Dear MCU AU Fest writer (2016)

[tielan]

Thank you for writing for me, dear writer! I appreciate the time and effort you're putting in to craft a story, and I hope it's not a chore!

First things first
The details in this letter are pretty much optional. If you can't manage the suggestions I've made, then please don't stress - just write the characters and their relationship and it'll be fine. After that, the most important thing is that the female characters shine! Give them heroic arcs, give them agency, give them things to do, choices to make, significance.

likes
I'm pretty mainstream regarding fannish stuff, but as regards relationships/friendships, I particularly love:
- getting to know each other
- coming to trust each other
- dealing with the ups and downs of established relationships/friendships
- hopeful endings

last year's letter
Also: here is my last year's MCU AUfest letter, if that helps. I was more specific last year, but ended up getting dumped to the pinch-hit list, so I'm trying something new this year.

Forthwith, the pairings and prompts:
As you might have noticed, I really adore Maria Hill. I have a tag about her, although the one major piece of meta about why I love her (Maria Hill is the character who does her job) dates back to early 2014 before Cap2 aired and is still pretty accurate. And, yes, I'm just a little bit bitter that she's not a major player in Civil War.

I'm going to outline the dynamic I see happening between the characters and toss in a few ideas. In some cases, I've written a fic in the AU trope I've listed. If you're familiar with my fic don't feel you have to follow the world as I've built it. I enjoy seeing how other people interpret the same prompts/themes in their own way!

One of the things I particularly like seeing in AUs is not just the worldbuilding but how authors signal the key characteristics of the alternates. What are the things that make them them even as their situations, circumstances, and abilities change?

Maria/Steve: Canon AU - Maria Hill in Civil War, AU - Black Jewels (Anne Bishop's "Blood" series), AU - Soulmate-Identifying Marks, AU - Psy-Changeling (Nalini Singh), AU - Pern, AU - Pacific Rim/Jaegers, AU - Daemons, AU - Brainships, AU - Terminator fusion, AU - wings, AU - DC fusion, AU - Fairy Tale, AU - Detectives, AU - Apocalypse

So, Maria/Steve. I see Maria is being the more reticent of the two regarding a relationship, and I think that Steve would be more likely to do the pursuing in terms of personality. I like 'persuading Maria' stories in the romance genre, 'trust him/her at my back' stories in the action/adventure genre, and in any universe I think Maria would be, not unimpressed by Steve, but respectful and pragmatic of what he can do and not just awed and admiring. Steve, in contrast, would be admiring of her competence, and intrigued by the fact that she sees him with brutally clear vision.

Maria & Pepper: Canon AU - Female Character Superhero Team (Not Genderswap), AU - Black Jewels (Anne Bishop's "Blood" series), AU - Soulmate-Identifying Marks, AU - Psy-Changeling (Nalini Singh), Canon AU - Pepper Kept Extremis, Canon AU - Maria Hill in Civil War, Canon AU - Mirror Universe, Canon AU - Agents of SHIELD Team Composed Differently, Canon AU - Hydra Wins

These are my ladies. Practical and pragmatic, sensible, who've worked as 2ICs to charismatic, authoritative men, and yet are most definitely not their 'yes-girls'. That snippet in Agents of SHIELD where Maria is talking to Pepper on the phone? Golden. I want to see more of that in these alternate universes. Also, I want to see stories which have Maria and Pepper playing more active and involved parts in the MCU canon - neither scriptwriters nor fandom treats women as anything but throwaways, so I want fic that puts them back in the spotlight.

No femmeslash, please. My prefs for pairings are Maria/Steve and Pepper/Tony, but leaving these ladies single and happy is perfectly okay. (Either way, I expect any pairings to be background; this is about Maria and Pepper and how they relate to each other.)

James "Bucky" Barnes/Maria Hill: Canon AU - Female Character Superhero Team (Not Genderswap), Canon AU - Maria Hill in Civil War, Canon AU - Maria Hill Director Of SHIELD, AU - Detectives, AU - Daemons, Canon AU - Agents of SHIELD Team Composed Differently, Canon AU - Steve Fell From the Train, AU - Apocalypse, Canon AU - Winter Soldier Has Different Identity

Yet another pairing where I can build wholecloth out of a complete lack of interaction. Most of these are Canon AUs, but the way I see them interacting should work for new worldbuilding.

I feel that Maria would treat Bucky levelly and not sugar-coat it: he's both the Winter Soldier and Lt. Barnes, and he may never be whole. While Bucky would know what it feels like to be an object to others - a function, or a thing-that-thinks-but-doesn't-need-personal-input - and be able to push Maria out of her work focus. I'd love to see them both a little snappy, a little snarky, and carefully professional with each other.

--

Some final things
- anything up to an NC17 rating, but I'd rather the focus was on their interactions, not on smut.
- if you want to rewrite or remix Civil War with Maria Hill in it, then throw everything else but the pairing out the window and GO FOR IT. And I will cheer you all the way.
- optional details are optional

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU