Femmeslash 2013 exchange letter

[diaphenia]

Hello friend!

I’m so excited you decided to write for me for the femmeslash exchange! I hope you’re as excited to write this as I am to read it.

Now, optional details are option, but this letter’s going to be long and detailed. I just want to give you some idea as to what I love about each fandom/lady. I’m throwing out a ton of details.  Hopefully, something you read will be a jumping-off point for you.

A few general thoughts. I’m a big fan of getting together stories, and not as big on established relationship stories. I like sexy times, but am fine with things fading to black. I like kink but am pretty picky about it, so I’d rather not see it in an exchange fic. I’m not super-romantic, generally, and prefer more humorous/hot takes on relationships to shmoopy, romantic, overly sweet, fluffy, or heavily-angsty fic. I love ensemble fic even more than shippy fic, and 95% of what I write has the OTP getting together because of (or in spite of) the ensemble getting involved.

I’m not big on OCs. Or pregnancy/babies/children. Or character-bashing.

Cheating or open relationships works for me in certain cases, all noted below. I don’t want to erase the partners (most of) these women are with, but I do have specific preferences around how to handle canon relationships.

Misogyny, racism, homophobia, etc, etc, are not things I want to dwell on, though if they make sense to a character, that’s fine that they retain the characteristics, I just don’t want to spend much time on them. Likewise, detailed violence isn’t my thing either, though I recognize that within violent fandoms, references to violence are fine. I’m just not a fan of those details.

If you want to see my fandom story recs, click here. If you want to see what fic I’ve written, click here. If you want to see my tumblr, click here, and if you want to see an occasionally-contradictory list of fic things I love, click here.

Let’s talk fandoms:

The Hunger Games

I love Panem. I’m not a huge fan of most modern day AUs (....although, spy AUs always work for me), preferring instead in-Panem AUs. What if someone else gets reaped for the 74th Games? What if Katniss (/Peeta?) moves to the Capitol after the 74th Games? What if Katniss (/Peeta?) comes to the 75th Games as a mentor? What if the rebellion never happens, or takes years to get off the ground, or goes terribly wrong, or gets discovered? I also enjoy Panem without the Games, or with some other sort of dystopian twist— what if the Capitol is in charge of other aspects of their lives, like pairing up spouses or assigning jobs or occasionally murdering children in some other way?

Of course, if you choose to stick to canon, that’s cool too! There’s large bits of canon that are rarely explored, like Katniss’s time between winning the Games and going on her Victory tour, or what was happening in D13 in between the 90 times she went to the D13 hospital or the pre-74th time.

My two pairings I picked were Katniss/Madge and Katniss/Johanna. Clearly, I find Katniss to be an interesting character! She’s a bit of a jerk, with her never really understanding her mother, but she’s believable to me, and I think her sexual awakening is just perfect. She oblivious to two men in her life who both have crushes in a way I totally believe, and I could easily believe that she missed out on a lady liking her. In the story you write, depending on how you want to go, you can keep the fake relationship with Peeta, or fake-pair her with another character, or excise that entire storyline, however you want to play it. In canon, I don’t think she really loved Peeta in any conscious way until the last few pages of the series, though I think she actually loved him sooner, and if you want to hook her up with Peeta at  the end, that’s fine, but totally, totally optional— just depends how much of a slave you are to canon. But either way, I think in canon there are ample opportunities to hook her up with someone else.

With Madge, I think, for the little we get of her in canon, she’s fascinating— the richest girl in the district, but her mother left incapacitated to some degree by the death of her sister. She gives Katniss that pin, which to me says she had rebellion in her heart— but how involved she really was is up to you. In canon, I could see her involved with/pining for Katniss pre-74th Games, or during those piano lessons after the games. In an AU, she could survive the bombing, or she could be the one who gets reaped in the 74th Games, or Katniss is her mentor for the 75th, or both of them survive the reapings and have to figure out how to make a lesbian relationship work in D12. And of course, in a dystopian AU of a different sort, she and Katniss have whatever opportunities you want.

With Johanna, I’m not sure I buy the two of them dating/in love, mostly because I don’t think Johanna would be able to live with Katniss long-term, but I could see them hooking up (and of course, I’m willing to be convinced that they do find love!). Johanna, to me, is one of the more interesting characters of the series. She’s all for the rebellion, prepared to die for it, and even right after her games she put up enough of a fuss that her entire family was killed. And then whatever happens while she’s in the Capitol following the Quarter Quell changes her so much. Also, I have some headcanon you can use or discard, that she and Finnick hooked up before he met Annie (and then occasionally when they were depressed following prostitution in the Capitol). In canon, I could see her hooking up with Katniss perhaps somehow before the 74th Games if she thinks another district’s mentor could give her an advantage, or sometime before the Quell, or in D13 following the rescue of Peeta, Annie, and Johanna. Outside of canon, I could see Katniss (/Peeta?) being sold to Capitol citizens following their win in the 74th Games, and Johanna mentoring them through Capitol life, or maybe Johanna gets to fight in the Capitol and there’s some tent action along the way, or they’re both mentors in the 75th Games. And again, in other dystopian AUs, the sky’s the limit.

In this fandom, feel free to kill whoever you want, even someone from the pairing you’re writing. The only specific thing I ask is that if Peeta (or anyone else) gets hijacked, don’t have their story end with the implication they never recover from the hijacking. That’ll just break my heart.

Also, feel free to include whatever other characters you want.

New Girl

This summer, I watched the entire series, and I think it’s divine. Very funny ensemble work, and it’s a great “hang out” show. All the friendships on the show really work for me, but Jessica/Cece was my favorite. I love when long-term friendships turn into relationships/hookups, and these two are totally lovely together. I enjoy when they talk about their past, as they did in the “Virgins” episode, and I almost thought the show was going to imply that since they both hooked up with someone on prom night, that they actually hooked up together that night...

Generally, I was a fan of Nick/Jess, because tense sexy longing works for me, but now that the two of them are together, I feel a lot more lukewarm on it. I’d rather they not break up, because I’m not sure I buy that the loft survives them breaking up, but if you want to just AU the two of them as never getting together, that’s fine with me. And if it makes sense in canon that either of the two of them are lusty towards the other, that’s fine. Bi or bi-curious Jess taking out her Nick-lust on Cece works for me (and within canon, they gave several conspicuous jumping-off points for that). And any other Jess-boyfriend you can send away/never hook them up/cheat/poly/whatever.

I also enjoyed Schmidt/Cece. The two of them hooking up in season one cracked me up, and I like Schmidt as this weird, metrosexual hookup genius. I’m fine with Cece hooking up with anyone else while dating-ish Schmidt is totally fine.

But man oh man, did I hate Cece’s storyline in the second season. I could buy she suddenly wanted to get married, but would she really be the sort to have a miniscule engagement and never sleep with the guy prior to getting married? I know that man she met at the Indian marriage mart suggested that she’s prone to making decisions without thinking them through, and I buy that as characterization, but still. I thought that whole storyline played strange to me. And I’m really not certain how to feel about her breaking up the wedding for Schmidt. I love the two of them as funny occasional lovers, but too much sad pining in the second season just didn’t work for me. And when Schmidt ran off at the wedding, I wanted Cece to just go hook up with Elizabeth instead.

Therefore, I’d love to see that whole mess ignored. Cece can still be concerned about her fertility, and even going on random dates, and even going on random dates chosen by her mother, but I don’t want to see her going from first date to the altar in a matter of months.

(Should you decide to set this in season one, ignore the above.)

I’d love to see the guys, Robbie, the models, the lesbian gyno, any of the random hilarious characters if it makes sense for the story. And this is definitely a fandom I want some funny in.

Orange is the New Black

I hardly ever marathon tv shows, but this show was amazing. I love lady-centric television, and it’s so rare to see a show that blows that Bechdel test out of the water. And it hits all my buttons, as it’s ensemble-heavy, funny, and features a group of people forced to become a family, essentially.

With this fandom, I’d prefer to stick to canon, and generally within the time-frame of the show as it’s aired, though flash-backs are fine. I’m not interested in what happens after they leave prison, at least not as majority of the fic, because the setting really fascinates me.

The first pairing is Nicky/Lorna. I find them both fascinating. Lorna has that damn fiance, sort-of. How does she handle the idea that she’s cheating on someone she hasn’t talked to in three years? To what degree does she really believe he’ll be around when she gets out? And Nicky is awesome, from her relationship with Red to the ways she enjoys screwing with Piper to her mother/past. Does she wish her relationship with Lorna was deeper? Is she genuinely into Alex?

I find these two especially fascinating because neither of them has that much longer in prison, so they do have the potential to work out outside the joint, as opposed to, say, Alex/Piper.

Poussey/Taystee is my other pairing. I love their friendship; they always seem genuinely like they care about each other. Unless I’m totally mistaken, neither of them has referenced sexuality or past or current lovers, so there’s a little more room to play— are they secret lovers? Is one of them pining? Are they friends with benefits? Was Poussey the real reason Taystee returned to prison?

With this fandom, too, I’d love to see any other characters you want to write, because this whole show is full of people I find fascinating in their own ways.

Pitch Perfect

This is one of the happiest fandoms I think I’ve ever read. As with New Girl, this is one of those fandoms you can just go nuts with tropes and cliches. Spin the bottle! Road trip! Kissing in the rain! And AUs are also cool, if you’re into that sort of thing. Maybe the Bellas are a girl band, or a bakery, or an art class. Maybe the Trebles are a rival intramural soccer team. Feel free to work with it however you want. My only real request with AUs is that there’s a team/group aspect to the new narrative, if you can, because a big part of this movie is the bonding. Lifewise, if you keep them in-universe, I’d like at least one member of the pair to still be in school/in the Bellas, rather than distant future!fic.

I love all the characters, so ensemble fic is always the way to go, if you can.

I requested any pairing, so let me talk about why each one is awesome.

Aubrey/Fat Amy

Aubrey’s all by-the-book, Amy follows her own rules. Aubrey’s focused on winning, Amy just wants to hang out with some cool chicks. And Aubrey’s all about discipline and exercise, while Amy’s focused on having fun (and maybe school?) I think within the movie, there are a few moments that could turn into something: their discussion over who’s a lesbian at the party, during the training montages, when Amy’s clearly not working on her choreography, after Amy goes wild and tears off her shirt at the concert, or maybe after Amy finds out that Amy’s been hooking up with Bumper. Or maybe celebratory sex after they win? Otherwise, I could see Aubrey returning after she graduates to help the team, and maybe it happens then? Amy’s one of my favorite characters of 2012, so I’d love to see whatever you have of her.

Aubrey/Chloe

These girls have been friends and singing-mates for four years, so that’s plenty of time within canon to hook them up. Maybe they had a fling freshman year, and seeing Chloe pine for Beca drives Aubrey nuts, either because Beca’s has a toner for Jesse, or because Beca has a thing for Chloe and Aubrey’s jealous, or because Beca is the worst, obviously. Maybe they come back to coach the Bellas after graduating, and they realize they’re meant to be. Maybe they have angry!sex every time Aubrey fears they aren’t going to win. Maybe there’s sexy, sexy pining. Maybe they keep almost hooking up, and then finally do after they win. Whereever you want to take this, I want to read this.

Beca/Chloe

By far this is the most beloved pairing in the fandom, and for good reason. Totally flirting, saw each other naked, etc. I’d love anything between these two, from Chloe pining to a drunken hookup to actual dating to a poly thing with Jesse. Only major request is that if you break up Jesse/Beca, you don’t demonize him.

Also, I have head!canon you can use if you want that for the next three years, Beca’s roommates with Amy.

Stacie/Cynthia Rose

Stacie gave me the biggest laugh of the movie with “cuticle care and E! network,” and Cynthia Rose is just awesome, from her gambling habit to her maybe ex-gf who’s also in the Bellas? These two had chemistry in the movie, and I’m disappointed the movie never went there in any serious way. I’d love to see Stacie return interest in Cynthia Rose. I see this one more as a slow burn over their years at school together, but your call. Maybe Stacie gives up men to study extra-hard senior year and they hook up instead? Maybe Stacie then does a 180 and pursues women as aggressively?

I think that’s everything?

-Diaphenia