Ship Swap Letter
Dear Ship Swap Writer,
I was incredibly lazy for this letter and basically copied and pasted most of my Chocolate Box letter. If you happened to match with me for both exchanges, my apologies, I hope you don't mind the lack of new ideas too much. Either way, thank you for writing for me and taking the time to have a look at my letter. My letters always get embarrassingly long, but I hope that won't put you off. I always like listing a whole lot of stuff in the hope that my writer likes some of the things I listed, rather than only listing two prompts that you might hate. So I obviously don't expect you to include every single thing I mention in this letter, that wouldn't even be possible. I've got some general likes and dislikes listed - those are the important bits, really. They're followed by a long list of tropes and kinks I like and some fandom-specific prompts, but if those don't work for you - as long as you include a thing or two that I like and don't include my DNWs, I'm sure I will love whatever you write for me. :D
Some of the fandom-specific sections are a bit longer than others, but that's only because I could think of more prompts for them. I'd be excited to receive fic about any of these ships.
I use the same name on AO3 and tumblr as here.
Things I like:
- first time fics and getting (back) together (I also like established relationships, though), I like porn as much as I like more subtle sexual tension, I like fluffier things and I like kinky smut. I also adore plotty fics in which a bunch of other things happen to my ship as well, so it doesn't have to be all romance/porn, though I would like my ship to be the focus of the fic.
- 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 ...
- I'm fine with dark themes (violence, noncon, depression, whatever you need for the plot, though I'd rather not get super graphic gore or animal deaths/cruelty) 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
- crossovers (unless explicitly requested), fusions, complete AUs (a bit of canon divergence is fine, but no high school AUs, coffee shop 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; dubcon due to power imbalances or similar things is okay, though, as long as everyone ends up enjoying themselves
- permanently unrequited love for my ships (pining is fine, initially unrequited love is fine, complicated relationships are fine, thinking for a while that it's unrequited is fine, but I wouldn't want the fic to end with "A loves B and B doesn't love A back")
- 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. I'd also rather not get a fic written in the 1st or 2nd person.
Other tropes and kinks I like:
Again, I know this list is long and I obviously don't expect you to include all of this stuff. 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 (listed in no particular order):
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 affection
- age differences
- protectiveness/going ballistic when the other one is threatened
- jealousy/possessiveness
- us-against-the-world
- hurt/comfort, taking care of each other
- sharing food/drinks/cigarettes/clothes
- 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.)
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/choking, 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)
- rough/angry sex, fight sex, bruising
- 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, beard burn on the other person's cheek/neck/thighs ...
- voice/accent kink, dirty talk
- 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, collars), D/s overtones (ordering the other to undress, to kneel, to hold still etc.) - for my requested ships I'm more into casual D/s that develops over time than into very formalised, minutely negotiated BDSM
- gun/knife play
- sex on tables/sofas/against walls etc. (sex in beds is great, too)
About my fandoms:
Fast & Furious series
Deckard Shaw/Owen Shaw
I've requested this in exchanges before and received absolutely wonderful fics, but since I'm kind of obsessed with these guys, I still want more fic. :D I love that they're both ruthless bastards, I love all the loyalty kink and possessiveness between them, the whole us-against-the-world dynamics. I love that they'd both burn down the world for each other. And there are so many different directions you could take this ship in, from a fairly harmonious, close relationship to something very antagonistic and distant (up until someone opposes them and they're inseparable again), or anything in between. I'd love to read more takes on this ship, as long as it is clear that they do love each other deep down. Wouldn't want the fic to end with them actually betraying each other or something like that. (Some more rambling about them can be found in my Yuletide letter, if you're interested.) Here are some prompts, but feel free to go in a different direction if you have an idea you want to explore for them.
The Expendables
Barney Ross/Lee Christmas
These movies are my happy place and one of my favourite things in the world. I love them so much - the movie references, the fight scenes, the explosions, the banter and the hilarious one-liners, all the characters, and especially Barney and Lee being basically an old married couple. This is another fandom I've received great exchange fics for in the past, but you can't have too much of a good thing. :D Some prompts I'd love to see explored:
The Expendables RPF
Sylvester Stallone/Jason Statham
Because why not. :D I mostly ship them because Stallone basically wrote a series of movies in which his and Statham's character behave like a married couple that flirts and banters a lot and are incredibly possessive of each other, and because Statham is all "I'll make as many as Sly wants" whenever someone asks him if he wants to do more Expendables movies. Also I have a giant thing for actor RPF and set affairs, so there's that. I'm not much of a tinhatter, but I enjoy the whole What If? aspect of RPF (as in, what if these two guys were secretly totally into each other and secretly in love and secretly fucking each other's brains out on set?). Feel free to handle their RL partners in whatever way works for you - open relationships, they-conveniently-broke-up-before-the-fic, just ignoring their existence, I don't even mind infidelity and cheating in fic as long as it doesn't turn into gratuitous bashing about how their partners are the ~woooorst or something like that. I'm having a bit of a harder time coming up with prompts for RPF because I don't really have any 'canon' to go from, but I'll try:
Blitz (2011)
Tom Brant/Porter Nash
I've been shipping this so hard since I first saw the movie - it's another one of those ships I just can't get enough of. It hits a lot of my buttons - assholes who care about each other (mostly one asshole, really), the banter and the dickishness, but also the growing respect between them, how they start to trust and rely on each other really fast. I'm good with fic set during the movie or something set afterwards, both would be great. Some prompts:
The Raven Cycle
Only fandom I requested several ships for, but I'll list some ship-specific prompts below. I love both Ronan and Declan, my endgame OTPs being Gansey/Ronan and Declan/Adam, but I also ship pretty much any combination of Niall/Ronan/Declan/Gansey (okay, I should say any combination in which Ronan is present). Feel free to combine any of these ships if that works for you. I generally have the biggest soft spot for Lynch family stuff, even if you don't want to write any incest ships. Declan and Ronan's relationship, their relationship with their father, how everything changed when Niall died, if there's maybe some way Declan and Ronan might reconcile in the future. I find Ronan's dream magic incredibly interesting, so I'd love to see anything about that, and I love the Barns. I'm slightly less interested in the whole Cabeswater and Glendower stuff, though I don't mind it being included as long as it's not the main focus.
I don't ship Ronan/Adam and Blue/Gansey, so I'd be very grateful if those ships could just not appear at all in my gift. I do love Ronan and Adam as friends, though, always here for that. :D
Richard Gansey III/Ronan Lynch
Throwing this in as well because I love the idea of this, not so much as a long term ship, but more as something that might have happened at some point, somehow? I'd love to see the three of them interact. Ronan bringing Gansey to the Barns, Gansey being fascinated by Niall, Niall all but adopting Gansey on the spot, Niall approving of Ronan and Gansey's friendship ... and maybe Niall realising that Ronan wants Gansey long before Ronan does. So he might just seduce Gansey and drop him in Ronan's lap. Or maybe Ronan/Niall is a thing and Niall suggests inviting Gansey along. Just generally anything about how Ronan/Gansey and Ronan/Niall could interact, and about Niall being a seductive force of nature and Gansey being so intrigued by and drawn to him. Messed up wet dreams or messed up magic dreams could be great, too, or just complicated UST that leaves everyone feeling guilty and awkward. If you want to throw Declan into the mix as well, that'd be very welcome.
So, that's it. I hope that you can find something in this letter that you'll enjoy writing, dear author, some prompt that interests you or some tropes that you like. I'm looking forward to whatever you're going to write for me, and I hope that you receive a great gift yourself. :D
Thanks!
linndechir
I was incredibly lazy for this letter and basically copied and pasted most of my Chocolate Box letter. If you happened to match with me for both exchanges, my apologies, I hope you don't mind the lack of new ideas too much. Either way, thank you for writing for me and taking the time to have a look at my letter. My letters always get embarrassingly long, but I hope that won't put you off. I always like listing a whole lot of stuff in the hope that my writer likes some of the things I listed, rather than only listing two prompts that you might hate. So I obviously don't expect you to include every single thing I mention in this letter, that wouldn't even be possible. I've got some general likes and dislikes listed - those are the important bits, really. They're followed by a long list of tropes and kinks I like and some fandom-specific prompts, but if those don't work for you - as long as you include a thing or two that I like and don't include my DNWs, I'm sure I will love whatever you write for me. :D
Some of the fandom-specific sections are a bit longer than others, but that's only because I could think of more prompts for them. I'd be excited to receive fic about any of these ships.
I use the same name on AO3 and tumblr as here.
Things I like:
- first time fics and getting (back) together (I also like established relationships, though), I like porn as much as I like more subtle sexual tension, I like fluffier things and I like kinky smut. I also adore plotty fics in which a bunch of other things happen to my ship as well, so it doesn't have to be all romance/porn, though I would like my ship to be the focus of the fic.
- 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 ...
- I'm fine with dark themes (violence, noncon, depression, whatever you need for the plot, though I'd rather not get super graphic gore or animal deaths/cruelty) 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
- crossovers (unless explicitly requested), fusions, complete AUs (a bit of canon divergence is fine, but no high school AUs, coffee shop 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; dubcon due to power imbalances or similar things is okay, though, as long as everyone ends up enjoying themselves
- permanently unrequited love for my ships (pining is fine, initially unrequited love is fine, complicated relationships are fine, thinking for a while that it's unrequited is fine, but I wouldn't want the fic to end with "A loves B and B doesn't love A back")
- 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. I'd also rather not get a fic written in the 1st or 2nd person.
Other tropes and kinks I like:
Again, I know this list is long and I obviously don't expect you to include all of this stuff. 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 (listed in no particular order):
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 affection
- age differences
- protectiveness/going ballistic when the other one is threatened
- jealousy/possessiveness
- us-against-the-world
- hurt/comfort, taking care of each other
- sharing food/drinks/cigarettes/clothes
- 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.)
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/choking, 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)
- rough/angry sex, fight sex, bruising
- 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, beard burn on the other person's cheek/neck/thighs ...
- voice/accent kink, dirty talk
- 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, collars), D/s overtones (ordering the other to undress, to kneel, to hold still etc.) - for my requested ships I'm more into casual D/s that develops over time than into very formalised, minutely negotiated BDSM
- gun/knife play
- sex on tables/sofas/against walls etc. (sex in beds is great, too)
About my fandoms:
Fast & Furious series
Deckard Shaw/Owen Shaw
I've requested this in exchanges before and received absolutely wonderful fics, but since I'm kind of obsessed with these guys, I still want more fic. :D I love that they're both ruthless bastards, I love all the loyalty kink and possessiveness between them, the whole us-against-the-world dynamics. I love that they'd both burn down the world for each other. And there are so many different directions you could take this ship in, from a fairly harmonious, close relationship to something very antagonistic and distant (up until someone opposes them and they're inseparable again), or anything in between. I'd love to read more takes on this ship, as long as it is clear that they do love each other deep down. Wouldn't want the fic to end with them actually betraying each other or something like that. (Some more rambling about them can be found in my Yuletide letter, if you're interested.) Here are some prompts, but feel free to go in a different direction if you have an idea you want to explore for them.
- 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 didn't have any permanent health issues from his coma; it's an action movie, people can survive horrific injuries with not much more than a few scars, right?). How does almost dying/getting locked up change their relationship? Roaring rampage of revenge y/y? (While I like the protagonists of the F&F movies, I'm not so emotionally attached to them that I wouldn't happily read about the Shaw brothers getting their revenge against them.)
- 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 teenage Owen somehow manipulate his big brother into giving him what he wants? I'm fine with underage as long as Owen is at least 15ish by the time they actually sleep with each other, and I'm cool with Owen fantasising about his brother/being all around inappropriate towards him even when he's younger. 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?
- for this pairing I love obsessive pining, voyeurism before they get together (i.e. watching each other screw other people), possessiveness/jealousy ("I will kill you if you ever let anyone else fuck you" and the like), rough sex, completely obsessive incestuous codependency, being horrible people to everyone but each other, delighting in each other's horribleness, delighting in each other's badassery, sweaty rough sparring, gun/knife play, kinking on being brothers - basically go kinky if you like.
The Expendables
Barney Ross/Lee Christmas
These movies are my happy place and one of my favourite things in the world. I love them so much - the movie references, the fight scenes, the explosions, the banter and the hilarious one-liners, all the characters, and especially Barney and Lee being basically an old married couple. This is another fandom I've received great exchange fics for in the past, but you can't have too much of a good thing. :D Some prompts I'd love to see explored:
- background stuff for either one or both of them - something about Lee's time in the SAS (and why he left to become a mercenary with an obviously fake name in the US), something about Barney's past (what did he do before the Expendables? something about the beginnings of the Expendables with Stonebanks? if you want to include past Barney/Stonebanks, that could be really interesting - especially if Barney decided not to sleep with anyone on his team again after that), something about how they first met, how they started working together, how they became such good friends.
- any sort of hurt/comfort, or just one of them getting injured on a mission/almost dying; lots of fretting, being idiots about their injuries ("it's just a scratch"), being horrified by the idea of losing each other, and bantering a lot despite it all.
- one of them saving the other's life, especially if it's at risk of his own life, and especially if it's still pretty early on in their friendship
- getting together fic. I'm getting the impression that they reached their "old married couple" behaviour long before they actually slept with each other, especially since Lee is still doing his best to date women in the first and even second movie. So I'd love a fic that explores how they got past their potential hang-ups or worrying about losing their partner/BFF. My headcanon is that Barney is pretty okay with being gay and not even particularly secretive about it, while Lee is somewhat more repressed - but if you see them differently, that's cool by me, too. Either way, though, I'm pretty sure there's at least some repression and internalised homophobia going on that they might have to deal with. If you also include Lee's weird jealousy whenever he feels like Barney might like someone else better than him, that'd be great. Maybe Barney seeing someone else could push Lee towards finally admitting that he has a thing for Barney?
- generally anything exploring Lee's jealousy: when Barney goes on and on about how great Billy the Kid is in the second movie, when he gets himself a complete new team in the third movie ... Lee is not very good at sharing, is he? I'm cool with other ships like Barney/Billy or Barney/Smilee before Barney and Lee get together (though I should add that I don't ship Barney/Gunner) and with threesomes (especially for Barney/Lee/Smilee, I'd love to read that, e.g. with Barney and Lee topping the hell out of Smilee and Smilee being a brat about it), but more as an occasional occurrence than as a long-term poly arrangement. I'm pretty OTPish about Barney/Lee, so while I'm fine with either of them screwing around earlier in the fic, I would like things to end with them together. I just also love Barney's paternal streak with both Billy and Smilee, I love how much he cares about them, and I love how jealous Lee gets because of that. (I love the whole team, by the way, so feel free to include any and all of them.)
- if you like to write porn, this ship is just made for knifeplay and gunplay (in addition to all the other kinks that I already listed in the general section). And for rough sweaty adrenalin-fuelled post-mission sex. And for some D/s overtones (I have a slight preference for top!Barney, but switching or Lee topping are great, too). And loyalty kink (the whole brothers-in-arms thing, relying on each other until the bitter end, never giving each other up even under torture, all that).
The Expendables RPF
Sylvester Stallone/Jason Statham
Because why not. :D I mostly ship them because Stallone basically wrote a series of movies in which his and Statham's character behave like a married couple that flirts and banters a lot and are incredibly possessive of each other, and because Statham is all "I'll make as many as Sly wants" whenever someone asks him if he wants to do more Expendables movies. Also I have a giant thing for actor RPF and set affairs, so there's that. I'm not much of a tinhatter, but I enjoy the whole What If? aspect of RPF (as in, what if these two guys were secretly totally into each other and secretly in love and secretly fucking each other's brains out on set?). Feel free to handle their RL partners in whatever way works for you - open relationships, they-conveniently-broke-up-before-the-fic, just ignoring their existence, I don't even mind infidelity and cheating in fic as long as it doesn't turn into gratuitous bashing about how their partners are the ~woooorst or something like that. I'm having a bit of a harder time coming up with prompts for RPF because I don't really have any 'canon' to go from, but I'll try:
- anything about how they first met, how exactly they started working together, what exactly made Stallone go "hey, Jason, you know what, I want you to play my attached-by-the-hip partner in this new movie I'm making and our characters are going to flirt all the time in this movie and be jealous when the other is interested in someone else". (For that matter, did they know each other before that? Were they friends when they started working together? Or did Stallone just want Statham in his movies because he enjoyed his previous work, and they only got to know each other after that?) Feel free to use any interviews or other background info you know of, but since I don't know much about any of that stuff, you can also make things up as you go along.
- getting together fic: UST, repressed pining, refraining from acting on said UST because they don't want to ruin their working relationship, and that UST eventually exploding in their faces. I definitely wouldn't mind a bit (or a lot) of angst/internalised homophobia/guilt because they're still in a relationship with someone else (again, I'm fine with infidelity in fic, I know it's a squick for many people, but I actually enjoy the whole 'we're just so into each other that we can't stay away from each other even though we really should' aspect, especially for RPF), I'd just prefer if there was a (relatively) happy ending. Or maybe they just sleep with each other and don't talk about it for the longest time and hope that they can get it out of their system that way? (Which obviously doesn't work ... but that just means they have to keep trying to get it out of their systems, right? ;))
- how does their friendship/relationship change over time? Like, did they get together right away while filming the first movie or was there just pining and they hoped the UST would disappear if they just ignored it, and then production of the second movie starts and the UST is still there? Or maybe the attraction was only one-sided at first (*dons a very shiny tinhat* I mean, Stallone is clearly in love with Statham, but what if that didn't go both ways at first)? Or did they maybe not even like each other much when they started working together and only grew to like each other over time? I mostly like actor RPF for set romances/affairs, for getting together while working on a movie and missing each other after that, for trying to incorporate a set relationship into their lives afterwards, and I always enjoy a good dose of character bleed/awkward conversations about how close their characters are (and arguing about whether their characters are being homoerotic or not at all). And things like fucking on set, in their costumes. Or sweaty fucking while working out in preparation of filming those movies. Or angry shoving at each other because they're getting on each other's nerves from working together all day, and angry shoving leads to something else. Or calling each other up during shooting breaks because they got so used to seeing each other all the time. That sort of thing. So I'm not really interested in AUs in which they aren't actors who worked together making those movies.
Blitz (2011)
Tom Brant/Porter Nash
I've been shipping this so hard since I first saw the movie - it's another one of those ships I just can't get enough of. It hits a lot of my buttons - assholes who care about each other (mostly one asshole, really), the banter and the dickishness, but also the growing respect between them, how they start to trust and rely on each other really fast. I'm good with fic set during the movie or something set afterwards, both would be great. Some prompts:
- 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
- speaking of issues, we got a glimpse at where Nash's issues come from, but not what messed up Brant so much - just the job in general? any specific cases? something not directly work-related? I'm always a sucker for background fic exploring how characters became the people they are in canon, who their family is, if they're still in touch with their family, any past relationships - and for other characters finding out about their partner's past.
- 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. All my kinks in the kink list up there apply, and especially D/s and bondage and dirty talk and I don't think I mentioned collars but collars are great? Oh, and both of them kinking on how differently built they are, Brant's bulk vs. Nash being all skinny.
- considering Brant's whole macho persona, I wouldn't be surprised if he had one hell of a case of internalised homophobia - and that he's either completely in denial about being gay, or regularly screwing guys but kind of hating himself for it. So feel free to do something with that: does it impact when/how he and Nash get together? Does it impact their relationship because Nash has to deal with being out while dating a guy who's in the deepest closet ever and has no intention of leaving it?
The Raven Cycle
Only fandom I requested several ships for, but I'll list some ship-specific prompts below. I love both Ronan and Declan, my endgame OTPs being Gansey/Ronan and Declan/Adam, but I also ship pretty much any combination of Niall/Ronan/Declan/Gansey (okay, I should say any combination in which Ronan is present). Feel free to combine any of these ships if that works for you. I generally have the biggest soft spot for Lynch family stuff, even if you don't want to write any incest ships. Declan and Ronan's relationship, their relationship with their father, how everything changed when Niall died, if there's maybe some way Declan and Ronan might reconcile in the future. I find Ronan's dream magic incredibly interesting, so I'd love to see anything about that, and I love the Barns. I'm slightly less interested in the whole Cabeswater and Glendower stuff, though I don't mind it being included as long as it's not the main focus.
I don't ship Ronan/Adam and Blue/Gansey, so I'd be very grateful if those ships could just not appear at all in my gift. I do love Ronan and Adam as friends, though, always here for that. :D
Richard Gansey III/Ronan Lynch
- any fic about the beginnings of Ronan and Gansey's friendship: how Gansey befriended Ronan, what Ronan was like before his father died, how they grew so close etc.
- Gansey at the Barns, Gansey meeting Niall and Declan, Gansey's wonder and awe at the place
- anything set around the time of Niall's death: Ronan's immediate reaction, how he changed afterwards, how Gansey felt about the whole thing, when exactly Ronan moved into Monmouth etc. If you want to include Declan in this as well, I'd love that.
- creepy dream magic, Ronan's nightmares, Ronan's dreamworld, Ronan and Gansey being there for each other on insomniac nights
- getting together fic! I always love those. I'd especially be interested to see if/how their relationship changes once sex becomes a part of it, and how exactly that happened. I'm good with any scenario for this - Ronan being in denial about being in love with his best friend and Gansey going for it, Gansey being a bit repressed and Ronan going for it, slow UST build-up until they just can't stay away from each other ... Whatever works for you.
- what if they had already started a sexual relationship before Niall's death, but Niall's death put an end to that? Because Ronan was depressed and not even remotely in the mood, because he needed a friend rather than a lover, because Gansey felt like he had to take care of Ronan now and didn't want to take advantage of him ... I'd love to see that idea explored. Although I would of course be happiest if they eventually got back together.
- outside POVs: the rest of the gang, Kavinsky, Declan and Matthew, Gansey's family ... Bonus if people already assumed they were together even before they were.
- I'm always here for plotty fics that continue the canon storyline, just with less of the 'true love' and Blue/Gansey stuff that I don't like about canon. ;) Especially if you write something about Gansey dying and then somehow being brought back to life, for example by Ronan dreaming him back to life. I'd love to see how Ronan deals with losing him (probably really, really badly), how dying would change Gansey, what Gansey would do with himself with his Glendower quest over etc.
- generally, this ship is made for D/s, so if you want to write something kinky in that direction, go for it. And while dom!Gansey is kind of the more obvious thing to go with (and I love it), I don't mind Ronan topping Gansey every now and then.
- I'd love to see Ronan taking care of Gansey because most of the time it's the other way around, but I think they both need each other equally.
- first meetings/first impressions, maybe something like Declan giving Adam a ride at some point (potentially to have a talk with that new kid Ronan and Gansey befriended)
- bonding over how much of a pain in the ass Ronan can be
- They do talk a lot on the phone, since Ronan makes Adam take his calls, so maybe they somehow end up bonding a little that way? Talking about other stuff than only Ronan at times? Realising they actually really like each other? Maybe Adam once accidentally took Ronan's phone home and Declan calls? Maybe Declan actually starts calling Ronan's phone on purpose because he wants to talk to Adam?
- anything set post-canon: they could meet again when they're both undergrads or at law school or even later if they're both working as lawyers or something similar, and they end up hooking up a few times and then hooking up more and more often until they accidentally stumble into a relationship. I can definitely see both of them as the kind of guys who'd gradually go from a casual hook-up with no strings attached to something that gets increasingly serious. (I do ship them during canon, but I don't really see them getting serious at that time, if that makes sense? I think Adam needs to be a lot more content with his life in general before he could manage to have a serious, long-term relationship.)
- generally anything about how sensible Declan and Adam both are about money and careers and how much they'd appreciate that in each other, but also the fact that they've been both kind of unloved for a long time (and how they're both emotionally stunted enough that they could probably grow closer over time without scaring each other off)
- if you include Ronan and Gansey eventually finding out about their relatinoship and being utterly horrified by it, I would love you forever. (If you also ship Ronan/Gansey, I'd love to see Adam and Gansey talking about the perks and annoyances of dating a Lynch. Or Ronan having a protective fit because Adam is his friend and in his opinion Declan is in no way good enough for Adam.)
- anything about how their relationship changed with Niall's death. How close were they before? Was Declan ever bitter about Ronan being Niall's favourite? Or were they especially close since Niall was often gone for a long time? Canon does, after all, include a line about how they "stopped being friends" after Niall's death. Also, in which regards do they maybe remind each other of their father after his death? I can imagine that especially Ronan would hate those moments when Declan looks or sounds or behaves like Niall.
- something dealing with Declan's own grief for his father and how he kind of bottled it up because he felt like he had to take care of his family instead of feeling sorry for himself; maybe combined with some bitterness about Ronan behaving like he's the only one who lost someone
- if you can get them to make up in any way, even a little bit, that would be beautiful.
- once they can return to the Barns, I'd love to see Declan actually going there. To reminisce, to get old family pictures, to see his mother if she's still there ... and if Ronan happens to be there, well. Go from there. (I wrote a fic about that myself, but I'd love to read other people's take on this idea as well.)
- I'd love to see either of them getting protective about the other (because only a Lynch can beat up a Lynch, right?)
- quick, guilty, shameful, we'll-never-talk-about-this sex of any kind with desperate clinging to each other before they go back to not being able to have a civilised conversation
- I'd love to see a fic set after Gansey's death, with Declan trying to be there for Ronan and Ronan probably not being very good at accepting his help. Or maybe he would actually grow closer to Declan again? I'd prefer if Gansey eventually came back to life somehow, but you don't have to include that explicitly in your fic.
- anything about their dreams - how much did Niall tell or teach Ronan about his abilities? Not all that much it seems, from canon, but maybe a little. Shared dreams would be awesome. Dream sex would also be awesome.
- something about Ronan seeing Niall again in his dreams after Niall's death? ghost!Niall?
- 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.
- anything in general about how Niall raised his sons (I'm cool with Niall/Declan and Niall/Declan/Ronan as well, if you can make it work, as long as it's all consensual, I'm not really into interpretations of Niall as abusive)
- praise kink, daddy kink, codependent father/son stuff, complicated UST ...
Throwing this in as well because I love the idea of this, not so much as a long term ship, but more as something that might have happened at some point, somehow? I'd love to see the three of them interact. Ronan bringing Gansey to the Barns, Gansey being fascinated by Niall, Niall all but adopting Gansey on the spot, Niall approving of Ronan and Gansey's friendship ... and maybe Niall realising that Ronan wants Gansey long before Ronan does. So he might just seduce Gansey and drop him in Ronan's lap. Or maybe Ronan/Niall is a thing and Niall suggests inviting Gansey along. Just generally anything about how Ronan/Gansey and Ronan/Niall could interact, and about Niall being a seductive force of nature and Gansey being so intrigued by and drawn to him. Messed up wet dreams or messed up magic dreams could be great, too, or just complicated UST that leaves everyone feeling guilty and awkward. If you want to throw Declan into the mix as well, that'd be very welcome.
So, that's it. I hope that you can find something in this letter that you'll enjoy writing, dear author, some prompt that interests you or some tropes that you like. I'm looking forward to whatever you're going to write for me, and I hope that you receive a great gift yourself. :D
Thanks!
linndechir