Dear HurtComfortEx Author!

[eglantiere]

Dearest author, hello! Thank you so much for picking my fandoms, and enjoying the same tags I do; I'm incredibly excited for this challenge, my favorite of the year, and and those canons, and I want everything.

There are so many tags that I've definitely missed something interesting! I'll try to give some prompts for every fandom, some riffing off the tags and some not. Feel free to mix, match, disregard and ODAO at will, as long as my DNWs are kept. Bring all the tropes to my yard! I can't wait.

Links:

• my exchange tag (letters, recs et cetera)
• egelantier
• egelantier

General hurt/comfort preferences: I like my hurt hardcore and physical, and my comfort at least somehow proportional and ending on at least a hopeful note, and I like it in context of any given relationship (i.e. the character getting hurt in sight of / for the sake of / in relation to other characters, and them reacting / rescuing / comforting / rehabilitating them, et cetera, not just the character suffering in the vacuum).

I love reading about the aftermaths of disasters as much as I love reading about disasters itself - the recovery, the backsliding, the acceptance, the assistance. Permanent injuries and consequences yes! Adjusting to the new circumstances yes! New understanding yes! And I especially love all those things in the context of larger-than-life, codependent loyalty (formalized or not), self-sacrifice and self-negation.

In particular, the physical kinks especially dear to my heart: torture, dungeons or cages, and rescue thereof, starvation, exhaustion, hand injuries, whipping, crucifixion, various mobility issues, chronic pain, all variations on accepting injuries for somebody's sake. For the emotional hurt/comfort, all variations on pining (and/or mutual pining!) and characters (mistakenly) thinking that they're either unloved or undeserving of being loved or protected, and being shown they're wrong.

I prefer my woobies competent, BAMF-y and fighting every step of the way, or going into the self-sacrifice determinedly and with their eyes open.

I really love non-mundane AUs (high fantasy, pirates, space opera, et cetera), so go there without hesitation if it's your thing.

DNWS:

• Hurt no comfort
• Partner betrayal of any kind or infidelity
• Unhappy endings and permanent character death ("presumed dead" and "died but got better" are both fine)
• A/B/O, hurtcomfortverse, any other 'verses with built-in biology-based inequality
• Hanahaki AUs, soulmates AUs and variations thereof
• Mundane AUs
• Non-con and dub-con (threat of non-con or mentioned past dub/non-con is fine, but not as a central theme of the fic)

Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly

• Benjamin January & Abishag Shaw (hurt Abishag Shaw)
• Benjamin January/Rose Vitrac January/Hannibal Sefton (hurt Hannibal)

A's unrequited pining found to be requited while B helps them recover from serious injury, accepting injury to protect someone, A accused of crimes; only B believes they're innocent, attempted self-sacrifice is thwarted by people who do not agree character is expendable, Bronchitis/Pneumonia, Buried Alive, Career Ending Injuries, character being extremly tired/exhausted, Character draws negative attention onto themself to protect another, Character doesn't care about their own wellbeing, Character jumped in front of a bullet to save someone, Character needs painful first aid but there's no anesthetic, coughing up blood, Day to day living with a partner who deals with chronic pain, Hair Brushing, Kidnapped and used as leverage against the other character, A presumed dead; B refuses to believe A died, On the Run with a Sick or Injured Partner, Watching Loved One’s Physical Health Deteriorate, Whipping

The relationship between Ben and Shaw is one of my favorite from the entire series (and there's some stiff competition, in the universe where Rose and Hannibal exist); I love their friendship, I love that Ben dropped everything and went with Shaw to get his revenge, I love that by Lady of Perdition Ben doesn't even angst about asking Shaw for help anymore but just flat out knows that Shaw will go with him to Texas and do whatever's needful, I love that Ben named his baby after Shaw's brother... In short, those two are as far from each other, socially, as it's possible, and yet they're so rock-solid good together, as unlikely and taciturn as their friendship is.

So, hurt Shaw! A lot of tags I picked are pretty nice by themselves, and also:

• Getting injured on the job and not coming to Ben for help so he would not endanger his family (and Ben not having it)
• Ben finding out that Shaw's injured or sick or in trouble, and immediately setting out for the rescue.
• Long, grumpy, fraught recovery.
• Getting into trouble together, and fighting their way out together, with some stoic, taciturn hurt/comfort and BAMFery thrown in.
• Shaw getting falsely accused and imprisoned, for once, and Ben doing his detective thing on his behalf while he's stuck in the prison cell.
• The Career Ending Injury tag is very intriguing here.
• So is Buried Alive. And whipping.
• And Ben helping Shaw clean up in the course of long recovery.
• So is Shaw and Ben being on one of their out-of-town adventures, with Ben presumed dead and Shar moving heaven and earth to look for him.

And in terms of Ben/Rose/Hannibal: they're practically canon in my heart, I love how much they're entangled in each other, decisions and souls and (hopefully) bodies, how much Hannibal's loyalty means for Ben and Hannibal's intellectual companionship and friendship for Rose, and how Rose and Ben are Hannibal's hope, salvation, raison d'etre and a larger part of his entire meaningful world. And, of course, I love and adore that Hannibal, the hardiest consumptive in the entirety of New Orleans, is unquestionably a damsel in distress in this entire relationship.

So, aside from whatever inspiration the tags (and also the canon) provides:

• Ben and Rose finally lure Hannibal to stay with them once his health starts really deteriorating.
• Coughing up blood is a given, okay?
• In general a slow, slice-of-life thing about Hannibal and his chronic health issues would be really good, I think; the reality of living with and around it, and trying to help, and the points where there's no help, just endurance and companionship.
• Sickfic, sickfic, all the sickfic.
• Ben and Hannibal, both exhausting themselves when the season of playing rolls in, and Rose keeping them on track.
• Taking care of Hannibal's hair; in general, showing him he's loved and cherished and not dispensable by some kind of body-centered comfort is great.
• Hannibal's self-effacing heroics and self-sacrificial attempts.
• Or Hannibal getting kidnapped to threaten Ben and insisting that he's irrelevant and Ben should not attempt rescue, much to Ben's indignation.

And so on, and et cetera!

Canon-specific DNW: I'd rather not read fics dealing with Hannibal's opium addiction and/or alcoholism, and would prefer fics set when he's already clean. Mentioning it as a part of his backstory is fine.

Psmith - P. G. Wodehouse

• Mike Jackson/Rupert Psmith (hurt Psmith)

A's unrequited pining found to be requited while B helps them recover from serious injury, accepting injury to protect someone, Accident - A can't use their hands so B takes care of A, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Bargaining - Victim Offers/Sacrifices Self to Protect Others, Carrying sick/hurt/exhausted character to bed, Character is Injured while Protecting Another, Hands too shaky to complete task, Hiding an Injury or Illness, I'll do the traumatic thing because I'm used to it, loss of voice, Slavery, Sickfic, Starvation, Wrist Injuries, Torture - Tortured While Loved Ones Were Forced To Watch, Pretending to Betray Someone to Save them, Private body worship apology for public enslavement, Collapsing from hunger, Character draws negative attention onto themself to protect another

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 in context of all of this I really, really like the idea of Psmith's version of being a Stoic Woobie, except he's more of a Languid Woobie, in a sense of trying to misdirect and never admitting to being in trouble and needing help nevertheless.

And so!

• ...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 accidents (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.
• Psmith loses his voice for a while, and it's unexpectedly traumatizing for him (and incredibly distressing for Mike). Or maybe Psmith is made to lose his voice, and doubly so.
• Slavefics! Mike the bewildered owner rescuing a languid, seemingly unconcerned slave!Psmith and slowly discovering the depths of previous abuse Psmith had suffered? 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.

The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards

• Addam Saint Nicholas & Brandon Saint John (hurt Brandon Saint John)
• Addam Saint Nicholas/Rune Saint John/Brandon Saint John (hurt Brandon Saint John)
• Rune Saint John & Brandon Saint John (hurt Brandon Saint John)

A's unrequited pining found to be requited while B helps them recover from serious injury, accepting injury to protect someone, Aftermath of Torture - Character doesn't tell anyone they were tortured; is found out anyway, Aftermath of Torture - Tortured character's superiors ensure their torturers are brought to justice, Bargaining - Victim Offers/Sacrifices Self to Protect Others, Buried Alive, Character A reminds Character B they are loved, Character draws negative attention onto themself to protect another, Electrocution, Hypothermia, I'll do the traumatic thing because I'm used to it, imprisoned together but not close enough to touch, Injury on Top of Old Injuries, remain conscious, Kidnapped and used as leverage against the other character, Locked in a Cage, stranded in hostile environment with injury, Torture - Tortured While Loved Ones Were Forced To Watch, Video of Character's Torture is Sent to Their Friends, Whipping

I love those three; I love the burning intensity of Rune and Brand, and Addam's steady stability, kindness and love, and I love the high-octane, high stakes, high nonsense world their inhabit, with its action and dangers and magic and grand gestures. And I adore Brand in all his grumpy, paranoid, practical, overprotective, angry glory, and I want him to to get whumped ten ways to Sunday and be unequivocally shown he's loved, adored and valued.

• 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.
• Brand and Addam trapped together or on the run, with Brand injured, snarky and unhappy, and Addam keeping him steady.
• Brand's out of commission due to illness and injury, for a significant amount of time or permanently; he's Not Taking It Well.

Paladin's Grace - T. Kingfisher

• The Paladins of Saint of Steel & The White Rat Clerics (hurt paladins)

attempted self-sacrifice is thwarted by people who do not agree character is expendable, Bargaining - Victim Offers/Sacrifices Self to Protect Others, chained to a wall, Character doesn't care about their own wellbeing, Character doesn't realize how badly they're hurt until they collapse, Character expected to die but didn't and has no idea how to live anymore. Other helps & comforts., Character expects to be punished but is unexpectedly comforted instead, Character is Injured while Protecting Another, Character restrained so they won’t hurt themselves, Exhaustion, Overworking, Restraining Someone to Keep Them From Hurting Themselves, Self-Sacrifice, sleep deprivation that leads to breaking, Starvation, Trapped with someone in need of medical care

The entire thing with late Saint of Steel's traumatized, bereaved, depressed paladins getting adopted and slowly and sneakily rehabilitated by the no-nonsense lawyers and civil servants clerics of the White Rat is incredibly, unbearably iddy to me. There's so much quiet, understated, practical kindness folded into it it leaves me breathless and happy. I would read literally any details of this whole story - with named characters like Ishtvan or the Bishop or Stephen or Zale, with OCs, with outsider POVs, epistolary, fragmented, found media - whatever you feel like writing, I want it all. For example:

• One of the Rat's people perspective? Maybe the person's who's maintaining the Saint of Steel little altar in the salle, or the quartermasters, or the cooks, et cetera.
• Ishtvan trying to get the paladins thrown out of the Rat temple after Stephen and Gale go berserk at each other in the salle (Beartongue, obviously, not having any of it).
• The early days, the fresh trauma, the suicide watch.
• What if one of the paladins did go berserk and hurt somebody civilian before he or she got stopped? How was it dealt with? Maybe the paladins go overboard with restraining or subduing one of their own, or the person who did tries to hurt themselves somehow, and the Bishop interferes.
• Nightmares, flashbacks and exhaustion.
• If there's an unexpected shortage of resources (drought? plague in the city?), paladins managing to give up a lot before they're found out.
• Little everyday acts of kindness in looking after paladins.
• Grateful paladins greedy for any chance to pay the Rat people back; or, how some bad people learned, practically, that the White Rat people now have some serious muscle on their side.
• Paladins considering themselves absolutely expendable; the Temple is not having that.

The Lily and the Crown - Roslyn Sinclair

• Ariana "Ari" Gecker/Mir (hurt Ariana)

Aftermath of Torture - Character trying to hold it together is clearly low-key fraying at the edges, Aftermath of Torture - Long Recovery, Aftermath of Torture - Tortured character's superiors ensure their torturers are brought to justice, Bargaining - Victim Offers/Sacrifices Self to Protect Others, Bronchitis/Pneumonia, Caretaking, Catching injured character as they faint or lose balance, Carrying sick/hurt/exhausted character to bed, Character A claims they're Character B to save B from danger, Collapsing from exhaustion, Collapsing from hunger, Enemy targets loved one just to get revenge on character, Kidnapped and used as leverage against the other character, A presumed dead; B refuses to believe A died, Rescue, Sensory Deprivation, Sickfic, Starvation, Wheelchairs and mobility issues

If you're unfamiliar with this book, it's amazing tropey f/f IN SPACE that's a love story between a ruthless pirate overlord and a sweet, determined and geeky botanist. It's hot and twisty and wonderful, and what I want is all the stories about Ari getting into trouble after the book, when she's already the consort of Mir's empire - maybe she overworks herself into sickness again, maybe some of Mir's new allies don't get a memo of Not Messing With Ariana, maybe she's kidnapped by Mir's enemies, maybe there's an accident - and Mir not coping well. As in, destroying everything standing between her and Ari, and then being protective, supportive (in Mir's fashion) and gentle (ditto) with her love. See tags for scenarios! or use more tags! Literally everything, I want it.

Fandom-specific DNW: please no trouble pertaining to Ari's pregnancy by the end of the book, and ideally please don't mention this pregnancy at all and set the story before it.

Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù

• Huā Chéng/Xiè Lián (hurt Xiè Lián)

Alternate Universe - Slavery, Bargaining - Victim Offers/Sacrifices Self to Protect Others, Buried Alive, captured and tortured for a very long time, Carrying sick/hurt/exhausted character to bed, Character A gets angry at Character B's tendency to self-sacrifice, Character draws negative attention onto themself to protect another, Character is Injured while Protecting Another, Character overuses powers/magic/etc to protect a loved one, Character taken prisoner; expects torture/humiliation; gets kind & honorable treatment, Hurt character is used to having to tend to their own wounds, Hypothermia, I'll do the traumatic thing because I'm used to it, imprisoned together but not close enough to touch, Locked in a Cage, Past Torture, Slavery, Starvation, Traumatic Backstory Revelations, Whipping

Having binged TGCF in a week and written a honest-to-God manifesto about those people, I'm still not done with my feelings over them! I love them; I love all the fifty shades of identity porn, I love the overwhelming loyalty, I love Xie Lian's entire personality, I love the lovely and serious questions of the nature of good and evil in people intermingled with dirty sword inhuendo, I love the pining, I love hurt/comfort… Basically, everything. Everything.

(I like everybody in the supporting cast - even Qi Rong kinda grew on me, the way a fungus does, - so feel free to include anybody or use them as POV characters.)

Some examples of everything:

Hua Cheng/Xie Lian

• In some liminal time between Xie Lian knowing Hua Cheng as Hua Cheng, but not knowing of his previous identity yet, Hua Cheng extravagantly and blithely spoiling Xie Lian with all he has, and Xie Lian being utterly confused and trying to demur.
• Any kind of canon divergence where Hua Cheng finds Xie Lian earlier (ideally rescuing him from some harrowing part of his wanderings) and gives him the world in advance.
• In terms of emotional payoff, just… Xie Lian earnestly and humbly trying not to cause Hua Cheng any trouble, because why would he? And Hua Cheng slowly and patiently trying to get him to see himself the way Hua Cheng sees him.
• The two of them run into some trouble that they can't handle, and Hua Cheng is forced to watch Xie Lian being hurt (or, worse, Xie Lian choosing to be hurt to protect him). He looses his entire shit.
• If Xie Lian would've somehow found out about Hua Cheng's origins earlier - perhaps if Hua Cheng came clean to him almost immediately - how much would it have changed things?
• Slavery AU: Xie Lian who's been captured or enslaved, lost his memory, was horrifically mistreated and, when rescued or outright bought by Hua Cheng, takes a long time to recognize that he's not going to be hurt anymore? And meanwhile Hua Cheng is dying inside while trying to rehabilitate him.
• Xie Lian blithely doing something horrible to himself (like impaling himself to tempt a spirit, or cauterizing his wounds, or offering to starve so somebody else can use the food) in a way that reveals how used he's to being hurt.

成化十四年 | The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty (TV)

• Sui Zhou & Tang Fan & Wang Zhi (hurt Tang Fan)
• Sui Zhou/Tang Fan (hurt Tang Fan)
• Sui Zhou/Tang Fan/Wang Zhi (hurt Tang Fan)
• Tang Fan & Wang Zhi (hurt Tang Fan)

Accident - A can't use their hands so B takes care of A, Aftermath of Torture - Long Recovery, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Bronchitis/Pneumonia, Carrying sick/hurt/exhausted character to bed, Character doesn't realize how badly they're hurt until they collapse, Character is Injured while Protecting Another, Character is Exhausted From Overwork, coughing up blood, Hair Brushing, Headaches & Migraines, Locked in a Cage, loss of voice, Punished in front of others, Sensory Deprivation, Slavery, Torture - Tortured While Loved Ones Were Forced To Watch, Trapped Together While One Is Injured, Trapped/Injured in a Cave-In, Whipping

So! As evident, Tang Fan is my platonic ideal of a woobie: frail, determined, hilarious, will whine over a stubbed toe but keep silent under torture, has a sense of self-preservation a depressed lemming would find too slight, doesn't know how to stop, needs to protect people and find the truth. He should be whumped in all possible and impossible ways, every day and twice on Sundays, and both Sui Zhou and Wang Zhi, individually or together, in whatever shipping or platonic combination you choose, should rescue him, take care of him, rain down the holy vengeance, and so on.

Some prompts!

• Sui Zhou's slow, horrified realization that he likes Tang Fan and feels responsible to him whereas Tang Fan wouldn't know self-protection if it bit him in the face.
• Sui Zhou bathing Tang Fan after rescuing him from some ordeal. And carrying him to bed.
• Rescues, rescues, rescues. All the rescues. Also all the torture.
• Comfort food when Tang Fan is sick or injured or has a headache.
• Tang Fan's hands are injured in some way, and Sui Zhou does his bidding for a while
• Sui Zhou accidentally acquires Tang Fan, a mouthy slave too smart for his own good, who's gotten in a lot of trouble in his previous households, and takes care of him.
• Wang Zhi accidentally acquires Sui Zhou and Tang Fan, a pait of traumatized, co-dependent, fiercely mutually protective slaves, and falls in love with them despite himself.
• Sensory deprivation, I feel - something Li Zilong would do - would drive Tang Fan absolutely bonkers insane, and he's going to need a lot of recovery, and specialized treatment.
• Tang Fan finally went a step too far, and even Wang Zhi can't get him out of being punished by the Imperial Palace; but he can be there to pick up the pieces afterward.
• (Maybe Wang Zhi even forced to be the one in charge of the punishment, and he can't go light on Tang Fan, to save them both).
• Wang Zhi and Tang Fan, trapped together somewhere.
• Tang Fan drives himself ragged when pursuing the case, and Sui Zhou deals with the fallout.
• Undercover shenanigans.

Final Fantasy XV

• Gladio Amicitia/Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia (hurt Ignis)
• Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia (hurt Ignis)
• Lunafreya Nox Fleuret/Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia (hurt Ignis)
• Noctis Lucis Caelum & Ignis Scientia (hurt Ignis)
• Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia (hurt Ignis)
• Prompto Argentum/Ignis Scientia (hurt Ignis)

Accident - A can't use their hands so B takes care of A, Aftermath of Torture - Character doesn't tell anyone they were tortured; is found out anyway, Aftermath of Torture - Long Recovery, BAMF character A is hurt and is still a BAMF; character B provides comfort anyway, Bargaining - Victim Offers/Sacrifices Self to Protect Others, Character who's usually good at hiding their chronic pain is in too much pain to hide it, Collapsing from exhaustion, Hiding an Injury or Illness, Starvation, Kidnapped and used as leverage against the other character, Locked in a Cage, Permanently injured character pines for someone they think won't reciprocate due to their injury, Restraining Someone to Keep Them From Hurting Themselves, Self-Sacrifice, Sick/hurt character is indispensable on a mission; team looks after them while they get things done, Sick/hurt character sleeping in the back seat of a car, Torture - Tortured While Loved Ones Were Forced To Watch, Traumatized character will never be the same but their loved ones stand by them, Wheelchairs and mobility issues, Whipping

So: all the Ignis whump, in whatever shipping or platonic combination you like. And I also really love Ignis pining and/or seeing himself as expendable and unworthy, and being shown that he's wrong.

• Brotherhood era: From the professional risks of Ignis' job (assassination attempts! poisoning! kidnapping! torture! getting shot protecting Noct! dealing with threats! working together with Gladio and impressing him!) to the more mundane stuff (exhaustion! stress! threatened with getting fired! falling sick and trying to work through it! overwork! envious dangerous colleagues!) to everything in between. Maybe in combination, I'm not picky. I've scoured AO3 for all its 'Ignis faints because he pushed himself too much' stories, and there were like... 5, and I would read 50 more.
• Roadtrip: hurt on a hunt! Hurt protecting Noct! Stressed and overworked from trying to be the One Who Knows Everything while none of them actually does! Kidnapped by the Imperials t be tortured for information! Getting into trouble with the local population! Getting hit with a weird status effect! Getting injured in a way that slows the group down and angsting about that! Getting injured and separated from the group and trying to survive on his own while they search frantically!
• Fun Times With Ardyn In Zegnatus Keep: It took the bros some time to get there, and meanwhile so many bad things could have happened to Ignis. Ardyn is the fun torturous villain we deserve for all the nice things he delivers.
• World of Ruin: Learning to live with his blindness! Getting into some horrible trouble in those tombs he's scouring for the information! (Talcott could provide pretty interesting outsider POV, btw, and I'm also a huge fan of Ignis and Prompto being BAMF together under those circumstances). Trying to hold together a post-apocalyptic government while blind and grieving and working himself to death! Trying to hide the extent of his difficulties/injuries/grief from other bros so he wouldn't hold them down! Getting in trouble with people who're looking for a scapegoat for the darkness! Starving himself because there are always people who need food more!
• Everybody Lives But Ignis Is Still Blind (aka V2 with a twist): What it says on the tin, really. Some combo of the happily ever after where Ignis got what he wanted, but there are scars from the past (pick any severity) that linger and hurt him, but also where other people (mainly Noct) finally have space and resources and dedication to proactively care about him and accommodate him and look after him. Possibly with bonus politics. Living with chronic pain, living with mobility issues, dealing with politics and rebuilding; this is where all the chronic pain issues come in.
• Every-Non-Mundane-AU-Ever: Space opera? High fantasy? Low fantasy? Some historical stuff? Noir detectives? Any other setting you favor? Add in any trope from above and yessssssssss.

Special note about IgNoctLuna: I adore the idea of Noct bringing Ignis into his marriage as a dowry, and Ignis transferring part of their loyalty to Luna, and the three of them navigating their complicated relationship together (in whatever combination speaks to you; maybe an equilateral triangle, maybe a V thing with Noctis in the middle, or maybe even some combination of sexual and platonic love - as long as they all end up being equally important to each other).

• No-Destiny AUs where the threat from the Empire exists, and the marriage to Luna is still arranged, but there's no Ardyn or gods or mystical threats, and the three of them have to nagivate their relationship and the politics togethe, with some chosen whump from the tags thrown in. (The overwork exhaustion scenarios, for example! Or assassinations!)
• Ignis makes his way to the altar in Altissia earlier and saves Luna as well as Noct (preferably at the same or higher personal cost), and it changes the course of history.
• When Niflhelm strikes Tenebrae, Regis has to flee, and Ignis and Noct are both left behind and raised with Luna in captivity (and Ignis suffers, obviously. Locked in the cage???).

Fandom-specific DNW: I'd rather not dwell on the game's original ending and Noct's dying for this exchange in particular. It's fine if it's not explicitly V2 or variations on V2, just please don't center the story about Ignis being left behind by Noct and grieving him without hope or reprieve.