Innumerable Stars Letter

[grundyscribbling]

Dear Innumerable Stars Author,

Hello! I hope you are as excited about the exchange as I am. I want to not restrict your creativity or have you worry about whether or not you've hit everything on some checklist, so I've tried to keep my requests broad. If you have anything you're concerned about or want to run by me before you get too into writing it, feel free to either comment here (I have anonymous comments on and screened) or drop me an anonymous ask on Tumblr (grundyscribbling). As far as ratings go, I will read whatever you're moved to write, so if you're one of those brave folks who has the confidence to write the naughty bits for an exchange, feel free. No matter what, know I am eager to see what you create.

First, the Do Not Wants. Most are not listed because I never read them, but because I either need to be in a particular mood to read them, or because works featuring them are extremely hit or miss for me. (I do not want you to invest your time and energy in something that is anywhere from a toss-up to a long shot in terms of me liking it. The ideal outcome is me enthusiastically telling you and the world how much I love what you wrote!)

DNW

• A/B/O
  
• Smut specific DNWs: scat, watersports, vomit, blood play
  
• Character Bashing - there are very few characters I loathe, so please no character bashing!
  
• Graphic Torture/Violence
  
• Incest (sibling/sibling, parent/child)
  
• 1st or 2nd person narrator
  
• Breaking up canon pairings*
  
• Modern AUs (coffee shop/college/etc)
  
• AUs that grow out of major changes to canon events ("Fëanor lives", "Galadriel dies in one of the Kinslayings", etc)
  
• Genderswaps
  

*As I've said I don't want breaking up of canon pairings, I should mention that Fingon/Maedhros is canon to me. (Should you wish to go there, it's not my usual headcanon, but I do not rule out Gil-galad being Fingon and Maedhros' son.) Gwindor/Finduilas falls in the same 'canon to me' category!

Not Rising to the Level of DNW, but should not be a main focus of the story

• Rape/non-con
  
• Mpreg
  
• Femslash (unless specifically requested - if I asked for a ship that is/includes F/F.)

General Likes

• Textual ghosts/filling in the blanks - Tolkien only gave us names or the bare bones of what happened as often than not. I love seeing these blank spaces filled in.
  
• Complex characters - The only straight-up villain I can stomach is Morgoth, and even he didn't start out evil. (As for Fëanor, Gandalf is still a fan in the late Third Age!) The elves and men we read about are people with all the positives and negatives that entails, and I don't think any of them were sociopaths.
  
• Loyalty/devotion - not just in romantic/sexual relationships, but in familial and friend relationships also.
  
• Meanwhile back in... - Aman? Nargothrond while Finrod is off with Beren? Doriath after Luthien runs away? Anywhere away from the main canon narrative.
  
• Reinterpreting the narrative - an alternate perspective on the main events. What did Cirdan think? How would the events be different told by Men of the First Age?
  
• Worldbuilding - details about locations, seasons, flora/fauna, food/drink, etc are wonderful.
  
• Not being strict about adherence to LaCE
  
• Happy moments, even in otherwise grim times
  
• Interaction between cultures
  
• Logistics/Trade/Manufacturing - where did stuff come from and how did it all work??

Not Strictly Canon Ships
You are in no way obliged to include/not break them up, but these are relationships I'm pretty attached to:
-Caranthir/Haleth
-Ecthelion/Glorfindel
-Elimmire/Findis
-Gildor as Finrod's adopted son
-Finwë/Miriel/Indis