Dear Author: Fandom 5K
I’m so excited to be part of this exchange, and thank you so much for writing for me. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
All of these requests are ships/characters I’m excited to read about. If I have fewer/shorter prompts for any of these requests, it’s just because I couldn’t come up with as many ideas, not because I’m not excited about the request.
While I have prompts for all of these, I’m also here for something different if there’s a story you’d love to tell (provided it doesn’t run into a DNW). Also, please don’t worry if it seems like your story idea doesn’t fall right in the middle of one of the genre categories on my signups. I’m really excited to be getting anything for these characters/ships.
In general, I don't need detailed or intricate plots, but I do like it when stuff happens. Shenanigans, slice-of-life, and fic where the characters explore their world are all awesome. I also enjoy characters in new environments, e.g. someone takes a vacation that goes horribly awry. I enjoy 5+1 fics as long as there's something going on or some narrative through-line that connects the sections.
I love casefic, monster of the week fic, and and related genres. Murder on a train! Figuring out who's sending poison pen letters! A character receives an unexpected inheritance! Investigating a ghost! Medical mystery! The Hangover plotlines where someone unravels what happened the night before! Basically anything where people try to figure something out is A+ in my book.
On a related note, I can read a literally unlimited number of fics where the main pairing has to go undercover as a couple to a couple's retreat to investigate something, or where there's a mystery on an island or at a remote hotel, or they have to stay at a wilderness retreat with a dark secret, or basically any variation on these things. I know there are multiple fics with exactly these premises out there, some of them for the pairings I have requested. I have probably read and loved them. I would love to see more.
Similarly, I am a sucker for stories where a fish-out-of-water moves to a small town and slowly gets to know people, and/or one half of a pairing or an established couple buys a house which may be holding a dark secret which is slowly uncovered during renovations.
I'm not normally into mundane AUs or reality TV, but I do really enjoy Great British Bake Off crossovers for some reason. Wacky competition plotlines are also good. I'm also a sucker for fandom AUs or characters in fandom. Any of these things crossed with casefic, e.g. someone goes undercover to investigate sabotage? Love it.
Style stuff: I’m fine with past or present tense. I sometimes have a harder time getting into first-person fics than I do third or second person, but ultimately I'm fine with any POV if it suits the canon or if the fic is in an epistolary format. OCs are great as long as they're not the main focus of the fic. I also have really enjoyed outsider POV fic, including POVs from minor canon characters.
No unprompted crossovers, please.
In terms of rating, I’m fine with canon-typical violence as based on whatever’s typical for each of these canons. I’m generally not into porn of existing characters, and would prefer canon-typical levels of sexual content. That being said, if you need to include a scene that’s a step above a fade-to-black for reasons of the plot, I understand! I’m just not interested in porn as the main focus of the fic.
DNW: Explicit porn or kink, major character death or terminal illness (although I’m fine with temporary MCD for reasons of the plot or the death of a non-major character as part of a casefic), slavefic, focus on animal harm, dubcon (including kink-verse AUs such as A/B/O), and noncon.
HART OF DIXIE
I love the comforting, small-town nature of this show and the way people come together to solve their problems. I love the way the show gave us all these interesting pieces of Bluebell-specific worldbuilding, like Planksgiving, or how excited everyone gets about Don Todd’s Monster Golf Safari, or the way everyone assumes they’ll have bad luck when it snows.
LEMON BREELAND
I love Lemon, and I am 100% here for various shenanigans, pranks, hijinks, evil plans, and so forth. I ship Lavon/Lemon, but I also absolutely love Lemon with her sisters, plotting with AnnaBeth, going up against Zoe, running town functions, etc. I’d be delighted by either gen or ship for this request.
Bachelor or bachelorette party: Lemon’s throwing a bachelorette party that goes off the rails (what would The Hangover look like in Bluebell?). Alternatively, someone’s throwing Lemon’s bachelorette party and Lemon keeps backseat-party planning. Or Lavon’s bachelor party goes horribly wrong and Lemon has to step in.
The house: Lemon moved into Lavon’s house, which he already has decorated and set up. I can’t see that sitting well with Lemon long-term. How might she try to make Lavon’s house feel more like her own? What might she find while renovating or redecorating? (Totally up for throwing a suspected or actual ghost in here, BTW.)
Outsider POV: I’m here for outsider POV for this one, too! Maybe Frank’s PI firm is hired to investigate something, or we get an AnnaBeth-POV look at one of Lemon’s shenanigans.
MAGNOLIA BREELAND/ROSE HATTENBARGER
I love both of these characters and how they bounce off one another, and I would be so delighted by something canon-verse where they meet again and fall in love.
They’ve got a history - Rose’s aunt worked for Brick’s practice for years, and I think Magnolia feels the way Brick sometimes takes an interest in Rose as a good student, etc. It was also probably pretty hard for Magnolia to get sent away to boarding school and her grandmother’s place while Rose got to stay in Bluebell. On Rose’s side, I love that she’s studious but also willing to raise a little heck when the time’s right for it.
This seems like a great ship for a fake relationship that leads to real feelings. Maybe Magnolia’s become a small-time star with her music and and has a journalist scheduled to come do a cover story or shoot a TV segment about Magnolia and her girlfriend… only her girlfriend just broke up with her, and she needs someone to play the part. Or maybe Rose is the one who needs the “fake” girlfriend, and she manages to convince Magnolia to help.
Alternatively, maybe they have to work together for some greater cause. Maybe there’s a mystery in Bluebell that needs to be solved, or someone thinks there’s a haunting they look into together. Maybe Lemon and Zoe put them in charge of some big town event, like the Sweetie Pie Dance or the Founder’s Day Parade.
I could also see them competing in another town event, like the talent show or a dancing competition. Or an accidental Vegas marriage. Or maybe something totally different!
THE GOOD PLACE
Loved the first season of this so much! I’m fine with starting where S1 left off, or going canon-departure AU (whether that means they get to the S1E13 reveal in a different way, or the situation in the S1E13 reveal doesn’t actually exist).
Ship-wise, I adore Eleanor/Tahani, and I’d also be delighted by Jason/Janet, Eleanor/Chidi, and/or Eleanor/Chidi/Tahani. I’m totally here for gen in this canon as well!
I am here for pretty much anything along the lines of canon-style shenanigans for this request. In terms of tone, I like the dark edge behind the worldbuilding on this one, but I also like some happiness or at least humor mixed in there with it.
Some specific prompts/ideas if you’re interested:
Per S1E12, Janet engaged her ride-or-die protocol for Jason. Assuming the protocol survived her reboot, how could that play out in The Good Place 2.0?
I’d be delighted by backstory or worldbuilding for any of the characters. Eleanor being a terrible person? Tahani vs. Kamilah? Janet worldbuilding or backstory? I am there for any of this.
How did Michael steal Janet? Or did she maybe make the choice to come?
Canon departure where Eleanor chooses to stay quiet during the final confrontation and let Bambadjan present whatever ridiculous argument Michael’s come up with for letting them all stay. They’re still in “The Good Place,” but Eleanor knows the truth. How could this play out? Would the others believe her?
It’s been said that S1 was the soulmate AU season, and S2 will be the amnesia season. How might Michael decide to play out another major fanfic trope in The Good Place? I feel like there’s some interesting potential here for wingfic, zombie apocalypse, ghosts, de-aging, bodyswap, bodysharing, everyone-is-magical-creatures, Regency AU, Eleanor and/or Tahani being forced to work in a coffee shop, etc.
Slice-of-afterlife for Eleanor/Tahani or Eleanor & Tahani. What can Eleanor learn from Tahani, and what can Tahani learn from Eleanor? Or just hanging out and watching Tahani’s favorite BBC shows! Eleanor’s terrible fashion choices! Tahani’s terrible fashion choices!
PSYCH
SHAWN/LASSITER
I love the Lassiter’s grudging respect for Shawn and determination to beat him, and the way Shawn tries to impress Lassiter (while maybe not admitting to himself that that’s what’s going on).
I’d prefer something which handwaves their canon relationships or goes AU from canon before that point. I do love all the other characters, with special soft spots for Gus and Woody, if you’d like to include anyone else.
Casefic is obviously the first suggestion here. There is basically no limit to the number of Psych casefics I will read. I also love undercover-as-a-couple for this pairing (whether for a case or some other reason).
I love the way the show drops a murder mystery into some area of interest, like a Bigfoot hunt or paleontology or Civil War reenacting or -- you get the idea. Whether it’s a murder in a plein air painting class or a jewel heist from a museum, I’m interested.
I also like the idea of Shawn and Lassiter getting dropped into a new environment for a weekend. It's always interesting when they're taken out Shawn's element, out of Lassiter's element, or out of both of their elements (maybe for different reasons?). Or maybe Lassiter's pretending that he's out of his element, and Shawn figures out that he really is into Wild West reenacting/whatever.
Speaking of Bigfoot, the Bigfoot episode is one of my all-time favorites. I would be totally here for Shawn dragging Lassiter across the country to look for pretty much any cryptid. Or alternatively, maybe Lassiter becomes convinced (against his better judgement) that there's a chupacabra getting into his garbage cans, and Shawn doesn't believe him... at first.
I also love the way food shows up in this canon. All (OK, most) of Shawn and Gus’s many food sidetrips sound delicious. Five important meals in their lives together, or maybe Five Times Shawn introduced Lassier to some type of food (and one time Lassiter introduced Shawn to something). Or maybe Shawn and his canonically-terrible cooking skills get wrapped up in some sort of food challenge. Or Lassiter has to go on a cooking show or run a food truck for an undercover gig and finds himself surprisingly good at it.
WOODY THE CORONER
Woody’s the best! I love Woody’s humor, his willingness to keep on trucking even when something’s gone totally wrong, and his wacky mix of credulity and unexpected insight.
I would love something gen that focuses on Woody. I don’t really ship him with anyone on the show, but I could be open to shipping him with an original female character if you’ve got a ship idea that seems perfect.
I love casefic, and I’d really enjoy seeing Woody tackle a case, or work with Shawn and Gus on a case. I would also be totally up for Woody as outsider POV on a case being solved by the main team. Or maybe Shawn or Gus POV on a mystery where Woody’s the suspect? There’s also an excellent opening here for a Zeppo plotline, with Woody solving another mystery while the main team’s working on a different case.
I’d also be up for some slice-of-life about Woody’s life. Woody gets into a feud with an animal who hangs out near his Airstream. Woody decides that the Airstream life is no longer for him, and tries looking for a new place, but there’s complications. (Or maybe a series of complications? Five Crime Scenes Woody Accidentally Moved Into!)
I’m open to genre-bending here as well. Maybe Woody starts seeing ghosts, or the corpses start talking to him, Tru Calling-style. Would anyone believe him? As far as Woody knows, Shawn’s a psychic, but would Shawn just assume Woody’s been hitting the fun drugs again?
I love canon-verse fic for Pysch, but this is also a request where I could also be open to a crossover, if that’s something that interests you. SPN has some obvious openings, since Kurt Fuller shows up in both - what if Woody was Zachariah’s vessel? It seems like Woody might take missing several months of his life in stride. Or maybe someone from the SPN-verse comes after Woody because they think he’s Zach in hiding?
Other crossover opportunities: I know I’ve watched a wide variety of shows and thought Woody would so totally work as the coroner on this. Death in Paradise: if Woody wanted a relaxing vacation, he shouldn’t have gone to Saint Marie. Or how great would Woody have been on The Good Guys (TV)? He and Dan Stark would totally bond over their Airstreams. Other shows where I’ve thought “Hey, Woody would make a great coroner on this!” include Veronica Mars, Leverage, The Librarians, Gravity Falls, Castle, Eureka, Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated, Ghostbusters (either original, 2016, or The Real), Riverdale, MacGuyver (either version), Wynonna Earp, Brooklyn 99, and The X-Files. I feel like there’s some definite possibilities for casefic crossovers, Five Morgues Woody Never Worked In, or maybe Five Morgues Woody Got Fired From.
LUMBERJANES
Love this canon so much! It’s the female-focused scout camp version of Gravity Falls I never knew I wanted.
I’m pretty caught up on canon, with the exception of the most recent story and the Gotham Academy crossover. Spoilers for either of those are totally fine, though, and I’m caught up enough to know Barney’s a Lumberjane and using they pronouns now.
ABIGAIL/ROSIE
Abigail shows up in Lumberjanes Vol 4: Out of Time. I love the glimpses we get of their time at camp together, their relationship, their backstory - there’s so much the comic suggests about their relationship, but doesn’t fill in.
Abigail’s house - like, what? Who has that many secret doorways and a Scrooge McDuck-style treasure room? How did she build it without Rosie noticing? (Or was she secretly hoping Rosie would notice?)
Has Abigail been watching Rosie with her scouts? How does Rosie compare to what Abigail remembers about Nellie (Bear Woman) as a scoutmaster?
Does Rosie try to reconnect now that she realizes Abigail’s back in the forest? I feel like there’s a lot of potential in something like five times Rosie tried to reach out, and one time Abigail let her.
Lumberjanes shenanigans from their time at camp as scouts! What types of adventures did they have together? They must have had a lot of interesting cases or Monster-of-the-week stories!
Some greater problem forces Rosie and Abigail to work together for the good of the forest/the Lumberjanes/whatever.
I’ve requested this as ship, but I’d be fine with pre-ship for this request if that’s where your ideas take you. I’m also fine with this being written as a difficult or even antagonistic relationship. Based on the comics, their relationship has ranged from friendship to antagonism over the years, with lots of mixed feelings in between.
APRIL & JO & MAL & MOLLY & RIPLEY
Roanoke Cabin! April is my secret fave, but I love all of these characters and I’d be delighted with a focus on any one of them. I also really like Jen and Bubbles, if you want to include either or both of them. (I’m assuming nobody is signing up to write 5K of outsider perspective from Bubbles the raccoon, but just in case: I am here for that.)
Ship-wise, I’m fine with background Mal/Molly and I also like April/Barney, although I’d prefer for the main focus to be on Roanoke Cabin as a team.
I’d love something about them investigating a problem and solving puzzles. There has to be a ton of stuff out in the forest for them to investigate… and maybe some cases to solve back at Lumberjanes camp? Maybe they find a mysterious house in the forest, or maybe a new supernatural threat tries to attack the camp.
While I’m a sucker for supernatural mystery solving, I also love the side-stories where they face non-supernatural Lumberjanes challenges, like earning badges or cooperating with other cabins.
A camp event could also be interesting. They’re often mentioned in the comics, but we rarely get to see them. Or maybe Roanoke cabin has to try to hide some supernatural incursion from the rest of the camp?
I also feel like there’s an interesting Five Times opening here. We’ve got five Lumberjanes. How might each of them separately try to solve the same problem, earn the same badge, etc.? Is there some similar event or challenge they faced in their lives back home? And now that they’re together, how could they face the same problem/event/challenge as a team?
Finally, a potential crossover prompt: I feel like Lumberjanes as a canon is just crying out to be crossed over with Gravity Falls. I’d be so down for seeing Mabel and Wendy from Gravity Falls visit the Lumberjanes - or maybe there’s a Lumberjanes jamboree in Gravity Falls? Seems like their kind of town!