Fandom Growth Exchange 2019
Jul. 20th, 2019 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreemyweirdDear FGE author,
I hope you have a great time participating in this exchange <3 Being focused on tiny to non-existent fandoms, FGE is, I think, particularly important to many of its participants. It's a rare and wonderful occasion when you get to gift and receive works in the rare fandoms of your heart! So I am very excited for every step of it, of which writing this letter is the first.
My AO3 handle is plumedy, and I'm here for intense platonic relationships between characters of any gender ^-^ I'm not necessarily allergic to romance, but I'm not keen on it being the centre of attention. The general rule of thumb is that you may include romantic subplots/themes (any gender combinations are welcome) as long as the main plot/art theme revolves around a platonic relationship. I do enjoy identity exploration and characters affirming each other's identities (including sexual, gender, ethnic, and cultural identities), so in fanfic, feel free to e.g. make character A gay and center the story around B supporting them and helping them feel good about that. In fanart, any identity portrayals and symbols are also welcome!
I love fluff and angst, and hurt/comfort (either emotional or physical) makes me fall to the floor and roll around. I love it when characters try not to be obvious about their feelings for each other but fail!! I have such a thing for stiff upper lip (that eventually results in an epic breakdown or ten). All my canons are full of people who desperately need to hug each other but are prevented from doing so by social conventions, hierarchy, or straight up shame 8_8 And the resulting angst is so delicious.
In addition to that, I enjoy extreme expressions of love (whether in the characters' inner thoughts or openly to each other). You may choose to use the more healthy ones (e.g. about how much they mean to each other and the fact that they're each other's adoptive family) or the less healthy ones (e.g. that they're pretty much willing to literally murder/die/sell their immortal soul for each other). Both are great! For fanart, this could involve portraying different types of situations - darker ones could lend themselves better to portraying codependency, for example.
My misc interests include music (classical, but I also like other kinds), historical fashion, art, horror, human anatomy (this being my degree path), botany and zoology, and a bunch of other things. Generally, if you'd like to include something nerdy, artsy, or sciencey into your work, do not hesitate :D But it is by no means a requirement.
AUs of any kind are grand. Fantasy, mundane, historical, canon divergence, magical realism, daemons - go to town. Elements of supernatural are perfectly welcome! I mentioned horror as my general interest above; that means that I will also enjoy horror tropes in fic and art even if the original canon doesn't belong to the genre. That goes double for canons that do actually have horror tropes in them (such as Murder Rooms and Planescape: Torment).
Now on to my fandom-specific requests.
Relationship: Kyle Katarn & Jan Ors. Optionally, feel free to include Kyle Katarn & Jaden Korr and Kyle Katarn & Luke Skywalker; I'm quite fond of these, too. My Jaden is female, but that's not a requirement.
Fanfic: ANYWAY I really fucking love Kyle's relationship with Jan, but specifically as a friendship. Their romance was okay, but I prefer to ignore it. All I really want is for them to be BFFs who love and care about each other deeply. Deeply. Kyle's suffering when he thought Jan was dead really hit my id, so I'd maybe like to see some more exploration of that.
Maybe on the next mission he thinks she's in danger and gets really jittery, and she has to calm him downby hugging him a lot. And he could also suffer because he's a Tough Guy who isn't supposed to show affection, especially not platonic affection, but he really really wants to. I'd love that. And the whole Jedi angle could add to that. Like, I definitely think Jan is a big part of why Kyle isn't ever a ""proper"" Jedi - how could he renounce his attachment to her? Their bond is too strong and they suffered too much to let go of each other.
They banter with each other so much, and they're both so outwardly tough and unaffected by anything. I just want the depth of love behind this facade explored. I want them to totally break down and show each other as much affection as possible, even as they feel ashamed of being so open and insecure about whether their feelings are mutual! I mean, they never really talk about what they feel for each other - how could they know that they both feel equal affection towards each other? This seems like a great excuse to make them super insecure about it! I love platonic insecurity 。.:☆*:･'(*⌒―⌒*)))
Kyle's relationship with Luke is also one that gives me warm fuzzies a lot. Kyle is so loyal to Luke despite his constant lighthearted mockery of Luke's seriousness ("you always feel a disturbance in the Force", LOL). And I think Luke knows a lot about how Kyle feels and thinks, even when Kyle wants to put on a metaphorical mask. Luke doesn't have to use the Force to read Kyle's mind to know him because Kyle is kind of an open book to him anyway. Except for the depth of Kyle's friendship towards Luke, of course. Luke's too humble to recognize it :D
And Jaden being kind of Kyle's adopted kid is really adorable. He and Luke are totally their dads. I d'awwed at how warm Kyle was towards them at the end of JA (well, given a light-sided playthrough, of course). I bet they have some kind of tragic backstory that makes their relationship with Kyle and Luke especially poignant for them!
I'm also a huge nerd when it comes to Star Wars lore and I love all the worldbuilding and the botany and the zoology of Star Wars, so if you want to add any details about SW animals or plants or scientific concepts, I'd love that, too.
Fanart: hugs. All of them. Or Kyle and Jan defending and protecting each other. However you want to interpret that. It can be defense from danger in the heat of battle, or it can be defense from the rain when out on a walk. Or it can be defense from the acidic rain from JA :D Alternatively/in addition: yes, any and all background elements of SW worldbuilding would make me very happy. Like, if you want to draw Kyle and Jan riding a tame rancor or partaking of traditional Wookie cuisine... I would be chuffed.
Or you could draw Kyle, Jan, Luke, and Jaden as a found family! Two dads and a mom is totally what a lonely mysterious Jedi kid needs!
Fanfic: First of all, honestly, I'll read anything in this fandom. If you want to ODAO, that wouldn't be a problem at all. Write whatever the hell you want, I'll be overjoyed in any event. But if you want one specific prompt, my primary question would be: who the fuck is Samuel Fergusson? How's he the only one who gets to call Bell by his first name, and yet we hardly know anything about their relationship? They must've met when Bell was younger, and the prospect of learning more about Young and Vulnerable Bell is just so appealing to me. I love it when Bell is vulnerable. He's such a stoic, he deserves some warmth and comfort for everything he's gone through. What does Samuel Fergusson know about him? When did they switch to first-name basis? WillBell's adopted son Arthur Doyle ever find out??
I mean, he has to find out, really... Otherwise who will give Bell the hugs he clearly needs?
Casefic welcome but by no means a requirement!
For another specific prompt, I can suggest this: when I was writing the bit in my general likes that pertains to sexual orientations, it also occurred to me that I'd actually be pleased to read something like this about Rooms. I mean, I think Bell hasn't been attracted to anyone else since he'd met Edith, but Doyle could well be bi and I feel like that would be a cool idea to explore. Him feeling anxious about that, what with this being the Victorian era, and Bell being supportive ^--^ If you choose to do this, though, please don't make it too depressing, because Doyle deserves some happiness romantic relationships-wise.
If you don't want to write, like, an Identity Exploration thing, you're also absolutely free to just make Doyle Casually Bi in a story that's not about his bisexuality. It'd make me happy!
Fanart: alllll the Victorian symbolism. I can never have enough. Just stuff your work full of Victorian symbols for friendship, loyalty, and familial love, and I'll be a happy camper. Or just portray them being super affectionate towards each other. In whatever way you want! One of them nursing the other during an illness? Awesome <3 <3 One giving the other a gift? Amazing!! Bi Doyle and his boyfriend visiting Bell? Yes!! Bell and Doyle tearing up from sheer affection for each other? Yes please!!
Really, the main thing I want to say about Murder Rooms is that I love this canon so much and it was so formative to me that it's impossible to disappoint me when writing a Rooms fic or drawing Rooms art.
Fanfic: The books are so deliciously, terribly dark. I love them and I hate them for putting me through all this pain! Reading the kind of heavy Gothic angst they're about is a kind of painful joy. All the h/c opportunities that were briefly touched on but never fully explored drive me positively mad. I get it, I get it, this relationship is complicated, but they love each other just as much as the show version. Can't they get even a moment of openness and honesty? After Bell tries to kill Macandrew? After Doyle escapes a situation when he was fucking kidnapped and drugged by their archenemy? After their version of Reichenbach? How are they not falling into each other's arms for comfort yet? >:(
I love their repression so much and at the same time I just want them to be unable to keep up the facade anymore and to break down even despite the shame and guilt they'd undoubtedly feel about that. C'mon! Doyle was distraught to the point of being suicidal when he thought Bell was dead! Bell basically attempted to sacrifice himself to save Doyle! Can't they... just... TALK when this is the kind of love they feel for each other?
I mean, I think their main problem is just that they have completely different love languages and a completely different understanding of what it means to show affection. But I wish someone or something fucking translated for them so that they'd understand each other even for a minute.
Fanart: again, all the Victorian symbolism (although probably darker than for the show version, considering how incredibly Gothic these books are). But also, I just want them clinging onto each other like hell. Just totally losing it because they're each other's only salvation. Go on, artist, destroy me. These idiots have needed to physically cling onto each other for the past 453.5 years.
Fanfic: Last Yuletide I wrote a fic about them and that may have made me fall into a distinctly Dak'kon & Grace-shaped hole. They're just so... repressed... and so fond of each other... Well, if you've read my likes and/or any of my other requests, you know where this is going. I want them to platonically Love each other.
When it comes to Grace and Dak'kon, I'm really delighted by the idea that Dak'kon is one of the few people around Grace who don't think about her sexually or romantically, at all, and yet love her. It just doesn't occur to him at all. He loves her so much but not in that way. I think it must make Grace very happy. I'd love to see exploration of her maybe questioning his affection and thinking that he might be non-platonically attracted to her, only to be stunned to find out that he sees her as one of his closest friends.
And when it comes to physical gestures of platonic affection, there's so much here that can be explored. Grace letting him handle her wings - maybe because they're injured, or just because they need grooming and it's difficult for her to do it on her own. Dak'kon entrusting her with the Circle of Zerthimon. Them using their respective powers to protect each other and keep each other safe, especially if these powers are something they wouldn't use for any other purpose!! Just them being very Protective of each other and deeply understanding of each other's suffering.
Maybe they can never fully undo what was done to them, but their unique friendship can make it that much more bearable <3 <3
Fanart: see the fanfic section on the subject of physical affection. That. All of that. Let Dak'kon groom Grace's wings 2k19 tbh
I hope you have a great time participating in this exchange <3 Being focused on tiny to non-existent fandoms, FGE is, I think, particularly important to many of its participants. It's a rare and wonderful occasion when you get to gift and receive works in the rare fandoms of your heart! So I am very excited for every step of it, of which writing this letter is the first.
- I would be very happy with either art or fic for this exchange! Whichever suits you best :D This general information about me and my tastes is copied, with some minor amendments, from my last Yuletide letter. It applies to both art and fic:
My AO3 handle is plumedy, and I'm here for intense platonic relationships between characters of any gender ^-^ I'm not necessarily allergic to romance, but I'm not keen on it being the centre of attention. The general rule of thumb is that you may include romantic subplots/themes (any gender combinations are welcome) as long as the main plot/art theme revolves around a platonic relationship. I do enjoy identity exploration and characters affirming each other's identities (including sexual, gender, ethnic, and cultural identities), so in fanfic, feel free to e.g. make character A gay and center the story around B supporting them and helping them feel good about that. In fanart, any identity portrayals and symbols are also welcome!
I love fluff and angst, and hurt/comfort (either emotional or physical) makes me fall to the floor and roll around. I love it when characters try not to be obvious about their feelings for each other but fail!! I have such a thing for stiff upper lip (that eventually results in an epic breakdown or ten). All my canons are full of people who desperately need to hug each other but are prevented from doing so by social conventions, hierarchy, or straight up shame 8_8 And the resulting angst is so delicious.
In addition to that, I enjoy extreme expressions of love (whether in the characters' inner thoughts or openly to each other). You may choose to use the more healthy ones (e.g. about how much they mean to each other and the fact that they're each other's adoptive family) or the less healthy ones (e.g. that they're pretty much willing to literally murder/die/sell their immortal soul for each other). Both are great! For fanart, this could involve portraying different types of situations - darker ones could lend themselves better to portraying codependency, for example.
- I don't have any particular DNWs except for porn - gore, violence, depictions of abuse and other trauma etc. are fine - and I welcome fanfic of any length and fanart of any style and level of detail.
My misc interests include music (classical, but I also like other kinds), historical fashion, art, horror, human anatomy (this being my degree path), botany and zoology, and a bunch of other things. Generally, if you'd like to include something nerdy, artsy, or sciencey into your work, do not hesitate :D But it is by no means a requirement.
AUs of any kind are grand. Fantasy, mundane, historical, canon divergence, magical realism, daemons - go to town. Elements of supernatural are perfectly welcome! I mentioned horror as my general interest above; that means that I will also enjoy horror tropes in fic and art even if the original canon doesn't belong to the genre. That goes double for canons that do actually have horror tropes in them (such as Murder Rooms and Planescape: Torment).
Now on to my fandom-specific requests.
- 1. Star Wars Legends: Jedi Knight (Video Games). By this I primarily mean Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy (which I only played recently but already love with all my heart), although inclusion of any elements from the previous games is also perfectly welcome.
Relationship: Kyle Katarn & Jan Ors. Optionally, feel free to include Kyle Katarn & Jaden Korr and Kyle Katarn & Luke Skywalker; I'm quite fond of these, too. My Jaden is female, but that's not a requirement.
Fanfic: ANYWAY I really fucking love Kyle's relationship with Jan, but specifically as a friendship. Their romance was okay, but I prefer to ignore it. All I really want is for them to be BFFs who love and care about each other deeply. Deeply. Kyle's suffering when he thought Jan was dead really hit my id, so I'd maybe like to see some more exploration of that.
Maybe on the next mission he thinks she's in danger and gets really jittery, and she has to calm him down
They banter with each other so much, and they're both so outwardly tough and unaffected by anything. I just want the depth of love behind this facade explored. I want them to totally break down and show each other as much affection as possible, even as they feel ashamed of being so open and insecure about whether their feelings are mutual! I mean, they never really talk about what they feel for each other - how could they know that they both feel equal affection towards each other? This seems like a great excuse to make them super insecure about it! I love platonic insecurity 。.:☆*:･'(*⌒―⌒*)))
Kyle's relationship with Luke is also one that gives me warm fuzzies a lot. Kyle is so loyal to Luke despite his constant lighthearted mockery of Luke's seriousness ("you always feel a disturbance in the Force", LOL). And I think Luke knows a lot about how Kyle feels and thinks, even when Kyle wants to put on a metaphorical mask. Luke doesn't have to use the Force to read Kyle's mind to know him because Kyle is kind of an open book to him anyway. Except for the depth of Kyle's friendship towards Luke, of course. Luke's too humble to recognize it :D
And Jaden being kind of Kyle's adopted kid is really adorable. He and Luke are totally their dads. I d'awwed at how warm Kyle was towards them at the end of JA (well, given a light-sided playthrough, of course). I bet they have some kind of tragic backstory that makes their relationship with Kyle and Luke especially poignant for them!
I'm also a huge nerd when it comes to Star Wars lore and I love all the worldbuilding and the botany and the zoology of Star Wars, so if you want to add any details about SW animals or plants or scientific concepts, I'd love that, too.
Fanart: hugs. All of them. Or Kyle and Jan defending and protecting each other. However you want to interpret that. It can be defense from danger in the heat of battle, or it can be defense from the rain when out on a walk. Or it can be defense from the acidic rain from JA :D Alternatively/in addition: yes, any and all background elements of SW worldbuilding would make me very happy. Like, if you want to draw Kyle and Jan riding a tame rancor or partaking of traditional Wookie cuisine... I would be chuffed.
Or you could draw Kyle, Jan, Luke, and Jaden as a found family! Two dads and a mom is totally what a lonely mysterious Jedi kid needs!
- 2. Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes. Optional relationships: Arthur Conan Doyle & Joseph Bell, Arthur Conan Doyle & Joseph Bell & Samuel Fergusson.
Fanfic: First of all, honestly, I'll read anything in this fandom. If you want to ODAO, that wouldn't be a problem at all. Write whatever the hell you want, I'll be overjoyed in any event. But if you want one specific prompt, my primary question would be: who the fuck is Samuel Fergusson? How's he the only one who gets to call Bell by his first name, and yet we hardly know anything about their relationship? They must've met when Bell was younger, and the prospect of learning more about Young and Vulnerable Bell is just so appealing to me. I love it when Bell is vulnerable. He's such a stoic, he deserves some warmth and comfort for everything he's gone through. What does Samuel Fergusson know about him? When did they switch to first-name basis? Will
I mean, he has to find out, really... Otherwise who will give Bell the hugs he clearly needs?
Casefic welcome but by no means a requirement!
For another specific prompt, I can suggest this: when I was writing the bit in my general likes that pertains to sexual orientations, it also occurred to me that I'd actually be pleased to read something like this about Rooms. I mean, I think Bell hasn't been attracted to anyone else since he'd met Edith, but Doyle could well be bi and I feel like that would be a cool idea to explore. Him feeling anxious about that, what with this being the Victorian era, and Bell being supportive ^--^ If you choose to do this, though, please don't make it too depressing, because Doyle deserves some happiness romantic relationships-wise.
If you don't want to write, like, an Identity Exploration thing, you're also absolutely free to just make Doyle Casually Bi in a story that's not about his bisexuality. It'd make me happy!
Fanart: alllll the Victorian symbolism. I can never have enough. Just stuff your work full of Victorian symbols for friendship, loyalty, and familial love, and I'll be a happy camper. Or just portray them being super affectionate towards each other. In whatever way you want! One of them nursing the other during an illness? Awesome <3 <3 One giving the other a gift? Amazing!! Bi Doyle and his boyfriend visiting Bell? Yes!! Bell and Doyle tearing up from sheer affection for each other? Yes please!!
Really, the main thing I want to say about Murder Rooms is that I love this canon so much and it was so formative to me that it's impossible to disappoint me when writing a Rooms fic or drawing Rooms art.
- 3. Murder Rooms (book series) - David Pirie. Relationships: Arthur Conan Doyle & Joseph Bell.
Fanfic: The books are so deliciously, terribly dark. I love them and I hate them for putting me through all this pain! Reading the kind of heavy Gothic angst they're about is a kind of painful joy. All the h/c opportunities that were briefly touched on but never fully explored drive me positively mad. I get it, I get it, this relationship is complicated, but they love each other just as much as the show version. Can't they get even a moment of openness and honesty? After Bell tries to kill Macandrew? After Doyle escapes a situation when he was fucking kidnapped and drugged by their archenemy? After their version of Reichenbach? How are they not falling into each other's arms for comfort yet? >:(
I love their repression so much and at the same time I just want them to be unable to keep up the facade anymore and to break down even despite the shame and guilt they'd undoubtedly feel about that. C'mon! Doyle was distraught to the point of being suicidal when he thought Bell was dead! Bell basically attempted to sacrifice himself to save Doyle! Can't they... just... TALK when this is the kind of love they feel for each other?
I mean, I think their main problem is just that they have completely different love languages and a completely different understanding of what it means to show affection. But I wish someone or something fucking translated for them so that they'd understand each other even for a minute.
Fanart: again, all the Victorian symbolism (although probably darker than for the show version, considering how incredibly Gothic these books are). But also, I just want them clinging onto each other like hell. Just totally losing it because they're each other's only salvation. Go on, artist, destroy me. These idiots have needed to physically cling onto each other for the past 453.5 years.
- 4. Planescape: Torment. Relationship: Fall-From-Grace & Dak'kon the Pariah.
Fanfic: Last Yuletide I wrote a fic about them and that may have made me fall into a distinctly Dak'kon & Grace-shaped hole. They're just so... repressed... and so fond of each other... Well, if you've read my likes and/or any of my other requests, you know where this is going. I want them to platonically Love each other.
When it comes to Grace and Dak'kon, I'm really delighted by the idea that Dak'kon is one of the few people around Grace who don't think about her sexually or romantically, at all, and yet love her. It just doesn't occur to him at all. He loves her so much but not in that way. I think it must make Grace very happy. I'd love to see exploration of her maybe questioning his affection and thinking that he might be non-platonically attracted to her, only to be stunned to find out that he sees her as one of his closest friends.
And when it comes to physical gestures of platonic affection, there's so much here that can be explored. Grace letting him handle her wings - maybe because they're injured, or just because they need grooming and it's difficult for her to do it on her own. Dak'kon entrusting her with the Circle of Zerthimon. Them using their respective powers to protect each other and keep each other safe, especially if these powers are something they wouldn't use for any other purpose!! Just them being very Protective of each other and deeply understanding of each other's suffering.
Maybe they can never fully undo what was done to them, but their unique friendship can make it that much more bearable <3 <3
Fanart: see the fanfic section on the subject of physical affection. That. All of that. Let Dak'kon groom Grace's wings 2k19 tbh
