Dear Yuletide 2014!
Dear future author,
Hello! I have just met you and I already love you! Feel free to poke me here if you have any questions or if you just want to flail over our mutual fannish loves/make friends - anon commenting is on, both here and on my tumblr (where I am considerably more active these days)! COME SAY HI. Also, I don’t have any bookmarks there yet or anything, but I’m novembersmith on AO3, too. Also, FYI I have to confess my letters from previous years have gotten me AMAZING fics, so I'm mining them for a lot of my intro info.
Anyway, an honest and sincere prompt from me for all of these fandoms/characters would just be MORE. I really will be over the moon to get a new story for any one of these fandoms. However, I know that is not incredibly helpful in terms of writing, and as it happens I do have a ton of feelings that I can ramble about for ages. Hopefully some of this will be inspiring to you! But definitely feel free to ignore all of this and write whatever sparks your interest. I'm already delighted to bits we matched on one of the tiny fandoms of my heart, so keep clear of the DNWs and you're already my hero.
In that vein...
Stuff I Like:
Soooo, first off, I am a giant nerd. I love learning new things, and going into wacky levels of detail in your story - anything from Napoleonic politics, draconic biology, ghostly physics (WHAT THE HECK IS PLASM??), Irish mythology, murder statistics, demonology, CIA dental plans - all of that would delight me to bits. That said, I don’t at all mind hand-waving some of the specifics in lieu of focusing on the story, so don’t feel like you NEED to include that kind of level of detail! The CHAOS team has time-traveled back to the Cold War. SURE LET'S DO IT.
Things I love: bantering dialogue, character-building, world-building, alternate universes, dinosaurs, zombies, zombie dinosaurs, superheroes, found families, hurt/comfort, keeping-warm-snuggling-in-a-snowstorm situations, and all manner of fic ratings. Gen, het, slash or femslash, it’s all awesome! I love flirting and UST and kisses and pining! Kissing is especially a favorite of mine. All the kisses. I also am delighted by intense friendships sans romance and non-traditional romances. Poly relationships are also great! Threesomes, moresomes, etc are all my cups of tea. People being jealous/insecure and getting comforted/reassured is my kind of idfic, so feel free to play with that!
I do love porn but: it is NOT REQUIRED. Should you be interested in writing porn, as long as both parties are sentient and consenting, I am pretty much happy as a clam. I adore everything from awkward first times to comfortable sleepy married sex to furious fucking against a wall - whatever makes sense for the characters involved. Some particular kinks of mine are desperation, multiple orgasms, overstimulation, and forced or delayed orgasms. Situations where characters just CANNOT KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF EACH OTHER = holy shit yes please. But I also really love “bad” sex where both characters laugh at each other and fall off the bed and start arguing mid-coitus about dumb shit.
I also love: serious fic, darkly humorous fic, straight-up humorous fic, trope-filled fic with arranged marriages or mistaken identities, epistolary fic, plot-driven fic, epic poetry, character vignettes, missing scenes, fake academic papers.... whatever format/style works for you, I can pretty much guarantee I will like it also.
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Stuff I Do NOT Like AKA the DNW List:
Please no character-bashing, non-con, non-canon deaths, suicide, or student/professor relationships (though other relationships like boss/employee, captain/lower ranking soldier are fine). I'm also fine with dubcon as long as the characters involved realize there's a problem and it's not treated as generally okay to sex up drunk people, etc. I don't like fic that is unremittingly dark and hopeless, especially this time of year. Dark humor, though, is awesome! And if you're doing a crossover, please keep the focus on the characters from the requested canon!
And.... that's it! If you're worried about anything, just message me anon and I'm happy to clear anything up!
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ON TO THE REQUESTS (in alphabetical order, not in order of most loved I LOVE THEM ALL EQUALLY):
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Fandom: CHAOS (TV 2011)
Characters: Any
Sign-up request: LITERALLY ANYTHING. I realize that is unhelpful, but seriously, if you have an idea you've been itching to write, please do!
Buuuuut I'll throw out some prompts as well, I suppose! I adore how silly this show can be, but how the emotions and characters are so genuine. It's a show that doesn't take itself too seriously and has fun with the slightly-rogue-secret-agent concept, and that's the kind of thing I'd love to see in the fic, too - nothing TOO dark. Shipping of any combination IS MORE than welcome (Billy/Rick is a favorite, but foursomes, yes PLEASE why not), but not required! If you do go that route, maybe a case that involves fake-dating for an undercover op? 5 times Rick got kissed on the job? Or if casefic isn't your thing, something ridiculously mundane, like the four of them grocery shopping, because oh man, seriously, imagine it. MISSION: A BRAND OF ORANGE JUICE ALL FOUR WILL DRINK WITHOUT KILLING EACH OTHER ON A STAKE-OUT. All of them judging each other's gatorade flavor choices. WHAT EVEN IS WHEAT GERM WHO EATS IT, etc.
OR NOW CHAOS IS SOMEHOW SADDLED WITH A BABY, because oh my god. Or put them in space! Add dinosaurs! Add Jaegers! ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES, ALL DELIGHTFUL TO ME. Basically any fic that gives me more of these characters. I MISS THEM I WANT MORE.
So I can't even tell you how delighted I was to see someone WHO WAS NOT ME nominated this fandom this year. This show is one of my favorites and I've wanted more fic for it since before it was canceled. It was such an over-the-top ridiculous show that embraced its own silliness and had fun with it. SPIES! I love spies so much. I loved Rick’s earnestness and enormous genuine heart, and how easy it is for basically anyone in the world to pull his leg, I love Billy’s brash Scottish burr and playfulness and general thoughtfulness, I love CASEY’S COMPLETE DEADPAN BADASSERY and inner marshmallow fluff and his UNEXPECTED PLAYBOY SELF, and I love Michael’s intense crazy-eyed leadership and quiet humor.
I ship them all. I ship them with their canon girlfriends/ex-wives, and I ship them with each other in any combo. I just, god. I love them. The camaraderie, and how Rick earns himself a place with them. THE TRUST ISSUES, and the OTT heroics. I know it’s not at all realistic, and honestly, that’s not what I watch the show for, so I’d be 100% happy with a silly spy mission, or with them fighting zombies or aliens, or crossing them over with basically ANYTHING, so long as they’re the main focus.
Or maybe the team continues trolling Rick - Billy tells him there's an orgy initiation or something and RICK BELIEVES HIM and is sort of into it and getting excited until Michael is like, whoa, buddy, why are you taking off your pants? And then there's an orgy anyway because come on, Martinez is the cutest damn puppy.
Also, I have to say, my favorite episode was the one where Rick got injured and everyone was taking care of him, so some hurt/comfort in that vein would be AMAZING. The POV of Michael running, or Casey singing, or Billy fretting, or even doped-up Rick's thoughts would be fabulous. Or maybe this time it's another character that gets hurt, and Rick's the one providing the protection/comfort/saving the day! I love seeing Rick get a chance to really be badass.
Crossover suggestions (that you should feel free to ignore, obviously): the Avengers! The Walking Dead! Ghostbusters! Jurassic Park! Buffy! Star Trek! X-Men! Haven! X-Files! SERIOUSLY THE LIST IS NEARLY ENDLESS. Feel free to comment and ask if there’s a fandom you’re not sure I would enjoy, I will straight-up tell you yea or nay.
Also, no lie, a lady spies genderswap of these guys would be so fun.
***
Fandom: Dublin Murder Squad Series - Tana French
Characters: Rob Ryan, Cassie Maddox
Sign-up request: I really can't think of anything I wouldn't adore for this fandom. I absolutely love the atmosphere, the history, the complexity of the characters, the slight eerie hint of supernatural that comes with some of the stories. Like most of fandom, I'd love the story of what happened to Rob Ryan in the woods. Feel free to mine Irish mythology for this! Or Lexie/Grace's story - as a ghost or not, there was always something strange about her and Cassie's connection to her, that she was Cassie's imaginary sister this whole time. Did Grace dream of Cassie, too? Or what happens to the four girls after The Secret Place - tell me about the ghosts. Does Holly keep her powers she had with her friends, or do they change? Or ARE there ghosts in the ashes of Whitethorn Hall, shades of what could have been?
Less supernaturally and more shippily, I'd love to see Rob and Cassie reunite. Maybe just for coffee, or by chance, or... possibly in a threesome type way with Sam, if you can work it! I think that'd be super-intriguing, with Sam as the balance to the other two, the anchor to keep them from flying apart. But also feel free to leave Sam out, too! I do love him, though, so please no bashing. But yeah, maybe Rob's POV when Cassie called during the Likeness and he just KNEW it was her. Rob, by the by, is one of my favorite characters, unreliable and broken and fucked up as he is. I'd love to see if he wound up pursuing private police work, of if he's still pushing papers in an office, or if Frank sweeps him up into maybe some undercover stuff? Maybe he finds another case like his, one with no rational answer, and has to return to the woods (metaphorically), to stop it happening again?
Okay, I wrote that Rob was my favorite character but as soon as I did my brain started yelling at me beCAUSE CASSIE! AND FRANK! AND HOLLY AND so yeah, I really just love everyone.
So seriously: anything for this canon will delight me. I love all of the characters, I love all of their stories. If there's any you feel drawn to, please write it!
So I debated on asking for Any or being more specific, and erred on the side of more specific, because I really would adore some Cassie/Ryan fic. Some resolution to their story, a reconnection. A drunken encounter prior to her wedding, maybe - they run into each other and then scorching sex and worlds toppling? That fade-to-black in In the Woods drove me nuts, I'd love more details than that, or a do-over entirely (because let's be frank, that wasn't the best sex in the world, I bet). I'd love to see Rob taking his time and worshipping Cassie's body, the bones of her wrist and the skin by her eyes and her ankles and her throat. Desperate because maybe this is his last chance? Anyway, obviously don't go this route unless it inspires you!
But that said, I really would be delighted for more of any of the characters and any of their stories. Frank is one of my absolute favorite characters from any canon. He's so vivid and complicated and charming and ruthless, and he loves his daughter SO MUCH and tries so hard. My heart broke for him at the end of The Secret Place. He's worked so hard to give her a happy family life, the one he never had, and goddamn does some shit fall down on him. I'd love to see him crack a little, maybe in front of Cassie? Or maybe to Rosie, one of his ghosts (YES I LIKE GHOSTS CAN YOU TELL). Just someone he can talk to and get shit off his chest. Alternately, just him on the job! He's such a joy to watch work, and I love how close he holds his cards and cleverly he plays them. I'd love some backstory of his undercover work, how he comes up with characters, which character he's playing at any given time.
OR I love Dinah and Mick Kennedy! I love Scorcher's story, how he's lost that reassuring lie that bad things happen to bad people, for a reason. The end is fucking heartbreaking - sometimes bad things just happen, he's tried so hard not to know that his entire life. Where will he go from there? I... can't lie, I wouldn't mind some incest in this situation, so if that grabs you too, go for it! But will Scorcher really quit? Maybe he and Frank talk and hash things out and fight and cry in front of each other and then fight some more because OH NO NOT FEELINGS. Maybe Dinah and Holly bond over their broken lives/shattered selves. Maybe Richie grows up and learns more about the world and comes back and apologizes? A fic about him, about how he feels about Scorcher and the case - I got a vibe of pining, honestly, and I'm going to assume there is a family resemblance in Dinah. So that's something twisty and heart-breaking to play with if you're interested!
Or Holly, Julia, and Selena visiting Becca, or writing to her. Becca, talking still with Chris's ghost. Or the POV of Chris's ghost! I'd love to see him watching things unfold, what he thought or wanted. And what does HOLLY want? Where will she go from here? I'd love to know where she sees herself - it's kind of interesting that she winds up taking Richie's side, almost, in terms of her take on guilt and punishment, etc. Kindness rather than justice.
Obviously there are tons of options here! The one I'm not 1000% leaning towards at the moment is Stephen and Antoinette, but I trust you to write the story that inspires you and if they are the two that make you want to write, please do! And I'm so sorry for rambling all over the place - if my headcanons contradict yours, don't worry! I love hearing what other people took from the series.
Final cracky prompt: DUBLIN MURDER SQUAD HOLIDAY PARTY. Drunk shenanigans with all the characters! Non-murder characters wandering in by accident or being invited, obviously. Man, that would be one hell of a crime scene. :D
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Fandom: Lockwood & Co - Jonathan Stroud
Characters: Any
Sign-up request: Gen adventures would be grand, maybe some of the missing cases mentioned in the novels? Ooh, maybe the one with the Limbless in the basement! Or a new case entirely! Or just something atmospheric exploring this world, the effects the Troubles have! I'd also be delighted if you want to do something with the reveal at the end of book 2 - come up with a backstory for Lockwood's family. OR for the skull, with his ominous obscure warnings re: "death in life, and life in death."
I also very much enjoy George's more academic bent, being kind of obsessive over that sort of thing myself. More about his studies, his notes, his theories on the return of the dead, his casefiles - all of that would be amazing! (Especially if it involves glimpses of his aggravated pining for Lucy >.>) Actually, if you wanted to do an epistolary-type story with all the insults and jokes and research and planning on the table cloth, that would be AMAZING.
RE: SHIPPING - anything goes! I PERSONALLY think that Lucy pays way too much attention to George's bottom not to have a thing for it. A fic where she surprises herself by being really into grabbing it would be kind of amazing. I love their bickering, too, the way they play off each other. And I love Lockwood and Lucy and how much he pays attention to her without making it obvious and I just, I don't know I LOVE THEM ALL EVERYONE KISS. So yeah, George/Lucy/Lockwood would be amazing.
Also, well. Lucy and the Skull definitely intrigue me. I'd love more of them - maybe it's just me, but I definitely think the Skull is fond of her, and that she's reluctantly fond of it. I'd adore some of them bickering/flirting, or even all the 4 of them yelling at each other over breakfast/a case one morning.
Soooo I absolutely adore this universe. It's eerie and at times legitimately chilling and yes, fine, the mysteries are often a little obvious, but it's still so FUN. Murder adventures corpses dry wit mythology world-building found families mystery conspiracies cranky skulls, what's not to love??? It can be astonishingly scary for a YA series. I was genuinely jump as hell during the Red Room scene, and oh god the RATS. The rats jfc the rats. And I just love the whole atmosphere of the empty streets and drifting mists, the ghost-lights clicking on and off - I read so much of this huddled up in a ball because WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? More of this would be wonderful - the creepier and eerier the better!
Re: the team, I would adore some drama of relationships being added in as they grow up. Flirting and UST and long, meaningful looks! I imagine Lockwood holds himself apart, not just because of SPOILER AT END OF BOOK 2, but because he's the boss, in charge, and he wants to be professional. I'd love George and Lucy battering him down or competing with each other to seduce him! Because Lucy and George really do crack me up with their competitive snarking. But yeah, make-outs to make Lockwood jealous before they pounce/ravish him? YES PLEASE. Or alternately, just George... being serious and open for once about how much he admires Lucy and Lockwood. I love the idea of Lucy being blown away and thinking about it more and grudginly returning the compliments until they're both furiously blushing and mad and awkward and Lockwood is laughing at them both.
Also I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF LUCY GRABBING GEORGE'S BUTT AND BEING LIKE UGH YOU'RE THE WORST but she really loves how round it is and getting a good handful of it, okay. WEAR TROUSERS THAT FIT YOU IDIOT she yells as she slips her hand down them and squeezes. ANYWAY.
But yes, gen is also sensational! I'd love more of the three of them interacting with the Skull, more bickering, more adventure and near-misses and ooh maybe some scandalizing ghosts from a brothel that burned down? Lucy is very glad she can't see them and keeps having to knock George and even Lockwood about the head with her sword to keep them from DYING MESSILY. Or just generally some hurt/comfort post-case, maybe a physical injury, or the lingering effects of ghostlock, or actual recovery from ghost touch and as a result obviously they all have to snuggle on the couch beneath blankets. Obviously.
ETA: I would also punch myself in the FACE for some alternate perspectives on the Troubles in different cultures. How does the ghosts coming back affect beliefs around the world? PLEASE feel free to ignore all my other prompts and play with this! But please treat the cultures respectfully. I'd love to know more re: the artifacts in Lockwood's house, for example, but please don't treat them as primitive and not valid in and of themselves!
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Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Characters: Tenzing Tharkay, William Laurence
Sign-up request: THARKAY. THARKAAAAAY. Anything with Tharkay will make my life.
I’d love fic set during Blood of Tyrants, but I’m honestly happy for more Tharkay from any point in the series. For one thing, what was he up to the entirety of Book 7? But seriously oh god the AMNESIA PLOTLINE in Book 8, what a goddamned gift. I’d love some post-rescue hurt/comfort, or Tharkay being tortured alone in the caves and what he was thinking/feeling then, or maaaaybe even some Laurence brooding over Little and Granby and wondering about his feelings toward Tharkay and if maybe they’re not actually so platonic after all? OR ALL OF THE ABOVE.
As far as romance goes, I'm Tharkay/Laurence all the way. I love how they’re so well-suited temperamentally, how they respect each other, how LAURENCE RECOGNIZES HIM AMIDST THE AMNESIA. I perish from feelings. If this is not your cup of tea/doesn’t fit your headcanon, though, gen/strong friendshipfic in the tone of the books is more than fine!
OKAY I ASKED FOR THIS LAST YEAR AND I RETURN AGAIN. I ship these two like mad, the UST in the books KILLS ME. Tharkay is so devoted and Laurence is so awkward and has SUCH STRONG FEELINGS, and I just want them to get married and raise a thousand cadets together. I'm a massive massive Tharkay fan, and I'd love some of his POV on all the stuff he's gone through off-screen, so to speak. Especially if it involves him pining/despairing over Laurence.
ALSO, BLOOD OF TYRANTS YOU GUYS. I just can’t handle it. It was like getting to read the first part of the series AGAIN, but new and fresh and fun. I love concussed!Laurence and the way that his memory loss and subsequent return slightly, but significantly, change his perspective. An example of what I mean: when he thought on the difference between the Laurence before and the Laurence now and how they’d have treated the prosecution of homosexuality, he decided “he was done with that subtle species of cowardice which hid behind the judgment of other men.” WHICH, YAY. It’s just overall nice to see him stop being so self-loathing about everything and move forward. AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM MOVE THARKAYWARDS AS A RESULT >.> I’d especially love if he was helping tend Tharkay’s wounds over their months of travel, helping dress Tharkay because injured hands and all, and it brings them closer. Hurt/comfort for the MOTHERFUCKING WIN.
Also… if you want to do porn in which Tharkay’s gets aroused as Laurence does up his trousers for him and both of them are embarrassed and then Laurence has a momentary brainfart and finds himself jerking Tharkay off… you could totally do that. Um.
Another possible (and cracky) prompt: what if Temeraire was only persuaded to let Tharkay share Laurence’s imperial robes if they got married? MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE FIC. <3__<3 Um, by which I mean I would welcome both serious and tropey fic, fluff or angst, whatever you prefer! Seriously, if you have a Tharkay/Laurence or a Tharkay gen idea you’ve been considering for ages PLEASE WRITE IT!!! I can’t get enough of these guys, seriously.
And if Granby/Little is your pairing of choice, I'm just saying, I WOULD LOVE Laurence sheepishly going to Granby and asking for advice on how to woo Tharkay CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE GRANBY'S FACE? I would also happily accept foursomes, or maybe even Granby and Little and Laurence educational threesomes >.>
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Well, that’s about it! (She said, thousands of words later.)
If you're despairing over the prompt for your fandom - well, definitely check out my other fandoms! CHAOS is one season of 13 episodes, 45 minutes each, and a HELL of a lot of fun. Dublin Murder Series is 5 books of wonderfully written murder mysteries set in, yes, Dublin. Tons of history, complex dynamic characters and a hint of the supernatural - what's not to love? Lockwood & Co is probably the easiest to pick up - two YA books about teenagers battling the inexplicable rise of ghosts in the modern world. Snark, mystery, and found families! IT IS A DELIGHT. And Temeraire is a series about the Napoleonic wars with added dragons - 8 books, very fun and readable!
Seriously, though, let me know if you have any questions, but the take-home message here should be: write a story that you’ll enjoy writing. I guarantee that if it’s about these characters and you love it, I will love it. Happy Yuletide! I CAN’T WAIT TO OPEN MY PRESENT THIS YEAR!
♥
L
Hello! I have just met you and I already love you! Feel free to poke me here if you have any questions or if you just want to flail over our mutual fannish loves/make friends - anon commenting is on, both here and on my tumblr (where I am considerably more active these days)! COME SAY HI. Also, I don’t have any bookmarks there yet or anything, but I’m novembersmith on AO3, too. Also, FYI I have to confess my letters from previous years have gotten me AMAZING fics, so I'm mining them for a lot of my intro info.
Anyway, an honest and sincere prompt from me for all of these fandoms/characters would just be MORE. I really will be over the moon to get a new story for any one of these fandoms. However, I know that is not incredibly helpful in terms of writing, and as it happens I do have a ton of feelings that I can ramble about for ages. Hopefully some of this will be inspiring to you! But definitely feel free to ignore all of this and write whatever sparks your interest. I'm already delighted to bits we matched on one of the tiny fandoms of my heart, so keep clear of the DNWs and you're already my hero.
In that vein...
Stuff I Like:
Soooo, first off, I am a giant nerd. I love learning new things, and going into wacky levels of detail in your story - anything from Napoleonic politics, draconic biology, ghostly physics (WHAT THE HECK IS PLASM??), Irish mythology, murder statistics, demonology, CIA dental plans - all of that would delight me to bits. That said, I don’t at all mind hand-waving some of the specifics in lieu of focusing on the story, so don’t feel like you NEED to include that kind of level of detail! The CHAOS team has time-traveled back to the Cold War. SURE LET'S DO IT.
Things I love: bantering dialogue, character-building, world-building, alternate universes, dinosaurs, zombies, zombie dinosaurs, superheroes, found families, hurt/comfort, keeping-warm-snuggling-in-a-snowstorm situations, and all manner of fic ratings. Gen, het, slash or femslash, it’s all awesome! I love flirting and UST and kisses and pining! Kissing is especially a favorite of mine. All the kisses. I also am delighted by intense friendships sans romance and non-traditional romances. Poly relationships are also great! Threesomes, moresomes, etc are all my cups of tea. People being jealous/insecure and getting comforted/reassured is my kind of idfic, so feel free to play with that!
I do love porn but: it is NOT REQUIRED. Should you be interested in writing porn, as long as both parties are sentient and consenting, I am pretty much happy as a clam. I adore everything from awkward first times to comfortable sleepy married sex to furious fucking against a wall - whatever makes sense for the characters involved. Some particular kinks of mine are desperation, multiple orgasms, overstimulation, and forced or delayed orgasms. Situations where characters just CANNOT KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF EACH OTHER = holy shit yes please. But I also really love “bad” sex where both characters laugh at each other and fall off the bed and start arguing mid-coitus about dumb shit.
I also love: serious fic, darkly humorous fic, straight-up humorous fic, trope-filled fic with arranged marriages or mistaken identities, epistolary fic, plot-driven fic, epic poetry, character vignettes, missing scenes, fake academic papers.... whatever format/style works for you, I can pretty much guarantee I will like it also.
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Stuff I Do NOT Like AKA the DNW List:
Please no character-bashing, non-con, non-canon deaths, suicide, or student/professor relationships (though other relationships like boss/employee, captain/lower ranking soldier are fine). I'm also fine with dubcon as long as the characters involved realize there's a problem and it's not treated as generally okay to sex up drunk people, etc. I don't like fic that is unremittingly dark and hopeless, especially this time of year. Dark humor, though, is awesome! And if you're doing a crossover, please keep the focus on the characters from the requested canon!
And.... that's it! If you're worried about anything, just message me anon and I'm happy to clear anything up!
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ON TO THE REQUESTS (in alphabetical order, not in order of most loved I LOVE THEM ALL EQUALLY):
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Fandom: CHAOS (TV 2011)
Characters: Any
Sign-up request: LITERALLY ANYTHING. I realize that is unhelpful, but seriously, if you have an idea you've been itching to write, please do!
Buuuuut I'll throw out some prompts as well, I suppose! I adore how silly this show can be, but how the emotions and characters are so genuine. It's a show that doesn't take itself too seriously and has fun with the slightly-rogue-secret-agent concept, and that's the kind of thing I'd love to see in the fic, too - nothing TOO dark. Shipping of any combination IS MORE than welcome (Billy/Rick is a favorite, but foursomes, yes PLEASE why not), but not required! If you do go that route, maybe a case that involves fake-dating for an undercover op? 5 times Rick got kissed on the job? Or if casefic isn't your thing, something ridiculously mundane, like the four of them grocery shopping, because oh man, seriously, imagine it. MISSION: A BRAND OF ORANGE JUICE ALL FOUR WILL DRINK WITHOUT KILLING EACH OTHER ON A STAKE-OUT. All of them judging each other's gatorade flavor choices. WHAT EVEN IS WHEAT GERM WHO EATS IT, etc.
OR NOW CHAOS IS SOMEHOW SADDLED WITH A BABY, because oh my god. Or put them in space! Add dinosaurs! Add Jaegers! ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES, ALL DELIGHTFUL TO ME. Basically any fic that gives me more of these characters. I MISS THEM I WANT MORE.
So I can't even tell you how delighted I was to see someone WHO WAS NOT ME nominated this fandom this year. This show is one of my favorites and I've wanted more fic for it since before it was canceled. It was such an over-the-top ridiculous show that embraced its own silliness and had fun with it. SPIES! I love spies so much. I loved Rick’s earnestness and enormous genuine heart, and how easy it is for basically anyone in the world to pull his leg, I love Billy’s brash Scottish burr and playfulness and general thoughtfulness, I love CASEY’S COMPLETE DEADPAN BADASSERY and inner marshmallow fluff and his UNEXPECTED PLAYBOY SELF, and I love Michael’s intense crazy-eyed leadership and quiet humor.
I ship them all. I ship them with their canon girlfriends/ex-wives, and I ship them with each other in any combo. I just, god. I love them. The camaraderie, and how Rick earns himself a place with them. THE TRUST ISSUES, and the OTT heroics. I know it’s not at all realistic, and honestly, that’s not what I watch the show for, so I’d be 100% happy with a silly spy mission, or with them fighting zombies or aliens, or crossing them over with basically ANYTHING, so long as they’re the main focus.
Or maybe the team continues trolling Rick - Billy tells him there's an orgy initiation or something and RICK BELIEVES HIM and is sort of into it and getting excited until Michael is like, whoa, buddy, why are you taking off your pants? And then there's an orgy anyway because come on, Martinez is the cutest damn puppy.
Also, I have to say, my favorite episode was the one where Rick got injured and everyone was taking care of him, so some hurt/comfort in that vein would be AMAZING. The POV of Michael running, or Casey singing, or Billy fretting, or even doped-up Rick's thoughts would be fabulous. Or maybe this time it's another character that gets hurt, and Rick's the one providing the protection/comfort/saving the day! I love seeing Rick get a chance to really be badass.
Crossover suggestions (that you should feel free to ignore, obviously): the Avengers! The Walking Dead! Ghostbusters! Jurassic Park! Buffy! Star Trek! X-Men! Haven! X-Files! SERIOUSLY THE LIST IS NEARLY ENDLESS. Feel free to comment and ask if there’s a fandom you’re not sure I would enjoy, I will straight-up tell you yea or nay.
Also, no lie, a lady spies genderswap of these guys would be so fun.
***
Fandom: Dublin Murder Squad Series - Tana French
Characters: Rob Ryan, Cassie Maddox
Sign-up request: I really can't think of anything I wouldn't adore for this fandom. I absolutely love the atmosphere, the history, the complexity of the characters, the slight eerie hint of supernatural that comes with some of the stories. Like most of fandom, I'd love the story of what happened to Rob Ryan in the woods. Feel free to mine Irish mythology for this! Or Lexie/Grace's story - as a ghost or not, there was always something strange about her and Cassie's connection to her, that she was Cassie's imaginary sister this whole time. Did Grace dream of Cassie, too? Or what happens to the four girls after The Secret Place - tell me about the ghosts. Does Holly keep her powers she had with her friends, or do they change? Or ARE there ghosts in the ashes of Whitethorn Hall, shades of what could have been?
Less supernaturally and more shippily, I'd love to see Rob and Cassie reunite. Maybe just for coffee, or by chance, or... possibly in a threesome type way with Sam, if you can work it! I think that'd be super-intriguing, with Sam as the balance to the other two, the anchor to keep them from flying apart. But also feel free to leave Sam out, too! I do love him, though, so please no bashing. But yeah, maybe Rob's POV when Cassie called during the Likeness and he just KNEW it was her. Rob, by the by, is one of my favorite characters, unreliable and broken and fucked up as he is. I'd love to see if he wound up pursuing private police work, of if he's still pushing papers in an office, or if Frank sweeps him up into maybe some undercover stuff? Maybe he finds another case like his, one with no rational answer, and has to return to the woods (metaphorically), to stop it happening again?
Okay, I wrote that Rob was my favorite character but as soon as I did my brain started yelling at me beCAUSE CASSIE! AND FRANK! AND HOLLY AND so yeah, I really just love everyone.
So seriously: anything for this canon will delight me. I love all of the characters, I love all of their stories. If there's any you feel drawn to, please write it!
So I debated on asking for Any or being more specific, and erred on the side of more specific, because I really would adore some Cassie/Ryan fic. Some resolution to their story, a reconnection. A drunken encounter prior to her wedding, maybe - they run into each other and then scorching sex and worlds toppling? That fade-to-black in In the Woods drove me nuts, I'd love more details than that, or a do-over entirely (because let's be frank, that wasn't the best sex in the world, I bet). I'd love to see Rob taking his time and worshipping Cassie's body, the bones of her wrist and the skin by her eyes and her ankles and her throat. Desperate because maybe this is his last chance? Anyway, obviously don't go this route unless it inspires you!
But that said, I really would be delighted for more of any of the characters and any of their stories. Frank is one of my absolute favorite characters from any canon. He's so vivid and complicated and charming and ruthless, and he loves his daughter SO MUCH and tries so hard. My heart broke for him at the end of The Secret Place. He's worked so hard to give her a happy family life, the one he never had, and goddamn does some shit fall down on him. I'd love to see him crack a little, maybe in front of Cassie? Or maybe to Rosie, one of his ghosts (YES I LIKE GHOSTS CAN YOU TELL). Just someone he can talk to and get shit off his chest. Alternately, just him on the job! He's such a joy to watch work, and I love how close he holds his cards and cleverly he plays them. I'd love some backstory of his undercover work, how he comes up with characters, which character he's playing at any given time.
OR I love Dinah and Mick Kennedy! I love Scorcher's story, how he's lost that reassuring lie that bad things happen to bad people, for a reason. The end is fucking heartbreaking - sometimes bad things just happen, he's tried so hard not to know that his entire life. Where will he go from there? I... can't lie, I wouldn't mind some incest in this situation, so if that grabs you too, go for it! But will Scorcher really quit? Maybe he and Frank talk and hash things out and fight and cry in front of each other and then fight some more because OH NO NOT FEELINGS. Maybe Dinah and Holly bond over their broken lives/shattered selves. Maybe Richie grows up and learns more about the world and comes back and apologizes? A fic about him, about how he feels about Scorcher and the case - I got a vibe of pining, honestly, and I'm going to assume there is a family resemblance in Dinah. So that's something twisty and heart-breaking to play with if you're interested!
Or Holly, Julia, and Selena visiting Becca, or writing to her. Becca, talking still with Chris's ghost. Or the POV of Chris's ghost! I'd love to see him watching things unfold, what he thought or wanted. And what does HOLLY want? Where will she go from here? I'd love to know where she sees herself - it's kind of interesting that she winds up taking Richie's side, almost, in terms of her take on guilt and punishment, etc. Kindness rather than justice.
Obviously there are tons of options here! The one I'm not 1000% leaning towards at the moment is Stephen and Antoinette, but I trust you to write the story that inspires you and if they are the two that make you want to write, please do! And I'm so sorry for rambling all over the place - if my headcanons contradict yours, don't worry! I love hearing what other people took from the series.
Final cracky prompt: DUBLIN MURDER SQUAD HOLIDAY PARTY. Drunk shenanigans with all the characters! Non-murder characters wandering in by accident or being invited, obviously. Man, that would be one hell of a crime scene. :D
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Fandom: Lockwood & Co - Jonathan Stroud
Characters: Any
Sign-up request: Gen adventures would be grand, maybe some of the missing cases mentioned in the novels? Ooh, maybe the one with the Limbless in the basement! Or a new case entirely! Or just something atmospheric exploring this world, the effects the Troubles have! I'd also be delighted if you want to do something with the reveal at the end of book 2 - come up with a backstory for Lockwood's family. OR for the skull, with his ominous obscure warnings re: "death in life, and life in death."
I also very much enjoy George's more academic bent, being kind of obsessive over that sort of thing myself. More about his studies, his notes, his theories on the return of the dead, his casefiles - all of that would be amazing! (Especially if it involves glimpses of his aggravated pining for Lucy >.>) Actually, if you wanted to do an epistolary-type story with all the insults and jokes and research and planning on the table cloth, that would be AMAZING.
RE: SHIPPING - anything goes! I PERSONALLY think that Lucy pays way too much attention to George's bottom not to have a thing for it. A fic where she surprises herself by being really into grabbing it would be kind of amazing. I love their bickering, too, the way they play off each other. And I love Lockwood and Lucy and how much he pays attention to her without making it obvious and I just, I don't know I LOVE THEM ALL EVERYONE KISS. So yeah, George/Lucy/Lockwood would be amazing.
Also, well. Lucy and the Skull definitely intrigue me. I'd love more of them - maybe it's just me, but I definitely think the Skull is fond of her, and that she's reluctantly fond of it. I'd adore some of them bickering/flirting, or even all the 4 of them yelling at each other over breakfast/a case one morning.
Soooo I absolutely adore this universe. It's eerie and at times legitimately chilling and yes, fine, the mysteries are often a little obvious, but it's still so FUN. Murder adventures corpses dry wit mythology world-building found families mystery conspiracies cranky skulls, what's not to love??? It can be astonishingly scary for a YA series. I was genuinely jump as hell during the Red Room scene, and oh god the RATS. The rats jfc the rats. And I just love the whole atmosphere of the empty streets and drifting mists, the ghost-lights clicking on and off - I read so much of this huddled up in a ball because WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? More of this would be wonderful - the creepier and eerier the better!
Re: the team, I would adore some drama of relationships being added in as they grow up. Flirting and UST and long, meaningful looks! I imagine Lockwood holds himself apart, not just because of SPOILER AT END OF BOOK 2, but because he's the boss, in charge, and he wants to be professional. I'd love George and Lucy battering him down or competing with each other to seduce him! Because Lucy and George really do crack me up with their competitive snarking. But yeah, make-outs to make Lockwood jealous before they pounce/ravish him? YES PLEASE. Or alternately, just George... being serious and open for once about how much he admires Lucy and Lockwood. I love the idea of Lucy being blown away and thinking about it more and grudginly returning the compliments until they're both furiously blushing and mad and awkward and Lockwood is laughing at them both.
Also I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF LUCY GRABBING GEORGE'S BUTT AND BEING LIKE UGH YOU'RE THE WORST but she really loves how round it is and getting a good handful of it, okay. WEAR TROUSERS THAT FIT YOU IDIOT she yells as she slips her hand down them and squeezes. ANYWAY.
But yes, gen is also sensational! I'd love more of the three of them interacting with the Skull, more bickering, more adventure and near-misses and ooh maybe some scandalizing ghosts from a brothel that burned down? Lucy is very glad she can't see them and keeps having to knock George and even Lockwood about the head with her sword to keep them from DYING MESSILY. Or just generally some hurt/comfort post-case, maybe a physical injury, or the lingering effects of ghostlock, or actual recovery from ghost touch and as a result obviously they all have to snuggle on the couch beneath blankets. Obviously.
ETA: I would also punch myself in the FACE for some alternate perspectives on the Troubles in different cultures. How does the ghosts coming back affect beliefs around the world? PLEASE feel free to ignore all my other prompts and play with this! But please treat the cultures respectfully. I'd love to know more re: the artifacts in Lockwood's house, for example, but please don't treat them as primitive and not valid in and of themselves!
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Fandom: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Characters: Tenzing Tharkay, William Laurence
Sign-up request: THARKAY. THARKAAAAAY. Anything with Tharkay will make my life.
I’d love fic set during Blood of Tyrants, but I’m honestly happy for more Tharkay from any point in the series. For one thing, what was he up to the entirety of Book 7? But seriously oh god the AMNESIA PLOTLINE in Book 8, what a goddamned gift. I’d love some post-rescue hurt/comfort, or Tharkay being tortured alone in the caves and what he was thinking/feeling then, or maaaaybe even some Laurence brooding over Little and Granby and wondering about his feelings toward Tharkay and if maybe they’re not actually so platonic after all? OR ALL OF THE ABOVE.
As far as romance goes, I'm Tharkay/Laurence all the way. I love how they’re so well-suited temperamentally, how they respect each other, how LAURENCE RECOGNIZES HIM AMIDST THE AMNESIA. I perish from feelings. If this is not your cup of tea/doesn’t fit your headcanon, though, gen/strong friendshipfic in the tone of the books is more than fine!
OKAY I ASKED FOR THIS LAST YEAR AND I RETURN AGAIN. I ship these two like mad, the UST in the books KILLS ME. Tharkay is so devoted and Laurence is so awkward and has SUCH STRONG FEELINGS, and I just want them to get married and raise a thousand cadets together. I'm a massive massive Tharkay fan, and I'd love some of his POV on all the stuff he's gone through off-screen, so to speak. Especially if it involves him pining/despairing over Laurence.
ALSO, BLOOD OF TYRANTS YOU GUYS. I just can’t handle it. It was like getting to read the first part of the series AGAIN, but new and fresh and fun. I love concussed!Laurence and the way that his memory loss and subsequent return slightly, but significantly, change his perspective. An example of what I mean: when he thought on the difference between the Laurence before and the Laurence now and how they’d have treated the prosecution of homosexuality, he decided “he was done with that subtle species of cowardice which hid behind the judgment of other men.” WHICH, YAY. It’s just overall nice to see him stop being so self-loathing about everything and move forward. AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HIM MOVE THARKAYWARDS AS A RESULT >.> I’d especially love if he was helping tend Tharkay’s wounds over their months of travel, helping dress Tharkay because injured hands and all, and it brings them closer. Hurt/comfort for the MOTHERFUCKING WIN.
Also… if you want to do porn in which Tharkay’s gets aroused as Laurence does up his trousers for him and both of them are embarrassed and then Laurence has a momentary brainfart and finds himself jerking Tharkay off… you could totally do that. Um.
Another possible (and cracky) prompt: what if Temeraire was only persuaded to let Tharkay share Laurence’s imperial robes if they got married? MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE FIC. <3__<3 Um, by which I mean I would welcome both serious and tropey fic, fluff or angst, whatever you prefer! Seriously, if you have a Tharkay/Laurence or a Tharkay gen idea you’ve been considering for ages PLEASE WRITE IT!!! I can’t get enough of these guys, seriously.
And if Granby/Little is your pairing of choice, I'm just saying, I WOULD LOVE Laurence sheepishly going to Granby and asking for advice on how to woo Tharkay CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE GRANBY'S FACE? I would also happily accept foursomes, or maybe even Granby and Little and Laurence educational threesomes >.>
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Well, that’s about it! (She said, thousands of words later.)
If you're despairing over the prompt for your fandom - well, definitely check out my other fandoms! CHAOS is one season of 13 episodes, 45 minutes each, and a HELL of a lot of fun. Dublin Murder Series is 5 books of wonderfully written murder mysteries set in, yes, Dublin. Tons of history, complex dynamic characters and a hint of the supernatural - what's not to love? Lockwood & Co is probably the easiest to pick up - two YA books about teenagers battling the inexplicable rise of ghosts in the modern world. Snark, mystery, and found families! IT IS A DELIGHT. And Temeraire is a series about the Napoleonic wars with added dragons - 8 books, very fun and readable!
Seriously, though, let me know if you have any questions, but the take-home message here should be: write a story that you’ll enjoy writing. I guarantee that if it’s about these characters and you love it, I will love it. Happy Yuletide! I CAN’T WAIT TO OPEN MY PRESENT THIS YEAR!
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L