Cerulean Blue

Well, I suck. This letter is a month late. Hopefully, dear writer, you don't totally hate me and still see this at some point! Fic Corner is a favorite exchange of mine, because it stretches my imagination so much - I hope you feel the same! Please don't feel penned in by any prompts I give here or at my sign-up. Just the fact that you're writing in these relatively tiny fandoms is pretty dang cool.

Some things about my likes/DNWs: I prefer angst over fluff, I like happy endings that come after struggle or discord as much as I love angsty cliffhangers that keep the work grounded in the fandom's reality. I love character studies and backstories. I love minor characters in fic, the chance to flesh out what we don't see on the page or screen. Not into pregnancy AU, high school or university AU, or modern AU. BUT I love canon-divergence or AUs within the given universe (a different meet-cute, or a different ending, for example). While I love angst, I don't love trauma, especially of the sexual variety. Not really into a lot of kink or graphic sex. Love friendship, team-building, friends-to-lovers, unrequited pining, requited pining that's more complicated than those involved want. Absolutely DNW non-canonical character death, rape/dub-con, sexual violence of any kind, body horror, A/B/O, or underage sex.

Some prompts:

Casey at the Bat - Ernest Lawrence Thayer

I'd love to read about the team - are they perpetual losers, searching for a win? Are they winners who had a bad day this one time? Is Casey their superstar, or their Charlie Brown, who tries so hard and never gets it right? Doesn't have to be in verse, but a baseball story here would be so charming. Or, talk to me about the aftermath of that game, and what it means for the Mudville Nine and/or Casey himself (or...HERself...Casey could be a girl's name, too)

Night of the Twisters - Ivy Ruckman

This book is an old favorite. I grew up in tornado alley, so I'd read it mostly to scare myself silly! Pick a character and have him or her grow up obsessed with tornadoes and weather generally. Give me a kid stormchasing team in the style of monster-hunters like the kids from It or Stranger Things. Midwestern life post-novel, growing up in the wake of that terrible night. Light romance (Danny/Stacy preferred) would be fun - age-appropriate or have it happen when they are older than 18.

Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder

My love for the book series is practically a defining character trait, I should tell you. And I think there's a disturbing lack of fanfiction for it. Some ideas: The Long Winter from Mary Power's perspective. Nellie Oleson and adjusting to life on the prairie, her view of Laura, flip the script a bit and make her sympathetic. Carrie and Grace and all the advantages and disadvantages of their growing-up compared with Mary and Laura's, especially being established vs. the nomadic existence; how Pa and Ma are different, too, especially as Pa doesn't get to wander like he did (does he live vicariously through Laura and Almanzo's eventual travels?). Cap Garland's story, fleshed out, a romance for him and Mary Ingalls. Laura and Almanzo courting, sneaking kisses or spooning in the moonlight. Caroline Ingalls early in the narrative, maybe during Little House on the Prairie, her take on events. AUs I like would include Laura the World Traveler, Cap courting Laura to Almanzo's chagrin, zombie apocalypse (or any apocalypse, really), changing the setting to a different frontier (like, say, Mars).

Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery

It does occasionally feel like this series has been mined for every last diamond, but I have confidence in you! Some ideas:

Gilbert and Anne squaring off in school and accidental romance occurs or almost occurs. A less reluctant Anne in the period of the Avonlea Improvement Society. Gilbert doesn't call her Carrots, and a friendship ensues instead of early rivalry. Or, Anne comes to Avonlea at an older age, and a different set of events brings Anne and Gilbert together.

Marilla and Anne, adoption theme, surrogate mother/daughter, the ways they are more alike than different.

Marilla alone, life before Anne and coming to terms with spinsterhood in an era and place that places no value on women apart from marriage.

Gilbert and why, exactly, he wants to be a doctor.

Anne, unadopted, graduates out of the system so to speak, and strikes out to make something of herself in spite of what may appear to be crushed dreams.

A quick round-up of exchange stories I received over the summer.  I do recommend all of these stories and hope you'll click through to give these deserving authors the hit and a kudos.  :-)

Not Prime Time
Like a Rock by klutzy_girl - An alternate universe story about Grant Ward fitting into the team on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  It's set in the early seasons, prior to the reveal that Ward was HYDRA, and deals with him questioning his own loyalties.  I enjoyed this, because it's a sweet version of events that would have changed some major things in the series.

fic_corner 
Sweetening the Loaves by Missy - I hoped very much for a book-verse Little House on the Prairie story, and this more than delivered.  A sweet, introspective look at Caroline Ingalls, just as the family has begun to settle in De Smet.  I really loved the author's take on Caroline and Charles' marriage, and her voices are all spot on.  Highly recommend, especially as there is so little in this fandom.

rarepairfest 
Time and Again by DesertScribe - A crossover between The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings.  Young Boromir ends up in Narnia and meets the Pevensies, and over time he and Susan fall in love - but they are never together for very long, and there's a lot of angst and adventure in their path.  It's a really lovely story and I just love the idea of Susan and Boromir together, especially the way this author makes it happen.

genex 
Room to Grow by StarSpray - Harry Potter is a fandom where the gen possibilities are endless; this one knocks it out of the park.  Neville, Ginny, and Luna, learning to deal with what happened to them at Hogwarts while Harry was off hunting horcruxes.  It's set post-series, but pre-epilogue.  I can't convey in words how much I love the way this author wrote Neville, in particular.  He's perfect.  This story is definitely worth a read.

crossovering 
And Bide the Danger by Anonymous - A Narnia/Harry Potter crossover, answering the idea of Susan Pevensie existing in the wizarding world, and having an encounter with Amelia Bones.  The author set this during Amelia's Magical Law Enforcement training, and there is a wonderfully on-target guest appearance, and some incredible world-building to root the reader in the Harry Potter 'verse.  I loved all my stories this summer, but this one made me feel spoiled.  It's very sophisticated writing and I applaud the author for working to fully bring to life both universes so seamlessly.  

Hello Author!

I think this is the first time I've done this exchange. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

A few things you should know about me: I prefer angst over fluff (yup, even in YA), I like happy endings that come after struggle or discord, I love character studies and backstories. I love minor characters in fic, the chance to flesh out what we don't see on the page or screen. Not into pregnancy AU, high school or university AU, or modern AU. BUT I love canon-divergence or AUs within the given universe (a different meet-cute, or a different ending, for example). While I love angst, I don't love trauma, especially of the sexual variety. Not really into a lot of kink or graphic sex (especially for this exchange).

( Fandom specifics )