DNWs and General Likes

Harry Potter

Original Work - Fantasy

Original Works - Speculative Biology

Worldbuilding is my favourite exchange of the year, a chance to engage in my favourite pastime of noodling about how worlds would and do work and to see how other people think worlds would and do work. This year I have chosen to stick to my perennial world building fandom of Harry Potter and to Original Worlds. While, I like everyone have opinions about how things would work I welcome works that contradict these ideas within the DNWs I have provided. Thank you for writing for me, I hope this letter is helpful.

DNWs, Likes and General Notes

General DNWs

Underage (sexual activity that would be Explicit/Mature rated under 18, any sexual/romantic interaction under 13
Snakes or snake-like creatures
Facial injuries particularly burns
Incest excluding cousins
Sexual/romantic relationships between teachers and pupils
Unrequested non-canon relationships except f/f between requested characters
Non-canonical biological/adoptive/temporary children of requested characters
Extended miscommunication in shipfic
Modern/mundane/no magic AUs
All Male Cast

Smut DNWs

m/m or m/f smut
Penis, penis substitutes or penis comparisons - non-realistic or fantasy dildos are fine
Scat
Watersports
Bestiality - A sapient having sex with a non-sapient creature.
Penetration as necessary for sex to be real or intimate

My Smut DNW are things I DNW in an Explicit or Mature rated scene. Background canon m/m or m/f content that isn't above a Mature rating is absolutely fine

Art DNWs

Noodle limbs in characters who have a skeletal structure particularly in motion e.g Adventure Time

General likes

Genres: mystery/procedural, horror - particularly psychological and body horror, sci-fi/fantasy
Gen, femslash,
Unhappy and ambiguous endings
Major character death
Works focused on women and their relationships with other women whether those be romantic, antagonistic or friendly
Similar levels of respect and affection between people in romantic relationships. If they both hate or disrespect each other it’s awesome but when one party respects/likes the other and other party disrespects/dislikes them it’s squicky to me.
Main or POV characters to be in their late twenties at least.
Fantasy worlds based on areas other than the USA or medieval Western Europe
Settings other than the USA
Luscious descriptions of places that engage with all the senses or paint a vivid picture

Smut likes

I’m honestly open to any kink that isn’t mentioned in my DNW list including noncon/dubcon but a few things I really like are listed below
Tentacles (animal, alien or plant)
Interesting anatomy and detailed descriptions of that anatomy in xeno or monster sex
Incompatible bodies in xeno or monster sex
Scars/wrinkles/stretch marks/the evidence of life lived on women’s bodies
Imperfect bodies
In Consentual Sex:

Sex that is awkward or not perfect but is enjoyable and fun

Characters who respect and trust each other and feel comfortable changing their minds, saying no, taking a break, or laughing

Art likes

Landscapes or scenes - I prefer some kind of background to ground the character but am not picky on the level of detail
Pen and ink works,
Black and white,
Sketchy works

Harry Potter (Books 1-7)

Characters Requested: Any or No Characters (HP Books 1-7), Original Female Character (HP Books 1-7)
Worldbuilding Tags Requested:WB: Influence of Muggle culture on Wizarding Culture (HP Books 1-7), WB: Preservation of minority indigenous languages + magic +cultures (HP 1-7), WB: Social disruption across muggle and magic communities post WWII/1st Wizarding War (HP 1-7), WB: The influence of Scots and Scottish Gaelic + standardisation of English on Hogwarts (HP 1-7), WB: Wizarding culture perspective on homosexuality and/or gender identity (HP Books 1-7)
Fandom Specific DNWs: Background or Foreground Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
I am happy to receive a work containing any or none of the nominated characters, but I would prefer works that explore from perspectives we don't see in canon rather than more or Harry's POV and am not looking for shipfic.

I've read the seven books, the Red Nose Day releases of Quidditch through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts, the re-released Fantastic Beasts textbook, and Fairy Tales but haven't seen any of the films and I'm not remotely up to date with Pottermore or any of JKR's tweets since early in the Scottish Independence Campaign.

I generally prefer to work with in the limitations of the canon as we see it, rather than completely ignore anything.

WB: Preservation of minority indigenous languages + magic +cultures (HP 1-7)

The UK has a number of indigenous native languages. The period from the 70s to 90s that the canon covers is a period of rejuvenation for the Insular Celtic languages (Welsh, Cornish, Irish Gaelige, Scottish Gàidhlig, and Manx Gaelg) and Hogwarts is located in one of the areas where Scottish Gaelic and Scots are spoken.

I would love to see an exploration of how Wizarding Britain views these languages:

On the negative side:
- Are they seen as relics of a bygone era that need to be given up for progress and conforming to a national identity?
- Is preservation conflated with ethnonationalism?
- Are regional dialects treated as a sign of lack of education and poverty and Scots lumped in to this?
On a more positive take:
- What preservation efforts has the Wizarding community made?
- Are there magical traditions connected to communities who speak minority languages?
- Have some of the extinct minority languages, like Norn, been preserved?
Or has the presence of a singular school for Wizarding Britain hastened the death of minority languages in the Wizarding communities and resulted in a more homogeneous language landscape?

The influence of Scots and Scottish Gaelic + standardisation of English on Hogwarts (HP 1-7)

Given that the form of standardised English in Wizarding Britain is shown to be the same as the form of standardised English in RL Britain for the era and any deviation from Home Counties English is marked by the use of Funetik Aksents. I would love to explore:

What's it like as Scottish student, travelling not very far from home to go somewhere where the language of instruction isn't even standardised English in your accent?
Are there teachers/staff who are Scots/Scottish Gaelic speakers? What's it like living in Hogwarts and Hogsmead (which is equally Home Counties) as a Scots/Scottish Gaelic speaker?
With how large Hogwarts catchment area is what are the challenges of teaching in standardised English (which even for a lot of first language English students will be far enough off of their dialect to cause misunderstandings)?
While the language of instruction was not the language/dialect of the plurality of the students, how did this impact attendance and teaching? Have inequalities of access persisted to the modern day? Or did the singular school cause the Wizarding community to have a more uniform dialect?
Did the language of instruction change as English standardised? If it changed:
- What was the previous language of instruction?
- When did it change?
- What motivated the change to standard English?
If it didn’t change, what was it like teach in Eald Englisc to a student body who often wouldn’t speak that language and if they did would likely have spoken a different dialect of the language than the dialect of instruction?

WB: Influence of Muggle culture on Wizarding Culture (HP Books 1-7), WB: Social disruption across muggle and magic communities post WWII/1st Wizarding War (HP 1-7

How has the Wizarding Culture in the UK been affected by the parallel Muggle culture where members of that culture regularly join theirs? We see evidence of Sirius exploring Muggle culture as a teen and Arthur's interest in Muggle's but not much in Harry's generation, what's changed? Adoption of Muggle technology seems to have ended in the mid-20th Century, why? Does this also apply to other Muggle ideas?

The existence of Universal Healthcare is strongly implied in OotP and in other communities which had a healthcare system that developed from that of Western Europe in the 1700s this required serious social disruption. We also have far more comfort of Wizards interacting with Muggles pre WWII/1st Wizarding War in the Pensive memories than are indicated as the Second Wizard War kicks off. I would be interested in exploring, how Wizarding Britain got from Dumbledore's unremarkable appearance when visiting Riddle to the Witches and Wizards in GoF or Shacklebolt being so fish out of water when sent as protection for the PM.

WB: Wizarding culture perspective on homosexuality and/or gender identity (HP Books 1-7)

As is implied by my selection of Any or No Character, I'm not particularly interested in exploring a single character's experiences of gender identity or sexuality but am interested in the wider culture and how that culture has changed over time. This is the one request where I am happy to ignore a section of canon or at least place it as an arbitration instead of the norm rather than try to fan wank around it and seriously do not care about JKR's opinions on the subject.

In DH we see Rita Skeeter using the same language and techniques that the Red Top newspapers of the UK used to imply that a subject was gay and to use the lovely homophobic canard of implying that gay men could not be trusted around children. This sucked as the only LGBT representation but it also suggested a major and isolated importation of ideas from Muggle culture. While homosexuality has always existed, our current (RL/Muggle) understanding of sexuality is recent. It comes from Freud and early psychiatry but we see only a manifestation of the understanding of homosexuality not evidence of psychiatry or an engagement with mental health. I would love to see something that considered how the understanding of same sex attraction of the 17th century could have evolved and influenced the British Wizarding Society and how that might conflict with changing Muggle attitudes.

It is implied that the Wizarding World is less misogynistic than the Muggle (although the treatment of this fairly shallow), a lot of the rigidity of acceptable gender expression and gender identity in the real world is tied up in misogyny so it would be interesting to explore how a less misogynistic culture views variation in gender expression and identity.

Original Works- Fantasy

Characters Requested: Original Female Character(s), (OW-Fantasy) Original Non-Binary Character(s), (OW-Fantasy) Original Trans Character(s) (OW-Fantasy)
Worldbuilding Tags Requested: WB: Different theories of magic (OW - Fantasy), WB: In-universe understanding of a hard magic system OW - Fantasy), WB: Scientific approaches to magic (OW - Fantasy), WB: Linguistic study of magical languages (OW - Fantasy), WB: Magical languages (OW - Fantasy)
Mediums Requested: Fanfiction, In-Universe Meta
I love fantasy that focuses on minority and female characters but I prefer for their race, gender, or sexuality not to be the main focus of the work. I encourage the use of other species but prefer for fantasy species to feel distinctly alien in their societies, approach to life and physical forms rather than humans with pointy ears.

WB: Different theories of magic (OW - Fantasy), WB: In-universe understanding of a hard magic system OW - Fantasy), WB: Scientific approaches to magic (OW - Fantasy)

A hard magic system is one where the limits and requirements of the magic system are clearly and consistently defined, with the OG examples of a soft magic system being Lord of the Rings and a hard magic system as anything by Brandon Sanderson. One common piece of advice given to beginner fantasy writers is that while you don't need to present your magic system as a hard magic system in your work, having clearly delineated limits and rules for yourself makes the world feel more real.

I love exploring the in-universe understanding of magic and how that might differ from the realities of magic. I enjoy works where there are multiple cultures that use the same magic but define it very differently or seeing how a cultures understanding of magic changes though time. Seeing the same system described as a gift from god/s with very fuzzy rules versus another that believes it has mapped the limitations and requirement of magic and any failures are due to misapplication by the practitioner could be really cool, especially if the work indicates neither have quite got it right.

One of my of my favourite spec bio tropes is trying to explain magic as a biological process or physical force that some organisms have access to.

WB: Linguistic study of magical languages (OW - Fantasy), WB: Magical languages (OW - Fantasy)

Conlanging and geeking out about languages is one of my hobbies.

I would like to see explored:

How the use of magic with a language transforms the language,
The creation of languages for magical use - what concerns are unique to a magical language?,
How languages created for magical use might be incorporated in to mundane life,
How a language of magic might evolve through use and how the magic itself might be affected by that evolution

Original Works - Speculative Biology

Characters Requested: Any or No Characters (Original Work - Speculative Biology), Original Character(s) (Original Work - Speculative Biology)
Worldbuilding Tags Requested: WB: covert sexual reproduction in sapients other than 2 sexes producing compatible gametes (OW-SB), WB: Effect on culture and development of multiple similar niche sapient species (OW - Spec Bio), WB: Effect on ecology of extremely long orbital periods (OW - Spec Bio), WB: Eusocial sapients (OW - Spec Bio), WB: r-selection sapients (OW - Spec Bio)
Mediums Requested: Fanart, Fanfiction, In-Universe Meta

I like fantasy and alien species to feel distinctly alien in their societies, approach to life and physical forms rather than humans with pointy ears. While I'm never going to object to centaurs or hexapeds, I love me some 8 or more legged creatures.

WB: Eusocial sapients (OW - Spec Bio), WB: r-selection sapients (OW - Spec Bio)

For this set of requests, smut in the service of showing of how reproductive systems work would be awesome. For this request alone I have reduced my Smut DNWs to Scat, Watersports and Bestiality but would prefer distinctly non-human bodies.

One of my favourite things to do with Spec Bio is to look at how different reproductive strategies might affect how a sapient species and their culture might develop as a lot of the more homogeneous features of human cultures are a product of how our reproductive systems work.

Eusocial species like termites, ants, bees, mole rats have very different relationships with other members of their species than for example chimps and bonobos. How would this hierarchical system with innate roles in the hierarchy affect a sapient species?

r-selection species have very quick reproductive cycles, often don't parent their young and produce many young. How might a society develop from a sapient species with this kind of reproductive process? Would they be able to work together to pass on information and develop a civilisation?

WB: covert sexual reproduction in sapients other than 2 sexes producing compatible gametes (OW-SB)

For this set of requests, smut in the service of showing of how reproductive systems work would be awesome. For this request alone I have reduced my Smut DNWs to Scat, Watersports and Bestiality but would prefer distinctly non-human bodies.

This is basically an invitation to do something interesting no matter how probable that's more complex than two sexes with clear sex dimorphism or explicit indication of their sex and fertile window who produce compatible gametes. Whether that's a species with hundreds of sexes, one that produces motile haploids that need to reproduce themselves to create the next diploid generation, the need for a third sex for incubation/conception, or some other idea that catches your fancy.

Definition of terms, in this context:

Convert refers to a reproductive system where in the fertile windows are not displayed through heat cycles or changes to the body that are identifiable through natural senses
2 sexes producing compatible gametes is the type of reproductive systems used by mammals, birds and reptiles.

WB: Effect on culture and development of multiple similar niche sapient species (OW - Spec Bio)

For this request my normal Smut DNWs apply.
I would love to see an exploration of a planet with multiple similar niche sapient species.

How do the different species interact with each other? Do they get on?
How did the species manage to survive while occupying similar niches?
Do civilisations break on species lines? Is speciesism rather than racism a major concern?

WB: Effect on ecology of extremely long orbital periods (OW - Spec Bio)

For this request my normal Smut DNWs apply.
It would be interesting to see the affect on the ecosystem of a planet if it:

Was originally in the habitable zone and the orbit was by some method altered to beyond the frost line to an obit many tens/hundreds of times larger than earths.
Had an extremely eccentric orbit that caused the planet to move into the habitable zone for a short period of the orbital period and then spend tens or hundreds of earth years beyond the frost line
Have a slow planetary spin very close to the orbital period of the planet

How would plant and animal life adapt to the long periods of limited sunlight and sub zero temperatures? What would multicellular life on such a planet look like?

Could a civilisation develop on such a planet? If it could what would the culture of that civilisation look like? How would their mythology explain the long winters?