obviously not remotely required – just figured I’d mention it since it popped into my head!

 

Rolling in the Deep Series – Mira Grant (including both Prequel novella ROLLING IN THE DEEP and sequel novel INTO THE DROWNING DEEP)

Victoria “Tori” Stewart/Olivia Sanderson, Olivia Sanderson & Ray Marino

Y’all Seanan McGuire (and her horror pen name Mira Grant) has claimed my all-time fave author title, and these books are the perfect example of why. Deep. Sea. Murder. Mermaids. DEEP SEA MURDER MERMAIDS. Run amok here seriously, I’m game for anything including crossovers especially though I have NO IDEA how you’ll pull it off with some of the other fandoms I’ve requested. Prompt wise:  1) Pacific Rim AU with Tori/Olivia as pilots against said murder mermaids and their monstrous females of the species who’ve finally figured out how to survive out of the deepest depths long enough to reach shore to hunt? 2) Ray & Olivia’s bromance was one of my fave relationships here and I’d love to see it not end the way it did – fixit fic for the win! 3) Anything playing with the mixed media format from the books: transcripts from the survivors of the Melucine, Tori & Louis’s scientific presentation of their findings, emails between Oliva and/or Ray and Imagine? 4) The previous “mockumentaries” Imagine did – were they all actually as fake as thought or did the people on site cover something else up? Were Olivia and Ray (and possibly Anne?) involved in tracking down Bigfoot or a chupacabra? Is Tori dragged along in their wake if the next one takes place after the Melucine?  Aside from that, I’m always a fan of stories that crossover various fandoms by the same author, so I’d totally be game with a related Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant verse character or setting colliding with this one!

 

Welp, that’s what I’ve got! Thanks for reading all the way through this long LONG letter (what can I say – I babble about the things I love LOLOL). I look forward to what you come up with!