(no subject)
Dear Chocolate Box Writer,
Thank you so much for writing for me! I'm really excited to read what you write (not just because you clearly have great taste in fandoms...)
I've included some thoughts below on my fandoms and some ideas that hopefully inspire you, but please don't stress too much if you're into something else.
General likes:
Gossip Girl
Dan Humphrey/Blair Waldorf
So, embarrassing confesion: I've been into this pairing since that episode in season one where Dan shared the story about his mother leaving with Blair after the photoshoot debacle with Eleanor and Serena. I love how Dan was the only person to really see Blair, for better and worse, for who she truly was. And I loved their slow relationship evolution: from mutual disgust to situational allies to friends and then close confidants. I'd love to see an exploration of what it means to Blair to be seen for herself or for Dan as Blair begins to really see him.
I would also love to see Dan and Blair reconnecting down the line, as people solidly settled into adulthood--in their late 20s, 30s or 40s. Maybe they've both succeeded at exactly what they thought they would: Dan's a famous and successful writer and Blair's the queen of New York society and running her own empire. Or, maybe they're not exactly where they thought that they would be: maybe Dan's written some books, but nothing commercially successful and teaches at a community college and Blair is still trying to make it to the top. I think that both ends of the spectrum (or one at one end and the other at the opposite) are very interesting.
You could also do something more tropey with Dan and Blair--they're perfect fodder for a harlequin trope like marriage of convenience, kid fic...you name it! Maybe go AU where Blair is a famous celebrity who reluctantly falls in love with hermit writer Dan or they fall in love online.... Also, in terms of canon, feel free to take canon as is or to diverge during canon.
Generation Kill
Brad Colbert/Nate Fick
There's so much that I could say about these two. I love complete and utter trust between the two of them, in one of the highest stress situations imagineable. They're always on the same page and they always have each other's back, no matter what. It gets me right in heart, so much. SO MUCH. I would love to see the added element of attraction added--maybe it's completely the same, a seamless extension of that mutual understanding, or maybe they both have to now struggle with this additional element and the fear that it will screw up their current relationship.
I would also love to see Brad and Nate getting together after their return from Iraq, either pre or post the repeal of DADT. I feel like there's a lot of opportunity for pining here--maybe one of them thinking that the other doesn't reciprocating, being concerned about professional repurcussions or trying to protect the other...(so many opportunities!). You could also have them going their separate ways after returning from Iraq and then reconnecting, years down the road.
Young Avengers
Kate Bishop/America Chavez
I love the fact that Kate and America are two extremely strong-willed and competent people, who both have their fair share of issues but aren't afraid to call each other out. They're very much each other's equal. I am a huge fan of Matt Fraction's Kate, so feel free to give me Kate being a successful superhero but still pretty much failing at life while America just kind of raises her eyebrow and sighs. You could also go for the more classic Young Avengers Kate, who's competent, in charge and still a bit spoiled but yet totally bowls over America. As for America, I love how little she refuses to deal with other people's shit. She always knows exactly where her priorities lie.
I want them getting together in a million different ways! I feel like this is another couple ripe for tropes (but what couple isn't, really?) with fake dating or fun AUs--maybe Kate is a celebrity who falls in love with the kick-ass woman who saves her life. I'd also love to see a quiet moment between the two of them--what are they like when they get some down time and it's just them by themselves?
Harry Potter
Neville Longbottom/Draco Malfoy
I have a huge weakness for Neville and Draco together. I would love to see fic about them meeting up, years after the war, and Draco being bowled over by the confident and attractive Neville who's totally settled into himself. I would also love to see how the two of them begin to work through their scars from the war and their dealings with Voldemort--how do they both come to terms with the things that they've seen and done?
Maybe they're both now experts in their respective field and have to work together--and they're both as awkward about it as possible! Or maybe one of them runs into the other one of them in a low moment and the first person steps in to help, kindling a friendship and then relationship between the two of them. I really love pretty much anything about the two of them though....
Hockey RPF
Sidney Crosby/Alexander Ovechkin
Ah, one of the pairings of my heart. I love the long and highly publicized build up between the two of them. It's been years since they both entered the league and yet the league still loves the narrative of them as rivals--how do they feel about it? I'd love a love/hate story (trope of my heart) as well as a story about the two of them down the road. Now that they're more seasoned, maybe they've come to find friendship (and more) in the other.
Tell me a story about the two of them after they retire. Or what if someone takes a picture of the two of them and the whole world wrongly assumes that they're together (when they're not), so they have to pretend to be together (and then fall in love). I love magical realism AUs so feel free to play with that as well--maybe one of them has a weird power that keeps involving the other one...
Thank you so much for writing for me!
Thank you so much for writing for me! I'm really excited to read what you write (not just because you clearly have great taste in fandoms...)
I've included some thoughts below on my fandoms and some ideas that hopefully inspire you, but please don't stress too much if you're into something else.
General likes:
- Hurt/comfort
- Conflict
- Slow burn
- Pining and UST
- Sacrifices, especially if characters are making big sacrifices on behalf of someone that they care deeply about
- Angst (ideally ending in a HEA)
- Having dysfunctional relationships
- Enemies being forced (either directly or by circumstances) to work together
- Enemies to lovers
- Opposites attracting or coming to understand each other
- Marriages of convenience, fake dating, etc.
- People being thrown together in wildly unexpected situations
- Magical realism and magical powers
- Time travel, time loops, time do-overs etc.
- Modern royalty AUs
- Identity porn
- Settings that have a sense of mystery: cemeteries, forests, abandoned temples etc.
- Epistolary and non-linear storytelling
- Canon divergence
- Mythology
- Hidden displays of affection
- Major character death
- Noncon
- Incest
- Painplay
- Torture
- Humiliation kink
- A/b/o
- Dom/sub
- Mpreg
- Knotting
- Coffee shop AUs
- High school AUs
Gossip Girl
Dan Humphrey/Blair Waldorf
So, embarrassing confesion: I've been into this pairing since that episode in season one where Dan shared the story about his mother leaving with Blair after the photoshoot debacle with Eleanor and Serena. I love how Dan was the only person to really see Blair, for better and worse, for who she truly was. And I loved their slow relationship evolution: from mutual disgust to situational allies to friends and then close confidants. I'd love to see an exploration of what it means to Blair to be seen for herself or for Dan as Blair begins to really see him.
I would also love to see Dan and Blair reconnecting down the line, as people solidly settled into adulthood--in their late 20s, 30s or 40s. Maybe they've both succeeded at exactly what they thought they would: Dan's a famous and successful writer and Blair's the queen of New York society and running her own empire. Or, maybe they're not exactly where they thought that they would be: maybe Dan's written some books, but nothing commercially successful and teaches at a community college and Blair is still trying to make it to the top. I think that both ends of the spectrum (or one at one end and the other at the opposite) are very interesting.
You could also do something more tropey with Dan and Blair--they're perfect fodder for a harlequin trope like marriage of convenience, kid fic...you name it! Maybe go AU where Blair is a famous celebrity who reluctantly falls in love with hermit writer Dan or they fall in love online.... Also, in terms of canon, feel free to take canon as is or to diverge during canon.
Generation Kill
Brad Colbert/Nate Fick
There's so much that I could say about these two. I love complete and utter trust between the two of them, in one of the highest stress situations imagineable. They're always on the same page and they always have each other's back, no matter what. It gets me right in heart, so much. SO MUCH. I would love to see the added element of attraction added--maybe it's completely the same, a seamless extension of that mutual understanding, or maybe they both have to now struggle with this additional element and the fear that it will screw up their current relationship.
I would also love to see Brad and Nate getting together after their return from Iraq, either pre or post the repeal of DADT. I feel like there's a lot of opportunity for pining here--maybe one of them thinking that the other doesn't reciprocating, being concerned about professional repurcussions or trying to protect the other...(so many opportunities!). You could also have them going their separate ways after returning from Iraq and then reconnecting, years down the road.
Young Avengers
Kate Bishop/America Chavez
I love the fact that Kate and America are two extremely strong-willed and competent people, who both have their fair share of issues but aren't afraid to call each other out. They're very much each other's equal. I am a huge fan of Matt Fraction's Kate, so feel free to give me Kate being a successful superhero but still pretty much failing at life while America just kind of raises her eyebrow and sighs. You could also go for the more classic Young Avengers Kate, who's competent, in charge and still a bit spoiled but yet totally bowls over America. As for America, I love how little she refuses to deal with other people's shit. She always knows exactly where her priorities lie.
I want them getting together in a million different ways! I feel like this is another couple ripe for tropes (but what couple isn't, really?) with fake dating or fun AUs--maybe Kate is a celebrity who falls in love with the kick-ass woman who saves her life. I'd also love to see a quiet moment between the two of them--what are they like when they get some down time and it's just them by themselves?
Harry Potter
Neville Longbottom/Draco Malfoy
I have a huge weakness for Neville and Draco together. I would love to see fic about them meeting up, years after the war, and Draco being bowled over by the confident and attractive Neville who's totally settled into himself. I would also love to see how the two of them begin to work through their scars from the war and their dealings with Voldemort--how do they both come to terms with the things that they've seen and done?
Maybe they're both now experts in their respective field and have to work together--and they're both as awkward about it as possible! Or maybe one of them runs into the other one of them in a low moment and the first person steps in to help, kindling a friendship and then relationship between the two of them. I really love pretty much anything about the two of them though....
Hockey RPF
Sidney Crosby/Alexander Ovechkin
Ah, one of the pairings of my heart. I love the long and highly publicized build up between the two of them. It's been years since they both entered the league and yet the league still loves the narrative of them as rivals--how do they feel about it? I'd love a love/hate story (trope of my heart) as well as a story about the two of them down the road. Now that they're more seasoned, maybe they've come to find friendship (and more) in the other.
Tell me a story about the two of them after they retire. Or what if someone takes a picture of the two of them and the whole world wrongly assumes that they're together (when they're not), so they have to pretend to be together (and then fall in love). I love magical realism AUs so feel free to play with that as well--maybe one of them has a weird power that keeps involving the other one...
Thank you so much for writing for me!