Trick or Treat Letter 2015
Dear Trick or Treat Writer,
First of all, thank you for writing a fic for me and taking the time to have a look at this letter. Which is probably far longer than necessary for this exchange, but I tend to ramble. I have a few general likes and dislikes listed below. It's followed by a ridiculously long list of tropes and kinks I like (which you should feel free to ignore if you don't like long letters). Then there are fandom-specific sections with some prompt ideas - I tried to keep them shorter than I usually do in exchange letters, but like all my letters this turned way longer than I intended. ;) Except for one fandom I didn't really separate my prompts into trick/treat, I hope that's all right.
I hope that you'll find something in this letter that you'll enjoy writing, some prompt that interests you or some tropes that you like, and that the length of this letter is not offputting. I like lots of different kinds of fics and I love all the characters I've requested, so as long as you try to include one or two of my likes and don't include any of my DNWs, I'm sure I will love your fic. :D
I use the same name on AO3 and tumblr as here.
Things I like:
- I generally like shipfic (mostly slash): I adore first time fics, but I also like established relationships a lot, I like porn as much as I like more subtle sexual tension, I like fluffier things and I like filthy smut. I also adore plotty fics in which a bunch of other things happen to my ship as well. For all my fandoms I've listed one or several ships I would enjoy reading about.
- if you'd rather write gen/if you want to combine any of the following things with a ship, I also like: background stories about a character's past, first meetings and impressions (especially if we didn't get to see that in canon), missing scenes from canon, plotty future/post-canon fics that explore where these characters are going, plotty what-if fics that explore what would have happened if a character had made a different choice, fics from a different POV than usual in canon, fics from an outside POV ...
- in general, I am most interested in characters and character interactions and development of relationships over time, whether shippy or not; I also love casefic and plotty fics, but I'd still love there to be some focus on the characters
- I would love to receive smut in my fic, although I'd rather not get a complete PWP. There is, however, no need to include porn if you don't like to write porn or if it just doesn't fit into your fic.
- I'm fine with dark themes (violence, noncon, depression, whatever you need for the plot, I have no particular triggers) and I enjoy angsty fics, but I'd prefer if my fic wasn't completely tragic. It doesn't have to be all sunshine and rainbows, but a bit of hope would be nice, and I'd rather my favourite characters/ships get a happy or semi-happy ending, even if they have to go through terrible things before they get it.
Things I do not like:
- major character death, especially of my favourite characters, and completely tragic/dark endings
- complete AUs (canon-divergence is fine, but no high school AUs, coffee shop AUs, supernatural AUs etc.). The only exception: I like daemon fics a lot. (As in His Dark Materials daemons.)
- please don't include any ships (including canon ships) I didn't explicitly request
- genderbend fics of any kind, mpreg, A/B/O, characters being vampires/werewolves/anything but human (unless they already aren't human in canon, of course)
- I don't mind noncon as such, but please no noncon between my requested ships (except for that one ship for which I explicitly have a dubcon/noncon prompt); a bit of dubcon due to power differences is okay, though, as long as everyone ends up enjoying themselves
- I have a major pet peeve for epithets like "the blond one said this", "the taller man did that", "the soldier replied". Please use people's names and pronouns.
Other tropes and kinks I like:
Again, this part is completely optional. There's absolutely no need to include any of these, but if they generally fit into your fic and if they're things that you like to write about, I would love it if you included any of the following themes/tropes/kinks:
Non-sexual:
- themes like loyalty, codependency, obsession, trust, and commitment issues
- complicated, codependent, obsessive family relationships (whether incestuous or not)
- characters dealing with moral dilemmas, having to question their principles, or simply wanting to do things they think they shouldn't be doing. This can be anything from "doing this would shake my entire worldview" to "maybe I shouldn't screw my boss".
- intimacy, familiarity, people knowing about each other's everyday habits/hang-ups (especially in contrast to how nobody else knows them that well)
- difficulties to express feelings verbally and non-verbal expressions of affections
- age differences
- protectiveness/going ballistic when the other one is threatened
- jealousy/possessiveness
- hurt/comfort, taking care of each other
- sharing food/drinks/cigarettes/clothes
Sexual:
- clothes fetishisation (sex between a dressed and an undressed person; one of them having a thing for the other's clothes (tailored suits, uniforms, leather gloves/boots/jackets, silk shirts etc.); people dressing/undressing each other; someone casual cleans up nicely, someone who's always prim and proper looks dishevelled for once)
- asphyxiation/breathplay, touching/kissing/biting/petting the other's throat/neck, oversensitive necks, hickeys, marking
- characters losing control in bed (speechlessness, whimpering, moaning, shivering, begging)
- messiness (sweat, come play, dishevelled clothes, dishevelled hair, breathlessness etc.)
- first time sex (i.e. first time between the two characters; exploring each other's bodies, finding out slowly what the other one likes)
- small gestures of affection/casual touching/discreet PDA; accidental touching/stimulation
- seduction (sweet talking, dirty talk, teasing, eyefucking)
- sexual fantasies, daydreaming, masturbation, especially before the characters get together
- massages, backrubs, stroking the other's hair
- friction, frottage, intercrural (anal is fine, too, obviously)
- banter/teasing (during sex and otherwise)
- competence kink/admiration
- praise kink
- body worship, people being madly attracted to each other, getting distracted because they're staring at each other
- scars and their history
- hand fetish (strong/soft/rough/calloused/gentle hands, long fingers, handling guns/knives/cigarettes etc., kissing the other's wrists/fingers)
- beards and stubble (especially on people who are usually clean-shaven), beard burn on the other person's cheek/neck/thighs …
- voice/accent kink
- oral fixation (licking/biting one's lips, drinking from beer bottles, smoking)
- oral sex, rimming
- light bondage/restraints (pinning someone down, holding their wrists, holding their mouth shut with one hand, blindfolds, actually tying them up), D/s overtones (ordering the other to undress, to kneel, to hold still etc.)
- gun/knife play
- sex on tables/sofas/against walls etc. (sex in beds is great too)
- sleep-related themes (sharing a bed, falling asleep on the other's shoulder, waking the other, having dreams about each other, comforting the other after nightmares etc.)
About my fandoms:
The Raven Cycle
Ronan Lynch, Declan Lynch, Niall Lynch
I requested these three, but I also adore Gansey and Adam (and I really like Kavinsky), so feel free to include them as well. I am incredibly interested in the Lynch family dynamics, in Niall's parenting and his interactions with his sons, in Ronan and Declan's relationship before their father died and right after, in any possible reconciliation between them later. I find Ronan's dream magic fascinating and I love the Barns. I love both shipfic and genfic that explores these characters and their relationships, and/or anything that explores the magic of this canon. This fandom needs more creepy magic fic of all kinds. :D
Niall is my one exception to the "please no major character death" rule. His death is so essential to who Ronan and Declan are that I don't mind fics exploring the consequences of his death on their lives.
I ship: Ronan/Gansey, Declan/Adam (those two are my endgame OTPs), Ronan/Declan, Ronan/Niall, Declan/Niall. I could also easily be sold on Niall/Declan/Ronan, Niall/Ronan/Gansey, Gansey/Ronan/Declan, Niall/Gansey, Declan/Gansey, if you want to write any of those ships, and I love Ronan/Kavinsky as the unhealthy mess it is in canon, but I'm not interested in fluffy happy versions of that ship.
I don't ship Ronan/Adam and Blue/Gansey, so I would ask you not to include those ships in any way in my gift.
A few fic ideas, feel free to combine them in any way:
- creepy dream magic, Ronan's nightmares, Ronan's dreamworld, Niall's nightmares and his dreamworld, shared dreams between father and son, Ronan dreaming of Niall, Niall dreaming of Ronan, weird dream sex ... Declan's non-magical dreams (does he have any connection at all to the magical kind?)
- what's up with the devil Ronan saw Niall shoot? I'd generally be interested in anything that explores how religious Ronan is (and I'm assuming Niall was just as religious) and how this affects and is affected by his dream abilities.
- any Lynch family fic before Niall died, anything about Niall's past and who he is and what was going on in his head and what he was doing every time he left home for weeks, anything about his relationships with his sons
- all the Lynchcest fic possible, with or without additional Gansey (I'd only ask that everything is consensual for these ships, though underage is fine)
- creepy dream or car shenanigans with Ronan and Kavinsky (can be Ronan/Kavinsky UST or dubcon/noncon or hatesex)
- Gansey at the Barns, Gansey meeting Niall and Declan, Gansey's wonder and awe at the place (Niall seducing Gansey? Niall seducing Gansey for Ronan?)
- Ronan and Declan's relationship before their father died and right after, how they became so estranged and angry at each other, any possible reconciliation at some point?
- Ronan dreaming Gansey back to life after he dies and whether that goes horribly wrong (though I'd prefer a happy ending, eventually)
- something about Declan and his complicated relationship to his father's and brother's magic (if you write me something about Declan/Adam and Adam taking Declan to Cabeswater, I will die a little from happiness)
- I am always here for D/s for Ronan/Gansey, or generally any exploration of their power dynamics, of the way they both rely on and need each other
- I always found it hard to believe that Ronan (and Declan) would just let it go that the Grey Man murdered their father, so I'd love to see some darker revenge fic about them, especially if you have Ronan and Declan team up for it (or if Declan kills the Grey Man so Ronan won't have to or something like that); basically the Lynch bros doing some murder bonding ;)
If you're writing shipfic and want more detailed prompts, I requested Ronan/Gansey, Declan/Adam and Ronan/Declan for Rare Pair Fest earlier this year and had a lot more prompts in my letter.
Rivers of London
Thomas Nightingale, Peter Grant
Nightingale/Peter preferred, UST or first time or established relationship. If you don't ship them, I'll also glady take any gen exploration of their relationship, of their everyday life together, or anything focusing on how they've changed each other's lives and what they mean to each other. If you absolutely do not want to write about one of them, I'd also be interested in anything from Nightingale's past or anything about Peter and his relationship to magic, how magic has changed his life etc. I also have a soft spot for Dr Walid, Stephanopoulos and Seawoll, so if you want them to appear as well, that's cool.
I firmly headcanon Nightingale as gay, so please nothing about Nightingale being attracted to women because that just wouldn't work for me (though I don't really ship Nightingale/Mellenby, sorry, tiny fandom). I also don't ship Peter/Beverly and am generally not a huge fan of the Rivers, so I'd rather they didn't appear.
A few fic ideas, feel free to combine them in any way:
Tricks: anything with them working a creepy case, any combination of magic and technology, sneaking through the fog, rainy dark corners of London, Peter getting hurt/scared and Nightigale protecting (and comforting?) him, generally protective!Nightingale is my favourite thing, Peter being awkwardly turned on by protective!Nightingale makes it even better; expeditions to creepy places, odd corners of the Folly, mysterious books, strange stories from Nightingale's past (told to Peter by the fireplace) ...
Treats: fluffy domesticity (whether slashy or not), getting familiar with and used to each other's habits and quirks, witty banter over breakfast, going out for dinner together, magic lessons, Latin lessons, Peter being enthusiastic about things and Nightingale being patient and fondly exasperated with him (or even cuter: Nightingale getting super enthusiastic about something), sitting together by the fireplace, easing each other's loneliness, cuddling and/or sex to warm up after getting soaked through in the rain ...
If you want any more detailed prompts, I also requested this fandom last Yuletide and included a few longer prompts in my letter then. I also have this weird AU that keeps floating through my head in which Peter was born in the early 20th century and became Nightingale's apprentice in the 20s/30s, so if you want to do something with that, knock yourself out. :D
The Fast and the Furious Movies
Deckard Shaw, Owen Shaw
I received an absolutely wonderful Deckard/Owen fic in the last exchange I did this year (Inshipping), which I loved, and which made me want even more fic about these two. I love ruthless villains who don't care about anything but each other. I love complicated, intense sibling relationships. I love the fact that they have an eight year age difference between them, which probably complicated their relationship at times. And they don't seem to work together all the time, since Owen is more a manipulative, scheming team player and Deckard a One Man Army.
I'll be honest and admit that I mostly want shipfic about them (I'm not sure if anyone but me and the few other people who ship them even wants to write/read about them?), so my prompts will have a bit of a shippy tilt. But I would also be interested in a non-incestuous exploration of their relationship and how it changed over time (I can still always pretend the incest happens later ;)) or generally any character study about one or both of them. Owen's manipulative, sociopathic streak and how he likes to play the people around him (possibly including his brother); Deckard who's kinda more straightforward and pragmatic and who is so used to cleaning up his little brother's messes when necessary. I'm okay with their relationship being complicated and tumultuous at times, but I do want them to love each other deep down.
A few fic ideas, feel free to combine them (most of these are revamped in some way from my Inshipping Letter, if you want the more detailed version):
- Deckard is 8 years older than Owen, so Owen was still a kid when Deckard joined the military: how did that go? Was there any resentment on Owen's side? Did he just have a big case of hero worship, since he followed his brother's example as soon as he could?
- at what point did they go from big brother/little brother to equals?
- how did they both manage to get kicked out of the SAS? Did they fuck up? Did one of them fuck up and the other followed him into exile, so to speak? Did they get blamed for someone else's mistake? Did they get greedy and start making money on the side? Or anything about that time the military sent a ton of Special Forces guys to kill Deckard and they failed?
- post-canon fic: either Deckard breaking out of prison and being there while Owen recovers, or Owen waking up from his coma and getting back to his feet and breaking his brother out of prison (I'd prefer if Owen wasn't permanently crippled or anything like that; it's an action movie, people can survive horrific injuries with not much more than a few scars, right?). Roaring rampage of revenge y/y? How does almost dying/getting locked up change their relationship?
- if you go the shippy route, any kind of first time fic would be great. When did the incestuous obsession with each other start? When they were still pretty young? Did bb!Owen somehow manipulate his big brother into giving him what he wants? Or did it only start when they were in the military together and Deckard saw Owen more as an equal than as his little brother? Did it only start after they got kicked out of the military?
- also for shipfic: for this pairing I love obsessive pining, jealousy, voyeurism before they get together, possessiveness, rough sex, gun/knife play, delighting in each other's badassery and horribleness, kinking on being brothers - basically go kinky if you like.
Blitz (2011)
Porter Nash, Tom Brant
One of the many many movies I've seen because of my very predictable thing for Jason Statham, but Blitz is a really good movie that I enjoyed in a lot of ways. The best thing about it to me (other than Aiden Gillen being hilariously creepy) is the relationship between Nash and Brant, the banter and dickishness on the one side, but there's also a lot of respect and trust on the other side, and it's there pretty much from the start (I love how Brant just shows up at Nash's door to tell him about all his problems basically a day after they met). I'd love to see anything that explores how their relationship develops further after the movie or something exploring what was going on between them during the movie. And I ship them, in case that wasn't clear. ;) I'd be surprised if anyone offered to write only one of them and didn't want to write the other, but if that happens, I think it should be possible to adapt some of my prompts to suit that.
A few fic ideas:
- casefic would be cool, especially if they again use rather unconventional methods to solve the case
- Brant is an asshole and it entertains me to no end, so if you want to write fic about Brant being an asshole to everyone (and Nash being both exasperated and reluctantly amused by it), that'd be great (especially if somewhere in between there are moments of him very much not being an asshole to Nash)
- more instances of Brant showing up at Nash's house in the middle of the night to talk to him, generally any exploration of both their issues and how they cope with them and how they maybe help each other cope
- first time fic! during the movie (maybe even during that first night that Brant shows up at Nash's place, or later during the movie) or after the movie, and how does that go? Do they grow closer and are repressed about their feelings for ages before Brant finally gets over himself? Do they hook up one night and then not talk about it for ages? Do they keep hooking up and not talking about it until Nash insists they talk about it? Does Brant get a jealousy fit next time Nash dates another guy?
- I have a thing for Nash topping from the bottom (bonus for humiliating dirty talk about how Brant is a brute and not good for much except for fucking him, and Brant getting off on all the things Nash says to him). You absolutely don't have to write them that way, but if you like writing that sort of thing, I'm so here for it.
- I'm always a sucker for background fic exploring how characters became the people they are in canon, who their families are, if they're still in touch with their families, any past relationships - and for other characters finding out about their partner's past.
And I said I didn't like crossovers, but hey, I can't request two canons about London coppers and not think about it, so if you want to give me the hilarity of Tom Brant having a fit because MAGIC EXISTS and thinking he's finally losing his mind, Brant meeting Nightingale and Peter (and finding Nightingale obnoxious, while Peter would probably find Brant obnoxious), Nash trying to get his partner to behave like a civilised person around the gentlemen who can apparently do magic, Brant being buddies with or absolutely hating Seawoll ... then I certainly won't complain. :D
Gotham (TV)
Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne
I love just about everything about this show and I'm very excited for season two (which I will definitely watch as it airs, so don't worry about including spoilers for the new episodes). My favourite thing about the show is the relationship between Alfred and Bruce. For one it's obvious how much they care about each other, how incredibly close they are and how lost they would be without the other. I also find it interesting how the power dynamics play out between them, on the one hand Alfred being Bruce's legal guardian and occasionally putting his foot down (about Bruce going to school, for example), and on the other hand Bruce being technically Alfred's boss and ordering him around and (mostly) getting to do what he wants. I also love how ruthlessly protective Alfred is of Bruce, and how Bruce is just as worried about anything happening to Alfred.
A few fic ideas:
- anything with Alfred protecting/saving Bruce, anything with either of them getting hurt and the other taking care of them (did I mention that I like hurt/comfort? because I like hurt/comfort)
- anything more about Alfred's past coming back to haunt him or how being around Bruce helps him deal with his past, or some plotty continuation of Bruce's attempts to find out what happened to his parents ...
- how does the Bruce we see on the show go on to become Batman? If you want to fastforward a few years and explore how that happens, I would absolutely LOVE to read it. Where does he get the idea? How does he go about it? Does he stay in Gotham the entire time or does he travel around for a bit? Does Alfred help him train and is generally a total enabler? (Okay, we know the answer to that last question is yes because Alfred likes enabling Bruce.)
- their hugs on the show are utterly adorable, so I'm all for more hugs and clinging to each other and Alfred stroking Bruce's hair
I will also admit that I ship them really hard, once Bruce is a bit older, of course. I'm okay with Bruce still being under 18 for anything shippy, just please not quite as young as he is on the show. So if you want to explore a more shippy angle with those two, I would love to read that. Something like Bruce realising over the years that he doesn't just love Alfred like family? Lots of pining because he thinks that Alfred could never feel the same way about him? Lots of angst and guilt on Alfred's side about falling for his ward? Angsty, slow-burn getting together fic, maybe only at some point in the future after Bruce already became Batman? Or before, that's cool, too. Or after one of them got hurt and they had another "I can't lose you" moment? Bruce being reasonable and mature and explaining to Alfred very seriously why there's no reason they shouldn't be together? But if you don't want to go there, I would be just as happy with gen fic about these two. :)
I like most other characters on this show, so if you want to include Gordon or whoever as well, that's cool. I'm just not a huge fan of the Penguin, though. And I like Bruce and Selina as buddies a lot better than as some sort of budding teenage romance.
Oh, and I keep seeing the theory that in the show's continuity, Thomas Wayne might have been Batman already ... Not really a fan of that idea.
Justified
Tim Gutterson, Darryl Crowe Jr., Jean-Baptiste
Weird character combo here, but that's for the OR matching, I don't expect anyone to write me fic about all three (though I won't complain if you do). But yeah, I really love Tim, he's probably my favourite character on Justified with his snark and his PTSD and his assorted issues. I'm always here for background fics about Tim: why he joined the Army, anything about his time there, what made him decide to leave again and join the Marshals, anything about his Army buddies, anything about what he does in his free time, how he deals with his PTSD ... I'd also love to see Tim's POV on things, on various canon or non-canon events, on Raylan and Boyd and everyone else he has to deal with at work. I firmly headcanon Tim as gay, if you want to include any past or present relationships, so please no het for him.
My OTP is Raylan/Tim; I didn't specifically request Raylan this time, but I'm always here for Tim/Raylan fic if that's what you want to write (if not, solo Tim fic is amazing, too :)). Set at any point during the show (hook-up that turns into something more serious y/y?), but I'd also love to read a reunion fic between them set post-canon. Maybe Tim gets transferred to Miami, too, at some point? I love their banter, I love how Tim doesn't take any of Raylan's shit while also almost compulsively enabling the shit Raylan gets up to. They get along so well in their own way and I can easily see them having the kind of no-strings-attached affair that would slowly turn into something more serious as they realise they spend a ton of time together.
The other part of my request: I sometimes feel like I'm the only person in the fandom who for some reason likes Darryl Crowe Jr. in all his sociopathic horribleness. :D There's no need to try and make him any more sympathetic, I like him for being horrible. I guess I find it interesting how he truly believes in all his bullshit talk about family when he literally screws over every single member of his family (except Danny, but that's probably only because Danny dies before Darryl can screw him over), so if you want to write a fic trying to get into his head, that would be really interesting. And I'm really intrigued by his relationship with Jean-Baptiste (I ship them, but gen about them is great, too): Jean-Baptiste seems to be literally the only person in canon Darryl actually trusts and even respects, way more than he seems to like and trust his own family. How did that happen? How did they start working together and what did Jean-Baptiste do to make someone like Darryl rely on him? What did Darryl do to gain Jean-Baptiste's loyalty to the point where JB leaves his whole life behind and just goes to Kentucky with the Crowes? (If you write something shippy: at what point did their relationship turn into something more than just friendly? I figure that there must have been a lot of repression and masculinity issues going on on both sides, especially on Darryl's, so anything exploring that would be really cool).
If you like canon-divergent AUs: how would the events of season five have gone if Jean-Baptiste hadn't died so early? Darryl did seem to listen to JB's advice and JB seemed like every bit as much of a cunning bastard as Darryl himself, so maybe things might have gone slightly less horribly wrong for the whole family with JB around?
But basically there's almost zero fic and if you write me anything about them I will be very happy. :D
Justified is my favourite show ever and I love almost every single character on it (with the exception of Winona). So if you want to have Raylan or Rachel or Art or Boyd or Ava or Wynn Duffy or Dewey or Boyd's crew or literally anyone else who isn't Winona show up in the fic, that would be more than okay. :D
As always, that got much longer than intended. Sorry about that. Again, thank you so much, and I hope you'll have fun writing!
linndechir