Dear Creator of Sadness
Dear Summertime Sadness Creator,
Hello, I'm AstroGirl on AO3, and I'd like to say thanks in advance for whatever you end up producing for me. I am very much looking forward to sharing some pleasant misery together!
DNWs: Non-con. (Dubcon is OK, and for the Doctor/Master pairings, in particular, I don't mind if it gets especially iffy or extreme.) Underage sex. A/B/O. AU other than canon divergence. (This includes AU scenarios in which the entire universe works differently than the canon one, such as AUs where everybody has a soulmate mark. But alternate universes caused by time travel or multidimensional sci-fi shenanigans are fine.) Anything involving injury to eyeballs.
General likes: I'm good with lots of different kinds of unhappy endings, from apocalyptic devastation to quiet personal tragedies, and from the utterly bleak and hopeless to the wistful, ambiguous, or bittersweet. A lot of the prompts I've chosen feature relationships that are messed up or have gone bad, but I'm also happy with loving couples meeting their sad fates hand-in-hand (literally or metaphorically). I love complex characters and messy situations and relationships. I love non-human characters that feel genuinely non-human in the way they perceive, think about, and react to things. I like big, complicated emotions being expressed in subtle or quiet ways. And I like worldbuilding touches that make fictional universes feel like real, complicated places. Plot is fine and welcome, but I am always a fan of characters above anything, and if the characters can make themselves miserable without a plot in sight, I am A-OK with that. I am also good with any rating, but if you're writing characters being unhappy while having sex, I much prefer if they're unhappy for emotional reasons, rather than purely porny ones.
A note about art: I love getting fan art, so I have requested both art and fic for all of these possibilities. I know the tags I've picked generally seem more geared towards fic than art, but I would also really love to see what art inspired by any of it might look like. For artists, please do feel free to get as creative as you like. Abstract, conceptual stuff that interprets a prompt in broad or surprising ways are fine, as is realistic art. Comics are great, too! I do, however, prefer it if canon characters aren't given features they don't have in canon and aren't deliberately made to look more attractive or more monstrous or whatever, unless there's a prompt-based reason for it.
My requests:
Note that any suggestions I have here are just that: suggestions. And I've only made a few of those, because I think a lot of the prompts speak pretty well for themselves. Feel free to explore any ideas of your own that fit. I'd love to see what creative ideas you might come up with! You can also feel free to include any unrequested characters you like.
Doctor Who (1963):
The Doctor & The Master, The Doctor/The Master
A & B Make Emotionally Significant Promise to Each Other When Younger; Promise Is Later Broken
Character's enemy is the only one who understands them
Characters know their relationship won't end well; they still get together
Deciding whether to betray beloved enemy
Descent into Madness
Enemies who feel a pang of yearning for the days they were best friends
Having to destroy the happily married doppelgangers you accidentally created
I hate you but I can't live without you
Keeping a promise to a friend-turned-enemy even though the promised thing has stopped mattering
Love/Hate
Love Turns To Hatred (But The Love Never Goes Away)
Psychological Horror
Stranded alone together for a very long time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
Unhealthy disaster relationship neither of them can quit
Unreliable Narrator
I love the whole twisted love/hate dynamic between the Doctor and the Master. It seems to me that their relationship is inherently pretty tragic, as they have so much in common and are maybe the only ones who fully understand each other, but also have seemingly irreconcilable moral differences. Anything that leans into that at all is very welcome.
Any versions of the Doctor and the Master are fine. You can even feel free to mix and match Classic and New Who versions if you like. Explorations of their early history and what led to them falling out (or breaking up?) are also great.
Doctor Who (2005):
Thirteenth Doctor/Missy, Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan), The Doctor & The Master, The Doctor/The Master
Character's Darkest Fantasies Are Actually Pretty Damn Disturbing
Character's enemy is the only one who understands them
Characters know their relationship won't end well; they still get together
Emotional/Psychological Abuse
Enemies who feel a pang of yearning for the days they were best friends
Eternal enemies
Existential Despair
Having to destroy the happily married doppelgangers you accidentally created
Keeping a promise to a friend-turned-enemy even though the promised thing has stopped mattering
Love/Hate
Psychological Horror
Sentient Haunted House Kills Others But Keeps Requested Characters Forever
Time Loop - It Gets Worse Every Time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
Stranded alone together for a very long time
Unhealthy disaster relationship neither of them can quit
Unreliable Narrator
Unsatisfying Revenge
the villain wins
I love the whole twisted love/hate dynamic between the Doctor and the Master. It seems to me that their relationship is inherently pretty tragic, as they have so much in common and are maybe the only ones who fully understand each other, but also have seemingly irreconcilable moral differences. Anything that leans into that at all is very welcome.
Any versions of the Doctor and the Master are fine. You can even feel free to mix and match Classic and New Who versions if you like.
Doctor Who (2005):
Thirteenth Doctor/River Song
and they never met again
Attempt to revive dead loved one(s) fails
Attempt to revive dead loved one(s) goes horribly right
Bittersweet
Evil takes a character's loved one's face to manipulate that character
Hallucinating Lost Loved One(s)
keeping an object that formerly belonged to a dead loved one
Pining for someone who is dead or never coming back
sadness about not being able to give your significant other the things they truly long for
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Time Loop - It Gets Worse Every Time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
We were once so close but now we're practically strangers (optional I still love you anyway)
Widowed
A lot of these tags work well for a Doctor who is not really over River's death or is painfully reminded of it in some way. A couple of others could involve her deciding to try to bring River back from the saved version of her in the library. Or, of course, they could just meet up out of order again. Or some disturbing time travel stuff could be happening to bring them together.
The request is for Thirteen/River, but feel free to include stuff like flashbacks to River's time with previous Doctors, if you like.
Good Omens (TV):
Aziraphale/Crowley
Amnesia
Apocalypse
Character(s) Survive But Their World is Destroyed
A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses greater good
A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses greater good because it's what B wants
Literal End of the World
living with the consequences of your mistake (and regretting it every day)
Loss of Faith
I didn't tell you I love you and now it's too late
Love in the Time of Horror and Misery
A makes terrible sacrifice for B who must never find out (B never finds out)
A makes terrible sacrifice for B who must never find out (B finds out)
the plan fails
Religious Guilt
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Stranded alone together for a very long time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
There's a lot of scope here for canon-divergence AUs in which the apocalypse happens after all, or in which something goes horribly wrong long before that. Or for the "all of us vs. all of them" conflict Crowley predicted might be coming. Or just for things going wrong, post-canon, on a much more intimate and personal level.
Once Upon a Time:
Belle/Rumplestiltskin
abilities/magic/superpowers are costly or painful to acquire
Apocalypse
Antagonist Drags Their Love Interest Down to Their Level
Attempting to take comfort in a life/relationship built on lies (optional it's gradually unraveling)
Canon Break-It - Break the Ways Canon Resolved Conflict and Make it Worse for the Characters
Can't live with you; can't live without you
Captivity
Emotional Manipulation
Enabling Self-Destructive Behavior
A goes evil & can't be cured/contained;B stays with them as they wreak havoc instead of killing them
A has moved on; B hasn't but accepts this because what A wants is the only thing that matters
Loss of Trust
Monster Pregnancy Leads to Attempted Dark Magic Fixes
Love can't fix this
Partner Betrayal
Psychological Horror
Realizing the Person You Love Can't Be Redeemed and You Have To Kill Them
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Unhealthy disaster relationship neither of them can quit
I was always deeply fascinated by the Rumple/Belle relationship, but one of the things I found most interesting about it was how messy and complicated it was, and how deeply unhealthy it often was. Anything that delves into that dynamic at all is great. I think there's a lot of room here, especially, for canon-divergence AUs in which it all goes wrong in one of the many, many possible ways it could go wrong.
Sapphire & Steel:
Sapphire/Steel)
Apocalypse
Captivity
Character(s) Survive But Their World is Destroyed
Didn't Think Anyone Would Rescue Them; Were Right
Evil takes a character's loved one's face to manipulate that character
Existential Despair
Having to destroy the happily married doppelgangers you accidentally created
A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses greater good
A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses B even though it's not what B wants
Incredibly bleak existence treated as creepy fluff
Literal End of the World
Psychological Horror
Sentient Haunted House Kills Others But Keeps Requested Characters Forever
Stranded alone together for a very long time
Time Loop - It Gets Worse Every Time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
Time Loops - Breaking the Loop Requires Letting a Loved One Die
Maybe they're stuck in that diner post-canon forever. Or maybe they get out and something even worse happens. Maybe Time wins, whatever that actually entails. Maybe an Assignment goes horribly wrong or puts one of them in the position of having to make an awful decision. Or maybe something creepy and horrific and probably inexplicable is happening.
For this pairing, I'm happy with either something overtly shippy, or something where shippiness is only vaguely hinted at, and if whatever's between the two of them is strange and confusing and bears little resemblance to human relationships, so much the better.
Undertale:
Sans/Toriel
Attempting to take comfort in a life/relationship built on lies (optional it's gradually unraveling)
Bittersweet
Character A keeps secrets from Character B
Character(s) Survive But Their World is Destroyed
Existential Despair
The feeling of having forgotten/missed something very important but you can't remember what
Happy ending undone by time travel
sadness about not being able to give your significant other the things they truly long for
Time Loop - It Gets Worse Every Time
Time Loop - Looper Tries to Make Someone Fall in Love with Them & Fails
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
Time Loops - Breaking the Loop Requires Letting a Loved One Die
Time Travel - Loved One Doesn't Recognize or Believe Who You Are
There's so much angst potential here with the resets, with Sans remembering or at least being aware of the resets when no one else is, or with others being subconsciously aware of them without understanding them. Maybe they get their happy ending only to have it snatched away, or maybe the happy ending isn't really happy because Sans is hiding the truth about things. Maybe horrible things are happening during the resets. Maybe it's a version of things where Sans killed the human kid and isn't telling Toriel. Maybe it's just a bad, bad ending.
(Feel free to set things anytime, to use any canon ending, or to invent your own.)
This entry was originally posted at https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/1005271.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like.
Hello, I'm AstroGirl on AO3, and I'd like to say thanks in advance for whatever you end up producing for me. I am very much looking forward to sharing some pleasant misery together!
DNWs: Non-con. (Dubcon is OK, and for the Doctor/Master pairings, in particular, I don't mind if it gets especially iffy or extreme.) Underage sex. A/B/O. AU other than canon divergence. (This includes AU scenarios in which the entire universe works differently than the canon one, such as AUs where everybody has a soulmate mark. But alternate universes caused by time travel or multidimensional sci-fi shenanigans are fine.) Anything involving injury to eyeballs.
General likes: I'm good with lots of different kinds of unhappy endings, from apocalyptic devastation to quiet personal tragedies, and from the utterly bleak and hopeless to the wistful, ambiguous, or bittersweet. A lot of the prompts I've chosen feature relationships that are messed up or have gone bad, but I'm also happy with loving couples meeting their sad fates hand-in-hand (literally or metaphorically). I love complex characters and messy situations and relationships. I love non-human characters that feel genuinely non-human in the way they perceive, think about, and react to things. I like big, complicated emotions being expressed in subtle or quiet ways. And I like worldbuilding touches that make fictional universes feel like real, complicated places. Plot is fine and welcome, but I am always a fan of characters above anything, and if the characters can make themselves miserable without a plot in sight, I am A-OK with that. I am also good with any rating, but if you're writing characters being unhappy while having sex, I much prefer if they're unhappy for emotional reasons, rather than purely porny ones.
A note about art: I love getting fan art, so I have requested both art and fic for all of these possibilities. I know the tags I've picked generally seem more geared towards fic than art, but I would also really love to see what art inspired by any of it might look like. For artists, please do feel free to get as creative as you like. Abstract, conceptual stuff that interprets a prompt in broad or surprising ways are fine, as is realistic art. Comics are great, too! I do, however, prefer it if canon characters aren't given features they don't have in canon and aren't deliberately made to look more attractive or more monstrous or whatever, unless there's a prompt-based reason for it.
My requests:
Note that any suggestions I have here are just that: suggestions. And I've only made a few of those, because I think a lot of the prompts speak pretty well for themselves. Feel free to explore any ideas of your own that fit. I'd love to see what creative ideas you might come up with! You can also feel free to include any unrequested characters you like.
Doctor Who (1963):
The Doctor & The Master, The Doctor/The Master
A & B Make Emotionally Significant Promise to Each Other When Younger; Promise Is Later Broken
Character's enemy is the only one who understands them
Characters know their relationship won't end well; they still get together
Deciding whether to betray beloved enemy
Descent into Madness
Enemies who feel a pang of yearning for the days they were best friends
Having to destroy the happily married doppelgangers you accidentally created
I hate you but I can't live without you
Keeping a promise to a friend-turned-enemy even though the promised thing has stopped mattering
Love/Hate
Love Turns To Hatred (But The Love Never Goes Away)
Psychological Horror
Stranded alone together for a very long time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
Unhealthy disaster relationship neither of them can quit
Unreliable Narrator
I love the whole twisted love/hate dynamic between the Doctor and the Master. It seems to me that their relationship is inherently pretty tragic, as they have so much in common and are maybe the only ones who fully understand each other, but also have seemingly irreconcilable moral differences. Anything that leans into that at all is very welcome.
Any versions of the Doctor and the Master are fine. You can even feel free to mix and match Classic and New Who versions if you like. Explorations of their early history and what led to them falling out (or breaking up?) are also great.
Doctor Who (2005):
Thirteenth Doctor/Missy, Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan), The Doctor & The Master, The Doctor/The Master
Character's Darkest Fantasies Are Actually Pretty Damn Disturbing
Character's enemy is the only one who understands them
Characters know their relationship won't end well; they still get together
Emotional/Psychological Abuse
Enemies who feel a pang of yearning for the days they were best friends
Eternal enemies
Existential Despair
Having to destroy the happily married doppelgangers you accidentally created
Keeping a promise to a friend-turned-enemy even though the promised thing has stopped mattering
Love/Hate
Psychological Horror
Sentient Haunted House Kills Others But Keeps Requested Characters Forever
Time Loop - It Gets Worse Every Time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
Stranded alone together for a very long time
Unhealthy disaster relationship neither of them can quit
Unreliable Narrator
Unsatisfying Revenge
the villain wins
I love the whole twisted love/hate dynamic between the Doctor and the Master. It seems to me that their relationship is inherently pretty tragic, as they have so much in common and are maybe the only ones who fully understand each other, but also have seemingly irreconcilable moral differences. Anything that leans into that at all is very welcome.
Any versions of the Doctor and the Master are fine. You can even feel free to mix and match Classic and New Who versions if you like.
Doctor Who (2005):
Thirteenth Doctor/River Song
and they never met again
Attempt to revive dead loved one(s) fails
Attempt to revive dead loved one(s) goes horribly right
Bittersweet
Evil takes a character's loved one's face to manipulate that character
Hallucinating Lost Loved One(s)
keeping an object that formerly belonged to a dead loved one
Pining for someone who is dead or never coming back
sadness about not being able to give your significant other the things they truly long for
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Time Loop - It Gets Worse Every Time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
We were once so close but now we're practically strangers (optional I still love you anyway)
Widowed
A lot of these tags work well for a Doctor who is not really over River's death or is painfully reminded of it in some way. A couple of others could involve her deciding to try to bring River back from the saved version of her in the library. Or, of course, they could just meet up out of order again. Or some disturbing time travel stuff could be happening to bring them together.
The request is for Thirteen/River, but feel free to include stuff like flashbacks to River's time with previous Doctors, if you like.
Good Omens (TV):
Aziraphale/Crowley
Amnesia
Apocalypse
Character(s) Survive But Their World is Destroyed
A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses greater good
A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses greater good because it's what B wants
Literal End of the World
living with the consequences of your mistake (and regretting it every day)
Loss of Faith
I didn't tell you I love you and now it's too late
Love in the Time of Horror and Misery
A makes terrible sacrifice for B who must never find out (B never finds out)
A makes terrible sacrifice for B who must never find out (B finds out)
the plan fails
Religious Guilt
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Stranded alone together for a very long time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
There's a lot of scope here for canon-divergence AUs in which the apocalypse happens after all, or in which something goes horribly wrong long before that. Or for the "all of us vs. all of them" conflict Crowley predicted might be coming. Or just for things going wrong, post-canon, on a much more intimate and personal level.
Once Upon a Time:
Belle/Rumplestiltskin
abilities/magic/superpowers are costly or painful to acquire
Apocalypse
Antagonist Drags Their Love Interest Down to Their Level
Attempting to take comfort in a life/relationship built on lies (optional it's gradually unraveling)
Canon Break-It - Break the Ways Canon Resolved Conflict and Make it Worse for the Characters
Can't live with you; can't live without you
Captivity
Emotional Manipulation
Enabling Self-Destructive Behavior
A goes evil & can't be cured/contained;B stays with them as they wreak havoc instead of killing them
A has moved on; B hasn't but accepts this because what A wants is the only thing that matters
Loss of Trust
Monster Pregnancy Leads to Attempted Dark Magic Fixes
Love can't fix this
Partner Betrayal
Psychological Horror
Realizing the Person You Love Can't Be Redeemed and You Have To Kill Them
the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Unhealthy disaster relationship neither of them can quit
I was always deeply fascinated by the Rumple/Belle relationship, but one of the things I found most interesting about it was how messy and complicated it was, and how deeply unhealthy it often was. Anything that delves into that dynamic at all is great. I think there's a lot of room here, especially, for canon-divergence AUs in which it all goes wrong in one of the many, many possible ways it could go wrong.
Sapphire & Steel:
Sapphire/Steel)
Apocalypse
Captivity
Character(s) Survive But Their World is Destroyed
Didn't Think Anyone Would Rescue Them; Were Right
Evil takes a character's loved one's face to manipulate that character
Existential Despair
Having to destroy the happily married doppelgangers you accidentally created
A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses greater good
A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses B even though it's not what B wants
Incredibly bleak existence treated as creepy fluff
Literal End of the World
Psychological Horror
Sentient Haunted House Kills Others But Keeps Requested Characters Forever
Stranded alone together for a very long time
Time Loop - It Gets Worse Every Time
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
Time Loops - Breaking the Loop Requires Letting a Loved One Die
Maybe they're stuck in that diner post-canon forever. Or maybe they get out and something even worse happens. Maybe Time wins, whatever that actually entails. Maybe an Assignment goes horribly wrong or puts one of them in the position of having to make an awful decision. Or maybe something creepy and horrific and probably inexplicable is happening.
For this pairing, I'm happy with either something overtly shippy, or something where shippiness is only vaguely hinted at, and if whatever's between the two of them is strange and confusing and bears little resemblance to human relationships, so much the better.
Undertale:
Sans/Toriel
Attempting to take comfort in a life/relationship built on lies (optional it's gradually unraveling)
Bittersweet
Character A keeps secrets from Character B
Character(s) Survive But Their World is Destroyed
Existential Despair
The feeling of having forgotten/missed something very important but you can't remember what
Happy ending undone by time travel
sadness about not being able to give your significant other the things they truly long for
Time Loop - It Gets Worse Every Time
Time Loop - Looper Tries to Make Someone Fall in Love with Them & Fails
Time Loop - Trapped in a Time Loop Forever
Time Loop - trying and failing to fix it until you realize there is no way to "fix" it
Time Loops - Breaking the Loop Requires Letting a Loved One Die
Time Travel - Loved One Doesn't Recognize or Believe Who You Are
There's so much angst potential here with the resets, with Sans remembering or at least being aware of the resets when no one else is, or with others being subconsciously aware of them without understanding them. Maybe they get their happy ending only to have it snatched away, or maybe the happy ending isn't really happy because Sans is hiding the truth about things. Maybe horrible things are happening during the resets. Maybe it's a version of things where Sans killed the human kid and isn't telling Toriel. Maybe it's just a bad, bad ending.
(Feel free to set things anytime, to use any canon ending, or to invent your own.)
This entry was originally posted at https://astrogirl.dreamwidth.org/1005271.html. Comment here or there, whichever you like.