M/M Rares

[demoerin]

Dear Author

I'm excited about this exchange! I hope you are too, and hopefully this letter will help make the writing process easier. I've got a bunch of stuff I'd like to see for these ships, but you don't have to follow precisely on anything below or to use any of these prompts at all. They're here to give an idea of what I'd like, but let inspiration take you where it will; if there's an idea you've always wanted to try, go for it. I honestly enjoy so many things when it comes to fics.

So this letter has all the info, my AO3 name is Sout.

General things I like, applicable to any request:
Superhero AU - especially on the My Hero Academia or the Superman-Clark Kent + Lois Lane models.
Werewolf AU
Fanfic amnesia
Arranged marriage
Demon AUs - especially with one of the pairing being a demonic entity. I prefer the demon not to torture, rape, or commit horrible violence except in the past or mostly off-screen, and lean more towards something atmospherically creepy/evil.
Fantasy AUs
On the run together
PWP smut
Stories where characters switch backstories or positions, e.g. an AU where the wise old dragon is now the loyal pet dog, and vice versa.
Five Things that Never Happened, or Five Times [Specific Event Occurred].
Homestuck quadrants AUs - where the characters are kismeses/matesprits/moirails/auspistice trios. No need to make them trolls or use more of the Homestuck setting unless you want to.
Mermaid AUs. Possibly I should just say that I like always-a-supernatural-creature AUs.
Xeno - which might go well with the always-a-supernatural-creature AUs!
Communication barriers - a magic spell renders them unable to talk to each other, AU where they don't share a language, that kind of thing.
Sex pollen (that ends in at least a decent relationship, whether romantic or platonic).
Courtship - ritualistic or casual, serious or wacky.
If you wanted to cross over or make fusions with any of the canons in this letter I'd be all over it, like, ridiculously so.

Please avoid:
Cannibalism or eating of any people, really (human or other more-or-less comparable species), relentless angst with no relief, hopelessly unhappy endings, characters existing as if in isolation (I like if there are at least mentions of canon friendships, and/or other relationships), fisting, canon characters dying (except for deaths that occur in canon), infidelity.

Gunnerkrigg Court: Robot/Shadow
They are so very cute and occasionally so creepy, and both those things are wonderful. I like how they're utterly different to start with but occupy such similar positions as outsiders that they understand each other the best. It's also interesting to see how they go from being kind of mascots and pretty uncomplicated, to having a lot more going on behind the scenes (even as Annie and Kat still think they are mostly uncomplicated).

Prompts:

• So much of the relationship has happened offscreen, so I'd love to see how they grew attached to each other enough that one day Robot could realise: "I love my friend Shadow."
• Them exploring their new forms - Shadow going 3D, or Robot's various new bodies Kat made, or Robot's brand new biological parts.
• A two-against-the-world story - maybe the Court kidnaps Robot while Kat and Annie are on class trips, or the robot cult business starts getting weird again and it breaks their friendship with Kat and Annie.
• The cult causing issues would be interesting in general, or it would be cool if Shadow's friends/family from Gilletie Forest show up for some reason and bring trouble.
• Exploration of what Shadow gets up to in school day-by-day, what he thinks of his new life, and how Robot helps him deal.

PS: Gunnerkrigg is not generally a fandom where I want smut, but I'm open to an Explicit rating here though not for hotness. Weirdness would be more appreciated. The way Robot's sensory perception was depicted was incredible and bizarre and that would be interesting to see explored, and if that happens to be in an E-rated way, that's fine. And Shadow's pretty weird too what with being a unique being, so playing it up on his side would also be cool.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

G/Giotto

Build anything on the hints we get of a very strong, deep tie + Giotto being an unstoppable force and G torn between fighting it and rolling with it, and I'll be overjoyed. From things Reborn said about the Primo Gen during the Varia arc, I tend to think of G as having come from a different mafia family when he was young, but that's not necessary. I like things that humanise Giotto so he's not only the legend, the don, the ur-Sky.

Prompts:

• I would really enjoy tropey ridiculousness - the sort of stuff that tends to show up after the pairing is at >1000 fics (some examples of which are up there on my list of general things I enjoy). If it's an AU, please don't make it one where they meet for the first time in adulthood; I like the long-established friendship.
• I'm eternally curious about how the Vongola went from an idea discussed between three dirt poor kids to this gang sitting around fancy rooms in snazzy outfits and heading a large organisation, and tying that in with Giotto/G would be great. Maybe hurt/comfort after a fight or two, declarations of loyalty, adrenaline-fuelled kisses or sex....
• Anything that digs into the weirdnesses of the Primo Gen - maybe the two of them start a nutty Vongola tradition (or comment on how Reborn is a lying liar who lies when he lays that stuff at Vongola's door). Or what's up with the way Giotto seemed to go round with the Dying Will flame lit a lot - did he constantly feel threatened, was he pushed to the brink of death a lot, is it ring magic? - and what G's reaction was. Or how they're in rings post-death, but surely didn't all die in one fell swoop when they were young. That kind of thing.
• And I have a simple desire for tattoo-kissing.

PS: There must have been a Mrs Giotto/Ieyasu Sawada, and I'm fine with any way of addressing that - including ignoring it - so long as it doesn't focus on jealousy from G or have the woman and him being jerks to each other. G/Giotto doesn't have to be romantic endgame so long as they make a good run of it and remain close friends.

PPS: I am fine with period-appropriate homophobia, whether external or internalised, but I'd prefer if it didn't break their relationship with Knuckle.

Gokudera/Tsuna
I love the growth of their relationship into something mutual; how they slowly understand each other better, get used to the extremes or start wearing down their edges, and begin to really see each other. But Gokudera's over-the-top devotion from the beginning is also fun, so feel free to go with that even if Tsuna doesn't yet reciprocate. In fact, pining is great (and going with Tsuna-->Gokudera is equally welcome to the other way round). I love both characters and this ship and would eat up practically anything with them.

Prompts:

• Reading 'KHR character reborn into the life of a character from another series' crossovers has made me want fic where they're born into the lives of whoever, and then somehow find each other again. Especially if the new circumstances were pretty tough to live through.
• Food kink or food/cooking used as a way to demonstrate caring. I remember a few times in the manga that Gokudera took food over when he visited Tsuna, so maybe he picked up more of Bianchi's beliefs about giving food to loved ones than he realised.
• Their first date.
• If you want to write PWP, there are some things I'd like at the Reborn section of my Smut Swap letter.
• Shenanigans brought about by special bullets/Shamal's mosquitoes/the Ten-Year Bazooka/some other form of KHR crack.

PS: One thing I'd prefer not to have is angst about the beginning of the Millefiore arc. TYL Gokudera and TYL Tsuna sorting out where they stand with each other post-Millefiore arc would be cool, though, or normal-timeline Gokudera & Tsuna reflecting on what their older counterparts were like.

G/Tsuna
I'm into this mostly because of ep 182 of the anime, because well, that's where they actually interact, and there's a lot of terrible, wonderful potential in how that interaction is built around G taking the form of Tsuna's close friend and screwing with his senses so that he won't be able to tell this is actually a stranger instead of Gokudera.

Prompts:

• G decides the Gokudera-Tsuna bond is not tight enough and continues his pseudo-Gokudera RP, but gets overly attached to Tsuna.
• TYL Tsuna and G bond about their very well-intentioned plans that seriously mess with people. Maybe in a dreamscape, since the rings are destroyed in the Millefiore Arc future?
• Con artist AU where G is running circles around his poor mark ... at least initially. Maybe that intuition kicks back into action after all.

Drawing from the manga only is cool too. Ghost romance is the kind of thing I enjoy a lot, so exploring that in any way would be great, and I also like the idea of them sorting out what it is they see in each other, with the similarities and contrasts to Giotto and Gokudera.

Prompts:

• G seems set on encouraging friendship between the boss and right hand in the manga too. So, say this is a sentiment Tsuna appreciates, and he decides to take it further and try to befriend the Vongola Rings/Gear ghosts too.
• If it's an AU with G being alive, I'd like to still have some kind of strangeness to him and how he relates to Tsuna (and Gokudera, if he's around as G's first point of contact). He's a lost time traveller? Some other supernatural creature? He's finally tracked down these two clones that were illegally made of him and Giotto?
• I'd enjoy any scene with protectiveness - whether along the lines of Tsuna putting himself firmly between a threat and a ghost (who might not even need it), or something like G rising up out of the dark to keep the mini-boss safe.

The Lost Boys: Sam/Michael
They're all over each other from the start, there's a lot of the traditional vampire story sex/death/blood parallels in this movie that puts a hell of an edge on that scene where Michael bursts into the bathroom to get at Sam's blood, and when it got to Michael and Sam clutching at each other on the bedroom floor I had to face facts and admit I shipped it. The desperation brought on by vampire issues put enough of a twist on their closeness and easy understanding of each other that I can see it developing into too much of both, and also makeouts. This request is an exemption from the relentless angst/unhappy endings part of my dislikes. I like this ship as a turn into increasing dysfunction, especially if driven by lingering darkness or hunger from Michael's partial transformation.

Prompts:

• They get rid of the threat of the vampires, but for some reason Michael doesn't shed the half-vampire state so easily or quickly.
• AU where Michael was taken by the vampires for some time and came back human but fundamentally changed by the experience (feral? just generally freaked out?), and hurt/comfort & rehabilitation ensues.
• But even with all the darkness, this movie cracks me up and something humorous and fairly light-hearted would also be great. Maybe Fuck or Die (brought about by another of Santa Carla's supernatural beings?) that should be more awkward than it is, even if it is plenty awkward. Or Max's plan succeeds and everybody ends up in an incredibly creepy but very happy Brady Bunch, with bonus incest.

My Hero Academia: Bakugou/Kirishima

(This is manga-based, with spoilers for chapters up to, say, 90.)

Kirishima treating Bakugou like a normal person, while meanwhile Bakugou is striving to continue treating Bakugou like a god among mere mortals (and struggling with the fact that this is not going to work out long-term) is so great. I really like seeing Bakugou grapple with the changes Yuuei has brought to his life, even the perfectly normal little ones, and how much Kirishima is gung-ho about his admirable qualities despite an inclination towards being far more open and nice; that they like each other in spite of the ways they could have clashed.

Prompts:

• The current arc made me want 1. Bakugou losing his quirk (temporarily or not) to All For One's machinations, 2. ???, 3. ProfitBakushima!
• Kirishima (and perhaps Bakugou's other UA friends) meet the friends/former classmates who helped Bakugou develop that robust ego, for the contrast in their relationships.
• Anything set when they're adult heroes. Especially if they team up.
• A "5 times they rescued each other" kind of thing.

PS: friendship/teammates would also be cool if shippiness doesn't work out for the story.

PPS: please don't kill off All Might, even if canon does go there. I'll miss him too much!

Naruto: Gaara/Rock Lee
It's always fun to see their contrasts playing out, and to see the different ways in which they're great. They're both practically forces of nature and great embodiments of their environments and it's just cool. and epic. Their differences aligning in a way that makes them work well together is my fave - Lee being unreasonably without fear while Gaara expects everyone to fear him, Gaara's stoicism and reticence allowing room for Lee's ebullience, and so on.

Prompts:

• Lately I'm into the idea an arranged marriage with this ship. Maybe an AU where Gaara's powers aren't well known outside Suna and he gets married off to basically be used as a time bomb in Konoha, and then at the omiai he ignores the candidate(s) presented and goes for Lee, for whatever reason? And then love prevails! possibly along with some political intrigue!
• Negotiating their relationship in political terms, regarding belonging to different hidden villages.
• Being on a mission team together. Possibly trying to hide an established relationship from most of their fellow nin? Or getting trapped somewhere together?
• A fusion-type crossover, especially if it's an unusual fusion (though I won't say no them fighting Pacific Rim kaiju together; maybe just beating the damn things up without requiring jaegers). Or maybe a fairy tale fusion, and be as ridiculous or serious as you want with that.

PS: while by no means necessary, it would be nice to see some Gaara POV.

PPS: I'm open to something more bittersweet than happy endings, here. Maybe all those contrasts and political intrigues mean that it's not so easy to build something together? But I'd prefer the story not to end in a break-up if it's not forced by outside circumstances.