rarepairfest dear author letter

[tielan]

Dear Author!

Thanks for writing these pairings for me; I'm looking forward to see what you come up with.

General Things

I'm all about the female characters. I want stories about women making their own romantic/relationship choices - stories that focus on women's emotional and physical needs, and stories that show how they deal with the pressures of busy lives and complicated relationships.

Please, if nothing else, write the female characters.

I love interactions between characters - the 'relating' part of relationships, and how two different people come together, work their issues through, come out the other end. I'd prefer to receive action-adventure and drama to smut.

Happy or hopeful endings, please. I'd prefer a canon scenario, but if you get really stuck then a well-designed and developed AU is interesting. I don't mind moderate D/s, but not heavy-duty. And who's D and who's s can vary from pairing to pairing.

MCU: Maria Hill/Steve Rogers, Maria Hill/Bucky Barnes

Maria is my drug of choice in the MCU. I love her cool head and her practicality. She fires on Clint because he's become an enemy. She destroys the helicarrier knowing Steve's on it because the world is at stake. It's not that she doesn't like them so she fires on them, it's that she does what is needful even if that means she kills people she loves. Because the world is bigger than her and her emotions. Maria is a big-picture person.

My OTP is, admittedly, Maria Hill/Steve Rogers. However, I like the idea of Maria/Bucky and would love to see what you'd come up with for that. The trope of tough girl/charming guy is a favourite one of mine, especially when the tough girl stays tough and doesn't become sugar-sweet marshmallowy for the sake of the romance. If you write Maria/Bucky, I'd rather it wasn't all about Bucky's manpain - Maria, I think, has a lot of emotional pain in her past, too, and if you can dovetail them, that would be fascinating.

A thought: someone noted that Steve has a lot of anger in him in CA2. I, personally, think that Maria has a lot of anger in her all the time. If it's within your capaibilities, I'd love to see how you'd write them with that passion, that righteous anger against injustice and the world which drives so much of who they are.

Angel the series: Faith Lehane/Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Faith Lehane/Charles Gunn

Faith is my go-to girl for this fandom. I really started getting into her in Angel Season 4, when she and Wes started working together. Gunn's direct admiration of her was a good angle - a hunter recognises a hunter. And I feel Gunn is man enough to accept that he's not the "big man" in this relationship (the way he was in his relationship with Fred).

I always ask for these pairings in the rarepairfests because the "hunting pairs" are fun to read about - Wes and Faith winnowing through the underbelly of LA. I particularly liked that they've changed from who they were when they first met, and then when Faith first came to LA - Wes has become a lot darker and grimmer, and Faith has realised there are consequences to her actions.

So, hunting demons, hunting monsters, interacting - individually or as part of the Fang Gang. Can be set anytime - I haven't watched S5, but I'm pretty spoiled for what happens in the series. I kind of wish S5 had been Faith coming to LA and working with the crew at Wolfram and Hart. Alas!

Agents of SHIELD: Melinda May/Steve Rogers, Jemma Simmons/Antoine Triplett, Antoine Triplett/Skye

This set of pairings I'm just going to go with "surprise me". I'm good with any of the women as they are in the show, and the interactions with the guy in the matter. I like all the team, so include any and/or all as side characters.

Pacific Rim: Raleigh Becket/Chuck Hansen/Mako, Raleigh Becket/Yancy Becket/Mako Mori

First things first. Mako Mori is my hero.

Whichever threesome you pick, I want Mako firmly included in it. Mako/Raleigh is my OTP and BroTP in this fandom, but I like the threesome aspects of Raleigh/Mako/Chuck, and Raleigh/Yancy/Mako, too. Either way, I don't want something that's about the guys being hot for each other and Mako just happens to be there. Both guys should very definitely want Mako as well as each other. And Mako and Raleigh should still be Drift-compatible.

My personal thing with Raleigh/Mako/Chuck is that Mako and Chuck have history that's over by the time Raleigh comes into the picture. Raleigh and Mako are attracted and hook up post-Pitfall, and Mako brings Chuck into it with Raleigh's permission and acceptance.

I am not of the opinion that Chuck and Raleigh's hallway fight in the movie is about their unspoken attraction for each other. It's about Chuck's disrespect of Mako, which Raleigh isn't going to take. Raleigh is focused on Mako in the movie as intimate and nurturer - Chuck is a conflict (which, yes, can be read as chemistry, although I don't believe canon is implying this); essentially I would like the same set of dynamics in this fic.

For Raleigh/Yancy/Mako, you can go with Raleigh/Yancy as having been incestuous before they met Mako, or with Mako as the catalyst for their relationship. Maybe her presence brings in the willingness for a physical aspect to their intimacy? I still want Mako and Raleigh to be Drift-compatible though (and she's Drift-compatible with Raleigh, not just with-Yancy-through-Raleigh; whether you make her Drift-compatible with Yancy, too, is your own choice).

Basically, Mako-Mako-Mako-Mako-Mako.