CandyHeartsExchange Dear Author Letter

[obstinatecondolement]

Dear CandyHeartsExchangeAuthor,

I'm SweetPollyOliver! Thank you so much for offering one of my fandoms! I'm very excited to see what you write.

First and foremost: I am very easy to please, so please do not get stressed worrying about what I would like or dislike. I would much rather you write something you really enjoy than think I made you fret! My letters tend to be pretty loose and vague as a rule, in part because prompts don't come very easily to me and in part because I like to be surprised, but I will do my best to give some guidelines in case that’s what you’d prefer to work with. But they are just that: guidelines. Beyond my DNWs, I’m very happy for you to follow your own muse wherever it leads you, be it SFW or NSFW, gen or shippy, fluffy or angsty, plotty or a snapshot of a moment in time.

General SFW likes:

• Found family
• Character studies
• Quiet, domestic stories
• Loud, dynamic stories
• Polyamory/non-monogamy (very much including various forms of non-monogamy other than triads, such as vee arrangements or open relationships etc.)
• Post-canon stories
• Trans headcanons
• Disability themes (e.g. access intimacy)
• Getting together
• Queer platonic partnerships
• Knitting or other kinds of crafts
• Themes of aging
• kid fic and pregancy fic

General NSFW likes:

• Oral sex
• Friends with benefits/platonic sex
• Non-penetrative sex
• Intercrural sex
• First time bottoming (and, more generally, first time doing [x] sex act/discovering something new in bed)
• Unsafe sex (can intersect with breeding kink)

DNWs:

• Humiliation kink (non-kinky humiliation is fine)
• Feeding fetish
• Sadism
• Unnegotiated kink (it’s fine if the negotiation happens offscreen and isn't alluded to much or at all, just so long as what’s happening isn’t explicitly completely spontaneous for the characters)
• Choking
• Dark fic (angst is fine, melancholy or bittersweet endings are fine, but I don’t want something that is primarily intended to be disturbing)

Requests:

I have requested fic as the medium for all of my fandom requests

Discworld

Spoilers for Discworld

Requested relationships:

• Mustrum Ridcully/Esmerelda "Granny" Weatherwax — this ship has utterly captivated me since I first read Lords and Ladies aged about 10. I just love that hardheaded Ridcully was so taken with Granny Weatherwax in such a romantic and impractical way. I also love that she was more interested in being a witch, but harboured some wistfulness. I would prefer a canon-like fic where they were a "it might have been" style ship, or, alternately, that you write something set when they were young before they broke up as opposed to writing an AU where they stayed together
• Adora Belle Dearheart/Moist von Lipwig — I'm as in love with this ship as Moist is with Spike. I'm really happy with wherever you want to take this, whether it be something G-rated and plotty or a kinky PWP or anything in between
• Mort/Ysabell — I really enjoy how Ysabell was not even a little bit Mort's first love and how they bickered their way through the book before falling in love in a quite quiet and understated way. I also love how their happy ending is quite sad in its own way, with Mort living on borrowed time (and then them both dying young at the start of Soul Music), but that this doesn't take away from the happiness they do have together. If you wanted to write something about how Susan came along and tinge the happiness of that with how it must have felt for Mort knowing that he was going to die when his daughter was still young, that would be great
• Magrat Garlick & Gytha "Nanny" Ogg & Esmerelda "Granny" Weatherwax — I have so many feelings about the witches. Go absolutely hog wild here, there are no wrong moves. I just love how they are like a colony of cats: descended from a solitary ancestor, but now they have learned to depend on each other. I... may be overextending this metaphor. I really love Magrat's journey as a witch and her on again off again relationship to witching, so something like a Five Times Magrat Quit Being A Witch fic or something would be amazing, but this is just one idea out of a possible squillion that I'd be ecstatic to read
• Susan Sto Helit & Ysabell — Ysabell and Susan's relationship is a bit of a mystery, given that (to my recollection) we don't see them interacting in canon. I would be very interested to see something about Susan's early childhood, or something set later where she reflects on her mother. One thing that intrigues me is that Ysabell was quite... soppy? But then very deliberately raised Susan to be an unsentimental rationalist, so that might be something to explore
• Binky & Death — a skellington and his horse ♥ I just... love Death so much and I love that he created Binky (and the Death of Rats, etc.) and that he adopts all these human trappings and that he believes in the big lies of justice, mercy and duty and that he in his own way aspires to be nearer the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape and I think that Binky plays a very large part in that. Maybe something about how he named Binky would be nice? But, again, go nuts, this relationship has a deep vein of possibilities to mine and I'd be happy with whatever you extract

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Spoilers for DS9

Requested relationships:

Ezri Dax/Quark — I actually missed nominations, so I was delighted to see this in the tagset! I love this ship (although I am glad that it was never canon, because I do not trust the DS9 writers as far as I can throw them with the majority of f/m relationships). Something post-canon, post-Julian/Ezri breakup would be great,but don't feel married to that if you'd rather go another route.

Quark & Rom — I find this relationship so fascinating! Quark is so appalling to Rom, but out of nothing but love and a desire to do right by him (by... doing wrong by him, sometimes). I would really love to see something digging into the ways that Quark's personal sense of morality clashes with his Ferengi ideals and how that influences his relationship with Rom and, on the flip side, how Rom accepted falling outside the Ferengi norm so much more easily than Quark and how and why that was

Kira Nerys & Tora Ziyal — I wish we had been able to see more of this relationship in canon! I think that Kira's gentleness with Ziyal (even to the point of trying not to damage her relationship with her father, a man who would have killed her if Kira hadn't intervened (along with the many other legitimate reasons Kira has to despise Dukat)) is such an important part of her character. She is less optimistic than Ziyal, as a character, but she never tries to change her

Kira Nerys & Jake Sisko — I often think of that last shot in DS9 with Kira walking up to Jake and putting her arm around him while they both look out at the wormhole. I'd be so interested to see how their relationship evolves post-canon and how they relate to each other with Benjamin gone, but it would also be lovely to see something from Kira's POV about watching Jake grow up

Keiko O'Brien/Kira Nerys/Miles O'Brien — Poor Keiko, she dropped so many hints, but Kira and Miles were too busy being Noble™ to notice. I would love to see a canon divergent fic where these crazy kids worked it out

Jake Sisko/Nog — I love these two so much! Childhood sweethearts, you can't tell me otherwise. Something set when Nog was in the academy would be amazing, as would post-canon fic, or something set when they were living together, or something set during Nog's recovery post-It's Only A Paper Moon

Odo/Quark — another ship that I am resolute is Canon, Actually. This is one where I think you can pile on the pining and angst reeeally nicely. I tend to view the situation as: Quark knows he loves Odo, Odo has absolutely no idea that he loves Quark. But I am open to any and all takes on the relationship! (minor aside: I find arguments along the lines of "Odo isn't really a man, because he's goo" to be quite... upsetting, because it feels, from my end, to be saying "If you don't have a specific genital configuration then you're not [x gender]." I don't mind agender or non-binary interpretations of Odo that don't hinge on the fact that his body does not have sexual organs, but I just thought I'd mention this because it is something that crops up in fics occasionally)

The Tick (TV 2017)

Spoilers for The Tick

Requested relationship:

• Dorothy "Dot" Everest/Overkill — this ship could have been created in a lab specifically to push my buttons. They’re traumatised, he’s disabled, she’s an eldest daughter who all but raised her sibling finally getting to do things for herself, they are both so hot and I am so bi. The list goes on. If you wanted to write a case fic of some description, that would be amazing, but equally, I would be happy with something less plotty (with or without porn, dealer's choice 😉)

Star Trek: Voyager

Spoilers for Voyager

Requested relationships:

• Seven of Nine & B'Elanna Torres — oh my god, I love their bristling, borderline hostile relationship and how it gradually mellows over time as they grow to understand each other more. I would love to see something about that transition
• B'Elanna Torres/Seven of Nine — similar to the gen version of this relationship, I would love to see an evolution from "I hate her, she's so rude and terrible" to "If anyone even looks at Seven I will murder them" or, perhaps, something more along the lines of a hatefucking turned tender kind of thing 👀
• Seven of Nine & Naomi Wildman — Seven's relationship to the children on Voyager, and Naomi Wildman in particular, is so, so important to me. I love that Naomi kind of... adopted her and was like, hi, I'm going to be your friend because I think you're neat and Seven was like... okay and then packbonded with her. I don't have any specific prompts for this one, but I really would be so happy to read anything about them

Star Trek: Lower Decks (Cartoon)

Spoilers for Lower Decks

Requested relationships:

• Brad Boimler & Beckett Mariner — I really love that Beckett and Boimler are like... very specifically platonic friends?? That's maybe a strange thing to say when shipping is such a big part of fandom (and it's not like platonic friendships are underrepresented in fiction) but I have rarely seen a male and female character who love each other like siblings and who joke a bit mean sometimes and who break each other's hearts (see: when Boimler left the Cerritos) and it's just never even a thought that they might hook up. I realise that I'm straying very close to arguments made by people who mysteriously get very pro-platonic f/m friendship whenever a woman of colour is near a white man, and I really do not want to co-sign any of that, but I guess Beckett and Boimler just remind me so much of friendships that I have had and the big feelings that they inspire. I'd love to see anything about their friendship
• Beckett Mariner/Jennifer Sh'reyan — the relationship between these two is so intriguing to me, because we kind of only see glimpses of it and only through the lens of Beckett's insecurities about it, for the most part. Can they come back from where they were at the end of season three? I hope so! I would love to read something about Beckett's various confusing and strong feelings for Jennifer
• Shaxs/T'Ana — I am always a slut for middle aged characters who are incredibly into each other and these two are no exception. What other holodeck programmes do they play together? How did they first hook up? Did they start out as FWB and catch feelings? I would love to read about any of these things or anything else you came up with!

Star Trek: The Original Series

Spoilers for TOS

Requested relationships:

• T’Pring/Nyota Uhura — it has been so great seeing this ship have its moment in the sun in recent years. "She's beautiful, Mr. Spock!" a very normal thing to breathlessly say about your work friend's wife. I think there is so much scope here and I almost don't want to influence you too much because I'm excited to see what route you go with!
• Janice Rand/Nyota Uhura — honestly, I also don't have a lot of ideas for this ship, because I saw it in the tagset, gasped, and clicked it immediately even though I hadn't considered it before. I am very pro-femslash ships for both of these characters, so it seems only natural to me to pair them together!
• Christine Chapel/Nyota Uhura — I know that kissing your platonic friends is perfectly normal in a lot of cultures and contexts, but I am only human and that scene where Christine joyfully kisses Uhura on the bridge is burned indellibly on my brain, even if it was because she was happy about finding her male love interest in the context of the episode. How about five times Christine kissed Nyota on the job? But, again, it's all good!
• James T. Kirk/Spock — what to say that hasn't already been said about this ship over the past 50+ years? It's a classic for a reason. I would be very, very happy with anything you cooked up for these two, especially if you included stuff about Spock's emotional inner life (and the shame he feels about having one... and then the shame about the shame and so on, and so on)

Stargate: All Media Types

Spoilers for SGA and SG-1

Requested relationships:

• Rodney McKay/John Sheppard — I was just this evening reading this ship and it still hits just right. I feel like this show's unique point in history gives the fic such an interesting flavour? Like, obviously, the military setting and the existence of DADT and how that conflicts with a queer ship is a biggie, but also... Idk. It feels like it has a lot of old school fandom flavour while also including a lot of the improvements of newer iterations of fandom. It's hard to describe. All of which is probably not very helpful to you, apologies! I read Sheppard as gay and just quietly... not telling, as it were and Rodney as bi but not thinking that it's particularly important. This is actually one where I'd probably prefer something set during canon rather than post-canon, but don't let that limit you if you have an idea for a post-canon story.
• Samantha "Sam" Carter/Janet Fraiser — oh my goodness, I just love them! I wish they could have just been happy and raised a family together 💔. A fix it fic would be absolutely amazing
• Rodney McKay & Jeannie Miller — I am so, so invested in Rodney and Jeannie's relationship. There is no limit to the amount of words I would read about the ups and downs of their relationship and how and why they have the priorities and difficulties with each other that they have
• John Sheppard & Elizabeth Weir — one of my favourite things about SGA is how much Sheppard respects Weir and there isn't this "Well you're a civilian and a woman, so what do you know?" attitude from him. Something about their working relationship would be amazing

Jeeves — P.G. Wodehouse

Spoilers for the Jeeves stories

Requested relationships:

• Reginald Jeeves/Bertram "Bertie" Wooster — I have shipped this probably longer than I haven't, to be perfectly honest. I think it helps that I relate so much to Bertie and feel the want of a Jeeves in my life so headily. I would love something that explores the class differences between them, if you can find a way to do that that works for you, and Bertie gradually realising that it's just not cricket that he got to sleepwalk his way through Eton and Oxbridge without ever really applying himself or showing much academic aptitude and Jeeves, who has brains coming out of his ears, had nothing approaching the opportunities that he did. But you don't have to go heavy on this one! I'm really happy with something closer to canon too. In particular, I have always been tickled by the idea that Jeeves shares so many traits with a lot of the female love(?) interests that Bertie tries desperately to evade. He's intellectual like Florence, athletic like Honoria, crafty like Bobbie, sentimental like Madeline, but Bertie decidedly does want to spend the rest of his life with Jeeves, which those qualities are a big detractor with the laides
• Florence Craye/Honoria Glossop — I feel like a lot of the women in the Jeeves books, and Honoria maybe especially, rings really queer to me, so I am always game for pairing them together (perhaps this is part of a scheme of Jeeves' to get Bertie off the marital hook somehow? Gay awakenings for everyone! Heterosexual marriage for nobody!) With regards this pairing specifically, I feel like they could easily fall in love over a rousing discussion of Nietzsche
• Honoria Glossop/Roberta "Bobbie" Wickham — a lot of what I've said for Florence/Honoria also applies here. I also feel like Bobbie would maybe get Honoria to live a little? Like, Honoria is very serious and Bobbie is Trouble with a capital T. Maybe that could be good trouble for Honoria where it isn't for Bertie?
• Reginald Jeeves & Bertram "Bertie" Wooster — I am always very game to read something in line with the tone of the original stories with a platonic take on the Jeeves and Bertie relationship. A "case" fic of sorts would be amazing, but I would also be happy with something along the lines of Bertie creaking around writing his memoirs in the 1970s while Jeeves fends off younger relatives who are trying to save the reputations of their parents and stop him going to press. Or something else entirely! I also think Bertie is one of those protagonists who can read either very gay or very aroace, so if that's a route you want to go down then go for it!

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Spoilers for Singin' in the Rain

Any Relationship — I really am wide open to any possibilities for this fandom! I love all of the nominated relationships and I'm partial to any number of takes on them. If you'd like a few ideas, here's some copied and pasted from older exchange letters (and a few new ones thrown in for good measure), because I request Singin' in the Rain a lot:

• A story involving Kathy’s first onscreen starring appearance
• A polyamorous comedy of errors involving miscommunications about each other’s feelings between Cosmo, Don and Kathy
• Something about the evolution of Hollywood over the lifetimes of the characters — the introduction of the Hays Code etc.
• A story that has extracts from biographies, memoirs, biopics, fan magazines, online fan forums reflecting on the lives of the characters
• Kathy and Don (and Cosmo, if that’s the route you want to go) balancing family life and their professional lives
• Cosmo pining for Kathy
• Lina thought that Don knew she was interested in a lavender relationship and is very annoyed that she has to find a new show beau, so Zelda cheers her up

Community (TV)

Spoilers for Community

Requested relationships:

• Abed Nadir & the Study Group — Abed is incredibly important to me as an autistic person and as someone who has been quite socially isolated for a lot of their life. Abed's relationship with the study group is so vital to both the show as a whole and to me specifically. His various insecurities and the ways he thinks he has to pare himself down to be accepted (and, on the flip side, the ways that he sometimes fails to know how to be a good friend, from lack of practice and makes mistakes that hurt people) are things I cannot get enough of in fiction.
• Troy Barnes/Annie Edison/Abed Nadir — speaking of autism, my tongue in cheek ship tag on Tumblr for this ship was OT3: it's a spectrum for a while. Obviously, you don't have to specifically write any of them as autistic, particularly if you don't read them that way yourself, but I do think that their brains vibrate at frequencies that resonate with each other, even though the pitch may be different (it's very late and my metaphors are getting away from me again). I suppose a less pretentious way of putting that is that they are all very complementary to each other. I would love something set when they were all living together, but pre- or post- that is also more than good!
• Troy Barnes & Abed Nadir — Troy and Abed in the mooorning! I just love the highs and the lows these two go through. I love that Troy was Abed's first best friend and that he worried that he'd be his last. I love that Abed taught Troy to be more comfortable with being unconventional and silly. I love it all
• Abed Nadir & Jeff Winger — Abed and Jeff are such interesting mirrors to one another. I think that some of Abed shares some of his worst qualities with Jeff and that he came to them from a past of being traumatised by social ostracisation and emotional neglect. And... honestly, Jeff has had his share of emotional neglect too! It would be interesting to tease out what makes these two tick and the ways they are similar and different from each other
• Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir — a lot of what I said in the Troy & Abed and the Troy/Annie/Abed bullet points carries over here. I think that these two are soul mates, whether you interpret that as platonic or romantic, and whether you think you only get one soul mate or many. Every so often I think the words "You were out there somewhere and you weren't looking for me?" and I get goosebumps. And, yes, I know that is from season 4 and I stand by my goosebumps! Something post-canon would be amazing, be it a reunion fic or something where they're still separated.