Heart Attack Letter 2021
Dear Heart Attack Writer or Artist:
Thank you for creating for me and good luck! Heart Attack is a trial, and I know that I’ll love whatever you come up with for no other reason than you’ve written it for me. I hope you find something in this letter that helps you come up with ideas, and if you find anything in here confusing, please reach out through a mod-chances are, the mistake is on my end and not yours.
General
General Likes:
General Dislikes:
In general, I don't take well to crack fic, soapbox fic/issuefic, amnesia fic, body swaps, cringe comedy, and plots based on miscommunication or jealousy. If there is hurt, I would like comfort, or I often just can't get through it-same goes for angst (unless explicitly requested, of course!). That said, these are general dislikes--they're not DNWs, I’ve liked fics with all these themes (sometimes I’ve specifically asked for these things!), and if you have an idea that you’re worried might come close to one of these, don’t worry and go for it.
Hard DNWs:
Please note that these are my general hard DNWs. In some cases, there may be sections where some (or all!) of them won't apply, and in that case follow what was in the sign up.
Onto my fandom requests!
Dublin Murder Squad
This fandom is fairly new to me and therefore it is super shiny and sparkly! But that means my prompts for you won’t be as fleshed out as they might be in other sections, which doesn’t mean I want it less, just that I haven’t had enough time to come up with long and complex prompts or to yell about the worldbuilding or anything (though I have to admit: wouldn’t a Daemon AU/His Dark Materials setting fusion be awesome for everything?). I’ll love whatever you come up with, so these below are just ideas!
Rob Ryan & None
Rob was really such a disaster throughout all of In The Woods, which is sort of why I love him. I have to admit I did find the ending to that book a little unsatisfying, so I’d love if you expanded on it and gave me an ending to the mystery of his friends’ disappearances.
One thing I love about these two is that Cassie and Frank obviously have a history throughout The Likeness. Cassie can read him, knows what he’s about to do-and Frank can do the same to her. Based on third-hand information from people who would know (look, I used to prosecute, I have friends), hander-agent relationships are also really intense and complicated things and get extremely protective. On one hand, the handler doesn’t want their agent putting themselves to too much risk because it’ll fall on them if the agent dies; on the other, the agent wants to do their job.
I’d love something that went really in-depth into Cassie and Frank’s relationship. You could ship them together (if so, either stick this in the period of time after Frank and Olivia are separated or say she doesn’t exist or something), or focus on their friendship. Cassie’s last operation in Undercover would be a great option.
Frank Mackey/Olivia
I was really into every single scene of Frank and Olivia together in Faithful Place. From the way that Frank pokes at her but never really crosses the line, to the way they clearly had something really deep and then the way they’re back together in The Secret Place, I just really want more of these two together. How did they meet? How did they get together? What happens after the end of Faithful Place when they’re getting back together? Happy to take pregnancy and kidfic here, too!
Jenny Spain & None, Jenny Spain & Connor Brennan
Okay, so Broken Harbour fucked me up. Like, seriously. Like it was horrifying, and excellently executed, and all the things, and I just want more.
Harry Potter
I have a few favourite tropes and kinds of fics for this, which come up all the time:
Draco has literally so much promise. He is who he is because he is a product of his upbringing, and the world he thought he knew shifts so completely under him during the course of canon. Tons of material to work with here on multiple fronts, plus all the gender mess that I love. Some prompts:
I’m really not very convinced with the canonical explanation for why Tom Riddle became Voldemort. JKR says that he is incapable of love because he was conceived under a Love Potion and not real love, but this reeks of Too Much Simplicity and Not Enough Realism to me. I’d love an in-depth exploration of how Tom Riddle became Voldemort, and why? (This is another request where my non-con, dub-con, graphic violence, torture, large age differences and major character death DNWs are suspended).
I am one of those people who thinks that Percy gets a bit of a short shrift in canon. His brothers make fun of him because he's dour and stiff and boring, and he's the only one of the Weasleys who is taken in by the Ministry. But if we consider his background, is this really that surprising? Unlike the rest of our characters, Percy is probably the only one who has memories of the First Wizarding War. In 1981, when Harry defeated Voldemort, Percy was about 5 or 6 years old. He was possibly the oldest Weasley child still at home (in order for the timelines in PS to make sense, Charlie has to be at least 3 years older than him, if not more). The twins were 3 or 4, Ron about 2, and Ginny a baby. Molly almost certainly put more responsibility on Percy than he should have had, there were almost certainly extremely strict rules on him at pain of Death Eater attack and the death of his whole family and in the mix of this, Percy is 6! He is exactly what his parents made him be at that age-someone who takes on too much responsibility, who follows authority rigidly because he has been taught to follow orders without questioning, because that is how you keep a 6-year-old from inadvertently getting his family killed. So:
I think Dudley has a lot of promise for a lot of the same reasons that Draco does. He was raised in a certain way, to believe that it was okay to abuse Harry, and towards the end we see him starting to change his views by leaving tea at Harry’s door. Dudley and Harry could have been siblings, and they weren’t-or, maybe, they still were because families do sometimes play favourites like this (abusive families, yeah, but they exist). Some prompts:
Petunia Evans Dursley
Let’s talk about Petunia. I’m not entirely sure I like her story arc in the books, and while I find it not unrealistic, I also find it simplistic. Two of my favourite fics are Petunia-centred: Deco’s By Baker Street Station, I Sat Down And Wept, and dwellingondreams’ in the language of flowers. Suffice it to say, I’m definitely looking for an AU here that really works out Petunia’s character differently.
Romances of Arquitaine
This is my pipe dream fandom, I can’t even match on this in Yuletide most of the time, but I am determined.
How do I even begin describing my love of this series? It tickles so my id so hard, from concept to characterization to world-building. To begin, there is Vianne di Rocancheil: hedgewitch, bookworm, and lady-in-waiting to Princesse Lisele d’Arquitaine. She’s also a royal byblow, but that doesn’t matter until it does, because there’s a coup that murders both the King and the Princesse.
Then, there’s Tristan D’Arcenne: the Captain of the King’s Guard, Left Hand of the King, desperately in love with Vianne and who might have betrayed and killed the King because the King wouldn’t let him court Vianne. With the coup, Vianne is now the Queen, if throneless, and Tristan must now attempt unseat the king that he might have helped put on the throne. Without letting Vianne know that he might have been involved in the murder of the last King and Princesse, of course.
Vianne di Rocancheil/Tristan d’Arcenne
I love the characterization of Vianne, especially in The Hedgewitch Queen. As she said herself, she was specifically raised to be without ambition, and those lessons took. What I love the most about her is that she is exactly what one would expect of a lady-in-waiting to the Princesse-she’s intensely loyal to her Princesse, she has no idea what she’s doing, the whole point of her life thus far was the glittering Court social scene. She has no practical skills, and she’s thrown into the deep end with no skills to survive it. And on the other hand, there’s Tristan, who is deeply in love with Vianne-and who was involved in killing the people she loved and who helped put her in this impossible situation.
So, onto my prompts!
Lisele d’Arquitaine
I admit I didn’t think much of Lisele until I got the arranged marriage fic last year but really: who was Lisele? On one hand, you have Vianne’s perspective, which is that Lisele was airheaded and needed her to look out for her; on the other, you have Lisele’s single action in all of The Hedgewitch Queen, which is to protect the Seal of Arquitaine and then entrust it to Vianne, which seems to act at odds with her described character.
So: more about Lisele, please! It can be canon-compliant, from before the events of the series, or I’d love an AU where she lived and took Vianne’s role, possibly because Vianne died for her or something (oh man, her problems with Tristan would be immense, but I somehow think she’d be better equipped to do it). Any AU where Lisele lives would be interesting, whether it be because the coup never went off, the coup failed, or any other way. I’d like to see her as Queen!
Tortall
Yukimi no Daiomoru/Nealan of Queenscove
If I have an OTP, it may be this pairing. I love Neal as a character because he’s got so much going on behind him-he’s the oldest page in years, and reading between the lines, it’s clear that he entered knight-training because his two elder brothers died and left him as the heir to the duchy. He occupies a position of high privilege, being heir to a duchy, and he isn’t afraid to wield that authority if it suits him. He’s also funny, and he’s self-deprecating-in short, he’s complicated, and I love complicated characters.
And there’s Yuki, and everything we know about Yuki can be summed up in a few sentences. She’s Yamani, one of Princess Shinkokami’s closest friends; she’s from the noh Daiomoru house, which is one of the oldest and most prestigious houses in the Yamani Isles. She’s a mage, because she goes to the Midwinter mages party. She’s “plump and peppery”, and she can wield the shukusen and naginata, and the bow. She joins the Queen’s Riders.
And somewhere in Squire, Neal and Yuki have a whole romance that culminates in their engagement at the end of his Order that we just don’t see. It’s aggravating enough that I have written their romance three separate times (in Unwilling, call me a fool, and two swallows) and it’s not enough, damn it.
So please: write me an intense Neal/Yuki romance. Make it full of chivalric courtly love, make it a full medieval-style courtship, give me a dreamy medieval romance where they’re both conscious of their status and there are chaperones and sneaking hand-holding, let alone a kiss, is a big fucking deal. Fill it with wistful, yearning vibes, and all the pining. All the dramatic, angsty pining, especially when Neal goes off to war.
Or: blow up the sparks and give me their first night together. Are they shy? Established-relationship fic also works for me-give me Yuki’s first visit to Queenscove! Pregnancy and kidfic are also wonderful, and certainly in Neal and Yuki’s future since he is the heir to the duchy, and I’d love to see them being deeply in love around their first pregnancy and child.
Or: screw the rest of that, Modern AU would also be excellent. Is Neal a rising fencing star struggling to balance his tournament schedule with the demands of medical school? What about his brothers in this case; are they setting the standard for him, having both gone to the Olympics? What about Yuki-is she an international student recruited for her own skill with the blade or other athletic skill? How do they meet, and how do sparks fly? Though, if you do this, while I’m very partial to fencing, that’s because I actually fence, so… unless you also fence, it might be easier if you just picked hockey. Or rugby. Or another sport on the violent end that I know absolutely nothing about, because fencing culture is special.
Numair Salmalín/Veralidaine Sarrasri
If Neal and Yuki are not my OTP, then it’s probably Numair and Daine. Despite their age difference, I think they work in a way that neither of them could work with anyone else. Numair is one of the most powerful mages in the world, which sets him in a class apart; Daine is half-divine and also one of the most powerful mages in the world. Both of them are slightly terrifying to everyone else around them. They can understand each other in a way that no one else can, and I love that for them. And I also love the fact that their age difference causes conflict.
I’d love more on their romance! Unlike many of the others, theirs plays out more or less within The Immortals, but I want more. Tell me about when Numair realizes his feelings; we know that six months before they end up in the Realms of the Gods, Daine has unicorn fever and is delirious and he swipes a bit of hair for his locket. What was his thought process there? Or, tell me about the immediate aftermath of the Immortals War-outside the desperation there, how do they find their place together? When does Daine move into Numair’s rooms in the Palace, and when does she finally agree to marry him and why? Smut is also fine, though for Tortall in general, I prefer first-times and gentle sex.
Or: Modern AUs for these two are also fun, because they really blow up the age difference issue since, well, a 14-year age gap might not have actually been that startling in the time period of Tortall, but today it certainly is. I love having this set on a university campus too, because it works for these two so well because they are dorks, and I also loved my university years. So set Numair the biology grad student/professor against Daine, the precocious freshman, and all the drama!
Domitan of Masbolle/Keladry of Mindelan, Kora Ingensra/Ersken Westover, Saraiyu Balitang/Zaimid Hetnim
I put these three together because they mostly have the same sort of feel to me. These are (or would be) pure love matches, where they fall in love and get together, and any conflict would largely be external. I’d love getting together fic for any of these!
For Dom and Kel, how does Dom handle being in a relationship with a Lady Knight? Most of his circle would of course be entirely supportive, but there would be comments from Kel’s enemies. Does he laugh it off entirely? What about his relationship with Toby?
Kora and Ersken come from such different worlds-Kora is a mage in the Court of the Rogue, while Ersken comes from a respectable family and serves as one of the Provost’s Dogs. Where do they draw the line between home and work? How does Ersken’s family react to Kora if he ever takes her home?
Finally, for Sarai and Zaimid, I’d really just love more. We know that Sarai is beautiful and passionate and loving (and really not political enough to be queen), and Zaimid is kind and a Healer-how do they get together? How do they manage to plan an elopement right under the noses of everyone, including Aly? What is their life in Carthak like? I’d love to see their in-universe documents planning their elopement!
Alexander of Tirragen, Thom of Trebond
If the last requests have all been about the romance, the next prompts are mostly about war. I’d really love more on Alexander of Tirragen-why does he join up with Duke Roger? How does Duke Roger persuade him that he would be a better king than Jonathan, Alex’s childhood friend? Is there something that Alex wants, or are there serious and deep-seated problems in King Roald’s Tortall that he doesn’t feel Jonathan will address that he believes Duke Roger will address? Tell me more about him.
Or, I’d be very down for fix-it fic for both Alex and Thom. Thom makes a mistake of hubris in bringing Duke Roger back, and Alex is on the wrong side, and I’d love a story where they both successfully turned to the side of the Crown and lived. I’m open to Alex/Thom as well.
Dovasary Balitang, Kaddar Illiniat
This one is very similar to the last request, but I’m very interested in the immediate post-canon for both of these series!
With the Copper Isles, Dove is only fourteen when she is crowned, and as any review of history will tell you, a young ruler usually spells trouble, even without a recent revolution. Hell, revolutions themselves are not usually successful-Max Boot’s Invisible Armies argued that only 1 in 3 were successful, but that included the whack of decolonization movements in the 50s/60s and is artificially high. Realistically, revolutions rarely succeed.
So, tell me about the early years of Dove’s reign-tell me about the continuing pockets of luarin resistance throughout the Isles and their plots to assassinate and take the throne from her. Tell me about the far future-who does she marry to consolidate her rule? How does that go?
Kaddar, too, is only in his early 20s at most and is now the emperor to a large, rebellious, and far-flung empire. Tell me about the early days of his rule, about putting down rebellions or plots against him or whatever, and the work he does to make his reign stable.
Numb3rs
Numb3rs is one of the old, old fandoms of my heart. I did my undergrad in physics and mathematics at the time that this show was running, and it definitely helped me get through it! The whole series is just stuffed full of family feels, and I really, really love how it’s all centred on family as opposed to the unresolved sexual tension so many of the other crime dramas of this era are centred around. Anyway!
I really want more Colby Granger! I love his self-reflective lines (“Colby, go down the elevator shaft. Colby, jump in the bay. Hey, Colby, climb the Sixth Street Bridge”), and his general personality. I want more of Colby! I’d love more on his past, such as his relationship with his family (3 generations of military service, plus he has a sister), his service in Afghanistan, how he finds himself at the FBI, or his reflections on Charlie’s unorthodox math solutions. I’d love to see him on the CalSci campus (presumably he went to college himself, either as ROTC, at West Point, or on the GI bill, since I expect FBI requires a degree), or his moving towards the future. One idea would also be Colby’s reflections on his time as a double agent-that couldn’t have sat well with him, since he is such a straight-shooter otherwise.
I also love Colby/Amita because they come from such different worlds! I’d love a getting-together fic set on CalSci campus-maybe Colby notices Charlie’s very pretty grad student and invites her out for coffee? And I don’t know what else. How do they figure out their relationship?
We Are Lady Parts
This is an adorable and hilarious and wonderful show where five Muslim girls make a punk band. And it’s awesome. The characters are super relatable and not caricatures, there are huge disparities on what it means to be Muslim, and just… everything. It’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s everything in one package and I love it.
Amina, Saira, Ayesha, and Momtaz
I’m interested in deeper character explorations of each of these four characters!
I really liked how in the series, Ahsan isn’t interested in Amina until basically they’ve already broken up (what a dork), and one of my absolute favourite scenes is the one between Ayesha and Ahsan about whether Amina is seeing anyone. I’d really love some getting together fic for these two, or early-relationship fic where they figure out the boundaries of their new relationship considering that Amina seems to be far more religious than he is.
The Band
I want to see madcap hijinks, basically. The band goes on tour! The band gets a record label and shit happens! I don’t know, road trip adventures would be awesome, stuff with music would be awesome, yelling about political issues would be awesome, I don’t know, I just want all five of my girls being happy and successful musicians and taking down some racists while they’re at it!
Obviously, I’ll take issue-fic on this one. My exception on issue-fic is basically whether or not canon already has large shades of it, and in this case: it does. It’s five Muslim girls in a punk band!
Hendricks Gin Commercial: “Escape”
Worldbuilding
I watched this commercial once and was blown away by the art and storyline, and I just love it. What on earth is going on? Why are there narwhals in suits complaining about the everyday? It’s so weird, and it feels very steam-punky to me, and I find this ad to be ridiculously compelling art (though… still not particularly inclined to buy Hendricks Gin).
If you want more inspiration on this, Hendrick’s Gin’s other ads are very similar in quality. “Curiosity” is also good, as is “Society of the Unusual”, so hit up Youtube and take a look! Basically: I just want a story that takes place in this wild, crazy, unusual world. Have fun!
Original Works
Knight/Lady (M/F), Prince/Princess (M/F)
These ones are very plain and are an invitation for any sort of historical or historical/fantasy romance. I really love medieval (or faux-medieval) settings, filled with all the chivalry and not-touching-each-other and formality. I particularly like the medieval setting because women of this period had more power than they did in later Regency and Victorian eras, both owning land and signing contracts under their own name-the main reason we don’t believe they did is because our view of the medieval era is shaped by the Victorians. For more on this, see this article!
Therefore, I’d really like to see a fic that shows the lady and princess not as helpless, but as agents acting within the confines of their society. No, they can’t vote-but they hold the power of land, and the power of family, and often the power of religion, and I’d like to see the men around them respecting that and negotiating around that on those terms.
Princess Deprived of Her Throne/Coup Leader Who Caught Feelings (M/F), Princess Deprived of Her Throne/Loyal Knight with a Dark Secret (M/F)
If the above is a request for straight up historical romance with marriage negotiations, this is a request for the same but with everything having gone wrong. There are coups! Princesses who have lost their land! Knights who may or may not have been involved and who may or may not regret it based on the circumstances! There are coup leaders who are either using the princess to consolidate power, or who have genuinely fallen for her! Honestly, I love fic that handles the consequences of coups, war, revolutions, etc. Also, if you scroll up to the Romances of Arquitaine section, you’ll get a sense of the vibes I like.
For these pairings in particular, I explicitly opt into graphic violence (look, I like my wars messy), noncon and dubcon(because… I like my post-wars messy).
Fanfic Writer/Their Beta Who Is Actually The Person They Hate IRL (Any/Any) (OW)
This reminds me of Courtney Milan’s novel Hold Me, where the lead couple are best friends online over the protagonist’s blog, and they despise each other in real life. It’s great and funny and wonderful and this OW has all of those feels.
So anyway, I would love a getting together fic that really dug into the disparity between online and real life, how they discover each other’s online identities, and what happens from there! Dramatic shenanigans abound, HEA preferred.
Good luck and enjoy writing!
Thank you for creating for me and good luck! Heart Attack is a trial, and I know that I’ll love whatever you come up with for no other reason than you’ve written it for me. I hope you find something in this letter that helps you come up with ideas, and if you find anything in here confusing, please reach out through a mod-chances are, the mistake is on my end and not yours.
General
General Likes:
- Fics that are character-focused, character-driven, and deal with character exploration or character development. Show me aspects of a character I never considered before, or explorations of how a character's upbringing influences their worldview!
- Fics as challenge, whether it be a challenge on canon, on fanon, on fandom, or a comment on our own reality!
- A focus on relationships, particularly how a character interacts with the world around them and other characters based on their upbringing and worldview.
- Thematically, I love when characters are put in a tough spot, moral ambiguity, and themes around honour, duty, and responsibility.
- All flavours of AU. Canon-divergence, Modern AUs, Mundane AUs, crossovers, etc, especially if it interacts with one of the above.
- Worldbuilding, especially through in-universe documents (please consider this an opt-in to pretty much whatever in-universe document or weird in-universe storytelling device you can dream up).
- Alongside the worldbuilding, I really like accuracy and real-life details. I’ve fucking adored fic that involve a deep understanding of 9/11, I’ve written fic where R2P is a big deal, I suspect I’m known for my legal shit, and so-if you have specialized knowledge of something, I love seeing it!
- Romance of all varieties: fluff, happy endings, drunken confessions, friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, fake marriage, arranged marriages, established relationships, slow-burn, shovel talk, and pining (mutual or otherwise). In general, I prefer M/F pairings, but I don’t mind M/M or F/F pairings (I just enjoy them differently because I’m cishet).
- Smut-wise, I love first times, gentle sex, rough sex, possessive themes, mild BDSM (e.g. bondage, spanking with a hand), D/s with femsub, impregnation and pregnancy.
General Dislikes:
In general, I don't take well to crack fic, soapbox fic/issuefic, amnesia fic, body swaps, cringe comedy, and plots based on miscommunication or jealousy. If there is hurt, I would like comfort, or I often just can't get through it-same goes for angst (unless explicitly requested, of course!). That said, these are general dislikes--they're not DNWs, I’ve liked fics with all these themes (sometimes I’ve specifically asked for these things!), and if you have an idea that you’re worried might come close to one of these, don’t worry and go for it.
Hard DNWs:
Please note that these are my general hard DNWs. In some cases, there may be sections where some (or all!) of them won't apply, and in that case follow what was in the sign up.
- Character bashing. In general, I like to imagine that all characters are like people-they're complex, and they have an array of good points and bad points.
- Except otherwise indicated, non-canonical major character death, graphic violence and torture (graphic being “more than what is in canon”), non-con or dub-con, PWP or large age differences (>15)
- Adultery or infidelity (specifically, this is mostly about the betrayal--if you have a plot where two people are married for convenience and happen to have other relationships, that wouldn't trigger as long as everyone knows and doesn't care)
- Smut-wise, unless it’s indicated above in my likes, I’m likely not going to appreciate anything kinky. To be more specific, I DNW A/B/O, age play, humiliation, bloodplay, cannibalism or vore, watersports, scat, mpreg, snuff, or underage (<15).
Onto my fandom requests!
Dublin Murder Squad
This fandom is fairly new to me and therefore it is super shiny and sparkly! But that means my prompts for you won’t be as fleshed out as they might be in other sections, which doesn’t mean I want it less, just that I haven’t had enough time to come up with long and complex prompts or to yell about the worldbuilding or anything (though I have to admit: wouldn’t a Daemon AU/His Dark Materials setting fusion be awesome for everything?). I’ll love whatever you come up with, so these below are just ideas!
Rob Ryan & None
Rob was really such a disaster throughout all of In The Woods, which is sort of why I love him. I have to admit I did find the ending to that book a little unsatisfying, so I’d love if you expanded on it and gave me an ending to the mystery of his friends’ disappearances.
- The TV adaptation implied pretty strongly that Peter and Jamie’s disappearance was supernatural in cause. I don’t know if I buy that, but let’s say that it was supernatural-tell me a story about that coming back to haunt Rob! Maybe the fae are involved somehow? This is Ireland.
- Opposite to the above, what if the bodies of Peter and Jamie are discovered? I’d love to see the fallout with Rob there, too.
One thing I love about these two is that Cassie and Frank obviously have a history throughout The Likeness. Cassie can read him, knows what he’s about to do-and Frank can do the same to her. Based on third-hand information from people who would know (look, I used to prosecute, I have friends), hander-agent relationships are also really intense and complicated things and get extremely protective. On one hand, the handler doesn’t want their agent putting themselves to too much risk because it’ll fall on them if the agent dies; on the other, the agent wants to do their job.
I’d love something that went really in-depth into Cassie and Frank’s relationship. You could ship them together (if so, either stick this in the period of time after Frank and Olivia are separated or say she doesn’t exist or something), or focus on their friendship. Cassie’s last operation in Undercover would be a great option.
Frank Mackey/Olivia
I was really into every single scene of Frank and Olivia together in Faithful Place. From the way that Frank pokes at her but never really crosses the line, to the way they clearly had something really deep and then the way they’re back together in The Secret Place, I just really want more of these two together. How did they meet? How did they get together? What happens after the end of Faithful Place when they’re getting back together? Happy to take pregnancy and kidfic here, too!
Jenny Spain & None, Jenny Spain & Connor Brennan
Okay, so Broken Harbour fucked me up. Like, seriously. Like it was horrifying, and excellently executed, and all the things, and I just want more.
- What about Jenny’s perspective? What other things did Jenny try with Pat before she went and murdered everyone? Fiona captures her sister’s mindset well from the outside, but what does that look like on the inside? What does Jenny see it as?
- What happens with her after the book ends? Obviously she’s going to try to commit suicide pretty much as soon as she can, but how does she move past what she’s done? I’d love Connor to play a role here especially, because he’s his own kind of fucked up.
Harry Potter
I have a few favourite tropes and kinds of fics for this, which come up all the time:
- Rule 63 is amazing for this fandom, because gender issues are sort of rife throughout the novels. Even in the more progressive areas, we can see that JKR hugely valorises motherhood (see: Molly Weasley), that she disrespects women openly feminine (see: treatment of Cho Chang, Fleur Delacour), and then there’s JKR’s comments on trans-persons.... There’s just so much to work with when you mess around with gender in this universe, and I love it.
- War: Look, if you are one of those Massive Nerds Like Me who know a lot about law, terrorism, international relations, insurgency, counter-insurgency, or actual politics (looking at all you lawyers, polisci geeks, international relations grads, ex-military, Hoya alumni, anyone who hangs out on acoup.blog…), you know without me telling you that quite a lot of the actual war and post-war piece doesn’t make sense. I would love if you took a perspective that made the war realistic.
- Post-War and Redemption: Running a bit along the lines of the above, war is messy. Character relationships post-war are going to be equally messy! I love watching characters develop from the people they had to be during a hopefully realistic war and re-adapting to peaceful society-regardless of whether they were on the side of right or wrong.
- Worldbuilding: I’ll take pretty much anything for worldbuilding because there are So Many Questions and So Many Unsatisfactory Answers. High society pureblood culture is a good option for a lot of the characters below, because while fanon often interprets this as aristocracy-like with arranged marriages and so on, I’m less convinced that is actually the case (or... make a case for it for me). Other options include the inner workings of the Ministry of Magic, international relations, relations with Muggles if any, how does the Statute of Secrecy Work…?
Draco has literally so much promise. He is who he is because he is a product of his upbringing, and the world he thought he knew shifts so completely under him during the course of canon. Tons of material to work with here on multiple fronts, plus all the gender mess that I love. Some prompts:
- Draco was a child when he joined the Death Eaters. I'd love to see him in the immediate post-war. How does his trial go? How do his friends treat him, when he once thought he would be a hero, and now he's possibly a criminal? Is he tried at all? How does he come to terms with what he's done? Yes, I've read a ton of Draco post-war redemption arcs, and I still want more.
- Rule 63! Draco Malfoy is from a conservative, pureblood family, which means that a F!Draco Malfoy was probably raised very, very differently than her canon counterpart. How does that play out? Is she highly feminine and has she ever played Quidditch (there is one mention in PS that the Slytherin Quidditch Team is all boys)? Is she intent on making a good match for her family?
- Better yet, on a Rule 63, I’d love to see how Voldemort victimizes F!Draco as opposed to Draco. Since Bellatrix is essentially Voldemort’s right-hand woman, it’s clear that Voldemort doesn’t necessarily treat women differently from men, but at the same time the majority of his followers do tend to be men and Voldemort was raised in a more conservative time himself. Does Voldemort still force F!Draco into trying to kill Dumbledore or does he punish her in the stead of her family in other ways? (note: if you decide to do this, my non-con, dub-con, graphic violence, torture, large age differences, and major character death DNWs are suspended.)
- What if Draco Malfoy was a trans woman? That’s just… the entire plot, actually. Would love to see this realization at Hogwarts in the context of the war, with Pansy as an ally.
I’m really not very convinced with the canonical explanation for why Tom Riddle became Voldemort. JKR says that he is incapable of love because he was conceived under a Love Potion and not real love, but this reeks of Too Much Simplicity and Not Enough Realism to me. I’d love an in-depth exploration of how Tom Riddle became Voldemort, and why? (This is another request where my non-con, dub-con, graphic violence, torture, large age differences and major character death DNWs are suspended).
- What was his past like? We know he was in an orphanage, and it was sombre, but I don’t think that’s necessarily enough to turn him into a power-hungry sociopath. Alternatively, how does he work this at Hogwarts, or in his post-schooling quest for power?
- Without his followers, Tom Riddle would have just been a terrorist. How does he draw followers? Power is one aspect, sure-but Tom Riddle didn’t just attract bottom-feeders, he attracted people who were already powerful and with money. So, why are they attracted to him? Why are they risking their power, their wealth, their status in society for him, and in large enough numbers to terrorize a nation? I’d love if you drew on real life elements in post-WW2 Britain or developed widespread political and cultural concerns to really give this life.
- RULE 63: Voldemort was born and raised in an earlier time, probably WW2 or thereabouts. How does a F!Tom Riddle handle the world? How does she deal with Horace Slughorn, how does she gain followers, and what does her path to conquest look like compared to Voldemort’s?
I am one of those people who thinks that Percy gets a bit of a short shrift in canon. His brothers make fun of him because he's dour and stiff and boring, and he's the only one of the Weasleys who is taken in by the Ministry. But if we consider his background, is this really that surprising? Unlike the rest of our characters, Percy is probably the only one who has memories of the First Wizarding War. In 1981, when Harry defeated Voldemort, Percy was about 5 or 6 years old. He was possibly the oldest Weasley child still at home (in order for the timelines in PS to make sense, Charlie has to be at least 3 years older than him, if not more). The twins were 3 or 4, Ron about 2, and Ginny a baby. Molly almost certainly put more responsibility on Percy than he should have had, there were almost certainly extremely strict rules on him at pain of Death Eater attack and the death of his whole family and in the mix of this, Percy is 6! He is exactly what his parents made him be at that age-someone who takes on too much responsibility, who follows authority rigidly because he has been taught to follow orders without questioning, because that is how you keep a 6-year-old from inadvertently getting his family killed. So:
- I am 100% down for a post-fic redemption arc for him. Hell, I am down for an AU where Percy never joins the Ministry, or where Percy is a spy for the Order within the Ministry, or where Percy is actually given the skills he needs earlier on so that he doesn't later fall for the Ministry's words.
- Tell me more about Percy's relationship with the rest of his family. Tell me how out of place he feels caught between his older brothers, who are just a bit too old for him to fit with easily despite the fact that they're the ones who remember the First Wizarding War (Charlie being at least 9 or 10 and Bill even older means that while they remember it, they also had the ability to understand it), and his more rambunctious younger siblings. Tell me how rules-following Percy gets by in a family that clearly doesn't really get him.
- Give me a Percy Weasley romance. I want him to be happy and don’t really care who he’s with for that to happen. Pansy Parkinson creates some interesting character dynamics, so I nominated her; but at the same time, we know nothing about Audrey and I’d love to see something like Percy coping with the end of the war and the mess of his family by escaping into the Muggle world and falling in love with a Muggle (yes, I headcanon Audrey as a Muggle).
- Rule 63 Percy. This is an interesting one because gender clearly matters in the Weasley family; Molly Weasley kept having kids until she had a daughter, and it’s clear that Ginny was raised quite differently from her brothers (Ginny broke into the broom shed; the boys didn’t have to). If Percy is a girl, is she the youngest of three? What if she’s a trans girl? How does her family react?
I think Dudley has a lot of promise for a lot of the same reasons that Draco does. He was raised in a certain way, to believe that it was okay to abuse Harry, and towards the end we see him starting to change his views by leaving tea at Harry’s door. Dudley and Harry could have been siblings, and they weren’t-or, maybe, they still were because families do sometimes play favourites like this (abusive families, yeah, but they exist). Some prompts:
- What happened with Dudley? What brought about the change-was there anything? One of my favourite fics is Celebony’s A Hero, so I’d love to see something prompt Dudley into seeing the abuse around him. What does he do from there?
- What happens after the war? The Dursleys go into hiding for the war-that had to have left an impact on Dudley. Where does he go from there, does he reconnect with Harry afterwards? What’s their relationship like after that?
Petunia Evans Dursley
Let’s talk about Petunia. I’m not entirely sure I like her story arc in the books, and while I find it not unrealistic, I also find it simplistic. Two of my favourite fics are Petunia-centred: Deco’s By Baker Street Station, I Sat Down And Wept, and dwellingondreams’ in the language of flowers. Suffice it to say, I’m definitely looking for an AU here that really works out Petunia’s character differently.
- So, Petunia doesn’t have magic. There are so many ways she can react to that, and to her parents’ obvious favouring of Lily, but let’s say she reacts differently. I’d love something that took that background and had her become a successful woman in her own right instead of just forever salty.
- AUs where Petunia is also magical would be interesting! I’d love either a story where both Petunia and Lily are magical, or where Petunia has magic and Lily doesn’t.
- Petunia takes the kids and leaves Vernon because Vernon is abusive. Now what?
Romances of Arquitaine
This is my pipe dream fandom, I can’t even match on this in Yuletide most of the time, but I am determined.
How do I even begin describing my love of this series? It tickles so my id so hard, from concept to characterization to world-building. To begin, there is Vianne di Rocancheil: hedgewitch, bookworm, and lady-in-waiting to Princesse Lisele d’Arquitaine. She’s also a royal byblow, but that doesn’t matter until it does, because there’s a coup that murders both the King and the Princesse.
Then, there’s Tristan D’Arcenne: the Captain of the King’s Guard, Left Hand of the King, desperately in love with Vianne and who might have betrayed and killed the King because the King wouldn’t let him court Vianne. With the coup, Vianne is now the Queen, if throneless, and Tristan must now attempt unseat the king that he might have helped put on the throne. Without letting Vianne know that he might have been involved in the murder of the last King and Princesse, of course.
Vianne di Rocancheil/Tristan d’Arcenne
I love the characterization of Vianne, especially in The Hedgewitch Queen. As she said herself, she was specifically raised to be without ambition, and those lessons took. What I love the most about her is that she is exactly what one would expect of a lady-in-waiting to the Princesse-she’s intensely loyal to her Princesse, she has no idea what she’s doing, the whole point of her life thus far was the glittering Court social scene. She has no practical skills, and she’s thrown into the deep end with no skills to survive it. And on the other hand, there’s Tristan, who is deeply in love with Vianne-and who was involved in killing the people she loved and who helped put her in this impossible situation.
So, onto my prompts!
- Canon divergence AU! I would love to see what would have happened if King Henri had realized that the price of Tristan’s loyalty was Vianne and given her to him. A straight-up arranged marriage fic would be great (in fact I got one as a raffle prize last year and it was wonderful!), but I’m especially interested in seeing what would happen with the coup if Tristan hadn’t betrayed the King and Princesse. What would Vianne’s life have looked like then
- Another Canon Divergence idea-what if the coup went off exactly as Tristan planned? What if Vianne found herself on a one-way boat trip to Tiberia? I can’t imagine Vianne would have been very happy about this turn of events, but does she try to go back?
- I’d also love a deeper exploration of Tristan’s thoughts and feelings throughout The Hedgewitch Queen, particularly his balance between wanting Vianne for his own and having to put her on the throne. Alternatively, I’d love more from Vianne’s perspective on her betrayal in The Bandit King when she realizes that Tristan murdered the King. If you’re comfortable writing sex, I’d be happy with PWP/explicit sex-please note here that noncon and dubcon is fine. Canonically there’s a dubcon scene in The Bandit King anyway, Tristan is an insane stalkerish lover who crosses All The Boundaries and I am completely into it.
- The ending of the books leaves off with Vianne having abdicated the throne and running off to join the gypsies, and Tristan tracking her down (see: insane stalkerish lover). There’s an implication of reconciliation-what happened here? Has Vianne forgiven him, and where do they go from here?
Lisele d’Arquitaine
I admit I didn’t think much of Lisele until I got the arranged marriage fic last year but really: who was Lisele? On one hand, you have Vianne’s perspective, which is that Lisele was airheaded and needed her to look out for her; on the other, you have Lisele’s single action in all of The Hedgewitch Queen, which is to protect the Seal of Arquitaine and then entrust it to Vianne, which seems to act at odds with her described character.
So: more about Lisele, please! It can be canon-compliant, from before the events of the series, or I’d love an AU where she lived and took Vianne’s role, possibly because Vianne died for her or something (oh man, her problems with Tristan would be immense, but I somehow think she’d be better equipped to do it). Any AU where Lisele lives would be interesting, whether it be because the coup never went off, the coup failed, or any other way. I’d like to see her as Queen!
Tortall
Yukimi no Daiomoru/Nealan of Queenscove
If I have an OTP, it may be this pairing. I love Neal as a character because he’s got so much going on behind him-he’s the oldest page in years, and reading between the lines, it’s clear that he entered knight-training because his two elder brothers died and left him as the heir to the duchy. He occupies a position of high privilege, being heir to a duchy, and he isn’t afraid to wield that authority if it suits him. He’s also funny, and he’s self-deprecating-in short, he’s complicated, and I love complicated characters.
And there’s Yuki, and everything we know about Yuki can be summed up in a few sentences. She’s Yamani, one of Princess Shinkokami’s closest friends; she’s from the noh Daiomoru house, which is one of the oldest and most prestigious houses in the Yamani Isles. She’s a mage, because she goes to the Midwinter mages party. She’s “plump and peppery”, and she can wield the shukusen and naginata, and the bow. She joins the Queen’s Riders.
And somewhere in Squire, Neal and Yuki have a whole romance that culminates in their engagement at the end of his Order that we just don’t see. It’s aggravating enough that I have written their romance three separate times (in Unwilling, call me a fool, and two swallows) and it’s not enough, damn it.
So please: write me an intense Neal/Yuki romance. Make it full of chivalric courtly love, make it a full medieval-style courtship, give me a dreamy medieval romance where they’re both conscious of their status and there are chaperones and sneaking hand-holding, let alone a kiss, is a big fucking deal. Fill it with wistful, yearning vibes, and all the pining. All the dramatic, angsty pining, especially when Neal goes off to war.
Or: blow up the sparks and give me their first night together. Are they shy? Established-relationship fic also works for me-give me Yuki’s first visit to Queenscove! Pregnancy and kidfic are also wonderful, and certainly in Neal and Yuki’s future since he is the heir to the duchy, and I’d love to see them being deeply in love around their first pregnancy and child.
Or: screw the rest of that, Modern AU would also be excellent. Is Neal a rising fencing star struggling to balance his tournament schedule with the demands of medical school? What about his brothers in this case; are they setting the standard for him, having both gone to the Olympics? What about Yuki-is she an international student recruited for her own skill with the blade or other athletic skill? How do they meet, and how do sparks fly? Though, if you do this, while I’m very partial to fencing, that’s because I actually fence, so… unless you also fence, it might be easier if you just picked hockey. Or rugby. Or another sport on the violent end that I know absolutely nothing about, because fencing culture is special.
Numair Salmalín/Veralidaine Sarrasri
If Neal and Yuki are not my OTP, then it’s probably Numair and Daine. Despite their age difference, I think they work in a way that neither of them could work with anyone else. Numair is one of the most powerful mages in the world, which sets him in a class apart; Daine is half-divine and also one of the most powerful mages in the world. Both of them are slightly terrifying to everyone else around them. They can understand each other in a way that no one else can, and I love that for them. And I also love the fact that their age difference causes conflict.
I’d love more on their romance! Unlike many of the others, theirs plays out more or less within The Immortals, but I want more. Tell me about when Numair realizes his feelings; we know that six months before they end up in the Realms of the Gods, Daine has unicorn fever and is delirious and he swipes a bit of hair for his locket. What was his thought process there? Or, tell me about the immediate aftermath of the Immortals War-outside the desperation there, how do they find their place together? When does Daine move into Numair’s rooms in the Palace, and when does she finally agree to marry him and why? Smut is also fine, though for Tortall in general, I prefer first-times and gentle sex.
Or: Modern AUs for these two are also fun, because they really blow up the age difference issue since, well, a 14-year age gap might not have actually been that startling in the time period of Tortall, but today it certainly is. I love having this set on a university campus too, because it works for these two so well because they are dorks, and I also loved my university years. So set Numair the biology grad student/professor against Daine, the precocious freshman, and all the drama!
Domitan of Masbolle/Keladry of Mindelan, Kora Ingensra/Ersken Westover, Saraiyu Balitang/Zaimid Hetnim
I put these three together because they mostly have the same sort of feel to me. These are (or would be) pure love matches, where they fall in love and get together, and any conflict would largely be external. I’d love getting together fic for any of these!
For Dom and Kel, how does Dom handle being in a relationship with a Lady Knight? Most of his circle would of course be entirely supportive, but there would be comments from Kel’s enemies. Does he laugh it off entirely? What about his relationship with Toby?
Kora and Ersken come from such different worlds-Kora is a mage in the Court of the Rogue, while Ersken comes from a respectable family and serves as one of the Provost’s Dogs. Where do they draw the line between home and work? How does Ersken’s family react to Kora if he ever takes her home?
Finally, for Sarai and Zaimid, I’d really just love more. We know that Sarai is beautiful and passionate and loving (and really not political enough to be queen), and Zaimid is kind and a Healer-how do they get together? How do they manage to plan an elopement right under the noses of everyone, including Aly? What is their life in Carthak like? I’d love to see their in-universe documents planning their elopement!
Alexander of Tirragen, Thom of Trebond
If the last requests have all been about the romance, the next prompts are mostly about war. I’d really love more on Alexander of Tirragen-why does he join up with Duke Roger? How does Duke Roger persuade him that he would be a better king than Jonathan, Alex’s childhood friend? Is there something that Alex wants, or are there serious and deep-seated problems in King Roald’s Tortall that he doesn’t feel Jonathan will address that he believes Duke Roger will address? Tell me more about him.
Or, I’d be very down for fix-it fic for both Alex and Thom. Thom makes a mistake of hubris in bringing Duke Roger back, and Alex is on the wrong side, and I’d love a story where they both successfully turned to the side of the Crown and lived. I’m open to Alex/Thom as well.
Dovasary Balitang, Kaddar Illiniat
This one is very similar to the last request, but I’m very interested in the immediate post-canon for both of these series!
With the Copper Isles, Dove is only fourteen when she is crowned, and as any review of history will tell you, a young ruler usually spells trouble, even without a recent revolution. Hell, revolutions themselves are not usually successful-Max Boot’s Invisible Armies argued that only 1 in 3 were successful, but that included the whack of decolonization movements in the 50s/60s and is artificially high. Realistically, revolutions rarely succeed.
So, tell me about the early years of Dove’s reign-tell me about the continuing pockets of luarin resistance throughout the Isles and their plots to assassinate and take the throne from her. Tell me about the far future-who does she marry to consolidate her rule? How does that go?
Kaddar, too, is only in his early 20s at most and is now the emperor to a large, rebellious, and far-flung empire. Tell me about the early days of his rule, about putting down rebellions or plots against him or whatever, and the work he does to make his reign stable.
Numb3rs
Numb3rs is one of the old, old fandoms of my heart. I did my undergrad in physics and mathematics at the time that this show was running, and it definitely helped me get through it! The whole series is just stuffed full of family feels, and I really, really love how it’s all centred on family as opposed to the unresolved sexual tension so many of the other crime dramas of this era are centred around. Anyway!
I really want more Colby Granger! I love his self-reflective lines (“Colby, go down the elevator shaft. Colby, jump in the bay. Hey, Colby, climb the Sixth Street Bridge”), and his general personality. I want more of Colby! I’d love more on his past, such as his relationship with his family (3 generations of military service, plus he has a sister), his service in Afghanistan, how he finds himself at the FBI, or his reflections on Charlie’s unorthodox math solutions. I’d love to see him on the CalSci campus (presumably he went to college himself, either as ROTC, at West Point, or on the GI bill, since I expect FBI requires a degree), or his moving towards the future. One idea would also be Colby’s reflections on his time as a double agent-that couldn’t have sat well with him, since he is such a straight-shooter otherwise.
I also love Colby/Amita because they come from such different worlds! I’d love a getting-together fic set on CalSci campus-maybe Colby notices Charlie’s very pretty grad student and invites her out for coffee? And I don’t know what else. How do they figure out their relationship?
We Are Lady Parts
This is an adorable and hilarious and wonderful show where five Muslim girls make a punk band. And it’s awesome. The characters are super relatable and not caricatures, there are huge disparities on what it means to be Muslim, and just… everything. It’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s everything in one package and I love it.
Amina, Saira, Ayesha, and Momtaz
I’m interested in deeper character explorations of each of these four characters!
- For Amina, we can see that she’s still working on reconciling her faith with her music. I’d love a further exploration of Amina: her search for a husband, her relationship with Noor and their other friends, her relationship with any and all of the other band members. I’m totally fine with Amina/Saira, even if I haven’t requested it-I’d just prefer the focus to be on developing Amina’s character.
- For Saira, I want backstory! Saira is a trainwreck. She has issues with her family (what are they?), there’s her history with her sister, her commitment issues, and just everything. What makes Saira tick? What makes Saira who she is in the series?
- Ayesha! I’d love more on Ayesha because she’s religious, but also a feminist and also gay and I just want more of her. For Ayesha, I’d also love to see sibling dynamics with Ahsan! On one hand, there’s Ahsan in grad school for anthropology, and on the other there’s Ayesha who drives an Uber or delivers food on a bike. Tell me about them!
- Momtaz! I’m really intrigued by Momtaz, actually-she wears a full niqab because she says it makes her feel powerful, like Nefertiti or Beyonce, and I think it’s interesting because she feels most confident when she’s hidden. And in her niqab, she is very confident, managing the band and dreaming of a big record label. But I wonder why she made that choice, and why the niqab makes her feel so powerful.
I really liked how in the series, Ahsan isn’t interested in Amina until basically they’ve already broken up (what a dork), and one of my absolute favourite scenes is the one between Ayesha and Ahsan about whether Amina is seeing anyone. I’d really love some getting together fic for these two, or early-relationship fic where they figure out the boundaries of their new relationship considering that Amina seems to be far more religious than he is.
The Band
I want to see madcap hijinks, basically. The band goes on tour! The band gets a record label and shit happens! I don’t know, road trip adventures would be awesome, stuff with music would be awesome, yelling about political issues would be awesome, I don’t know, I just want all five of my girls being happy and successful musicians and taking down some racists while they’re at it!
Obviously, I’ll take issue-fic on this one. My exception on issue-fic is basically whether or not canon already has large shades of it, and in this case: it does. It’s five Muslim girls in a punk band!
Hendricks Gin Commercial: “Escape”
Worldbuilding
I watched this commercial once and was blown away by the art and storyline, and I just love it. What on earth is going on? Why are there narwhals in suits complaining about the everyday? It’s so weird, and it feels very steam-punky to me, and I find this ad to be ridiculously compelling art (though… still not particularly inclined to buy Hendricks Gin).
If you want more inspiration on this, Hendrick’s Gin’s other ads are very similar in quality. “Curiosity” is also good, as is “Society of the Unusual”, so hit up Youtube and take a look! Basically: I just want a story that takes place in this wild, crazy, unusual world. Have fun!
Original Works
Knight/Lady (M/F), Prince/Princess (M/F)
These ones are very plain and are an invitation for any sort of historical or historical/fantasy romance. I really love medieval (or faux-medieval) settings, filled with all the chivalry and not-touching-each-other and formality. I particularly like the medieval setting because women of this period had more power than they did in later Regency and Victorian eras, both owning land and signing contracts under their own name-the main reason we don’t believe they did is because our view of the medieval era is shaped by the Victorians. For more on this, see this article!
Therefore, I’d really like to see a fic that shows the lady and princess not as helpless, but as agents acting within the confines of their society. No, they can’t vote-but they hold the power of land, and the power of family, and often the power of religion, and I’d like to see the men around them respecting that and negotiating around that on those terms.
Princess Deprived of Her Throne/Coup Leader Who Caught Feelings (M/F), Princess Deprived of Her Throne/Loyal Knight with a Dark Secret (M/F)
If the above is a request for straight up historical romance with marriage negotiations, this is a request for the same but with everything having gone wrong. There are coups! Princesses who have lost their land! Knights who may or may not have been involved and who may or may not regret it based on the circumstances! There are coup leaders who are either using the princess to consolidate power, or who have genuinely fallen for her! Honestly, I love fic that handles the consequences of coups, war, revolutions, etc. Also, if you scroll up to the Romances of Arquitaine section, you’ll get a sense of the vibes I like.
For these pairings in particular, I explicitly opt into graphic violence (look, I like my wars messy), noncon and dubcon(because… I like my post-wars messy).
Fanfic Writer/Their Beta Who Is Actually The Person They Hate IRL (Any/Any) (OW)
This reminds me of Courtney Milan’s novel Hold Me, where the lead couple are best friends online over the protagonist’s blog, and they despise each other in real life. It’s great and funny and wonderful and this OW has all of those feels.
So anyway, I would love a getting together fic that really dug into the disparity between online and real life, how they discover each other’s online identities, and what happens from there! Dramatic shenanigans abound, HEA preferred.
Good luck and enjoy writing!