desertvixen | darkest night letter

General writing info here.

So this is a darker-fic exchange, which means I had to cut a sizable portion of my usual letter.

Think more Hitchcock, less Saw when it comes to violence. I would prefer no graphic violence and gore. Instead, I'd love a story that makes me think twice about climbing the stairs without turning ALL the lights on first. I'm also into shiny veneers that hide dark secrets. I've selected the "skeletons in the closet" tag and you MAY take that literally, if it works for you. I'm also down for characters dealing with things using black humor. Tinges of hope at the end are generally good. I'd prefer to avoid dubcon/non-con in general (one request in here does address you ignoring that one), definitely no graphic sexual violence. Also, be nice to the animals. Those always bother me more. Feel free to kill people off as needed.

I love urban legends and phantom hitchhikers and Return to Glennascaul. I'm always down for dysfunctional families and relationships.

The "psycho college killer" is this one.

I generally prefer het or gen. Explicit sex can be good, see the block of DNW tags for things I'm not into. I generally don't get into kink in stories, but feel free to have people get down.

I'm a fan of AU, but prefer canon-divergence or "what-if" scenarios, rather than "all the characters are at boarding school together" types. (Unless, of course, the characters are already together at boarding school together...)

I am a huge fan of "seemingly unrelated group of people trapped somewhere and discover they a) have something in common and b) can't just leave" - see Clue, see And Then There Were None. Please feel free to get soap opera-ish! Half-siblings no one knew about! Illegitimate siblings you thought were just family friends! Psycho-half-siblings who want to kill you and take your life over! Convenient accidents! Crazy wills and marriages of convenience! And unsolved mysteries (in general OR the show) rock my world.

1. And Then There Were None (TV 2015)
    Vera Claythorne (TV 2015), Group: Vera Claythorne/Philip Lombard
    Blackmail, Revenge Sex, Revenge Backfire, revenge from beyond the grave, Betrayed By Lover, Betrayal, Impersonation, Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Sole Survivor, One of Us is a Killer

Vera is a survivor, and I like that. Apply any of these concepts to an AU of the story. I also love Philip/Vera and the two of them as either a pair of survivors working together OR opportunists who would sell the other out as needed. They can be Mr. and Mrs. Owen, or not.

Pretty much this. I love these two, whether they're cold-blooded killers who get what they deserve or manage to escape, or good people who get out because of it. For the blackmail thing, maybe Owen wasn't working alone? Or maybe an escaped Vera takes it up.

2. Star Trek: The Original Series
     James T. Kirk (TOS), Spock (TOS), Leonard "Bones" McCoy (TOS)
     Time Travel - Making The Same Mistakes, Castaways in Time, Abandoned in Space, Cut off from Earth, Mirror Universe

So basically two scenarios I'm interested in are the crew of the Enterprise (TV era) being cut off from Earth (whether destroyed or out of comms) OR castaways in time. If you want to swing castaways off of The City on the Edge of Forever, I am totally down. Or maybe time travel to stop the mirror universe from forming?

Pretty much this. Or what if they hadn't gotten back in time to save Earth from the probe? Or I'm a big fan of exploring creepy abandoned ships and/or colonies. Feel free to work in the vanishing hitchhiker urban legend.

3. Star Trek: The Next Generation
   Jean-Luc Picard/Beverly Crusher, Jean-Luc Picard (TNG), Beverly Crusher (TNG) ,Captain Ben Maxwell (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Jack Crusher (TNG)
   Character who dies in canon lives making everything worse, Alternate Universe - Canonical Dark AU, Mirror Universe, Cut off from Earth, Mind Control, Castaways in Time, Character Is Haunted By Bad Things They Had To Do For A Good Cause

If you decide to go with the "dies in canon" one, I'd really love something focusing on Picard/Crusher and Jack Crusher.

If you go with mirror universe or castaways in time, focus on Picard/Crusher.

For cut off from earth, I'm interested in how Picard and Crusher occupy sort of the "parental" roles on the ship - as individuals, not necessarily the relationship. I'd love relationship stuff too though!

If you go with Ben Maxwell, I'd love to see Castaways or cut off from Earth, or the haunted one. I have way more on this in the letter.

If you're not into the Jack Crusher idea, what about if Tasha Yar had survived?

I know the TNG mirror universe was explored in Dark Mirror by Diane Duane. I wasn't crazy about it.

Re: Ben Maxwell - So I think "The Wounded" is one of the best TNG eps, hands down. It brought some darkness to the TNG crowd, and I love at the end that Picard's all "I know you're full of it and we won't destroy Ben Maxwell for you". Anyway, in my head canon, Ben Maxwell and Alynna Nechayev have History and maybe a present relationship? For him, I'm definitely into the haunted idea - or maybe something set in the Yesterday's Enterprise alt timeline where the Federation doesn't have time to screw around with the Cardassians, so they remove them. Permanently. Feel free to bring Alynna Nechayev and Picard along for that one.

4. The Bobbsey Twins - Laura Lee Hope
    Richard Bobbsey, Mary Bobbsey, Nan Bobbsey, Nellie Parks
    Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Blackmail, Miscarriage/Stillbirth, Going On A Crime Spree, Kidnapping, Obsession/Stalking Escalates to Kidnapping, Family Secrets, Controlling/Possessive Relationship, Conflicted Loyalties, vanishing hitchhiker, Psycho Killer at College Urban Legend

So what I'm really looking for is taking the Bobbseys and doing something dark and twisted.

Richard Bobbsey as a serial killer

Mary and Richard as master criminals. Nan and Nellie being inducted or turning them in.

Deep family secrets.

Alternatively, if you don't feel like going the criminal route, I'd like to see something about the two of them dealing with a miscarriage or stillbirth.

Or alternatively alternatively, the Bobbsey family has a vanishing hitchhiker encounter.

Or alternatively alternatively alternatively, Nan and Nellie go to college and there's a psycho killer on the loose.

For serial killer: Mary doesn't know. Think Ted Bundy here.

For family secrets: (Not incest, thinking more along the lines of family criminal organization (Richard Bobbsey does run a lumberyard on a lake, and it probably has a wood chipper...) or hidden identities. Or maybe Richard is BEING blackmailed?

For Bobbsey criminals, I'd really only like to see Mary as a blackmailer or perhaps the family is Richard's victims?

If you want to go lighter, I'd love Bobbseys mixing it up with the suggested urban legends.

5. The Unknown Ajax - Georgette Heyer
     Any
     Conflicted Loyalties, Dysfunctional Relationships, Family Secrets, Alternate Universe - Canonical Dark AU, Grief/Mourning, Forced Marriage & Consummation, Need to Produce an Heir, One of Us is a Killer

So the Darracotts are really pretty dysfunctional. Just amp it up a little. If you go the one of us is a killer route, make it not Anthea. Or maybe Anthea was forced to wed Vincent before Hugo showed? Or when Lord Darracott goes, how does that affect things?

Although I like Vincent, feel free to make him the heavy/bad guy here. Or maybe Lord Darracott goes off his rocker and starts taking out his heirs?

6. Wait Till Helen Comes - Mary Downing Hahn
    Any
    Haunted House, Haunting, Ghosts, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Child Abuse, vanishing hitchhiker

In the book the caretaker, Mr. Simmons, talks about his cousin Rose who drowned in Harper Pond, and how his sister was convinced that Helen led her to her death. Tell me that story.

One of the first really creepy books I ever read, and it's stuck. In this one, the cemetery caretaker (Mr. Simmons) tells Molly that his sister believes their cousin Rose was lured to her death in Harper Pond. Tell me that story - why was Rose one of the young, friendless girls the ghost preyed on? Or what happens to the other little girls Helen lures into the pond? She says they go away. Maybe Rose becomes a phantom hitchhiker?

7. Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
    Nancy Drew (ND), Eloise Drew (ND), group: Isabel Topham & Ada Topham
    Revenge Backfire, One of Us is a Killer, vanishing hitchhiker, Blackmail, Call is Coming from Inside the House, Psycho Killer at College Urban Legend, Room For One More (Folktale)

So, essentially what I want here is either the Topham sisters attempting to take revenge on Nancy for The Secret of the Old Clock (and failing, obviously) OR Nancy Drew and her aunt Eloise are actually criminals OR Nancy Drew meets various Urban Legends.

Pretty much the above.

8. Greek and Roman Mythology
    Clytemnestra (Hellenistic Religion & Lore), group: Clytemnestra/Agammemnon, group: Clytemnestra/Aegisthus
    One of Us is a Killer, War Trophy / Spoils of War, Alternate Universe - Canonical Dark AU, Hostage Situations, Haunting Enemies, Poisoning, Revenge Sex

This is another of those where the existing story already has enough. I'd like focus on Clytemnestra and these two relationships, involving one of the concepts.

There's so many ways this one could go down. Is Clytemnestra playing Aegisthus - is he playing her? Is he threatening her? Was Agamemmnon an abusive husband? Or, Clytemnestra dealing with Agamemnon's souvenirs? Or AU it and have some fun! Added 8/8/17: I was reading for something else and came upon Sophocles' Electra, which I have to say I identified with as a younger woman. But the thing is Clytemnestra has every reason to be pissed as fuck. Agamemnon leaves for 10 years, kills their daughter before he sails, brings home some spoils of war to cavort with. I'd have drowned his ass as well. Feel free to work "betrayal" in as well!