swan_tower | Dear Fic Corner Scribbler

Thank you so much for offering my fandoms! I don't do a lot of exchanges, and mostly I sign up for pretty small fandoms when I do, so there's always something deeply touching about finding out that another person shares my enthusiasm for a particular book or movie or whatever. And for this exchange, since the books in question are all childhood loves of mine, the warm glow is extra golden and nostalgic. :-) I hope you have fun writing this story, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.

My fandoms this year are all Diana Wynne Jones, all the time. I did a read-and-blog-through of everything she published (so far as I know, anyway), so feel free to make use of other details beyond whatever you volunteered for, if you find yourself so inclined. I'm not asking for crossovers -- well, except for one side note -- but I don't mind little nods to her other works.

Onward to the fandoms! General notes are at the end.

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Fandom: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci
Characters: Christopher Chant, Cat Chant, Gabriel de Witt

While writing my Yuletide letter last fall, I came up with an idea that made me bounce in excitement at the mere thought of it. We know from the short story "Stealer of Souls" that Christopher took over as Chrestomanci and Cat arrived at the castle while Gabriel was still alive, which means that for a while there, you had no less than three nine-lived enchanters running around. How badass would it be if all three of them worked together on something? Especially given the wild differences in their personalities -- Cat earnest and young, Christopher sarcastic and adult, and Gabriel strict and old -- but all of them throwing around gobsmackingly large amounts of power, often in casual ways. I have no particular vision of what incident would involve all three of them; you can run with whatever suits your fancy. But I love the idea of seeing three Chrestomancis go to town on some problem, especially since it would give us a chance to see Christopher and Gabriel interacting when Christopher has grown out of being a twelve-year-old snot. :-P

I also have a (very optional!) crossover request involving this series, which is an idea that has really just possessed my brain and not let go. A passing reference in "Warlock at the Wheel" makes it clear that Chrestomanci's multiverse is the same as that in The Homeward Bounders. Which means that it's possible for Christopher to meet up with Jamie Hamilton.

I got a story for this last year, and could probably read a dozen more takes on it without getting tired of the idea. What would Christopher (as an adult and Chrestomanci, not, I think, as a kid) say to Jamie? How long has Jamie been wandering, by the time the two of them run into each other? Do they meet up in Christopher's world, or somewhere out in the Anywheres? It isn't the sort of encounter that could fix anything, I imagine, though Christopher would probably offer to try; the anchor has to keep moving, and even Chrestomanci can't change that. But the encounter could be really intense. For all his sarcasm and flaws, I think Christopher would have a deep empathy for what Jamie's going through, and why. If that fires your imagination the way it did mine, then I'd love to read the result.

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Fandom: The Magicians of Caprona
Characters: Benvenuto

Normally Caprona gets nominated as part and parcel of the Chrestomanci series, but. Well. Look at the character I've requested. :-P

Yes, dear Scribbler, I am asking for fic about the Montana family's cat. I have no idea why this idea came to me one day, but it did, and then it refused to go away again. DWJ wrote fabulous animals -- dogs and cats both! -- and Benvenuto isn't just a strong personality, he's a major part of the Montana family culture. I want fic about his badass adventures in Caprona, his victory over rivals and courtship of lady cats, and most of all how he and the other cats fit into the magic of the city.

So I nominated this separately because I didn't want anybody to look at the Chrestomanci character list with the intent of offering or requesting "any" and then go, "what the hell? A cat? I'm not interested in the bloody cat." If you offered this fandom, seeing the sole character on the tag list, you are awesome and I love you already. And if you're just browsing for treat possibilities: c'mon. Benvenuto! How can you not want fic starring the Montana family cat?

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Fandom: Archer's Goon
Characters: any

I requested "any" here because this is more of a worldbuildy sort of prompt -- assuming you're up for that, of course. If you aren't, I have more details below that you might be able to run with.

The worldbuildy prompt comes from the post I made about Archer's Goon while re-reading my way through DWJ's body of work:

I find myself deeply curious what backstory, if any, Jones had in mind for where the seven of them came from in the first place. We only get the barest hints of clues: Awful calls Dillian an "enchantress," and Quentin calls all of them "wizards;" Archer says they're not the same as humans, and live a good deal longer; they refer in passing to their parents. Because this is the British Isles, my first thought was that you could fic them as the children of Merlin and Nimue or whoever, but then their large stature makes me think of nephilim.

Those are just guesses, though if they work as starting points for you, awesome. Do you have other theories? What are the siblings? Who were their parents? How did they come to be in this town? (We know why they're trapped there, but that's it.) You could approach this from any angle you like: a story from their past, some interaction with each other or the Sykeses or whoever that lays it out, etc.

If you're daunted by the idea of trying to fill in that blank, I would enjoy anything featuring sibling dynamics. I nominated Erskine, Torquil, and Hathaway because I figured that would be better than leaving the fandom entirely blank, and they're my favorites of the family. How do Erskine and Torquil get along, especially post-book? What's the story of Hathaway going to live in the past? You're welcome to write about other characters too/instead; those are just a few suggestions to give you traction. I don't know why I have a thing for siblings; I just do. Especially ones who share something out of the ordinary, like this particular family.

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General notes: I love stuff with actual plot in, but since I know that can be a lot of work, I would also be very happy with something that really examines the characters or the world -- so long as it isn't just straight-up introspection or nonfiction-style discussion. I prefer stories that stay close to the characters as written, i.e. respecting canon relationships, working with flaws rather than sweeping them under the rug, etc. I love fic that presents itself as something that could fit into the the canon, rather than something that ignores the existing narrative; things like coffee shop AUs don't interest me at all. Go ahead and include any characters I've not listed that might be useful to you, though, or invent OCs to serve your narrative needs.

I adore drama; I also like humour, especially when it's of the "witty" variety rather than physical comedy or gross-out excess, but I love it best when it's used as leavening for the more serious stuff, or as the jab to set up the dramatic roundhouse that follows. Ratings-wise, I don't want to see any of these characters in sexual situations (though Benvenuto yowling his ardor to the night sky is totes okay). I also would prefer not to see things get too violent, but I don't mind darkness in the emotional/psychological sense. Jones was really good at making that stuff be present without rubbing your face in it, so I'm fine with the characters realizing they're caught up or even complicit in something kind of awful. If that makes any sense. :-)

Above all . . . I hope you have fun!