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redsnake05) wrote2019-01-03 03:16 pm
redsnake05) wrote2019-01-03 03:16 pm
Entry tags:
Chocolate Box Letter
Dear Chocolatier,
Chocolate Box is always a delightful fest, and I'm really excited to see what you come up with. Below are some general likes, and a few Do Not Wants. If there is a conflict between a DNW and a prompt in the fandom-specific section, the fandom-specific section is the one to follow. I think there is only one example of that in this sign up.
I love stories where character development is a focus and there is any combination of realisations, internal conflicts, resolutions, striving, competence, teaching and learning, united fronts, unrestrained snark or wholehearted admiration. I love strong themes and images, and have a love for settings that are closely described and important to the development of the story. I love worldbuilding, mythology, adventures, folklore, rituals and traditions, food and drink, magical realism, handcrafts and hard work.
I like friendships and relationships that are equal, striving to be equal, or acknowledge that they're not equal. I like quiet moments between people, or when someone realises something about the other person and that changes everything. I like people's surprising depths. I like gen, friendship, ambiguous relationships, mad passion and everything in between. If you want to write a sexual fic, that's cool; I vastly prefer plot with it, and I am down with kink of any kind.
I do not like AUs, though canon forks are fine. I do not want incest (except for Egyptian Religion, see that section for exceptions) or rape/non-con. I do not want violence, gore, torture or grimdark past what is canon-typical, and, equally, do not want unrelieved fluff. I do not want fics that focus on pregnancy, childbirth or children.
Ancient Egyptian Religion
Okay, there is a big mixed bag in here, and I am not exaggerating when I say I would like anything at all. Gods collaborating on a project of some kind, gods meddling in the affairs of humans, gods having existential moments in the desert/river/spirit world, gods inventing things and then having inventor's remorse - all of these would be wonderful. I'd be happy with your take on an established myth, and equally happy with a domestic moment in the serious business of godhead. I'd love to read about the gods' favourite places in Egypt or beyond, what they think of those damn ostentatious pyramids, or their response to the invention of beer.
I am down with you adding real people (like your favourite pharaoh, for example) and OCs, and with adding extra gods as needed to make your story happen. I'm also not strict on the distinction between & and / for this - if you want to write something that crosses the line, feel free.
My dislike of AUs is particularly strong here. I do not want a setting outside Egypt or its near surroundings (links to other ancient civilisations are fine), and a modern Egyptian setting is okay as long as they are still gods (even if no one believes in them). On the other hand, it is foolish to DNW incest when gods are notoriously incestuous, so don't worry about that. It's part of the canon.
Sekhmet/Pakhmet/Menhit: I must say, one of the things I particularly like about Egyptian mythology is how well-represented lioness goddesses are in their pantheon. Why do they have so many? If you happen to be interested in zoology and animal behaviour, feel free to approach this question from this angle. Or bring in any other lionesses, or cat goddesses, or people who really particularly like cats. I am fine with just one or two or all three of these goddesses appearing. I'd love to read about them adventuring in the desert.
Sekhmet & Ma'at, Ptah/Sekhmet: I am fascinated by Sekhmet. I am really interested in how she is an arbiter of Ma'at, and how she relates to Ptah and the concepts of craft and civilisation (and they are supposed to be married in some stories - like, how does that work? Is she still the lioness of the relationship?) An area of particular interest for me is the necessity of destruction in any process, and how and why Sekhmet is important to all cycles and processes. Feel free to slide any of these up or down the gen - ship spectrum, and I'd be down with seeing the intersection of these relationships (so seeing how Ptah, Sekhmet and Ma'at all relate).
Hathor & Sekhmet & Mut & Bastet are all connected to the Eye of Ra. They are the Eye of Ra? They embody or channel the Eye sometimes, but not others? They are, all of them, a violent force that subdues Ra's enemies? I would love to read anything at all about how they relate to the Eye of Ra. Apparently, a common motif is the embodying goddess running wild and having to be soothed and placated, so that would be interesting. Or tell me about the rituals of life-giving that spring up around the goddesses and their cults (and, if you're included to smut, tell me about the kinky details of the life-giving rituals).
Wadjet/Nekhbet are fascinating to me as having to work together in a tumultuous relationship (because holding Upper and Lower Egypt together must have been tough work) and for what the cobra and the vulture meant about the respective values of the crown. Feel free to add in Ma'at, if you wish to explore that, or any of the Phaorahs, particularly ones who held only one of the Egypts, or held both but lost one, or unified both. I'm happy with / or & for this.
Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter is a perennial favourite, and I love all sorts of combinations. I am pretty loose with gen-ish shipping and shipp-ish gen, so don't worry about blurring the line on any of these. For ones containing animals, please no explicit bestiality (romance, love, affection all fine. If the animal is actually a person in animal shape and the animal can understand and consent, then sexual love and attraction is also fine).
For HP, I really love magic and how it is conceptualised and expressed by humans and magical non-humans alike. I love the wild magic of the world, I love magical books and inanimate magical objects, and I love the ways magic is put together and pulled apart. If you want to write a story about discovering a new type of magic, or developing a new spell or breeding a new magical plant, or visiting a wild magical place, then I am completely down with that. If you want to show me the universality of love and understanding through a magical lens, I'm down with that too.
Here are some notes for specific relationships I've requested:
Crookshanks & Minerva McGonagall, Crookshanks & Mrs Norris: I'd love to know more about domesticated magical animals and familiars in the HP world. Like humans, are some born with magical ability? What, exactly, is the level of magic in Crookshanks and Mrs Norris, and how does that magic manifest to the animal in question, or the humans around it? What does Crookshanks think of these weird humans who shape themselves into animals? Or tell me about an adventure that one of these pairs have together? I'm good with either pairs, all three of them together, or even just one of them. I'd also be happy with other animagi making an appearance - perhaps one of them catches Rita Skeeter? Maybe they meet someone who shapeshifts in a different way than an animagi? Maybe they have an adventure with an animagi stuck in their animal form? Or an inhabitant of the Forbidden Forest?
Draco Malfoy/Ron Weasley: this is an old favourite of mine. I love seeing the two of them as adults, when the playing field has been levelled a little, and all the ways that they might make something work between them - a fling, a short thing, or a long romance are all fine. I am pretty down here with things like having to pretend to be lovers, sex pollen, pining, UST, industrial-strength snark, Ron being much bigger than Draco, arcane rituals, arcane rituals that result in accidental soul-bonding, and so on and so forth. If you can think of a fic cliche, I am probably going to love it.
Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Harry Potter/Ron Weasley: I love these three as friends, as lovers, or as anything in between. Please, though, I don't want two of them in a pairing and the other as a friend. It's all in or all out for me. I'd love to see everyday moments between them, perhaps when Ron has to enlighten them about some arcane aspect of the magical world, or when Hermione takes them to some Muggle tradition, or when Harry insists they go camping again to try to make new, fun, camping memories.
Minerva McGonagall & Pomona Sprout, Minerva McGonagall/Poppy Pomfrey, Rolanda Hooch/Minerva McGonagall, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank/Minerva McGonagall: I love Minerva McGonagall, and I'd love to read about her relationship with any one of these fabulous women. I love Minerva's brain and drive, and I'd love to see her working something out, making something, or figuring out a problem with one of the other characters. I'm happy with a fling, with a new romance, or an established relationship. I'm happy with anything between gen and ship, and feel free to add in other women and see how they all connect together. I'd be happy to read something from Minerva's youth, or her time at the Ministry, or her early teaching years.
Lord of the Rings
I love many things about these novels, but mostly the sense of place and the heroic themes twined into them. I'd love to read some worldbuilding, or exploration of a time or place we don't get to see in the books.
Gimli & Legolas Greenleaf, Gimli/Legolas Greenleaf: a perennial love of mine! I will never get enough of these two having cultural misunderstandings, pining, devotion, loyalty and love. I am down with all the fic cliches. I am happy with any kind of blurring between gen and shippy, but I would prefer not to receive a fic about Gimli's death (unless there is somehow a happy ending). I'd love to read about their slow realisations about their feelings, about doing each other's hair and making things for one another, about how they balance their duties as lords with their devotion, and how they navigate a new world as everything is changing around them.
Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones
I love the way all these worlds and stories seem small when they're being told, and they're all cosy and concerned with the lives of the people in them first. Apart from the relationships listed below, I'd love to know more about the world they live in and how it's shaped and the forces that work on it. I'd love to know about the myths and legends they have of its creation, or the folktales and mythical creatures and wild plants and food and drink and animals - and pretty much all the little details of life.
Abdullah/Flower-in-the-Night: so, what do two Ambassadors do, once they have the princesses safely home? What trade deals do they negotiate? What wrongs do they right? How do they play to their individual and combined strengths? Tell me about problems they solve, that are either small or large, about themselves or other characters.
Beatrice of Strangia & Flower-in-the-Night: what happened in the Castle in the Air? I'd love to know more about what the princesses did, stuck up there for however long, and what plots Beatrice and Flower-in-the-Night hatched. Tell me more of times they triumphed over Dalzel, even in small ways, or how they spent their time (handcrafts? Making infernal engines?). Please feel free to bring other princesses into the story, as many as you like.
Beatrice of Strangia/Justin of Ingary: how did this work out, after the wedding? What nefarious plots did Beatrice back him up on, or hatch on her own account? Show me them as equals, in whatever endeavour, from organising a royal visit, to investigating a crime/problem in Strangia, to solving a diplomatic crisis. I'd love to hear about how Strangia differs from Ingary, or the relationships Strangia builds with the other countries around it.
Charmain Baker & Waif & Kobolds: I have always been interested in the kobolds (do other countries nearby have their own version of kobolds?), and interested in how Charmain and Waif might relate to them, once she is settled in Uncle William's home and learning how to be a Royal Wizard. If there are kobolds, are there other mythical creatures? We know about the elves, and I'd love to know more about them too, but I'd love to learn more about the small magic of the place, and see Charmain and Waif take a good look at it. I also love the inhabitants of the Castle and Uncle William's house, so feel free to include as many of them as you want.
Hasurel & Flower-in-the-Night & Abdullah: we see Hasurel feeling as remorseful and sorry as its possible for a djinn at the end of Castle in the Air, but Flower-in-the-Night and Abdullah have already seen the worst he can do and be, so it's not like they can be shocked by anything. I'd love to see them, a few years on, with Hasurel telling them unlikely stories about this mythical land called Wales, or them telling him the things they've been doing (diplomatic missions amongst the djinns, perhaps?) I'm absolutely open to ship fic for these three too, if inspiration strikes you that way (and we know that djinns have these tendencies, right?) Perhaps Hasurel takes them to the land of his people? Or to another place or time?
Chocolate Box is always a delightful fest, and I'm really excited to see what you come up with. Below are some general likes, and a few Do Not Wants. If there is a conflict between a DNW and a prompt in the fandom-specific section, the fandom-specific section is the one to follow. I think there is only one example of that in this sign up.
I love stories where character development is a focus and there is any combination of realisations, internal conflicts, resolutions, striving, competence, teaching and learning, united fronts, unrestrained snark or wholehearted admiration. I love strong themes and images, and have a love for settings that are closely described and important to the development of the story. I love worldbuilding, mythology, adventures, folklore, rituals and traditions, food and drink, magical realism, handcrafts and hard work.
I like friendships and relationships that are equal, striving to be equal, or acknowledge that they're not equal. I like quiet moments between people, or when someone realises something about the other person and that changes everything. I like people's surprising depths. I like gen, friendship, ambiguous relationships, mad passion and everything in between. If you want to write a sexual fic, that's cool; I vastly prefer plot with it, and I am down with kink of any kind.
I do not like AUs, though canon forks are fine. I do not want incest (except for Egyptian Religion, see that section for exceptions) or rape/non-con. I do not want violence, gore, torture or grimdark past what is canon-typical, and, equally, do not want unrelieved fluff. I do not want fics that focus on pregnancy, childbirth or children.
Ancient Egyptian Religion
Okay, there is a big mixed bag in here, and I am not exaggerating when I say I would like anything at all. Gods collaborating on a project of some kind, gods meddling in the affairs of humans, gods having existential moments in the desert/river/spirit world, gods inventing things and then having inventor's remorse - all of these would be wonderful. I'd be happy with your take on an established myth, and equally happy with a domestic moment in the serious business of godhead. I'd love to read about the gods' favourite places in Egypt or beyond, what they think of those damn ostentatious pyramids, or their response to the invention of beer.
I am down with you adding real people (like your favourite pharaoh, for example) and OCs, and with adding extra gods as needed to make your story happen. I'm also not strict on the distinction between & and / for this - if you want to write something that crosses the line, feel free.
My dislike of AUs is particularly strong here. I do not want a setting outside Egypt or its near surroundings (links to other ancient civilisations are fine), and a modern Egyptian setting is okay as long as they are still gods (even if no one believes in them). On the other hand, it is foolish to DNW incest when gods are notoriously incestuous, so don't worry about that. It's part of the canon.
Sekhmet/Pakhmet/Menhit: I must say, one of the things I particularly like about Egyptian mythology is how well-represented lioness goddesses are in their pantheon. Why do they have so many? If you happen to be interested in zoology and animal behaviour, feel free to approach this question from this angle. Or bring in any other lionesses, or cat goddesses, or people who really particularly like cats. I am fine with just one or two or all three of these goddesses appearing. I'd love to read about them adventuring in the desert.
Sekhmet & Ma'at, Ptah/Sekhmet: I am fascinated by Sekhmet. I am really interested in how she is an arbiter of Ma'at, and how she relates to Ptah and the concepts of craft and civilisation (and they are supposed to be married in some stories - like, how does that work? Is she still the lioness of the relationship?) An area of particular interest for me is the necessity of destruction in any process, and how and why Sekhmet is important to all cycles and processes. Feel free to slide any of these up or down the gen - ship spectrum, and I'd be down with seeing the intersection of these relationships (so seeing how Ptah, Sekhmet and Ma'at all relate).
Hathor & Sekhmet & Mut & Bastet are all connected to the Eye of Ra. They are the Eye of Ra? They embody or channel the Eye sometimes, but not others? They are, all of them, a violent force that subdues Ra's enemies? I would love to read anything at all about how they relate to the Eye of Ra. Apparently, a common motif is the embodying goddess running wild and having to be soothed and placated, so that would be interesting. Or tell me about the rituals of life-giving that spring up around the goddesses and their cults (and, if you're included to smut, tell me about the kinky details of the life-giving rituals).
Wadjet/Nekhbet are fascinating to me as having to work together in a tumultuous relationship (because holding Upper and Lower Egypt together must have been tough work) and for what the cobra and the vulture meant about the respective values of the crown. Feel free to add in Ma'at, if you wish to explore that, or any of the Phaorahs, particularly ones who held only one of the Egypts, or held both but lost one, or unified both. I'm happy with / or & for this.
Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter is a perennial favourite, and I love all sorts of combinations. I am pretty loose with gen-ish shipping and shipp-ish gen, so don't worry about blurring the line on any of these. For ones containing animals, please no explicit bestiality (romance, love, affection all fine. If the animal is actually a person in animal shape and the animal can understand and consent, then sexual love and attraction is also fine).
For HP, I really love magic and how it is conceptualised and expressed by humans and magical non-humans alike. I love the wild magic of the world, I love magical books and inanimate magical objects, and I love the ways magic is put together and pulled apart. If you want to write a story about discovering a new type of magic, or developing a new spell or breeding a new magical plant, or visiting a wild magical place, then I am completely down with that. If you want to show me the universality of love and understanding through a magical lens, I'm down with that too.
Here are some notes for specific relationships I've requested:
Crookshanks & Minerva McGonagall, Crookshanks & Mrs Norris: I'd love to know more about domesticated magical animals and familiars in the HP world. Like humans, are some born with magical ability? What, exactly, is the level of magic in Crookshanks and Mrs Norris, and how does that magic manifest to the animal in question, or the humans around it? What does Crookshanks think of these weird humans who shape themselves into animals? Or tell me about an adventure that one of these pairs have together? I'm good with either pairs, all three of them together, or even just one of them. I'd also be happy with other animagi making an appearance - perhaps one of them catches Rita Skeeter? Maybe they meet someone who shapeshifts in a different way than an animagi? Maybe they have an adventure with an animagi stuck in their animal form? Or an inhabitant of the Forbidden Forest?
Draco Malfoy/Ron Weasley: this is an old favourite of mine. I love seeing the two of them as adults, when the playing field has been levelled a little, and all the ways that they might make something work between them - a fling, a short thing, or a long romance are all fine. I am pretty down here with things like having to pretend to be lovers, sex pollen, pining, UST, industrial-strength snark, Ron being much bigger than Draco, arcane rituals, arcane rituals that result in accidental soul-bonding, and so on and so forth. If you can think of a fic cliche, I am probably going to love it.
Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger/Harry Potter/Ron Weasley: I love these three as friends, as lovers, or as anything in between. Please, though, I don't want two of them in a pairing and the other as a friend. It's all in or all out for me. I'd love to see everyday moments between them, perhaps when Ron has to enlighten them about some arcane aspect of the magical world, or when Hermione takes them to some Muggle tradition, or when Harry insists they go camping again to try to make new, fun, camping memories.
Minerva McGonagall & Pomona Sprout, Minerva McGonagall/Poppy Pomfrey, Rolanda Hooch/Minerva McGonagall, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank/Minerva McGonagall: I love Minerva McGonagall, and I'd love to read about her relationship with any one of these fabulous women. I love Minerva's brain and drive, and I'd love to see her working something out, making something, or figuring out a problem with one of the other characters. I'm happy with a fling, with a new romance, or an established relationship. I'm happy with anything between gen and ship, and feel free to add in other women and see how they all connect together. I'd be happy to read something from Minerva's youth, or her time at the Ministry, or her early teaching years.
Lord of the Rings
I love many things about these novels, but mostly the sense of place and the heroic themes twined into them. I'd love to read some worldbuilding, or exploration of a time or place we don't get to see in the books.
Gimli & Legolas Greenleaf, Gimli/Legolas Greenleaf: a perennial love of mine! I will never get enough of these two having cultural misunderstandings, pining, devotion, loyalty and love. I am down with all the fic cliches. I am happy with any kind of blurring between gen and shippy, but I would prefer not to receive a fic about Gimli's death (unless there is somehow a happy ending). I'd love to read about their slow realisations about their feelings, about doing each other's hair and making things for one another, about how they balance their duties as lords with their devotion, and how they navigate a new world as everything is changing around them.
Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones
I love the way all these worlds and stories seem small when they're being told, and they're all cosy and concerned with the lives of the people in them first. Apart from the relationships listed below, I'd love to know more about the world they live in and how it's shaped and the forces that work on it. I'd love to know about the myths and legends they have of its creation, or the folktales and mythical creatures and wild plants and food and drink and animals - and pretty much all the little details of life.
Abdullah/Flower-in-the-Night: so, what do two Ambassadors do, once they have the princesses safely home? What trade deals do they negotiate? What wrongs do they right? How do they play to their individual and combined strengths? Tell me about problems they solve, that are either small or large, about themselves or other characters.
Beatrice of Strangia & Flower-in-the-Night: what happened in the Castle in the Air? I'd love to know more about what the princesses did, stuck up there for however long, and what plots Beatrice and Flower-in-the-Night hatched. Tell me more of times they triumphed over Dalzel, even in small ways, or how they spent their time (handcrafts? Making infernal engines?). Please feel free to bring other princesses into the story, as many as you like.
Beatrice of Strangia/Justin of Ingary: how did this work out, after the wedding? What nefarious plots did Beatrice back him up on, or hatch on her own account? Show me them as equals, in whatever endeavour, from organising a royal visit, to investigating a crime/problem in Strangia, to solving a diplomatic crisis. I'd love to hear about how Strangia differs from Ingary, or the relationships Strangia builds with the other countries around it.
Charmain Baker & Waif & Kobolds: I have always been interested in the kobolds (do other countries nearby have their own version of kobolds?), and interested in how Charmain and Waif might relate to them, once she is settled in Uncle William's home and learning how to be a Royal Wizard. If there are kobolds, are there other mythical creatures? We know about the elves, and I'd love to know more about them too, but I'd love to learn more about the small magic of the place, and see Charmain and Waif take a good look at it. I also love the inhabitants of the Castle and Uncle William's house, so feel free to include as many of them as you want.
Hasurel & Flower-in-the-Night & Abdullah: we see Hasurel feeling as remorseful and sorry as its possible for a djinn at the end of Castle in the Air, but Flower-in-the-Night and Abdullah have already seen the worst he can do and be, so it's not like they can be shocked by anything. I'd love to see them, a few years on, with Hasurel telling them unlikely stories about this mythical land called Wales, or them telling him the things they've been doing (diplomatic missions amongst the djinns, perhaps?) I'm absolutely open to ship fic for these three too, if inspiration strikes you that way (and we know that djinns have these tendencies, right?) Perhaps Hasurel takes them to the land of his people? Or to another place or time?