obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)

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Jump to: Do Not Wants
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Dear Yuletide author,

I am [archiveofourown.org profile] SweetPollyOliver on AO3. Thank you for offering one of my fandoms! I'm excited to see what you write.

Except for DNWs, everything I’ve said in this letter is extremely optional and I’ve only included what I have to give people who like a jumping off point some guidance into things I enjoy. Feel free to ignore whatever you don’t vibe with and read as much or as little of this as you like.

Likes

SFW likes
  • Fic that is largely canon compliant. Canon divergent AUs are great, fic that re-interprets or re-examines canon events with a different lens is also great. I am not especially reverent towards canon and non-canon compliant fic is not a problem, but I do really like fic that rattles the bars of its canonical confines while remaining within them (or stays within them for the most part). See also:
    • Post-canon fic and prequel fic—especially ones that are:
      • Character studies.
    • Missing scene fic.
  • Fic with a strong ensemble cast.
  • Dramatic irony, especially when it’s comedic.
  • Witty or otherwise humorous dialogue.
  • As you can probably tell from the last two listed likes, I prefer fics with a comedic tone, or at least a comedic tinge (which can be ironic and/or bitter, in fics that skew more towards the dramatic side of the comedy-drama spectrum). I like pretty dry and understated humour, but I am also just a fan of Funny more generally.
  • Getting together and/or stuff with a first kiss.
  • There Was Only One Bed.
  • 5+1 fic.
  • Bittersweet or melancholy fics. I am always a sucker for regret and missed opportunities/wasted time.
  • References to queer culture and history. This can be in conjunction with one or more queer ships, but can also be in a gen fic featuring one or more queer characters.
  • Pining.
  • Cuddling, especially in conjunction with touch starvation.
  • Overwrought emotion and crying.
  • Polyamory
  • Emotionally intense and tempestuous co-dependent relationships, which can either get healthier over the course of the narrative or remain very much a "don’t try this at home" kind of depiction.
  • Kid fic.
  • Knitting or other kinds of crafts
  • I love STEM-y things being featured in fic, either realistic or I also love wildly unrealistic and campy fake science escapades.
  • Things relating to ageing.
  • Stuff about (wanted) pregnancy. Can be along the fluffy side or the kinky side.

NSFW likes
  • First time having sex. I particularly like if first time sex scenes (and sex scenes generally) aren’t Perfect™ and things are a little awkward in a way that the characters can laugh about.
    • First time bottoming and, more generally, first time doing X sex act or kink and/or characters realising that something they hadn’t given much thought to, or had assumed they wouldn’t be into, is something they’re really into. I’d prefer they go into it with a “Sure, I’ll try anything once” attitude rather than an “I’ll suffer through it for you 😥” attitude.
  • Friends with benefits/platonic sex. This can turn into fuckbuddies-to-lovers, but it doesn’t have to. I am particularly partial to a character who wingmans for their fuckbuddy and gets them together with another love interest (whether or not the two friends continue to have platonic sex afterwards is fine either way).
  • Non-penetrative sex.
    • Intercrural sex specifically. This can transition into penetrative sex or not.
    • Oral sex of all varieties.
  • Virginity kink, even/especially if the fic itself doesn’t buy into the social construction of virginity as a concept.

Return to beginning

DNWs

I don’t mean to imply any judgement with any of my DNWs and some of them are things that I do enjoy from time to time in some contexts, but aren’t things that I’d like as part of a gift work/that I’m in a headspace for right now.

DNWs
  • Mundane/modern AUs (e.g. college or coffee shop AUs, etc.)
  • Harry Potter AUs/fusions/references
  • Grimdark fic. I’m fine with angsty or bittersweet fic or with stories that are framed as tragedies, but I do not want something that is primary intended to be disturbing, or that is unrelentingly miserable with no reprieve and no catharsis at the end.
  • Non-con
  • Degradation kink.
  • Desperation kink.
  • Edging

Return to beginning

Requests

I have included some suggestions for prompts below. I was able to write more for some fandoms than others, largely because I was able to plunder past letters for details for some fandoms and I wrote this letter over a couple of days and my brain was braining great toward the end, so any disparity in length or level of detail isn't a reflection on how much I like any of them and I will be equally delighted to receive a fic for any fandoms I've requested.

Porridge

Requested characters: Norman Stanley "Fletch" Fletcher; Lennie Godber

Something shippy would be lovely, if you were so inclined, but canon-typical gen would also be a delight. I'd love a "case fic" of some kind where they had to do some labyrinthine shenanigans to accomplish a goal of some variety, or a scene that implied a larger plot to that effect. Other thoughts I've had is that Fletch and Godber both had birthdays while in prison, so maybe you could do something about that? Godber feeling glum about turning 24 on the inside possibly? Fletch having his own inscrutible birthday-related feelings when he adds up how many he's spent on the inside versus out? Something more lighthearted and caper-adjacent than I'm suggesting? You could also do something more general with holidays/special occasions where they try to make the days feel different from each other, maybe up to and including inventing nonsense holidays to amuse themselves. If you wanted to write something post-canon that included stuff from Going Straight or Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher, or that diverged from the spin-off and mockumentary if you wanted to go in other directions, that would be great! In terms of tone, I enjoy the comedic and silly vibe of canon but feel free to have more somber moments about life in prison, etc., if the mood strikes you. If you were interested in writing something shippy, I do also think that Fletch has about a metric tonne of internalised homophobia, so that's also something I'd be intrigued to read about.

The Producers (1968)

Requested characters: Max Bialystock; Leopold "Leo" Bloom

I really love the relationship between these two whether it's framed as shippy or platonic. For all that it starts out as a manipulation to try and get Leo more on board with committing fraud with him, it seems to turn very sincere and affectionate very quickly. I think both of them, in their own way, are very lonely at the start of the movie. Bialystock does, technically, have a sex life, albeit one that is having sex with his investors to fund his rapidly diminishing lifestyle, but I don't think it would be a stretch to say there is no intimacy in his life before their friendship develops. Leo, for his part, was never called by his first name even in kindergarten!

On the shippier side of things, it intrigues me that on Bialy's side of things, sexual relationships with women seem to be a means to get something rather than something he wants in their own right. He has sex with the little old ladies for money, he cat-calls women out the window to peacock and put Leo off-balance when he arrives to do his accounts, he hires Ulla to ogle but then turns her down every single time she propositions him, sometimes quite irritably. Obviously it's Not Great to use women as a status symbol, but is that what's going on? Is he maybe gay or ace?

While we're in headcanon territory, I also think that Leo Bloom pings very autistic (although I wouldn't use that specific terminology in a fic because it would be incongruous with the time period). His composure that rapidly gives way to emotional fragility and meltdowns, his job that involves a lot of tolerance for tedious repetition and attention to detail, his near-total social isolation and then intense devotion to a single friend, it all adds up into the most relatable character I have ever seen on screen. I also have thought on occasion that there is scope for a trans reading of him, with lines like "No one ever called me Leo before" and "I'm Leo Bloom! I'm me! I can do whaever I want! I'm Leo Bloom!" and his discomfort with gender non-comformity (when he meets Roger de Bris and is thrown by him wearing a dress and the "I'm not a madam; I'm a concierge!" scene), which I think have a different vibe when you interpret him as a stealth trans man in his mid-thirties in the late 60s. This would also, potentially, factor into his loneliness and social isolation, if he were stealth and trying to a) distance himself from his pre-transition life and b) avoid intimacy that could be compromising. If this was something you were intrigued by, I'd be interested in reading a fic along those lines, but it is far from the only take I'd be interested in reading about!

For some specific ideas, maybe something post-canon where they are putting Prisoners of Love from prison? Or maybe a canon-divergent fic where they were able to make it to Rio de Janeiro before it all went south. Do they immediately start a new scheme when they're there? Does Leo manage to convince Max to quit while they're ahead? Maybe something set during canon? A missing scene when they're going through scripts? Bialy telling Leo stories about his old shows?

Supacell

Requested characters: Sabrina Clarke, Sharleen Clarke, Rodney Cullen, Spud

This show was such a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre! It had such a strong sense of place and the characters were so distinct and vivid, and the premise genuinely felt like a novel take on a superhero origin story. As I mentioned in my sign up, if you would prefer, you can write a fic that just features Sharleen and Sabrina or one that just features Rodney and Spud rather than something with all four of them. Although, maybe something around the theme of family would lend itself to something that they'd all fit into?

I love that Sharleen and Sabrina are so different from each other, but that doesn't flatten them into a "bad girl vs good girl" stereotypical dynamic. Sabrina does let herself get coaxed out to the club (and, for that matter, tells Krazy that she will kill him herself and be the one going to prison for thirty years when she thinks Shar is in danger), Sharleen is writing her dissertation, and they both love each other so fiercely. If you wanted to go post-canon and show something about Sabrina trying to rescue her sister from where she's been kidnapped, that would be great, or you could go pre-canon and have something about the two of them growing up, or something that wove through pre-, during and post-canon. Maybe Rodney could bond with Sabrina about how horrifying it is for your loved ones to be in peril and for you to have no power to help, even with bloody superpowers.

With Rodney and Spud, I'm intrigued by what their relationship is. Is it romantic? If so, are they non-monogamous, or does Rodney just keep flirting with random women to keep in practice? They do seem to share all their money and I did assume they lived together in that one-bedroom flat until the line where Rodney says that Spud "stays over most nights". See also: Rodney saying they'd be shopping for a house once the money started coming in. I don't think it necessarily needs to be kissy-kissy for them to be life partners, of course, and a fic about them being in a QPP would also be great. It would also be pretty on-brand for Rodney to have sped past the trivial little details of asking someone out or telling him he like him before deciding they were going to spend the rest of their lives together.

The Tick (TV 2017)

Requested characters: Dorothy "Dot" Everest, Overkill, Arthur Everest, the Tick

As mentioned in my sign up, I'm open to something that only feaures Dot and Overkill or something that just features Arthur and the Tick if you don't have an idea for somethign with all four of them. I'm happy for something shippy involving either or both Dot/Overkill and Tick/Arthur, or something gen.

I love how this show combines campy superhero shenanigans with a more grounded approach to emotional storytelling. I'm totally in the market for either silly jokes or something with a more serious slant. Or, indeed, both! If you wanted to do sort of a mid-mission case fic (since 1000 words isn't a lot of scope for a full on plot along those lines) that would be really cool, or something not related to crime-fighting would also be fun. Maybe something where Arthur could flex his paperwork skills to save the day through administrative means? Dot and Overkill having to get bailed out by Arthur and the Tick for some antiheroics gone wrong? In the event you wanted to write something shippy with Tick/Arthur, I tend to prefer when smutty fic for this pairing is a bit off the beaten path and I think there's a lot of scope for some fun xenophilia-adjacent things. The "suit" being a living part of his body rather than something that can conveniently come off or make way for more conventional human anatomy is very compelling to me. With Dot/Overkill, I think that something that engages with Overkill's disabilities in an access intimacy kind of way would be really cool. Him allowing himself to be vulnerable around Dot by taking off/turning off his prostheses to be comfortable maybe?

Beetlejuice (movies)

Requested characters: Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz, Delia Deetz, Astrid Deetz

I'm open to somethat that just features Beetlejuice and Lydia, or something that just features Lydia and Delia, or something that just features Lydia and Astrid if you would rather write that than something with all four characters.

I saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on the big screen recently with no real expectations, but I loved it so much! Maybe even more than the original, because it was so much less cruel, especially in its treatment of Delia. I've always felt that, all things being equal, she as an oddball artist would have been a natural ally to Lydia the weird goth girl with a penchant for photography. I also like that Beetlejuice was significantly defanged in terms of how menacing he seemed and he was borderling sweet at points. Honestly, Lydia's scumbag fiance being a more realistic kind of terrible makes old BJ come off like a prince in comparison. She could, and did, do a lot worse! Which is all to say, I am very happy to receive shippy Beetlejuice/Lydia fic, although feel free to not go that route if you'd rather write something gen with them, or a gen fic about Lydia's relationship with either Astrid or Delia. Or both of them! I'm very intrigued by how Lydia's relationship with Delia improved and how it was that they reached the cheerful equilibrium they did in the sequel that wasn't barb-free but was still friendly. Similarly, when did Astrid's relationship with Lydia start to go downhill? Was she maybe more even-handed before her father died, or did she start being resentful once Lydia and her dad separated/divorced? Was she embarrassed about Lydia's paranormal shtick before then, or was it "selling out" that soured her on it? Or maybe did she believe her mom as a kid and get made fun of for it?

Feel free to drop references to other adaptations – I loved the cartoon as a kid and I have approximate knowledge of the musical from my sister who is a big musical theatre fan. If you do go shippy with Beetlejuice/Lydia, I'd prefer if Lydia had agency and the ability to assert boundaries and was actively choosing the relationship as opposed to being tricked or coerced, although I'm not against a "fake marriage to real relationship" sort of thing, or something that starts more dubious and moves to a more equal playing field.

Kaos

Requested characters: Caeneus, Eurydice "Riddy", Ariadne "Ari", Dionysus

I am open to a fic that just features Caeneus and Riddy, or one that just features Ari and Dionysus or one that is about any of the requested characters invididually.

I loved this show so much! I feel like it's so hard to adapt Greek mythology in a way that feels fresh at this point, given how many centuries worth of interpretation and reinterpretation have been going on at this point, but it had me in the palm of its hand from start to finish. I have been saying for ages now that I want a version of Ariadne who genuinely loved her brother instead of aiding and abetting his murder (justice for the minotaur!). And the idea of a Eurydice who just isn't that into Orpheus is inspired! What does it mean to be the object of someone's undying loyalty when that comes at the expense of being the subject of your own narrative? Caeneus as a former Amazon who had to leave after coming out as trans was a very rich vein to mine too, and I really liked Dionysus as just sort of a nice (by the standards of the gods) guy who likes people, which seemed very appropriate for a god with his particular domain. The nod at the end of the series to his relationship with Ariadne in the myths was also very fun! I'd love if you wanted to write a fic where they met. I also adore Caeneus and Riddy's relationship and I think that's rich with the potential for something deliciously angsty, or maybe something more fluffy as a missing scene when they are in the underworld together? I also would really love to read a character study of any of the characters I have requested. Their backstories are so intriguing and canon has left a lot of room to carve out discrete moments in their past in a fic.

Return to beginning

To anyone else reading letters to look for people to treat, hi there! I have gifts enabled on my AO3 account, so treat away if you so desire, and thank you for the kind thought.

obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)

Dear Festividder,

Hi! I'm [archiveofourown.org profile] SweetPollyOliver on AO3. Thank you so much for offering one of the fandoms I've requested! I can't wait to see what you make :D

General vid and music related likes
  • Humourous lyrics or ironic pairings of clips with lyrics for a humorous effect
  • Character study vids
  • Ensemble vids
  • Uptempo vids with lots of quick cuts on the beat and a sense of movement
  • But also: slower, contemplative vids with long clips
  • Vids with a strong narrative/emotional arc
  • Music specific likes:
    • Vocal jazz, especially Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Chet Baker (my token white man in this category, lol). I mostly listen to stuff from the 1930s-1960s, but I'd be thrilled to get something set to more contemporary jazz too
    • Great American Songbook singers, i.e. anyone known for singing things composed by Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Rodgers & Hammerstein, etc. but especially Judy Garland
    • Motown, e.g. Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5 and Smokey Robinson
    • Disco, e.g. The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Boney M., Earth Wind & Fire, Chaka Khan and the Village People
    • Rock and pop from the 1960s-1980s, e.g. The Mamas & the Papas, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Cher, The Turtles, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, ABBA and Queen
    • Contemporary pop, e.g. Carly Rae Jepsen, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Mitski, Hayley Kiyoko, Marina (& the Diamonds), Florence + the Machine
    • Contemporary hip hop and R&B, e.g. Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Shea Couleé and Janelle Monáe
    • Pop folk, e.g. Simon & Garfunkel, Sufjan Stevens, Belle and Sebastian, Mumford & Sons and Joni Mitchell
    • Musical theatre e.g. Patti Lupone, Audra McDonald, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel
    • Country, e.g. Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Trixie Mattel, Skeeter Davis, Loretta Lyn, Woody Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Shania Twain, Norah Jones, Lil Nas X, Sheryl Crow and Miley Cyrus
Other notes regarding vid preferencesThere aren't any genres of music that I actively dislike and if you get the vibe that I would like something based on the things I have listed above, and it's not a DNW, then you're probably right. I don't listen to a huge amount of instrumental music, but I do enjoy it! Also feel free to vid something to a non-music audio source, such as poetry. I don't have strong opinions about talky face, so unless it's something you personally prefer to avoid then don't worry about it on my account. I also don't mind dialogue in vids, but I prefer that it's over instrumental sections of the music with no lyrics, that there is no audible music from the source's score, and that the volume of the song the vid is set to is adjusted so that the dialogue isn't fighting with it.

DNWs
  • Vids set to music by Michael Bublé or Taylor Swift
  • On-screen suicide
  • Footage of rats
  • Strobing or sudden bright lights

Requested fandoms
Porridge (TV 1974)I rewatched Porridge a little while ago for the first time in years and was suddenly and violently reminded of how much I shipped Fletch and Godber when I saw the show as a teenager, a thing which a dear friend, who shall remain nameless, said that it made "total sense" as a ship for me, presumably given my long documented weakness for pudgy middle aged con-men, and for pairing them with wide eyed younger and more innocent sidekicks who adore them. You do not have to come with me on the magical journey of shipping Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale if that's not something that makes sense for you though, and I would be more than delighted with a gen vid.
Some specific ideas if that would be helpfulI think that the obvious route to go is to do something funny, possibly related to Fletch's many schemes, or his antagonistic relationship with Mr MacKay, or something about his relationship with Godber through either a canon-aligned gen lens or a shippy lens, or maybe a bigger ensemble vid about the inmates in Slade Prison managing to not let the bastards grind them down through various means. If you wanted to do something less lighthearted than the show itself usually was about incarceration that would also be cool to see.

When Harry Met Sally (1989) [SAFETY]I have been completely obsessed with this movie since I was about twelve. I do not in any way co-sign the semi-implicit theme that men and women can never be friends, because the sex always gets in the way, but that's never spoiled the movie for me. I can totally buy that this man and woman can't just be friends. I just love Sally's fussy perfectionism and optimism and Harry's nihilistic cynicism and I don't see them as "you know what women/men are like!" archetypes at all, because they feel so much like real and individual people to me.
That said! (specific ideas and prompts)You do not have to feature the romance centrally, or at all, if you'd prefer to focus on other elements of the movie, like a character study of one of them, or something about Sally's relationship with her friend Marie (played by the late great Carrie Fisher and who is amazing in this movie), possibly combining it with Harry's friendship with Jess, or Marie and Jess's romantic relationship, or Harry and Sally's friendship, or all of the above in a kind of metacommentary on the film's thesis that romantic and/or sexual attraction surpasses platonic love. I think that there are also so many beautiful visuals of New York in the movie that you could make use of if you wanted to do something about the city as a character in the movie.

Gattaca (1997) [SAFETY]I'm always kind of surprised when people say that Gattaca has aged poorly in its takes about disability, because I kind of think it's spot on? It's a very powerful commentary on eugenics and ableism in my opinion, and things like Jerome/Eugene's internalised ableism regarding his paralysis and his anger with himself for not living up the expected potential of his genome is not co-signed by the movie itself as far as I can tell.
At any rate (ideas and prompts)I think that you could pull on some interesting threads about ableism and meritocracy if you vidded this. I think it would probably be a more serious and somber vid, because while I do like humour the only way I could really see a way of incorporating it here if I were to do something myself is by picking something with bitterly ironic lyrics about not being good enough? I do also ship the hell out of Vincent/Jerome and Jerome/Eugene, so you're more than welcome to play with that dynamic if it interests you. I think that there's some fun identity fuckery things to tease out there and it would be very interesting to see that in a vid as opposed to a fic. I don't not ship the canon f/m ship though, so please don't feel like Irene is not welcome in the vid! Again, I think that while obviously the movie is about specific indivuals and how the eugenicist society they live in has affected them, it does also affect the whole of society, so an ensemble vid with multiple characters (possibly including the guy at the end who didn't blow Vincent/Jerome's cover because his own child would probably face workplace descrimination based on their genetics as he wasn't "all that they promised, but then who knows what he could do?")—maybe something that featured lines of dialogue from the movie? Although I think with the right song choice there are certainly the visuals to convey that kind of message. Something about Vincent's relationship with his brother, and family, would also be interesting, possibly as part of a character study. Just a note: please do not feature footage of the canonical suicide scene.

Willow (TV 2022)The Willow movie from the 1980s is incredibly dear to me and I was really looking forward to this show for a long time (it kept getting pushed back, which made waiting feel agonizing and now... well. Anyway.) but it turned out to be everything I could ever have wanted from a sequel/reboot. Visually, it's so in keeping with the aesthetic of the movie, with the higher production values not implying a disrespect or reinvention of what came before. Also! The new characters are so, so amazing! The returning characters are also amazing and there isn't this kid-gloves treatment where they're afraid to present beloved characters as complex and flawed.
Prompts/ideasI think that you could span the whole spectrum from a very straight epic fantasy vibe to something more irreverant and silly. The show handles both tones very well and either (or a combination of both) would be very in keeping with that. I think a contemporary choice of music would work well—maybe a cover of something from the 80s if you wanted to get meta with it? I love all the characters and an ensemble vid, or a character study of any of them, or a shippy vid with any of the canon relationships, or perhaps something about Elora and Kit's contentious relationship, which I am basically sitting there chewing through a chair leg about every time I see them on screen together. Some character specific angles I can think of is maybe a Kit vid about her relationship to her family and to the privileges and responsibilities of nobility, something about Jade's relationship to Galladorn, both before and after [SPOILERS REDACTED], a vid about Boorman being annoyed by the younger cast/Kit in particular and trying not to let on that he's warming up on them, something about Willow's arc from the movie to the show and the tragedy he's lived through and the weight of responsibility on him, or something about Graydon's relationship to magic and the guilt he lives with. There is a lot of scope in this fandom and I really don't thinkt here's a wrong move here, so if you have a different idea then by all means go for it!

Cagney & Lacey (TV 1981)Full disclosure: I started watching this show primarily, some might say exclusively, for reasons of being thirsty for Martin Kove (and then very rapidly started being thirsty for Tyne Daly). However! It's so much more than that. It is, of course, a cop show, with all that that entails, but I think that, in many ways, it does a better job of portraying nuance and honesty about the failings of the police than a lot of more contemporary police procedurals? Your mileage may vary, of course. I certainly think that it holds up very well compared to its contemporaries in the genres at any rate though.
Prompts/ideasI think that there's a lot of ways you could go on this! You could do something about gendered expectations of the 1980s (in the police force and more generally), you could do something about friendship, you could do something that was explicitly critical of the show's more overtly copaganda moments. Music-wise, I think something from the time period would work well, but that's not to say that something more modern, or something from an earlier time period, like something deeply sexist that came out when that sentiment was less controversial in the mainstream, along the lines of Wives and Lovers. In terms of the titular character themselves, I am deeply compelled by the contradictions and self interest of Cagney's politics, where sexism (against her) is very bad, but she's otherwise markedly conservative and status quo (and I think Republican? Oof, Christine...). I personally read her as I see her as a closeted (even to herself) lesbian and/or aromantic who has been very messed up by being raised by her socially conservative father. Something about her struggles with alcoholism would be very interesting, as would something about her stated feminism juxtaposed with her willingness to pull the ladder up behind herself and judge women who make choices she disapproves of, or come from backgrounds she is prejudiced against, or her partnership with Lacey, or her issues with maintaining romantic relationships, etc. For Lacey, I love her relationship with her husband and how unconventional it is for TV marriages of the time period, where he stayed at home with the boys for the first few seasons and does most of the cooking, etc. I also love how they are both such raging pinkos, because I think it would have been very easy for the show to be like "She is the married one who has kids, so therefore the conservative, as opposed to the sexually liberated single one with no dependents." Something about how she's in the era of "you can have it all!" and how demanding it actually is to try to have it all would be really great, as would something about her partnership with Cagney, or something about her politics (either juxtaposed against the background sexism of her workplace, against Cagney's politics, or against her own choice to join the police force). I am also, and I say this merely as a passaway thought that you do not have to pay much mind to, not at all opposed to shirtless footage of Martin Kove in the mix somewhere...

Steele Justice (1987) [SAFETY]So uh... yeah. About how I'm violently in lust with Martin Kove? That was the one and only reason I watched this movie the first time and I wasn't expecting it to have any appeal other than beefcake, but... oh my god. I could not have been more wrong. This is an extremely bizarre, but amazing, action movie where Kove plays an ex-cop and Vietnam verteran John Steele whose former partner gets killed by an organised criminal gang (full disclosure: the former partner and the criminal organisation are both Vietnamese) and who he... okay, so the plot is kind of so hard to follow that I experience it every time as if for the first in some ways, but basically he gets frustrated with the bureaucracy and ineptitute of The Proper Authorities and wages a one-man vigilante war against the gang. Which... he seems to face absolutely no consequences for at the end of the movie, where he also steals a police car and drives off from his ex-boss who is trying to beg him to come back to the police force. It is The movie of all time and not just because Martin Kove is at his most beautiful and objectifiable. With some caveats*, I highly recommend that you watch it and experience it in all it's baffling majesty!
Prompts/ideasSo, look, I would admire you a lot if you managed to full of a serious vid for this movie, but I think that going broad and silly is a very viable option that would be much easier. You can also go ham on the beefcake, because I'm absolutely here for it. Steele also has this incredibly homoerotic vibe with his ex-partner (who is essentially his fridged wife?) whose wive seemed absolutely fine with it and whose daughter he is implied to adopt, so if you could get enough footage for something that frames that relationship as explicitly romantic and you wanted to go for that, please feel more than welcome to!
*the way it tries to have it both ways on how it treats Vietanese people, the authoritarian/vengence-as-justice/not technically copaganda but only because the movie things they need to be WORSE, the seemingly adult woman playing a teenager/ten year old from the childish voice and mannerisms the actor uses, the giant honking confederate flag in a bar at the beginning of the movie, etc., etc.

The Tick (TV 2017)I am madly in love with this show. It is so silly and while it is occasionally winking at the camera, it is deeply and earnestly sincere and is never embarrassed about being a superhero show in the way a lot of modern superhero comic adaptations seem to be.
Prompts and ideasI like all of the characters and something about any of them and any of their relationships would be welcome (with the exception of Arthur/Danger Boat where Arthur reciprocates DB's feelings, because I am not always super comfortable with the way DB harasses Arthur being played for laughs, even if he is a boat with a sentient AI). I really love Arthur and Dot's sibling relationship where they sometimes almost resent each other and can try to restrict each other's agency in the name of protecting them, but they love each other so deeply. I also am always here for Dot and Overkill's relationship, either played as romantic or platonic, and I love how Dot's arc from season one to two and the part that Overkill played in it. I also love, love, love The Tick and his big blue heart. Gotta love a superhero with amnesia who is not really torn up about it, because he's just happy to be here. I do ship him and Arthur, but as with all the shippy things I've mentioned in this letter, that's definitely an optional extra. In terms of tone, I think that it's one where you can have high highs and low lows and you can go silly or serious or anywhere in between (or both!).

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) [SAFETY]I said in my Yuletide letter that I could watch this movie every day for a month and not get sick of it and I knew that because I'd done it and... yeah. Still very much that.
Prompts/IdeasThis is another one where I think an ensemble vid would work great, but any indvidiual you wanted to zoom in on or a particular interpersonal relationship would also be amazing. My one caveat here is that I do not buy that Doric reciprocates Simon's feelings for her... or that him not being confident enough was the issue in the first place, if you catch my drift. My drift being that I think she's a lesbian and I have no idea why that wasn't explicitly canon. Honestly my one criticism of the movie was that it could have been gayer, given that D&D is the queer nerd game. If you wanted to do a vid along those lines then that would be amazing! I, along with half the internet and their dog, am also deeply compelled by Edgin/Xenk and their whole thing where Edgin finds him insufferable and Xenk seems to find it very funny how annoyed he can make Edgin by being polite, straightforward, morally upright and implying that Edgin is at heart and honourable and good person. Ugh, what a jerk, right? 🤣 Something about Edgin's family (him and Zia and/or Kira; him and Holga; him, Kira and Holga; him and the party; any combination of the above) would be very lovely as well and I think it's one you could play pretty straight if you weren't in the mood for jokey jokes, or one where you could have humour, sentimentality, and pathos alongside each other. I also am here for Simon's arc of getting better at magic through gaining self confidence (Tub Thumping anyone?), or something about Forge being a smarmy bastard (I love him). I am here for any kind of vid for this fandom, honestly, so feel very free to follow your muse.

Marilyn Monroe Movies [UMBRELLA]I once came out of HMV with about six Marilyn Monroe DVDs and put them in a bag from the bookshop where I'd bought a book about her and my sister said, "But you can kind of take or leave Marilyn, can't you?" because what are siblings for if not to make sport of you. I think Marilyn was such a subtle and talented actor and it's such a shame that even now she's primarily remembered as a sex symbol and almost... a part of American iconography, whose personal tragedies only make her more consumable, as opposed to a real person who was highly skilled at her craft and dedicated to it and who had a difficult life that was not a predestined tragedy or a cautionary tale. My favourite movies of hers are Some Like it Hot, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, Niagra, and Don't Bother to Knock. She doesn't have a huge role in it, but I also quite like her in There's No Business Like Show Business. I haven't seen all of her films, but feel free to pull from any of her work. I don't have any specific ideas, but I think there's a lot that you could play around with intertexually.

Only Murders in the Building (TV)They called it the intergenerational friendship murder mystery show of dreams... and it was. It really was. Well, is, it's been renewed for season 4. But. Yeah.
Ideas/prompts I just love how to the forefront anxieties about ageing and failure to reach expected markers of acheivement (either professionally, romanticaly, familially, or otherwise) is in this, in many ways, very silly comedy show. The highs are so high, the lows are so low, the silliness is so silly. I think that you could go very comedic or very dramatic with this and mix the two as much or as little as you wanted. I am always here for stuff about the central trio's relationship with each other, but I also highkey ship Theo Dimas with Mabel and would not be at all averse to seeing something along those lines. I also think that the rest of the cast are very interesting: Bunny and Uma's friendship, Howard's arc from lonely shut in whose only friend is his cat to someone who plays an active role in the plot as a recurring character, Cinda Canning and her... spectacular terribleness. I do support women's wrongs and Cinda is amazing. I am open to something shippy about Charles and Oliver, but I say that just on the off-chance that you wanted to do something like that anyway and weren't sure if I'd like it, so no pressure.

If you are someone browsing letters to scout out potential treats: hello! Thank you for the kind thought and if you are inspired by anything in my letter I am definitely open to being treated and have gifts enabled on AO3.

obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)

Jump to: Likes
Jump to: Do Not Wants
Jump to: Requests, Fandom Specific Likes and Fandom Specific Do Not Wants

Dear podficcer,

I’m [archiveofourown.org profile] SweetPollyOliver/[twitter.com profile] unmanlygrief/[personal profile] obstinatecondolement/[tumblr.com profile] obstinatecondolement. Thank you so much for offering one of my fandoms! I’m very excited to see what you make.

I don’t have a preference regarding podfics with or without effects and music, so feel free to do whatever you would prefer. I generally take a long time listening to podfics longer than 10–30 minutes, because I get antsy and lose focus unless I have something to do with my hands—I don’t want to discourage you from making something longer if you want to, but I thought I’d just let you know about this upfront, so that if you did make a longer podfic for me, you weren’t worried that I didn't like it if it took me a while to listen to it in full and give you feedback. Regarding other preferences:

TL;DR, except for DNWs, everything I’ve said in this letter is extremely optional and I’ve only included what I have to give people who like a jumping off point some guidance into things I enjoy. Feel free to ignore whatever you don’t vibe with and read as much or as little of this as you like.I am very easy to please, so try not to get stressed worrying about what I would like or dislike as much as you can avoid it. I would much rather that you worked on something you really liked and enjoyed creating than that you were anxious the whole time worrying about my preferences. If I really don’t want something, I will DNW it, and other than that you’re golden. I will 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. Also, I’ve structured this letter the way that I have so that you can jump around it easily and only read the parts that are relevant to you, so do not feel obligated to read the whole thing. I have only included so much and gone into so many specifics because I want to give you a range of options to use for inspiration if you feel stuck, or you want to have some insight into what I like before you started. I definitely would not only be happy with gifts that include the things I’ve included in my letter, and I do not want you to feel limited to things I have thought to include. I will also not be at all disappointed if you make me something that includes elements I didn’t mention specifically here whether it includes anything in my letter or not. I’m very happy to be given a gift that introduces me to new things to add to my list of likes! Like, really, I can’t stress enough that I am very easily won over by sincere enthusiasm from a creator and I love surprises, so I actively prefer when people create something for me that they’re really excited about than that they try to include things I’ve mentioned that they themselves feel meh about.

Minor bit of business here before we get started: please click on the spoiler tags to uncollapse the DNWs before you start reading the Likes section. You don’t have to read the DNWs first—basically, what’s going on is that I have a couple of anchor links from some of the things listed in my Likes to relevant exceptions I’d like people to steer clear of in the DNWs and those links only works if the DNW section is not collapsed behind its spoiler tag. The joys of HTML!

Likes

SFW likes (mostly—anything with additional elements that are NSFW is behind a spoiler tag and clearly marked as NSFW)I went into a lot of detail for some of these, so I have added spoiler tags to cut for length where appropriate.
  • Fic that is largely canon compliant. Canon divergent AUs are great, fic that re-interprets or re-examines canon events with a different lens is also great. I am not especially reverent towards canon and non-canon compliant fic is not a problem, but I do really like fic that rattles the bars of its canonical confines while remaining within them (or stays within them for the most part). See also:
    • Post-canon fic and prequel fic—especially ones that are:
      • Character studies, especially of characters who are sparsely characterised or underutilised in canon.
    • Missing scene fic.
  • Fic with a strong ensemble cast.
  • AUs that are a completely different setting to canon, especially fusions with other canons such as Pacific Rim AUs or The Last Unicorn AUs (see DNWs for exceptions).
  • Dramatic irony, especially when it’s comedic.
    • That said, I love sincerity that is entirely unembarrassed of itself and does not try to deflate itself with irony.
  • Witty or otherwise humorous dialogue.
  • As you can probably tell from the last two listed likes, I prefer fics with a comedic tone, or at least a comedic tinge (which can be ironic and/or bitter, in fics that skew more towards the dramatic side of the comedy-drama spectrum). I like pretty dry and understated humour, but I am also just a fan of Funny more generally.
  • Bittersweet or melancholy fics are also wonderful. I am always a sucker for regret and missed opportunities/wasted time.
  • Quiet, domestic stories that have a sense of contentment about them.
  • Exciting, dynamic stories that have a sense of uncertainty about them. I particularly really love stuff where I don’t know what’s going on for 85% of the fic and then it all clicks into place in the last 15% as reveals that were set up earlier start to fall like dominoes.
  • Found family.
    additional detailsCharacters can have any kind of relationship to their family of origin in these kinds of fics—I am equally happy with fic about or featuring found families where the characters haven’t spoken to their parents in years and never intend to again and fic where one of the characters called their mom to talk to her about sourdough starter yesterday. Mixing and matching between these two extremes can be fun too!
  • Queer platonic partnerships.
    additional detailsThe character(s) can be aro and/or ace, and/or be sexually and/or romantically attracted to a different gender to their QPP, or they can just be queer platonic partners because that is the kind of relationship that suits them and not due to a mismatch/mutual incompatibility of sexual and/or romantic orientation.
  • References to queer culture and history. This can be in conjunction with one or more queer ships, but can also be in a gen fic featuring one or more queer characters.
  • Pining.
    additional detailsI especially like this when the character in question’s feelings are actually requited and they’re just unaware (especially-especially if the reader is aware before the character is through clues given but not explicitly stated in the narration) but also when their feelings genuinely are one-sided.
  • Rarepairs.
    additional detailsIn most of my fandoms, I usually end up getting more and more niche over time. I love when my first reaction to seeing a ship tag is, “Huh?” but then when I read the fic I’m completely sold by the execution of it because it feels true to the canonical characterisation of the characters and the evolution of the relationship (or invention of it, if they’ve never met before in canon) is a natural extension of that, so feel free to include ships that you really love that I have not mentioned in my fandom specific likes, as long as I haven’t mentioned actively disliking them. Also, this probably goes without saying, but just in case: I am using an interpretation of “rarepair” here includes ships that involve more than two partners.
  • Polyamory/non-monogamy, very much including forms of non-monogamy other than polyfidelitous triads, such as vee arrangements, polycules or open relationships etc.
    additional detailsYour fic can be primarily about X/Y and have it as a background detail that this relationship is non-monogamous, if you like. I really like fic that is about X/Y, but X’s canonical relationship with Z also exists in the fic without anyone cheating or getting jealous. For examples of the kind of thing I mean, [archiveofourown.org profile] cosmic_llin has some great fic where Deanna Troi is dating something who is not her canonical love interest Will Riker, while also being in an open relationship with Riker.
  • Emotionally intense and tempestuous co-dependent relationships, which can either get healthier over the course of the narrative or remain very much a "don’t try this at home" kind of depiction.
  • Unironic “issuefic.”
    additional detailsThis is a term that turns up in DNWs rather than likes in a lot of fandom exchange letters, in my experience, but I genuinely love reading about The Issues™. This can include, but is not limited to, things like disability theory adjacent themes, trans headcanons, depictions of characters being very deliberate and careful about respecting consent, unironic depictions of characters talking like they’re trying to get a good grade in therapy (maybe He Would Not Fucking Say That, but if we’re going to limit ourselves to what he would fucking do and say why not just call it quits on fandom and stick to canon, lol), examinations of the broader social context of the settings of various fandoms, middle aged men trying to be kind.
  • Kid fic.
    additional detailsI prefer if the kid seems broadly realistic for the age they are depicted as being, but what is typical at a certain age varies a lot (I certainly had a very spiky developmental profile myself as a child) so don’t stress about it.
  • Knitting or other kinds of crafts, especially from authors who are crafters and especially-especially when it includes technical or jargon-y details.
  • Speaking of jargon, I love STEM-y things being featured in fic.
    additional detailsAn example of what I mean is things like the stuff about mathematical proofs in [archiveofourown.org profile] astolat‘s Rodney McCay/John Sheppard fic Time in a Bottle. You don’t have to go into enormous depth here to get a lot of bang for your buck in terms of how much it will please me. I nearly swooned when I read the main character of the novel Hold Me by Courtney Milan mention something about something being three standard deviations above the mean.
  • I also love wildly unrealistic and campy fake science escapades.
    additional detailsThings à la this Karate Kid fic I wrote where a CEO character’s R&D department creates a super soldier who he falls in love with or this fic [archiveofourown.org profile] trinityofone wrote for the same ship where the CEO character uses fake science, again from his R&D department, to babytrap his love interest. Basically though, if a bubbling, neon green liquid housed in a beaker that is smoking profusely appears in your fic then you are on the right track!
  • Things relating to ageing.
    additional details, some NSFW.Including, but not limited to: moments of wistfulness or melancholy about it, older characters having active and fulfilling sex lives, broader themes about ageing, or matter of fact inclusion of details about changes brought about with age. In terms of that last one, I once wrote a fic where a character’s wrist started clicking after he fingered the woman he was having sex with for a long time, so stuff along those lines is great. That fic also had some sci-fi age-related stuff about the Phase where post-menopausal Betazoids’ sex drive quadruples or more, so feel free to include speculative/sci-fi stuff about ageing too if it fits the setting of your fic!
  • Stuff about (wanted) pregnancy. I have some pregnancy related DNWs at the link here, so if this is an option you’re attracted to, please click through to see what I do not want from this kind of story.
    additional details about what I do like (some NSFW) Including, but not limited to: cloyingly fluffy family fic, breeding kink (and/or risky sex) and overly specific and/or scientific details about pregnancy itself. These details can relate to real pregnancy or speculative/sci-fi pregnancies featuring alien physiology or artificial wombs, etc. Speculative/sci-fi pregnancy does not have to be realistic for me to enjoy it! Depictions of real pregnancy would ideally have a higher degree of realism though, as pregnancy has been a long standing special interest of mine. I don’t mean, by this though, that you have to give someone a difficult pregnancy because they’re over 36 and that’s “more realistic” or something (also, fwiw, my aunt had her first baby at 48 and she had a very healthy and active pregnancy with both of her children), just that I would prefer that any specifics that you mention are accurate (so no feeling the baby kick before 16 weeks, for example). If you want to write about someone having a difficult pregnancy, or complications like gestational diabetes, though, go right ahead! I would ask though that if you go this route that it’s more along the lines of h/c than something that ends tragically. Regarding abortion, where termination is discussed (if, for example, the pregnancy was unplanned and the potential parent is thinking about options) I would strongly prefer that it was in a pro-choice context, unless you really feel that one or more of the characters would be pro-life and the overall narrative itself did not endorse them on this. I’m totally open to angsty fic about infertility that does not end with the character becoming pregnant, however.
    Notes regarding mpreg and people other than cis women getting pregnantCis mpreg heavily depends on execution for me and I am generally not that interested in it—when I do read it, I prefer cis mpreg where pregnancy is not the norm for cis men in that universe and it’s contextually a fake science or magic-related thing. I am okay with trans mpreg, especially written by other transmasculine authors, and with other AFAB trans people getting pregnant as long as it is a wanted pregnancy and any depictions of dysphoria are not extremely graphic. If you would like to write a story where a trans woman or transfeminine or other AMAB trans person gets pregnant, then I’m totally open to that and my preferences for that align more closely to the ones I’ve mentioned for speculative/sci-fi pregnancy than to my preferences relating to cis men being depicted as being pregnant. Rather than wanting the pregnancy to be depicted as unusual or unique, as is my preferance for cis mpreg, I would prefer a fic where transition related healthcare has progressed or is on the cusp or progressing far enough to allow this kind of pregnancy to happen. Also, despite what I just said about preferring this kind of pregnancy not to be depicted as being singular in-universe, if you want to write fic where your character has gotten pregnant after being granted a wish by fairies, set in a universe where transition related healthcare has not, and will not in the near future, allow for AMAB people to get pregnant, go right ahead! This is relatively uncharted territory, fic-wise, to my knowledge, so go forth and be fruitful, as it were 😉 My only truly strong preference here would be that your character is pregnant due to wanting to be pregnant rather than for another reason.
  • Since I mentioned it briefly in the above bullet point: speculative or canon alien physiology in settings where this is relevant.
    additional details (mildly NSFW?)Can be related to non-human typical genital configurations like Spock’s various fanonical space!junk, or more along the lines of Spock’s heart being where a human’s liver would be, and him having copper based blood.
  • Inclusion of sensory and sensual details (which may or may not be erotic).
NSFW likes
  • Getting together and/or stuff with a first kiss (I know, how NSFW, lol) or first time having sex. I particularly like if first time sex scenes (and sex scenes generally) aren’t Perfect™ and things are a little awkward in a way that the characters can laugh about.
    • First time bottoming and, more generally, first time doing X sex act or kink and/or characters realising that something they hadn’t given much thought to, or had assumed they wouldn’t be into, is something they’re really into. I’d prefer they go into it with a “Sure, I’ll try anything once” attitude rather than an “I’ll suffer through it for you 😥” attitude.
  • Friends with benefits/platonic sex. This can turn into fuckbuddies-to-lovers, but it doesn’t have to. I am particularly partial to a character who wingmans for their fuckbuddy and gets them together with another love interest (whether or not the two friends continue to have platonic sex afterwards is fine either way).
  • Non-penetrative sex.
    additional detailsThe characters can be actively choosing not to have non-penetrative sex specifically because of practical concerns, such as them don’t want to risk pregnancy, or them wanting to fuck right the fuck now and not wanting to wait for an opportune time for anal, or a character having vaginismus, or one or more of the characters just not really liking penetration. It can also just be something with non-penetrative sex without the need to justify that choice in-text. I really like when fics don’t make a distinction between penetrative and non-penetrative sex in terms of what is considered to be “real” sex, e.g. things like characters referring to a time they had oral sex as, “When we fucked” in dialogue, or similar casual nods to non-penetrative sex also being sex.
    • Intercrural sex specifically. This can transition into penetrative sex or not.
    • Oral sex of all varieties. I don’t particularly care about erotica being historical accurate or not (or, indeed, about erotica being strictly realistic in general—it can be fun to write realistic sex, but if you want to write impromptu anal fisting, go for it! I have, lol), so feel free to include it in a setting where it would be unlikely, e.g. the Golden Age of Piracy.
  • Virginity kink, especially if the fic itself doesn’t buy into the social construction of virginity as a concept.
    • Re: the above, I really it like, in general, when a work winks at the idea that kinky elements are just roleplay and not Real. Not for moralistic reasons or anything, I just think it gives a nice atmosphere and feel to the relationship and dynamic between the characters to imagine them being kinky together on purpose, as opposed to fics that play to the kink, but are not explicitly written to portray the characters as kinky, if that makes sense. I don’t mind if this is not something in play though, and I can definitely tell the difference between id-heavy smutty fan fiction and writing intended to be taken as a strictly literal account of how things are or should be.
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DNWs

I don’t mean to imply any judgement with any of my DNWs and some of them are things that I do enjoy from time to time in some contexts, but aren’t things that I’d like as part of a gift work/that I’m in a headspace for right now.

SFW DNWs
  • First or second person narration, unless that is canon typical.
  • Mundane/modern AUs (e.g. college or coffee shop AUs, etc.), Harry Potter AUs/fusions, AUs or pre-canon fic where the characters are aged down.
    random tangent about Scooby DooAlthough, come to think of it, I’d love to see a fic, AU or post-canon, where characters were depicted as much older than they appear in canon, e.g. something like the gang from the original 1969 Scooby Doo cartoon in the modern day as 70-somethings … in this purely hypothetical Scooby Doo fic that nobody will ever write though, Scooby is obviously still alive, typical 8-10 year lifespan of a Great Dane be damned.
    (return to where you left off in Likes)
  • Pregnancy related DNWs:
    • Unwanted pregnancy.
    • Fic where a character is coerced or tricked into becoming pregnant, even if they come around to the idea and/or are not upset by it (babytrapping from the side of the gestational parent isn’t a problem for me, because it’s a bodily autonomy thing for me mainly and also I’m a hypocrite).
    • Fic where the overall narrative explicitly promotes a pro-life sentiment.
    • Pregnancy fic where the pregnancy ends in abortion (re: the apparent contradiction with the last bullet point, for me this is like “there was only one bed” fic where they resolve it with someone sleeping on the couch, because I like pregnancy fic and the kind I seek out start from a premise that the pregnancy is wanted, even if unplanned).
    • Fic where the pregnancy ends in miscarriage, unless the character does manage to carry a pregnancy to term (or after 12 weeks, with the implication that they will carry to term) by the end of the story and the miscarriages are not depicted graphically. (return to where you left off in Likes)
  • Dark fic. I’m fine with angsty or bittersweet fic or with stories that are framed as tragedies, but I do not want something that is primary intended to be disturbing, or that is unrelentingly miserable with no reprieve and no catharsis at the end.
  • More than passing depictions of bigotry. You do not have to engage in historical revisionism or erase bigotry that exists in canon or the real world and I do enjoy fic that engages with the broader social contexts of various fandom settings, but I do not want a fic that is centred primarily around experiences of bigotry.
  • Fetishisation or romanticisation of a marginalised group.
    additional detailsFor example: race play, fetishisation of trans people, fat fetishism, fetishisation of physically disabled people’s bodies, romanticisation of mental illness, etc. One exception is that I do have a weakness for clueless class privileged characters who are poverty tourists, à la the song Common People, so I will say that I’m generally neutral-to-positive on this one, provided the character whose socioeconomic circumstances are being romanticised explicitly thinks that the poverty tourist is being a privileged dick (regardless of whether they also still have, or want to have, sex and/or a relationship with them).
  • Intimate partner violence or other related forms of abuse.
    additional detailsI do like some specific ships where the characters are unhealthily obsessed with each other and mutually destructive, but I do not like fics where a character is primarily a victim of their partner rather than someone willingly walking into a lake of bad decisions with their partner and drowning, hand in unlovable hand. N.B. I don’t mean by this distinction that I think that anyone in a real life abusive relationship is culpable for the abuse they suffer in any way.
NSFW DNWs
  • Kink related DNWs:
    • Consensual non-consent or other rape fantasies.
    • 24–7 D/s relationships.
    • Master/slave relationships.
    • Humiliation kink. Non-kinky humiliation is fine.
    • Desperation kink.
    • Edging.
    • Chastity belts/cages, etc.
    • Degrading or insulting language in a kink context.
    • Erotic asphyxiation. Non-erotic choking is okay.
    • Heavy pain play. Light impact kink or discomfort from restraints is fine.
    • Sadism.
    • Sounding.
    • Things likely to edge near a hygiene squick.
  • Non-con or dub-con.
  • Characters consenting to sex they think they won’t like, whether they turn out to be right about this or not.
  • Detailed descriptions of sex that is painful or unpleasant.
    additional details While I love badsex where it all goes pear-shaped in a way that’s funny to both the reader and the characters, and I love fic where characters get better at communicating what they enjoy sexually and their sex life improving as a result, I really don’t want to read long or in-depth depictions of characters being subjected to sex they absolutely hate with a partner who is either unaware that they don’t like it, or doesn’t care, that never gets any better.
Return to beginning

Requests

Requested Fandoms (be wary of spoilers!)
LeverageThis can include the new show, Leverage: Redemption, or not depending on your preference. I ship Eliot Spencer/Alec Hardison/Parker, Alec Hardison/Parker, Nate Ford/Sophie Devereaux(/Jim Sterling), Sophie Devereaux/Harry Wilson, Breanna/literally any cool woman, and I am also a big fan of character studies and gen fic.
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • Sophie Devereaux/Parker
  • Sophie Devereaux/Eliot Spencer
  • Eliot Spencer/Maria Shipp (unless it’s not endgame)
  • Completely unironic implications that the cops/the System are a force for justice and good.
Willow (2022)Ngl, I am still absolutely devastated that this show was not only cancelled, but taken off Disney plus and I am Not going to get getting over it any time soon. I think it was so disrespectful to the young actors who put so much into their roles and to Warwick Davies who had returned this this role that he played at 19, because he cared so much about the character. But. Anyway. I really, really love all the characters in this show and there is no wrong move here. I love Kit Tanthalos so, so much, because she is so messy and intense and vulnerable in a way that you don’t often get to see female characters be—she is Blorbo. I love her canonical romance with Jade Claymore and also her intense Whatever with Elora Danan. If Jade weren’t in the picture, I would ship Kit/Elora to hell and back, but I also love seeing it as a sibling rivalry kind of thing? I am also very much in love with the other characters and I sigh happily over all of them on the regular, so if Kit isn’t calling to you then feel free to cast a wider net!
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • I don’t NoTP it or anything, but I haven’t been especially drawn to any of the Elora/Jade/Kit fic I’ve seen
  • Non-canonical character death
Sense8I’m possibly in the minority in that I really loved how Amor Vincit Omnia fit so much plot into the runtime of a single movie. I don’t love that it was necessary, but I really enjoyed the implications of the result, where the various sensates loved ones had to be looped in (often offscreen) and were immediately ride or die. Love that! Devotion is never not going to get me. Along with what seems like the majority of the fandom, I am obsessed with Kala Dandekar/Rajan Rasal/Wolfgang Bogdanow and I really, really love how neat Rajan and Wolfgang think the other is when they meet. All those scenes where Kala is having a crisis about how she could possibly choose between them and the sad necessity of breaking the heart of a good man no matter what she does and Rajan and Wolfgang are staring dreamily into each other’s eyes in the background and skimming stones across a lake while holding hands are just *chef’s kiss*
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • n/a
A League of Their Own (2022)Another show I am still spitting mad about the way it was treated by the streaming service it was produced by. Support the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and SWG strikes, guys! I love this show so much. The main canonical ships are all amazing, but I also really love the gen relationships and the comradery and solidarity that the characters have (or fail to have) for each other. I love Lupe García/Jess McCready, and both of their relationships with Esti González
, but there really is nowhere you could look in this show that I wouldn’t love.
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • Fic that portrays Bertie Hart as a GNC cis woman
  • Jess/Esti
  • Lupe/Esti
  • biphobia or bi erasure
The Karate Kid/Cobra KaiI have been very intense about this franchise for a few years now and I don’t see that stopping any time soon. I love Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence (which is far and away the biggest ship in the fandom), but I also love John Kreese/Terry Silver, Tory Nichols/Sam LaRusso(/Miguel Dias/Robby Keene), Daniel LaRusso/Amanda LaRusso(/Johnny Lawrence), Johnny Lawrence/Carmen Dias, and others. I really like how this fandom lends itself to fic about the cycle of violence and trauma, but also can be extremely silly.
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • Imitating Mr. Miyagi’s accent.
  • Anything that takes the idea that Daniel was “the real bully” or that he was (even partially) responsible for being bullied in the first movie. It’s okay from an IC POV, but not as something endorsed by the narrative itself.
  • Teen ships that are not Sam/Tory or a polyship that includes Sam and Tory
  • Contact mods for a sensitive DNW that I don't feel comfortable listing publicly
The Tick (2017)This show is incredibly charming and I love it to distraction. I ship Arthur Everest/the Tick, but I am also a huge Dot Everest/Overkill (aka Esteban aka Straight Shooter) shipper.
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • Arthur Everest/Dangerboat
  • Overkill/Miss Lint (aka Janet) (except as backstory)
  • The Tick’s suit coming off/molting off and him just having a normal human body beneath, to faciliate a sex scene. Weird xeno sex or bust!
SuccessionI was hesitant to watch Succession for the longest time, because I saw a lot of self deprecating jokes from fans of the show about stanning 1%er business majors and was like “Eh, pass” but then I heard that there is a canonical kinky affair between a younger (late 30s) man and an older (mid 60s) woman and was like oh okay, now this I gotta see! I just … love these terrible people so much. They suck (affectionate) (derogatory). I obviously ship Roman Roy/Gerri Kellman, but I am also a fan of Shiv Roy/Tom Wambsgans (I am of the opinion that she really does love him, which is very inconvenient and embarrassing for her) and gen Roy sibling family feels (of both the endearing and the less endearing kinds).
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • Tom Wambsgans/Greg Hirsch
  • Kendall Roy POV
Singin’ in the RainI love this movie so much! I am such a sucker for movies (and musicals, come to that) that are about ~showbusiness~ and take place behind the scenes for a lot of the action. I find it such a fun framing device and it’s a way to play with the fourth wall that I really like. I hardcore ship Don Lockwood/Kathy Selden/Cosmo Brown (and any pairing within those three, honestly) and I love how much fun they have together and the affectionate way they poke fun at each other and support one another.
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • I do love Lina Lamont, but anything that paints her as a tragic victim of patriarchy who did nothing wrong is a bit eyeroll-y to me.
CommunityThis show is really important to me, as I think it’s the first time I’ve seen a character who is coded autistic who really maps very closely onto my experience of latching onto narrative to understand the world. Abed Nadir is the Blorbo of all time. In terms of ships, I really like any variation on the theme of Abed Nadie/Annie Edison/Troy Barnes (both shippy and gen), and I am constantly five seconds away from dropping my TED Talk about how Jeff Winger/Shirley Bennett is criminally underrated. I also quite enjoy Jeff Winger/Dean Craig Pelton and I do think that queer sex might fix Jeff. Or at least be fun!
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • A focus on Britta Perry/Jeff Winger, Britta Perry/Troy Barnes, Jeff Winger/Annie Edison, or Britta Perry/Annie Edison
  • Britta Perry POV
Only Murders in the BuildingI love this intergenerational crime fighting friend group so damn much. I haven’t read a lot of fic, so I don’t know what is out there to pod, but I really ship Mabel Mora/Theo Dimas, Charles Hayden Savage/Oliver Putnam (I can really see them both being closeted up til now with varying degrees of self awareness about it, from Charles being like “Well, I’ll just not think about that” to Oliver never really thinking twice about it because he thinks everyone is a bit bi). I also like Mabel/any of her canonical love interests. I think this is a great fandom for a gen fic though, because it’s a mystery show about friendship. It would also be a fun one to pod, potentially, since it’s centred around the character’s creating a podcast!
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • I don’t know how likely this is, but nothing where anything bad happens to Winnie (Oliver’s dog)
Our Flag Means DeathI really feel like my life is now divided into pre-OFMD and post-OFMD, because apparently now blatant queer subtext between the main characters in a mainstream show that hasn’t been marketed as an LGBT show is like … not automatically queerbaiting? Sometimes it’s actually going to pay off??? That said, while I do absolutely adore Stede Bonnet/Ed (Blackbeard) Teach, I am really besotted with the ensemble cast and I love gen fic about them as well as shippy fic about other ships. I went completely hog wild writing Frenchie/Wee John fic when season one came out, but I also really like Jim Jimenez/Oluwande, Oluwande/Frenchie(/Wee John), Lucius Spriggs/Black Pete, Jim/Lucius and I feel like I could definitely be convinced of some sad post-S1 finale Frenchie/Jim fic. I also ship Izzy Hands/Lucius on principle and, again, I think that queer sex might fix Izzy. I feel like he is pretty unambiguously in love with Ed in canon, and I am not averse to him getting in on the main ship in Izzy/Ed/Stede fic.
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • Imitating Jim’s accent.
  • Imitating the way Black Pete’s cleft palate affects his speech.
  • Killing Lucius for real.
Good Omens (TV)I’m a lifelong fan of the book, but I was an avid lurker in the GO fandom in the early to mid–2000s, but I have only gotten into the TV fandom after the second season. Similarly to what I said about OFMD, again, truly it is a brave new world out there! I love Aziraphale/Crowley, but I have also fallen—nay plummetted, no vaguely santering about it—into shipping Beelzebub/Gabriel and I sigh dreamily over them several times a day. I also ship Newton Pulsifer/Anathema Device, fwiw, but I don’t know how much fic there is out there for them. I know that when I was doggedly looking in the early 2000s there wasn’t a lot, haha.
Fandom Specific DNWs
  • She/her or he/him pronouns used in narration to refer to Beelzebub, Muriel (the 37th degree angelic scrivener from S2), Pollution (the horseperson of the apocalypse who took over from Pestilence), or other characters who canonically use they/them pronouns. In-character mistakes are okay.
Return to beginning

To anyone else reading letters to look for people to treat, hi there! I have gifts enabled on my AO3 account, so treat away if you so desire, and thank you for the kind thought.

obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)
Dear Vidder,

I'm [archiveofourown.org profile] SweetPollyOliver in disguise as my Dreamwidth alter-ego. Thank you so much for offering one of my requested fandoms! I'm very excited to participate in this event and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

I am pretty easy to please, so feel free to take or leave any of the ideas I've suggested here if they don't speak to you. I also don't have physical triggers that I need you to avoid.

General vid (and music) likes

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  • Humourous lyrics or ironic pairings of clips with lyrics for a humorous effect
  • Vids with a narrative/emotional arc
  • Character study vids
  • Ensemble vids
  • Uptempo vids with lots of quick cuts on the beat and a sense of movement
  • But also: slower, contemplative vids with long clips
  • Music specific likes:
    • Vocal jazz, especially Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Chet Baker (my token white man in this category, lol). I mostly listen to stuff from the 1930s-1960s, but I'd be thrilled to get something set to more contemporary jazz too
    • Great American Songbook singers, i.e. anyone known for singing things composed by Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Rodgers & Hammerstein, etc. but especially Judy Garland
    • Motown, e.g. Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5 and Smokey Robinson
    • Disco, e.g. The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Boney M., Earth Wind & Fire, Chaka Khan and the Village People
    • Rock and pop from the 1960s-1980s, e.g. The Mamas & the Papas, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Cher, The Turtles, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, ABBA and Queen
    • Contemporary pop, e.g. Carly Rae Jepsen, Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Mitski, Hayley Kiyoko, Marina (& the Diamonds), Florence + the Machine
    • Contemporary hip hop and R&B, e.g. Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Shea Couleé and Janelle Monáe
    • Pop folk, e.g. Simon & Garfunkel, Sufjan Stevens, Belle and Sebastian, Mumford & Sons and Joni Mitchell
    • Musical theatre e.g. Patti Lupone, Audra McDonald, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel
    • Country, e.g. Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Trixie Mattel, Skeeter Davis, Loretta Lyn, Woody Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Shania Twain, Norah Jones, Lil Nas X, Sheryl Crow and Miley Cyrus

Other relevant notes on vid preferences

click to uncollapseI don't mind "talky face" and I don't mind dialogue from the canon being used, but I prefer if you do use dialogue that it doesn't overlap with any lyrics and that there is no score from the canon source audible.

There aren't really any genres of music that I actively dislike and if you get the vibe that I would like something based on the things I have listed above, and it's not a DNW, then you're probably right. I don't listen to a huge amount of instrumental music, but I do enjoy it! Also feel free to vid something to a non-music audio source, such as poetry.

Subtitles would be nice, but are not essential.

DNWs

Vids set to music performed by Taylor Swift or Michael Bublé.

Requested fandoms

There are spoilers in each section, so read at your own risk!
Willow (1998) [SAFETY]
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  • Why I like this fandom: This is a real comfort fandom for me from my childhood and I really love all the female characters in it (well... love to hate Bavmorda—she is delightfully camp and evil). It's kind of interesting that, besides Willow himself and Madmartigan, almost all the key players in Willow are women, which feels a bit atypical and special for 1980s fantasy movies, which is a genre that I dearly love.
  • Fandom-specific vid prompts: I think that something that taps into the fairy tale adjacent vibe of the movie (or, alternately, that completely contrasted with it in an interesting or funny way) would be great. I'm very happy to receive a vid featuring more than one of my requested characters if we've matched on multiple characters.
  • Requested characters:
    • Sorsha: I love Sorsha so much. Having rewatched the movie recently, I think that my memory of her arc was a bit more fleshed out than it was in the actual film, where she just sort of decided not to be evil anymore because Madmartigan flirted with her, but I actually don't even care because I consider my rose-tinted glasses to be the true canon here. She's just so compelling! She's that kind of "daughter of the evil wizard who turns towards the light when a male hero falls in love with her" archetype, but that is complicated by the fact that the evil wizard, in this instance, is a single mother (who doesn't seem to value her or treat her very well, but that's another matter). She's also a military commander! She's not a passsive figure in the narrative who gets traded off between the bad guys and the good guys as a trophy, she goes from active antagonist to active ally. I think something about her relationship with her mother and/or her heel-turn would be amazing. I do ship Sorsha/Madmartigan, so feel free to include that if you like, but it's not necessary. You can also incorporate footage of Sorsha from the Willow TV show that came out last year, if you'd like!
    • Fin Raziel: Raziel! My beloved! She's just so... I don't even have the words. There's something so tragic about her lost youth and then something so interesting in how she pragmatically just moves on after a brief "Has it been that long?" when Willow finally succeeds in turning her back into a human, and just gets to work. I'm also always a sucker for characters who are physically transformed. I'd be really interested in any kind of Raziel vid, whether it was angsty or about her being a #girlboss who gets shit done or anything else between those extremes of emotion and seriousness.
    • Bavmorda: As I said above, Bavmorda is fantastically camp. I love villains and she really has it all. The deranged laughing, the plot to not only kill a baby but banish her to a realm of eternal suffering to prevent her being reincarnated. I think that something silly along the lines of something set to Eartha Kitt's I Wanna Be Evil would be really fun here. Also! If you happen to have matched with me on both Bavmorda and Raziel, I recently had the galaxy brained idea that maybe they are ex-girlfriends, so if that's something that appeals to you and that you'd like to run with then that would be amazing. I love enemies to lovers, but lovers to enemies is also extremely good.
    • Cherlindrea: She's so cool! I don't know how feasable it would be to do a whole 1 minute Cherlindrea-only vid, since she doesn't have a lot of screentime, but I think that you could probably get creative with including things that sort of evoked her as well as footage of her. I think this one would probably work best played straight, with sort of ethereal and magic overtones to it.
Willow (TV 2022)
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  • Why I like this fandom: As I said above, the Willow movie is incredibly dear to me. I was really looking forward to this show for a long time (it kept getting pushed back, which made waiting feel agonizing) but it turned out to be everything I could ever have wanted from a sequel/reboot. Visually, it's so in keeping with the aesthetic of the movie, with the higher production values not implying a disrespect or reinvention of what came before. Also! The new characters are so, so amazing! The returning characters are also amazing and there isn't this kid-gloves treatment where they're afraid to present beloved characters as complex and flawed. If you haven't seen it and you like the original movie, I really recommend it.
  • Fandom-specific vid prompts: I think that, again, you could span the whole spectrum from a very straight epic fantasy vibe to something more irreverant and silly. The show handles both tones very well and either (or a combination of both) would be very in keeping with that. I think a contemporary choice of music would work well—maybe a cover of something from the 80s if you wanted to get meta with it?
  • Requested characters:
    • Kit Tanthalos: Oh Kit... trashfire gay baby of my heart. She's so, so awful, I love her. She's privileged and proud and jealous and hurt and loving and- argh! It feels so refreshing to me to see a female character get to be this messy and not be relegated to the "holder of the brain cell." Something about her relationship with her family (or her mother Sorsha, her brother Airk, or her father Madmartigan specifically), or the responsibilities and privileges her nobility brings, or something shippy about her and Jade, or something about her jealousy of Elora would all be awesome. I am also a fan of her BroTP with Boorman.
    • Jade Claymore: Jade! Sweet precious angel! She is a bit saddled with being the keeper of the brain cell, poor thing, but her character is not flattened or sidelined by this, I feel? She's just so... I love her. I love that she tries so, so hard to be what her mentors/Kit/Tir Asleen needs and how she has been failed by all of the people and things she's devoted herself to. The fact that she was the child of General Kael and was, essentially, kidnapped by the Knights of Galladoorn and raised to despise the Bone Reavers is really compelling to me and I like how it complicates the more simplistic Good vs Evil broad strokes of the movie.
    • Elora Danan: I'm so, so delighted with how they handled Elora. She's such a great take on the Chosen One archetype and the fact that she is so human and feels so authentically like a young person with big, complicated feelings who is dealing with A Lot. I think something about identity and finding yourself or coming of age might work here? Or anything about any of her relationships (platonic and romantic) in the show, or about her efforts to live up to her foretold destiny and how it feels when she thinks she's falling short of what is expected of her.
    • Scorpia: Scorpia is someone I really hope we see more of in future seasons if the show gets renewed. As I mentioned in Jade's bullet point, I really like how the show has expanded and complicated the role of the Bone Reavers and she is such a big part of that, both as Jade's sister who was separated from her, as one of General Kael's two living children (of twelve) and as a leader. I also ship her canonical relationship with Boorman and if you wanted to include something about that, go for it.
    • Mims Ufgood: It was so lovely seeing Mims all grown up! There is so much tragedy and dignity in her and I wish she was in more of the show. I think that something played straight is the way to go for a Mims vid and probably something pretty angsty.
Cagney and Lacey
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  • Why I like this fandom: Full disclosure: I started watching this show primarily for reasons of being thirsty for Martin Kove. However! It's so much more than that. It is, of course, a cop show, with all that that entails, but I think that, in many ways, it does a better job of portraying nuance and honesty about the failings of the police than a lot of more contemporary police procedurals? Your mileage may vary, of course. I certainly think that it holds up very well compared to its contemporaries in the genres at any rate though.
  • Fandom-specific vid prompts: I think that there's a lot of ways you could go on this! You could do something about gendered expectations of the 1980s (in the police force and more generally), you could do something about friendship, you could do something that was explicitly critical of the show's more overtly copaganda moments. Music-wise, I think something from the time period would work well, but that's not to say that something more modern, or something from an earlier time period, like something deeply sexist that came out when that sentiment was less controversial in the mainstream, along the lines of Wives and Lovers.
  • Requested characters:
    • Ginger Cohen: I looooove Ginger. Honestly, if I had only requested Ginger's episodes then I'm 99% sure this would have counted as a safety fandom. But even if she's not a main character, she is to me. She is Detective Victor Isbecki's eventual wife and, basically, the first woman he's seen who he didn't go out with because they were young and cute. She's older than he is, academic, a divorcee, a mother. I mean... maybe she went out with him because he was young and cute! I'm also interested in if and how she helped Isbecki explore his Jewish heritage after he found out that his father had been Jewish. Whether you wanted to go with something serous or lighthearted with this, it's all good! I think if you were going lighthearted something like Does Your Mother Know would be a fun Ginger/Victor vid from her POV.
    • Mary Beth Lacey: I started watching Cagney and Lacey because I was thirsty for Martin Kove, but when I got into it I swiftly started being thirsty for Tyne Daly. I really like that in the odd couple pairing of Cagney and Lacey, it's Lacey who is the one with left wing politics and that they didn't go with the easy "Well, she's married and has kids, she's probably the Republican" route. Something about how she's in the era of "you can have it all!" and how demanding it actually is to try to have it all would be really great, as would something about her partnership with Cagney.
    • Christine Cagney: Oh Christine... you problematic fave, you. I probably would not remotely like Christine Cagney in real life, but as a fictional character I find her facinating. The contradictions in her poltics where she's very against sexism as it pertains to her, but then she's typically on the right elsewhere and seems quite happy to pull the ladder up behind her with regards women who make different choices to her or who aren't from a background she finds respectable. I see her as a closeted (even to herself) lesbian who has been very messed up by being raised by her socially conservative father. Something about her struggles with alcoholism would be very interesting, as would something about her politics or her partnership with Lacey or her issues with maintaining romantic relationships.
Succession (TV 2018)
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  • Why I like this fandom: I actually actively resisted watching Succession for a long time, because I saw a lot of people on Tumblr poking fun at people blorbifying capitalists and I was like... okay, maybe not. Also I mostly saw stuff about Tom/Greg which, no hate to that ship, didn't really seem to be unmissable given that, as I so often say, we have white dude slash at home. However! Then I found out about Gerri/Roman and my kinky older woman/younger man ship loving ears pricked up. And I'm really glad I did, because I love all of these awful people now and I am unironically blorbifying all of my special little 1%ers.
  • Fandom-specific vid prompts: I'm madly in love with the scoring of this show and I think it makes great use of dissonance to imply the dissonant relationships of the Roy family, so I suppose my possibly-not-very-helpful suggestion here is to try to find something that uses a lot of dissonance or music that supports the themes in terms of the music itself as well as the lyrics (if you go with something that has lyrics).
  • Requested characters:
    • Gerri Kellman: As I said above, Gerri is one of the main reasons that I watched the show in the first place. I would die for Gerri. I love how she's so calculated and careful, but then also does things that are wildly reckless, like starting up that quasi-affair with Roman (and then gaslight, gatekeep, girlbossing her way into pretending it wasn't happening). I think that she is a stone cold killer bitch, as Roman called her in one episode, but I also think that she has a vulnerable and soft side that she's wary of exposing. I think that being widowed had a big impact on her, because as well as losing her life partner she lost possibly her only guaranteed ally in Waystar Royco. She is also very flawed and has gotten her hands dirty being the Roys' sin-eater, but, as she says to Tom, it is a great job and you get to eat a shit tonne of cake. I'd love something about her ambivalence, either about her role in the business or in her relationships.
    • Shiv Roy: Shiv is so great. I love that she thinks she's the good Roy. Like what I was saying about Christine Cagney in the Cagney & Lacey section, I really love the contradictions and willful self delusions in Shiv's politics. She is A Woman™, so she must be progressive on that basis alone, right? She plays at being a campaign manager for Democrats to piss off her dad and to differentiate herself from her family, but she has no moral convictions, or at least none that she won't sacrifice for her own self interest. In the words of her father she's blue but she "gets it" and she never betrays her class interests. I think that something satirizing the #girlboss #leanin nature of Shiv would be really fun, but if you wanted to go down a more serious route and look at her various emotional wounds and the context of her awfulness that would also be amazing. I also, for what it's worth, think she genuinely does love Tom, which I imagine is very embarassing for her.
The Tick (TV 2017)
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  • Why I like this fandom: I am so, so fond of this show. I watched The Tick cartoon as a child, but wasn't really aware of the other adaptations until the 2017 show came out. Having explored the franchise more now, the 2017 show is far and away my favourite of them. It's so sincere and sweet, while also being hilarious and quite cutting at times. Truly, it has it all.
  • Fandom-specific vid prompts: I think, like the show, you could go either goofy and heighted or play the more devastating parts of it quite straight (or do both!). I don't have any specific thoughts about music for this fandom, but I don't think there's anything that really wouldn't work.
  • Requested characters:
    • Dot Everest: I love Dot so much. Her arc from being her brother's keeper as it were, to going completely off the rails of her sensible, carefully planned life and embracing chaos in season two when she drops out of school and quits her job to become a masked vigilante. You love to see it. I think that something about her being so tightly coiled and type-A and compartmentalising her own trauma to prioritise her brother's and how she let go of that would be really great. I do also ship her with Overkill, so I'm very happy to have some Overdot vibes included.
    • Ms Lint: Ms Lint is such a beautiful marriage of a campy villain that you can enjoy hammy around chewing the scenary and also someone who is genuinely very chilling. I also love that she isn't ever truly redeemed! She gets to go around doing her evil thing and if she's nominally on the same side as the good guys sometimes then that's purely incidental. Like Bavmorda, I think that something about enjoying being evil would be a really great fit. If you were able to do something that balanced the tone between silly, fun camp and something more chilling then that would be amazing, but I'd be happy with either take on its own too.
Quantum Leap (TV 2022)
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  • Why I like this fandom:I grew up on the 1989 Quantum Leap show and I couldn't be more thrilled with this reboot. It's everything I could possibly want as a continuation and/or reboot of the original. It's true to what made the Scott Bakula show so special, but it's not so reverent of it that it's not afraid to do its own thing and it improves on the representation of the original. To date, there are no recurring white male characters and that's never treated as something remarkable.
  • Fandom-specific vid prompts: Oof, this would really depend on the character you wanted to focus on! I think that, similar to what I said about the Willow TV show, that a fun thing to do with the choice of music would be to use a modern cover of a song from the 80s, but that's just an idea.
  • Requested characters:
    • Addison Augustine: Addison is so, so interesting and compelling to me. Her fury at choices being taken away from her and her inability to physically help Ben on his leaps is really powerful. I love Addison/Ben, so something along those lines would be great, but if you wanted to focus in on her specifically I think something about her perfectionism and desire for control would be great.
    • Jenn Chou: Jenn! Reformed criminal of my heart. I love that she's kind of the big stick that Project Quantum Leap carries while walking quietly, in a way. There is also so much depth hinted at but not spelled out explicitly with her characterisation. I think that she's someone who has had a lot of tragedy in her life and who has had to be self sufficient and is just now learning how to rely on others.
    • Ian Wright: My sole non-woman request! I love Ian and I love their casual inclusion in the main cast. They are maybe the first canonically non-binary character I watched without bracing myself and who I turned out not to have needed to brace myself, or certainly among the first (thinking it over, Jim Jimenez from Our Flag Means Death might be numero uno). And, with that being said, the casual nature of their inclusion and the fact that they are not used as a didactic tool for cis viewers does not mean that their gender is never relevant! I think the ways they talk about gender are very true to how real non-binary people talk about it and it never feels tacked on or forced or fetishistic. I also love that their skill as a programmer is the main focus of their characterisation. Also, let's be real, a transfeminine computer scientist who keeps a cat ears headband in their desk "in case of emeowgencies" is literally the most accurate trans represenation I've ever seen.
    • Janis Calavicci: Janis, as Al's daughter, is such a vital link to the original show! It's kind of an interesting meta thing that she's explicitly excluded from Project Quantum Leap because of her ties to the original project, which could maybe act as a metaphor for this show doing its own thing? And yet, she insistently inserts herself into the narrative and is the whole reason that it kicks off in the first place. I'm so intrigued by her and what her Deal is. Also, I kind of ship her with Jenn, but that's another story.
    • Ziggy: I felt incredibly cheeky nominating Ziggy, given that, as an AI, she has no embodied presence on the show, but [personal profile] colls said it was okay, so I will let go of my scruples about requesting something that would be very challenging to vid! I think that this could be a really interesting challenge though, tbh? I think that something from Janelle Monáe's album Dirty Computer or something by Daft Punk or Kraftwerk, or something else along similar lines, could be really fun. Feel free to pull footage of the handlink from the original Quantum Leap show and from any non-canon sources that help to evoke Ziggy.

To anyone else reading letters to look for people to treat, hi there! I have gifts enabled on my AO3 account, so treat away if you so desire, and thank you for the kind thought.
obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)
Dear CandyHeartsExchangeAuthor,

I'm [archiveofourown.org profile] 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.

SFW and NSFW general likes, DNWs and fandom specific likes and requests under the cut )
obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)
Dear Yuletide Author,

I’m SweetPollyOliver on AO3 and this is my first year participating in Yuletide. Thank you so much for offering one/some of the fandoms I’ve requested; I adore them all and would be delighted with a fic for any of them. With the exception of my DNWs, if I suggest anything that doesn’t vibe with the story you want to write feel free to follow your muse rather than try to incorporate what I’ve suggested.

Likes
  • Polyamory
  • Fluff
  • Disability adjacent themes and/or non-angsty disability fic
  • Post-canon fic
  • Pregnancy or kid fic; equally, bittersweet fic where the characters can’t have children for whatever reason
  • Found family
  • Knitting or other forms of crafting (this is so optional, as is everything on this list, but I’d be ecstatic)
  • Getting together/first time/first kiss/etc. fic


DNWs
  • Character death, including canon character death
  • Non-con or dub-con
  • Darkfic
  • Central focus on period typical prejudice; don’t feel you have to be ahistorical or overly twee and ignore any and all Bad Things, but I’d rather that the fic focused on something other than oppression
  • Choking, humiliation, Daddy/Mommy kink, unnegotiated kink in general
  • Specific to Some Like It Hot: cis!Daphne
  • Specific to Gattaca: Eugene having full sensation during sex
  • Specific to The Tick: Christmas fic


Gattaca
So, as indicated in my DNWs I would like an AU where THE THING doesn’t happen at the end. I would love fic with Eugene and Irene bonding during Vincent’s mission, with initial prickliness on both sides and some jealousy. I also have a scene in my head where Vincent comes home to them decorating (a tree? General welcome home stuff?) and bickering good naturedly. In terms of shipping, I prefer Vincent/Eugene, or Irene/Vincent/Eugene, but gen is also more than fine. If you do go down the smut route (which I’m very open to!), I’m not very interested in fic where Eugene magically can have sex exactly like a non-disabled person would.

Some Like It Hot
My biggest ask here is that she/her pronouns be used for Daphne throughout. In terms of shipping, I like the canon ships and I like allusions to Daphne and Joe having had a thing in the past. For years I’ve been threatening to write a fic where Sugar very earnestly asks Daphne what she wants to be called, but maybe you can do it for me, lol. Otherwise, anything post-canon would be great. If you can think up any hijinks, all the better!

TAZ: Amnesty
My preference is for a Hollis/Keith fic of one kind or another, any point in canon, any rating. Post canon or pre-fighting the Quell would be amazing. Alternately, trans!Duck fic would be perfection.

The Tick
I would love Overkill/Dot and/or Tick/Arthur, but gen team fic is also great. For Overkill/Dot, it would be fantastic if Overkill was a virgin and kind of embarrassed about it and Dot gently shepherded him into the magical world of sex. Full disclosure, I kind of think most of the guys in The Tick are virgins, so inexperienced!Arthur and the Tick fumbling around would also be amazing. For Tick/Arthur, I prefer stories where the Tick is always naked as opposed to never naked, i.e. what you see is what you get in terms of equipment, so a certain amount of ingenuity in writing sex that’s a bit off the beaten track would be very appreciated.

Singin’ in the Rain
Cosmo/Don/Kathy fic would be amaaaazing. Something post-canon where they’re feeling out a new relationship would be lovely. Maybe Cosmo and Don had a thing and Cosmo assumed that if a serious relationship came along for Don that it’d be over and had kind of made his peace with that, only to discover he can have his cake and eat it too. Details about Old Hollywood are a big plus for this fandom.

Princess Bride
My kingdom for more Inigo/Fezzik fic tbh. Whether they were together all along or get together post canon, it’s all good. If you want to add a disability element (something relating to Inigo’s alcoholism? Maybe Fezzik has chronic pain?) to things it would be both Christmas and my birthday.
obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)
I finished another fanvid! This one is focused on Dot Everest from The Tick.

Content warning: some quick "stuttery" cuts that may be triggering to people who experience migraines or seizures





Just A Girl from Art Holland on Vimeo.



Password: Dot

obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)
So I've fallen headfirst into The Tick fandom over the past few weeks to the extent that I finally learned how to vid. My first, modest, example below:


Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Go) from Art Holland on Vimeo.



Password: spoon!

Fic post

Jun. 6th, 2019 01:25 pm
obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)
This is a bit of a long shot, because I don't know if any of you watch The Tick, but I wrote something.

Rating: General Audiences
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: The Tick (TV 2017)
Relationship: Arthur/The Tick (The Tick)
Characters: Arthur Everest, Miranda (The Tick 2017), The Tick (The Tick)
Additional Tags: First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff

Summary: Normal twenty (mumble) year olds went on dates and so, apparently, did Arthur now.

Read at Archive of our Own

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obstinatecondolement: Deanna Troi from Star Trek: The Next Generation shown from the shoulders up, standing in front of a painting of a planet (Default)
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