ionthesparrow (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ionthesparrow) wrote2017-04-23 03:30 pm
ionthesparrow) wrote2017-04-23 03:30 pm
Team USA Exchange 2017 letter!
Hello friend,
I always start these letters with the caveat that if you have a story or idea in mind you’re excited about writing for any of these people, you should run with it. Are you waiting for a “…but”? There is no but. Honest. The stuff I’m asking for is so… niche… lets call it, that if you want to write it, I want to read it. Okay? Okay.
That said, if you’re the type that likes more guidance in these matters, read on.
General Ideas That I Think Would Be Great And Fun With Any of the Pairings/People I Have Listed Below
* Universes with magic: Magic on top of hockey. Magical systems. Elemental magic. Familiars. Battle Magic. Complex rules of magic vs intuitive/feral magic. Dragons.
* Letting Your Inner Nerd Run Free: Secret Nerd stories. Office Space-esque AUs. D&D AUs. E-Sports AU. Maybe someone is trying to stage a coup in their LARPing league, I don’t know, go crazy.
* Bush league stuff: you know the glitz & glamor of being rich in the NHL? Yeah, the opposite of that. Terrible bus rides. Shitty hotel rooms. Broken heat. Four-letter leagues that no one’s heard of. Week to week contracts. Being roped into embarrassing mandatory team promotions to sell tickets. Hoarding coupons. Checking your account balance to find it’s -$0.21.
* Incompetence: People fucking up. Making mistakes. Playing terribly and having a crowd rain beer & popcorn on you. Accidentally turning your teammate into a cat. Plain old putting your foot in your mouth. Striving to be better.
* Dark stuff. Dubious consent. Mind control. Manipulation. Unhealthy levels of codependence. Good People Doing Bad Things for what they believe to be good reasons. Obsession.
* Heist fic. are they getting together for One Last Job? I’m here for it.
* When in doubt: make someone cry.
General Stuff I Tend To Avoid (With the Caveat That If You Have Your Heart Set On It, I Am Perfectly Willing To Be Talked Into It)
* Always-a-girl fic. (I don’t know, it’s just never done much for me)
* AUs of specific movies, TV shows, or video games. This is not so much a “don’t do this”, as it is, I feel like I should mention I watch hardly any movies/TV shows, so if you DO want to write some kind of AU you should treat it like an original universe that needs building because odds are good I will have never seen it.
Specific Pairing Stuff!
Nick Shore/Quentin Shore (+/- Drew Shore)
I’m not even gonna apologize.
The Shores, to me anyway, are the epitome of bland-on-the-outside, possibly-super-weird-on-the-inside.
Nick plays for the LA Kings. Quentin got signed this past season to the Kings’ AHL affiliate in Ontario, CA. What’s their relationship like? Competitive? Co-dependent? Are they overprotective about each other? Are they secretly criminals/serial killers/demon-infested? Do all four Shore brothers magically share a pool of hockey talent that they can distribute amongst each other so that if only one is playing they can make him really good? Drew was overseas but came back to play for Vancouver, was it because he missed his brothers? Was it because he thought they needed more supervision? Was it because he sensed the disruptions their blood-magic was making in the earth’s magnetosphere? Do you want to write the outsider POV of how they’re just weirdly super-duper-creepily co-dependent but no one knows for sure if they’re fucking & everyone super doesn’t want to ask? Do you want to write the one where they’re all corporate espionage experts because they’re just too bland to be remembered? (plus HR who does). Or, was the Shore house basically the Adams Family when they were growing up? I would love that story.
Kyle Rau/Emily Pfalzer (+/- Nick Bjugstad)
Look, I’ll be honest. I’m super into the idea of OT4 Kyle Rau, Nick Bjugstad, Emily Pfalzer & Mike Matheson. Emily & Mikey are a super cute hockey power couple and Nick & Kyle are… well, the same thing.
I choose to nominate Emily/Kyle because I sort of desperately want the story where Kyle & Emily play together on barely-scraping-by-semi-pro-coed league while their boyfriends are riding high in the NHL. Man do I want that. But like, all kinds of variations of that. Maybe they’re platonic best friends. Maybe they’re just fucking because their BFs are long-distance and it’s convenient & easy, and then Oops, Feelings. Maybe Nick & Kyle broke up in high school and now it’s awkward.
Basically any combination of +/- Nick Bjugstad and +/- Mike Matheson works for me.
Derek Forbort/Nick Bjugstad
Okay, this one takes a tiny bit of explaining. Okay. So. Nick Bjugstad’s Uncle Scott played in the NHL, at one point for the LA Kings. When Nick was drafted there was some speculation the Kings would take him (in part for the family connection & in part because the LA Kings love ~big ~bodies. So when the Kings traded picks with Florida to move in the draft, people were like: okay, yes, maybe that’s what’s happening.
Instead, LA drafted Derek Forbort. So instead of getting Nick Bjugstad who for better or worse went straight into the NHL, they got a guy who is famous for taking LITERALLY FOREVER to make his NHL debut and also for texting Paul Bissonnette about his jerking off habits.
So, I, naturally, would like the body swap and/or weird telepathic connection fic. Maybe one day Nick and/or Derek makes wish that they hadn’t been drafted where they were & they end up swapping places. I would love to see Nick Bjugstad interacting with all my favorite Kings and/or Reign players. Why do people keep giving him shit about jacking off? Will he ever find out? How does Derek deal with fielding texts for Kyle Rau? Why are people so surprised when he is Not Nice to someone? Or maybe they got stuck with a weird, telepathic link at the draft and now they have just a kind of causal, long-distance friendship that sometimes gets weird because they’re an inadvertent voyeur anytime the other gets laid? Look, the possibilities for awkwardness are endless. Just what everyone wants!
Kyle Rau/Chad Rau (+/- Nick Bjugstad)
Gosh, I’ve spent a lot of time making Chad the Bad Guy in my fics about Kyle, and you should feel free to continue that trend here. What’s their weird, fucked up, competitive relationship like? Does Chad constantly try to steal Kyle’s boyfriends? Is Chad the prodigal son who comes home from the war and tries to muscle in and take over when Kyle has been literally holding the kingdom together with his fingernails by himself for years? Are they part of a crime family and Kyle is trying to Get on the Straight & Narrow and Chad keeps pulling him back in? Are they super villains and Chad keeps making fun of the fact that Kyle has a crush on super hero Nick Bjugstad? Do Chad and Kyle somehow both end up on the Olympic team together? Do Chad and Nick go to Worlds together?
Nic Dowd
I know you are thinking, “Who?” And possibly also, “Why?”, and very possible also, “Why… abby… why do you always” but hear me out.
Here are some fun facts about Nic Dowd, and why I think a fic about Nic Dowd would be Fun thing to do:
Nic Dowd is from Huntsville, Alabama (!)
Nic Dowd is the second guy from Alabama (!!) to score a goal in the NHL (the first guy played 1941-1943)
Nic Dowd learned how to play in the (growing) Huntsville youth program.
After that, for high school, he went to Culver Military Academy in Indiana
And then after that, Nic Dowd went St Cloud State
Where he was the 2014 Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Which he managed to do while being a biomedical sciences major.
Nic Down wants to be a veterinarian when he grows up, ““I’m interested, definitely, in the medicine side of it, but not with people,” he said. “I don’t even know if with animals, I’m not even sure really, to be honest. I think a science field after hockey, maybe, but we’ll see, things change.”
All this biomedical stuff might have something to do with the fact that his parents are a doctor and nurse. They are originally from England, but Nic and his brothers were born in Alabama.
That would be his two older brothers, who are, respectively 10 and 12 years older than him.
Naturally, both of them played hockey (“We had what would've been a rink if it was cold enough out back. It was a nice little concrete area fenced in.”)
Nic Dowd was drafted by the Kings in the seventh (!) round in 2009. He found out via a text message.
He got to sit next to Mike Richards in Manchester, (“For the situation he was in, I thought he handled it terrific. I was lucky, I got to sit next to him in the locker room. I didn't bother him too much, but I got to listen and talk to him a little bit every day”)
Jon Rosen once wrote an article titled, POTENTIAL FOR CHEMISTRY TO GROW IN BROWN-DOWD DUO?
He has a very cute dog.
His coaches love him, but also this faint praise. Damn. “I think Jagr’s record’s safe for now, the 750 that he has. Nic’s got a ways to go, but it was awesome. There was so much composure shown by Dowder on that goal. He’s played so hard, played so well for us. There’s a real trust factor between the coaches and Nic as a player. I just think it’s great. He’s going to win a lot of people over.”
Okay, so, now aren’t there like five million stories about Nic Dowd you want to read? And write??
Like, for example, the story where Nic actually becomes a vet — fill the office in with the rest of your favs and boom: shenanigans. Or what if fresh out of office candidate school, nerdy Nic Dowd he is assigned to lead a bunch of whatever the magical equivalent of jocks is? Or just a vignette that is really just reality of a nerdy guy amongst OHL children? Or what about Mike Richards And The What Not To Do Mentorship Program? Maybe Mike Richards is a vampire and because OHL culture is so weird all the Manch children think it’s normal, but Nic Dowd is like: um, you guys, it is NOT
I didn’t nominate him with anyone not because I’m opposed to pairing him with someone, but because, you know. I wanted to keep your options open. Pick your fav. Run with it. Be free.
I always start these letters with the caveat that if you have a story or idea in mind you’re excited about writing for any of these people, you should run with it. Are you waiting for a “…but”? There is no but. Honest. The stuff I’m asking for is so… niche… lets call it, that if you want to write it, I want to read it. Okay? Okay.
That said, if you’re the type that likes more guidance in these matters, read on.
General Ideas That I Think Would Be Great And Fun With Any of the Pairings/People I Have Listed Below
* Universes with magic: Magic on top of hockey. Magical systems. Elemental magic. Familiars. Battle Magic. Complex rules of magic vs intuitive/feral magic. Dragons.
* Letting Your Inner Nerd Run Free: Secret Nerd stories. Office Space-esque AUs. D&D AUs. E-Sports AU. Maybe someone is trying to stage a coup in their LARPing league, I don’t know, go crazy.
* Bush league stuff: you know the glitz & glamor of being rich in the NHL? Yeah, the opposite of that. Terrible bus rides. Shitty hotel rooms. Broken heat. Four-letter leagues that no one’s heard of. Week to week contracts. Being roped into embarrassing mandatory team promotions to sell tickets. Hoarding coupons. Checking your account balance to find it’s -$0.21.
* Incompetence: People fucking up. Making mistakes. Playing terribly and having a crowd rain beer & popcorn on you. Accidentally turning your teammate into a cat. Plain old putting your foot in your mouth. Striving to be better.
* Dark stuff. Dubious consent. Mind control. Manipulation. Unhealthy levels of codependence. Good People Doing Bad Things for what they believe to be good reasons. Obsession.
* Heist fic. are they getting together for One Last Job? I’m here for it.
* When in doubt: make someone cry.
General Stuff I Tend To Avoid (With the Caveat That If You Have Your Heart Set On It, I Am Perfectly Willing To Be Talked Into It)
* Always-a-girl fic. (I don’t know, it’s just never done much for me)
* AUs of specific movies, TV shows, or video games. This is not so much a “don’t do this”, as it is, I feel like I should mention I watch hardly any movies/TV shows, so if you DO want to write some kind of AU you should treat it like an original universe that needs building because odds are good I will have never seen it.
Specific Pairing Stuff!
Nick Shore/Quentin Shore (+/- Drew Shore)
I’m not even gonna apologize.
The Shores, to me anyway, are the epitome of bland-on-the-outside, possibly-super-weird-on-the-inside.
Nick plays for the LA Kings. Quentin got signed this past season to the Kings’ AHL affiliate in Ontario, CA. What’s their relationship like? Competitive? Co-dependent? Are they overprotective about each other? Are they secretly criminals/serial killers/demon-infested? Do all four Shore brothers magically share a pool of hockey talent that they can distribute amongst each other so that if only one is playing they can make him really good? Drew was overseas but came back to play for Vancouver, was it because he missed his brothers? Was it because he thought they needed more supervision? Was it because he sensed the disruptions their blood-magic was making in the earth’s magnetosphere? Do you want to write the outsider POV of how they’re just weirdly super-duper-creepily co-dependent but no one knows for sure if they’re fucking & everyone super doesn’t want to ask? Do you want to write the one where they’re all corporate espionage experts because they’re just too bland to be remembered? (plus HR who does). Or, was the Shore house basically the Adams Family when they were growing up? I would love that story.
Kyle Rau/Emily Pfalzer (+/- Nick Bjugstad)
Look, I’ll be honest. I’m super into the idea of OT4 Kyle Rau, Nick Bjugstad, Emily Pfalzer & Mike Matheson. Emily & Mikey are a super cute hockey power couple and Nick & Kyle are… well, the same thing.
I choose to nominate Emily/Kyle because I sort of desperately want the story where Kyle & Emily play together on barely-scraping-by-semi-pro-coed league while their boyfriends are riding high in the NHL. Man do I want that. But like, all kinds of variations of that. Maybe they’re platonic best friends. Maybe they’re just fucking because their BFs are long-distance and it’s convenient & easy, and then Oops, Feelings. Maybe Nick & Kyle broke up in high school and now it’s awkward.
Basically any combination of +/- Nick Bjugstad and +/- Mike Matheson works for me.
Derek Forbort/Nick Bjugstad
Okay, this one takes a tiny bit of explaining. Okay. So. Nick Bjugstad’s Uncle Scott played in the NHL, at one point for the LA Kings. When Nick was drafted there was some speculation the Kings would take him (in part for the family connection & in part because the LA Kings love ~big ~bodies. So when the Kings traded picks with Florida to move in the draft, people were like: okay, yes, maybe that’s what’s happening.
Instead, LA drafted Derek Forbort. So instead of getting Nick Bjugstad who for better or worse went straight into the NHL, they got a guy who is famous for taking LITERALLY FOREVER to make his NHL debut and also for texting Paul Bissonnette about his jerking off habits.
So, I, naturally, would like the body swap and/or weird telepathic connection fic. Maybe one day Nick and/or Derek makes wish that they hadn’t been drafted where they were & they end up swapping places. I would love to see Nick Bjugstad interacting with all my favorite Kings and/or Reign players. Why do people keep giving him shit about jacking off? Will he ever find out? How does Derek deal with fielding texts for Kyle Rau? Why are people so surprised when he is Not Nice to someone? Or maybe they got stuck with a weird, telepathic link at the draft and now they have just a kind of causal, long-distance friendship that sometimes gets weird because they’re an inadvertent voyeur anytime the other gets laid? Look, the possibilities for awkwardness are endless. Just what everyone wants!
Kyle Rau/Chad Rau (+/- Nick Bjugstad)
Gosh, I’ve spent a lot of time making Chad the Bad Guy in my fics about Kyle, and you should feel free to continue that trend here. What’s their weird, fucked up, competitive relationship like? Does Chad constantly try to steal Kyle’s boyfriends? Is Chad the prodigal son who comes home from the war and tries to muscle in and take over when Kyle has been literally holding the kingdom together with his fingernails by himself for years? Are they part of a crime family and Kyle is trying to Get on the Straight & Narrow and Chad keeps pulling him back in? Are they super villains and Chad keeps making fun of the fact that Kyle has a crush on super hero Nick Bjugstad? Do Chad and Kyle somehow both end up on the Olympic team together? Do Chad and Nick go to Worlds together?
Nic Dowd
I know you are thinking, “Who?” And possibly also, “Why?”, and very possible also, “Why… abby… why do you always” but hear me out.
Here are some fun facts about Nic Dowd, and why I think a fic about Nic Dowd would be Fun thing to do:
Nic Dowd is from Huntsville, Alabama (!)
Nic Dowd is the second guy from Alabama (!!) to score a goal in the NHL (the first guy played 1941-1943)
Nic Dowd learned how to play in the (growing) Huntsville youth program.
After that, for high school, he went to Culver Military Academy in Indiana
And then after that, Nic Dowd went St Cloud State
Where he was the 2014 Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Which he managed to do while being a biomedical sciences major.
Nic Down wants to be a veterinarian when he grows up, ““I’m interested, definitely, in the medicine side of it, but not with people,” he said. “I don’t even know if with animals, I’m not even sure really, to be honest. I think a science field after hockey, maybe, but we’ll see, things change.”
All this biomedical stuff might have something to do with the fact that his parents are a doctor and nurse. They are originally from England, but Nic and his brothers were born in Alabama.
That would be his two older brothers, who are, respectively 10 and 12 years older than him.
Naturally, both of them played hockey (“We had what would've been a rink if it was cold enough out back. It was a nice little concrete area fenced in.”)
Nic Dowd was drafted by the Kings in the seventh (!) round in 2009. He found out via a text message.
He got to sit next to Mike Richards in Manchester, (“For the situation he was in, I thought he handled it terrific. I was lucky, I got to sit next to him in the locker room. I didn't bother him too much, but I got to listen and talk to him a little bit every day”)
Jon Rosen once wrote an article titled, POTENTIAL FOR CHEMISTRY TO GROW IN BROWN-DOWD DUO?
He has a very cute dog.
His coaches love him, but also this faint praise. Damn. “I think Jagr’s record’s safe for now, the 750 that he has. Nic’s got a ways to go, but it was awesome. There was so much composure shown by Dowder on that goal. He’s played so hard, played so well for us. There’s a real trust factor between the coaches and Nic as a player. I just think it’s great. He’s going to win a lot of people over.”
Okay, so, now aren’t there like five million stories about Nic Dowd you want to read? And write??
Like, for example, the story where Nic actually becomes a vet — fill the office in with the rest of your favs and boom: shenanigans. Or what if fresh out of office candidate school, nerdy Nic Dowd he is assigned to lead a bunch of whatever the magical equivalent of jocks is? Or just a vignette that is really just reality of a nerdy guy amongst OHL children? Or what about Mike Richards And The What Not To Do Mentorship Program? Maybe Mike Richards is a vampire and because OHL culture is so weird all the Manch children think it’s normal, but Nic Dowd is like: um, you guys, it is NOT
I didn’t nominate him with anyone not because I’m opposed to pairing him with someone, but because, you know. I wanted to keep your options open. Pick your fav. Run with it. Be free.
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