Dear Spacer (2026)

[opalmatrix]

Thank you so much for writing me a tale, Space Friend! Here are a lot of optional details about what I like and don't like in a story, plus some prompts for the fandoms.

Preferences

I Don't Like:

• Sickly-sweet, coy, cutesy romantic stuff (anything in the "tee-hee-hee, is he looking at me?" category is definitely out)
• Extensive use of epithets, or epithets that don't match the character POV (no one should think of his or her long-time lover as "the green-eyed man," for example): these will throw me right out of a story (for more about epithets, see this)
• Characters acting out of character, especially if the purpose is to force them into a relationship (doubly bad if that relationship is romantic or sexual)
• By-the-numbers, every-action-described sex (a/k/a Ikea Erotica - link goes to TVTropes). Note that actual sex is fine (I love me some sexy stories) — just don't like it when the descriptions turn into a set of exact stage directions.
• Mpreg, rape, forced sex (including sex pollen and fuck-or-die), hatesex. Dubcon is OK, especially the sort when the reluctant partner really wants the other person but is just not quite feeling ready yet or doesn't think se wants it in this particular way but gets off on it anyway.
• Humiliation or betrayal (without a damn good plot reason) of a character by a friend or lover
• A/B/O and related kinks/tropes, incest (unless canon), scat/watersports/emetophilia, tentacles, non-human genitalia.

I Like:

• Strong characterization (including character-appropriate dialog: no earthy, uneducated characters using $100 words)
• Positive emotional payoffs that are well-earned
• Passions that are strong without being mushy/fluffy
• Moments of realization — satori
• Friendships - although I am a romantic person, not every relationship must be romantic (I do like the trope of friends becoming lovers, however)
• Wry and even dark humor in the course of a more serious story
• And I like any of the following "cool bits":
  • hurt-comfort
  • senses of smell and touch and memories attached to them
  • warm and oversized bathrobes/dressing gowns or sweaters/jerseys
  • someone's profile silhouetted against the light
  • impulsive acts of valor (especially on behalf of the weak or an underdog)
  • drops of water clinging to hair and/or skin
  • leaning comfortably against a friend or lover; feeling them chuckle or speak
  • food porn
  • romantic partners who are both competent
  • whispered admissions of love or forgiveness
  • finding in a fight that one's ally feels like a protective wall
  • family-of-choice, nakama, or True Companions
  • cynics with secretly soft hearts
  • In-jokes among family members or close friends
  • culture clashes, and their resolutions
  • shopping or low-tension planning scenes, where people are working together to pick things out
  • caper-type operations: crazy elaborate plans that work out well in the end, especially if parts of them are silly/funny
  • discovering that something significant to the plot was "hidden in plain sight"- the characters just didn't realize why and/or how it was important
  • unexpected gifts that turn out to be Just Right
  • snark, whether on the part of the narrator or from a character (this should not be *mean*, just apt and funny)
  • a high-control/driven person being persuaded to slow down and enjoy
  • "brick jokes" — a running joke that characters bring up at least a couple of times to break the tension.
  • slice of life: not everything needs to be about the end of the world as we know it

I'm quite content with both straight and gay relationships. I do tend to ship the canon relationships, unless it's a character who has had no clear relationships shown in the story. I'm not comfortable with sexual relationships shown in children under the age of, say, 14 or so, and even then it's better in context (teens with other teens or in a societal setting where girls expect to marry by 16-18 anyway).

Fandoms and Prompts

Alliance-Union - C. J. Cherryh

My main attachments to these books are the deep and well-hidden tenderness of friends and comrades, played out against the uncaring depths of space. I'm deeply attached to all the characters I've specified as individuals or in relationships. So feel free to beat them up (I love hurt/comfort) but please don't kill anyone off for real/permanently.

Prompt ideas:

• Paul Dekker/Meg Kady, a relationship through time: Just let me try, I will be good to you / Just let me try, and I will be there for you / I'll show you why, you're so much more than good enough.
   
• Dekker and his obsession with flying: I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings / Coming down is the hardest thing.
   
• The war has wound down, and life is almost routine. Then an Earth Company jump carrier appears, pristine and unscarred, to challenge the Merchanters' Alliance. And no one on Norway recognizes its name.
   
• An injury or illness puts Signy out of action (for the moment), and her comrades and crew have to carry on in the crisis: The world is falling apart, he's getting older, and there's a funeral in his heart.

If none of these appeal, pull some "cool bits" from my list above, and go to town.

Chanur Series - C. J. Cherryh

The strength of bonds among the characters, and the constant feeling that something could go wrong at any moment (and the inimical forces include space itself as well as political factions) are what keeps me coming back.

Prompt ideas:

• The expansion of the Kif (or perhaps even worse, the Knn) seems to open the door to adding Humanity to the Compact. Pyanfar and Jik (and their crews) are deep into the process.
   
• Glory days: before was ever a captain, there were the cousins, Py and Hal, Chur and Geran. A youthful adventure starts to make them into what they will be.
   
• Tully's more alone than almost any man ever. What finally brought him together with the Anify sisters?
   
• Pyanfar assumes that her allies around the Compact understand her relationship with Khym, but do they? A diplomatic mission is on the verge of failure because a faction misreads Py's devotion to her mate.

If none of these appeal, pull some "cool bits" from my list above, and go to town.

Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie

The fact that Leckie manages to convey a strong sense of fellowship among minds that present as unemotional is amazing, and as someone who goes hard for families of choice and fire-forged fellowship, I really appreciate this.

Prompt ideas:

• Breq and the Mercy Mercy of Kalr end up in a system where something terrible has happened to the station. But the station core might be recoverable. The action includes rescuing the core, bringing it back to Athoek, and the operation of restoring the core, somehow.
   
• A ship defects from the Radch and shows up in Athoek's space. Breq, Mercy of Kalr, and Athoek Station itself have to determine whether this encounter is what it seems, or whether it's a subterfuge to disrupt or even destroy the Republic of Two Systems.
   

If none of these appeal, pull some "cool bits" from my list above, and go to town.

Teixcalaan Series - Arkady Martine

Mahit starts out as a pretty cerebral character&emdash;her passions are all directed at Teixcalaanli culture&emdash;but she doesn't end up that way. Is it the presence of Yskandr in her mind that melts the ice? Or simply the effects of the humans on whom she ends up depending?

I'm also fascinated with the Teixcalaanli war-ships, with their built-in gardens, and also with the tiny scout-ships, with their seemingly mind-melded pilots (and, for that matter, the Sunlit, but they are planet-bound, as far as I know).

Prompt ideas:

• Mahit or Three Seagrass (or both!) end up in the scout ships, because that's the best way to work with some new aliens.
   
• Mahit and Three Seagrass, now considered a powerful resource, also become a bargaining chip and are shanghaied by a warship commanded by a rebellious admiral.
   

If none of these appeal, pull some "cool bits" from my list above, and go to town.

Machineries of Empire Series - Yoon Ha Lee

Prompt ideas:

• Cheris, Jedao Two, and Hemiola in a little ship - and they end up someplace unexpected. What happens? Is Jedao Two useful - or not?
   
• Mikodez goes off to Shuos Academy, and Istradez -- doesn't. What happens to Istra, and how does she feel about it?
   
• Zehun reconciles themselves to the incoming class at Shuos Academy … except for this Mikodez kid who keeps showing up where they least expect him.

If none of these appeal, pull some "cool bits" from my list above, and go to town.

The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells

Prompt ideas:

• Murderbot starts to realize that his copies are in some sense his siblings and/or children; some sort of adventure/incident with SecUnit 3 develops this side of both of them. ART takes an interest; perhaps Holism does too.
   
• Murderbot starts to appreciate that emotional damage is still damage, at least as it applies to Mensah. It's not so interested in applying this to itself, despite what it's learned from its sessions with Bharadwaj. ART takes an interest, because of course it does.
   
• How exactly do Iris and Peri grow up together? Is Perihelion a ship from the beginning, or some sort of AI in a box?
   
• It's supposed to be an easy mission, and Amena and Iris have some great plans for a media-consuming party. Peri/ART is in, but SecUnit is still making excuses. And then something complicated happens, because this is The Murderbot Diaries.

If none of these appeal, pull some "cool bits" from my list above, and go to town.