shmaylor

Dear Podficcer,

Hi there! This is my third time doing the Informal Twitter Podfic Exchange, and I'm so goddamn excited.

I’m putting lots of detail in this letter not to be overwhelming or because I’m super picky, but because I’m hoping lots of info will make it easier on you. Less guesswork, you know? But whatever you make me, I’m totally going to love it.

General Likes:
- Fake dating/fake married is my very favorite trope always
- Found family <3
- Ladies being awesome
- Reincarnation/groundhog day (they keep meeting and/or dying, over and over until they get it right)
- Emotions are hard, but they're Trying Their Best
- OT3s
- Origin stories and character studies
- Canonical character death. Not in the sense of grief/mourning, but telling their story before they died. Giving them more depth through backstory and POV focus. Making the character and their death more meaningful.
- Characters processing their trauma that canon glosses over and getting hopeful (if not necessarily happy) endings
- I describe some of my favorite fics as "beautiful sharp-edged things" which uhhhh, I don't know if that helps, but maybe it gets the feeling across?? 
- Robots. Crying about robots. Robots developing emotions because as humans we can't help but make them in our own image.
- Umm clearly from a couple of those items I do like Suffering, but don't feel like you have to make me sad. Fake married, found families, and ladies are happy things yes yes?
- Usually like the canon universe better than full-on AUs.

Do not want:
- pregnancy fic, kid fic, or de-aged fic
- curtain fic (I like fluff, but not so much when the entirety of the fic is fluff)
- PWP. I'm all for sex/porn within a larger fic context, but I get kind of specific about the things I'm interested in when it's just porn, so let's skip it. Caveat: PWPs from my AO3 bookmarks list are definitely great
- infidelity
- domestic violence/rape. Mentions of it and canonical stuff is fine, but please nothing graphic that's been added to give a character A More Tragic Backstory.

Trigger:
- Hazing. Even if it's pretty tame, do not.

Any rating, general audiences through explicit, is a-okay. Not!fic or meta are totally welcome too.
Doesn't need to be a fic that is new-to-me. Things on my bookmarks are great if you're feeling stumped!

Fandom specific stuff:
Leverage
This is my forever fandom, and Eliot/Parker/Hardison is my forever ship. If it has the OT3, it can’t be wrong.
Gen fic or case fic with the whole team is also my jam.

Star Wars - Rogue One
THE SADDEST CANON. I LIKE TO SUFFER, OKAY.
Pre-canon.
Fic that ends where the movie ends. aka everyone dying, but it's hopeful and their sacrifice isn't in vain. Umph.
Everybody lives AUs. Celebratory or growing through the trauma of their experience, all of it is good stuff.
Do not like "some die, some live" (somehow grief/mourning is a step too far for my sadness needs)
Cassian/K-2SO
Cassian/Jyn(/Bhodi)
Nice things happening to Bhodi Rook
Jyn Erso is a BAMF

Marvel
Ensemble/team fics are amazing. Even if it’s focused on a particular ship or character, I love the huge ensemble cast possibilities here, and I love fic where characters who don't interact in canon meet each other.  Also, basically any f/f fic or female focused story is a go.

There is SO MUCH in this canon, but I'll list some favorites.
To break it down the way the mods have for the challenge:

MCU (primary movie canon)
Natasha Romanoff, especially her origin story
Steve Rogers, the most extra bisexual, coming out at press conferences
Natasha/Clint
Tony & Jarvis & all the robots
teeeeam fic, crack fic
Natasha/Bucky (esp. focused on their joint history as brain-washed assassins)
Natasha/Maria
Darcy-is-the-only-sane-person-here-GOD
and similarly, Sam is the only sane person around all these superheroes who need to chill out.
Allllll the female friendships
I like Steve/Bucky, but there is already SO much podfic of it, so perhaps not for this challenge. Totally cool if it's background or not the main focus.
(no Steve/Tony please)

The Defenders
Jessica/Trish !!!!
Claire Temple being the best around forever
Anything with Karen Page having a complex emotional landscape and being awesome and breaking my heart
Matt/Foggy(/Karen)
Post Defenders, I'm totally feeling Karen/Trish

Individual Fandoms
Spiderman Homecoming - I'm mostly here for how this intersects with the main movie canon. Humor fic with Peter hanging out with the Avengers.
Agent Carter - I'm weak for Peggy/Dottie reluctantly having to work together against a bigger threat (and/or hate sex)

Mad Max Fury Road
Post-canon & healing
Mostly prefer gen, but Cheedo/the Dag is v. sweet.
And Furiosa/Max if it takes them time to work through their trauma first

Brooklyn 99
gen whole squad humor fic
Jake/Amy
Amy/Rosa
Rosa/Gina
This fandom is especially gold for fake married fics because undercover police work, and I 1000% endorse them.

Carmilla (webseries)
Hollstein
Laf/Perry
Continually sobbing over Danny Lawrence and how she has a spark inside her and fought so hard and then became what she was fighting against (aka Danny character studies or post-canon redemption. probably gen, but any f/f pairing that isn't endgame Danny/Laura is good)

ETA: And apparently Danny isn't going to be in the upcoming movie so fucking justice for Danny 2k17

The Queen's Thief
Gen/Irene/Costis
Gen is a little shit

Sense8
Canon pairings and ensemble/found families. Honestly I just love ALL OF THE SENSATES SO MUCH

The Good Place
I don't even know?? I haven't actually read fic for this fandom, but the S2 premiere just happened and it's full of awesome and I'm feeling super joyful about this show

Odds and Ends
[aka small fandoms and side things I didn't put on my sign-up]
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - I'm still really fucked up about Jenks and Lovey, please make it better
Alice Isn’t Dead - Alice/Keisha
Within the Wires - Hester/Oletta
Beyond Belief - Frank/Sadie (and obviously Frank/Sadie/booze)
Supernatural - I haven't actively been in the fandom for years, but I'm feeling nostalgic about the amazing ladies of this show

My own podfic is generally very self indulgent and recorded for me, so my works that aren't group podfics are a good indicator of what I like.

I’m on twitter @theshmaylor, also theshmaylor over on tumblr, and just shmaylor on AO3

That was a lot of things, but I hope it was useful. All of this was info to guide you and not anything to be 100% beholden to. Podficcer, you are wonderful and a delight, and I hope you have a ton of fun with this exchange. I can’t wait to listen <3