Dear Every Woman Writer!

[derwent_f]

Hello dear writer! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for offering one of my requests!

You can find me on AO3 as derwent. You can find past exchange letters here.

I'm just really happy that one of my requests get offered, so honestly, as long as you heed the DNWs and include my requested characters, I'll be excited about what you write!

But, if like me, you find prompts helpful as a starting point, I do have some suggestions. Feel free to take inspiration from them - or not! Some of the requests are shorter than the others, but that doesn't mean I want them any less. Also, most of my DNWs are more of the just-in-case variety -- not likely to come up, but just to be on the safe side.

Feel free to write in unrequested characters, OCs, or background pairings if it would help the story. Although please don't make them the focus of the fic.

If you have any questions or need clarification, please don't hesitate to reach me through the mods!
 

General Likes:

• All level of ratings
• Historical- and canon-typical language, violence, attitudes, and darkness levels all welcome
• Both healthy and unhealthy relationships are welcome! For unhealthy relationships, I'm fine with codependency, folie a deux, romanticised abuse, power imbalance, manipulation, possessiveness, and just general dysfunctionality.
• Setting: pre-, during, or post-canon all welcome. Canon divergence is welcome too.
• Worldbuilding and backstory
• Unconventional format (e.g. interviews, news reports, in-universe meta, historical documents, correspondence)
• Fics that explore characters' daily life/domesticity, slice of life
• Quiet little moments in relationships
• Early relationship friction, where the partners are still adjusting to being with/living with each other
• Simple or unconventional gestures of affection
• Enemies-to-Friends, Friends-to-lovers, Enemies-to-lovers, Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers
• Long relationships that go through changes
• Emotional vulnerability
• Hurt/comfort
• Obvious feelings that don't quite get admitted to
• Morally grey characters and moral complexity
• Sympathetic terrible people/bad guys with moments of goodness/vulnerability
• Power dynamics
• Characters pining for each other, and then finding out their feelings are reciprocated
• Physical affection and intimacy, whether romantic, sexual, or platonic. Generally people being very tactile with each other.
• Little moments that reveal something significant
• Unexpected moments of kindness and connection
• Navigating complicated relationships
• Characters that never say what they mean but eventually have to confront their feelings
• Dysfunctional relationships
• Uncertain intimacy
• Partners pampering each other and physical grooming (especially hair brushing). I particularly enjoy grooming as decompressor or tension/stress release, or as prelude to sex
• Hugs and cuddles. I just love the description (e.g. bodies fitting perfectly, feeling safe and warm)

 

General DNWs:

• Smut
• Incest
• Unrequested pairings for the requested characters. Mentions of past relationships (e.g. Vesper/Bond) or canonical ones (Allison/Joe) are fine.
• Death of requested characters (threat of death is fine), unless canon (e.g. Lynn in So Close or Vesper in James Bond)
• Unrequested changes to requested characters' canon sexuality/gender/race/disability/ethnicity
• Unrequested alternate setting AUs (e.g. Coffee shop, high school, in space, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, futuristic/high-tech)
• If writing ships: ships being asexual, aromantic, or poly/in open relationship. It's fine if they never actually consummate the relationship, as long as the desire is still there.
• Parody, age regression/de-aging, genderswap
• Unrequested issue fic or fic where overcoming bigotry (sexism, homophobia, etc) is the focus. Briefly mentioning those issues is fine, but please don't make it the focus of the fic.
• Any mention of current RL politics/situation
• Permanent mutilation/disfigurement/injury, terminal illnesses and unrecoverable injuries, unless canon
• First person POV and all lowercase writing, unless in the form of letters/emails/diaries
• Character bashing
• Characters as non-human beings or hybrid, like aliens/robots/monsters
• Unrequested pregnancy
• Whipping (both sexual and non-sexual)

 

For fandom-specific DNWs and prompts (in alphabetical order):


Crossover Fandom: G: Ariadne Oliver and Felicity Lemon (Poirot - Christie) and Jane Marple (Miss Marple - Christie)

Miss Marple was my childhood hero, and I can't get enough of her. I love Mrs Oliver, especially her quips about writing (and of course the fact that she was Christie's self-insert). For Miss Lemon, if you want to draw from the tv series (since she plays a bigger role there), it's totally fine!

I don't really have any prompts aside from the usual casefic. The case doesn't have to be murder, I enjoy missing persons, missing wills, theft, and other crimes. I'd love to see them in exotic setting though: maybe on a cruise, or touring a historical house/place, or abroad (Paris, maybe?), or on a train.

I'd also be interested in '5 times they may have run into each other but don't, and the 1 time they finally do' type of fic.


Crossover Fandom: G: Cordelia Gray (Cordelia Gray series - P. D. James) and Jane Marple (Miss Marple - Christie)

The Cordelia Gray series is very different in tone with Miss Marple, so I'd love to see how their different worlds interact. Maybe the case can be more graphic/grimmer than usual for Miss Marple? I'd also love to see her imparting her wisdom to Cordelia.


Crossover Fandom: G: Felicity Lemon (Poirot - Christie) and Lucy Eyelessbarrow (Miss Marple - Christie)

Competence kink! I love how Lucy ditches the conventional career path expected for a brilliant woman like her and instead takes a job where she makes great money and can go on holiday every few months. That's a sweet, sweet life.

Honestly, I just want to read any scenario where they save the day by being so competent at their jobs. Maybe Miss Lemon solves the case by noticing a document being filed wrongly? Given that Lucy seems to be the more active person, maybe she's the one who investigate and Miss Lemon the one backstage? Or hey, maybe they open their own detective agency!


James Bond (Craig Movies): Vesper Lynd

Fandom-specific DNW: Vesper as Q's sister.

Look, the movie might be over Vesper, but I'm not and I don't think I'll ever be. I just love her and her arc so much. She's an intelligent, cunning woman, but in the end it's still not enough to save her life.

Prompts:

• Anything that explores her background. Why the treasury job? Why did she fall in love with Youssef?
• Did anyone miss her after her death? I wouldn't mind outsider POV for this one, maybe combined with unconventional formats. Like, the official MI6 mission report + obituary/notice in the papers + the reactions from her Treasury colleagues
• Vesper is alive AU! How does she pick up the pieces and start over? Can she?
• Role reversal AU, where Vesper is 007.

La Llorona (2019): Any (Carmen, Natalia, Group: Carmen and Natalia, Group: Carmen and Natalia and Sara, Group: Carmen and Natalia and Sara and Valeriana)

This movie was difficult to watch, but I'm glad I did anyway. The subject matter is delicate, but the film-makers successfully, and with sensitivity, weave the legend and the historical subject together.

Carmen: She begins as a firm believer and accomplice, a racist and a horrible employer. But gradually we see the cracks beneath the facade: her bitterness over her husband's infidelity, how she takes it out on other people. And the dreams! That she dreams she is her husband's indigenous victim, the fact that they share the long hair, and finally the ending, where she is the one who kill her husband. I'd love to see her character through the years: why did she marry the General, how did she find out about his affair, how did she begin to suspect that Valeriana is the General's illegitimate daughter, and how does she feel about having Valeriana in the house (I imagine for someone of her class, it was a slap to the face to have her husband parade his infidelity like that).

Natalia: There's this scene where Natalia is trying to meditate (while outside people are protesting) and Carmen sits beside her and drops this bomb: 'I think Valeriana is your half-sister.' In response, Natalia screams 'Mama I need to relax!' I laughed. I also think it's a scene that captures Natalia perfectly. She has doubts regarding her family's stance (in the beginning she expresses doubt over her mother's statement that  the witnesses lied about being raped), but ultimately she benefits from it and is not inclined to rock the boat. Like Carmen, I'd love to see Natalia through the years: how did she first become aware of his father's war crimes? There's also the mystery of what happened to her partner/Sara's father, which the movie strongly implies has something to do with her father. Who was her partner, why did she choose him (rebelling against her father?), and what sorts of mental gymnastics she had to perform to justify siding with her family despite her suspicions that they have something to do with his disappearance?

All four: I'd love to see post-canon fic, where they have to deal with the aftermath of the movie. From the practical standpoint: do they stay in the house? How did they explain the General's death? From the relationship standpoint: they're bound together with the secret now, how does it affect their entire dynamics? Does Carmen begin to treat Valeriana better? Does Valeriana now occupies a half-family, half-servant role? If you're up to it, I think unconventional format will be very interesting here: headlines, newspaper features, interviews, official records, etc.


Medium: Any (Ariel Dubois, Group: Allison Dubois and Ariel Dubois, Group: Allison Dubois and Bridgette Dubois, Group: Ariel Dubois and Bridgette Dubois and Marie Dubois)

I read somewhere that the show wouldn't have been as successful if it weren't for the Dubois, and I totally agree! The show was built on the back of their love for each other. I just love their family dynamics and can't get enough of it.

Ariel:

• College fic! How does Ariel handle being a psychic on her own? Does she go solving cases?
• The aftermath of S06E20 'Time Keeps on Slipping'. The whole thing is incredibly traumatising, and I wished Medium had explored Ariel's mental state more fully. Especially concerning her daughter.

Allison & Ariel, Allison & Bridgette:

• Anything about the mother-daughter relationship. I always enjoy the episodes where Allison and her daughter dream about the same crime but from different perspectives, which makes it necessary for them to piece together their dreams.

Ariel & Bridgette & Marie: psychic sisters and how they navigate life! Maybe they go on a vacation, just the three of them, and stumble on a mystery? Or maybe they switch bodies!


So Close: Any (Group: Lynn and Sue, Group: Lynn and Sue and Kong Yat-hung, Group: Kong Yat-hung and Sue)

I have a ridiculous amount of love for this movie. I was around ten when I first saw it. One local network used to air the movie every few months. I sat with eyes glued to the screen, thinking the girls were the coolest ever. I remember wondering about Sue and Kong Yat-hung, and when they kiss at the end, a light bulb went on in my head and I was like, 'Oooh! Wait, girls can kiss other girls? Not just boys?' And then every time the network aired the movie I begged my parents to let me stay up and watch it until the end.

This is also the movie that introduced me to the song Close to You, and I'd love it if the song is referenced.

Lynn and Sue: Anything that explore their childhood, especially aftermath their parents' murder. How did they adjust to their new life?

Lynn and Sue and Kong Yat-hung: Lynn is alive AU! Maybe they go on the run and become bakery owners? How does Kong Yat-hung's presence affect the sisters' dynamics?

Kong Yat-hung and Sue: Maybe they run into each other years after the movie? Maybe Sue now owns a bakery and Kong Yat-hung walks inside and is surprised to see her. I just want to see them finally being able to fall in love and basks in the pleasure of it.