Dear Rare Bears Author
Thanks for writing for me! And welcome to my letter where hopefully I will manage to give you enough material to write something you'll be happy with! However, if you have any questions about anything, feel free to contact @von_b or @theellibu on Twitter. They know me and what I like and dislike better than anybody else.
Anyway, on to the fic stuff. I'll start with likes! I'm typically more inclined to read fics that are leaning towards mature to explicit, but if that's not something that fits in the story, I'm perfectly happy with no porn. In my own writing, I tend to always plan on writing porn, but then if it doesn't work with the flow of the story, or feels completely superfluous, I don't add it in; I know that it just how things shake out sometimes and that's absolutely fine.
In hockey fandom, I'm happy with either AUs or canon-based fic, I don't really have a preference, but I have put in some ideas and prompts in for each pairings below, because some I feel fit some AUs, I feel!
Otherwise, here are some things I would rather read:
- happy endings; I don't read fic to not be happy by the time the ending comes around (I cry easy, Author). Exception here for Lucic/Horton, since they already break my heart all the time.
- snappy dialogue
- slow-build/slow-burn. I know it can be hard to write but it is such a great time when a story makes the characters work for it and earn it. So good.
- kissing/make-outs. I am such a fan of them. Love the cliché, tropey intense kissing in the rain ala The Notebook, people getting their knees weak, people pushing and pulling when making out, that kind of stuff, you know.
- external conflict. I do love when characters are being thrown shit at and have to face it together but obviously it's never that easy and it can break them from the inside too and, ugh, the ache that they want to make it work but can they? Oh, so much love.
Obviously, Author, feel free to pick whatever works best for the story!
For dislikes, here are some squicks/dealbreakers:
- Rape/non-con
- dub-con
- BDSM. I can read it to a certain extent but I have to be in a very specific mood for it and usually I'd just rather not read it
- character death
- humiliation/embarrassment
- abuse
- incest (not that it should really apply in my pairing choices)
- conflict based on miscommunication. While I love when characters have issues expressing their feelings, I have grown tired of conflict based entirely on A thinking one thing and not talking to B about it, just going on for ages with his assumption, etc etc. Maybe it's just because I'm growing old, Author, I have no patience for these shenanigans anymore.
Okay, let's move on to pairings/prompts!
Patrice Bergeron/Andrew Ference
Oh. Oh, this pairing. I started shipping it when Ference was still on the Bruins, just because of their mutual appreciation of each other and their easy friendship. Mature guys that know what they're doing and what they want, that enjoyed going for quiet dinners together while on the road and letting the wild kids do their thing. Basically, they were quiet and appreciative of one another and while that makes them boring to plenty of people, I just fell helplessly in love with them.
Here are some prompts, if they help:
- Long-distance angst - can they make it? will they even try? is it even worth it?
- Post-retirement fic; Andrew retires, what happens of him and Patrice then?
- Kidfic
- I have always loved the idea of Ference being an environmental studies professor at MIT while Bergy teaches sports medicine (or something to that effect) at BU.
- FNL AU, where they are Coach and Mrs Coach.
Reilly Smith/Tyler Seguin
I love that these two played together in Juniors and they had an amazing time, and then Segs was drafted by the Bruins, Reilly to the Stars. And then when the trade happened they were swapped! Life is getting in the way of them playing together again! I love the idea that they're still good friends and keep in touch, and I'm a sucker for long-distance fic.
So, prompts!
- as I said, long-distance! Phone sex and passionate quick reunions and maybe it's just a habit, it's just sex like when they were younger, or maybe it's more.
- frat AU 5ever, seriously.
- roadtrip fic!
- Dystopia/Zombie AU where they end up finding each other again, only survivors in the storm, that kind of thing
Nathan Horton/Milan Lucic
Okay, so, these two fuck. Me. Up. So I don't mind if this is a super sad, angsty fic, because every time I think about how sad it is that they got separated, my heart breaks already. Milan led the charge in the 'winning this Cup for Horts' back in '11, and the segment Behind the B did with him after Horts signed with CBJ just destroys me, sooooo hard.
For them, I can imagine a complete AU, something bloody and dark. As I said, you can fuck me up. Here are some prompts/themes!
- Mob AU
- Dystopia AU
- Angels/Demons AU
If none of my prompts fit for you and you need more possibilities to work with, as I said in my request I am perfectly happy with a number of tropes and AUs that you can base your story on: dystopian, apocalypse, road-trips, animal transformation, deaging, rule 63, zombies au, superheroes, epistolary fic, ranch hand au.
Again, thank you! I hope you have found something in this mess that you want to write, and I'm very very sorry if you didn't. Again, if you need more info/ideas, do get in touch with @von_b or @theellibu - they are respectively brokendaisychains and suck-it-tj-oshie on Tumblr if you find that easier. If you want to find me on tumblr, I am at cakelessness. My fandom twitter is locked so it would not help you much, unfortunately. I am very excited about this!
Much love and luck and everything you may need, Author,
Ellie