Dear Yuletide Writer!
Oct. 27th, 2019 10:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eglantiereDear Yuletide writer, hello! Here’s to the best time of the year, and to hoping you’ll find something to inspire you and make your writing a lovely experience below. I’ve tried to provide some prompts to give you a general idea of what I like, but if nothing speaks to you, feel free to mix and match! I love those fandoms and I’m sure there are hundreds of ideas and scenarios that I did not think about, and I want to see them! As long as my DNWs are met, ODAOs are fine and good.
Things I like:
- Hurt/comfort in all its forms is always a sure bet. All the hurt/comfort, you can't do wrong (or be too hardcore) with it. Physical h/c, emotional h/c, captivity scenarios, caretaking, whipping, dungeons, bullet wounds, wilderness survival, whatever. I love hurt/comfort mostly within the context of a relationship (not necessarily romantic - filial ties, friendship, brothers-in-arms comradeship, whichever fits), as an opening for one character to be hurt and for the other to be outraged/terrified/comforting on their behalf. The only thing I'm particular about is who in a particular gets whumped.
- Found families, tight friendships, us-against-the-world, people finding and keeping each other, providing kindness and warmth against the dark.
- Hope and kindness, Clair universes, stories where the entropy tries its hardest but doesn't win.
- Loyalty in all forms! From ritualized (oaths, kneeling, ring-kissing, knights and bodyguards and henchmen and so on) to more casual ways, like standing up for your friends.
- Self-sacrifice (metaphorical and quite literal) and martyrdom (ditto).
- Tropey AUs - space opera! high fantasy! historical! pirates!
- Outsider POVs.
DNWs:
- Hurt no comfort
- Partner betrayal of any kind or infidelity
- Unhappy endings and permanent character death
- A/B/O, hurtcomfortverse, any other 'verses with built-in biology-based inequality
- Hanahaki AUs and variations thereof
- Soulmate AUs
- Mundane AUs
- PWPs
And some links, if you're so inclined:
- My fics at![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
egelantier
- My bookmarks
- Exchange sign-ups, Dear Writer letters, recs etc.
The Tarot Sequence - K. D. Edwards
Rune Saint John (The Tarot Sequence - K. D. Edwards)
Brand (The Tarot Sequence - K. D. Edwards)
Addam Saint Nicholas (The Tarot Sequence - K. D. Edwards)
This book was a bit of unexpected delight I've caught in 2018, and so much fun, on so many different levels - from it's Chronicles of Amber-reminiscent setting to the narrative voice to relationships within. I am especially invested in the idea of the Companion bond, and whatever it entails, and the way Rune and Brand sort this particular thing between themselves: where Brand is Rune's companion, and a bodyguard, and a partner, and a best friend, and a nagging caretaker, and a first and last line of defense, and a deeply treasured loved one, and everything in-between, and the most important relationship there could be.
The relationship between them as-is is pretty much perfect; the addition of Addam both complicates and enriches things (will Addams be the one to help them overcome their Issues and join romantically as well? Will Brand consider Addam to be important for Rune's happiness and so worthy of his protection and self-sacrifice? Will Addam and Brand find other things in common than their mutual love for Rune?)
Some prompts, just to get things rolling!
- The comforting aftermath to The Whipping Incident in Rune and Brand's backstory, with Brand being more or less Rune's literal whipping boy: how did they cope with it, what happened afterward, how did their standing in the household change after that, what happened?
- And in general, Rune and Brand as traumatized, bereaved children thrust into the unfamiliar and dangerous House, turning to each other to cope with their lives.
- Rune and Brand before the beginning of the book, doing their magical mercenary thing: casefics! hijinks! getting into trouble and getting each other out of trouble! Patching each other up after especially hairy cases! Five times Brand Got Hurt Protecting Rune And One Time He Didn't!
- Brand is kidnapped by Rune's enemies to force Rune to do their bidding, and this Does Not Go As Planned.
- (And as a corollary to such scenarios as above, Rune raining down the Holy Vengeance on Brand's behalf - while Brand is horrified and angry at Rune for risking himself - is a plus in literally any story.)
- My hands-down favorite part of the book is Rune telling Lord Tower he will walk if Lord Tower ever abandons Brand to danger again: I wonder if he'll ever have a case to follow through with his commitment? How would that happen and what the fallout would be?
- There also was this moment where Brand got momentarily mindfucked by Ciaran and Rune had reacted very strongly: had something like this happened before? Or could it happen again?
- Some kind of outsider POV on their relationship, especially in the moment of high danger, would be pretty awesome.
- Addam and Brand teaming up for some reason and Brand risking himself to protect Addam, either for Rune's sake or, unexpectedly to himself, for his own.
The Collared Knight - Tara McGolden
Farnesse (The Collared Knight)
This book (a cleverly done ot3 slavefic with WWI-inspired magical setting) is one of my top 2018 black horse favorites, and I'm hugely excited about the chance to request a fic for it. Full confession: Farnesse is my favorite, in all his ridiculously macho heroic glory, and while the book did a great job of slowly deconstructing his martyr fantasies, my id is not that far from Farnesse's, and what I crave is a chance for him to gloriously lay his soul and body down for his loves' sake. And so:
- Literally any variation on Accepting Torture To Protect His Loved Ones, as it says on a tin.
- Accepting some public and unpleasant punishment so Lio won't have to / Ralston's position won't suffer.
- Same but Ralston is the one who has to hurt him, and Farnesse practically sweet-talks him into it.
- ...Those shock collars and use thereof were criminally underused in canon, I'm just saying.
- Getting kidnapped by Ralston's enemies and steadfastly refusing to be their bargaining chip.
- Deciding, for some reason, Lio and Ralston are very much suited to each other and Better Off Without Him, and subtly trying to distance himself for their sake - preferably resolved by some flashy and physically horrible happenstance, yes please.
- More dealing with his war trauma PTSD please.
- Going undercover with people who think he will turn on Ralston, and getting into trouble.
- Hiding injuries / illness / harassment from somebody else in the castle and trying to deal with it by himself.
- A scene with Ralston going wrong, possibly due to inadvertently hitting on aforementioned PTSD war trauma, and the aftermath thereof.
- Some nebulous trouble in their post-canon Canadian Snack: snowed in, injured while out, harassed by the general population, fighting off intruders, getting sick, trading himself for the food on the sly after a particularly bad harvest, whatever.
...And any other option that comes to mind.
バチカン奇跡調査官 | Vatican Kiseki Chousakan | Vatican Miracle Examiner (Anime)
Hiraga Josef Kou (Vatican Miracle Examiner (Anime))
Roberto Nicholas (Vatican Miracle Examiner (Anime))
VME continues to be my delight and joy; I'm reusing my previous requests because they already netted me some great fics and I want more. So; VME being sparkly, completely ridiculous, somehow deadly serious despite being completely ridiculous, and full of gorgeous, warm, feelings-filled devotion between Roberto and Hiraga, and I loved each of its weird and wonderful story beats. It's also hella whiplashy in tone, and I guess my prompts will reflect that. In general: bring on candlelit dinners, creepy and twisted cases, true and false miracles, Roberto whump, pining, science, tears and hugs.
In particular:
- Casefics, casefics, all the casefics, all the deliciously weird casefics with all the life-and-death situations you can think of. Cave-ins! Blizzards! Death traps rooms! Ambushes and kidnappings! Cuddling for warmth! Protecting each other! More snakebites and weird amazing hallucinations! Evil cultists! Helpful application of sulphuric acid!
- Alternately, I have this craving for the strange domesticity of their Vatican life; maybe Roberto and Hiraga moving together and navigating the shores of their life together? Dinners and shopping and taking care and this easy, benign understanding they have for each other (honestly, I was dead and gone on the canon from their very scene together, where Hiraga admits to playing his game for the whole night in hopes that it would somehow help his little brother, and Roberto just going with it without missing a beat - and then, well, going to clean and iron for Hiraga, as one does).
- For some reason, I'd really love an old-fashioned sickfic for this fandom. Fever, pain, tender care, gentle blanket-tucking… It just feels like it would really suit. (Somehow I feel it combines well with the previous option)
- I'm sure this wasn't the last time Julia had tried to convert them both to his case, and the events in the finale will most definitely come back to haunt them. So, how?
- Somebody once described Roberto's feelings for Hiraga as 'pining while already being in a committed relationship,' and just. Yes. Hiraga is at once so obviously full of love, and so oblivious of it, that there are endless possibilities for angst here, and I want all of them.- …on unrelated note, I feel like this is the canon where I can actually mention, in Yuletide, that I have a crucifixion kink a mile wide. So, I have a crucifixion (h/c) kink a mile wide, and Roberto is an ideal candidate.
- Bonus option: If you like to serious-ify a cracky canon, go for it! The show uses a very anime kind of Catholicism, mostly aesthetics and trappings, but I'm fascinated with how injecting a bit of the real deal will change things (or not): the actual everyday application of faith, you know? For example, we know from the novels that Hiraga is a true believer but Roberto mostly treats his position as a job that gives him access to old books; I wonder if the canon events changed it, for both of them.
If you like Lauren, I'm of the opinion that Lauren makes everything better (and makes for an ideal outsider's POV). Ditto Bill.
Fandom-specific DNW caveat: For me, the allure of this relationship, given that both of them are priests, is that they are completely devoted to each other, but they're also at peace with being celibate. I'd prefer to see the same setup in fic - so, no sex between them, and also no angst about having to be celibate.
The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
Maia Drazhar
I absolutely adore this book, a story of a previously powerless, painfully self-conscious, horribly isolated person doing his utmost and careful best to do what he has to do. Maia's, at his core, first and foremost kind, and he brings this kindness with him as a banner and as a shield, into a situation over which he has little control and in which he has initially no allies, and sets out to reclaim his empire, one person at a time.
Some prompts that come to mind (but by no means feel constrained by them):
- A development of his relationship with Cala and Beshelar and navigating further the friends/nonecharei divide; and ditto for Maia and Csevet.
- Politics! We saw Maia growing into his role of a ruler; how would he look in it after several years, what project would he undertake after the bridge is built? What civil reforms will he usher in?
- Maia and his relationship with his mother's religion: would it become more mainstream in the court, in Maia's wake? Or would it always be something deeply private and guarded for him?
- Maia on a diplomatic visit to his grandfather, navigating both the cultural divide and the family relationship.
- Maia and Csethiro, exploring and defining their marriage, be it romantic in earnest or something of a more complicated, platonic arrangement.
- Maia in peril: a kidnapping! A dangerous journey! Another, more successful attack within the court! A lingering sickness! A riding accident! A sea journey!
- Maia's birthdays over the years.
Fandom-specific DNW caveat: pretty much every pairing is fine, but please no alluding to Maia being unhappy with Csethiro (Maia/somebody with him and Csethiro being in a peaceful lavender arrangement is fine).
Psmith - P. G. Wodehouse
Rupert Psmith
Mike Jackson
Those books are my perennial favorites; I adore the kind hilarity of them, and the intensity of the relationship (whether it's taken as friendship or romance). Psmith is one of my most favorite characters of all time. I love his surety and his unflappability, his low key but endless loyalty and protectiveness, the way he manages to warp the world around himself but does it with benevolence, the way the narrative pokes fun at him but allows him to stand unhumiliated. And I love that Mike is his foil but never the butt of the narrative joke, that Mike's intrinsic value is never questioned or doubted, by the text or by each other. I love how different they are and how wholeheartedly they embrace each other nevertheless, neither trying to change or undermine each other, how much they just - adore and accept and support each other.
And so!
- "Like canon but more of it": yes good please. Especially if it includes some version of friends-to-lovers, pining and happy endings.
- Futurefic: becoming adults together, growing old together, their lives changing and evolving and still orbiting around each other.
- ...Having said what I did about Psmith self-surety, I would also read a lot about Psmith secretly having doubts about himself and his own worth in relation to Mike and trying to let Mike go for his own good (family, career, etc.), and Mike having none of it.
- And also literally all the stories about Psmith getting into some trouble he can't get himself out of (ideally on Mike's behalf), and trying to hide it or make light of it, and Mike becoming the rescuer and taking care of him. I always thought that Psmith would make an awesome 'pay no attention to my troubles, have a languid anecdote' kind of iron woobie - iron woobie in a velvet glove? Is it a thing? In any case, yes.
- (For example, I could give or take Mike's domestic happiness in later books, but I loved Psmith's descent from rich heirdom to self-supporting poverty and the way he tried to deal with it by himself and without burdening anybody. Take it to the extreme, and I'll be here with bells on.)
- But also something with a more action/adventure bent and injuries, kidnappings, and accident (see: Psmith, Journalist, only sans racism and Mike is actually there).
- Psmith Hides A Supernatural Secret (he's an elf! he's a selkie! he's an alien!) And Why Would Mike Care No Really.
- The super self-indulgent slavefic option: Mike the bewildered owner rescuing a languid, seemingly unconcerned slave!Psmith and slowly discovering the depths of trouble that will bring? Psmith the jaded, high-ranking slave taking a newly enslaved Mike under his wing and getting into all the trouble trying to keep him safe (and, being Psmith, probably engineering a revolution in the process?)
- Also all the setting AUs! Be it high fantasy or space opera or high sea piracy, those two trampling through it would be amazing.
- A completely optional bonus cracky option: if you like crossovers, Mike and Psmith in literally any canon I've ever requested would be incredible, be it a pastiche fusion or them just dropping into whatever it is, solving some particular thorny issue in their inimitable style, and dropping out.
Fuck Them All - Mylène Farmer (Music Video)
It's a weird and gorgeous music video you can find here, that I've loved for a very long time. I love the weird fantasy/postapocalyptic vibe of it, and I would really love a fic that explores the possibilities within. Who's the woman in the cage to the woman with the swords? Are they twins, are they the same person, are they friends, enemies, lovers? Why is one of them trapped and is the other trying and failing to save her, or dooming her? How did they come to be here? What happens in truth - with the cage, and the sword, and the crows - and can it be done differently? Can the cage woman survive, or does she have to die so the other one might fight the crows and be free?
This portion of letter is low on prompts, because I don't really want any particular version of the story - I want all of them that can come to you, and I'll be happy for any of them.
Things I like:
- Hurt/comfort in all its forms is always a sure bet. All the hurt/comfort, you can't do wrong (or be too hardcore) with it. Physical h/c, emotional h/c, captivity scenarios, caretaking, whipping, dungeons, bullet wounds, wilderness survival, whatever. I love hurt/comfort mostly within the context of a relationship (not necessarily romantic - filial ties, friendship, brothers-in-arms comradeship, whichever fits), as an opening for one character to be hurt and for the other to be outraged/terrified/comforting on their behalf. The only thing I'm particular about is who in a particular gets whumped.
- Found families, tight friendships, us-against-the-world, people finding and keeping each other, providing kindness and warmth against the dark.
- Hope and kindness, Clair universes, stories where the entropy tries its hardest but doesn't win.
- Loyalty in all forms! From ritualized (oaths, kneeling, ring-kissing, knights and bodyguards and henchmen and so on) to more casual ways, like standing up for your friends.
- Self-sacrifice (metaphorical and quite literal) and martyrdom (ditto).
- Tropey AUs - space opera! high fantasy! historical! pirates!
- Outsider POVs.
DNWs:
- Hurt no comfort
- Partner betrayal of any kind or infidelity
- Unhappy endings and permanent character death
- A/B/O, hurtcomfortverse, any other 'verses with built-in biology-based inequality
- Hanahaki AUs and variations thereof
- Soulmate AUs
- Mundane AUs
- PWPs
And some links, if you're so inclined:
- My fics at
- My bookmarks
- Exchange sign-ups, Dear Writer letters, recs etc.
The Tarot Sequence - K. D. Edwards
Rune Saint John (The Tarot Sequence - K. D. Edwards)
Brand (The Tarot Sequence - K. D. Edwards)
Addam Saint Nicholas (The Tarot Sequence - K. D. Edwards)
This book was a bit of unexpected delight I've caught in 2018, and so much fun, on so many different levels - from it's Chronicles of Amber-reminiscent setting to the narrative voice to relationships within. I am especially invested in the idea of the Companion bond, and whatever it entails, and the way Rune and Brand sort this particular thing between themselves: where Brand is Rune's companion, and a bodyguard, and a partner, and a best friend, and a nagging caretaker, and a first and last line of defense, and a deeply treasured loved one, and everything in-between, and the most important relationship there could be.
The relationship between them as-is is pretty much perfect; the addition of Addam both complicates and enriches things (will Addams be the one to help them overcome their Issues and join romantically as well? Will Brand consider Addam to be important for Rune's happiness and so worthy of his protection and self-sacrifice? Will Addam and Brand find other things in common than their mutual love for Rune?)
Some prompts, just to get things rolling!
- The comforting aftermath to The Whipping Incident in Rune and Brand's backstory, with Brand being more or less Rune's literal whipping boy: how did they cope with it, what happened afterward, how did their standing in the household change after that, what happened?
- And in general, Rune and Brand as traumatized, bereaved children thrust into the unfamiliar and dangerous House, turning to each other to cope with their lives.
- Rune and Brand before the beginning of the book, doing their magical mercenary thing: casefics! hijinks! getting into trouble and getting each other out of trouble! Patching each other up after especially hairy cases! Five times Brand Got Hurt Protecting Rune And One Time He Didn't!
- Brand is kidnapped by Rune's enemies to force Rune to do their bidding, and this Does Not Go As Planned.
- (And as a corollary to such scenarios as above, Rune raining down the Holy Vengeance on Brand's behalf - while Brand is horrified and angry at Rune for risking himself - is a plus in literally any story.)
- My hands-down favorite part of the book is Rune telling Lord Tower he will walk if Lord Tower ever abandons Brand to danger again: I wonder if he'll ever have a case to follow through with his commitment? How would that happen and what the fallout would be?
- There also was this moment where Brand got momentarily mindfucked by Ciaran and Rune had reacted very strongly: had something like this happened before? Or could it happen again?
- Some kind of outsider POV on their relationship, especially in the moment of high danger, would be pretty awesome.
- Addam and Brand teaming up for some reason and Brand risking himself to protect Addam, either for Rune's sake or, unexpectedly to himself, for his own.
The Collared Knight - Tara McGolden
Farnesse (The Collared Knight)
This book (a cleverly done ot3 slavefic with WWI-inspired magical setting) is one of my top 2018 black horse favorites, and I'm hugely excited about the chance to request a fic for it. Full confession: Farnesse is my favorite, in all his ridiculously macho heroic glory, and while the book did a great job of slowly deconstructing his martyr fantasies, my id is not that far from Farnesse's, and what I crave is a chance for him to gloriously lay his soul and body down for his loves' sake. And so:
- Literally any variation on Accepting Torture To Protect His Loved Ones, as it says on a tin.
- Accepting some public and unpleasant punishment so Lio won't have to / Ralston's position won't suffer.
- Same but Ralston is the one who has to hurt him, and Farnesse practically sweet-talks him into it.
- ...Those shock collars and use thereof were criminally underused in canon, I'm just saying.
- Getting kidnapped by Ralston's enemies and steadfastly refusing to be their bargaining chip.
- Deciding, for some reason, Lio and Ralston are very much suited to each other and Better Off Without Him, and subtly trying to distance himself for their sake - preferably resolved by some flashy and physically horrible happenstance, yes please.
- More dealing with his war trauma PTSD please.
- Going undercover with people who think he will turn on Ralston, and getting into trouble.
- Hiding injuries / illness / harassment from somebody else in the castle and trying to deal with it by himself.
- A scene with Ralston going wrong, possibly due to inadvertently hitting on aforementioned PTSD war trauma, and the aftermath thereof.
- Some nebulous trouble in their post-canon Canadian Snack: snowed in, injured while out, harassed by the general population, fighting off intruders, getting sick, trading himself for the food on the sly after a particularly bad harvest, whatever.
...And any other option that comes to mind.
バチカン奇跡調査官 | Vatican Kiseki Chousakan | Vatican Miracle Examiner (Anime)
Hiraga Josef Kou (Vatican Miracle Examiner (Anime))
Roberto Nicholas (Vatican Miracle Examiner (Anime))
VME continues to be my delight and joy; I'm reusing my previous requests because they already netted me some great fics and I want more. So; VME being sparkly, completely ridiculous, somehow deadly serious despite being completely ridiculous, and full of gorgeous, warm, feelings-filled devotion between Roberto and Hiraga, and I loved each of its weird and wonderful story beats. It's also hella whiplashy in tone, and I guess my prompts will reflect that. In general: bring on candlelit dinners, creepy and twisted cases, true and false miracles, Roberto whump, pining, science, tears and hugs.
In particular:
- Casefics, casefics, all the casefics, all the deliciously weird casefics with all the life-and-death situations you can think of. Cave-ins! Blizzards! Death traps rooms! Ambushes and kidnappings! Cuddling for warmth! Protecting each other! More snakebites and weird amazing hallucinations! Evil cultists! Helpful application of sulphuric acid!
- Alternately, I have this craving for the strange domesticity of their Vatican life; maybe Roberto and Hiraga moving together and navigating the shores of their life together? Dinners and shopping and taking care and this easy, benign understanding they have for each other (honestly, I was dead and gone on the canon from their very scene together, where Hiraga admits to playing his game for the whole night in hopes that it would somehow help his little brother, and Roberto just going with it without missing a beat - and then, well, going to clean and iron for Hiraga, as one does).
- For some reason, I'd really love an old-fashioned sickfic for this fandom. Fever, pain, tender care, gentle blanket-tucking… It just feels like it would really suit. (Somehow I feel it combines well with the previous option)
- I'm sure this wasn't the last time Julia had tried to convert them both to his case, and the events in the finale will most definitely come back to haunt them. So, how?
- Somebody once described Roberto's feelings for Hiraga as 'pining while already being in a committed relationship,' and just. Yes. Hiraga is at once so obviously full of love, and so oblivious of it, that there are endless possibilities for angst here, and I want all of them.- …on unrelated note, I feel like this is the canon where I can actually mention, in Yuletide, that I have a crucifixion kink a mile wide. So, I have a crucifixion (h/c) kink a mile wide, and Roberto is an ideal candidate.
- Bonus option: If you like to serious-ify a cracky canon, go for it! The show uses a very anime kind of Catholicism, mostly aesthetics and trappings, but I'm fascinated with how injecting a bit of the real deal will change things (or not): the actual everyday application of faith, you know? For example, we know from the novels that Hiraga is a true believer but Roberto mostly treats his position as a job that gives him access to old books; I wonder if the canon events changed it, for both of them.
If you like Lauren, I'm of the opinion that Lauren makes everything better (and makes for an ideal outsider's POV). Ditto Bill.
Fandom-specific DNW caveat: For me, the allure of this relationship, given that both of them are priests, is that they are completely devoted to each other, but they're also at peace with being celibate. I'd prefer to see the same setup in fic - so, no sex between them, and also no angst about having to be celibate.
The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
Maia Drazhar
I absolutely adore this book, a story of a previously powerless, painfully self-conscious, horribly isolated person doing his utmost and careful best to do what he has to do. Maia's, at his core, first and foremost kind, and he brings this kindness with him as a banner and as a shield, into a situation over which he has little control and in which he has initially no allies, and sets out to reclaim his empire, one person at a time.
Some prompts that come to mind (but by no means feel constrained by them):
- A development of his relationship with Cala and Beshelar and navigating further the friends/nonecharei divide; and ditto for Maia and Csevet.
- Politics! We saw Maia growing into his role of a ruler; how would he look in it after several years, what project would he undertake after the bridge is built? What civil reforms will he usher in?
- Maia and his relationship with his mother's religion: would it become more mainstream in the court, in Maia's wake? Or would it always be something deeply private and guarded for him?
- Maia on a diplomatic visit to his grandfather, navigating both the cultural divide and the family relationship.
- Maia and Csethiro, exploring and defining their marriage, be it romantic in earnest or something of a more complicated, platonic arrangement.
- Maia in peril: a kidnapping! A dangerous journey! Another, more successful attack within the court! A lingering sickness! A riding accident! A sea journey!
- Maia's birthdays over the years.
Fandom-specific DNW caveat: pretty much every pairing is fine, but please no alluding to Maia being unhappy with Csethiro (Maia/somebody with him and Csethiro being in a peaceful lavender arrangement is fine).
Psmith - P. G. Wodehouse
Rupert Psmith
Mike Jackson
Those books are my perennial favorites; I adore the kind hilarity of them, and the intensity of the relationship (whether it's taken as friendship or romance). Psmith is one of my most favorite characters of all time. I love his surety and his unflappability, his low key but endless loyalty and protectiveness, the way he manages to warp the world around himself but does it with benevolence, the way the narrative pokes fun at him but allows him to stand unhumiliated. And I love that Mike is his foil but never the butt of the narrative joke, that Mike's intrinsic value is never questioned or doubted, by the text or by each other. I love how different they are and how wholeheartedly they embrace each other nevertheless, neither trying to change or undermine each other, how much they just - adore and accept and support each other.
And so!
- "Like canon but more of it": yes good please. Especially if it includes some version of friends-to-lovers, pining and happy endings.
- Futurefic: becoming adults together, growing old together, their lives changing and evolving and still orbiting around each other.
- ...Having said what I did about Psmith self-surety, I would also read a lot about Psmith secretly having doubts about himself and his own worth in relation to Mike and trying to let Mike go for his own good (family, career, etc.), and Mike having none of it.
- And also literally all the stories about Psmith getting into some trouble he can't get himself out of (ideally on Mike's behalf), and trying to hide it or make light of it, and Mike becoming the rescuer and taking care of him. I always thought that Psmith would make an awesome 'pay no attention to my troubles, have a languid anecdote' kind of iron woobie - iron woobie in a velvet glove? Is it a thing? In any case, yes.
- (For example, I could give or take Mike's domestic happiness in later books, but I loved Psmith's descent from rich heirdom to self-supporting poverty and the way he tried to deal with it by himself and without burdening anybody. Take it to the extreme, and I'll be here with bells on.)
- But also something with a more action/adventure bent and injuries, kidnappings, and accident (see: Psmith, Journalist, only sans racism and Mike is actually there).
- Psmith Hides A Supernatural Secret (he's an elf! he's a selkie! he's an alien!) And Why Would Mike Care No Really.
- The super self-indulgent slavefic option: Mike the bewildered owner rescuing a languid, seemingly unconcerned slave!Psmith and slowly discovering the depths of trouble that will bring? Psmith the jaded, high-ranking slave taking a newly enslaved Mike under his wing and getting into all the trouble trying to keep him safe (and, being Psmith, probably engineering a revolution in the process?)
- Also all the setting AUs! Be it high fantasy or space opera or high sea piracy, those two trampling through it would be amazing.
- A completely optional bonus cracky option: if you like crossovers, Mike and Psmith in literally any canon I've ever requested would be incredible, be it a pastiche fusion or them just dropping into whatever it is, solving some particular thorny issue in their inimitable style, and dropping out.
Fuck Them All - Mylène Farmer (Music Video)
It's a weird and gorgeous music video you can find here, that I've loved for a very long time. I love the weird fantasy/postapocalyptic vibe of it, and I would really love a fic that explores the possibilities within. Who's the woman in the cage to the woman with the swords? Are they twins, are they the same person, are they friends, enemies, lovers? Why is one of them trapped and is the other trying and failing to save her, or dooming her? How did they come to be here? What happens in truth - with the cage, and the sword, and the crows - and can it be done differently? Can the cage woman survive, or does she have to die so the other one might fight the crows and be free?
This portion of letter is low on prompts, because I don't really want any particular version of the story - I want all of them that can come to you, and I'll be happy for any of them.