Dear NFE Author (2020)

Dear mystery author,

First and foremost, thank you! Please know I will be thrilled to receive your story. I'm excited to see what direction you've taken on whichever prompt strikes your fancy. I included a few ideas in each of my requests, but please don't feel bound to them if inspiration takes you elsewhere.

Things I like:

• Witty banter
  
• Competent, complex, multi-dimensional characters
  
• Friendship, found family, friends-to-lovers, slow burn
  
• Plot, adventures, space duels, intrigue, mysteries and spy stories
  
• Thoughtful, complex, introspective, issues that aren’t black-and-white
  
• Humor, whether subtle or snarky or slapstick
  
• Gentle, compassionate storytelling
  
• Nature, especially lakes, woods, mountain, prairies, and the night sky
  
• Witty banter. Seriously, I love it so much.
  
• I prefer het and usually ship canon pairings; gen is also great.
  
• Drama, humor, adventure, intrigue, espionage, suspense, mystery, thriller... so many genres! I also like explorations of grief and healing, though in general I can only take so much angst. I do prefer happy endings to tragedy, but I also have a soft spot for ambiguity and bittersweet.
  
• A strong sense of place. The differences between places, the little things that set someplace apart or bind people together even across languages and cultures... Whether you want to delve into worldbuilding or just give me a glimpse, I'll love it.
  
• Talking animals and mythological creatures, especially those with little screen time. Wolves and crows are particular favorites, but I’d love any horses, gryphons, cougars, small woodland creatures, chickadees, birds of prey or oddball fauna you want to populate your story! Narnian platypus? Kangaroo-verse? Go for it!
  
• Sirens. See also: my username. (The Lorelei, Greek bird-women, mermaid-like, feral or sensual — any mythology or interpretation you like!)
  
• Language, linguistics, things lost in translation, the power of words
  
• I do enjoy AUs that hold true to both the spirit and setting of the original — canon compliant or divergent “what ifs” are wonderful, and I hold a special place in my heart for Everyone Lives, Nobody Dies (or Everyone Lives, Nobody Leaves). I’m not usually a fan of mundane coffeeshop-style AUs.
  
• Rthverse and other stories with gloriously diverse characters, rich full lives in both Narnia and Spare Oom, filled with faith and hope but not dogma, intellectually enriching, and all the tapestry of creation in both worlds.
  
• World War II spy stories
  
• Crossovers and fusions: I love them! I enjoy having all my favorite characters get together and explore new worlds and dynamics, with or without the conceit of magic rings and the Wood between Worlds. This year’s tagset is particularly replete with fandom fusion possibilities!
  

Things I don't like:

• Noncon, dubcon, incest, underage, abuse, gore, torture
  
• PWP, explicit sex, explicit violence, frequent use of R-rated language
  
• Slash isn't my cup of tea, I'm afraid. I prefer het or gen.
  
• Character bashing; completely helpless, clueless, cruel or dark characterization of Aslan, Pevensies or other Friends of Narnia. (More nuanced critique is all well and good!)
  
• Real-world, present-day politics. (Politics of other times, places and worlds — great! But please no in-your-face corollaries with current events. I’ve had enough of the news right now.)
  
• Darkfic, unmitigated tragedy or excessive angst. If your story is sad, I'd request at least a ray of sunshine amid the clouds.
  

Crossover ideas
If you feel like a crossover, I’m definitely on board!

• Lord of the Rings: I love the idea of Healer-Rulers Lucy and Aragorn (platonically or romantically). I don’t know that it made the tagset, but Peter/Eowyn would also make my heart happy! For that matter — Eowyn & Susan could have an interesting dynamic, the different ways the fight the gilded cage the world has prescribed for them. Or Lucy & Eowyn simply being the awesome, badass warrior women they are.
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Like I said in one of my prompts, I now hopelessly ship Jack Sparrow with Susan. I wrote thousands of words about it and I want more of these two on the high seas.
  
• Star Wars (okay, so maybe this is a less intuitive leap, but it’s my first deep fandom love, and if you’ve always hankered for Narnians in space or Jedi in Narnia, I’ll be there with bells on!): Bring in anyone you like from the Original, Sequel or Prequel trilogies; EU Legends - Thrawn (by Timothy Zahn); EU Legends - X-wing series (Stackpole and Allston); Rogue One; or Rebels. Or, replace them with someone from the Chronicles of Narnia and see what changes.
  

Whew!

Again, this is truly meant for your information, and I hope you find it helpful. I look forward to seeing where the story takes you, and thank you again!