fic_corner letter

[deep_dark_waters]

Hello! I'm Deepdarkwaters on Ao3 and Tumblr and ambrotypes on Twitter for any recip-stalking needs.

Short version: I'm easy to please and happy to be completely surprised, as long as you don't include the couple of DNWs mentioned below. If you've got something in mind already then do it your way! These are just suggestions - I will honestly love anything about these people.

General fic loves: (probably not applicable to every fandom requested, but I include this in all letter as an overview of some of the things I enjoy reading in whatever combination) worldbuilding/exploration of the canon world; dialogue; description (especially of hair, hands, and clothing); competence; petty arguments; unreliable narrators; misunderstandings; found families; really old comfy friendships; really old comfy friendships that accidentally/unexpectedly become more; clumsy inappropriate humour; backstories; melancholy; loonngg dragged out UST that feels like it'll never end and then ENDS GLORIOUSLY; awkward imperfect sex where everyone's still having the best time ever; intense physical fight scenes; huge scale destruction; ridiculous things played completely straight for comedy purposes; kissing; when penetrative sex isn't the only type considered 'real' sex.

Rating: Absolutely happy for G-rated fic for any of these, but don't feel held back if you want to go higher just because they're children's books. Anything!

Please no: Noncon sex or anything about toys being damaged.


Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild
Pauline Fossil, Petrova Fossil, Posy Fossil

I would love to see anything at all about these girls, separately or together, especially future fic about their lives after they're split up.

Pauline: She's so young when she goes off to Hollywood. What's it like for her to be right on the cusp of adulthood in a new place that's SO different to what she's grown up with? What kind of films does she make? I know we find out in The Painted Garden that she'd much rather be acting on stage than in films, but I hope she's enjoying them anyway. What sorts of friends does she make? She seems pretty down to earth, I can see her making friends on set with people the big stars ignore - but then in Ballet Shoes with the Alice play you see she's got a tendency for arrogance and melodrama if it's left unchecked, so how does that work out when she's in HOLLYWOOD and everyone's telling her she's wonderful? How difficult is it to be so far away from her sisters after being so close with them?

Petrova: I'm slightly obsessed with the ATA and other women's roles in WW2, so a future fic about her time as a pilot would be amazing (my headcanon kind of wants her to work with some of the characters in Code Name Verity if you've read that and fancy a crossover). Or there are so many really lovely moments between Petrova and various adults in the book, so it could be fun to explore their relationships when she's grown up (Mr Simpson, Gum, Garnie, the doctors, an old teacher or director, whoever you like). Does she ever start to miss dancing just because it reminds her of her sisters? I like the detail that she hates dancing but she's very good at it technically, so looking at her feeling stuck with talent for something she doesn't care for is always interesting, especially in contrast with Pauline and Posy being so focused. What are her thoughts on it when she's twenty and dancing to a band in a club with someone she's in love with?

Posy: I love how completely dedicated she is to the point of being a bit rude and ridiculous sometimes, but she's never irritating because she's so funny too. I love the contrast of Posy the comedian vs Posy the devoted dancer - does anything of that change when she's forced to work harder than ever before in a company full of people so much older who have been doing it for years? What's life like for her and Nana in Czechoslovakia? What about the escape to America when the war comes? Her first starring role? Does she miss her sisters badly, or is she sort of ok about not having them constantly around? Does she ever meet her birth family once she's a bit more well-known and the story of Gum finding her comes out in an interview or something?


Code Name Verity Series - Elizabeth Wein
Julie Beaufort-Stuart, Maddie Brodatt, Mitraillette, Rose Justice, Róża Czajkowska

Maddie and Julie: These beautiful characters! Show me ANYTHING about them, individually or together. Canon-compliant (A motorbike trip out in the country on a day off? Under the umbrella during the air raid? A nighttime conversation in their shared room?) or fix-it (What happens after you know what? What changes between them? Is that the catalyst they needed for some swoony omg-I'm-so-glad-we're-alive kissing??) both equally delightful. Or an AU? Maddie and Julie in another time and another war. What's different and what stays the same? I have no real prompts, I just love these sweethearts so so much and I want to read a million novels about them. I'll love anything about deep and infinite friendship or something more, I really don't mind which, or if you only want to write one of them then I'd love to know more backstory for Julie especially, and anything about Maddie getting on with things after her. I have a raging competence kink, so anything about either of them at work would be glorious too, anything technical about machinery and flying and espionage and women's work in the war. . Honestly, anything goes here - I love these people like they're family, I just want to know everything. (Bonus: if you know Noel Streatfeild's Petrova Fossil and feel like a crossover, I'd love for these brilliant women to meet and be friends.)

Mitraillette: I re-read the book recently and fell in love with her all over again for her incredible fierceness, bravery, kindness, sense of humour, everything, and her friendship with Maddie even though the language barrier. I LOVE this description of her from the book: "Mitraillette means submachine gun. It suits her." Again, no real prompts - I'd just love to read anything about her life (on her own, with her family, with Maddie?) and the work she does with the Resistance, or what she does after the war.

Rose and Róża: I would really really rather not have any kind of concentration camp fic. Of course mention it when necessary, I'd just prefer that not to be the main setting. Instead, please tell me more about either or both of these women after the war, including any of the un-nominated characters if you want because I love them all. I love Rose's poetry and passion for flying. I love the development of Róża and Irina's friendship. I love the friction and friendship between Rose and Róża when they meet again for the trials. What hooked me so much on these characters was their spirit and courage and dark humour and the way they depend on and fight for each other, so I would love to see something with that same kind of hopeful mood despite everything and not just outright angst. Or it would be great to see them not just directly after the war and dealing with the immediate aftermath, but ten or thirty or fifty years in the future, or at any point in between. Where does the end of the story in the book lead? Are they happy?


Dogger - Shirley Hughes
Dogger, Dave, Bella

I still have this unhealthy emotional attachment to the toy dog I've had since was two, so Dogger is like my ultimate hurt/comfort book :D PLEASE no "what happens when Dave gives Dogger away" or "what happens when Dogger goes in the bin" or "what happens when the labrador rips Dogger to pieces" or any other hardcore toy abuse, my heart can't take it (unless there's a happy ending somehow and then it's fine). Plot not necessary, I'd be more than happy to read a 1000-word love letter to childhood toys and probably cry. Or slightly more solid prompts: Dave and/or Bella's changing relationship with their toys as they grow up. Taking them away to Scout camp or uni and putting up with friends teasing, or bonding with other people who secretly smuggled their own favourite as well. Games they play as children with Bella's whole army of toys and Dave's single little precious dog in the middle. Mum or Dad having to take on the trauma of bath day if Dogger falls in a muddy puddle. Dave and/or Bella as adults telling stories about their beloved toys to their own children. Does Bella ever find "her" Dogger, her one most beloved toy of them all?

(If you're into crossovers, I can't escape this weird slightly AU headcanon that Ned from Lady Daisy becomes friends with Dave from Dogger and they bond over their beloved childhood toys, but that's possibly too specific for anybody in the world but me so feel free to ignore!)


Lady Daisy - Dick King-Smith
Lady Daisy, Ned

I love this book with my entire soul, my signed copy is one of the most precious things I own and I've literally read the covers off it. I'm not sure whether it'll break the magic but I've always sort of wondered who made Lady Daisy, and did they intend for her to be "alive"? Is there some kind of Pinocchio-style story to tell there? Or tell me about Lady Daisy when she was newly-made and given to Victoria - was Lady Daisy even aware she was a doll, or did she have to learn everything about herself from her first owner? Or any kind of interaction between Lady Daisy and Ned, more conversations about how the world used to be and what's changed. Does he talk to her for advice about things going on in his life? How would she feel if Ned took her to visit Victoria's grave? When they realised they could no longer communicate, did that happen all at once or could they sense for a while that it was starting to wind down? I love this book so much and honestly I'd love to read anything at all about these two. But please no doll peril! I can't bear anything about her being damaged, or even the threat of it.

(If you're into crossovers, I can't escape this weird slightly AU headcanon that Ned from Lady Daisy becomes friends with Dave from Dogger and they bond over their beloved childhood toys, but that's possibly too specific for anybody in the world but me so feel free to ignore!)