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Pinch hit #77 is due on 20 February 2025 at 11:59pm EST. To claim, please reply with your AO3 name (comments are screened; if you comment without logging in, you will not see your comment or replies to it) and let me know if you're claiming the full amount (10k/40 panels) or half (5k/20 panels). You're also welcome to claim by emailing mod.modzilla@gmail.com.
Minimum requirements: An art gift must be a completed comic at least 10 pages or 40 panels long; a fic gift must be a story at least 10,000 words long. You can also fulfil a pinch hit by giving two complete half-length works, if your recipient has opted into that for the fandom(s) you are creating in. Any work must be for a fandom your recipient has requested and one character/relationship/worldbuilding tag requested in that fandom, and must avoid their DNWs.
Request 1 by Beatrice_Otter
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Mamusu "Rose" Grant & Elsie Winstanley (RoL), Mamusu "Rose" Grant & Thomas Nightingale (RoL), Caroline Linden Limmer/Grace Yutani (RoL), Beverley Brook/Peter Grant/Thomas Nightingale (RoL), Beverley Brook/Peter Grant (RoL), Peter Grant & Thomas Nightingale (RoL), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
The snark! the vivid characters! the worldbuilding! the digressions! the wry-but-pointed social commentary on race and class and bureaucracy! the community and relationship building! Casefic is always welcome, but so is worldbuilding and exploring the demi-monde and magic, or character-focused stuff. I love stories that bring up weird aspects of the demi-monde and magic which Peter then has to deal with.
I love community-building. Peter goes out there and he gets to know people and builds relationships with them, and that opens up possibilities. There are good reasons things became fragmented, mostly the fault of the old Folly--but I love to see healing and reconciliation and new relationships growing.
Peter's not naïve, he knows how bad the world can get and how much evil can be done by the institutions he is serving, and yet he firmly believes that they can and should do better. I love how he is willing to risk himself to help people. I think Nightingale sees in Peter something he didn't know he was missing: a way to be and do better than the sins of the past he's been carrying around all these years. I think it's great that Nightingale's going to retire from the police to focus on teaching, I think that will allow much better scope for them both to grow, and yet still be working together. (Just in a different capacity.)
I find Beverly Brook hard to parse in the earlier books. She's enough younger than Peter that the whole "suddenly we're pregnant and expecting kids!" and everyone's happy about it!" is weird to me. Peter's in his mid-late 20s, and is settled in his career, but Bev is in university! I would have expected her to prefer to wait. And then there's the fact that she's a goddess, and a geographical feature, and to some degree a reincarnation of a previous deity. So something exploring that dynamic from her perspective would be interesting. Her perspective on Peter, the Folly, and Thomas would also be really interesting to me. I love stories that bring up weird aspects of the demi-monde and magic.
Mamusu & Nightingale: She has such a forceful personality, and deeply loves Peter (even if their relationship is complicated). I think Thomas probably respects her a great deal. What if something happened to Peter and the two of them had to figure it out? What if, somehow, she were the one who became an apprentice, when she was younger, instead of being a janitor? What if Nightingale figured out the Jazz Vampires when Simone was trying to prey on Richard? What if she had some magic training from her own tradition back in Sierra Leone? What if she became friends with the Rivers earlier, before Peter was an apprentice, and they used her as a go-between when dealing with the Folly?
Mamusu & Elsie: Ever since A Rare Book of Cunning Device came out, I've been curious about how those two met, whether in London or in Africa. I headcanon that Mamusu was one of those Africans who was a professional back home but couldn't get anything but janitorial work in England because racism (and also because, in her case, she was taking care of a husband and kid and didn't have time to fight through the system). But what if she could have gotten a job as a librarian, and she and Elsie worked together in special collections? Or you could do something odd-couple-ish where the major events of both lives are the same, but they're still friends who do stuff together despite the vast differences in their backgrounds and lives. Also, I would totally be down for some femslash.
Caroline Linden-Limmer and Grace Yutani: I was fascinated by what we saw of them in Amongst Our Weapons. Flying! Magic Metalsmithing! Home for formerly abused magic victims! Caroline free and living away from her mother! (Lady Helena strikes me as one of those "of course I can't be racist, I'm a Good Liberal White Person Here To Uplift People." See, for example, the way she has more sympathy for the tiger than the local (African) children killed in that one story she tells about Growing Up In Africa.) And then there's Grace, and she's awesome too. Besides how well they work together, I'm also interested in the politics of what would it mean to have a member of the Society of the Rose marrying the Grand Master of the Sons of Weyland. And also, what has the Sons of Weyland been doing since they cut ties with the Folly? If they'd been active in the demi-monde, Nightingale or Peter would have found them earlier. Were they in their own separate bubble with no contact with outside practitioners or people with magic?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 2 by Beatrice_Otter
Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Lando Calrissian/Leia Organa/Han Solo (SW Legends), Lando Calrissian/Mara Jade (SW Legends), Lando Calrissian/Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker (SW Legends), Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker (SW Legends), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
The original Zahn trilogy and the X-Wing books are my favorite parts of the old Legends universe, but I like everything EXCEPT the Courtship of Princess Leia and the New Jedi Order stuff. (Teneniel Djo is awesome! Han kidnapping Leia is really really REALLY not. And I hated pretty much everything about the Vong.) I really like it when Luke is building a new Jedi community and rebuilding old traditions. You can bring in details from the PT and newer canon, if they don't contradict major parts of the Zahn trilogy.
Mara has such a complex past. I think she has trauma from her time with Palpatine that she can't admit even to herself--he was so good at grooming young people, so very manipulative, and even when you know your abuser did evil things to you, it's still hard to internalize. I think she has a unique perspective on the Force, and the Jedi, and galactic politics, that doesn't fit easily or neatly with the others but nevertheless is important to include if they don't want to re-make the mistakes of the past. It's about how do we remember the past while working to create a new future? How do we avoid making old mistakes? How do we heal? How do we build something better?
I love Lando, and I think he was absolutely right to put the safety of his entire city and everyone living in it ahead of the well-being of a couple of old friends. He is smart, pragmatic, and responsible in the best possible way. Do Leia and Lando work together on political negotiations/shenanigans while Han plays house-husband and swoops in with the Falcon when they need backup? Do Han and Lando go off and make shady business deals and come home to Leia with intelligence she can use politically? Does Lando serve as the practical "let's get support and resources for this new Jedi Order you're building" while Luke swans around being compassionate and heroic and saving the day? (But make sure that Lando's contributions are valued and not taken for granted.) I was one of the contributors to the "What if Han became Emperor by accident" thread on tumblr a while back, and my contribution was "ooh, Lando would be his Grand Vizier!" and if you want to go that direction that would also be awesome. Also, Weird Jedi Shit is always fun.
I think Lando and Mara would do very well together; both okay with shady stuff, but both with deep principles they will not compromise. My primary ship is Luke/Mara but I was livid when they retconned Lando/Mara out with "oh, no, they were never really together, it was just an undercover thing!" Even as a very sheltered middle class white teen, I could tell that was racist bullshit, and also smacked of that patriarchal extreme-monagamist trope where "if you love each other, your previous relationships can't have meant anything!" which always hits harder for women than men. No. People can decide a relationship isn't working and end it and start new ones without devaluing and denying the previous relationship. I would love Lando/Mara. I would love Luke/Mara where either she was never with Lando at all even for undercover purposes, or where Lando/Mara used to be together and broke up amicably. I would love Luke/Lando/Mara. I would be livid at "but Lando/Mara was never a real relationship!"
Plot bunnies: Standard Star Wars shenanigans where the fate of the galaxy is at stake and Our Heroes save the day. Is there critical knowledge in a hidden holocron they have to find? Is one of the other Hands (or an Inquisitor, or some other evil Force user) making trouble for Karrde and/or the New Jedi Order and/or the New Republic? Is the Empire threatening Lando's newest business venture (again)?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic, twincest, the "Lando and Mara were never really together, it was all a con/undercover thing!" retcon, Kylo Ren
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 3 by Beatrice_Otter
Enola Holmes (Movies)
Edith Grayston/Sherlock Holmes (Enola Holmes Movies), Edith Grayston & Eudoria Vernet Holmes (Enola Holmes Movies), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love Enola, but the thing that captured my interest in the first movie was the spark between Edith and Sherlock. I love Edith; she's such a fascinating character, and I love all the things she's got going: her shop, the classes she teaches, her work with Eudoria and the feminist revolutionaries. I'd love to see some of their adventures. And also, I loved that she didn't take any shit from Sherlock, and when she called him on the ways his privilege was blinding him, he listened and respected her. I'd love to see them work a case together or deal with some issue from the feminist group spiraling out of control, or just the two of them both being mentors for Enola in different ways.
Then there's all the ... whatever Edith and Eudoria are up to. What things do they agree on? What things do they disagree on? What's the rest of their group like? What are their goals?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 4 by Beatrice_Otter
Crossover Fandom
Finn & Poe & Rey (SWST) & Anakin & Padmé & Obi-Wan (SWPT), Finn (SWST) & Creator's Choice of Jedi Council Member(s) (SWPT), Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo) & Creator’s Choice of Batfam (Wayne Family Adventures - webcomic), Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo) & Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne (Wayne Family Adventures WC), Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo) & Alfred Pennyworth (Wayne Family Adventures WC), Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo) & Bruce Wayne (DCU comics), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
Finn is my favorite of the ST, and I would love to see him as being Force-sensitive. I just love the relationship between him and Poe and Rey, in all the possible permutations. (I like Kylo Ren as a villain, not reformed and not as a love interest.)
There is so much that has radically changed between the PT and the ST, and neither the PT people nor the ST people really have any idea just how big the gap is or what the major pitfalls are. Sure, the ST people would want to change things, but ... would they have any idea what happened? They know Palpatine is the bad guy, but how do they convince people of that? Then you have all of Finn's parallels with the clone troopers (raised to be a trooper, no name) that just highlight the differences.
Or you could go the other way! Weird Force Shit drops the PT folks in the ST time, either permanently or just for a short visit. How do you convince them that this is only 40-50 years in their future? What do they do?
Columbo and batfam would be so fun. Either Columbo is working on a case with Batman/another Batfam member, or he's investigating a murder that happened at Wayne Manor at a gala or something, right? Does he figure out the connection between the Waynes and the Bats? Does he think a Wayne did it because there's so much funny stuff that doesn't add up?
Note: I know that in Batfam fanfic, the kids often go to galas and big fancy parties at Wayne manor, and stuff like that. This annoys me, because in the real world rich people don't take their kids to stuff like that unless it's a specifically kid-focused event. They leave the kids at home with the nannies so the adults can party and network. If it's hosted in someone's home and they have kids, the kids might show up briefly at the beginning to wave and look cute before heading back to the family area (think the party in Sound of Music). So if you have a gala, I would prefer it if the batkids aren't present unless they're adults.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic, Reylo
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 5 by Beatrice_Otter
Babylon 5 (TV 1993)
Marcus Cole/Neroon (Babylon 5), Delenn & Neroon (Babylon 5), Delenn/Lennier/John Sheridan (B5), Delenn/John Sheridan (B5), Catherine Sakai/Jeffrey Sinclair (B5), Marcus Cole/Stephen Franklin (Babylon 5), Marcus Cole & Neroon (Babylon 5), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
Ah, the fandom of my youth! This was my first fandom that was mine, and not just something the family watched together. I love the layering of the themes, and how you can watch it on multiple levels (action/adventure, character arcs, political allegory, deeper themes about truth and freedom and who are you and what do you want and why are you here). The characters and their story arcs were all so compelling. I love the playfulness of Marcus and Stephen together, although I headcanon Marcus as a romantic ace (or possibly demisexual). (Feel free to change Marcus' fate.) One of the things I love about Babylon 5 is that there were so many characters where the fact that they were antagonists didn't mean they were stupid or bad people, just people with a different perspective honestly trying to do what is right.
I especially love Minbari culture. If you do worldbuilding for Minbari culture, past, present, or future, I will love you forever. I consider "To Dream in the City of Sorrows" canon and firmly believe that when Sinclair went into the past and became Valen, he found Catherine again after she was lost in time.
Stephen Franklin was a terribly underused character I love his warmth and the strong unbendable core of his ethics, and my two favorite people to see him with are Susan and Marcus. Maybe Marcus and Stephen get together on Mars when they're pretending to be a couple! Maybe Stephen saves Marcus' life when he tries to throw it away to save Susan, and that changes things between them.
What if Neroon survived somehow and had to learn to be religious caste? Or maybe something exploring his earlier career, or his relationship with Branmer, or the complexities and frustrations of his encounters with Delenn, or his time on the Gray Council.
Is there a problem on Babylon 5 that needs to get solved? Is there some Minbari cultural rite or Earthforce political intrigue? Is the PsiCorps making trouble? I'd also love something post-series about peace-building.
What's the Worker Caste perspective on all of this? What if Neroon survived somehow and had to learn to be religious caste? What was Marcus' training like? What issues did Delenn and Sinclair have to handle when they were giving him command of the Anla'shok? (What was it like for Sinclair/Valen to create them in the first place?)
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 6 by Beatrice_Otter
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Deanna Troi/Worf (TNG), Guinan/Jean-Luc Picard (TNG), Kamala/Jean-Luc Picard (TNG), K'Ehleyr/Worf (TNG), Beverly Crusher & Ro Laren (ST TNG), Guinan & Jean-Luc Picard (ST TNG), Char: Guinan (ST TNG), Char: Ro Laren (ST: TNG), Sam Lavelle & Taurik (TNG), Data/Geordi La Forge (TNG), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love alien culture worldbuilding, boldly going, exploring, wacky science hijinks, time travel, AU shenanigans. I love the hopeful attitude that we can become better than we are. I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out what compromises each is going to make on what they expect out of a relationship--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).
As for plot ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into wacky tropes, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want with the time travel and travel to alternate universes and weird missions.
I love Klingons, PARTICULARLY when they're written with depth. The warrior ethos shapes their entire culture, but it's not the only thing about them.
Deanna Troi/Worf: This is three different cultures, and 'human' is the place in the middle that they both understand, but I'd be interested in something that explored the 'alien' cultures and didn't assume 'human' as normal. Klingon gender roles are women are loud and violent and the men read love poetry. Deanna's more the poetry type, and I'm not sure how much of a soft side Worf has. Neither of them fit Klingon norms. Feel free to bring in the perspective Martok had on mental illness, that it's an enemy to fight and it takes a lot of strength to fight an enemy in your own head. From that perspective, Deanna is a weapons trainer for the mind.
Worf/K'Ehleyr: K'Ehleyr rejects much of what Worf is desperately trying to cling to. And Worf's view of Klingons is very one-dimensional, almost an outsider's view, because of his upbringing. If she had lived and they'd had to actually work things out, that would have been fascinating. Not to mention very different views on how to raise Alexander.
Guinan is awesome, but please tone down the Magical Negro stereotype--she's not just The Wise Magic Advisor. She's got her own prejudices and traumas. I would love anything that dove into her past or her culture. Picard and Guinan have INCREDIBLE chemistry. Watch Time's Arrow and see the way he LOOKS AT HER. Something with time travel and meeting in the wrong order a la Time's Arrow would be interesting, but so would them hanging out together and being friends. Or an adventure from before they were together on Enterprise.
Picard/Kamala, the "empathic metamorph" who imprinted on Picard but then went on to her arranged marriage anyway? On the one hand, you have the appeal of the whole soulmate trope, and on the other you have the ickyness of how that works for an empathic metamorph, but on the other hand, he was the one she chose, and then you've got the political aspects. Even once she's free do either of them want a long-term relationship, despite the fact that they are perfectly matched?
I see it as unrequited, unless dude Kamala married died in an accident and she left the planet. Even then, I don't know that she would have sought him out. I like that her choice was just that--her choice. And in a shitty situation, she chose to bond with the person whose desires made her into someone she wanted to be. I wonder what she did after? Obviously, duty and ethics are very important to her. But what does that mean, in the long run, given her situation? Does she use her position to advocate for change, or just endure until her husband died and then leave after he dies (she's a lot younger than he is)? OTOH, what happens if something happened and the Enterprise had to go back to the planet she married into?
Geordi was great. Professional in the face of all the wackiness Star Trek could throw at him, very smart, very compassionate. Aside from that one episode with the genetically engineered society, they didn't do much with his blindness besides "disabilities give you superpowers" with his visor. What are the downsides to it? What, if any, tradeoffs did he have to make, and was it his choice or something his parents decided for him? Does he ever get grief from fellow officers about "what happens if your visor gets knocked off, you'll be blind!" as if not being able to see would make him incompetent? He and Data have that wonderful friendship that is rock solid that I love to see explored and transmuted into romance.
Taurik & Sam: I loved their friendship, and I also loved seeing a view of the Enterprise that we rarely get to see. I'd love to see them on a typical Starfleet mission, or during another week where Something Important Is Happening but it's classified so they don't know what the hell is going on, or spending leave together or meeting each other's families.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 7 by Beatrice_Otter
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Jadzia Dax & Benjamin Sisko (DS9), Benjamin Sisko/Kasidy Yates (DS9), Bareil Antos/Kira Nerys (DS9), Bareil Antos/Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys (ST DS9), Kira Nerys & Benjamin Sisko (DS9), Benjamin Sisko & Jake Sisko (DS9), Kira Nerys/Keiko O'Brien/Miles O'Brien (DS9), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love alien culture worldbuilding, boldly going, exploring, wacky science hijinks, time travel, AU shenanigans. I love the hope that we can become better than we are. I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out compromises--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).
As for plot ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into wacky tropes, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want. One of my favorite things about DS9, it dealt with consequences. If you want to take a canon event that you think didn't get enough exploration and run with it, that would be awesome.
I'd love something that dove into Bajoran religion, and the more ALIEN it is the better. We've MET the prophet and they have such a fundamentally different perspective on EVERYTHING than us linear creatures, I don't want it to feel like another screed on What Is Wrong With Christianity In America. You could lean into the Prophets' timey-wimey non-linearity and what that means for a religion that worships them. Most Earth religions are heavily time-based, with regular repeating festivals that serve a lot of purposes both social and religious--how would that work (or not work) when worshiping beings who see everything happening at once? Or explore the Orbs! What other orbs are there besides Time and Prophecy, and what do they DO? You don't have to have any ritual or belief or ANYTHING to use them, if they have line-of-sight to you they can DO THINGS. Give you visions! Send you time traveling! Whatever it is the others do! No Earth religion has any artifact that is anything like that, and besides wondering what the other orbs even are/do, I'm curious as to how they shaped Bajoran religion, and how it was that the Bajorans ended up worshiping the ones who SENT the orbs instead of the orbs themselves. Especially given that the Prophets mostly ... don't seem to want to be gods or care about being worshiped or what's going on on Bajor or anything. So it's not like they were sending messages with the Orbs about who sent them and why, which leaves a lot of scope for interpretation on the part of the Bajorans who found them.
Sisko's position as Emmisary is fascinating, and how it shaped his relationship with Kira, and how he came to be more comfortable with it as the show went on. What was that like for Bajorans? He's an outsider! He doesn't believe in the Prophets! Especially after years of occupation and the Cardassians stealing the Orbs to experiment on, there's got to be more complexity to it than we saw on the show. What was it like for the Bajorans who served on DS9, for whom he was both commanding officer and religious figure. The Federation/Starfleet perspective on that had to be interesting.
I haven't read the novels, but I'm interested in the idea that after the show ended Kira eventually became a Vedek and later Kai.
I love Dax's relationship with Sisko, that lasted three hosts. When Sisko comes back from the wormhole (if he ever does) will Dax still be Ezri or will enough time have passed that the relationship stretches to four hosts? And what about when Sisko and Jadzia were still getting to know each other? They went from one power dynamic (Ambassador with lots of political power mentors callow youth) to a very different one (Sisko is all grown up, and Dax's superior officer, and with more life experience than Dax's current host). Negotiating that change must have been interesting.
I thought that Kira and the O'Briens had a lot of chemistry, but also they have such radically different backgrounds and expectations. Culture, religion, childhood trauma--all radically different. I'd like to see how they could make it work.
I love Jake, and I love that he is different from his father and his father loves and supports him. More Sisko Family stuff is always welcome, but also, for Jake, he grew up a lot during the series, and what he experienced on DS9 shaped him, and I'd love to see more of that.
Bareil had a different perspective on Bajoran religion than anyone else, plus I loved him and Kira together. I'd love either something set before he died--Kira takes vacation time to go on a retreat with him? Political and/or religious shenanigans involve DS9 and he gets drawn in?--or maybe an AU where he lived. How would that have changed things, for Kira and for Bajor?
I loathe Dukat. You're welcome to use him as a villain, but don't ever forget that he's a manipulative weasel who most often actively chooses to do the worst thing possible. Even if he's doing something good in the moment, the moment is temporary.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic, Dukat as a good guy
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 8 by Beatrice_Otter
Star Trek: The Original Series
Saavik/Spock (ToS), Spock & Sarek (TOS), Spock/Nyota Uhura (TOS), Original Vulcan Character/Original Vulcan Character (TOS), Char: Spock (TOS), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love alien culture worldbuilding. I love boldly going and exploring and wacky science hijinks and time travel and alternate universe shenanigans. I love the hopeful attitude that we can become better than we are. I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out what compromises each is going to make on what they expect out of a relationship--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).
As for plot ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into the wacky tropes Star Trek was known for, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want with the time travel and travel to alternate universes and weird missions.
My headcanon on Vulcans was shaped by 80s Trek novels but I also enjoy trying to fit the Star Trek: Enterprise Vulcans with ... everything else we know about Vulcans. One thing I will point out, though, is that while there are a lot of things about Vulcan culture that seem/are sexist, the most powerful Vulcans we see throughout the series are elderly women. I love Pon Farr, but mostly dealing with the implications of it (both before and after) and not the sex part.
I love Spock/Uhura, they had such great chemistry in TOS (better, actually, than in the AOS). There's such mutual respect and such playfulness, it's wonderful. And TOS Kirk is such a geek that I think he and Nyota could really have fun geeking out over stuff together.
I think Sarek loved Spock, but had a lot of flaws as a father and wasn't really prepared to raise a biracial kid. I would love to see either something when Spock was a kid, or something where Spock and Sarek have to work together (maybe on a diplomatic thing?) and neither really knows how to deal with the other without touching on old hurts. I'm good with anything from "Sarek was an okay dad, they just had conflict and he didn't know how to handle it" to "Sarek was and continues to be a kind of bad father."
Spock/Saavik or Spock & Saavik. I like either, but if you are going in a shippy direction PLEASE minimize the "he was her caretaker as a child" aspect. On the other hand, if you're going platonic, feel free to lean into any paternal feelings you see there. Either parental or romance, not both in the same story. Also, feel free to bring in canon from The Pandora Principle or ignore it as it strikes your fancy. You could do stuff from her time in the Academy, stuff that draws on her half-Romulan nature, them rebuilding their relationship after Genesis (in whatever way you see their relationship), What If She Got Pregnant On Genesis, established relationship future-fic where she's an admiral and he's an ambassador and together They Save The Federation, whatever you want.
OC Vulcans: I would love stuff set on Vulcan in any era. I think it's interesting that Vulcan society seems to be really patriarchal, BUT whenever we see an older woman she is REALLY powerful. I want to know what Pon Farr is like, I want to know how Vulcan culture and family structures work (and where the failure points are) and how they differ from Human culture and family structures. I would love a story about Pon Farr that's not about the sex but about everything around it. I would love something about ordinary people who aren't subjected to all the weird stuff that the Enterprise faces each week.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 9 by Beatrice_Otter
Stargate SG-1
Sam Carter/Martouf | Lantash (SG1), Sam Carter & Teal'c (SG1), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love the team. I love the wacky hijinks and the deep serious relationships. I love all of them. I love how they never left anyone behind, and how the show didn't demonize the military but they didn't just give the military a free pass either. And I think Teal'c and the Jaffa got badly shortchanged by the writers, who rarely used him as anything more than the muscle and when they did, it was all too often a "warrior culture Klingon Lite" sort of thing. I also think that the Tok'ra are fascinating, how the symbionts relate to the hosts and to the Goa'uld and how they split off from the Goa'uld and what, exactly, is their endgame? And then there's all the stuff with Sam, and how different is her father and how much the same, and how much of her love for Martouf/Lantash is from Jolinar and how much is her own (and does it matter). Plus, you know she's got to have issues about what Jolinar did and how it turned out, even if she doesn't try to show it.
Prompts: Fighting the Goa'uld! Building a new Jaffa society! Mediating peace between the Rebel Jaffa and the Tok'ra! Teal'c having a real role besides Stoic Warrior And Occasional Comic Relief! What about Teal'c's Adventures On Earth? I have less problems with the Tok'ra than a lot of fandom does, but they're not angels, either. Some Goa'uld-fighting adventure where that comes into conflict would be awesome. Or maybe there's an adventure on Earth where Martouf tags along for some reason. What about Sam and Teal'c trolling Jack? (Jack got to spend enough time trolling everybody else on the show, I think he could stand to have some of his own back.) Or, what happens to everyone after the show ends and the Goa'uld and Ori are gone? Do the Tok'ra find a queen, or are they just doomed to eventual extinction? Do they have any idea how to create a society that isn't Goa'uld but also isn't "hidden resistance fighters"?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
As well as pinch hit #77, there are five other recipients whose gifts need to be posted before I can reveal the collection. Good luck, pinch hitters! With that luck, we're well on track for reveals at 4:59pm EST, Saturday 22 February.
Please note that reveals are at a different time of day to fffx's deadlines. Please get all final edits in well before this time. It's also not too late to offer to beta, or to find a beta - especially for spelling and grammar.
We now have prompts from several pinch hitters! Please consider making a treat for them (or any other fffx participant). Treats can be of any size.
And if you were interested in pinch hits (thanks!) but can't help out with #77, please consider checking out the pinch hits for our sibling exchange,![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
highadrenalineexchange, which also has a 10k minimum, or in some cases, a 25-panel comic minimum. Deadline is 16 February, or potentially negotiable.
Minimum requirements: An art gift must be a completed comic at least 10 pages or 40 panels long; a fic gift must be a story at least 10,000 words long. You can also fulfil a pinch hit by giving two complete half-length works, if your recipient has opted into that for the fandom(s) you are creating in. Any work must be for a fandom your recipient has requested and one character/relationship/worldbuilding tag requested in that fandom, and must avoid their DNWs.
CLAIMED - Pinch hit #77 - art, fic - Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Enola Holmes (Movies), Crossover Fandom [various], Babylon 5 (TV 1993), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Original Series, Stargate SG-1
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Mamusu "Rose" Grant & Elsie Winstanley (RoL), Mamusu "Rose" Grant & Thomas Nightingale (RoL), Caroline Linden Limmer/Grace Yutani (RoL), Beverley Brook/Peter Grant/Thomas Nightingale (RoL), Beverley Brook/Peter Grant (RoL), Peter Grant & Thomas Nightingale (RoL), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
The snark! the vivid characters! the worldbuilding! the digressions! the wry-but-pointed social commentary on race and class and bureaucracy! the community and relationship building! Casefic is always welcome, but so is worldbuilding and exploring the demi-monde and magic, or character-focused stuff. I love stories that bring up weird aspects of the demi-monde and magic which Peter then has to deal with.
I love community-building. Peter goes out there and he gets to know people and builds relationships with them, and that opens up possibilities. There are good reasons things became fragmented, mostly the fault of the old Folly--but I love to see healing and reconciliation and new relationships growing.
Peter's not naïve, he knows how bad the world can get and how much evil can be done by the institutions he is serving, and yet he firmly believes that they can and should do better. I love how he is willing to risk himself to help people. I think Nightingale sees in Peter something he didn't know he was missing: a way to be and do better than the sins of the past he's been carrying around all these years. I think it's great that Nightingale's going to retire from the police to focus on teaching, I think that will allow much better scope for them both to grow, and yet still be working together. (Just in a different capacity.)
I find Beverly Brook hard to parse in the earlier books. She's enough younger than Peter that the whole "suddenly we're pregnant and expecting kids!" and everyone's happy about it!" is weird to me. Peter's in his mid-late 20s, and is settled in his career, but Bev is in university! I would have expected her to prefer to wait. And then there's the fact that she's a goddess, and a geographical feature, and to some degree a reincarnation of a previous deity. So something exploring that dynamic from her perspective would be interesting. Her perspective on Peter, the Folly, and Thomas would also be really interesting to me. I love stories that bring up weird aspects of the demi-monde and magic.
Mamusu & Nightingale: She has such a forceful personality, and deeply loves Peter (even if their relationship is complicated). I think Thomas probably respects her a great deal. What if something happened to Peter and the two of them had to figure it out? What if, somehow, she were the one who became an apprentice, when she was younger, instead of being a janitor? What if Nightingale figured out the Jazz Vampires when Simone was trying to prey on Richard? What if she had some magic training from her own tradition back in Sierra Leone? What if she became friends with the Rivers earlier, before Peter was an apprentice, and they used her as a go-between when dealing with the Folly?
Mamusu & Elsie: Ever since A Rare Book of Cunning Device came out, I've been curious about how those two met, whether in London or in Africa. I headcanon that Mamusu was one of those Africans who was a professional back home but couldn't get anything but janitorial work in England because racism (and also because, in her case, she was taking care of a husband and kid and didn't have time to fight through the system). But what if she could have gotten a job as a librarian, and she and Elsie worked together in special collections? Or you could do something odd-couple-ish where the major events of both lives are the same, but they're still friends who do stuff together despite the vast differences in their backgrounds and lives. Also, I would totally be down for some femslash.
Caroline Linden-Limmer and Grace Yutani: I was fascinated by what we saw of them in Amongst Our Weapons. Flying! Magic Metalsmithing! Home for formerly abused magic victims! Caroline free and living away from her mother! (Lady Helena strikes me as one of those "of course I can't be racist, I'm a Good Liberal White Person Here To Uplift People." See, for example, the way she has more sympathy for the tiger than the local (African) children killed in that one story she tells about Growing Up In Africa.) And then there's Grace, and she's awesome too. Besides how well they work together, I'm also interested in the politics of what would it mean to have a member of the Society of the Rose marrying the Grand Master of the Sons of Weyland. And also, what has the Sons of Weyland been doing since they cut ties with the Folly? If they'd been active in the demi-monde, Nightingale or Peter would have found them earlier. Were they in their own separate bubble with no contact with outside practitioners or people with magic?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 2 by Beatrice_Otter
Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Lando Calrissian/Leia Organa/Han Solo (SW Legends), Lando Calrissian/Mara Jade (SW Legends), Lando Calrissian/Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker (SW Legends), Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker (SW Legends), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
The original Zahn trilogy and the X-Wing books are my favorite parts of the old Legends universe, but I like everything EXCEPT the Courtship of Princess Leia and the New Jedi Order stuff. (Teneniel Djo is awesome! Han kidnapping Leia is really really REALLY not. And I hated pretty much everything about the Vong.) I really like it when Luke is building a new Jedi community and rebuilding old traditions. You can bring in details from the PT and newer canon, if they don't contradict major parts of the Zahn trilogy.
Mara has such a complex past. I think she has trauma from her time with Palpatine that she can't admit even to herself--he was so good at grooming young people, so very manipulative, and even when you know your abuser did evil things to you, it's still hard to internalize. I think she has a unique perspective on the Force, and the Jedi, and galactic politics, that doesn't fit easily or neatly with the others but nevertheless is important to include if they don't want to re-make the mistakes of the past. It's about how do we remember the past while working to create a new future? How do we avoid making old mistakes? How do we heal? How do we build something better?
I love Lando, and I think he was absolutely right to put the safety of his entire city and everyone living in it ahead of the well-being of a couple of old friends. He is smart, pragmatic, and responsible in the best possible way. Do Leia and Lando work together on political negotiations/shenanigans while Han plays house-husband and swoops in with the Falcon when they need backup? Do Han and Lando go off and make shady business deals and come home to Leia with intelligence she can use politically? Does Lando serve as the practical "let's get support and resources for this new Jedi Order you're building" while Luke swans around being compassionate and heroic and saving the day? (But make sure that Lando's contributions are valued and not taken for granted.) I was one of the contributors to the "What if Han became Emperor by accident" thread on tumblr a while back, and my contribution was "ooh, Lando would be his Grand Vizier!" and if you want to go that direction that would also be awesome. Also, Weird Jedi Shit is always fun.
I think Lando and Mara would do very well together; both okay with shady stuff, but both with deep principles they will not compromise. My primary ship is Luke/Mara but I was livid when they retconned Lando/Mara out with "oh, no, they were never really together, it was just an undercover thing!" Even as a very sheltered middle class white teen, I could tell that was racist bullshit, and also smacked of that patriarchal extreme-monagamist trope where "if you love each other, your previous relationships can't have meant anything!" which always hits harder for women than men. No. People can decide a relationship isn't working and end it and start new ones without devaluing and denying the previous relationship. I would love Lando/Mara. I would love Luke/Mara where either she was never with Lando at all even for undercover purposes, or where Lando/Mara used to be together and broke up amicably. I would love Luke/Lando/Mara. I would be livid at "but Lando/Mara was never a real relationship!"
Plot bunnies: Standard Star Wars shenanigans where the fate of the galaxy is at stake and Our Heroes save the day. Is there critical knowledge in a hidden holocron they have to find? Is one of the other Hands (or an Inquisitor, or some other evil Force user) making trouble for Karrde and/or the New Jedi Order and/or the New Republic? Is the Empire threatening Lando's newest business venture (again)?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic, twincest, the "Lando and Mara were never really together, it was all a con/undercover thing!" retcon, Kylo Ren
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 3 by Beatrice_Otter
Enola Holmes (Movies)
Edith Grayston/Sherlock Holmes (Enola Holmes Movies), Edith Grayston & Eudoria Vernet Holmes (Enola Holmes Movies), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love Enola, but the thing that captured my interest in the first movie was the spark between Edith and Sherlock. I love Edith; she's such a fascinating character, and I love all the things she's got going: her shop, the classes she teaches, her work with Eudoria and the feminist revolutionaries. I'd love to see some of their adventures. And also, I loved that she didn't take any shit from Sherlock, and when she called him on the ways his privilege was blinding him, he listened and respected her. I'd love to see them work a case together or deal with some issue from the feminist group spiraling out of control, or just the two of them both being mentors for Enola in different ways.
Then there's all the ... whatever Edith and Eudoria are up to. What things do they agree on? What things do they disagree on? What's the rest of their group like? What are their goals?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 4 by Beatrice_Otter
Crossover Fandom
Finn & Poe & Rey (SWST) & Anakin & Padmé & Obi-Wan (SWPT), Finn (SWST) & Creator's Choice of Jedi Council Member(s) (SWPT), Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo) & Creator’s Choice of Batfam (Wayne Family Adventures - webcomic), Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo) & Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne (Wayne Family Adventures WC), Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo) & Alfred Pennyworth (Wayne Family Adventures WC), Lieutenant Columbo (Columbo) & Bruce Wayne (DCU comics), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
Finn is my favorite of the ST, and I would love to see him as being Force-sensitive. I just love the relationship between him and Poe and Rey, in all the possible permutations. (I like Kylo Ren as a villain, not reformed and not as a love interest.)
There is so much that has radically changed between the PT and the ST, and neither the PT people nor the ST people really have any idea just how big the gap is or what the major pitfalls are. Sure, the ST people would want to change things, but ... would they have any idea what happened? They know Palpatine is the bad guy, but how do they convince people of that? Then you have all of Finn's parallels with the clone troopers (raised to be a trooper, no name) that just highlight the differences.
Or you could go the other way! Weird Force Shit drops the PT folks in the ST time, either permanently or just for a short visit. How do you convince them that this is only 40-50 years in their future? What do they do?
Columbo and batfam would be so fun. Either Columbo is working on a case with Batman/another Batfam member, or he's investigating a murder that happened at Wayne Manor at a gala or something, right? Does he figure out the connection between the Waynes and the Bats? Does he think a Wayne did it because there's so much funny stuff that doesn't add up?
Note: I know that in Batfam fanfic, the kids often go to galas and big fancy parties at Wayne manor, and stuff like that. This annoys me, because in the real world rich people don't take their kids to stuff like that unless it's a specifically kid-focused event. They leave the kids at home with the nannies so the adults can party and network. If it's hosted in someone's home and they have kids, the kids might show up briefly at the beginning to wave and look cute before heading back to the family area (think the party in Sound of Music). So if you have a gala, I would prefer it if the batkids aren't present unless they're adults.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic, Reylo
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 5 by Beatrice_Otter
Babylon 5 (TV 1993)
Marcus Cole/Neroon (Babylon 5), Delenn & Neroon (Babylon 5), Delenn/Lennier/John Sheridan (B5), Delenn/John Sheridan (B5), Catherine Sakai/Jeffrey Sinclair (B5), Marcus Cole/Stephen Franklin (Babylon 5), Marcus Cole & Neroon (Babylon 5), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
Ah, the fandom of my youth! This was my first fandom that was mine, and not just something the family watched together. I love the layering of the themes, and how you can watch it on multiple levels (action/adventure, character arcs, political allegory, deeper themes about truth and freedom and who are you and what do you want and why are you here). The characters and their story arcs were all so compelling. I love the playfulness of Marcus and Stephen together, although I headcanon Marcus as a romantic ace (or possibly demisexual). (Feel free to change Marcus' fate.) One of the things I love about Babylon 5 is that there were so many characters where the fact that they were antagonists didn't mean they were stupid or bad people, just people with a different perspective honestly trying to do what is right.
I especially love Minbari culture. If you do worldbuilding for Minbari culture, past, present, or future, I will love you forever. I consider "To Dream in the City of Sorrows" canon and firmly believe that when Sinclair went into the past and became Valen, he found Catherine again after she was lost in time.
Stephen Franklin was a terribly underused character I love his warmth and the strong unbendable core of his ethics, and my two favorite people to see him with are Susan and Marcus. Maybe Marcus and Stephen get together on Mars when they're pretending to be a couple! Maybe Stephen saves Marcus' life when he tries to throw it away to save Susan, and that changes things between them.
What if Neroon survived somehow and had to learn to be religious caste? Or maybe something exploring his earlier career, or his relationship with Branmer, or the complexities and frustrations of his encounters with Delenn, or his time on the Gray Council.
Is there a problem on Babylon 5 that needs to get solved? Is there some Minbari cultural rite or Earthforce political intrigue? Is the PsiCorps making trouble? I'd also love something post-series about peace-building.
What's the Worker Caste perspective on all of this? What if Neroon survived somehow and had to learn to be religious caste? What was Marcus' training like? What issues did Delenn and Sinclair have to handle when they were giving him command of the Anla'shok? (What was it like for Sinclair/Valen to create them in the first place?)
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 6 by Beatrice_Otter
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Deanna Troi/Worf (TNG), Guinan/Jean-Luc Picard (TNG), Kamala/Jean-Luc Picard (TNG), K'Ehleyr/Worf (TNG), Beverly Crusher & Ro Laren (ST TNG), Guinan & Jean-Luc Picard (ST TNG), Char: Guinan (ST TNG), Char: Ro Laren (ST: TNG), Sam Lavelle & Taurik (TNG), Data/Geordi La Forge (TNG), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love alien culture worldbuilding, boldly going, exploring, wacky science hijinks, time travel, AU shenanigans. I love the hopeful attitude that we can become better than we are. I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out what compromises each is going to make on what they expect out of a relationship--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).
As for plot ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into wacky tropes, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want with the time travel and travel to alternate universes and weird missions.
I love Klingons, PARTICULARLY when they're written with depth. The warrior ethos shapes their entire culture, but it's not the only thing about them.
Deanna Troi/Worf: This is three different cultures, and 'human' is the place in the middle that they both understand, but I'd be interested in something that explored the 'alien' cultures and didn't assume 'human' as normal. Klingon gender roles are women are loud and violent and the men read love poetry. Deanna's more the poetry type, and I'm not sure how much of a soft side Worf has. Neither of them fit Klingon norms. Feel free to bring in the perspective Martok had on mental illness, that it's an enemy to fight and it takes a lot of strength to fight an enemy in your own head. From that perspective, Deanna is a weapons trainer for the mind.
Worf/K'Ehleyr: K'Ehleyr rejects much of what Worf is desperately trying to cling to. And Worf's view of Klingons is very one-dimensional, almost an outsider's view, because of his upbringing. If she had lived and they'd had to actually work things out, that would have been fascinating. Not to mention very different views on how to raise Alexander.
Guinan is awesome, but please tone down the Magical Negro stereotype--she's not just The Wise Magic Advisor. She's got her own prejudices and traumas. I would love anything that dove into her past or her culture. Picard and Guinan have INCREDIBLE chemistry. Watch Time's Arrow and see the way he LOOKS AT HER. Something with time travel and meeting in the wrong order a la Time's Arrow would be interesting, but so would them hanging out together and being friends. Or an adventure from before they were together on Enterprise.
Picard/Kamala, the "empathic metamorph" who imprinted on Picard but then went on to her arranged marriage anyway? On the one hand, you have the appeal of the whole soulmate trope, and on the other you have the ickyness of how that works for an empathic metamorph, but on the other hand, he was the one she chose, and then you've got the political aspects. Even once she's free do either of them want a long-term relationship, despite the fact that they are perfectly matched?
I see it as unrequited, unless dude Kamala married died in an accident and she left the planet. Even then, I don't know that she would have sought him out. I like that her choice was just that--her choice. And in a shitty situation, she chose to bond with the person whose desires made her into someone she wanted to be. I wonder what she did after? Obviously, duty and ethics are very important to her. But what does that mean, in the long run, given her situation? Does she use her position to advocate for change, or just endure until her husband died and then leave after he dies (she's a lot younger than he is)? OTOH, what happens if something happened and the Enterprise had to go back to the planet she married into?
Geordi was great. Professional in the face of all the wackiness Star Trek could throw at him, very smart, very compassionate. Aside from that one episode with the genetically engineered society, they didn't do much with his blindness besides "disabilities give you superpowers" with his visor. What are the downsides to it? What, if any, tradeoffs did he have to make, and was it his choice or something his parents decided for him? Does he ever get grief from fellow officers about "what happens if your visor gets knocked off, you'll be blind!" as if not being able to see would make him incompetent? He and Data have that wonderful friendship that is rock solid that I love to see explored and transmuted into romance.
Taurik & Sam: I loved their friendship, and I also loved seeing a view of the Enterprise that we rarely get to see. I'd love to see them on a typical Starfleet mission, or during another week where Something Important Is Happening but it's classified so they don't know what the hell is going on, or spending leave together or meeting each other's families.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 7 by Beatrice_Otter
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Jadzia Dax & Benjamin Sisko (DS9), Benjamin Sisko/Kasidy Yates (DS9), Bareil Antos/Kira Nerys (DS9), Bareil Antos/Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys (ST DS9), Kira Nerys & Benjamin Sisko (DS9), Benjamin Sisko & Jake Sisko (DS9), Kira Nerys/Keiko O'Brien/Miles O'Brien (DS9), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love alien culture worldbuilding, boldly going, exploring, wacky science hijinks, time travel, AU shenanigans. I love the hope that we can become better than we are. I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out compromises--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).
As for plot ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into wacky tropes, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want. One of my favorite things about DS9, it dealt with consequences. If you want to take a canon event that you think didn't get enough exploration and run with it, that would be awesome.
I'd love something that dove into Bajoran religion, and the more ALIEN it is the better. We've MET the prophet and they have such a fundamentally different perspective on EVERYTHING than us linear creatures, I don't want it to feel like another screed on What Is Wrong With Christianity In America. You could lean into the Prophets' timey-wimey non-linearity and what that means for a religion that worships them. Most Earth religions are heavily time-based, with regular repeating festivals that serve a lot of purposes both social and religious--how would that work (or not work) when worshiping beings who see everything happening at once? Or explore the Orbs! What other orbs are there besides Time and Prophecy, and what do they DO? You don't have to have any ritual or belief or ANYTHING to use them, if they have line-of-sight to you they can DO THINGS. Give you visions! Send you time traveling! Whatever it is the others do! No Earth religion has any artifact that is anything like that, and besides wondering what the other orbs even are/do, I'm curious as to how they shaped Bajoran religion, and how it was that the Bajorans ended up worshiping the ones who SENT the orbs instead of the orbs themselves. Especially given that the Prophets mostly ... don't seem to want to be gods or care about being worshiped or what's going on on Bajor or anything. So it's not like they were sending messages with the Orbs about who sent them and why, which leaves a lot of scope for interpretation on the part of the Bajorans who found them.
Sisko's position as Emmisary is fascinating, and how it shaped his relationship with Kira, and how he came to be more comfortable with it as the show went on. What was that like for Bajorans? He's an outsider! He doesn't believe in the Prophets! Especially after years of occupation and the Cardassians stealing the Orbs to experiment on, there's got to be more complexity to it than we saw on the show. What was it like for the Bajorans who served on DS9, for whom he was both commanding officer and religious figure. The Federation/Starfleet perspective on that had to be interesting.
I haven't read the novels, but I'm interested in the idea that after the show ended Kira eventually became a Vedek and later Kai.
I love Dax's relationship with Sisko, that lasted three hosts. When Sisko comes back from the wormhole (if he ever does) will Dax still be Ezri or will enough time have passed that the relationship stretches to four hosts? And what about when Sisko and Jadzia were still getting to know each other? They went from one power dynamic (Ambassador with lots of political power mentors callow youth) to a very different one (Sisko is all grown up, and Dax's superior officer, and with more life experience than Dax's current host). Negotiating that change must have been interesting.
I thought that Kira and the O'Briens had a lot of chemistry, but also they have such radically different backgrounds and expectations. Culture, religion, childhood trauma--all radically different. I'd like to see how they could make it work.
I love Jake, and I love that he is different from his father and his father loves and supports him. More Sisko Family stuff is always welcome, but also, for Jake, he grew up a lot during the series, and what he experienced on DS9 shaped him, and I'd love to see more of that.
Bareil had a different perspective on Bajoran religion than anyone else, plus I loved him and Kira together. I'd love either something set before he died--Kira takes vacation time to go on a retreat with him? Political and/or religious shenanigans involve DS9 and he gets drawn in?--or maybe an AU where he lived. How would that have changed things, for Kira and for Bajor?
I loathe Dukat. You're welcome to use him as a villain, but don't ever forget that he's a manipulative weasel who most often actively chooses to do the worst thing possible. Even if he's doing something good in the moment, the moment is temporary.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic, Dukat as a good guy
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 8 by Beatrice_Otter
Star Trek: The Original Series
Saavik/Spock (ToS), Spock & Sarek (TOS), Spock/Nyota Uhura (TOS), Original Vulcan Character/Original Vulcan Character (TOS), Char: Spock (TOS), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love alien culture worldbuilding. I love boldly going and exploring and wacky science hijinks and time travel and alternate universe shenanigans. I love the hopeful attitude that we can become better than we are. I love cross-cultural romance (especially when it deals realistically with having to figure out what compromises each is going to make on what they expect out of a relationship--love is not all you need, you also need a lot of hard work and communication).
As for plot ... it's Star Trek. If you want to play it serious, go for it. If you want to lean into the wacky tropes Star Trek was known for, that's great too. As long as everyone is in character, feel free to go as cracktastic as you want with the time travel and travel to alternate universes and weird missions.
My headcanon on Vulcans was shaped by 80s Trek novels but I also enjoy trying to fit the Star Trek: Enterprise Vulcans with ... everything else we know about Vulcans. One thing I will point out, though, is that while there are a lot of things about Vulcan culture that seem/are sexist, the most powerful Vulcans we see throughout the series are elderly women. I love Pon Farr, but mostly dealing with the implications of it (both before and after) and not the sex part.
I love Spock/Uhura, they had such great chemistry in TOS (better, actually, than in the AOS). There's such mutual respect and such playfulness, it's wonderful. And TOS Kirk is such a geek that I think he and Nyota could really have fun geeking out over stuff together.
I think Sarek loved Spock, but had a lot of flaws as a father and wasn't really prepared to raise a biracial kid. I would love to see either something when Spock was a kid, or something where Spock and Sarek have to work together (maybe on a diplomatic thing?) and neither really knows how to deal with the other without touching on old hurts. I'm good with anything from "Sarek was an okay dad, they just had conflict and he didn't know how to handle it" to "Sarek was and continues to be a kind of bad father."
Spock/Saavik or Spock & Saavik. I like either, but if you are going in a shippy direction PLEASE minimize the "he was her caretaker as a child" aspect. On the other hand, if you're going platonic, feel free to lean into any paternal feelings you see there. Either parental or romance, not both in the same story. Also, feel free to bring in canon from The Pandora Principle or ignore it as it strikes your fancy. You could do stuff from her time in the Academy, stuff that draws on her half-Romulan nature, them rebuilding their relationship after Genesis (in whatever way you see their relationship), What If She Got Pregnant On Genesis, established relationship future-fic where she's an admiral and he's an ambassador and together They Save The Federation, whatever you want.
OC Vulcans: I would love stuff set on Vulcan in any era. I think it's interesting that Vulcan society seems to be really patriarchal, BUT whenever we see an older woman she is REALLY powerful. I want to know what Pon Farr is like, I want to know how Vulcan culture and family structures work (and where the failure points are) and how they differ from Human culture and family structures. I would love a story about Pon Farr that's not about the sex but about everything around it. I would love something about ordinary people who aren't subjected to all the weird stuff that the Enterprise faces each week.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
Request 9 by Beatrice_Otter
Stargate SG-1
Sam Carter/Martouf | Lantash (SG1), Sam Carter & Teal'c (SG1), Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic, Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics at Artist's Discretion, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic, Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics at Author's Discretion
I love the team. I love the wacky hijinks and the deep serious relationships. I love all of them. I love how they never left anyone behind, and how the show didn't demonize the military but they didn't just give the military a free pass either. And I think Teal'c and the Jaffa got badly shortchanged by the writers, who rarely used him as anything more than the muscle and when they did, it was all too often a "warrior culture Klingon Lite" sort of thing. I also think that the Tok'ra are fascinating, how the symbionts relate to the hosts and to the Goa'uld and how they split off from the Goa'uld and what, exactly, is their endgame? And then there's all the stuff with Sam, and how different is her father and how much the same, and how much of her love for Martouf/Lantash is from Jolinar and how much is her own (and does it matter). Plus, you know she's got to have issues about what Jolinar did and how it turned out, even if she doesn't try to show it.
Prompts: Fighting the Goa'uld! Building a new Jaffa society! Mediating peace between the Rebel Jaffa and the Tok'ra! Teal'c having a real role besides Stoic Warrior And Occasional Comic Relief! What about Teal'c's Adventures On Earth? I have less problems with the Tok'ra than a lot of fandom does, but they're not angels, either. Some Goa'uld-fighting adventure where that comes into conflict would be awesome. Or maybe there's an adventure on Earth where Martouf tags along for some reason. What about Sam and Teal'c trolling Jack? (Jack got to spend enough time trolling everybody else on the show, I think he could stand to have some of his own back.) Or, what happens to everyone after the show ends and the Goa'uld and Ori are gone? Do the Tok'ra find a queen, or are they just doomed to eventual extinction? Do they have any idea how to create a society that isn't Goa'uld but also isn't "hidden resistance fighters"?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, modern AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Letter: https://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/471777.html
As well as pinch hit #77, there are five other recipients whose gifts need to be posted before I can reveal the collection. Good luck, pinch hitters! With that luck, we're well on track for reveals at 4:59pm EST, Saturday 22 February.
Please note that reveals are at a different time of day to fffx's deadlines. Please get all final edits in well before this time. It's also not too late to offer to beta, or to find a beta - especially for spelling and grammar.
We now have prompts from several pinch hitters! Please consider making a treat for them (or any other fffx participant). Treats can be of any size.
And if you were interested in pinch hits (thanks!) but can't help out with #77, please consider checking out the pinch hits for our sibling exchange,
highadrenalineexchange, which also has a 10k minimum, or in some cases, a 25-panel comic minimum. Deadline is 16 February, or potentially negotiable.Tags:
