Letters for exchanges

Dear creator,

Hi!  Thank you for creating a gift for me; I'm very happy we're a match, and I can't wait to see/read about your version of the character(s) we have in common.

I am very easy to please in terms of content, rating and style. Portraits, comics, mood boards, fluff, gen, angst, smut, vignettes, darkfic, horror – it's all good.

I've chosen these characters because I love them, am fascinated by them, want to see more of them, or some combination of the three. I've written brief prompts for most characters and groups on my list, but I'm very open to your ideas and I'm always excited to see other people's interpretations. Don't feel bound to my thoughts; those are only intended as starting points, and as long as my DNWs are avoided, I will love whatever you come up with.

If you want to speak to me (I think I turned anon comments on here on) I can also be found on tumblr @ joyfullynervouscreator.tumblr.com

DNWs

• Character bashing. This is my biggie; the complexity of some of these characters is what draws me to them. (I'm A-OK with one character criticising another's actions, or characters arguing or disliking one another, but please no shoehorning of personal dislikes.
• Perfect Ainur. Well-intentioned but fallible is fine, but I'm not on board with “they can do no wrong."
• Crack fic
• 2^nd person narrator
• MPREG
• Scat/waterworks/emetophilia
• A/B/O
• 24/7 D/S
• Incest(parent/child AND sibling/sibling)
• Some ships: Celebrimbor/Annatar, Legolas/Gimli(romantic only - platonic bros is fine)

General Likes 

Fic: 

• Character complexity and conflicting motivations
• Unusual perspectives, original characters (especially female characters) and textual ghosts
• Unreliable narrators and quirky narrative structures – for example, epistolary, fragmented narratives, stories told through found documents, framing devices, stories told out of chronological order 
• Philosophical musings
• Anything to do with languages, linguistics and alphabets 
• Exploring the outer edges of the map

Art: 

I am not at all artistic; I can't draw, sculpt, paint, sew or even take nice photographs, so honestly, I'm in no position to give steers here, but these are just a few things I get giddy over: 
 

• Clothing, jewellery and hair, especially close ups of tiny details like stitching, beading, braiding etc.
• Similarly, intricate detailing on weaponry and armour will make me drool
• Depictions of the natural world – raindrops beading on leaves, moonlight through a forest canopy, ripples on the surface of a lake...
• Facial expressions conveying more than one emotion at once
• Unusual perspectives – through a window, over a gate, down a tunnel, from a distance...
• Anything that plays with colour, light, shadow, space and movement 

Either: 

• Scenery porn
• Weather and seasons
• Dragons! (I adore dragons.)
• Castles, fortresses and palaces
• Worldbuilding details – I love acknowledgements of the more mundane/everyday aspects of life in Middle-earth; think trade routes, balancing the books, textile production, agriculture, infrastructure, etc.. You don't have to focus the piece around this (unless you want to!), but little nods are greatly appreciated.
• Objects and places with special significance – a “sense of history”
• Pubs and inns; depictions of bonding over a long drinking session
• Food, drink and celebration – I'm a sucker for depictions of feasts and festivals, but also of curling up with a hot drink (I'm British. Tea is nectar.)
• Games, contests and competitions (particularly if something goes awry)
• Music and musical instruments
• Battle scenes and/or aftermath
• Physical imperfections
• Found families/families of choice
• AU, especially canon divergence and/or “fix it”
• Myth, folklore and fairytale
• Anything Anglo-Saxon influenced or inspired
• The supernatural and uncanny – ghosts, magic, telepathy...
• Shapeshifting
• Fusions of science and magic

Ship Likes 

It's probably worth saying here that I'm open to unrequested ships unless I've specifically stated otherwise elsewhere in the letter – feel free to reach out via the mod if you're not sure. Equally happy with het, slash, fem, ace, poly...if you see it and love it, so will I. 

Many of these could equally apply to friendships or romantic relationships, so I haven't specifically labelled them all. 

 

• Developing friendships and budding romances
• Pre-ship feeling navigation
• Bedsharing – platonic or otherwise
• “The little things” - light brushes with fingertips, smiles across a room...
• Forehead kisses
• Deep loyalty and devotion
• Platonic male-female friendship
• Hurt/comfort (feel free to go heavy on the hurt, e.g. slow recovery from a serious illness or injury)
• Situational relationships – enemies having to work together, or people who wouldn't normally be drawn to each other forming a bond through circumstance
• Occasional hookups/“friends and a bit more”
• Emotional reunions after long separations
• Friendship developing into romance
• Friends or lovers working together in battle
• Navigating bumps (or major mountains) in the road
• Tempestuous, complex or unhealthy relationships (see section on darker stuff); passionate encounters between two or more individuals who would be terrible together long term, but can't resist each other in the here and now
• First times
• Quiet moments
• Depictions of happy, long term relationships/growing old together/very old friends looking back on their shared history 

Smut Likes 

No obligation at all here – write or draw whatever you're comfortable with. If you want to stick to gen, that's more than fine; I will love it either way. 

 

• Bathing; swimming; sex in or near water
• Hair brushing; hair washing; hair braiding
• Sex exploring power dynamics and/or deeply informed by characters' history together
• Comfort sex
• Post-battle sex (or post-other difficult event)
• Orgasm delay/denial
• Body worship
• Enthusiastic consent
• Differing experience levels
• Feathers
• Ice
• Chocolate
• Fruit
• Wine 

Ships

• Éomer/Lothíriel: How did they meet/get married, culture clash, etc
• Thranduil/Wife: I tend to hc her as a redhaired fiery silvan with a gift for healing. Would love stories of the Sindar settingling in Greenwood and becoming the rulers of the place - how do they manage the politics or their relationship etc?
• Théodred/Boromir: Two boys who become men, destined to be the rulers of their respective countries. How do they fall in love/keep going when they're apart?
• Elladan/Lindir: The rogue and the musician - class differences among elves, falling for someone so opposite yourself, gaining common ground, daily life in Imladris - I want all of it
• Dwalin/Thorin Oakenshield: My OTP, I love them in all versions, including AUs
• Balin/fem!Dori: A softer ship, give me long conversations and mutual support, h/c after the BotFA etc. Dori can be transmale, or simply hiding her gender as you please.
• Tauriel/OFC: The OFC is Lírien, the harp-girl from Imladris in the Hobbit films. I love competent Tauriel - perhaps snapshots of her earlier life in Mirkwood - as much as I love established relationship things with these two. If you include Legolas or Thranduil in such a thing, please no romance with either of them, platonic friendship all the way.
• Arien/Gothmog(balrog): The Ex you can't hide from...unless you go sleep under a mountain for a few ages? Or the best friend whose fall from their destined path broke your heart? Who knows? Explore inter-ainu relationships and the meaning of lives lived in the Music of Arda and I'll love you forever.
• Uinen/Ossë: This ship that sails forever. Another chance to explore the mind and world of an ainu of the Music.
• Celebrimbor/fem!Narví: another OTP - how does their relationship affect the relationships of their two countries and peoples? Culture clash/exploration galore.
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