Dear Multifandom Tropefest Author
Dear Multifandom Tropefest Author,
Thank you for writing for me! I hope you have fun with this.
I've included some general and dislikes here, along with some discussion of my requested fandoms and relationships, in case that's helpful. A lot of the tropes I've requested are pretty self-explanatory, but I've added a bit of discussion for a few of them. Please feel free to use any trope I requested, whether I've discussed it here or not. And of course, you don't have to go with my interpretation. This is just in case you want a starting point.
You can see a complete list of my requested tropes here.
Things I Like: Competence (so much love for characters being competent!). Secrets coming out (by choice, chance, or necessity). First times: first dates, first kisses, first day in a new role, etc. Get together fic. Characters confessing their love. Equal partnerships in romantic relationships. Friends to lovers. Brief moments of emotional vulnerability from generally stoic or reserved characters. Learning something new about a character. Stories that pick up dropped plot threads. Seeing characters do the right thing, even when it's difficult. Happy or hopeful or bittersweet endings.
Things I Don't Want: Long and detailed descriptions of recovering from traumatic events (i.e., making an extended recovery the primary focus of the story). Explicit gore. AUs that significantly alter the premise, setting or character roles (e.g., coffee shop AUs, high school AUs). Omegaverse or BDSM-verse. Genderswap involving requested characters. Porn without plot. Infidelity involving requested characters as noted below.
Other Things: I have squicks but no triggers. I'm flexible on both genre and rating. Action, introspection, plot, character studies, slice of life, etc. are all good. So is anything from G to NC-17. Background non-con is fine if it's helpful for the story, but I'd rather it not be the primary focus. Dubcon is fine as long as the characters are attracted to each other and one isn't deliberately taking advantage of the other. I'm fine with character death, including major and requested characters, unless otherwise noted. I dislike plots that revolve around misunderstandings that could be cleared up with a simple conversation or that require characters to be less competent or intelligent than they canonically are.
COVERT AFFAIRS
Requested Relationship: Eyal Lavin/Annie Walker
I love Annie and Eyal's dynamic in the show: the mutual hyper-competence, the hard-won trust and affection, the "I'll do anything for you, up to and including single-handedly rescuing you from capture and/or helping you fake your own death" commitment.
Obviously there were a few obstacles to their getting together in the show, like the CIA not wanting its agents to date foreign nationals (and Mossad probably not wanting its agents to fall in love with foreign nationals) and the strong possibility that both agencies would try to use them against the other. But hey, doing things that can't reasonably be done in canon is one of the things fic is for. Maybe they decide to try to find a way around the obstacles. Maybe they decide to stick to something casual or short-term, and plan on not getting caught. Maybe one or both leave their agencies, which opens up new possibilities in terms of relationship development.
For this specific request, I'd prefer if both characters end the story alive (unless it's death by old age or something along those lines). Feel free to kill off anyone else you want to, however. I'd also prefer that they not cheat on other partners in order to be together or cheat on each other. (Mutual agreement around work-related flirting with targets is fine.)
Regarding Eyal's name: The canonical AO3 tag says "Lavine," but the show uses "Lavin." See here, for example, or here.
The Tropes:
As far as the requested tropes go, undercover tropes are a pretty obvious trope to use with spies. Maybe Annie and Eyal are asked to go Undercover - Undercover as a Couple and it turns real, or maybe they use it as a cover for an existing relationship. Or maybe they're both undercover in the same organization for separate missions, and run into each other. Maybe one has to break cover to protect the other. Maybe they have to put on a show and get together/deal with the aftermath, à la Something Made Them Do It - Undercover assignment requires putting on a performance or Something Made Them Do It - The Aftermath.
For Captivity - Captured Together, Annie and Eyal have both been captured separately and rescued by the other, but what happens if they're captured together? Or captured separately and imprisoned together? Mutual protection, keeping each other's spirits up, plotting their escape?
For Didn't Know Who I Could Trust, I rather like the idea of Eyal turning to Annie for help, after all the times she's turned to him. Maybe there's a mole in Mossad, so he can't go to them? Or maybe one of them has a specific secret they can't trust to anyone else?
Hurt/Comfort - Comforter Secretly Nursing Their Own Injury or Rescue - A comes to B's rescue then passes out due to sustained injuries/exhaustion once B is safe seem like something either of them would do. Hazards of the job.
For Truth Serum or Spell - Something Makes Them Unable to Lie/Hide the Truth, an inability to lie will obviously be an impediment for a spy. One trying to cover for the other on a mission while they figure it out could be fun. Confessions of love/attraction, if they're not already together, could be a fun addition, or the centre of the story.
For Time Loop - Unexpectedly Living With The Consequences Of Actions During Final Loop, maybe Annie and Eyal are stuck in a time loop together, eventually kiss/confess their love/sleep together/get married, only to have the time loop end, leaving them to have to deal with all the professional and personal consequences. (Or maybe it's after one or both of them have left their agencies, and so the consequences are personal rather than professional.) What happened last night might raise similar issues, as they try to sort through what they've done and how they feel about it.
For Time Travel - to fix an apocalyptic future, maybe the two of them get sent on a mission to save the world. For Time Travel - To Save A Life, maybe one breaks all the rules around time travel to try to save the other's life.
For Writing or Epistolary - Love Letters, given the complications of that would likely accompany a relationship between them, I like the idea relying on love letters (coded? secret?) when they can't be together, but I'd equally love courting-by-letter post-CIA, or love letters exchanged during or after years of marriage.
If you don't want to deal with the professional conflict for Annie/Eyal, feel free to set it post-series and have Annie leave the CIA, or set it in a version where they've both moved on to other things (and broken up with other partners). Or set it in a post-apocalyptic world where little things like citizenship and employment don't matter so much anymore.
THE MENTALIST
Requested Relationships: Patrick Jane/Walter Mashburn, Kimball Cho/Patrick Jane
Walter Mashburn and Patrick Jane have a lot in common: they're both arrogant, easily bored, and a little heartbroken. They both enjoy being the centre of attention and neither of them cares what others think of them. Mashburn likes Jane because Jane is interesting, and Jane can't seem to resist tugging on Mashburn's attention.
Jane and Cho have great chemistry on the show. They're both very good at what they do, and respect the other for their abilities. Cho seems a little less susceptible than some to Jane's manipulation, but he's also sympathetic enough to sometimes bend the rules to get Jane what he wants, and trusts Jane enough to frequently go along with his plans.
I'd rather Jane not cheat on Lisbon in this story, so maybe set it before they get together or go AU so that they never get together.
The Tropes:
As far as the tropes go, Marriage of Convenience - So You Can't Testify Against Each Other In Court seems like something Jane might enjoy suggesting, if only for the shock value. Jane or Mashburn seem more likely than Cho to need the protection, but it could be fun to flip it the other way. Whatever works.
I have a general fondness for outsider POVs. For Outsider POV of relationship, anyone on the team would work, but so would a random barista who sees them every day or something along those lines. Whoever can provide a little insight into the couple. For Outsider POV - the public reacts on social media, both Mashburn and Jane seem well enough known to draw a reaction in certain circles.
For Secret Relationship - Publicly Revealed, why might Jane/Cho or Jane/Mashburn want to keep their relationship secret, and from who? From the team, or from everyone?
For Secret Revealed - Midnight Confessions, all three of them might have something to confess, about past mistakes or current doubts or thoughts about the future. Something leading to greater intimacy? Or maybe something lighthearted, a ridiculous confession.
I'm always a fan of forced proximity, like being Snowed In, and the kind of confessions that might lead to.
Superpowers - Sudden Acquisition and Superpowers - Accidental Acquisition just seems like fun, whether it's everyone or just one person. How would that complicate cases? Would it bother Jane that psychics actually started to exist? How would he feel if he became a real psychic? What kinds of secrets might telepathy reveal? Serious or lighthearted could work here.
Undercover - Undercover as a Couple/Undercover - As Bodyguard/Client leading to actual coupledom is always fun. Jane and Cho are maybe more obvious choice here, but if they needed access to Mashburn's world and contacts, Jane might attempt that approach.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
Requested Relationships: Charles Vance & Any, Michael Burnham & Saru, Cleveland "Book" Booker/Michael Burnham
I was iffy on season 1 of Discovery and liked season 2 well enough, but it was really season 3 that won me over, with its unexplored future and embrace of optimism and hope. For the specific characters, Burnham, of course, is the star of the show: brilliant, determined, trying to do what she believes is right even when it means taking a stand against everyone else. And Saru is fascinating and compelling, willing to walk away from his world to join Starfleet and to lead his crew into the future to follow Burnham. Vance I didn't pay a tremendous amount of attention to until his negotiations with Osyraa, and then I fell in love with his integrity and commitment to upholding the Federation's ideals. (I'm also a little curious about what it says about his upbringing and/or the future that he's never tasted a real apple.) All three of them are respected by the people they lead. And Michael and Book are a delightful couple, mutually supportive despite sometimes significant differences.
For this fandom, I'd prefer to avoid romantic and/or sexual relationships between superior and subordinate officers in the same chain of command. (That does, of course, rule all virtually all possible pairings for Vance. But then, he seems to have someone waiting for him anyway, and I don't really picture him cheating on her.) Apart from that, I like all the canon pairings and I'm flexible on other pairings.
The Tropes:
For Captivity - Captured Together, I enjoy learning a bit about characters as they deal with difficult situations, and seeing characters learn about each other. Plus lots of room for competence and encourage and mutual aid and escape. I realize there could be shippy overtones to this, but I think it works fine as a gen prompt, especially when it gives characters who don't know each other all that well a chance to learn about each other (or gives the audience a chance to learn more).
For Case Fic - Routine Mission Gone Wrong, this probably works better as a routine mission than a "case," whether it's one of Discovery's standard missions or a routine event that Vance handles as commander-in-chief--or something that ones of his staff handle that he then has to deal with when things don't turn out as planned.
For Dimension Travel - Has To Impersonate Another Version of Self, Dimension Travel - Versions of same character from different dimensions team up, inter-dimensional travel is forbidden, but accidents happen. It doesn't necessarily have to involve the Mirror Universe, which is apparently harder to reach in that period anyway. Feel free to make up an entirely new universe or three to play with if you like.
For Hurt/Comfort - Comforter Secretly Nursing Their Own Injury, there's plenty of heroism to go around on this show and lots of characters who would do this. This might combine well with one of the survival scenarios.
I don't have anything in particular in mind for Secret Revealed - Midnight Confessions. A confession about something done or not done long ago and regretted? A childhood secret? Secret doubts? Michael and Book confessing dreams about the future? Someone confessing something to Vance or Saru or Burnham where they have to decide what to do about it? Something else entirely?
Stranded - In Space, Survival - Stranded on a Derelict Space Station, and Survival - Stranded on a Hostile Planet are all fairly self-explanatory: leaning on each other for survival, maybe learning something along the way. For Vance specifically, I'm interested in seeing more about his relationship with any Starfleet officers, both those from his time and those on Discovery--something about his history with Willa, maybe, or more mentoring of Saru or Burnham, or a chance for a more junior officer (or Book) to get to know him. But if you want to have him trapped with an enemy, that could be interesting too.
For Superpowers - Sudden Acquisition/Superpowers - Accidental Acquisition, have everyone acquire powers and let Vance deal with the headache--perhaps with help from Willa or Kovich?--or have just one member of Discovery acquire superpowers and let Burnham, Saru and/or Book deal with it. Does it cause more harm than help? Does it save the day? Does Book get to help someone learn to control their abilities?
Time Loop - Character trapped in a loop until they save another character/Time Loop - Groundhog Day can be a great way to learn a little about a character, or it can just be fun to watch as they try to get help to figure out how to break it, and maybe get a chance to prevent something terrible from happening. A day in the life of Discovery? A day in the life of a Starfleet admiral?
For Writing or Epistolary - One-Sided Correspondence, maybe Michael and/or Saru write to someone they left behind and talk to each other about what that means. Maybe we see Vance's letters to his daughter or partner without seeing their replies. Maybe Vance also writes to someone who can no longer reply. This entry was originally posted at https://skieswideopen.dreamwidth.org/263463.html, where it has
comments. Comments are equally welcome on either entry.
Thank you for writing for me! I hope you have fun with this.
I've included some general and dislikes here, along with some discussion of my requested fandoms and relationships, in case that's helpful. A lot of the tropes I've requested are pretty self-explanatory, but I've added a bit of discussion for a few of them. Please feel free to use any trope I requested, whether I've discussed it here or not. And of course, you don't have to go with my interpretation. This is just in case you want a starting point.
You can see a complete list of my requested tropes here.
Things I Like: Competence (so much love for characters being competent!). Secrets coming out (by choice, chance, or necessity). First times: first dates, first kisses, first day in a new role, etc. Get together fic. Characters confessing their love. Equal partnerships in romantic relationships. Friends to lovers. Brief moments of emotional vulnerability from generally stoic or reserved characters. Learning something new about a character. Stories that pick up dropped plot threads. Seeing characters do the right thing, even when it's difficult. Happy or hopeful or bittersweet endings.
Things I Don't Want: Long and detailed descriptions of recovering from traumatic events (i.e., making an extended recovery the primary focus of the story). Explicit gore. AUs that significantly alter the premise, setting or character roles (e.g., coffee shop AUs, high school AUs). Omegaverse or BDSM-verse. Genderswap involving requested characters. Porn without plot. Infidelity involving requested characters as noted below.
Other Things: I have squicks but no triggers. I'm flexible on both genre and rating. Action, introspection, plot, character studies, slice of life, etc. are all good. So is anything from G to NC-17. Background non-con is fine if it's helpful for the story, but I'd rather it not be the primary focus. Dubcon is fine as long as the characters are attracted to each other and one isn't deliberately taking advantage of the other. I'm fine with character death, including major and requested characters, unless otherwise noted. I dislike plots that revolve around misunderstandings that could be cleared up with a simple conversation or that require characters to be less competent or intelligent than they canonically are.
COVERT AFFAIRS
Requested Relationship: Eyal Lavin/Annie Walker
I love Annie and Eyal's dynamic in the show: the mutual hyper-competence, the hard-won trust and affection, the "I'll do anything for you, up to and including single-handedly rescuing you from capture and/or helping you fake your own death" commitment.
Obviously there were a few obstacles to their getting together in the show, like the CIA not wanting its agents to date foreign nationals (and Mossad probably not wanting its agents to fall in love with foreign nationals) and the strong possibility that both agencies would try to use them against the other. But hey, doing things that can't reasonably be done in canon is one of the things fic is for. Maybe they decide to try to find a way around the obstacles. Maybe they decide to stick to something casual or short-term, and plan on not getting caught. Maybe one or both leave their agencies, which opens up new possibilities in terms of relationship development.
For this specific request, I'd prefer if both characters end the story alive (unless it's death by old age or something along those lines). Feel free to kill off anyone else you want to, however. I'd also prefer that they not cheat on other partners in order to be together or cheat on each other. (Mutual agreement around work-related flirting with targets is fine.)
Regarding Eyal's name: The canonical AO3 tag says "Lavine," but the show uses "Lavin." See here, for example, or here.
The Tropes:
As far as the requested tropes go, undercover tropes are a pretty obvious trope to use with spies. Maybe Annie and Eyal are asked to go Undercover - Undercover as a Couple and it turns real, or maybe they use it as a cover for an existing relationship. Or maybe they're both undercover in the same organization for separate missions, and run into each other. Maybe one has to break cover to protect the other. Maybe they have to put on a show and get together/deal with the aftermath, à la Something Made Them Do It - Undercover assignment requires putting on a performance or Something Made Them Do It - The Aftermath.
For Captivity - Captured Together, Annie and Eyal have both been captured separately and rescued by the other, but what happens if they're captured together? Or captured separately and imprisoned together? Mutual protection, keeping each other's spirits up, plotting their escape?
For Didn't Know Who I Could Trust, I rather like the idea of Eyal turning to Annie for help, after all the times she's turned to him. Maybe there's a mole in Mossad, so he can't go to them? Or maybe one of them has a specific secret they can't trust to anyone else?
Hurt/Comfort - Comforter Secretly Nursing Their Own Injury or Rescue - A comes to B's rescue then passes out due to sustained injuries/exhaustion once B is safe seem like something either of them would do. Hazards of the job.
For Truth Serum or Spell - Something Makes Them Unable to Lie/Hide the Truth, an inability to lie will obviously be an impediment for a spy. One trying to cover for the other on a mission while they figure it out could be fun. Confessions of love/attraction, if they're not already together, could be a fun addition, or the centre of the story.
For Time Loop - Unexpectedly Living With The Consequences Of Actions During Final Loop, maybe Annie and Eyal are stuck in a time loop together, eventually kiss/confess their love/sleep together/get married, only to have the time loop end, leaving them to have to deal with all the professional and personal consequences. (Or maybe it's after one or both of them have left their agencies, and so the consequences are personal rather than professional.) What happened last night might raise similar issues, as they try to sort through what they've done and how they feel about it.
For Time Travel - to fix an apocalyptic future, maybe the two of them get sent on a mission to save the world. For Time Travel - To Save A Life, maybe one breaks all the rules around time travel to try to save the other's life.
For Writing or Epistolary - Love Letters, given the complications of that would likely accompany a relationship between them, I like the idea relying on love letters (coded? secret?) when they can't be together, but I'd equally love courting-by-letter post-CIA, or love letters exchanged during or after years of marriage.
If you don't want to deal with the professional conflict for Annie/Eyal, feel free to set it post-series and have Annie leave the CIA, or set it in a version where they've both moved on to other things (and broken up with other partners). Or set it in a post-apocalyptic world where little things like citizenship and employment don't matter so much anymore.
THE MENTALIST
Requested Relationships: Patrick Jane/Walter Mashburn, Kimball Cho/Patrick Jane
Walter Mashburn and Patrick Jane have a lot in common: they're both arrogant, easily bored, and a little heartbroken. They both enjoy being the centre of attention and neither of them cares what others think of them. Mashburn likes Jane because Jane is interesting, and Jane can't seem to resist tugging on Mashburn's attention.
Jane and Cho have great chemistry on the show. They're both very good at what they do, and respect the other for their abilities. Cho seems a little less susceptible than some to Jane's manipulation, but he's also sympathetic enough to sometimes bend the rules to get Jane what he wants, and trusts Jane enough to frequently go along with his plans.
I'd rather Jane not cheat on Lisbon in this story, so maybe set it before they get together or go AU so that they never get together.
The Tropes:
As far as the tropes go, Marriage of Convenience - So You Can't Testify Against Each Other In Court seems like something Jane might enjoy suggesting, if only for the shock value. Jane or Mashburn seem more likely than Cho to need the protection, but it could be fun to flip it the other way. Whatever works.
I have a general fondness for outsider POVs. For Outsider POV of relationship, anyone on the team would work, but so would a random barista who sees them every day or something along those lines. Whoever can provide a little insight into the couple. For Outsider POV - the public reacts on social media, both Mashburn and Jane seem well enough known to draw a reaction in certain circles.
For Secret Relationship - Publicly Revealed, why might Jane/Cho or Jane/Mashburn want to keep their relationship secret, and from who? From the team, or from everyone?
For Secret Revealed - Midnight Confessions, all three of them might have something to confess, about past mistakes or current doubts or thoughts about the future. Something leading to greater intimacy? Or maybe something lighthearted, a ridiculous confession.
I'm always a fan of forced proximity, like being Snowed In, and the kind of confessions that might lead to.
Superpowers - Sudden Acquisition and Superpowers - Accidental Acquisition just seems like fun, whether it's everyone or just one person. How would that complicate cases? Would it bother Jane that psychics actually started to exist? How would he feel if he became a real psychic? What kinds of secrets might telepathy reveal? Serious or lighthearted could work here.
Undercover - Undercover as a Couple/Undercover - As Bodyguard/Client leading to actual coupledom is always fun. Jane and Cho are maybe more obvious choice here, but if they needed access to Mashburn's world and contacts, Jane might attempt that approach.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
Requested Relationships: Charles Vance & Any, Michael Burnham & Saru, Cleveland "Book" Booker/Michael Burnham
I was iffy on season 1 of Discovery and liked season 2 well enough, but it was really season 3 that won me over, with its unexplored future and embrace of optimism and hope. For the specific characters, Burnham, of course, is the star of the show: brilliant, determined, trying to do what she believes is right even when it means taking a stand against everyone else. And Saru is fascinating and compelling, willing to walk away from his world to join Starfleet and to lead his crew into the future to follow Burnham. Vance I didn't pay a tremendous amount of attention to until his negotiations with Osyraa, and then I fell in love with his integrity and commitment to upholding the Federation's ideals. (I'm also a little curious about what it says about his upbringing and/or the future that he's never tasted a real apple.) All three of them are respected by the people they lead. And Michael and Book are a delightful couple, mutually supportive despite sometimes significant differences.
For this fandom, I'd prefer to avoid romantic and/or sexual relationships between superior and subordinate officers in the same chain of command. (That does, of course, rule all virtually all possible pairings for Vance. But then, he seems to have someone waiting for him anyway, and I don't really picture him cheating on her.) Apart from that, I like all the canon pairings and I'm flexible on other pairings.
The Tropes:
For Captivity - Captured Together, I enjoy learning a bit about characters as they deal with difficult situations, and seeing characters learn about each other. Plus lots of room for competence and encourage and mutual aid and escape. I realize there could be shippy overtones to this, but I think it works fine as a gen prompt, especially when it gives characters who don't know each other all that well a chance to learn about each other (or gives the audience a chance to learn more).
For Case Fic - Routine Mission Gone Wrong, this probably works better as a routine mission than a "case," whether it's one of Discovery's standard missions or a routine event that Vance handles as commander-in-chief--or something that ones of his staff handle that he then has to deal with when things don't turn out as planned.
For Dimension Travel - Has To Impersonate Another Version of Self, Dimension Travel - Versions of same character from different dimensions team up, inter-dimensional travel is forbidden, but accidents happen. It doesn't necessarily have to involve the Mirror Universe, which is apparently harder to reach in that period anyway. Feel free to make up an entirely new universe or three to play with if you like.
For Hurt/Comfort - Comforter Secretly Nursing Their Own Injury, there's plenty of heroism to go around on this show and lots of characters who would do this. This might combine well with one of the survival scenarios.
I don't have anything in particular in mind for Secret Revealed - Midnight Confessions. A confession about something done or not done long ago and regretted? A childhood secret? Secret doubts? Michael and Book confessing dreams about the future? Someone confessing something to Vance or Saru or Burnham where they have to decide what to do about it? Something else entirely?
Stranded - In Space, Survival - Stranded on a Derelict Space Station, and Survival - Stranded on a Hostile Planet are all fairly self-explanatory: leaning on each other for survival, maybe learning something along the way. For Vance specifically, I'm interested in seeing more about his relationship with any Starfleet officers, both those from his time and those on Discovery--something about his history with Willa, maybe, or more mentoring of Saru or Burnham, or a chance for a more junior officer (or Book) to get to know him. But if you want to have him trapped with an enemy, that could be interesting too.
For Superpowers - Sudden Acquisition/Superpowers - Accidental Acquisition, have everyone acquire powers and let Vance deal with the headache--perhaps with help from Willa or Kovich?--or have just one member of Discovery acquire superpowers and let Burnham, Saru and/or Book deal with it. Does it cause more harm than help? Does it save the day? Does Book get to help someone learn to control their abilities?
Time Loop - Character trapped in a loop until they save another character/Time Loop - Groundhog Day can be a great way to learn a little about a character, or it can just be fun to watch as they try to get help to figure out how to break it, and maybe get a chance to prevent something terrible from happening. A day in the life of Discovery? A day in the life of a Starfleet admiral?
For Writing or Epistolary - One-Sided Correspondence, maybe Michael and/or Saru write to someone they left behind and talk to each other about what that means. Maybe we see Vance's letters to his daughter or partner without seeing their replies. Maybe Vance also writes to someone who can no longer reply. This entry was originally posted at https://skieswideopen.dreamwidth.org/263463.html, where it has
comments. Comments are equally welcome on either entry.