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eglantiereDear friend,
I've never done this challenge before, and while I'm hoping to get its spirit correctly, forgive me if something goes wrong. I love those fandoms (I've loved some of them over two decades, hah), I'm incredibly excited about all the opt-in options I picked, and while I'm going to give you some preferences and some likes, at the end of the day I just want the comfort and joy of reading or seeing something done just for me! that hopefully brought you joy to make. I like gen fics, shippy fics, found family fics, you name it. Most of my prompts are written with fic in mind, so if you need to discard or shuffle or remix them or invent something new for any of the medium opt-ins, go for it! Let's have fun.
Links:
Likes:
- Hurt/comfort is my bulletproof №1 narrative kink, so when in doubt, go for it. Both physical and emotional, and you can go as wild as you'd like with the physical bits, I love them all. Kidnappings and whippings and dungeons and cages, injuries and martyrdom, chronic pain and exhaustion, debilitating aftermaths of big events, whatever it is, I'm here for it. I love my h/c in context of relationship (be it romantical or platonic or familial), in a sense that the best bit is people close to the focus character rescuing them, being horrified or sympathetic about their pain, avenging them, caring for them, rehabilitating them, and so on. I don't need things to be fully fixed or back to status quo by the end of the story, but loving aftermath and at least some hope in the end are paramount for my emotional payoff.
- 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). Crucifixion, ahem. People who work themselves to the bone to help others (and people who try to get them to tone it done a bit, haha.)
- Tropey AUs space opera! high fantasy! historical! pirates!
- A specific WB trope of rebuilding or repairing big or small society after a catastrophic event (think colony survival games or post-apocalypse with less cannibalistic raiders and more figuring out how to rebuild the sewage system, like Pratchett's Nation or, God help me, Mysterious Island)
- Outsider POVs.
DNWs:
- Hurt no comfort (character suffers without anybody knowing about it and hides it forever, character suffers and dies alone, character suffers and others try to help but it's all useless, we all go into death alone, this kind of thing)
- Partner betrayal of any kind or infidelity, irreparable group infighting.
- Unhappy endings and permanent character death ("presumed dead" and "died but got better" are more than fine).
- Omegaverse, any other 'verses with built-in biology-based caste inequality. Old-fashioned power dynamic settings like slavefics without the biological underpinnings are OK.
- Hanahaki AUs and variations thereof.
- Mundane AUs.
- Non-con and dub-con front and center in the story (as a piece of backstory or an implied threat it's fine).
Opt-ins, for posterity:
Underscoring that I'll be super excited for any kind of remix/fanart/reimagination of my own fanworks, if you're so inclined, and you have my blanket and enthusiastic permission to experiment if you'd like to.
The Tarot Sequence K.D. Edwards
Brand Saint John & Rune Saint John & Addam Saint Nicholas (Tarot Sequence Edwards) Brand Saint John & Rune Saint John (Tarot Sequence Edwards)
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.)
- 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.
The Goblin Emperor Series Katherine Addison
Solo: Maia Drazhar (The Goblin Emperor)
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 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 as 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! Fainting from overwork! Nightmares! Stalkers! (All of this is also very welcome in combination with other prompts.)
- Maia's birthdays over the years.
Fandom DNW: I'm fine with Maia having literally any ship you can think of, but no bashing Csethiro or implying they're unhappy or cold towards each other. Them being just friends in lavender marriage is OK.
Mike Jackson/Rupert Psmith (Psmith Wodehouse)
Those books are my perennial favorites; I adore the kind hilarity of them, and the intensity of the main relationship (whether it's taken as friendship or romance). I love Psmith's surety and his unflappability, his lowkey 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 them both. 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!
- ...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 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.
- The super self-indulgent slavefic option: Mike the bewildered owner rescuing a chill, 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.
- Also, optionally, all the crossovers and fusions. I love pastiche, but I would also love read Psmith and Mike transposed into a different kind of voice.
FANDOM DNW: as far as I'm concerned, Psmith and Mike stayed together for the rest of their lives. No wives or girlfriends or other partners.
Solo: Ignis (FFXV)
Ignis is ridiculously loyal, constantly overworked, snarky, possesses both a sharp edge and a secret silly and mischievous side, literally set himself on fire to save his king/best friend/brother/love of his life, managed ridiculous feats while blinded for life, and did all of that with a killer of fashion sense. In short, he's possessed my id for several years, I adore him, and I want very bad things to happen to him in all kinds of setups and settings, and then GOOD things to happen to him as well.
- 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.
- 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 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.
WB: Any (Frostpunk) People working together against the uncaring and dangerous nature, holding onto their beliefs and values in the face of howling cold death: yes! please! This is my Colony Survival (literally) request, in a sense that I'd love any sort of more intimate glimpse of how all that desperate survival looked on people level. Surviving that last storm in the main scenario, for example: maybe by the skin of their teeth, maybe by working their hearts out but meeting the test in a relative safety, maybe somewhere in-between. Rebuilding the connections between different settlements, building roads, helping each other, forging a new life out there. Finding warmth.
Fandom DNW: I'd rather your colony didn't cross the line all the way.
Solo: Luke Skywalker (SWOT)
Look, Luke Skywalker has been My Boy since I was about ten. I love him and his entire deal: brash, kind, valiant, overwhelmed sometimes, forced to grow up too fast, stepping into wielding forces larger than universe, loyal to his family and his friends, snarky, impeccable fashion sense, magical. Honestly, for this fandom I just want an old-fashioned casefic adventure, ideally with whump, slotted somewhere around or after the OT.
So
- learning to use the Force, overstraining himself, mastering new knowledge;
- trying to rebuild the order from the ground up with nothing to guide him and everything needed to be done at once;
- daring rescues and secret Republic missions in the grueling post-OT cleanup;
- trying to deal with space bureaucracy while the new world is being built;
- a grand heist with Han, Lando and Leia;
- learning to live with a prosthetic hand;
- aftermath of the Battle of Yavin, where it turns out the Emperor messed him up worse than he thought or let slide;
- family bonding time with Leia and Han
- all kinds of setting AUs (Luke the locked away heir of the fearsome Lord Vader? High fantasy?)
- Back To Tattooine And Wow He Knows A Lot About Sand
- Outsider POV from somebody he saved or befriended or helped or have been helped by during his adventures.
This request is all gen, but shipping-wise, if you like your stories to have ships, I'm cool with Luke/Han/Leia (I don't really kink on incest and it doesn't squick me either, so just… let everybody treat it as given), Luke/Han&Han/Leia and Luke/Lando.
Fandom DNW: I have some osmosis knowledge about the Prequel Trilogy, and some hazy memories of the original EU, but I don't know all the comics, cartoons, TV canon etc and I'd rather not have your gift rely on it. Luke in ST was cool, but there's a bit more tragedy than I want to deal with. SO e.g. it's fine if your fic has Bail Organa or Mon Mothma because I know who they are, but if it's going to hinge on something about them revealed in the Kenobi show or Clone Wars or something, I'm sadly not going to get it. I'm not a canon purist, Space Magic Opera handwavey worldbuilding is extremely fine with me.