Dear Every Woman Writer 2018
Jun. 10th, 2018 02:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doranwenI did Every Woman last year and I really loved the whole concept. Women are nearly always my favorite characters in any fandom, so I'm really looking forward to this. Below I've done a lot of describing the awesomeness about each each woman or group, and gave a few prompts in case you find them useful. I hope you have a lot of fun writing for me. :)
I love women who are strong, women who have quiet depth, women with an active inner life, women who think and/or feel… You'll probably see this in the characters I requested. :) I love women in roles from caretaker to defender, including a mix of those (such as a woman defending her children from harm, or a soldier who lays down her war life to raise a family). Courage looks like different things in different people, and I love seeing that strength shown in women with different personalities.
What I love about relationships is all the emotional depth: vulnerability, loyalty, knowing someone so well you know what they feel/think/need, even just having someone there as an emotional "rock". The whole "not being alone" feeling is such a powerful theme.
I once made up a 101 favorite tropes list (in no particular order), so feel free to make use of those if any of them get your muse going: https://doranwen.dreamwidth.org/240453.html
Besides those tropes, here are my general likes:
deep platonic friendship, romantic friendship, asexual romance, found families, apocalyptic fic, hurt/comfort, nonsexual physical touch (including cuddling), self-sacrifice, characters being vulnerable, character redemption, survival fic, positive treatment of religion, characters dealing with trauma, trust building, missing scenes, canon divergence AU (especially fix-it fic)
DNWs: sex or sexual feelings, supernatural/fantasy beings (elves, vampires, werewolves, gnomes, zombies, etc.), AUs other than canon divergence or alt beginnings, deathfic or horror, calling an adult "baby" or "darling", mpreg, crackfic, gore (mild violence is OK, just not as graphic as a surgery documentary), uncensored profanity, first/second person fic
Don't worry if someone's written a similar idea before (even as a gift for me!). My first real fandom was one where people used to write a dozen versions of the same TV ep, and I loved reading them all. There are never too many versions of the same story, in my opinion. I love to see how two people can take the same idea and come up with two totally different stories. :D
If you're crossover-inclined, you're welcome to cross these with any fandom I know: If I've requested it or listed it as a possible crossover fandom in one of my other exchange letters, you can totally use it! Most of the fandoms I've requested in past exchanges have had a lot of women characters (some of them very female-centric), so that should make it easy.
And now to the requests (in the order of which I found them in the tagset):
Earth Girl Trilogy - Janet Edwards
Basic premise: Jarra is one of the Handicapped, someone whose immune system can't survive on any of humanity's thousand worlds except for Earth. She's grown up as one of the many Handicapped who were abandoned by their parents, raised as a ward of Earth. She's used to hearing slurs in the media, and she's sick of non-Handicapped thinking she's somehow less than human just because her immune system is faulty. So she's going to find a way to prove it to them… and in the process ends up turning her life upside down and changing the universe.
This is an awesome YA sci-fi trilogy! I love just about everything about it - the premise, the characters… The worldbuilding is fascinating and I found the slang growing on me over time. (I started thinking things like "utter nardle", lol.)
I love the characters in particular, and while Jarra is something of a favorite because we see more of her and everything's from her perspective, I really love the others too! Every character or group I requested is someone or someones that I would love to see more of, so if you've got an idea for any of them, go for it!
Prompts by tag:
Jarra Tell Morrath
For all that we watch her through three books, there's still so much of her life we haven't seen! Anything set before the trilogy (including the novella about Jarra the summer before it starts) would be neat - we get glimpses of what life was like in the Residences, but I'd love to see more. Or go for post-Earth Flight - something dealing with Fortuna or tracking down the chimera would be fantastic!
Group: Jarra Tell Morrath & Issette
I'd love to see more of their friendship, particularly when they were younger. (Mostly because Jarra's too busy to spend much time with Issette in person later on - but if you have an idea, write away!)
Group: Jarra Tell Morrath & Amalie Roche & Dalmora Rostha
These three are awesome women and I'd love to see more of them post-Earth Flight, since they're heading off to Fortuna together. Or just a conversation from sometime during the trilogy. Anything to get more of them!
Group: Amalie Roche & Dalmora Rostha
These two have some interesting contrasts - Amalie from a frontier world where she's considered an old maid, and Dalmora from a long-established world where she wouldn't be dating for another few years yet. Their relative levels of education and life experiences are very different, but I can see them establishing a good friendship and would love to see anything related to that.
Commander Nia Stone
We don't know all that much about her, but I think it'd be interesting to see more - she's practically an OC, so have fun with it!
Candace (Earth Girl Trilogy - Janet Edwards)
All we know of Candace is that she has three norm children of her own, and that she has at least nine other ProChildren (isn't there something about how they each have ten of them and spent twenty hours a week total on them?). I'd love to see something of her life, from being assigned her first ProChild, to her norm children attending off-world schools. There's all sorts of interesting possibilities there!
Amalie Roche
I'd love to see more of Amalie, particularly bits we didn't get to see in the books. For instance, she says she and Krath visited Miranda after the whole Fortuna thing, and was stunned at everyone's reaction. Show me that, or any other missed scene. Or something of her future work on Fortuna.
Crossover Groups
Ahahaha, some of these are the craziest crossover ideas ever, I feel like (though I'm quite sure they aren't, given the levels of creativity some people have). To write most of these will take great amounts of AU-ing. The one generality I can say is that I like crossovers to be taken somewhat seriously; I'd prefer not to receive crackfic. But I'm perfectly OK with "I don't know how I got here" sorts of situations, where one person is suddenly dropped into another world (whether they woke up there, or walked through a weird spot in the air, etc.). You'll have to use some of that to get some of these characters in the same place! For crossovers with LOTR characters, while I love fics that recognize that Westron is not actually English (and Frodo is actually Maura, etc.), I'm also OK with characters being dropped into the world able to speak it as if it were English. Perhaps whatever magic dropped them there made it so that Westron would always sound like English to them?
Prompts by tag:
Group: Cassie Holmes (Push) & Miss Parker (Pretender)
Oh, this one could be veeerrrry interesting. On one hand you have Cassie, a fugitive from a powerful agency… and on the other you have Miss Parker, who works for a large corporation that controls things about as much as Division tries to. Does Cassie help Jarod escape and end up in Miss Parker's sights? Or does Jarod help Cassie out and that gets her to meet Miss Parker in some way? I'm not sure how they meet or what would happen (sorry I'm not more helpful!), but I would love to read whatever you come up with! :D
Group: Cassie Holmes (Push) & Jean Grey (X-Men Original Movieverse)
I mostly wanted to see Cassie with Jean because their perspectives are so radically different. Jean's used to dealing with runaways, scared teens who don't know how to control the powers they have. Cassie, on the other hand, is more of a soldier. A very young one, but a soldier, nonetheless. She's self-controlled in a way few of the teens Jean would know could ever be. Perhaps Cassie ends up staying at the X-Mansion to hide from Division, and that's how they meet. Either way, I'd love to see either one from the other's perspective. Cassie interacts on such an adult level and would not fit in with the other teens, I don't think.
Group: Chloe Sullivan (Smallville) & Cassie Holmes (Push)
I've not seen Smallville past season 3, really, but early years is where I see these two meeting up, when they'd be similar ages. Both are blonde, tough, city kids. Cassie might be younger, but she's even tougher - how many years has she been on her own, with her mom locked up by Division? And Chloe's all about discovering and exposing things like that. Whether they team up, whether they get into arguments because Cassie won't tell Chloe what's going on, whether it's just one of them observing the other and noting what they're like… I'm sure it won't be dull! I could see it as set either before the events of Push (wherein I'd wonder if Chloe helps Cassie get to Hong Kong somehow?) or afterward, with Nick and Cassie traveling together. (I can imagine that Cassie and Chloe would have much to discuss regarding the clueless guys in their lives - Nick and Clark.) Note: For anyone aware of the news articles about Mack and NXIVM, it does not affect my enjoyment of her character. If you somehow have managed to miss being informed, feel free to avoid reading up on it so you can remain blissfully ignorant. :)
Group: Galathea Winthrop (Worldweavers) & Katherine Pryde (X-Men Original Timeline)
Both of these girls are talented with computers - but they approach them in entirely different ways! I'd love to see them meet up and connect somehow. :D
Group: Jane Rizzoli (R&I TV) & Lindsay Boxer (WMC TV)
I love both these characters for their tough exterior covering the soft part inside. In both cases they've been wounded (Jane with the Surgeon, Lindsay with Kiss-Me-Not and her ex); Jane's armor is even thicker than Lindsay's, because of the greater trauma. The same actress plays both of these characters, so you could do something interesting with them being related somehow. Or else they get mistaken for each other, or work together on something...
Group: Nina Theroux (Alphas) & Miss Parker (Pretender)
It would be extremely interesting to watch these two interact. Miss Parker's tough-as-nails exterior masks a vulnerable core, and Nina covers her own vulnerability with suave polish. Would they see through each other, would Nina push Miss Parker for some reason, would they team up in some way?
Group: Nina Theroux (Alphas) & Jean Grey (X-Men Original Movieverse)
These two are fairly evenly matched as far as powers go, I think. On one hand, Jean could take over Nina's mind and control her power, but on the other, if she weren't wary, Nina could do the same to her. I'd love to see what happens when they meet up!
Group: Ororo Munroe (X-Men Original Movieverse) & Éowyn (LOTR)
Oh, this one could be very interesting. What Éowyn would make of Ororo I'm not quite sure! And I really have very little ideas to prompt you on, other than that I'd love to see them interact, and I think it would be more interesting for Ororo to drop into LOTR than the other way around. What would the Rohirrim (or Gríma or Sarúman, for that matter) make of her ability to control the weather? I can see Éowyn finding a way for that to be useful. Either way, Éowyn really has few female friends and I think the two of them might get along well.
Group: Rachel Pirzad (Alphas) & Rogue (X-Men Original Movieverse)
I think Rachel might understand Rogue rather well, with her sensitivity to touch. (Feel free to set this meeting anywhere in the series.) While her reaction to being kissed isn't the same thing as sucking someone's life out of them, it does tend to have a similar result in the inability to be intimate with the person one loves. Whether they discuss this point of connection or just simply meet up somehow, I'd love to see these two coming into contact with each other.
Alphas (TV)
Basic premise: This show has been called "X-Men for thinking people", and is a deconstruction of humans with superpowers. (The tagline is "Their abilities make them super. Their actions make them human.") Dr. Lee Rosen is a therapist who manages a team of Alphas, people who have abilities anyone else might - except dialed up by a thousand into the superpower realm - and each with some kind of downside. They work for the government to identify other Alphas and stop rogue ones, including a terrorist group. The ensemble cast includes Nina Theroux (played by Laura Mennell), a woman with a troubled past and the ability to override willpower, Rachel Pirzad (played by Azita Ghanizada), an Iranian immigrant with the ability to intensify any one sense at the cost of the others, Kat (played by Erin Way), a young woman with an unknown past, whose memory can only ever stretch back about a month, and Skylar Adams (played by Summer Glau), a woman with an outstanding ability to create technological devices. You can see a brief intro to some of the characters here.
Oh man, Alphas. I got hooked on it and watched all 24 episodes in six days. I fell in love with Rachel from her very first scene, and by the third episode I loved Nina just as much or more. Kat grew on me pretty quickly as well from when she was introduced, and I find Skylar interesting. But honestly, there's not a main character in Alphas that I don't like, and that's unusual for me! They're just really great. Plus the show doesn't hesitate to play hardball with government mistrust, character deaths, and intense scenes, and is possibly the best show I've seen in terms of how it balances characters and storylines. The only downside, imho, was the terrible cliffhanger Syfy ended it on! (What's with that, Syfy? It's a lousy way to treat fans! Give us a two-hour movie to wrap things up, at least!)
I liked Nina's relationship with Cam, but I also liked that it ended and moved on, and I'm ambivalent about whether they should get back together, as the S2 finale hinted at. I'm also ambivalent about Rachel's relationship with John. I like the tension the last two episodes brought, with the issue of loyalties. You could see the team slowly fracturing into two groups - Lee, Cam, and Nina on the side of "anything it takes", and Bill and Kat (and John, for that matter) on the side of "follow the rules", and Rachel torn in the middle. (Gary is really an independent in all of this.) If you write a fic set during or after those eps, I really don't want to see her split away from Lee and Nina, but there would need to be some development of her character in figuring out where she wants to be.
Prompts by tag:
Nina Theroux
Nina's a fascinating character, and I liked her from the beginning but fell in love with her at the end of Anger Management, the way she reached out to Rachel. And when I got to When Push Comes to Shove, I wanted to hug her so badly. Her power has damaged her relationships with others in so many ways, so many times, and thinking about how having that power affects someone as they grow and mature, particularly with the family she had… you start to realize that emotionally Rachel is far more stable in so many ways. I would love to see some of Nina's years after she lost Tommy as a friend, or more from when Rosen first encountered her. Or show me missing scenes during the show. Nina might not know the medical things that Rachel does, but she does know the basics of injections, as evidenced when Rosen tells her to give so many CCs to each person under Jonas' influence. Show me how she learns that!
Rachel Pirzad
When I saw Rachel tear up at her dad's words in the pilot, my heart went out to her immediately. I love her vulnerability, her slow progress towards finding her confidence and coming into her own. I'd love to see anything from her years at Langley (where I presume she was just keeping her senses balanced and steering clear of people) to something from the time when she's asked to work with Rosen on his team - that last has to be recent, given her canonical age of 24 in the pilot. Or show me Rachel in missing scenes throughout the show. The writers did get her backstory a little confused—they have a reference to Sam being her "first date" in S1, but in S2 she says she got drunk to sleep with a boyfriend, so pick whichever backstory you like better! (I lean towards the S1 backstory but will be happy with a fic that uses either.) One thing we see is that Rachel has a lot of interesting knowledge and skills, from being able to identify "an enzyme found only in Caucasians of Northern European ancestry" in the pilot to knowing how to give shots and recognize drug names (from the pilot Rosen has her prepare injections, and in Need to Know she knows right off that aminorex is a stimulant, something the average person wouldn't know). I'd love to see a fic that goes into how she learns all this - or at least certain of the skills!
Kat (Alphas)
Kat's such an interesting character! Her memory causes some interesting plot options, and I absolutely love her wit - watch this video to see what I mean! I'd love to see anything set in her past, or future with the team. I really like the bond she has been forming with Cameron, and would love to explore how that's been strained by the events of Need to Know. I'd love to see what happens to her after the end of God's Eye.
Group: Nina Theroux & Skylar Adams
I'd love to see more of these two, whether it's the time they spent together before the show started, or them working together in God's Eye, or even after the end of the show. Missing scenes are awesome - such as their meeting after Bill and Gary rescued Skylar in Need to Know, or when the team's up at Skylar's house before seeing her off to Canada.
Group: Nina Theroux & Rachel Pirzad & Skylar Adams
This tag is perfect for fic set during Catch and Release. I haven't any specific prompts other than maybe something between them at Skylar's house at the end, so write whatever comes to mind!
Group: Nina Theroux & Rachel Pirzad & Kat & Skylar Adams
I love these four women! The scene of them working together in God's Eye is great (though I see the goof from the gag reel in my head all the time now, which cracks me up), and I'd love to see more of them working together, or just being awesome. Future fic is also great - how do the events in God's Eye affect them in the long run?
Group: Nina Theroux & Rachel Pirzad & Kat
There are so many possibilities for these three over the course of second season. Pick a missing scene anywhere! Or write something dealing with the issues of loyalty and trust stemming from the events of Need to Know. Or future fic post-show. I just adore these women so much and would love anything about them.
Group: Rachel Pirzad & Nina Theroux (Alphas)
The relationship between these two changes so much over the course of the show. S1 Nina is very caring despite doing a good job of pretending to be all cool and not revealing much of her past, and I love the scene at the end of Anger Management where she reaches out to Rachel. She's always offering Rachel a ride, listening to her, encouraging her in her difficulties with her parents, etc. And then you have S2, where she pushes Rachel to stay calm in Wake Up Call - and then pushes for an entirely different reason in When Push Comes to Shove. It was painful to see their relationship in Gaslight, and lovely to see Rachel thawing towards Nina as she recognizes Nina's changed (and that Nina is taking responsibility for the results of her pushing). There are some very interesting undercurrents in Need to Know, though - from Nina's "You called them?" to the way Nina says "When Rachel…" to the looks Nina gives Rachel in the elevator and afterwards, and there wasn't time to really deal with that in the few hours that the last two episodes cover. Though I like that when Kat is trying to get a hold of Rachel, Bill says "Nina always knows where she is". I think Nina really cares for Rachel down deep. I'm not entirely sure what Nina's reasoning was for what she pushed Rachel to do in the club in When Push Comes to Shove (was she trying to find the quickest way to hurt Rachel, to force the rejection she was feeling coming anyway? or was there more to it?), but when she's in her right mind, she clearly has a lot of affection for Rachel.
I'd love to see anything from their first meeting to Rachel moving in with Nina, to bonding while roommates, to even Rachel moving back out to her parents' (when did that happen? right after Rosen's speech or further into the eight months?). Or show me some of the rebuilding of their friendship in S2, or even an AU where Rachel tracks Nina down at the end of The Quick and the Dead and gets through to her. Or show me some of the aftermath of the events of Need to Know or post-finale discussion of things. I just love these two and want to see more of them. Still so mad the show ended too soon!
Women's Murder Club (TV)
Basic premise: A small group of friends (three to start, with a fourth working her way in during the first couple episodes) who all work in related fields share information to help each other solve cases. Lindsay Boxer (played by Angie Harmon) is a homicide inspector (aka detective) who works in San Francisco's police department. She's friends with Jill Bernhardt (played by Laura Harris), a deputy district attorney and Claire Washburn (played by Paula Newsome), the medical examiner. As the show unfolds, she begins to respect (and maybe even like?) Cindy Thomas (played by Aubrey Dollar), a young reporter who gets assigned to the crime beat. The show is an excellent mix of drama, comedy, and romance, and has a lot of similarities to Rizzoli & Isles.
I got into Women's Murder Club because I loved watching Angie Harmon in Rizzoli & Isles, and this sounded like a similar role for her. After I saw the video titled "The Best of Women's Murder Club" and read this comment, I was positive I had to see the whole show: "Now it all makes sense. Jane Rizzoli is an extension of Lindsay Boxer. The only difference, they keep butching up Angie Harmon." It is so true. Lindsay is like a milder version of Jane in some ways. But in the ways she's different, I fell in love with her character all over again. Lindsay can actually cry, she hates being vulnerable but she can actually do it and be real with her friends. And that just won me over. (Seriously, make Angie Harmon be all vulnerable and cry in a scene and you have me. Completely.) I love her dedication to her work, the toughness she can bring to the job, but I also love that she can still be human, still be vulnerable, that she doesn't feel like she has to be tough to be respected (Jane Rizzoli, in many ways, hardens herself in order to be respected in her job). I love that she cares about her friends, and that she's torn about her ex but still knows what the right thing is and even respects his fiancée. While Lindsay doesn't always take the best care of herself (or act the most responsibly), it helps that Claire can act as "mom" and give her the lectures she needs but sometimes doesn't accept even from her other friends (something Maura isn't very good at giving Jane in R&I).
Cindy stole my heart because of several reasons. One, she's cute and adorable (I don't usually find redheads fascinating but there's something about Cindy…). Two, she has a delightful personality, bubbly, a little lacking in some common sense now and then, which the others are happy to lecture her about. And three, she has a bravery and courage that is pretty amazing. When she volunteers for the dangerous decoy task in "Father's Day"… that took guts. Real guts. I think Lindsay had to respect her for that. And then with what happens to her in "And The Truth Will (Sometimes) Set You Free", well… I want to hear more. (I also have to admit, I might not be a sports fan, but I loved Cindy in "Play Through the Pain", especially her interaction with Claire's son.)
I love Claire because she's such an awesome character - a great mother figure, a bit snarky, talented, dealing with real life issues (such as her husband's injury and depression) and still being faithful and dedicated. She's great for telling the others what they need to hear, and being there for them.
Prompts by tag:
Cindy Thomas:
Cindy is just such a fun character. I'd love to see some of her backstory, or a behind-the-scenes fic from her POV. Maybe another situation where she breaks the rules for a story… Or where Claire is there for her (for advice, perhaps).
Lindsay Boxer:
I love tough characters with soft centers, and Lindsay is a classic example. I'd love to see her dealing with the events at the end of the series, or dealing with the emotional aftermath of the wedding in ep # 9. Or what if the pregnancy test came back positive? So many AU possibilities with this show, lol. Also, if you feel crossover-y, given that the same actress also plays Amanda from C-16: FBI, you could do something interesting with them being related somehow. Or else they get mistaken for each other, or work together on something…
Group: Cindy Thomas & Claire Washburn
I'd love to see Claire mothering Cindy, or even Cindy helping Claire in some way. Cindy's sort of bonded with Claire's son already; I can see them inviting her over a lot, sort of a big sister/aunt figure.
Group: Lindsay Boxer & Cindy Thomas & Claire Washburn & Jill Bernhardt
I love the interactions of these four characters and would love anything in the theme of the show. Whether it's discussions of their club "it's not a club", or supporting each other through something, I just love them and would love to see more of them!
Group: Lindsay Boxer & Cindy Thomas
I love the interactions between these two. I see a bit of hero worship on Cindy's side, and annoyance that turns to fondness and respect on Lindsay's. I'd love to see Cindy being ridiculous, or Lindsay saving her life. Or more of Lindsay and Cindy regarding the shooting in ep # 12. Maybe an alternate ending where Jill isn't the one that stays at the hospital? Or maybe a fic about Lindsay and Cindy's friendship starting to grow from the beginning. I see a bit of insecurity in Cindy with regards to her friendships with the others. Or a missing scene with the two women? One possibility is right after Cindy was a decoy (you could AU it so she gets injured doing that if you like), or later that day. I'm sure you can come up with more. Does Cindy ever find out about Lindsay and the baby? (Or crazy idea yet, what if the pregnancy test was positive after all? Cindy finding out would make an interesting story.) Or just a fic where Cindy's being her usual adorably ridiculous self and Lindsay is wondering if she needs to shoot her. Any interaction between these two would make me happy.
Happy writing! :D
I love women who are strong, women who have quiet depth, women with an active inner life, women who think and/or feel… You'll probably see this in the characters I requested. :) I love women in roles from caretaker to defender, including a mix of those (such as a woman defending her children from harm, or a soldier who lays down her war life to raise a family). Courage looks like different things in different people, and I love seeing that strength shown in women with different personalities.
What I love about relationships is all the emotional depth: vulnerability, loyalty, knowing someone so well you know what they feel/think/need, even just having someone there as an emotional "rock". The whole "not being alone" feeling is such a powerful theme.
I once made up a 101 favorite tropes list (in no particular order), so feel free to make use of those if any of them get your muse going: https://doranwen.dreamwidth.org/240453.html
Besides those tropes, here are my general likes:
deep platonic friendship, romantic friendship, asexual romance, found families, apocalyptic fic, hurt/comfort, nonsexual physical touch (including cuddling), self-sacrifice, characters being vulnerable, character redemption, survival fic, positive treatment of religion, characters dealing with trauma, trust building, missing scenes, canon divergence AU (especially fix-it fic)
DNWs: sex or sexual feelings, supernatural/fantasy beings (elves, vampires, werewolves, gnomes, zombies, etc.), AUs other than canon divergence or alt beginnings, deathfic or horror, calling an adult "baby" or "darling", mpreg, crackfic, gore (mild violence is OK, just not as graphic as a surgery documentary), uncensored profanity, first/second person fic
Don't worry if someone's written a similar idea before (even as a gift for me!). My first real fandom was one where people used to write a dozen versions of the same TV ep, and I loved reading them all. There are never too many versions of the same story, in my opinion. I love to see how two people can take the same idea and come up with two totally different stories. :D
If you're crossover-inclined, you're welcome to cross these with any fandom I know: If I've requested it or listed it as a possible crossover fandom in one of my other exchange letters, you can totally use it! Most of the fandoms I've requested in past exchanges have had a lot of women characters (some of them very female-centric), so that should make it easy.
And now to the requests (in the order of which I found them in the tagset):
Earth Girl Trilogy - Janet Edwards
Basic premise: Jarra is one of the Handicapped, someone whose immune system can't survive on any of humanity's thousand worlds except for Earth. She's grown up as one of the many Handicapped who were abandoned by their parents, raised as a ward of Earth. She's used to hearing slurs in the media, and she's sick of non-Handicapped thinking she's somehow less than human just because her immune system is faulty. So she's going to find a way to prove it to them… and in the process ends up turning her life upside down and changing the universe.
This is an awesome YA sci-fi trilogy! I love just about everything about it - the premise, the characters… The worldbuilding is fascinating and I found the slang growing on me over time. (I started thinking things like "utter nardle", lol.)
I love the characters in particular, and while Jarra is something of a favorite because we see more of her and everything's from her perspective, I really love the others too! Every character or group I requested is someone or someones that I would love to see more of, so if you've got an idea for any of them, go for it!
Prompts by tag:
Jarra Tell Morrath
For all that we watch her through three books, there's still so much of her life we haven't seen! Anything set before the trilogy (including the novella about Jarra the summer before it starts) would be neat - we get glimpses of what life was like in the Residences, but I'd love to see more. Or go for post-Earth Flight - something dealing with Fortuna or tracking down the chimera would be fantastic!
Group: Jarra Tell Morrath & Issette
I'd love to see more of their friendship, particularly when they were younger. (Mostly because Jarra's too busy to spend much time with Issette in person later on - but if you have an idea, write away!)
Group: Jarra Tell Morrath & Amalie Roche & Dalmora Rostha
These three are awesome women and I'd love to see more of them post-Earth Flight, since they're heading off to Fortuna together. Or just a conversation from sometime during the trilogy. Anything to get more of them!
Group: Amalie Roche & Dalmora Rostha
These two have some interesting contrasts - Amalie from a frontier world where she's considered an old maid, and Dalmora from a long-established world where she wouldn't be dating for another few years yet. Their relative levels of education and life experiences are very different, but I can see them establishing a good friendship and would love to see anything related to that.
Commander Nia Stone
We don't know all that much about her, but I think it'd be interesting to see more - she's practically an OC, so have fun with it!
Candace (Earth Girl Trilogy - Janet Edwards)
All we know of Candace is that she has three norm children of her own, and that she has at least nine other ProChildren (isn't there something about how they each have ten of them and spent twenty hours a week total on them?). I'd love to see something of her life, from being assigned her first ProChild, to her norm children attending off-world schools. There's all sorts of interesting possibilities there!
Amalie Roche
I'd love to see more of Amalie, particularly bits we didn't get to see in the books. For instance, she says she and Krath visited Miranda after the whole Fortuna thing, and was stunned at everyone's reaction. Show me that, or any other missed scene. Or something of her future work on Fortuna.
Crossover Groups
Ahahaha, some of these are the craziest crossover ideas ever, I feel like (though I'm quite sure they aren't, given the levels of creativity some people have). To write most of these will take great amounts of AU-ing. The one generality I can say is that I like crossovers to be taken somewhat seriously; I'd prefer not to receive crackfic. But I'm perfectly OK with "I don't know how I got here" sorts of situations, where one person is suddenly dropped into another world (whether they woke up there, or walked through a weird spot in the air, etc.). You'll have to use some of that to get some of these characters in the same place! For crossovers with LOTR characters, while I love fics that recognize that Westron is not actually English (and Frodo is actually Maura, etc.), I'm also OK with characters being dropped into the world able to speak it as if it were English. Perhaps whatever magic dropped them there made it so that Westron would always sound like English to them?
Prompts by tag:
Group: Cassie Holmes (Push) & Miss Parker (Pretender)
Oh, this one could be veeerrrry interesting. On one hand you have Cassie, a fugitive from a powerful agency… and on the other you have Miss Parker, who works for a large corporation that controls things about as much as Division tries to. Does Cassie help Jarod escape and end up in Miss Parker's sights? Or does Jarod help Cassie out and that gets her to meet Miss Parker in some way? I'm not sure how they meet or what would happen (sorry I'm not more helpful!), but I would love to read whatever you come up with! :D
Group: Cassie Holmes (Push) & Jean Grey (X-Men Original Movieverse)
I mostly wanted to see Cassie with Jean because their perspectives are so radically different. Jean's used to dealing with runaways, scared teens who don't know how to control the powers they have. Cassie, on the other hand, is more of a soldier. A very young one, but a soldier, nonetheless. She's self-controlled in a way few of the teens Jean would know could ever be. Perhaps Cassie ends up staying at the X-Mansion to hide from Division, and that's how they meet. Either way, I'd love to see either one from the other's perspective. Cassie interacts on such an adult level and would not fit in with the other teens, I don't think.
Group: Chloe Sullivan (Smallville) & Cassie Holmes (Push)
I've not seen Smallville past season 3, really, but early years is where I see these two meeting up, when they'd be similar ages. Both are blonde, tough, city kids. Cassie might be younger, but she's even tougher - how many years has she been on her own, with her mom locked up by Division? And Chloe's all about discovering and exposing things like that. Whether they team up, whether they get into arguments because Cassie won't tell Chloe what's going on, whether it's just one of them observing the other and noting what they're like… I'm sure it won't be dull! I could see it as set either before the events of Push (wherein I'd wonder if Chloe helps Cassie get to Hong Kong somehow?) or afterward, with Nick and Cassie traveling together. (I can imagine that Cassie and Chloe would have much to discuss regarding the clueless guys in their lives - Nick and Clark.) Note: For anyone aware of the news articles about Mack and NXIVM, it does not affect my enjoyment of her character. If you somehow have managed to miss being informed, feel free to avoid reading up on it so you can remain blissfully ignorant. :)
Group: Galathea Winthrop (Worldweavers) & Katherine Pryde (X-Men Original Timeline)
Both of these girls are talented with computers - but they approach them in entirely different ways! I'd love to see them meet up and connect somehow. :D
Group: Jane Rizzoli (R&I TV) & Lindsay Boxer (WMC TV)
I love both these characters for their tough exterior covering the soft part inside. In both cases they've been wounded (Jane with the Surgeon, Lindsay with Kiss-Me-Not and her ex); Jane's armor is even thicker than Lindsay's, because of the greater trauma. The same actress plays both of these characters, so you could do something interesting with them being related somehow. Or else they get mistaken for each other, or work together on something...
Group: Nina Theroux (Alphas) & Miss Parker (Pretender)
It would be extremely interesting to watch these two interact. Miss Parker's tough-as-nails exterior masks a vulnerable core, and Nina covers her own vulnerability with suave polish. Would they see through each other, would Nina push Miss Parker for some reason, would they team up in some way?
Group: Nina Theroux (Alphas) & Jean Grey (X-Men Original Movieverse)
These two are fairly evenly matched as far as powers go, I think. On one hand, Jean could take over Nina's mind and control her power, but on the other, if she weren't wary, Nina could do the same to her. I'd love to see what happens when they meet up!
Group: Ororo Munroe (X-Men Original Movieverse) & Éowyn (LOTR)
Oh, this one could be very interesting. What Éowyn would make of Ororo I'm not quite sure! And I really have very little ideas to prompt you on, other than that I'd love to see them interact, and I think it would be more interesting for Ororo to drop into LOTR than the other way around. What would the Rohirrim (or Gríma or Sarúman, for that matter) make of her ability to control the weather? I can see Éowyn finding a way for that to be useful. Either way, Éowyn really has few female friends and I think the two of them might get along well.
Group: Rachel Pirzad (Alphas) & Rogue (X-Men Original Movieverse)
I think Rachel might understand Rogue rather well, with her sensitivity to touch. (Feel free to set this meeting anywhere in the series.) While her reaction to being kissed isn't the same thing as sucking someone's life out of them, it does tend to have a similar result in the inability to be intimate with the person one loves. Whether they discuss this point of connection or just simply meet up somehow, I'd love to see these two coming into contact with each other.
Alphas (TV)
Basic premise: This show has been called "X-Men for thinking people", and is a deconstruction of humans with superpowers. (The tagline is "Their abilities make them super. Their actions make them human.") Dr. Lee Rosen is a therapist who manages a team of Alphas, people who have abilities anyone else might - except dialed up by a thousand into the superpower realm - and each with some kind of downside. They work for the government to identify other Alphas and stop rogue ones, including a terrorist group. The ensemble cast includes Nina Theroux (played by Laura Mennell), a woman with a troubled past and the ability to override willpower, Rachel Pirzad (played by Azita Ghanizada), an Iranian immigrant with the ability to intensify any one sense at the cost of the others, Kat (played by Erin Way), a young woman with an unknown past, whose memory can only ever stretch back about a month, and Skylar Adams (played by Summer Glau), a woman with an outstanding ability to create technological devices. You can see a brief intro to some of the characters here.
Oh man, Alphas. I got hooked on it and watched all 24 episodes in six days. I fell in love with Rachel from her very first scene, and by the third episode I loved Nina just as much or more. Kat grew on me pretty quickly as well from when she was introduced, and I find Skylar interesting. But honestly, there's not a main character in Alphas that I don't like, and that's unusual for me! They're just really great. Plus the show doesn't hesitate to play hardball with government mistrust, character deaths, and intense scenes, and is possibly the best show I've seen in terms of how it balances characters and storylines. The only downside, imho, was the terrible cliffhanger Syfy ended it on! (What's with that, Syfy? It's a lousy way to treat fans! Give us a two-hour movie to wrap things up, at least!)
I liked Nina's relationship with Cam, but I also liked that it ended and moved on, and I'm ambivalent about whether they should get back together, as the S2 finale hinted at. I'm also ambivalent about Rachel's relationship with John. I like the tension the last two episodes brought, with the issue of loyalties. You could see the team slowly fracturing into two groups - Lee, Cam, and Nina on the side of "anything it takes", and Bill and Kat (and John, for that matter) on the side of "follow the rules", and Rachel torn in the middle. (Gary is really an independent in all of this.) If you write a fic set during or after those eps, I really don't want to see her split away from Lee and Nina, but there would need to be some development of her character in figuring out where she wants to be.
Prompts by tag:
Nina Theroux
Nina's a fascinating character, and I liked her from the beginning but fell in love with her at the end of Anger Management, the way she reached out to Rachel. And when I got to When Push Comes to Shove, I wanted to hug her so badly. Her power has damaged her relationships with others in so many ways, so many times, and thinking about how having that power affects someone as they grow and mature, particularly with the family she had… you start to realize that emotionally Rachel is far more stable in so many ways. I would love to see some of Nina's years after she lost Tommy as a friend, or more from when Rosen first encountered her. Or show me missing scenes during the show. Nina might not know the medical things that Rachel does, but she does know the basics of injections, as evidenced when Rosen tells her to give so many CCs to each person under Jonas' influence. Show me how she learns that!
Rachel Pirzad
When I saw Rachel tear up at her dad's words in the pilot, my heart went out to her immediately. I love her vulnerability, her slow progress towards finding her confidence and coming into her own. I'd love to see anything from her years at Langley (where I presume she was just keeping her senses balanced and steering clear of people) to something from the time when she's asked to work with Rosen on his team - that last has to be recent, given her canonical age of 24 in the pilot. Or show me Rachel in missing scenes throughout the show. The writers did get her backstory a little confused—they have a reference to Sam being her "first date" in S1, but in S2 she says she got drunk to sleep with a boyfriend, so pick whichever backstory you like better! (I lean towards the S1 backstory but will be happy with a fic that uses either.) One thing we see is that Rachel has a lot of interesting knowledge and skills, from being able to identify "an enzyme found only in Caucasians of Northern European ancestry" in the pilot to knowing how to give shots and recognize drug names (from the pilot Rosen has her prepare injections, and in Need to Know she knows right off that aminorex is a stimulant, something the average person wouldn't know). I'd love to see a fic that goes into how she learns all this - or at least certain of the skills!
Kat (Alphas)
Kat's such an interesting character! Her memory causes some interesting plot options, and I absolutely love her wit - watch this video to see what I mean! I'd love to see anything set in her past, or future with the team. I really like the bond she has been forming with Cameron, and would love to explore how that's been strained by the events of Need to Know. I'd love to see what happens to her after the end of God's Eye.
Group: Nina Theroux & Skylar Adams
I'd love to see more of these two, whether it's the time they spent together before the show started, or them working together in God's Eye, or even after the end of the show. Missing scenes are awesome - such as their meeting after Bill and Gary rescued Skylar in Need to Know, or when the team's up at Skylar's house before seeing her off to Canada.
Group: Nina Theroux & Rachel Pirzad & Skylar Adams
This tag is perfect for fic set during Catch and Release. I haven't any specific prompts other than maybe something between them at Skylar's house at the end, so write whatever comes to mind!
Group: Nina Theroux & Rachel Pirzad & Kat & Skylar Adams
I love these four women! The scene of them working together in God's Eye is great (though I see the goof from the gag reel in my head all the time now, which cracks me up), and I'd love to see more of them working together, or just being awesome. Future fic is also great - how do the events in God's Eye affect them in the long run?
Group: Nina Theroux & Rachel Pirzad & Kat
There are so many possibilities for these three over the course of second season. Pick a missing scene anywhere! Or write something dealing with the issues of loyalty and trust stemming from the events of Need to Know. Or future fic post-show. I just adore these women so much and would love anything about them.
Group: Rachel Pirzad & Nina Theroux (Alphas)
The relationship between these two changes so much over the course of the show. S1 Nina is very caring despite doing a good job of pretending to be all cool and not revealing much of her past, and I love the scene at the end of Anger Management where she reaches out to Rachel. She's always offering Rachel a ride, listening to her, encouraging her in her difficulties with her parents, etc. And then you have S2, where she pushes Rachel to stay calm in Wake Up Call - and then pushes for an entirely different reason in When Push Comes to Shove. It was painful to see their relationship in Gaslight, and lovely to see Rachel thawing towards Nina as she recognizes Nina's changed (and that Nina is taking responsibility for the results of her pushing). There are some very interesting undercurrents in Need to Know, though - from Nina's "You called them?" to the way Nina says "When Rachel…" to the looks Nina gives Rachel in the elevator and afterwards, and there wasn't time to really deal with that in the few hours that the last two episodes cover. Though I like that when Kat is trying to get a hold of Rachel, Bill says "Nina always knows where she is". I think Nina really cares for Rachel down deep. I'm not entirely sure what Nina's reasoning was for what she pushed Rachel to do in the club in When Push Comes to Shove (was she trying to find the quickest way to hurt Rachel, to force the rejection she was feeling coming anyway? or was there more to it?), but when she's in her right mind, she clearly has a lot of affection for Rachel.
I'd love to see anything from their first meeting to Rachel moving in with Nina, to bonding while roommates, to even Rachel moving back out to her parents' (when did that happen? right after Rosen's speech or further into the eight months?). Or show me some of the rebuilding of their friendship in S2, or even an AU where Rachel tracks Nina down at the end of The Quick and the Dead and gets through to her. Or show me some of the aftermath of the events of Need to Know or post-finale discussion of things. I just love these two and want to see more of them. Still so mad the show ended too soon!
Women's Murder Club (TV)
Basic premise: A small group of friends (three to start, with a fourth working her way in during the first couple episodes) who all work in related fields share information to help each other solve cases. Lindsay Boxer (played by Angie Harmon) is a homicide inspector (aka detective) who works in San Francisco's police department. She's friends with Jill Bernhardt (played by Laura Harris), a deputy district attorney and Claire Washburn (played by Paula Newsome), the medical examiner. As the show unfolds, she begins to respect (and maybe even like?) Cindy Thomas (played by Aubrey Dollar), a young reporter who gets assigned to the crime beat. The show is an excellent mix of drama, comedy, and romance, and has a lot of similarities to Rizzoli & Isles.
I got into Women's Murder Club because I loved watching Angie Harmon in Rizzoli & Isles, and this sounded like a similar role for her. After I saw the video titled "The Best of Women's Murder Club" and read this comment, I was positive I had to see the whole show: "Now it all makes sense. Jane Rizzoli is an extension of Lindsay Boxer. The only difference, they keep butching up Angie Harmon." It is so true. Lindsay is like a milder version of Jane in some ways. But in the ways she's different, I fell in love with her character all over again. Lindsay can actually cry, she hates being vulnerable but she can actually do it and be real with her friends. And that just won me over. (Seriously, make Angie Harmon be all vulnerable and cry in a scene and you have me. Completely.) I love her dedication to her work, the toughness she can bring to the job, but I also love that she can still be human, still be vulnerable, that she doesn't feel like she has to be tough to be respected (Jane Rizzoli, in many ways, hardens herself in order to be respected in her job). I love that she cares about her friends, and that she's torn about her ex but still knows what the right thing is and even respects his fiancée. While Lindsay doesn't always take the best care of herself (or act the most responsibly), it helps that Claire can act as "mom" and give her the lectures she needs but sometimes doesn't accept even from her other friends (something Maura isn't very good at giving Jane in R&I).
Cindy stole my heart because of several reasons. One, she's cute and adorable (I don't usually find redheads fascinating but there's something about Cindy…). Two, she has a delightful personality, bubbly, a little lacking in some common sense now and then, which the others are happy to lecture her about. And three, she has a bravery and courage that is pretty amazing. When she volunteers for the dangerous decoy task in "Father's Day"… that took guts. Real guts. I think Lindsay had to respect her for that. And then with what happens to her in "And The Truth Will (Sometimes) Set You Free", well… I want to hear more. (I also have to admit, I might not be a sports fan, but I loved Cindy in "Play Through the Pain", especially her interaction with Claire's son.)
I love Claire because she's such an awesome character - a great mother figure, a bit snarky, talented, dealing with real life issues (such as her husband's injury and depression) and still being faithful and dedicated. She's great for telling the others what they need to hear, and being there for them.
Prompts by tag:
Cindy Thomas:
Cindy is just such a fun character. I'd love to see some of her backstory, or a behind-the-scenes fic from her POV. Maybe another situation where she breaks the rules for a story… Or where Claire is there for her (for advice, perhaps).
Lindsay Boxer:
I love tough characters with soft centers, and Lindsay is a classic example. I'd love to see her dealing with the events at the end of the series, or dealing with the emotional aftermath of the wedding in ep # 9. Or what if the pregnancy test came back positive? So many AU possibilities with this show, lol. Also, if you feel crossover-y, given that the same actress also plays Amanda from C-16: FBI, you could do something interesting with them being related somehow. Or else they get mistaken for each other, or work together on something…
Group: Cindy Thomas & Claire Washburn
I'd love to see Claire mothering Cindy, or even Cindy helping Claire in some way. Cindy's sort of bonded with Claire's son already; I can see them inviting her over a lot, sort of a big sister/aunt figure.
Group: Lindsay Boxer & Cindy Thomas & Claire Washburn & Jill Bernhardt
I love the interactions of these four characters and would love anything in the theme of the show. Whether it's discussions of their club "it's not a club", or supporting each other through something, I just love them and would love to see more of them!
Group: Lindsay Boxer & Cindy Thomas
I love the interactions between these two. I see a bit of hero worship on Cindy's side, and annoyance that turns to fondness and respect on Lindsay's. I'd love to see Cindy being ridiculous, or Lindsay saving her life. Or more of Lindsay and Cindy regarding the shooting in ep # 12. Maybe an alternate ending where Jill isn't the one that stays at the hospital? Or maybe a fic about Lindsay and Cindy's friendship starting to grow from the beginning. I see a bit of insecurity in Cindy with regards to her friendships with the others. Or a missing scene with the two women? One possibility is right after Cindy was a decoy (you could AU it so she gets injured doing that if you like), or later that day. I'm sure you can come up with more. Does Cindy ever find out about Lindsay and the baby? (Or crazy idea yet, what if the pregnancy test was positive after all? Cindy finding out would make an interesting story.) Or just a fic where Cindy's being her usual adorably ridiculous self and Lindsay is wondering if she needs to shoot her. Any interaction between these two would make me happy.
Happy writing! :D
