Worldcon 2025
Aug. 13th, 2025 09:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beatrice_otterI will be at Worldcon this week, starting on Thursday. If any of you are going to be there and want to meet up, please DM me and let me know!
beatrice_otter
Dear Crossworks Author
Aug. 11th, 2025 07:29 pmbeatrice_otterI use the same name everywhere so I am beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.
I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for over a decade and am usually very happy with my gifts.
The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.
I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.
other things to keep in mind:
Please no incest or darkfic. I define "darkfic" as stuff where there's a lot of suffering and no hope even at the end and all the characters are terrible. Angst with a happy ending is fine, I enjoy it, but there's gotta be a payoff. Even an ambiguous ending is fine! But there has to be some note of grace or redemption or hope somewhere, it can't just be "people are awful and the world sucks, the end." I define incest as siblings and/or parents, cousins don't count.
I love outsider perspectives and academic takes on things. In-universe meta (newspaper articles, academic monographs--especially with the sort of snarky feuding common in actual real-world academia, social media feeds in current day or future worlds) is awesome.
Also, I'm picky about European historical clothing details. You don't have to talk about it at all! In fact, if you don't know much about historical clothing, I would prefer if you didn't mention it at all. My pet peeve is corsets: no, they weren't a restrictive tool of the patriarchy, no, they didn't interfere with most women's daily lives, no, most women weren't wearing them so tight they couldn't breathe.
I like religion but I'm picky about it. Basically, Christianity is deeply weird compared to most other religions, and a lot of people whose only experience with religion is living in a culturally-Christian nation assume that what they know about Christianity is some sort of universal principle of What Religion Is Like, and that's just not the case. For example, in Christianity what you believe is more important than what you do. This is not to say we Christians don't teach and practice Christian ethics or have rituals we are very attached to, but rather that if you don't believe in Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter what rituals you participate in or what ethical things you do, you are not a Christian (although you may be a "cultural Christian"). Every Christian group has at least a minimal core theology that members must affirm, but participation in ritual is far less rigidly a requirement. Most other religions rank what you do (both ethically and ritually) as more important than what you believe, and it is often quite possible to be a member in good standing if you participate in the practices and rituals even if you believe none of the teachings. Anyway, point is, if you are doing worldbuilding for a fantasy or SF or otherwise non-Christian religion ... unless it is explicitly a Christian-analogue, it should be different from Christianity. Question your assumptions and see where that leads you, and I will be fascinated and thrilled.
The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison
Kate and Cecelia - Caroline Stevermer & Patricia Wrede
Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Doctor Who 2005
With these fandoms, I'd be fascinated to see how the worldbuilding fits together. Is Middle Earth on the other side of the ocean from the Ethuveraz, and what's that clash like when they encounter one another? What do Tolkien's elves think of the Ethuveraz elves, and vice versa? (Is Dachensol Habrobar, the extremely-long-lived person who makes sigil rings in the Ethuveraz, a Tolkien-style Elf?) Do Elizabeth and Will meet up with Maia's sister the lesbian pirate captain? (James Norrington would do much better in an Austen story than in PotC.) Can an Austen heroine do magic? (What's Sir Walter Elliot's opinion of Mr. Norrell?) If there was a connection between the Bennets and the Elliots, would Mrs. Bennet try to cling on to the Elliots as tightly as Sir Walter clings on to his cousin Lady Dalrymple? (Of course she would.) With Mansfield Park, I'm firmly of the opinion that Henry Crawford would have made Fanny miserable in the long run, so if you don't like Fanny/Edward or Fanny/Mary, this is the perfect opportunity for a crossover pairing. Or no pairing, give her a dragon instead! Everything is better with dragons.
I specified Doctor Who 2005 and Goblin Emperor because you can't have two parts of the same canon in the same request, but I love all Doctor Who and the Cemeteries of Amalo books. So if you are inspired to do an earlier Doctor or stuff from Amalo instead, feel free!
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Agatha Christie's Poirot (TV)
Agent Carter (TV)
Jeeves & Wooster
The Old Guard (Movies)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane
The Mummy (Movies 1999-2008)
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (TV)
All of these characters are interesting and eccentric, most of them solve mysteries (and the rest cause them), I want to hear about how they met or what they're like if they live in the same universe. Is Miss Climpson a Young Wizard-style wizard? She probably wasn't very powerful even when young, but then, she always did find that attention to insignificant details was at least as effective as the more flashy stuff. Does Peter or Harriet cross paths with Evy in academia, or while holidaying somewhere Evy and Rick are doing a dig? (Does Peter work with Rick on intelligence work during WWII?) Would Peggy Carter try to recruit Phrynne for the SSR? What happens if the Old Guard are at a country house party for some reason and someone tries to kill them--what happens to a mystery when the murder victim resurrects--do they pretend to be dead so they don't get revealed, do they try to tell the detective who killed them? What if Captain America is at a country house party for diplomatic reasons and people start dropping dead and someone tries to frame him and he has to work with the detective to identify the true culprit? If all else fails, most of them take place during/near WWII, and you can put together almost anyone either during a mission or while on leave back in England or something.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Doctor Who (2005)
Star Wars: the Original Series
Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monáe
Babylon 5 (TV 1993)
(Most of) These canons have things to say about personhood, power, government, culture, and doing the right thing, and I would be interested in seeing them compared and contrasted. While I only listed one Doctor Who (because we can't do things that might get us matched on two parts of the same fandom) I would be fine with any Doctor of any era. I want to know what Murderbot thinks of R2-D2 (and what R2 thinks of Murderbot). I want to know what ART thinks of the Cylons, and what the Cylons think about ART. (And if ART and Murderbot were to drop a virus into Cylon systems that revealed the truth about the Final Five and all the shit the Ones got up to, and trashed the governor modules on the Centurions on the way out, that would be awesome.) Or Murderbot getting trapped in the Colonial Fleet masquerading as a human because these people like constructs even less than most humans like SecUnits. How much can the Doctor fix (or break in a better way) before he/she leaves? What characters would make interesting companions? What would happen if the Colonial Fleet found themselves in Barrayaran space? (Or Cetagandan, or Jacksonian, or Betan?) What would Breq think about the Cardassians or the Dominion (or the Federation)? And, of course, everything is better with wizards.
What characters would make interesting companions? What are the wizards doing in the BSG world? (Can Cylons be wizards, and what would happen if one was? How would that work with their whole sharing memory/uploading/downloading thing?) What do the technomages think of the wizards, and vice versa ... or is "technowizard" a way of getting around sevarfrith status? What would Laura Roslin think of the Minbari, and would telepaths be able to sense Cylons? Did either the Vorlons or the Shadows have anything to do with the repeating cycle of evolution/Cylon creation/destruction that BSG is stuck in?
Some of these are easier to fit together than others. For example, Murderbot can pop up anywhere and fit into any canon, because if there's a difference in the sociopolitics or the way interstellar travel works between Murderbot canon and whatever series you're putting MB in, it can be handwaved away as "Murderbot doesn't care and therefore didn't notice." The Doctor can pop up anywhere, and wizards are also very adaptable. With Star Trek and Star Wars, both series show enough of the galaxy and enough of galactic history, and have different enough physics that it's a bit tougher. But still doable! Ye Olde Wormhole/Alternate Universe can work wonders.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Sense8 (TV)
Young Wizards
Stargate SG-1
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Music Video)
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Superman Returns (2006) or Superman (Movie 2025)
Criminal Minds (US TV)
Pitch
With these fandoms, I would love either worldbuilding (how do you fit superheroes and genius loci into one universe? Duane's wizards and Aaronovitch's? The Old Guard's immortality vs. Nightingale, Varvara, the Old Soldiers, and various other immortals of the demi monde?) or character stuff (put the characters in a room together, see how they get along or don't) or exploration of social issues that are implicit or implied in the canons. Also, wizards make everything better, and I am fascinated by the concept of sensate clusters. Take characters, make them part of a sensate cluster--preferably a diverse world-spanning cluster, like the one in the show. (OCs are fine as part of the cluster!) Or what would happen to any of the characters in any of the series if they died and became part of the Old Guard? Does Nile watch Genny Baker's games whenever she has a chance? Peter would totally be a superhero fanboy, and also, if Judgment Day happens, and Terminators have microchips, all of a sudden being a wizard is a superpower to save the world. On the other hand, what if Sarah and John et al ended up in Britain and got tangled up in a case? What would Peter make of time travel?
I love all of the Sense8 cluster, but my faves are Nomi, Lito, and Capheus. Of all the Old Guard, Booker is least interesting to me.
I specified Superman Returns here, but I would be just as happy to receive Superman 2025 crossed with any of these others.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Calvin & Hobbes
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Music Video)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Batman: The Animated Series
Superman Returns (2006) or Superman (Movie 2025)
Sense8 (TV)
Fandom For Robots - Vina Jie-Min Prasad
The main theme of these canons to me is young people, imagination, and hope. I'd love worldbuilding and fitting these stories together; I'd also love character moments. There's already an amazing "what if Calvin was a wizard" story, but another would be awesome. What would a wizard be doing in the Dirty Computer dystopia? Or Gotham? What if Bruce Wayne or Dick Grayson were sensates? (Or, God forbid, Harley Quinn? Pity the poor cluster! OTOH, if they can convince her to get away from the Joker, that would be great.) What would the Timmverse Batman think of either the 2006 or 2025 Supermans? Could Computron be a wizard? What if Calvin ended up as a Robin?
I specified Superman Returns here, but I would be just as happy to receive Superman 2025 crossed with any of these others.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Fandom For Robots - Vina Jie-Min Prasad
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Superman 2025
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Robots being people! What does Murderbot think of Hyperdimension Warp Record? What does Computron think of the Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon? If either of them met up with Data, what would they talk about? If Computron is in the DCAU, are there other sentient robots? Is there anything Superman might need Computron's help on? What would happen if Murderbot needed to team up with the Justice League, or Batman? What if Camazotz came after Earth, and the Justice League or Starfleet needed Meg's help to defeat the IT? What if Charles Wallace and Computron got to talk for a bit? What if Computron got to visit the Fortress?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Pacific Rim (Movies)
Sense8 (TV)
The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monáe
Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Music Video)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Yes, most of these are post-apocalyptic or dystopian in some way. But they also have at least the seed of hope: of escape, of change, of something better being possible. And they're also about personhood, about choice, about AI and civil rights and cancelling the apocalypse.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
.
beatrice_otter on AO3. Treats are awesome.I would rather get a story you were happy with than "well, she said she liked x, so I guess I have to do x even though I don't like x and/or am not inspired that way." This letter is long with lots of suggestions and preferences if you find it helpful, but feel free to ignore it if it is not helpful. I'm fairly easy to please; I've been doing ficathons for over a decade and am usually very happy with my gifts.
The most important thing for me in a fic is that the characters are well-written and recognizably themselves. Even when I don't like a character, I don't go in for character-bashing. If nothing else, if the rest of this letter is too much or my kinks don't fit yours, just concentrate on writing a story with everyone in character and good spelling and grammar and I will almost certainly love what you come up with.
I have an embarrassment squick, which makes humor kind of hit-or-miss sometimes. The kind of humor where someone does something embarrassing and the audience is laughing at them makes me uncomfortable. On the other hand, the kind of humor where the audience is laughing with the characters I really enjoy.
General Likes and Dislikes
other things to keep in mind:
- I like stuff that takes side characters and puts them center-stage, especially when the characters and/or actors are marginalized. I enjoy seeing them come to life.
- I don't like it when marginalized characters get relegated to the sidekick/supporting/helper role so that it can be All About The White Dude.
- I like it when female characters are more than just the Strong Female Character(tm) or The Nurturer.
- I like fluff
- I like angst with a happy ending
- I like stories that make me think about things in a new way.
- I like to know that culture matters to people, and to see how different cultures interact and where the clashes are.
- I like unreliable narrators.
- I like acknowledgment that different people can have different points of view without either of them being wrong.
- I like stories that engage with problematic aspects of the source, and which deal with privilege in one way or another instead of sweeping it under the rug.
- Worldbuilding is my jam, I am pretty much always up for explorations of why the world is the way it is. I love hearing about the economics, the politics, the religion, the clothing, the history, the folklore, all of that kind of stuff. And I want to know why it matters--how is all this cultural background stuff affecting the characters, the plot, everything. You don't have to do deep worldbuilding, but I'll enjoy it if you do.
- I don't like it when plots hinge on characters being selectively stupid, or selectively unable to communicate. Like, if they are stupid or a himbo or whatever in general, or have problems communicating in general, that's fine! Or if they canonically have a blind spot in that area, again, it's fine. But if it's just "the only way I can think of for this plot to work is if the character spontaneously and temporarily loses half their intelligence and competence," then I'm going to spend the rest of the fic wondering why the character didn't just ____?
- I like AUs, but not complete setting AUs (i.e. no highschool or college or coffee shop AUs, and especially not mundane AUs--nothing where you keep characters but drop most of the worldbuilding). I like fork-in-the-road type AUs, where one thing is different and the changes all result from that one thing, and you explore what might have been if such-and-such happened.
- I like the concept of sedoretu marriages.
- I like historical AUs, but only when the author actually knows the history period in question and does thoughtful worldbuilding to meld actual culture of the time with the canon.
- Crackfic is really hit and miss for me, sometimes I love it and sometimes I can't stand it. Basically, if it's the characters we know and love in a ludicrous situation, that's great. If they're OOC or parodied in order to make something funny ... it's not funny to me.
Please no incest or darkfic. I define "darkfic" as stuff where there's a lot of suffering and no hope even at the end and all the characters are terrible. Angst with a happy ending is fine, I enjoy it, but there's gotta be a payoff. Even an ambiguous ending is fine! But there has to be some note of grace or redemption or hope somewhere, it can't just be "people are awful and the world sucks, the end." I define incest as siblings and/or parents, cousins don't count.
I love outsider perspectives and academic takes on things. In-universe meta (newspaper articles, academic monographs--especially with the sort of snarky feuding common in actual real-world academia, social media feeds in current day or future worlds) is awesome.
Also, I'm picky about European historical clothing details. You don't have to talk about it at all! In fact, if you don't know much about historical clothing, I would prefer if you didn't mention it at all. My pet peeve is corsets: no, they weren't a restrictive tool of the patriarchy, no, they didn't interfere with most women's daily lives, no, most women weren't wearing them so tight they couldn't breathe.
I like religion but I'm picky about it. Basically, Christianity is deeply weird compared to most other religions, and a lot of people whose only experience with religion is living in a culturally-Christian nation assume that what they know about Christianity is some sort of universal principle of What Religion Is Like, and that's just not the case. For example, in Christianity what you believe is more important than what you do. This is not to say we Christians don't teach and practice Christian ethics or have rituals we are very attached to, but rather that if you don't believe in Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter what rituals you participate in or what ethical things you do, you are not a Christian (although you may be a "cultural Christian"). Every Christian group has at least a minimal core theology that members must affirm, but participation in ritual is far less rigidly a requirement. Most other religions rank what you do (both ethically and ritually) as more important than what you believe, and it is often quite possible to be a member in good standing if you participate in the practices and rituals even if you believe none of the teachings. Anyway, point is, if you are doing worldbuilding for a fantasy or SF or otherwise non-Christian religion ... unless it is explicitly a Christian-analogue, it should be different from Christianity. Question your assumptions and see where that leads you, and I will be fascinated and thrilled.
Historical Fiction and Fantasy
The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison
Kate and Cecelia - Caroline Stevermer & Patricia Wrede
Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Doctor Who 2005
With these fandoms, I'd be fascinated to see how the worldbuilding fits together. Is Middle Earth on the other side of the ocean from the Ethuveraz, and what's that clash like when they encounter one another? What do Tolkien's elves think of the Ethuveraz elves, and vice versa? (Is Dachensol Habrobar, the extremely-long-lived person who makes sigil rings in the Ethuveraz, a Tolkien-style Elf?) Do Elizabeth and Will meet up with Maia's sister the lesbian pirate captain? (James Norrington would do much better in an Austen story than in PotC.) Can an Austen heroine do magic? (What's Sir Walter Elliot's opinion of Mr. Norrell?) If there was a connection between the Bennets and the Elliots, would Mrs. Bennet try to cling on to the Elliots as tightly as Sir Walter clings on to his cousin Lady Dalrymple? (Of course she would.) With Mansfield Park, I'm firmly of the opinion that Henry Crawford would have made Fanny miserable in the long run, so if you don't like Fanny/Edward or Fanny/Mary, this is the perfect opportunity for a crossover pairing. Or no pairing, give her a dragon instead! Everything is better with dragons.
I specified Doctor Who 2005 and Goblin Emperor because you can't have two parts of the same canon in the same request, but I love all Doctor Who and the Cemeteries of Amalo books. So if you are inspired to do an earlier Doctor or stuff from Amalo instead, feel free!
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Early 20th Century Detectives and SF/F
Lord Peter Wimsey - Dorothy L. Sayers
Agatha Christie's Poirot (TV)
Agent Carter (TV)
Jeeves & Wooster
The Old Guard (Movies)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane
The Mummy (Movies 1999-2008)
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (TV)
All of these characters are interesting and eccentric, most of them solve mysteries (and the rest cause them), I want to hear about how they met or what they're like if they live in the same universe. Is Miss Climpson a Young Wizard-style wizard? She probably wasn't very powerful even when young, but then, she always did find that attention to insignificant details was at least as effective as the more flashy stuff. Does Peter or Harriet cross paths with Evy in academia, or while holidaying somewhere Evy and Rick are doing a dig? (Does Peter work with Rick on intelligence work during WWII?) Would Peggy Carter try to recruit Phrynne for the SSR? What happens if the Old Guard are at a country house party for some reason and someone tries to kill them--what happens to a mystery when the murder victim resurrects--do they pretend to be dead so they don't get revealed, do they try to tell the detective who killed them? What if Captain America is at a country house party for diplomatic reasons and people start dropping dead and someone tries to frame him and he has to work with the detective to identify the true culprit? If all else fails, most of them take place during/near WWII, and you can put together almost anyone either during a mission or while on leave back in England or something.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
AI and Wormholes and War
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Doctor Who (2005)
Star Wars: the Original Series
Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie
The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monáe
Babylon 5 (TV 1993)
(Most of) These canons have things to say about personhood, power, government, culture, and doing the right thing, and I would be interested in seeing them compared and contrasted. While I only listed one Doctor Who (because we can't do things that might get us matched on two parts of the same fandom) I would be fine with any Doctor of any era. I want to know what Murderbot thinks of R2-D2 (and what R2 thinks of Murderbot). I want to know what ART thinks of the Cylons, and what the Cylons think about ART. (And if ART and Murderbot were to drop a virus into Cylon systems that revealed the truth about the Final Five and all the shit the Ones got up to, and trashed the governor modules on the Centurions on the way out, that would be awesome.) Or Murderbot getting trapped in the Colonial Fleet masquerading as a human because these people like constructs even less than most humans like SecUnits. How much can the Doctor fix (or break in a better way) before he/she leaves? What characters would make interesting companions? What would happen if the Colonial Fleet found themselves in Barrayaran space? (Or Cetagandan, or Jacksonian, or Betan?) What would Breq think about the Cardassians or the Dominion (or the Federation)? And, of course, everything is better with wizards.
What characters would make interesting companions? What are the wizards doing in the BSG world? (Can Cylons be wizards, and what would happen if one was? How would that work with their whole sharing memory/uploading/downloading thing?) What do the technomages think of the wizards, and vice versa ... or is "technowizard" a way of getting around sevarfrith status? What would Laura Roslin think of the Minbari, and would telepaths be able to sense Cylons? Did either the Vorlons or the Shadows have anything to do with the repeating cycle of evolution/Cylon creation/destruction that BSG is stuck in?
Some of these are easier to fit together than others. For example, Murderbot can pop up anywhere and fit into any canon, because if there's a difference in the sociopolitics or the way interstellar travel works between Murderbot canon and whatever series you're putting MB in, it can be handwaved away as "Murderbot doesn't care and therefore didn't notice." The Doctor can pop up anywhere, and wizards are also very adaptable. With Star Trek and Star Wars, both series show enough of the galaxy and enough of galactic history, and have different enough physics that it's a bit tougher. But still doable! Ye Olde Wormhole/Alternate Universe can work wonders.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Modern World, part 1
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Sense8 (TV)
Young Wizards
Stargate SG-1
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Music Video)
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Superman Returns (2006) or Superman (Movie 2025)
Criminal Minds (US TV)
Pitch
With these fandoms, I would love either worldbuilding (how do you fit superheroes and genius loci into one universe? Duane's wizards and Aaronovitch's? The Old Guard's immortality vs. Nightingale, Varvara, the Old Soldiers, and various other immortals of the demi monde?) or character stuff (put the characters in a room together, see how they get along or don't) or exploration of social issues that are implicit or implied in the canons. Also, wizards make everything better, and I am fascinated by the concept of sensate clusters. Take characters, make them part of a sensate cluster--preferably a diverse world-spanning cluster, like the one in the show. (OCs are fine as part of the cluster!) Or what would happen to any of the characters in any of the series if they died and became part of the Old Guard? Does Nile watch Genny Baker's games whenever she has a chance? Peter would totally be a superhero fanboy, and also, if Judgment Day happens, and Terminators have microchips, all of a sudden being a wizard is a superpower to save the world. On the other hand, what if Sarah and John et al ended up in Britain and got tangled up in a case? What would Peter make of time travel?
I love all of the Sense8 cluster, but my faves are Nomi, Lito, and Capheus. Of all the Old Guard, Booker is least interesting to me.
I specified Superman Returns here, but I would be just as happy to receive Superman 2025 crossed with any of these others.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Modern World Part 2
Calvin & Hobbes
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Music Video)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane
Batman: The Animated Series
Superman Returns (2006) or Superman (Movie 2025)
Sense8 (TV)
Fandom For Robots - Vina Jie-Min Prasad
The main theme of these canons to me is young people, imagination, and hope. I'd love worldbuilding and fitting these stories together; I'd also love character moments. There's already an amazing "what if Calvin was a wizard" story, but another would be awesome. What would a wizard be doing in the Dirty Computer dystopia? Or Gotham? What if Bruce Wayne or Dick Grayson were sensates? (Or, God forbid, Harley Quinn? Pity the poor cluster! OTOH, if they can convince her to get away from the Joker, that would be great.) What would the Timmverse Batman think of either the 2006 or 2025 Supermans? Could Computron be a wizard? What if Calvin ended up as a Robin?
I specified Superman Returns here, but I would be just as happy to receive Superman 2025 crossed with any of these others.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Modern World, Part 3
Fandom For Robots - Vina Jie-Min Prasad
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Superman 2025
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Robots being people! What does Murderbot think of Hyperdimension Warp Record? What does Computron think of the Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon? If either of them met up with Data, what would they talk about? If Computron is in the DCAU, are there other sentient robots? Is there anything Superman might need Computron's help on? What would happen if Murderbot needed to team up with the Justice League, or Batman? What if Camazotz came after Earth, and the Justice League or Starfleet needed Meg's help to defeat the IT? What if Charles Wallace and Computron got to talk for a bit? What if Computron got to visit the Fortress?
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
Modern World -- Apocalypse Edition
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Pacific Rim (Movies)
Sense8 (TV)
The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monáe
Dirty Computer - Janelle Monáe (Music Video)
Young Wizards - Diane Duane
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Yes, most of these are post-apocalyptic or dystopian in some way. But they also have at least the seed of hope: of escape, of change, of something better being possible. And they're also about personhood, about choice, about AI and civil rights and cancelling the apocalypse.
Treats welcome
DNW: bashing, incest, explicit sex, rape/noncon, major embarrassment/humiliation, setting change AUs, human/no powers AUs, darkfic
.
(no subject)
Aug. 10th, 2025 12:02 ambeatrice_otterIt's always fun to try out the Vulcan Name Generator. This time I got some doozies.
The first two: T'Kok and Suk.
While I think that a very ... interesting fic could be written about T'Kok and Suk, I do not think I would be the person to write that fic.
The first two: T'Kok and Suk.
While I think that a very ... interesting fic could be written about T'Kok and Suk, I do not think I would be the person to write that fic.
Mistakes have been made
Aug. 9th, 2025 08:21 pmscaramoucheI waffled for weeks on whether to get the Humble Bundle of James Tynion IV's stuff (as of posting, there's five days of the offer left), before finally getting it and forgetting how weird my brain gets when I binge on creepy media.
BASICALLY, I should not have read The Department of Truth before bedtime. Even when I got Nice House on the Lake, I don't read a whole volume in one go! There's such a thing as pacing things out! Plus I made the other mistake of reading Deviant first without processing the consequences of it only being volume 1, i.e. the story is not done.😢
BASICALLY, I should not have read The Department of Truth before bedtime. Even when I got Nice House on the Lake, I don't read a whole volume in one go! There's such a thing as pacing things out! Plus I made the other mistake of reading Deviant first without processing the consequences of it only being volume 1, i.e. the story is not done.😢
Signal Boost: Massachusetts Universal Voting Restoration
Aug. 7th, 2025 09:54 ambeatrice_otterhermionesviolin posted: Massachusetts Universal Voting RestorationFor anyone registered to vote in Massachusetts -- you can sign up to get reminded when it's time to officially sign papers to put on the Massachusetts ballot a measure to repeal the Massachusetts constitutional amendment that took the right to vote away from people serving felony sentences.
From an email from Progressive Mass:Unlock Democracy in Massachusetts
In 2000, Massachusetts passed a constitutional amendment that took away voting rights from people incarcerated for a felony conviction. This stripping of rights was in response to political organizing happening in prison. The Empowering Descendant Communities to Unlock Democracy project and allies aim to get voting rights restoration on the statewide ballot. If you are a registered voter in Massachusetts, please take a minute to fill out our pledge form now: https://tinyurl.com/uvrpledge. Once the Attorney General approves the language, organizers will reach out to those who filled out the pledge with dates/locations for nearby signature collection efforts.
The EDC to Unlock Democracy is is committed to ensuring that democracy does not stop at prisons and jails in Massachusetts. It is a collaborative project between the Democracy Behind Bars Coalition, the African American Coalition Committee at MCI-Norfolk, Healing our Land, Inc., and more. To get in touch email EDCtoUnlockDemocracyMA@gmail.com.
Tags:
- due: no deadline,
- fandom: multifandom,
- format: bingo,
- format: given prompts,
- format: meta,
- format: recs,
- format: remix,
- format: rewatch,
- format: varied challenges,
- frequency: monthly,
- medium: any/multi,
- medium: art,
- medium: craft,
- medium: fic,
- medium: meta,
- posting: no deadline,
- site: ao3,
- site: tumblr
Book Log: Women Who Ruled
Aug. 4th, 2025 07:19 pmscaramoucheI picked up Claudia Gold's Women Who Ruled: History's 50 Most Remarkable Women quite a while go from a warehouse sale, and it's languished long enough that I've mostly moved on to other topics, so making myself read this was both a tiresome nostalgia trip and a breezy rehash (each lady gets 4 to maximum of 9 pages each).
The book is Western Europe-centric so it's a big chunk of familiar names, and I would've been more patient about it if she hadn't included Lady Jane Grey. (Really????) Of the ancient-to-early modern era it covers, there's just the one ruler from the Ottoman empire, two from China, two from India, and none from non-ancient Egypt Africa. But I did get introduced to Margaret I of Denmark and hopefully I can get a biography of her one day.
I'd read Gold's biography about Henry II of England a while back and enjoyed it, so I was a little surprised by some of Gold's choices in how to describe the controversial reputations of some of the women, because she's kind to Thatcher and Marie Antoinette, but is very much not to Isabella of France and Empress Cixi. This just may be a consequence of writing a list-type book where there's only so much time to spare to research the individuals Gold maybe doesn't know as well, but it is a bit of a shame.
The book is Western Europe-centric so it's a big chunk of familiar names, and I would've been more patient about it if she hadn't included Lady Jane Grey. (Really????) Of the ancient-to-early modern era it covers, there's just the one ruler from the Ottoman empire, two from China, two from India, and none from non-ancient Egypt Africa. But I did get introduced to Margaret I of Denmark and hopefully I can get a biography of her one day.
I'd read Gold's biography about Henry II of England a while back and enjoyed it, so I was a little surprised by some of Gold's choices in how to describe the controversial reputations of some of the women, because she's kind to Thatcher and Marie Antoinette, but is very much not to Isabella of France and Empress Cixi. This just may be a consequence of writing a list-type book where there's only so much time to spare to research the individuals Gold maybe doesn't know as well, but it is a bit of a shame.
Fancake Theme for August: Marriage of Convenience
Aug. 3rd, 2025 08:35 amrunpunkrun posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomcalendar
fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules. This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!
A Mermaid for Christmas & Legend of Mermaid
Aug. 2nd, 2025 06:36 pmscaramoucheI'd finished Raya Sirena a few weeks ago (what a nothingburger of a show, ultimately) and thought hey, I'm in the mood for some other mermaid media. H2O: Just Add Water unfortunately just left Netflix, and I didn't feel ready to start on season 2 of Siren without a recap. So, A Mermaid for Christmas, a made-for-tv rom com that was only ever available on Amazon prime until I finally found an alternate stream, it is.
Me: This is going to be so bad. SO BAD. SO SO SO BAD.
[half an hour later]
Me: Actually this is pretty funny, some of the jokes are legit, and some of the line readings are pretty good! Problem is, it's not zany ENOUGH, and it's hampered by a tiny budget that doesn't give it the glistening zany feel of a DCOM or Netflix Christmas film. It's not "good" but it is self-aware and managed to pull off lampshading jokes that usually sound embarrassed or tryhard, but here feel like they're bringing the audience in for the joke, and it's kinda charming for that. It's still not "good" and offers almost no eye candy for mermaid fen, but I had more fun in general than I did with Raya Sirena, so that's something.
Edited to add: I felt oddly unsatisfied that the movie was middling fine and that I kinda enjoyed it, so I ended up browsing listlessly for a bit and ended up watching the 2020 CN film Legend of Mermaid and it was so awful! Exactly the kind of bad I was looking for! And all is right with the world.
Edited again to add: I figured I might as well watch the sequel Legend of Mermaid II, and... oh? This one's actually fun! And funny! And has actual character arcs! And a villain twist that makes sense! And two things that felt like plot holes turned out not to be! Bonus majority female cast vs. the first movie's sexual menace towards women! This is legitimately a good movie, and much better than A Mermaid for Christmas even, what a wonder it is when there's good writing, what the heck.
What a rollercoaster.
Me: This is going to be so bad. SO BAD. SO SO SO BAD.
[half an hour later]
Me: Actually this is pretty funny, some of the jokes are legit, and some of the line readings are pretty good! Problem is, it's not zany ENOUGH, and it's hampered by a tiny budget that doesn't give it the glistening zany feel of a DCOM or Netflix Christmas film. It's not "good" but it is self-aware and managed to pull off lampshading jokes that usually sound embarrassed or tryhard, but here feel like they're bringing the audience in for the joke, and it's kinda charming for that. It's still not "good" and offers almost no eye candy for mermaid fen, but I had more fun in general than I did with Raya Sirena, so that's something.
Edited to add: I felt oddly unsatisfied that the movie was middling fine and that I kinda enjoyed it, so I ended up browsing listlessly for a bit and ended up watching the 2020 CN film Legend of Mermaid and it was so awful! Exactly the kind of bad I was looking for! And all is right with the world.
Edited again to add: I figured I might as well watch the sequel Legend of Mermaid II, and... oh? This one's actually fun! And funny! And has actual character arcs! And a villain twist that makes sense! And two things that felt like plot holes turned out not to be! Bonus majority female cast vs. the first movie's sexual menace towards women! This is legitimately a good movie, and much better than A Mermaid for Christmas even, what a wonder it is when there's good writing, what the heck.
What a rollercoaster.
Book Log: Lamb
Aug. 1st, 2025 02:54 pmscaramoucheI got a copy of Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal thanks to a tumblr post (this one). It's a madcap (a word used in a review blurb on the jacket) comedy that's mainly about Joshua of Nazareth's childhood and teenhood, i.e. the missing years, from the POV of his childhood best friend who got excised from the gospels.
( Under cut. )
( Under cut. )
