I love good guys

retrotvexchange de-anonymized its stories over the weekend. Some familiar contributors include malinaldarose (ST:TOS "Diplomacy"), greerwatson (MASH "Crabapple Cove"), and senmut (Doctor Who "Invasion of Feelings").

The story that I wrote is:

"The Field Trip"
Battlestar Galactica (1978)
G, gen; 4,639 words
Apollo, Athena, Starbuck, Cassiopeia; cameos for Boxy and Rigel

My recipient requested action/adventure/plot and a look into Apollo and Athena's sibling relationship. The idea arrived as two episodes' worth, but it arrived late, and became thirty minutes' worth. I feel that was a blessing in disguise. If I'd had more time to work on the story, the way to go should have been deeper, not wider, and I might not have realized that.

The retrotvexchange mod has announced that stories will release 2 hours earlier than originally scheduled. Read the post. Check a countdown timer.

If you're editing up to the deadline, this news may be of interest. :-)

Dear RetroTVExchange Author:

Hi! Thank you for sharing these marvelous retro fandoms! I’m sure that whatever you most want to celebrate in these characters and their worlds will make a lovely story! If you’d like more story thoughts from me, read on.

Some feelings across fandoms

I often love best stories with the feel of canon, whether as a scene, episode, or prequel/sequel that could have been added seamlessly, or as a different choice or chance that would have branched and led on from canon to something new.

With a few dear exceptions, I usually prefer gen to romance. Mystery, drama, history, reflection, confrontation, growth, discovery, tragedy! (I opt in for tragedy including requested character death, as long as the loss is shown to be meaningful to the survivors; I often like stories of continuing on from grief.) And, of course, the quiet times between adventures! For romance, I have fairly vanilla tastes. Whether m/f or f/f or m/m as best suits the characters, I especially value fidelity, mutuality, and complementarity, where the parties each bring strengths and weaknesses to the relationship such as to grow stronger together than apart. (I prefer no polyamory for these characters, please.)

Where applicable — not every character fits! — I especially love protagonists who incidentally, without thinking they’re doing something special, show that they value others highly — that is, not only their own loved ones, but the dignity and abundant life of all people, especially those on the margins.

Please do feel free to mix and match the requested characters with other appropriate characters to build your story as you need. Where I’ve requested “[Character] & none,” you need not literally limit the story to only the one requested character inside her or his own head; just please give the requested character the lead and focus.

On dislikes: Villains can be redeemed — and, in tragedies, can win — but I don’t enjoy stories that defend or celebrate evil. (FK note: I understand vampirism as an evil.) I’m happy to follow two competing ideals pitted against each other, and to cry over a good that is lost, but please don't ask me to root for cruelty, selfishness, domination, or other evils.

Some fandom & character-specific feelings

( D&DC: Dungeons & Dragons (the ‘80s cartoon) )
( HL: Highlander: The Series )
( BSG78: Battlestar Galactica (the original) )
( FK: Forever Knight )


Do Not Want (DNW)

( Do Not Want (DNW) )

If that isn’t far more than enough ;-) I have a standing likes and dislikes post. Check it out.

Thank you very much!

I can nominate 2 more fandoms in retrotvexchange. Hmmm. Ballykissangel or Monarch of the Glen? Thundarr the Barbarian or Skeleton Warriors or Robotech or Darkwing Duck? I would read all of these, but cannot write most of these, so perhaps not.

malinaldarose, it looks like no one has yet nominated Earth: Final Conflict, but there are several days to go. It concluded in May 2002, so it qualifies.

Yesterday, I learned about a new fanfic gift exchange, retrotvexchange, which reminds me of the defunct exchanges myoldfandom and oldschoolfic. Specifically, this exchange celebrates television canons that closed no later than the 2001-2002 season.* Pretty much all scripted fiction genres are eligible (an exception is variety shows).

retrotvexchange requires a minimum of 1K words or graphic-art equivalent. Participants request and offer 3-10 fandoms. They plan an accompanying prompt-challenge fest, to accommodate folks who have too few eligible fandoms for the exchange.

Schedule:

• Nominate: July 15 – 22
• Sign up: July 26 – August 1
• Due: September 19
• Reveal: October 2 (or as soon as all exchange creators have a gift in queue).

* In the US, a broadcast television "season" traditionally aligns roughly with the school year, mid-August to mid-June, especially encompassing the November, February, and May "sweeps" that were the lifeblood of broadcast ratings. July "sweeps" were omitted, from the traditional belief that folks watched too little television in the summer for advertisers to care.