Dear Fic Corner Scribbler:
Hello! I love all these books, and I am sure I will love whatever fic you write for any of them. Most importantly of all,
The Squire’s Tales
Any
I am going to be terribly lazy, and paste a (slightly edited) previous request I’ve made here, but please know that all of this holds true: I love these books, especially the constant snark and dorky references to obscure Arthurian mythology, as well as the genuine goodness of the characters! That being said (...spoilers for a book series released years ago follow?) my favorite years are those between The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf and The Lioness and Her Knight, and therefore, unsurprisingly: I love Lynet and Gary, and their banter and practicality and the life they build away from Camelot and excitement--but I'm sure excitement eventually finds them anyway. I love Gawain and Terence, and the way they are absolutely loyal to each other no matter what (in between exasperation and insults, of course); a story about one of their offscreen adventures would be really neat! I love Terence and Eileen and would always be interested in hearing about how the two of them managed to keep their relationship under wraps for sixteen years. But let's be honest, mostly I just want to visit with the characters and canon just one more time and I'll pretty much be thrilled with whatever you want to write!
The Islands of Chaldea
Any
So, as heartbreaking as this was as the last DWJ novel ever, I quite loved this book, most especially for the worldbuilding and backstory it set up. Beck and Aileen I particularly loved; what was it like, for Beck to have a niece to raise, after her sister and brother-in-law disappeared? What was her relationship with Alastair like? (I have to say, a fantasy prince who can institute reform from a prison cell might arguably be one of the most competent fantasy princes ever, taking his limited screen time into account. There’s a hint that Aileen’s mum and Gareth only had a relationship to produce an exceptional child—how did that come about? Or more about any of the islands would be neat; there’s so many details that could be expanded on! Finally, if you’d like to make me feel less weirded out by Aileen and Ogo getting together at the age of thirteen, any sort of cnaon-compliant epilogue fic would also be appreciated!
Cruel Beauty
Any
I confess to being skeptical when picking this book up, but in the end I couldn’t resist a dark Cupid and Psyche retelling. That said, I still don’t feel as though I have a very clear idea of what changes came about in the altered universe of the ending, or even where Shade/Ignifex and Nyx go from here, so anything either exploring how history was changed, or what happens next would be great. Also, as my fondness for Alicia from The Perilous Gard suggests, I think I gravitate towards supposedly-shallow younger sisters in YA fantasy; so, anything exploring Astraia would be interesting as well. Finally, anything that gets into what, if anything Leonides, Telomache (or Thisbe!) were thinking, or attempts to make them a bit more sympathetic would be neat.
Cruel Beauty
Any
I confess to being skeptical when picking this book up, but in the end I couldn’t resist a dark Cupid and Psyche retelling. That said, I still don’t feel as though I have a very clear idea of what changes came about in the altered universe of the ending, or even where Shade/Ignifex and Nyx go from here, so anything either exploring how history was changed, or what happens next would be great. Also, as my fondness for Alicia from The Perilous Gard suggests, I think I gravitate towards supposedly-shallow younger sisters in YA fantasy; so, anything exploring Astraia would be interesting as well. Finally, anything that gets into what, if anything Leonides, Telomache (or Thisbe!) were thinking, or attempts to make them a bit more sympathetic would be neat.
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Marguerite St. Just, Percy Blakeney
One of the things that always frustrated me about the book (and the sequels) is that although Marguerite is always noted to be the cleverest woman in Europe, and is plenty snarky in the first half, her appearances in subsequent novels usually only feature her being upset over Percy’s activities and/or being held hostage—however, she is also canonically a member of the League, so: something that features a Marguerite-led plan, or Marguerite getting a chance to highlight her skills?
The Derkholm Series
Claudia (Derkholm), Olga (Derkholm), Elda (Derkholm), Ruskin (Derkholm), Felim (Derkholm)
An admission: Year of the Griffin was my first DWJ novel ever (I know, I know, it was completely out of reading order) and as such, I will forever have a soft spot for this . Even otherwise, I just love the group of characters so much; they’re adorably geeky and sweet and have hilariously convulted backstories. Epilogue fic would be great, if you so choose (I will note that I am not crazy about Flury/Elda, but Blade/Claudia could actually be rather sweet?). Or reunion fic, ten years down the line; what is everyone doing? Have they managed to stay in touch? What wacky misadventures do they still manage to get into?
Hello Parallels Author!
I am delighted to have matched with you on one of these fandoms. This is my first year doing Parallels, but I am very excited for it. I would more or less be happy with anything in my requested fantoms featuring my requested characters, but, if you'd like some more prompts:
Gyeongseong Scandal | Capital Scandal
Any
Again, shamelessly largely edited from a prior prompt, but: I love all these characters!: Yeo Kyung, with her earnest belief in Patriotism! and Morals! is a particular favorite, as earnest adorable idealists is a character trope I've always loved, but also I love her mentoring of Yeong Rang, and how she, in turn, is mentored by Song Joo. Wan being a doof is always amazing, and I love his friendship with his one true soulmate Cha Song Joo almost as much as I do his hilarious romance with Yeo Kyung.
Cha Song Joo is obviously awesome, seeing as how she's (appropriately) everyone's favorite, so if you want to write more backstory about her, particularly as it relates to her relationship with both Yeo Kyung and her fellow gisaengs, go ahead, by all means! I rather love secret identity tropes, so if you want to write something that touches on that with her and/or Lee Soo Hyeon, feel free!
I love Yeong Ran's determination to learn to read, and I dearly want to know what happens to her afterwards (maybe something with her and Yeo Kyung's mom, if you want to incorporate her?). And Ueda Miyuki, too; I remember thinking that she seemed fairly levelheaded, given her parents or her background, and for a romantic false lead, quite sympathetic. In short, dear author, anything and everything would be great!
Jodhaa-Akbar (2008)
Rajkumari Jodhaa, Hamida Banu Begum, Maham Anga
This movie is fascinating for its look into Mughal history, and I love its attention to the lives of women rather than just focusing on Akbar’s wars and politics. Jodhaa –brave, honorable Jodhaa who is absolutely appalled at the idea of having to marry a Muslim emperor but nonetheless refuses to send an imposter—is the main character, of course, but I’d still love anything that explored even more of her life. Her son Salim also married a Rajput princess; I’d love to see how an older Jodha managed her daughter-in-law’s transition to the palace, or, for something closer to the timeline of the movie, anything exploring Jodhaa’s role in the days following the movie’s end. Mahim Anga is fascinating, too, if not as admirable; I love that she is obsessively intent on keeping Jalal’s love and her own power, but at the same time she genuinely loves him, too. Something digging into that would be great. Finally, Hamida; we don’t see much of her, but her life, as far as Wikipedia has been able to tell me, involved being married young and widowed early, with long periods of exile in between. How did the Hamida we see in the movie develop, and maintain the poise she has?
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Ogino Chihiro, Haku (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)
Like everyone else, I think, who’s ever watched this movie, I’d really loved something that explored Chihiro and Haku’s next meeting. There’s plenty of wonderful fics out there, but I think everyone must have their own spin on what comes next. Happy or bittersweet, either would be fine!
Kitaab 'alf layla wa-layla | One Thousand and One Nights
دنیازاد | Dinarzade, شهرزاد | Scheherazade, شهريار | Shayryār
Scheherazade is one of my literary heroines, but I’d love something that gave her some more happiness to her story than being married to a madman (I’ve….never been sold on Shayryar/Scheherazade, but I’d be happy to be convinced otherwise!). Alternatively, anything at all about Dinarzade’s perspective would be fascinating. I hate to make this prompt so short, but honestly, dear author, anything at all would be great!