Yuletide 2021
Oct. 20th, 2021 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fencesit
Hi! Thanks for creating for me, or for otherwise taking a look at my letter. I’m fencesit on AO3!
You may notice that I have less details or prompts for some fandoms than others. Please don't take this as an indication that I want those things any less than other things! I very much desperately want everything I've requested, I've just had more time to request some things than others.
And: please don't feel like you need to follow one of my prompts to keep from disappointing me. I've provided all the information below in an attempt to help my writer feel confident in producing a gift for me, but if prompts and extra details don't work for you then feel free to ignore them.
DNW:
- unrequested AUs
- canon divergence is okay
- I would like wizards to still be wizards and murderbots to still be murderbots
- Please see His wife... - jjbang8 section for clarification.
- including spit as lube, but oral is fine
- please see Murderbot Diaries section for clarification.
- please see The Adventure Zone section for clarification.
- feel free to fudge timelines or just not mention ages specifically, though
- derealization — An alteration in the perception or experience of the external world so that it seems unreal.
- depersonalization — The persistent feeling of observing oneself from outside one’s body or having a sense that one’s surroundings/body aren't real.
- Typically dissociation shows up as reaction to stress or trauma where the character experiencing it feels disconnected in some way from their emotions, their body, reality, etc; sometimes the character acts on autopilot.
- If you're writing/drawing a character who's literally having an out of body experience (like, because they're a ghost and something else has taken over their body) or dealing with an actual fake world (like, because they're trapped in a magical illusion) then that's okay.
- magically preserved non-rotting undead like vampires or skeletons are fine
- please see The Adventure Zone section for clarification.
- including using characters from other canons as stand-ins for OCs, even if the character or their appearance in the fic is very minor.
- including borrowing recognizable worldbuilding/magic systems/artifacts/alien races/etc.
- definitely fine for characters to know about or reference anything you think it's reasonable for them to have consumed as media, e.g. modern mundane characters have probably heard of Star Wars.
The Adventure Zone clarifications
- unrequested noncon clarification: if you're writing Gray/Ftizroy, then I'm opting in to anything from fully consensual to extremely dubious consent — for this ship, the line for me is that I want them both to end whatever sexual encounter they have pleased that it happened and possibly planning to let it happen again, even if they were reluctant or unable to consent at the start. Please note I have specifically DNW'd corrective rape, though.
- the rotting undead/zombies clarification: All the undead stuff that shows up in canon is totally fine, including Lich King Gordie.
Murderbot DNWs/clarifications:
- Romantic or sexual ships with Murderbot
- vehicle accidents clarification: space ships crashing in space is fine; space ships crashing onto planets is fine; I DNW crashes involving vehicles mostly used for on-planet on- or near-ground transport. The line here is really "is the vehicle being used by these characters/described the way we would use a car/truck/bus?" If yes, no crashes please! If the vehicle instead more analogous to a space shuttle, airplane, helicopter, ferry, hot air balloon, etc then accidents are fine.
His wife... - jjbang8 DNWs/clarifications:
- PWP clarification: due to the nature of this canon (that is, the fact that it's two sentences long and is about fucking on the floor) I left my "PWP" DNW off my request so that no one has to try to twist themselves into a pretzel about it.
Beware of the Villainess!
- characters finding out they're fictional
- Melissa/Yuri & Nine fic — I would be way too sad about Nine being left out and pining to enjoy a fic where Melissa is with Yuri but not with Nine. It's okay if you're writing V-shaped poly and Nine just isn't in every scene, though!
Likes
Fic likes:
- Canon divergence
- slice of life, canon-compliant fic, missing scenes from canon
- time travel
- especially peggy sue/with a fix-it focus
- time loops
- see my Past Imperfect letter!
- fake/fantasy politics/science and explorations of systems/relationships (eg magic systems, fictional governments or economies, the local gossip network)
- character backstory, noodle incidents, references to past canon or noncanon events, a sense of history between two (or more) characters
- vivid/specific details that relate to things like where a character is, what that location is used for, why, and how the character feels about it
- casefic/missionfic
- investigations/mysteries
- characters with specific goals or problems to solve (finding some treasure, getting a glass of water, murdering their nemesis)
- monster/murder/crime-of-the-week type plots
- the enemy of my enemy is my friend
- making friends under unusual circumstances
- A being uncertain of or surprised by how deep B's loyalty runs
- found family
- friends reconnecting after being out of contact for a long time
- signs of familiarity/intimacy, like knowing each other's habits really well or feeling comfortable touching them/being touched in a society where that's notable
- in terms of physical hurt: sprained ankles, dislocated shoulders, concussions, bruised/broken ribs, broken bones where the bone isn't sticking out, blood loss....pretty much anything non-permanent and not too gorey or with the gore skimmed over. special mention for Naruto-esque eye loss where it's traumatic and bad but the eye can just be put back in if they find a good medic.
- also as implied by my DNWs I'm not a big fan of sickfic but I love huddling for warmth and hypothermia fic!
- poisonings and venom are also good — I like a good spout of dizziness or swooning or confusion!
- in terms of emotional hurt: self esteem issues and unexpected mercy! Special mention for everything below.
- character convinced no one would help even if they asked (but someone does help!)
- character convinced there will be no rescue (but there is a rescue!)
- usually powerful character is helpless due to drugs (and at the mercy of someone they don't trust? :D)
- cynical/pessimistic/distrustful characters being proven wrong by things turning out better than they could have hoped for — for example: "I could never be loved!" -> Is absolutely loved, "We could never have peace." -> Peace is had
- aftermath of captivity, torture, rape, isolation, etc.
- injured character can't complete rescue mission without help from unlikely source
- lying so that the other will accept comfort or help
- hands too shaky to complete task
- forcing exhausted character to get some sleep
- characters who have to work hard to function in the same space and also characters who don't like each other — see my Hate Exchange letter!
- handcuffed together
- sharing a bed because they're safer together than apart
- captured together, working together in enemy territory
- 5+1
- drabble series
- outsider POV
- second person POV, especially if it's thematically relevant
- I'm not really into letters or social media fics, but articles, essays, textbooks, mission/case records, and wikipedia entries are all great.
- I've never received interactive fiction/CYOA before but I'm down to try it!
- I'm open to a mix of text and images and I view works with the creator's skin enabled. I do sometimes download my gifts or read them on mobile, however, so I appreciate when unconventional works use tricks like display:none (explained in this tutorial in the "What do I do if the Creator's Style is hidden?" section) which also makes works with HTML/embedded pictures more accessible!
- curses
- garbage-tier magical items
- extra senses
- worldbuilding around learning/doing magic
Ship likes:
- Anything on my general likes list is excellent in shipfic too of course. Also, I am a pretty big fan of understated shipfic — if you just put the characters together and show that they care about each other then I don't even need kissing or anything, really, which I think can work well for fandoms where characters are frequently in life-or-death situations or need to be professional. Not that kissing isn't welcome! Just, I am extremely easy to please on the "Is this shippy enough?" front.
- Slow burn, friends to lovers, enemies-to-friends-to-lovers — The slower the better. FWB-to-lovers is also great.
- Characters who have history with each other — established relationships are good, but what I really love is feeling like the characters know each other well and think about each other often. In characters who are already friends, that probably looks like, say, knowing what kind of coffee the other person likes. In characters who were enemies, they probably know each other’s weaknesses and faults really well.
- Arguments where each person thinks the conversation is about something subtly different — I mean, misunderstandings in general are great for tension, but I like it when characters are trying to communicate but they’re coming from perspectives so different that they can’t even argue without clarification.
- Casual physical affection — a lot of my ships involve people who have massive or very specific personal bubbles, so seeing the way the characters touch each other when they’re not already in Kissing Mode is really great.
- Pining, especially longstanding they-could-never-want-me pining — the id wants what the id wants and what the id wants is characters with low self-worth. Bonus points if it's tied up in some kind of misunderstanding about their relationship (eg, "They hate me!" or "I'm ugly!") or their differing rank/species/wealth/etc.
- When their hands touch and other very understated moments of romantic or sexual tension — aaaaaaa I don't even have words for how much I love this, if you include it I will wail happily at you about it in my comment, possibly at length.
Smut likes
- Extremely emotionally charged sex — No matter what kind of sex acts they do, I really love when the sex has a lot of feelings involved, especially if it's sad emotions or desperation or part of some hurt/comfort or whump.
- Sex that's very directly relevant to the plot or character arcs — I love sex scenes where I learn more about a character or relationship. Is 'character driven smut' a thing? Because if so, that's my favorite. And also porn with plot.
- anal and pegging, PIV, frottage, intercural, handjobs, all kinds of fingering, strapons, toys
- overstimulation and edging, orgasm delay/denial
- bondage — handcuffs, spreader bars, honor bondage, and honestly pretty much anything in the general category of restricting someone's movement during sex
- praise kink, loyalty kink, hurt/comfort, trust and sex otherwise overloaded with emotion
- magic/super powers being used in fun and inventive ways
- clothing/uniform kink, half-clothed sex, one naked and the other not.
- hair petting, cuddling, lazy mornings in bed, touch starvation
- size difference, size kink, come inflation, large insertions
- pregnancy, including mpreg — impregnation porn and pregnant sex welcome, eggpreg and het mpreg are also fine. And while we're talking about it, narratively speaking I love a fic where being pregnant/mpregnant is upsetting because the character didn't plan for it, thinks their partner doesn't want it, conceived in a nonconsensual or dubiously consensual way, can't afford it, etc, all of which could be comforted away with or without sex. I'm not much for birthing scenes.
- probably other things that I'm forgetting! I'm pretty open to a bunch of things that aren't on the above list or mentioned in my DNWs, and if you're unsure if you should include something please feel free to ask through the mods.
Marriage likes!
(sorry these are mostly Capitalized Like That they're mostly freeforms!
- Misunderstandings and surprises!
- Accidental Marriage due to Misunderstanding the Norms of Another Culture
- Accidental/unexpected soulbond is cultural equivalent of marriage
- Both Spouses Are In Love But Believe The Other Is In The Marriage Out Of Obligation
- Character Thinks Their Spouse is Trying to Kill Them (but they aren't! or not anymore at least lol)
- Deathbed Wedding And Unexpected Survival
- Proposal recipient thought they were just a fling
- Mistakenly Thinking Your Spouse Hates You
- Accidentally Married Someone You Hate
- Arranged marriage to end conflict
- Forced Marriage Leads to Genuine Feelings
- Marrying an Enemy to Keep Them Close
- Marrying Someone You Don't Like to Save Them From a Worse Fate
- Marriage Arranged by Third Party With Dubious Motives
- Marriage As Clemency At Public Execution
- Suspected or Confirmed Traitor Forced To Marry Spouse Who'll Monitor Them For Further Treachery
- Spouses mutually help each other gain status from the marriage
- Long-Time Betrothed Couple Adds Third To Marriage For Political Reasons And Falls In Love
- Divorced Arranged Marriage Spouse must Marry Back Into The Family
- Second Marriage for Someone whose First Marriage was Abusive
- Character A Not As Over Traumatic First Marriage As They Thought
- Marriage Makes It Impossible to Keep Trauma Secret
- Marriage of Convenience - Divorcing Terrible Spouse Requires Support From Prospective New Spouse
- Character Entering Into M/M Marriage Invents Mpreg In Hopes Of Pleasing Their Spouse With An Heir
- Getting Married to Avoid Otherwise-Likely Marriage to Unbearable Third Party
- Marriage to Satisfy Life-Debt / Life-Debt is Considered Marriage
- Character Agrees To Seemingly Terrible Marriage Believing It's The Only Proposal They'll Ever Get
- Family Won't Pay Bride Price/Dowry So They Have To Find Someone Who Will Marry Them For Free
- If A Fight Ends In A Knock Out The Winner Can Take Your Ring And Marry Your Spouse
- If Character A Can't Have Their Loved One They'll Marry Younger Sibling B (& Fall In Love With B)
Horror Likes!
(sorry these are mostly Capitalized Like That they're mostly freeforms!
- A pervasive yet unidentifiable sense that something is terribly wrong
- Aftermath of Torture
- Being Polite About Eldritch Genitals Which Are Too Much For Human Eyes To Behold
- Belated Realization That Your Jerk "Friends" Tricked You Into This Horrifying Situation
- Betraying Someone to Save Them from a Worse Fate
- Building layout changes sometimes
- character convinced no one would help even if they asked
- character convinced there will be no rescue
- Character(s) are totally done with this ghost bullshit
- Characters are all alone in the middle of nowhere with no one able to help
- Fucking around with the Ouija Board was a bad idea
- Garbage-Tier Magical Item Which Is Regrettably Undeniably Dangerous In Its Mediocrity
- Garbage-Tier Magical Item Which Some Poor Demon Or Ghost Has Possessed
- Mannequins That Move When a Character Looks Away
- People Suddenly Start Mysteriously Disappearing
- Physically impossible spaces/buildings
- Principle of object permanence is violated
- Seemingly Mundane Object Is Surprisingly the Wrong Texture
- Seen only out of the corner of your eye
- Sharing a bed because they're safer together than apart
- The Setting Wants You to Stay; Slowly You Do Too
- Time Loop - Character Keeps Looping The Day of Their Death
- Time Loop - Friends and/or Loved One(s) Die Again and Again
- Time Loop - Looping Character Keeps Dying
- Time Travel - Character(s) Learn Dark Secret They Didn't Know at the Time
- Two Characters Who Don't Like Each Other Grudgingly Hunt A Ghost Together
- Two Characters Who Don't Like Each Other Grudgingly Save Each Other From Horrific Fates
- Two Characters Who Don't Like Each Other Grudgingly Solve Gruesome Murder(s) Together
- Usually Powerful Character is Helpless Due to Drugs and at the Mercy of Someone They Don't Trust
Time travel Likes!
(sorry these are all Capitalized Like That they're mostly freeforms!
- Time Travel Fix-It
- Peggy Sue (Mental Time Travel to Past - Replacing Past Self)
- Altering Canon or Backstory
- Altering Non-Canonical Disaster
- Dimension Hopping to Find a Timeline That's Not Doomed
- fixing one's own mistakes
- Time travel to save a friend or loved one
- Trying To Change The Timeline By Saving Someone
- Character’s Suspicious Actions Get Them In Trouble With The One(s) They’re Trying To Help
- Character Travels Back to When They Were Still a Massive Jackass
- Time Traveling To A Different Time Than The One You Meant To Travel To
- Attempted Time Travel Sends Character To Another World Instead
- Time Travel Fix-It - Time Traveler Fixes Things By Accident
- Time travel inadvertently reveals past secret
- Accidental Time Travel To The Past
- One character likes other character's past self way more than they expected
- Falling in love/making friends with a past version of an enemy
- Enemies Travel Back In Time Together
- Fixing the Timeline Requires Saving An Enemy
- Character From Future Tries To Convince Current Enemy They Will Be Friends/Allies In Future
- Character From Future Tries To Convince Current Enemy To Work Together
- Unexpectedly Living With The Consequences Of Actions During Final Loop
- Groundhog Peggy Sue
- Strangers Meet During Shared Time Loop
- Enemies Have To Work Together To Solve The Loop
- Looping character trying to save another character's life
- Time loop where character makes things worse before making them better
- Character(s) Remain in Alternate Timeline They Created
- Time Travel To The Past Destroys Original Timeline
- Can't Time Travel To A Time You're Already Alive In
- Adjusting to a Different Era
- Outsider POV Of Strange Events Caused By Time Travel
- Outsider POV Of Time Traveler(s)
- Redeemed Villain Travels to Before Their Redemption
- Introducing Advanced Technology/Medicine/Sanitation to the Past
Art likes
- soft colors, and also specifically moss green and all shades of purple, especially for slice-of-life and domestic scenes
- black and white or greyscale
- lineless art and thick lines and messy lines!
- dramatic lighting, especially if the moment is tense or dangerous
- cartoony styles and realistic styles!
- movement and foreshortening
- crosshatching, stippling, visible brushstrokes, and other techniques that let me see what the artist physically did with their pencil/brush/digital equivalent
- that thing where it's all back and white or greyscale except for one (1) color
- art that explores the minutiae of a character's life, like what exactly is on their bookshelf or in their bag
- hands touching, forehead kisses, focus on hair (blowing in the wind, being braided, being combed, bun/ponytails for characters who usually wear it down and wearing it loose for characters who usually wear it up), carrying (bridal, piggyback, fireman carry, that no-homo superhero side hug), flying, falling, swimming, characters doing action things like kicking and flips and stabbing
The Adventure Zone: Graduation
AO3 matching tag: The Adventure Zone: Graduation (Podcast)
Fandom note: The Adventure Zone is a D&D realplay podcast on the Maximum Fun network about a world where being a hero or a villain is a professional job one attends school for and capitalism is king. The player characters attend a school for aspiring heroes and villains (it's more like a university than a high school!) and get dragged into a bunch of problems. TAZ: Graduation is the third season arc, which has no relation to any other TAZ arcs. You can listen here or read transcripts.
I've listened to all of this podcast but not to any of the Maximum Fun bonus content. If more TAZ: Graduation canon is released before reveals (eg, if they release a TAZ:G live show!) then I'll listen to it in case you want to use it, but you can take or leave any new canon.
Opt-ins:
Requested characters:
- Gray the Demon Prince
- Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt
Gray & Fitzroy
By the much longer section for Gray/Fitzroy you will surely sense that I really, really ship these two characters, but if you're writing for me and you don't ship them, that's okay! I will wear my shipping goggle no matter what, but I'd extremely enjoy a enemies-to-friends, or an enemies-to-grudging-allies-to-enemies fic, or even just a fic exploring them being enemies with no positive resolution! I like when characters don't like each other and I extra like when they maybe do like each other but their goals are opposed and/or their cultures are super different and everything is a mess. Please feel free to write gen versions of shippy prompts/likes, I won't be disappointed!
Gray/Fitzroy
The shippy vibes of these two in the back end of the show is OFF THE CHARTS. I really love both characters individually (Fitzroy is such a bundle of insecurity and ambition! Gray is so arrogant and mercurial!) but together???? Every conversation they have is gold, I think because they both talk like polite business rivals despite all the attempted murder, threats of war, etc. They're enemies and it's delicious but they're not exactly personally invested in hating each other — they just happen to be on opposite sides! And when they stop being on opposite sides they become "best friends"! Also Fitzroy is 6'4" (after his magical growth spurt!) and Gray is 12' and I am so here for that size difference.
In terms of what I am specifically hoping for out of my gift for these two, I would really enjoy any flavor of these two interacting! I want to know more about Gray's demon culture and his blue-orange morality (war is for "blood, and chaos, and conflict, and victory" apparently!) and I'd love to see more of Fitzroy being kind of a scumbag but not, like, a down with murder scumbag. Graduation's worldbuilding is really fascinating to me, and I'd enjoy getting to see more of the world (or of Gray's hell dimension!) and I'd enjoy something set pre-, during, or post-canon!
I know that via Word of God Fitzroy is asexual. I'm not really into most asexuality-focused narratives, so I would prefer either gen or, if you're writing Fitz/Gray, for his asexuality to not be a main focus or something that's a roadblock in their relationship they have to work around or a narrative plot point. I'm definitely fine with a read of Fitzroy only feels romantic attraction or even where they're in a QPR — a story that focuses on emotional intimacy would really hit the spot for me and I'm honestly such a complete sucker for gen that I'd be pretty satisfied with anything that had Fitzroy and Gray interacting a bunch.
On the other hand, if you don't want to write Fitzroy as asexual then I am 100% on board with that, too. I've left my smut likes section the way I usually leave it because it does apply for everything else I've requested, but for this ship I would actually love for Gray to fuck Fitzroy in a wide variety of situations! I'll opt in to anything from fully consensual to extremely dubious consent — for this ship, the line for me is that I want them both to end whatever sexual encounter they have pleased that it happened and possibly planning to let it happen again, even if they were reluctant or unable to consent at the start. Please note I have specifically DNW'd corrective rape, though.
Below I have some specific prompts, but I'm so crazy invested in this ship that I want to emphasize that basically anything is fine! Please feel free to scrounge through my general likes.
Prompts:
- Canon divergence — Fitzroy does end up joining Gray's side the way Gray planned, or he does get all the materials he was supposed to get from Goodcastle, or Chaos' plan doesn't kick off until the Thundermen are out of school and floundering around as young professionals!
- Something set in that possible future where Fitzroy is His Royal Highness, The Thunder King and Lightning Lord, Fitzroy Maplecourt, The Storm Bringer...or something where Fitzroy really does get thrown forward in time and has to cope with that life. Like, what's Gray up to in that universe? Things probably went terribly for him, right?
- Something with the Ring of Truth or the True Sight Lenses! I love all the little magic things that TAZ PCs pick up during campaigns, and always yearn to see them used more. In the case of the Ring of Truth I would particularly like to see it used in a romantic or sexual context to let them really trust each other (...or to highlight how much they don't trust each other!)
- Post-canon get together. Gray wants someone to come make his next war campaign interesting, maybe, and has even picked out enemies he thinks Fitzroy wouldn't object to killing! Now he just needs to convince Fitzroy that this is a good idea, isn't a trap, will be fun, won't end with him being fed to Hellhounds, etc.
- The above prompt but also this is a classic, deeply romantic demon courting technique that ends up working weirdly well on Fitzroy.
- I don't require Gray to have exciting genitalia if you're going to write him fucking Fitzroy, but I am open to knots, pinecone dick, and anything else you think demons should definitely have.
- ...come to think of it, please also give Fitzroy whatever kind of genitalia you think would best facilitate him being fucked, if you're writing him being fucked! Again, if you want to stick with normal anal sex then that's fine and I won't be disappointed, but it seems worth it to mention you can live your, uh, genital dreams.
- If you're going to do art, I'd enjoy any hair/eye/skin color for Fitzroy! What's important to me about his appearance are his canonically tight pants and how tiny he'd look next to Gray.
The Murderbot Diaries
AO3 matching tag: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Fandom note: The Murderbot Diaries are a series of books about an android in a far-future scifi setting with huge space megacorporations, exploring the android's personhood after it breaks free from the corporation that owns it. You can find more info here. I recommend the ebooks if you aren't die hard about owning physical copies because the ebooks are DRM free!
I've read all of the books and the short stories. If somehow more canon is published before work reveals I'll read that too!
Opt-ins:
- Any two of the four characters I've requested is fine.
- Yulebuilding
- Interactive fiction
- Art (Wrapping Paper!)
Requested characters:
- Amena (Murderbot Diaries)
- Asshole Research Transport (Murderbot Diaries)
- Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries)
- Dr. Thiago (Murderbot Diaries)
I have a lot of favorite things about the Murderbot books but the way Network Effect (which is the Murderbot book I most recently reread!) develops the relationships between these characters is definitely at the top of the list. This letter section and my prompts are going to draw a lot from Network Effect for obvious reasons, but please feel free to set your fic earlier or later in canon!
Some particular notes:
Amena & Murderbot
Amena's character development — the way she eventually realizes that Murderbot was right to scare off that guy at the festival on Preservation — is so wonderful, and especially the way she and Murderbot grow closer as Murderbot does everything it can to protect her and Amena gets an up-close view of Murderbot having Big Emotions about ART being seemingly dead. That's good shit right there! I love when characters learn more about each other.
Thiago & Murderbot
And speaking of learning more about each other, the conversation between Thiago and Murderbot where they clear things up and we find out Thiago has been seriously misunderstanding Murderbot this whole time? Incredible, A+++. He was already one of my favorite characters before that conversation, too, because I just love when there are characters around who are huge jerks! Interpersonal conflict is one of my favorite fictional things, especially when it's the result of misunderstandings/misinformation.
Murderbot & ART
And speaking of interpersonal conflict! I mean obviously I love Murderbot and ART getting along and working together, don't get me wrong, that stuff is great. But I also love that ART often rubs Murderbot the wrong way (by being an asshole, haha) and portions of Network Effect where Murderbot is pissed that ART got Murderbot kidnapped on purpose are really delicious, particularly because ART 100% can't keep from bothering it, and I really loved seeing Murderbot come around to understanding and accepting what ART had done..
Amena & ART
...this is kind of a weak connection, but speaking of Murderbot and ART making up! I really liked how Amena put herself in the middle of ART and Murderbot's terrible communication problems, and especially liked ART having a huge soft spot for Amena and communicating with her a ton because ART is used to having young people on board and really likes them. I also really liked how Amena immediately and without question picked up on ART's personhood (probably because she first knew ART as "Murderbot's friend who it's grieving") and how her Preservation-raised social intelligence lets her understand what's going on with ART and Murderbot's relationship probably better than they do. I'd love something that explores how ART relates to Amena as A Young Person Under Murderbot's Protection, what kind of stuff Amena and ART talked about while getting to know each other, etc.
Thiago & ART
We don't see much interaction between them in Network Effect, but I'm fascinated by Thiago's potential as a contrast to Amena, by virtue of being older, more suspicious, and spending most of the book not trusting Murderbot. He's the one to initially say that ART can't be who ART is because "bot pilots don't talk like this" and I wonder if he has to really reconsider his worldview after accepting that ART is indeed the bot pilot, among other things!
Thiago & Amena
I love the scene in Network Effect where Murderbot is listening in on Thiago and Amena's conversation after ART comes back and notes that Thiago has already asked Amena if she's alright four times. Obviously everything about the situation since they emerged from the wormhole in Preservation space has been incredibly stressful, but I'm really charmed by Thiago's worry for Amena even as he stumbles on the execution because he's both being overbearing and doing things like being suspicious of Murderbot's drone usage.
(I also love, earlier in the book, when Amena tries to claim that Thiago trusts Murderbot and Murderbot is like, "Haha, no he doesn't." Basically...I feel like Amena's relationship with Murderbot changed a lot after they were kidnapped onto ART and I'm not sure if she really believes this or if it's just wishful thinking, but either way: delicious.)
Prompts:
- Missing scenes from on board ART: what did Amena and ART talk about? Did Thiago and ART have any conversation? How about Thiago and Amena?
- Thiago POV of literally anything.
- Amena and/or Murderbot's adventures aboard ART post-Network Effect
- Thiago decides to take a position as a temporary instructor aboard ART while Amena and Murderbot are aboard.
- Thiago gets kidnapped with Murderbot instead of or in addition to Amena
- ART & crew stop by Preservation before the events of Network Effect
- Murderbot gets kidnapped alone
His wife has filled his house with chintz - jjbang8
AO3 matching tag: His wife has filled his house with chintz - jjbang8 (tumblr post)
Fandom note: This is an extremely short tumblr post that you can view here (comes with a slightly NSFW picture of two men!). The entire text of the post is: "His wife has filled his house with chintz. To keep it real I fuck him on the floor." If you want to count the picture that comes with it as part of canon, go ahead, but I'm also fine with you disregarding the picture!
Opt-ins:
- Yuleporn
- Interactive fiction
- Art (Wrapping Paper!)
- Poetry
Requested characters:
- Married Man
- Narrator
My first interaction with this post was this tumblr post where people discuss it as a tiny little poem! I agree with these tumblr users that the comparison between the wife's fake chintz vs the speaker's "real" floor fucking is super interesting, evocative, intriguing! My ideal fill for this request would go really hard on character study, emotions, and/or describing the chintz. This section is mostly questions because I'm really interested in a wide variety of interpretations!
Does the wife know that her marriage isn't "real"? Is she lying to herself, papering over problems between herself and her husband with chintz? Or is she oblivious, building a life inside a house she's lovingly decorated to the best of her ability, not knowing that her image of her husband is incorrect? (I didn't nominate and am not requesting the wife, but hard to imagine that a fic about fucking a married man on the floor won't have some insights into her!)
How does the narrator know that fucking the husband on the floor is "real"? Wouldn't a man who'd lie to his wife (directly or by ommission) to have an affair also lie to the person with whom he's having the affair? Does the narrator have an emotionally closer relationship with the married man, or feel that they do at least? Also, although the original post is about a male narrator fucking the married man, I'm fine with a female narrator instead if you'd prefer.
Finally, the married man: how passive is he, really? The poem frames him as a passive participant, first standing back helplessly while his wife completes the interior decorating and then being fucked on the floor because that's where the narrator wants to do him. But he didn't just trip and fall into marriage or, presumably, slip on his way across the living room and whoops somehow now he's having sex with someone he's not married to. What choices did he make, and why, and does he feel more "real" when he's being fucked on the floor?
The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine - Spoon
AO3 matching tag: The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine - Spoon (Song)
Fandom note: You can listen to this song here or read the lyrics here. The song's narrator sings about a part they really want in a fictional play.
Opt-ins:
- So long as all four of my requested characters are at least mentioned, I don't mind if you want to focus on two (or three) of the characters over the others.
- Yulebuilding
- Yuleporn
- Interactive fiction
- Art (Wrapping Paper!)
- Play script (including characters speaking in verse)
Requested characters:
- Eddie
- Monsieur Valentine
- The Duke
- The Queen
This song has really captured my interest since the first time I heard it. I love that Eddie:
- swordfights the duke AND the queen
- makes love to the duke
- kidnaps the queen
- has a dramatic death scene
I also really love the way the narrator uses Eddie as escapism from his situation (being stuck inside with Sydenham's chorea, watching the news) and the way the narrator interprets Eddie as a heroic but probably misunderstood figure in the world of "The Stranger Dance", which seems to have a plot full of twists and turns!
Prompts:
- Monsieur Valentine is a separate character: he has a coat, boots, and a "black heart machine", as well as two very distinct sides. Does the black heart machine make Eddie and then the Queen act like villains, which is why there's so much swordfighting/kidnapping going on? What are the "two sides" of Monsieur Valentine?
- Monsieur Valentine is someone else: I nominated Msr. Valentine as a separate character, but maybe he's not! Maybe Eddie is Eddie Valentine, and part of what makes his dramatic death scene so interesting is that it's when his "two sides" are finally revealed. Or maybe Msr. Valentine is the Duke! Or the Queen!
- Making love to the Duke: I desperately want to believe that the events listed in the song are in roughly chronological order, because I'd love for Eddie/the Duke to be enemies to lovers, on account of how I'm a sucker for enemies to lovers. How do they get there? Is it super complicated? Is it doomed? Whether or not one of them is Msr. Valentine in what you write, I'd love to see something where they're in love/making love but aren't totally honest with each other, don't know each other as well as they think they do, are misunderstanding each other....or even where they have those problems, fix them, and then fall into bed together.
- Narrator transmigrates: Since the song is really about the narrator imagining that they're Eddie, I can't help but think about a fic where the Narrator is Eddie, and gets to "perform" the part they've always wanted most in an incredibly real way.
Beware of the Villainess!
AO3 matching tag: 그 악녀를 조심하세요! | Beware of the Villainess! (Webcomic)
Fandom note: Beware of the Villainess is a comic that you can read here (except for chapters 62-78 which you'll need to read here). The main character who transmigrates into the body of a villainess and throws all the terrible canon love interests in the garbage where they belong.
(Also below I'm going to refer to Mellissa's family as "Podebrat" instead of "Foddebrat" but I don't care which you use in your fanwork!)
Opt-ins:
- Any two of my three nominated characters is fine!
- Yulebuilding
- Yuleporn
- Interactive fiction
- Art (Wrapping Paper!)
Requested characters:
- Melissa Foddebrat
- Nine
- Yuri Elizabeth
Ships I like: Melissa & Nine & Yuri, Melissa/Nine/Yuri, Melissa/Nine & Melissa/Yuri, or Melissa/Nine & Yuri would all be great! I also don't mind mentions of/references to canonical ships.
I like Melissa's strength and conviction, especially her ability to totally derail the plot and her willingness to do whatever it takes to get the outcome she needs. She's protective and conniving and has SO many people who are loyal to her and honestly just stomps on all my id buttons, I love her so much. And so do the other characters! Nine is so sad and loyal and really grows into himself as he works for Melissa — I loved that scene at the end of BotV where Melissa thinks back to how he used to be and is so proud of him! I also love that Melissa gives Yuri hope and that Yuri seems to be living her best life post-canon (although I obviously wish she were living it closer to Melissa, aha!)
The way Yuri and Nine squabble with each other because they both want attention from Melissa is also really charming, particularly because it never has high stakes, it never gets mean, and it never gets in the way of more important things. I'd love to see more of that, but I'd also like to see what it looks like when the dust has settled and they have an understanding!
I would love to see more politics, and also worldbuilding about the Podebrat estate, and also anything about Melissa's reputation. I'd also love anything that touches on how Yuri and Nine interact with the servants on the Podebrat estate, or how Melissa and Nine interact with the Elizabeths.
Prompts:
- One, two, or all three of them get trapped in a time loop.
- AU where Yuri can save scum
- Aftermath of Yuri being rescued with lots of hurt/comfort all around.
- We know how far Nine would go for Melissa, but how far would Yuri go? Bonus points for them enabling each other.
- Yuri wakes up from a bad nightmare about something Melissa and/or Nine prevented from happening. She seeks Melissa and/or Nine out for comfort. (Also, any hurt/comfort focused on her briefly forgetting what timeline she's in.)
- For Reasons™, Nine can remember all of the timelines Yuri has gone through, but he's just never lived this long before. Maybe he has nightmares!
- In an AU where both temporary and permanent empathic soulbonds can form between people feeling the same emotion, Nine and Yuri find that they have a lot in common.
- Scandalous, scandalous huddling for warmth.
- Anything where they protect each other! I would love to see something with Melissa being strong and protective and passionate about it, and I would love to see something where Nine actually does kill or seriously/permanently injure someone in her defense. I love that they're both dangerous in their own way out of love for the people around them and I find anything where characters prove their loyalty extremely iddy, ok.
- Melissa is missing/kidnapped; Nine and Yuri team up to help her.
- For [handwaves] Reasons™ the timeline resets or in a canon divergence or something, Yuri meets Nine before Melissa.
- Anything where Nine gets to be loyal to Yuri, either because he knows Melissa would want that or out of his own volition. Maybe with some hurt/comfort???
After Transmigrating into a Short-lived White Moonlight, had a HE with the Villain
AO3 matching tag: 穿成短命白月光后，和反派HE了 - 青花燃 | After Transmigrating into a Short-lived White Moonlight... - Qing Hua Ran
Fandom note: ATSWM is a cnovel with a m/f main couple. At first it appears to be a pretty standard transmigration story about the female main character transmigrating into a book she's read to get with a misunderstood villain male lover interest, but at the story goes on it does some really interesting things with the transmigration aspects of the world! You can read it here.
I'll keep up with new chapter parts released for free on the TL's site before reveals, but it's okay if you don't or if something you write gets jossed by new chapters!
Opt-ins:
Requested characters:
- Sang Yuanyuan
- You Wuming
This novel is such a weird combination of iddy romance and fascinating worldbuilding! I really love the way SYY decides to live and then does what she has to in order to make that happen, including flinging herself at YWM, and the way the story has slowly showed us more of YWM's backstory and let us really understand him. He's a total disaster, an emotional mess from start to finish, but it's WONDERFUL. My favorite thing about the ship is that I think it would have been really, really easy to slip into dubcon territory with YWM and SYY having sex, but instead at every step in their relationship I get the sense that SYY is 100% in control and okay with what's happening. She puts her acting skills to work to manipulate YWM and then they eventually come out the other side of things actually being in love because she's come to understand him and he's come to trust her and it's lovely!
I also think the way the novel handles transmigration is GREAT. I usually don't like stories where the transmigrator lets slip that they're a transmigrator, but the in-universe explanation for SYY's transmigration is both interesting and kind of spooky and makes for great character moments for SYY!
Anyway I'm a big sucker for misunderstood villains, female main characters who aren't frightened, and fantasy politics so this book has been really really great to me.
Prompts:
- Politics! I want to know more about the Eighteen States of the Cloud Realm, some of which must be really big (Han Shaoling rules tens of thousands of people, and around chapter 70 or so YWM is mentioned as fielding like 7,000 people at once when they go to Zhang state?) and all of which seem to be really unique and fun! I would enjoy both a deep dive into complicated politics or just a fic that lightly brushes past politics on its way to something else, like say an arranged marriage. Same for economics, actually!
- What if YWM and SYY had gone to Sang state much earlier, meeting with SYY's parents before willing SYY's brother over?
- Time travel: the Cloud Realm does fall to the demons and either SYY or YWM travel back to try to redo things but better. How do they build their relationship with the other back up?
- AU where SYY can't divorce HSL for reasons and the only way for her to get out of the marriage is for a new potential husband (YWM, obviously!) to kill/defeat HSL.
- SYY and YWM spending some time in You state dealing with internal politics/logistics/economics/personal issues/etc.
