Dear Yuletide Writer
AO3 name: Alley_Skywalker
Dear Yuletide Writer
First, I would like to say thank you for the time and effort that you are willing to put into creating for me! Length of fandom sections or the order the fandoms are in do not indicate how much I want fic for any given fandom; I would be absolutely delighted to receive fic in any of the fandoms I asked for. I've tried to provide some details on the sorts of things I like (and don't) and give prompts for each of my fandoms/characters!
GENERAL STUFF
Likes:
FANDOMS
Тайны дворцовых переворотов | Secrets of the Palace Revolutions
Requested Characters: Ivan Alekseyevich Dolgoruky, Pyotr II Alekseyevich | Peter II of Russia
This series of movies can be watched here on youtube. (Unfortunately, there aren't subs available.) For this request, movies 3-6 are primarily relevant.)
I just really love their relationship! It’s so cute, on one hand, but on the other kinda painful because they’re caught in this intrigue. And Ivan’s family is out to gain power and Ivan certainly likes his position as favorite and is also being manipulated by his family but at the same time he’s not really fighting them on it either. I do think that Ivan genuinely cares about Peter, he’s just not…very mature emotionally (and in general…) or able/willing to say no to his family - only at the very end does he start trying to fight them when he can no longer take how horrifying the situation is. And you can often see Ivan’s better instincts fighting with all the cynicism he’s surely developed from being around court politics from a young age. Their age gap/how young Peter is throughout most of this means that I do see this as more of a friendship/brotherly relationship, but I really do love the idea of Peter developing a teenage crush on Ivan - he’s so, so clearly attached and enamored with him.
I do feel a little bad for not having particularly specific prompts but really I’d love anything with them. Fluffy antics - playing pranks on people, getting up to other mischief, hunting adventures, just being like they are in the movies. Angst - Peter’s teenage crush, him trying to vent his frustrations about everyone trying to use him and maybe Ivan having his own angst where he realizes he’s kinda complicit in that despite not wanting to be necessarily, any other scenario. Always, always love a good hurt/comfort, in either direction really.
Would also totally enjoy an AU where Peter survives his illness. Does he actually change his lifestyle? If he does, how does Ivan fit into/adjust to that? What kind of ruler does he become once he’s older? And, hey, if it’s an AU where Peter’s older…maybe they end up getting together? ;)
Екатерина | Catherine (2014)
Requested Characters: Pyotr III Fyodorovich | Peter III of Russia, Pavel Petrovich | Paul I of Russia
Fandom Specific DNWs: Peter/Catherine as a romantic relationship, other than them being married per canon; a focus on Paul/Natalia - they can be married in the background or their relationship/marriage existing can be a catalyst for conflict, but I'm just not looking for straight-up Paul/Natalia fic.
You don't need to write about both Peter and Paul - I'm perfectly happy to receive a fic about one or the other.
This show has aired three seasons! A fansub for both S1 and S2 is available here. All three seasons are up on Amazon Prime: S1, S2, S3. (Only season 1 is really relevant for the majority of my Peter-related requests.)
Peter III
First thing: the ship I'm most intense about in this fandom is Peter/Brockdorff. It just hits so many of my buttons! I even wrote a shipper’s manifesto in case that’s helpful to anyone?
Brockdorff is always in the background but also always around, even when it doesn’t seem like he has a “duty” to be. (Or any comprehensible reason? Like when Peter is woken up in the middle of the night to go watch Catherine give birth and Brockdorff is there with him. I mean, other than like providing moral support, why would he be there?) Brockdorff seems to be the one person who is always exclusively on Peter’s side. (Well, Liza too.) There are just so many little, subtle things. But the potential in this ship for loyalty kink and hurt/comfort and kinda awkward/messed up power dynamics is through the roof. This could even be a one-sided ship. I love the dynamic of the emotionally vulnerable, mildly daft Prince and his loyal and more competent/composed underling (chamberlain in this case).
You could go fluffy - private, happy moments. Maybe they fly that kite (and watch it burn up in the air!). Maybe the reason Peter mentioned the kite at all as something that would make him happy is because that’s something he and Brockdorff would do as kids back in Holstein before things got complicated. Pre-canon childhood fic in general! Triumphant moments/success during Peter’s short rule and/or grand plans for a brighter future. (Oooh! Their first kiss?) Some cute scenes with Paul maybe? If they get into a relationship, when/how do they make the switch from formality to informality? (Especially Brockdorff, as Peter is already all over the place with his yous and thous. but Brockdorff is always overproper and I'd love to see how that formality may break down in intense/intimate moments.)
Or all the angst! Brockdorff’s one-sided love or a complicated relationship made even more complicated by Peter’s constantly worsening paranoia and dissatisfaction with everything. Peter having to leave home (Holstein) and everyone/everything he knows behind. Brockdorff dealing with the coup and Peter’s death - when you’ve basically committed and built your entire life around someone, that’s a lot of empty space to suddenly fill when they’re gone. Having to say goodbye when Peter is first called away to Russia (and Brockdorff swearing he’ll come and join him as soon as he can?).
Hurt/comfort would be amazing <3 Aftermath of Peter’s smallpox and all the emotional fallout and insecurity there and/or remaining physical weakness, for more tradition h/c. Or maybe Brockdorff walks in on Peter during a private breakdown/vulnerable moment after he finds out that Catherine is going to have a child after all and that child might very well not be his. Peter’s constantly dealing with a lot - social pressures of being the heir, insecurity/sense of inferiority instilled by Elizabeth’s constant disappointment, homesickness (especially during his first years in Russia), a failed marriage, constant fears about the future. It’s ripe for some hurt/comfort!
All that said...I absolutely LOVE Peter/Liza. I love that of all the women Peter could have had he chose Liza - a rough-around-the-edges, “unattractive” girl with a limp who loves what he loves and seems to understand him and knows all the right things to say (in his POV). They make each other so happy - it's adorable. They’re both outcasts in some way: Liza is not the flawless, demure bride prized by society in this time and age; Peter is stuck in a country he cares little for, far from what he considers home, his marriage is unhappy, he’s under the control of a tyrannical aunt… But when these two find each other, it’s like everything else goes away. So, I don't really want their relationship to be played-off as not real/genuine. If you're writing a Peter/Brockdorff romantic fic (since a lot of the above prompts can certainly work as gen friendship too), you can have it set pre-Peter meeting Liza or maybe it's a point of angst that the relationship with Brockdorff never works out/falls apart once Peter and Liza meet.
Actually, as an exception to my polyamory DNW, I'd be down for a Brockdorff/Peter/Liza v-formation poly ship where Peter just refuses to choose between the two of them lol. That way no one gets left out :D I actually really love the idea of Brockdorff and Liza taking comfort in each other (platonicly) after the coup...
Peter and Paul
I would love something about them as a father-son relationship! Paul has such idealized memories of Peter - understandably given the circumstances, but those wouldn’t have come out of nowhere. They must have spent some time together outside of the one scene we see in the show. What were those times? What does Paul remember? Or, what does Peter think of being a father? He’s clearly very conflicted but also kind of…seems to wish/hope that Paul really is his son. How does he manage all of those conflicting feelings?
Paul I
I've got two big Paul ships, one spanning S2 and S3 and the other one from S3: Paul/Andrey and Paul/Denis! I should also mention that I just generally adore Paul and he's my favorite thing about S2 and S3 of this show - the cinnamon roll who freaking deserves better than his emotionally abusive mother.
Paul and Andrey's friendships is something that has a basis in actual history, as does the fact that Catherine ruined their friendship. Whether the Andrey/Natalia thing happened historically is pretty questionable, but here it's canon so we'll roll with it :) Despite that...difficutly, I really love their relationship in S2 and how complicated/angsty things get in S3 when Andrey still clearly cares about Paul but he's also really horny for Natalia and on one hand he wants to leave her but on the other hand, she's making it really hard on him and he just can't help himself. I would love both something fluffy from their earlier days - getting together, Paul crushing on/falling in love with Andrey, etc. But of course I'd love something angsty too. The angst can be external, e.g. Paul opening up about his angst re: his father or his fears about his future/troubles with his mother. But it can also be "internal" - how does Andrey navigate the situation with Natalia? Is he actually together with both her and Paul at the same time? Did Paul actually break off their relationship because he got married and wanted to have a "proper" relationship with his wife? Did Andrey leave and that's why they feel like they're a little less in each others pockets during S3? How does Paul deal when he finds out about the affair? Do he and Andrey ever make up? (Historically they don’t but shhh, we don’t have follow that!)
And then of course there’s Denis! I loved their relationship in S3! Agh the whole thing where Denis is upset about being turned down by a girl and Paul is like “well if I was her” lol. I love that they shared things, including secret(ive) things, with each other and had these liberal political ideas together. Would love something about them getting together/falling in love! If you want to make this a story of Paul getting over his relationship with Andrey as well, that would be doubly awesome!
18th Century CE Russian Nobility RPF
Requested Characters: Ivan Alekseyevich Dolgorukov, Pyotr II Alekseyevich | Peter II of Russia, Natalia Borisovna Dolgorukova
Fandom Specific DNWs: Any focus on or detailed depiction/description/discussion of Ivan's execution.
You don't need to write about all three characters - I'd be happy to receive a fic focused on either Ivan and Peter or Ivan/Natalia.
The 18th century is a really interesting time in Russian history! One of its main markers is, on top of all the usual intrigues, the many-many coups and power/fortune turn arounds the country and its government experienced. The middle half of this century - between Peter I and Elizabeth - is kind of especially interesting because there’s a bit of mystery to it. In some parts it’s an issue of documentation, in some - the fact that it’s less full of historical events that could be seen as internationally significant, so to speak, than the subsequent reigns of Elizabeth, Catherine II, etc, it has been somewhat ignored and overlooked. For a while, Russia tittered on this will-it-won’t it edge of possibly retreating back inward and away from all the international-facing reforms of Peter I (to one extent or another).
All that is to say that…sourcing on these people? In English? Unfortunately, very scant, or I would happily throw a bunch of links at you. The politics of the time aren’t badly documented necessarily, and wiki articles and documentaries for big name persons like Menshikov and Osterman are accessible. But Peter II? There’s little that’s been written about this boy-tsar even in Russian. In part that’s because as a tsar he wasn’t a significant figure.
Not surprising, given that he was an orphaned teenager when he inherited the throne and was largely used as a political pawn by all major political players. Peter, by all accounts, was not so much a meanspirited boy or a stupid one necessarily, but neglected and overly spoiled at the same time. Traumatized and without a good handle on his emotions, he could be prone to childish outbursts that even his friends and favorites couldn’t always deal with. However, he could and would be manipulated by the adults around him.
Ivan Dolgorukov was…frankly a pretty average noble youth of the time in his late teens during Peter’s reign. A party boy who loved to hunt, indulge his friend the young tsar, and just generally enjoy life without caring too much about responsibilities and adulting. Unfortunately, his father and multiple uncles were highly invested in the power struggle of court and either forced or manipulated Ivan to work for their own ends, given that, by all accounts, Peter II adored him. The Dolgorukovs were not a particularly close knit or healthy family - ambition and envy ran high among the many squabbling relatives, so surely Ivan’s position with Peter would have left him open to much manipulation and intra-family intrigue. Also, though surely it made Ivan feel good and proud about himself, but not something he had any talent or apparent desire for, his closeness with a very young tsar meant that Peter would rely on him a lot in government affairs, to the point that Ivan would sometimes sign imperial orders in Peter’s stead.
Interestingly, I don’t think Ivan cared too much about the intrigues the way his relatives did? His greatest sins seem to be a lack of gravitas and responsibility, and later a lack of 100% fidelity to his wife which, though not unusual for the time, was pretty unfair to her, especially given her complete devotion. Speaking of his wife, Natalia’s characterization of Ivan is incredibly positive. Her memoirs describe him as generous, open-hearted, charitable, even properly pious. Of course, Natalia loved him unabashedly and is by no means an unbiased source, but I think it does back up a reading of Ivan as someone who was charming, extroverted, personable and overall good-natured.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. For what I’d like to see in fic… I would love some kind of exploration of Ivan and Peter’s relationship for one:
Natalia was 16 when she and Ivan were betrothed. He was at the height of his favor and Peter was about to marry Ivan’s sister, Ekaterina. They were going to have a double wedding. (Yea, literally.) But shortly before the wedding date, Peter fell ill with smallpox and died shortly after. While it was not yet certain how things would play out, both Ivan and Natalia knew that typically nothing good happened to the favorites of the previous tsar (at least at that point in Russian history…) and the Dolgorukovs had amassed a number of enemies. All of Natalia’s relatives told her she should break her engagement to Ivan, but she flat out refused and was horrified that they proposed something so “shameless” and disloyal. Literally, none of her family came to her wedding, not even her brothers. The entire Dolgorukov family was exiled days later.
And then the brutal exile… The fact they had several children, but only two lived because of the extremely harsh material conditions. Ivan’s later arrest, allegedly for badmouthing Anna Ivanovna, but really because the person making the report had personal grudges involving the Dolgorukovs. The fact that by some accounts, prior to his execution he was thinking about her/talking to her and remembering their days together as bliss, even the years in exile when he was depressed and not always faithful to her. The fact that even though Natalia was allowed to return from exile after Ivan’s execution (she was still in her 20s), she never remarried and fully dedicated herself to raising her two sons. Then, after they were grown, she joined a monastery…
Just aghhh….they drive me crazy. The angst and love and loyalty and desperation. Her seeing the best in him and maybe he wanted to do his best by her but failed. I wish I had real prompts, but really just anything from their life together, either the happy days of their betrothal or supporting/taking comfort in each other in exile… Like if this story was a movie, I’d love a fic that was some scene/series of scenes from that movie, you know?
Dear Yuletide Writer
First, I would like to say thank you for the time and effort that you are willing to put into creating for me! Length of fandom sections or the order the fandoms are in do not indicate how much I want fic for any given fandom; I would be absolutely delighted to receive fic in any of the fandoms I asked for. I've tried to provide some details on the sorts of things I like (and don't) and give prompts for each of my fandoms/characters!
GENERAL STUFF
Likes:
- Outside of ships I specifically mention liking/being interested in, I prefer M/M and gen. Anything goes for background ships.
- A focus on the romantic/emotional aspect of a relationship and some semblance of a plot/point rather than just sex.
- Mutual pining, especially if it's secretly requited pining and the parties think it's unrequited. (Unrequited pining can be nice too.)
- Complicated relationship dynamics, love triangles, relationships that take some effort/time to work, loving each other but because [insert reasons here] not always being able to be together/communicate those feelings, etc in this vain.
- UST. Eventually resolved is probably better than not, however, not a must-have (and I'm more interested in the romantic tension getting resolved, than the sexual tension anyway).
- Conversely from the above - romantic partners who just can’t help but adore each other.
- Kissing, hugging, holding hands, cuddling/snuggling, non-sexual physical contact in general. (Special shout out to face touching, forehead kisses and hand kisses!)
- Physical affection in non-romantic relationships.
- Praise kink (in the sense that there’s a lot of emotional investment in and getting-off on getting praised or otherwise acknowledged as worthwhile. Works especially well with characters who are deeply insecure. I’m generally fond of other related things, such as body worship, partners being encouraging during sex in a very sweet, reassuring way, etc).
- Hurt/comfort!!! (Both physical and emotional. With physical hurt/comfort I love a lot of touching and tenderness and stuff like that.)
- LOYALTY KINK! Themes of loyalty and devotion in general. Protectiveness.
- Related to the above, I enjoy explorations of divided/conflicted loyalties in various contexts.
- Friendship, family (dynamics), platonic love.
- Backstories, especially childhood fics.
- Fluff, banter, flirting.
- Well-rounded characters, characters with emotions/sympathetic motives; the “other side of the story.”
- Politics, intrigue; plot (if you already happen to be that way inclined).
- Worldbuilding, especailly in fantasy and historical settings.
- Angst, drama. (Please don’t try to use this as a challenge to see how many angst/dark tropes you can fit into a single fic. I have no issue with dark themes and things like character death don’t bother me much in most cases, but if it feels like it’s just a marathon of horrible things happening…that’s a little too intense for me. Exceptions apply if a specific prompt calls for dark!fic or similar endless angst.)
- Humor is fun too, but I like it more as an element in the story rather than a story that sets out to be funny first and foremost.
- Threesomes/moresomes and polyamory (unless requested/prompted or canon).
- Incest (unless requested or explicitly canon; this DNW does not include cousins).
- Pairings with age gaps over 10 years (unless canon for a requested ship).
- Minors under 16 in sexual/romantic relationships with adults (one-sided teenage crushes on adults are fine).
- On-screen sex with characters under 16 (mentions/reference to teenage sexual experimentation is ok; kissing/low rating romance-y stuff also ok).
- Explicit rating and PWPs.
- Healing cock.
- BDSM, omegaverse, and most kink. (NOT included in this: foreplay; bantery/lighthearted roleplay for the purposes of foreplay; preferences for a certain sexual position, fascination with a partner’s physical trait, such as, e.g., preferring redheads or virgins or younger partners or being fascinated by someone’s shoulders; rough/aggressive/desperate sex or outside-of-bedroom inequalities that transfer into the bedroom, even though there may be pining down of wrists or some other element that could be considered a kink or part of BDSM; anything specifically listed as a “like”).
- Foot fetishes (I know I said liking specific body parts is fine, but this is the exception).
- Humiliation (both sexual and not); glorification of bullying.
- Non-con/rape (dub-con that leans toward/ends up as consensual is ok).
- Mpreg.
- Crack!fic, parody.
- AUs that subvert the universe or drastically change the setting (e.g.: setting change AUs like Coffee Shop, Modern, In Space, etc. This includes stuff like A/B/O and inserting (non-canon) magic/supernatural elements into a universe where those things don't canonically exist).
- Crossovers.
- Time travel.
- Apocalypse/post-apocalypse scenarios, regardless of whether done as an AU or some kind of post-canon possibility thing. (Exception for when this setting is explicitly canon.)
- Horror; graphic gore.
- Torture. (Mentions of canon events that involve torture is ok.)
- Parental favoritism presented in a positive/non-negative light by the narrative.
- Ccross-dressing; genderbending/genderswap; non-canonical genders and gender headcanons in general.
- Narrative implications that “sex = love” or that romantic partners HAVE to have sex to have a “valid” relationship or to be “really” in love with each other.
FANDOMS
Тайны дворцовых переворотов | Secrets of the Palace Revolutions
Requested Characters: Ivan Alekseyevich Dolgoruky, Pyotr II Alekseyevich | Peter II of Russia
This series of movies can be watched here on youtube. (Unfortunately, there aren't subs available.) For this request, movies 3-6 are primarily relevant.)
I just really love their relationship! It’s so cute, on one hand, but on the other kinda painful because they’re caught in this intrigue. And Ivan’s family is out to gain power and Ivan certainly likes his position as favorite and is also being manipulated by his family but at the same time he’s not really fighting them on it either. I do think that Ivan genuinely cares about Peter, he’s just not…very mature emotionally (and in general…) or able/willing to say no to his family - only at the very end does he start trying to fight them when he can no longer take how horrifying the situation is. And you can often see Ivan’s better instincts fighting with all the cynicism he’s surely developed from being around court politics from a young age. Their age gap/how young Peter is throughout most of this means that I do see this as more of a friendship/brotherly relationship, but I really do love the idea of Peter developing a teenage crush on Ivan - he’s so, so clearly attached and enamored with him.
I do feel a little bad for not having particularly specific prompts but really I’d love anything with them. Fluffy antics - playing pranks on people, getting up to other mischief, hunting adventures, just being like they are in the movies. Angst - Peter’s teenage crush, him trying to vent his frustrations about everyone trying to use him and maybe Ivan having his own angst where he realizes he’s kinda complicit in that despite not wanting to be necessarily, any other scenario. Always, always love a good hurt/comfort, in either direction really.
Would also totally enjoy an AU where Peter survives his illness. Does he actually change his lifestyle? If he does, how does Ivan fit into/adjust to that? What kind of ruler does he become once he’s older? And, hey, if it’s an AU where Peter’s older…maybe they end up getting together? ;)
Екатерина | Catherine (2014)
Requested Characters: Pyotr III Fyodorovich | Peter III of Russia, Pavel Petrovich | Paul I of Russia
Fandom Specific DNWs: Peter/Catherine as a romantic relationship, other than them being married per canon; a focus on Paul/Natalia - they can be married in the background or their relationship/marriage existing can be a catalyst for conflict, but I'm just not looking for straight-up Paul/Natalia fic.
You don't need to write about both Peter and Paul - I'm perfectly happy to receive a fic about one or the other.
This show has aired three seasons! A fansub for both S1 and S2 is available here. All three seasons are up on Amazon Prime: S1, S2, S3. (Only season 1 is really relevant for the majority of my Peter-related requests.)
Peter III
First thing: the ship I'm most intense about in this fandom is Peter/Brockdorff. It just hits so many of my buttons! I even wrote a shipper’s manifesto in case that’s helpful to anyone?
Brockdorff is always in the background but also always around, even when it doesn’t seem like he has a “duty” to be. (Or any comprehensible reason? Like when Peter is woken up in the middle of the night to go watch Catherine give birth and Brockdorff is there with him. I mean, other than like providing moral support, why would he be there?) Brockdorff seems to be the one person who is always exclusively on Peter’s side. (Well, Liza too.) There are just so many little, subtle things. But the potential in this ship for loyalty kink and hurt/comfort and kinda awkward/messed up power dynamics is through the roof. This could even be a one-sided ship. I love the dynamic of the emotionally vulnerable, mildly daft Prince and his loyal and more competent/composed underling (chamberlain in this case).
You could go fluffy - private, happy moments. Maybe they fly that kite (and watch it burn up in the air!). Maybe the reason Peter mentioned the kite at all as something that would make him happy is because that’s something he and Brockdorff would do as kids back in Holstein before things got complicated. Pre-canon childhood fic in general! Triumphant moments/success during Peter’s short rule and/or grand plans for a brighter future. (Oooh! Their first kiss?) Some cute scenes with Paul maybe? If they get into a relationship, when/how do they make the switch from formality to informality? (Especially Brockdorff, as Peter is already all over the place with his yous and thous. but Brockdorff is always overproper and I'd love to see how that formality may break down in intense/intimate moments.)
Or all the angst! Brockdorff’s one-sided love or a complicated relationship made even more complicated by Peter’s constantly worsening paranoia and dissatisfaction with everything. Peter having to leave home (Holstein) and everyone/everything he knows behind. Brockdorff dealing with the coup and Peter’s death - when you’ve basically committed and built your entire life around someone, that’s a lot of empty space to suddenly fill when they’re gone. Having to say goodbye when Peter is first called away to Russia (and Brockdorff swearing he’ll come and join him as soon as he can?).
Hurt/comfort would be amazing <3 Aftermath of Peter’s smallpox and all the emotional fallout and insecurity there and/or remaining physical weakness, for more tradition h/c. Or maybe Brockdorff walks in on Peter during a private breakdown/vulnerable moment after he finds out that Catherine is going to have a child after all and that child might very well not be his. Peter’s constantly dealing with a lot - social pressures of being the heir, insecurity/sense of inferiority instilled by Elizabeth’s constant disappointment, homesickness (especially during his first years in Russia), a failed marriage, constant fears about the future. It’s ripe for some hurt/comfort!
All that said...I absolutely LOVE Peter/Liza. I love that of all the women Peter could have had he chose Liza - a rough-around-the-edges, “unattractive” girl with a limp who loves what he loves and seems to understand him and knows all the right things to say (in his POV). They make each other so happy - it's adorable. They’re both outcasts in some way: Liza is not the flawless, demure bride prized by society in this time and age; Peter is stuck in a country he cares little for, far from what he considers home, his marriage is unhappy, he’s under the control of a tyrannical aunt… But when these two find each other, it’s like everything else goes away. So, I don't really want their relationship to be played-off as not real/genuine. If you're writing a Peter/Brockdorff romantic fic (since a lot of the above prompts can certainly work as gen friendship too), you can have it set pre-Peter meeting Liza or maybe it's a point of angst that the relationship with Brockdorff never works out/falls apart once Peter and Liza meet.
Actually, as an exception to my polyamory DNW, I'd be down for a Brockdorff/Peter/Liza v-formation poly ship where Peter just refuses to choose between the two of them lol. That way no one gets left out :D I actually really love the idea of Brockdorff and Liza taking comfort in each other (platonicly) after the coup...
Peter and Paul
I would love something about them as a father-son relationship! Paul has such idealized memories of Peter - understandably given the circumstances, but those wouldn’t have come out of nowhere. They must have spent some time together outside of the one scene we see in the show. What were those times? What does Paul remember? Or, what does Peter think of being a father? He’s clearly very conflicted but also kind of…seems to wish/hope that Paul really is his son. How does he manage all of those conflicting feelings?
Paul I
I've got two big Paul ships, one spanning S2 and S3 and the other one from S3: Paul/Andrey and Paul/Denis! I should also mention that I just generally adore Paul and he's my favorite thing about S2 and S3 of this show - the cinnamon roll who freaking deserves better than his emotionally abusive mother.
Paul and Andrey's friendships is something that has a basis in actual history, as does the fact that Catherine ruined their friendship. Whether the Andrey/Natalia thing happened historically is pretty questionable, but here it's canon so we'll roll with it :) Despite that...difficutly, I really love their relationship in S2 and how complicated/angsty things get in S3 when Andrey still clearly cares about Paul but he's also really horny for Natalia and on one hand he wants to leave her but on the other hand, she's making it really hard on him and he just can't help himself. I would love both something fluffy from their earlier days - getting together, Paul crushing on/falling in love with Andrey, etc. But of course I'd love something angsty too. The angst can be external, e.g. Paul opening up about his angst re: his father or his fears about his future/troubles with his mother. But it can also be "internal" - how does Andrey navigate the situation with Natalia? Is he actually together with both her and Paul at the same time? Did Paul actually break off their relationship because he got married and wanted to have a "proper" relationship with his wife? Did Andrey leave and that's why they feel like they're a little less in each others pockets during S3? How does Paul deal when he finds out about the affair? Do he and Andrey ever make up? (Historically they don’t but shhh, we don’t have follow that!)
And then of course there’s Denis! I loved their relationship in S3! Agh the whole thing where Denis is upset about being turned down by a girl and Paul is like “well if I was her” lol. I love that they shared things, including secret(ive) things, with each other and had these liberal political ideas together. Would love something about them getting together/falling in love! If you want to make this a story of Paul getting over his relationship with Andrey as well, that would be doubly awesome!
18th Century CE Russian Nobility RPF
Requested Characters: Ivan Alekseyevich Dolgorukov, Pyotr II Alekseyevich | Peter II of Russia, Natalia Borisovna Dolgorukova
Fandom Specific DNWs: Any focus on or detailed depiction/description/discussion of Ivan's execution.
You don't need to write about all three characters - I'd be happy to receive a fic focused on either Ivan and Peter or Ivan/Natalia.
The 18th century is a really interesting time in Russian history! One of its main markers is, on top of all the usual intrigues, the many-many coups and power/fortune turn arounds the country and its government experienced. The middle half of this century - between Peter I and Elizabeth - is kind of especially interesting because there’s a bit of mystery to it. In some parts it’s an issue of documentation, in some - the fact that it’s less full of historical events that could be seen as internationally significant, so to speak, than the subsequent reigns of Elizabeth, Catherine II, etc, it has been somewhat ignored and overlooked. For a while, Russia tittered on this will-it-won’t it edge of possibly retreating back inward and away from all the international-facing reforms of Peter I (to one extent or another).
All that is to say that…sourcing on these people? In English? Unfortunately, very scant, or I would happily throw a bunch of links at you. The politics of the time aren’t badly documented necessarily, and wiki articles and documentaries for big name persons like Menshikov and Osterman are accessible. But Peter II? There’s little that’s been written about this boy-tsar even in Russian. In part that’s because as a tsar he wasn’t a significant figure.
Not surprising, given that he was an orphaned teenager when he inherited the throne and was largely used as a political pawn by all major political players. Peter, by all accounts, was not so much a meanspirited boy or a stupid one necessarily, but neglected and overly spoiled at the same time. Traumatized and without a good handle on his emotions, he could be prone to childish outbursts that even his friends and favorites couldn’t always deal with. However, he could and would be manipulated by the adults around him.
Ivan Dolgorukov was…frankly a pretty average noble youth of the time in his late teens during Peter’s reign. A party boy who loved to hunt, indulge his friend the young tsar, and just generally enjoy life without caring too much about responsibilities and adulting. Unfortunately, his father and multiple uncles were highly invested in the power struggle of court and either forced or manipulated Ivan to work for their own ends, given that, by all accounts, Peter II adored him. The Dolgorukovs were not a particularly close knit or healthy family - ambition and envy ran high among the many squabbling relatives, so surely Ivan’s position with Peter would have left him open to much manipulation and intra-family intrigue. Also, though surely it made Ivan feel good and proud about himself, but not something he had any talent or apparent desire for, his closeness with a very young tsar meant that Peter would rely on him a lot in government affairs, to the point that Ivan would sometimes sign imperial orders in Peter’s stead.
Interestingly, I don’t think Ivan cared too much about the intrigues the way his relatives did? His greatest sins seem to be a lack of gravitas and responsibility, and later a lack of 100% fidelity to his wife which, though not unusual for the time, was pretty unfair to her, especially given her complete devotion. Speaking of his wife, Natalia’s characterization of Ivan is incredibly positive. Her memoirs describe him as generous, open-hearted, charitable, even properly pious. Of course, Natalia loved him unabashedly and is by no means an unbiased source, but I think it does back up a reading of Ivan as someone who was charming, extroverted, personable and overall good-natured.
Anyway, enough of my rambling. For what I’d like to see in fic… I would love some kind of exploration of Ivan and Peter’s relationship for one:
- How did they become friends?
- Some scenes from their hunts and parties, etc. (Fun historical anecdote on how attached at the hip they allegedly were: once, Ivan was kicked by a horse and was on bedrest for a few days. Peter, unwilling to be parted from him, slept in his rooms. Take that where you will lol.)
- Navigating court intrigues. Did Ivan try to shield Peter at all from his family or did he just go along with all the plans and deal with the guilt after? Was he constantly justifying it all to himself or pretending he didn’t care, really? (What kind of trauma of his own was he working through, given the pressure he was under and the kind of family he had to deal with?)
- Always up for some hurt/comfort around the time that Peter gets his smallpox.
- Ivan being Peter’s first crush/teenage love. Can be played as angst or more humor/fluff with Peter trying to inexpertly flirt and Ivan totally not getting it (or getting it and being like ??? wtf do I do with this??). For fic purposes, I’d love an interpretation of Peter’s historical crush on Elizabeth as something he played up on purpose to distract from his real, even more taboo, crush on Ivan.
- A history AU where Peter doesn’t die, and him and Ivan getting together later on when Peter is older. This can be as serious or as romance-trope as you’d like. There would be major political consequences of conservative factions like the Dolgorukovs continuing to stay in power and Peter may or may not have grown up of his teenage immaturity as a ruler. How does this play out? Which intrigues at court are playing out? Does Peter decide Ivan’s family is toxic and exile them while keeping his favorite with him? Or you could throw the heavy-duty politics out the window and hand-wave a lot of it while just having two boys pining in the snow or whatever.
Natalia was 16 when she and Ivan were betrothed. He was at the height of his favor and Peter was about to marry Ivan’s sister, Ekaterina. They were going to have a double wedding. (Yea, literally.) But shortly before the wedding date, Peter fell ill with smallpox and died shortly after. While it was not yet certain how things would play out, both Ivan and Natalia knew that typically nothing good happened to the favorites of the previous tsar (at least at that point in Russian history…) and the Dolgorukovs had amassed a number of enemies. All of Natalia’s relatives told her she should break her engagement to Ivan, but she flat out refused and was horrified that they proposed something so “shameless” and disloyal. Literally, none of her family came to her wedding, not even her brothers. The entire Dolgorukov family was exiled days later.
And then the brutal exile… The fact they had several children, but only two lived because of the extremely harsh material conditions. Ivan’s later arrest, allegedly for badmouthing Anna Ivanovna, but really because the person making the report had personal grudges involving the Dolgorukovs. The fact that by some accounts, prior to his execution he was thinking about her/talking to her and remembering their days together as bliss, even the years in exile when he was depressed and not always faithful to her. The fact that even though Natalia was allowed to return from exile after Ivan’s execution (she was still in her 20s), she never remarried and fully dedicated herself to raising her two sons. Then, after they were grown, she joined a monastery…
Just aghhh….they drive me crazy. The angst and love and loyalty and desperation. Her seeing the best in him and maybe he wanted to do his best by her but failed. I wish I had real prompts, but really just anything from their life together, either the happy days of their betrothal or supporting/taking comfort in each other in exile… Like if this story was a movie, I’d love a fic that was some scene/series of scenes from that movie, you know?