Yuletide Letter 2018

[linndechir]

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you for writing something for me and taking the time to look at this letter. My letters always get fairly long - I prefer listing a variety of things I like and hoping that some of it works for you rather than only prompting one or two things you might hate. Obviously I don't expect anyone to include every single thing I've listed in this letter. I've listed some general likes and dislikes - that's the important stuff, really. It's followed by a list of kinks I like reading about, should you feel inclined to write porn, and then fandom-specific sections with prompts. But if those don't work for you, that's fine - if you write something that includes a couple of elements I like and doesn't include any of my DNWs, I'm sure I will enjoy it.

As a general rule, I enjoy all ratings; I like darker, angstier fic and more light-hearted stories, although neither completely conflictless fluff nor completely bleak darkfic without a ray of hope are quite my thing. I like shorter fics and plotty longfic. I strongly prefer shipfic to gen, but if you don't want to write my ship, many of my prompts and likes also work for gen - casefic or background stories about characters' past or general exploration of character dynamics are always fun to read. As long as there's some focus on the relationship between the characters I've requested, I'm happy, even if it's not a romantic/sexual relationship in your fic. I only ask that you don't pair off these characters in other ships I didn't request.

I love every single one of the fandoms I'm requesting and would be happy to receive a fic in any of them. Some fandom-specific sections turned out longer than others, but that's only because I had more prompt ideas for some of them, not because I like any one of them better than the others.

I use the same username on AO3 and tumblr.

Things I like to read about:

• first time/getting together: slow burn, pining, UST finally getting resolved, but also antagonistic hate sex or casual hookups that are only later followed by feelings (emotional pining while already having sex is great)
• developing relationships: relationship conflicts after the characters got together, trying to figure out how to make things work, some things maybe not working at first, temporary breakups, basically anything that doesn't assume that first time sex -> perfect relationship
• porn, especially porn with feelings/porn that says something about their relationship (see list below for kinks I like)
• enemies to lovers, partners to lovers
• reluctant allies grudgingly starting to like each other
• non-verbal expressions of affection
• familiarity, intimacy, characters getting to know each other better (their habits, their hangups etc.)
• pre-canon/background stories
• post-canon fic
• canon divergence
• casefic
• moral dilemmas, characters having to question/go against their principles (especially if they do it for their loved one(s))
• loyalty, devotion, trust, but also trust/commitment issues
• obsessive, codependent, complicated relationships (whether sexual/romantic or not)
• unhealthy/unusual relationships that should be a trainwreck, but work for the characters involved
• us-against-the-world
• jealousy, possessiveness
• age differences
• competence, characters being smart and skilled and good at what they do; characters with different skill sets complementing each other
• hurt/comfort (after injuries/exhaustion, not so much with illness)
• angst: self-doubts, guilt, shame, internalised homophobia, nightmares, fears, self-destructive tendencies, alcohol abuse ...
• infidelity (not between my requested ships, but one half of my ship cheating on their previous partner with the other half of my ship)
• outside POVs, different POVs than in canon (more "usual" POVs are great, too)
• meaningful name uses (e.g. characters who always call each other by their last name or title switching to using first names)
• I like darker elements (violence, murder, noncon/dubcon, manipulation, depression, whatever fits your plot and isn't on my DNW list), but I'd prefer a happy or semi-happy ending. Feel free to make me bawl my eyes out, but please cheer me up again afterwards.

Do Not Wants:

• character death of characters I like (random side characters or antagonists dying is fine)
• serious illnesses, permanent injuries (blood and wounds that will heal again are fine)
• completely tragic/bleak endings
• animal death/cruelty
• genderbend of any kind, mpreg, A/B/O, characters being werewolves/vampires/anything than what they are in canon
• unrequested ships (including canon ships)
• unrequested crossovers or fusions
• complete AUs (canon divergence is fine, but please no high school AUs, coffee shop AUs, in space AUs, groundhog day AUs etc.)
• permanently unrequited love or permanent breakups for my ships (I'd rather read gen than "A loves B and B doesn't love A back")
• unnecessary epithets, please use characters' names/pronouns unless their name isn't known to the POV character (or unless the POV character does in fact think of the other character by e.g. their title)
• 1st and 2nd person fic (unless the canon itself is in 1st person, then it's fine)
• for porn: detailed kink negotiation, safewords for scenes that don't involve consent play (and even then I'm not particularly into safewords); scat, watersports, coming in pants, crossdressing, feminisation, body modification, ageplay/infantilisation (daddy kink and calling characters "boy" is fine)

[Kinks I like to read about]Kinks I like to read about:

• anal, oral, handjobs, fingering, intercrural, frottage, rimming & felching are all very hot
• biting, bruising, marking
• asphyxiation/choking/breathplay (this is my kink holy grail that makes everything else hotter to me; even just throat-touching without choking is great)
• rough/angry sex, hate sex, fighting/sparring/arguing leading to sex
• dressed sex, dressed/naked, clothes kink (suits, uniforms, gloves, boots etc.), neat characters being dishevelled for once, casual characters cleaning up nicely
• size kink, strength kink
• D/s (I prefer casually developing kink to negotiated, formalised BDSM; if anything under-negotiated kink is a plus for me)
• bondage, chains, ropes, collars
• spanking, riding crops
• gun play, knife play, blood play
• consent play
• dirty talk (both the praising and the humiliating/condescending kind), voice/accent kink
• banter, teasing
• hand kink, fingering, fisting
• stubble/beard burn
• hard, desperate kissing with lots of biting
• barebacking (including the ill-advised, unplanned, unnegotiated we-really-shouldn't-have-done-that-but-it-was-so-hot kind - I'm not into serious STD scares, though; if there is an "oh fuck, what did we just do?" aftermath, please have both characters be certain that they're clean)
• come play (licking come off fingers/skin, felching, feeding each other come, kissing after blowjobs/felching ...)
• messiness (sweat, come, dishevelled hair/clothes)
• characters being overwhelmed, begging for more, becoming speechless ...
• sex on tables, against walls, on the floor, on a chair, in the shower ... (sex in beds is great, too)
• semi-public sex (dark alleys, public bathrooms, at the office etc. - though I'm not into the characters actually getting caught)
• masturbation/fantasising about the other before getting together
• competence kink, admiration
• praise kink
• scars and their history
• oral fixation (while smoking, drinking, talking ...)
• sharing cigarettes, clothes, food ...
• sleep-related themes: waking each other from nightmares, falling asleep on each other's shoulder etc.

[Kinks I like to read about]


Coldfire Trilogy
Damien Vryce, Gerald Tarrant

What I like about this canon:

• Damien's fascination with Tarrant from the start, all that talk about how "seductive" he is
• how both their moral compasses get realigned by working with each other, how protective they both become of each other, how much they both compromise their principles for each other
  
• their canonical soulbond (I really fucking love soulbonds)
• the creepy magic, the worldbuilding, the setting's sense of history
• Tarrant's whole Literal Devil deal, the fact that he could feed on just about anything to survive (including Damien in some ways)

Ships and characters:

I'm mostly into this canon for these two and I'd really like shipfic for them - they're already so ridiculously slashy in canon that it just feels like a natural progression for me to have them get together. But if you don't want to write that, their relationship is super fascinating to me either way. I'm honestly not all that interested in most of the other characters in the books.

I don't like the ending of the trilogy much, so if you write something set post-canon, I'd prefer an AU in which Tarrant survives as himself (either as a normal, mortal human or as the Hunter, but definitely still with his old looks and name and personality).

What I would like to see in fic:

• any fic that explores the darker magical possibilities of this canon: Tarrant's undead nature, various blood magic rituals, the way Tarrant feeds off fear (but could theoretically feed off other things as well), the two of them facing other kinds of magic together etc.
• post-canon fic: whether it's Tarrant surviving as a human and Damien helping him adjust to being mortal again, or Tarrant surviving as the Hunter (or some other kind of undead, immortal being) and Damien having to deal with the dilemma of having sworn to kill the Hunter after everything is over
• generally anything dealing with the moral dilemmas both of them face in (or after) canon, especially if they end up breaking some of their own rules for the sake of the other
• worldbuilding about the dark fae, or Tarrant's immortality, or how exactly he could stay alive post-canon, how he could maybe extend Damien's lifespan too and how Damien would feel about that (I can't handle immortal characters losing their mortal lovers, so if you can think of something that lets them stay together forever, I'll be ridiculously happy)
• anything shippy would be great: whether it's more traditional getting together and first time fic after all that slow build-up their relationship has in canon, or something kinkier like totally necessary dark magic sex rituals or Tarrant having to feed on Damien's blood and that escalating to sex ...
• if you want to play around some more with how their soulbond works (including wonderfully tropey stuff like catching thoughts/emotions from the other one), I'm here for that. Especially if that leads to them finally acting on those mountains of UST they've had since they met.

Deus Ex
Adam Jensen, Jim Miller

Note: I've played Human Revolution and Mankind Divided and I've read Black Light. I don't mind spoilers for any of the other games or comics or whatever else there is, but I'd prefer not to get a fic that requires me to be familiar with those parts of canon.

Adam's injuries prior to getting his augs are obviously exempt from my "no permanent injuries" DNW. However, I don't want anyone else to get their limbs ripped off or the like, and I don't want Adam's augs to get permanently disabled or destroyed.

What I like about this canon:

• I love Adam so much: that he's a genuinely good guy who wants to help people, that he's snarky and cheeky and irreverent, that (at least post-augs) he's pretty withdrawn and emotionally unavailable and has all these walls built around himself (and I really want someone to get past them)
• I like angst and suffering and Adam is a well of suffering, and I enjoy it while simultaneously wanting nice things to happen to him (after lots of beautiful suffering)
• as for Miller, I love that he has a temper and is impatient and often isn't particularly nice, but underneath that gruffness he cares about doing the right thing and he cares about his men
• how much they clearly want to trust each other from the start, but it takes them time to get there
• Adam saving Miller's life and just everything about that emotional scene :D
• augs are cool and Adam is extremely hot /shallow

Ships and characters:

I love both Adam and Miller and ship them a lot. I'm always for Mac or Sarif appearing as well (Sarif and Adam have such a weird, complicated relationship and I'm always interested in seeing them talk to each other). Any interactions between the SI and the TF characters could be really interesting.

I'm aware he wasn't nominated, so feel free to ignore this of course, but I also really love Pritchard and would definitely be here for him interacting with either one or both of them, if that's something you'd be interested in writing. I also ship Adam/Pritchard as well as Adam/Pritchard/Miller.

What I would like to see in fic:

• the direct aftermath of London: I was disappointed that there wasn't another conversation between them at the end of the game, but that's what fic is for. Miller wanting to know how Adam got the antidote, demanding a justification for disobeying his orders, maybe some desperate you're-not-dead sex or just a sharp increase in UST they're both trying to ignore ...
• generally a lot of things happen in game that aren't talked about that I'd love for them to have a conversation about some day: like the time Adam broke into Miller's place, or how Adam got his augs (to what extent does Miller know what happened and just how involuntary that was?)
• I love there being some tension and arguments and disagreements between them even once they do trust each other, simply because they're not the easiest people to get along with and horribly stubborn
• the aftermath of however and whenever they hook up for the first time (and of course the first time itself!): does Miller try to put a stop to it because he's Adam's boss? does Adam because he thinks he's not good (enough) for Miller? do they hook up regularly after missions and never talk about it? do they slowly fall in love while thinking all they can have is this friends with benefits arrangement?
• casefic, working together either for TF29 or Adam's saving-the-world schemes: making plans, Miller as sniper support while Adam sneaks in somewhere, rescuing each other, patching each other up, stuck in difficult situations together ...
• fun with CASIE! Maybe Miller wants Adam to use it on him so he knows what it feels like (and can stop being paranoid about it, or worrying that another Aug could use it on him without him noticing), and it has some ... side effects. Maybe Miller enjoys getting pheromone-dosed until his brain short-circuits while they have sex.
• touch-starved Adam who thinks nobody could ever want him the way he is (except maybe someone with an Aug fetish, and he doesn't want to be someone's shiny Aug sex toy); Adam just melting when someone touches him; Adam who doesn't enjoy jerking off anymore with his new hands and is very blue-balled
• *handwave* there's totally something about that Sentinel health aug that does away with that pesky refractory period, right?
• give me all the angst, the nightmares, the PTSD, the trust issues - for both of them. All the issues Adam still has with his body and with what was done to him, all the conflicted feelings he has about that and refuses to deal with. The fact that pretty much his entire life from before (friends, job, dog :((, girlfriend etc.) is gone for good. But I'm also here for some angst for Jim: he almost died, he found out there's a big evil conspiracy, he went through a nasty divorce after a decade of marriage, his daughter is very sick ... I like them hurting, and I like them trying in their own, possibly awkward, ways to be there for each other.
• porn! Whether it's an ill-advised hookup early on, or finally fucking after ages of UST and denial, or even trying out something new in an established relationship ... I am incredibly into subby Adam and Miller taking charge. Adam being eager to please, Adam desperately wanting someone to touch his actual skin (and much preferring to blow people than to jerk them off). Maybe Miller expected him to be repressed about guys and is surprised when Adam isn't.
• tropey tropes I like for them: undercover as a couple (whether they're infiltrating some skeevy place for sugar daddies with Aug hookers/sex slaves or a pro-Aug organisation and are posing as a happily married couple) or, hear me out, marriage of convenience (maybe some new anti-Aug law is passed and a non-Aug spouse is one of the only ways to avoid the new rules and harassment, so Miller offers just to keep Adam safe and then they have to live together and it's terribly awkward because they're both in denial about how into each other they are)
• stealing this verbatim from someone else's letter (I really hope that person doesn't mind), but it's perfect and I want it, too: someone being dehumanizing to Adam in front of Miller, either in a situation where Miller can actually do something about it or one where they both just have to take it.  People talking about and treating Adam like an object, being objectifying, stuff like that.
• anything involving Miller's family: they talk about his daughter, or Adam somehow meets the kids and/or the ex, or there's a threat to Miller's family and he sends Adam to save/protect them ... I'm very here for Miller trusting Adam with his family
• if you want to include Pritchard (again, totally optional): maybe something post-MD, Adam calls Pritchard for help with something. I'd love to see Pritchard and Miller meet and be kind of wary of each other and wondering why Adam trusts the other guy so much. I think there'd be a lot of initial dislike, but they could grow to respect each other. If you want to go the shippy route, I'd be so here for some kind of jealous V situation in which Adam is into both of them and they're both into him (maybe he's slept with both of them in the past) and it somehow leads to a threesome. Or skip the prelude, I'd be very happy with just threesome porn. 

내부자들 | Inside Men
Ahn Sang-goo, Woo Jang-hoon

What I like about this canon:

• the scheming and plotting and the whole revenge intrigue
• I love characters with very different morals and ideals working together
• the "good guy" of the two, the one who's righteous and principled, is also a rude dick who antagonises people for fun, while the violent, fairly ruthless gangster is pretty amiable and easy-going
• how quickly their relationship goes from completely antagonistic to much friendler, how quickly Sang-goo decides to trust Jang-hoon (despite just finding out that another person he trusted betrayed him), how their initial insults soon turn into friendly banter and teasing

Ships and characters:

I love both main characters more than I can say and I ship them ridiculously hard (I mean, the movie basically ends with them deciding to go on a date together). I also really enjoy Jang-hoon's relationship with his father, so feel free to include him.

Sang-goo's hand is exempt from my "no permanent injuries" DNW, by the way, no need to retcon or fix that. But I'd still prefer that nobody lose any further limbs, except maybe their antagonists in prison. ;)

What I would like to see in fic:

• I could read a hundred different post-canon getting together fics about them: how do things continue between them after that last scene? Do they jump each other's bones that very night because they've been flirting almost since they met? Do they proceed to have months or years of slow-burning UST and pining while they become friends and meet up for dinner all the time and tease each other and banter and neither of them wants to ruin that by making the first move? Does it take some kind of outside element like one of them getting hurt for them to get over each other? Does one of them maybe make the first move, but gets rejected (because the other one is repressed or whatever reason), and they only get together much later?
• if you want to write something plotty: the post-credit scene heavily applies that Lee&co aren't done yet, so what if they are let out of prison a few years later and want to get back at them?
• all the banter and insulting each other, including in bed. Also, how that banter gets friendlier over time, how Jang-hoon's insults slowly turn into endearments (he already says "gangster" in the fondest voice at the end of the movie).
• maybe some conflicts arising out of the whole "lawyer and gangster" thing? Maybe Jang-hoon can live with a certain amount of illegal stuff he knows Sang-goo is up to, but there are lines he won't let him cross (at least not to his knowledge)? Maybe Jang-hoon gets somehow dragged into one of those deals, like someone thinking it'd be a great idea to abduct Sang-goo's BFF/lover to blackmail him? Of course Sang-goo would burn everything down to get him back and Jang-hoon would be fucking furious that was even necessary.
• I love repression and denial in fics, especially for characters like these two. I could see it for either one or both of them: I can see Sang-goo as fairly relaxed about his sexuality because he's a gangster who does what he wants anyway, but I could also see him having a lot of masculinity hangups and being in complete denial about wanting men. I can see Jang-hoon not giving a fuck because he strongly believes all people should be equal (though he'd still be incredibly closeted, of course), but I can also see him being completely repressed because he knows how much anything like that would hurt his career and his dream of a successful, normal life. I could see a total top clash where they're both willing to sleep with a man, but neither is willing to bottom because they'd consider that way "more gay". Additionally, I could see Sang-goo having some issues about anyone staring too much/touching his right arm, and Jang-hoon just not giving a shit because he still wants him more than anyone else.
• I really enjoyed those scenes with Jang-hoon's father, how much those two bitch at each other while still clearly caring a lot, and also how incredibly polite and respectful Sang-goo is to him (because he does have manners, unlike some people ;)). So if you felt like including him, and what he thinks about his prickly asshole of a son befriending the gangster he stashed at his place that one time, that could be great.
• I'm mostly into post-canon fic for these two, but I also wouldn't mind some kind of canon divergence where some part of their revenge/justice plan goes wrong and they have to improvise, although I would prefer a happy ending.
• if you want to write smut: suit porn, rough sex, manhandling, roughness, lots of banter in bed, competitive sex, arguing about who gets to top or maybe convoluted deals ("if you blow me, you get to fuck me") even once they're both enjoying pretty much all of it, lots of body worship (Sang-goo's tattoo and insanely perfect muscles, and maybe also petting the stump of his arm), sauna sex, spanking (maybe Sang-goo gets tired of Jang-hoon being a rude little shit), and really any of the kinks I listed above.
• I could definitely see some fluffier things for them, too, especially once they are together: nice dinners, Sang-goo getting Jang-hoon gifts and Jang-hoon complaining about it, visiting his dad again and hanging out by that lake, actually running off to the Maldives to spend a week doing nothing but sprawling around drinking Mojitos ...

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Vortigern, Uther, Arthur, Catia

Note: I'm technically requesting these four, but I'd be perfectly happy with a fic about Vortigern interacting with only one of them - I think putting all four of them in the same fic would actually be somewhat difficult. I'd be equally happy with Vortigern/Earl of Mercia for some villainous loyalty kink, so feel free to write that instead. As long as I get fic about Vortigern with any of those four (Uther, Arthur, Catia, Mercia), I'm happy. :D

Additionally, my prompts for this fandom tend to stray a bit darker than for my other requests - lots of noncon/dubcon and fucked up relationships and the like. I'd still rather not read about them dying (Uther's and Catia's canonical deaths are okay as long as the fic isn't exclusively about that), but feel free to write me something dark and fucked up that doesn't necessarily have a happy ending.

What I like about this canon:

• the aesthetics! It's just so damn pretty. The castles and the glorious costumes and the soundtrack.
• the magic and political scheming
• Vortigern was my favourite thing about the movie: power-hungry, ruthless, resentful, angry, overdramatic, with a completely warped view of the world - I love that he genuinely loved his family and still sacrificed them for power and then probably angsted about it forever
• Vortigern and Uther's relationship fascinates me - the mixture between conflict and affection (that clinging hug :D)
• Vortigern being so overprotective of his daughter, presumably because she's literally the only thing he has left in the world
• Arthur and Vortigern sniping at each other was a lot of fun to watch, I always enjoy a good villain-hero-rivalry, and I generally loved Arthur a lot - snarky and pragmatic and loyal and ambitious and not at all your average goody two-shoes hero

Ships and characters:

I ship Vortigern with just about anyone: Vortigern/Uther, Vortigern/Arthur, Vortigern/Catia, Vortigern/Mercia. Any of these ships would be great. Just Vortigern on his own being horrible would also be great. I also love Arthur and his buddies and his new knight friends a lot, so they're very welcome, too.

What I would like to see in fic:

• I love fic from Vortigern's POV because his self-delusion and all his justifications for why he does what he does are fascinating
• this fandom is made for creepy magic rituals, creepy fantasy creatures, deals with the devil siren, blood magic ... do what you want with that! magical rituals involving sex are cool, too, if you want to write that
• Vortigern/Uther: I'd love for Vortigern to have had an obsessive thing for Uther since they were young - whether it used to be all love that only slowly turned into jealousy and resentment or whether there was resentment from the start
• unrequited Vortigern/Uther would be interesting, but I'd also love to read about them having had a sexual relationship when they were younger and Uther eventually calling it off (maybe when he got married) and Vortigern being furious about it
• Vortigern and Uther do seem to disagree on more than a few things, so - hate sex, arguments leading to angry fucking on map tables, whether it's Vortigern taking his frustration out on Uther and Uther letting him (or not letting him), or Uther reaffirming his authority by making his unruly younger brother bend over or get to his knees ...
• canon divergence AU in which Vortigern captures Uther alive and *handwave* keeps him for some magic rituals to bind the sword to him: basically he keeps Uther locked up in a dungeon or in a nice, comfortable, but inescapable room ... to use him for weird blood magic, to flog or whip him, to fuck him, to rant at him how much this is all Uther's fault for not loving him enough ...
• or something similar with Arthur: rather than executing him, Vortigern keeps him alive for *handwave* magical rituals to bind the sword to him. Either he forces him, or he makes Arthur cooperate by threatening to kill his friends otherwise.
• Vortigern/Arthur: a verse in which Vortigern captures young Arthur, basically raises him as his own son, teaches him to love him as much as Uther never did, and grooms him while he's at it (underage down to about fifteen is fine and even very welcome)
• generally Arthur as a replacement for Uther would be really hot - things like Vortigern loving any similarities in looks between them, or loving it when Arthur reminds him of Uther, or enjoying that he can get all the things from Arthur that Uther tried to deny him ...
• Vortigern/Catia: she's the only person he has left in the world and he's clearly incredibly protective of her. Maybe he doesn't want her to marry because then she'd be gone, too? Maybe he convinces himself that he'd be better for her than any other man? I'd love to see him getting increasingly inappropriate with her while still coming up with all kinds of deluded justifications for what he's doing. Dubcon preferred over outright noncon. For this ship, too, underage down to about fifteen is fine and very welcome (some inappropriate touching/kissing before that is fine, too, but I'd rather not read about them actually fucking while she's younger than that).
• I'd love to know more about Vortigern and the Earl of Mercia's relationship, whether shippy or not: there's a LOT of loyalty there, and I'd love to see some exploration of where that came from. How long have they known each other? Were they always friends, or was there a point later on when Mercia decided he'd rather support Vortigern than Uther?
• for all of these prompts and ships, I'd rather not read about Vortigern getting what he deserves and dying/getting locked up - so please don't write about Arthur turning the tables on him or Uther finally escaping or Mercia betraying him or anything like that

Rivers of London
Thomas Nightingale, Peter Grant

Note: I've read all the books, including The Furthest Station, and I'm planning to read Lies Sleeping as soon as it comes out. I haven't read the comics - I don't mind spoilers, but I'd rather not receive a fic that requires knowledge of comic events or includes comic-only characters.

What I like about this canon:

• Peter's narrative voice: his jokes, his pop culture references, his inability to talk or even think clearly about his own feelings, his dry humour, his admiration of Nightingale (for this canon I don't mind 1st person fic from Peter's POV)
• I adore everything about Nightingale. His loneliness and his sense of humour and his stoic devotion to his duty; how he's so set in his ways sometimes, but he still took Peter on as his apprentice; the fact that he can be a ridiculous show-off at times; how posh he is without being snobbish; the fact that he apparently has a history of befriending unusual people nobody expected him to befriend (Molly, Peter).
• Nightingale and Peter's relationship: Peter's hero worship without putting Nightingale on a pedestal, Nightingale's protectiveness and willingness to listen to Peter, the fact that they listen to and respect each other but aren't afraid of criticising each other, how well they complement each other, how very quickly they get used to each other because they live together
• the sense of history: the bits and pieces we know about the Folly's past, about Nightingale before the war, about Nightingale's friends and family, about what exactly happened during and right after the war
• the cases they work in canon: murder (or other crimes) with magic is fun; I also love pretty much all the other police characters we've met in canon, especially Seawoll

Ships and characters:

I ship Nightingale/Peter, and they're the two characters I find most interesting in the books. I also like Seawoll a lot, as well as Walid, Stephanopoulos, and Molly, and I'd be happy to see them appear in supporting roles. OCs are of course fine if you need them for casefic or for Nightingale's past, as long as the focus stays on Peter and Nightingale. I firmly headcanon Nightingale as gay, so please no het for him - if you don't want to write him as gay, I'd prefer if his sexual orientation just wasn't mentioned in the fic. I don't ship Nightingale/Mellenby. Past Nightingale/Seawoll could be interesting.

Please no Peter/Beverley or Peter/Lesley. I'd generally prefer if the Rivers didn't appear. Lesley appearing briefly is fine, but I'd rather the fic didn't focus on her.

What I would like to see in fic:

• any kind of getting together fic: pining and slow burn and UST and worrying about their working relationship or the power imbalance, and Peter maybe not being entirely comfortable with falling in love with a man? I'm always here for "first time with a guy" fics.
• developing relationship: if they do get together, how do they negotiate their private and their working relationship? Does it lead to any conflicts? Do they want the same things from a relationship? Is it immediately a relationship or does it initially start as ill-advised fucking after cases? Peter clearly has some commitment issues in canon, while I imagine Nightingale as someone who takes relationships very seriously, so that might not work out immediately.
• casefic: magical murder or theft, faeries, ghosts, demons, other wizards, supernatural creatures we haven't seen yet in canon, mind control, magical diseases, rare books or other magical items getting stolen or disappearing, someone breaking into the Folly ...
• any case that requires both Nightingale's and Peter's respective skills so they can only solve it by working together
• combining supernatural elements and modern technology - something like the Rivers but for the internet or the train system, magical cyber crime, industrialised magic, cyberpunk demons, hacker ghosts ...
• I'd love to know more about Nightingale's past: flashbacks, Nightingale telling Peter about previous cases (or about more private things), an old case coming back to haunt Nightingale ... Honestly, if you want to write me a fic about Nightingale's Indiana Jones adventures before the war, travelling through the Empire, meeting practitioners from other traditions, looking for cool magical artefacts or books, go for it - I wouldn't even mind Peter not appearing in the fic if you wrote something like that.
• anything domestic: Latin and magic lessons, midnight conversations when they both can't sleep, being there for each other, drinking together, going out for dinner together, Peter getting excited about things while Nightingale is exasperated and confused, or maybe Nightingale getting excited about something for once, playful banter, comfortable silences - just show me how easily they've become part of each other's lives and how good they are for each other
• hurt/comfort and protectiveness (in either direction, but I am always here for Nightingale kicking ass when someone threatens his apprentice)
• random AU idea: in which Peter was born in the early 20th century and becomes Nightingale's apprentice in the 1930s, to the rest of the Folly's dismay and shock, but Nightingale doesn't care because he likes Peter and The Nightingale can afford to do what he wants; anything with this would be great - how Peter became Nightingale's apprentice in this AU, Nightingale's friends being weirded out by his odd choice of an apprentice, them travelling the world together because that's what Nightingale did before the war, Peter being one of the few people left after the war (maybe his apprenticeship wasn't finished yet during the war?) ...
• even in canon (flashbacks? visions? dreams?) I'd love to see Peter somehow seeing or interacting with the pre-war Folly
• for porn: praise kink or dirty talk could be fun, suit porn definitely, or some light bondage; I could also see them getting a little competitive about making the other one lose it first, or teasing each other a lot. I usually imagine Peter having no previous sexual experiences with men and Nightingale teaching him a thing or two, but that's not a must if you want to write it differently. I'd also be up for something more kinky, espeeeecially anything D/s or spanking/caning-related. Nightingale was born in the 1900s ...
• speaking of which: I always love reminders of that - Nightingale having some (from a modern point of view) unusual opinions or being weirded out by certain modern developments (and liking some modern changes and disliking others), just anything that works as a reminder that he was born and raised in a different time and age. Even if it's only Nightingale stubbornly smoking one cigarette a day because he's been smoking all his life and Walid isn't going to make him give it up completely, thank you very much.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Male Revan, Canderous Ordo

What I like about this canon:

• the whole you're-actually-Revan reveal and everything that means wrt what the Jedi did to Revan and how Revan would feel about that once he finds out (to me there's something so fundamentally horrifying about him getting his memories erased and brainwashed into serving a system he turned his back on)
• badass space adventures, working and fighting together and relying on each other
• how much Canderous worships Revan, all that respect and genuine admiration for Revan's skills as a general and warrior (and my Revan at least respects Canderous for similar reasons)

Ships and characters:

I strongly prefer Dark Side Revan, although I'm also fine with a more morally grey version of Revan if that's what you want to write, who's not really interested in this whole binary opposition of good and evil, but just does his own thing. Actually even with Dark Side Revan I prefer Pragmatic Evil and ruthless ambition to Ludicrous Evil and "bwahahaha I kick puppies in my free time for the Evulz". Mostly I'm not interested in redeemed, saintly Light Side Revan who helps the Republic. What makes Revan interesting to me is that the Jedi tried to make him into what they wanted him to be, and failed.

Revan/Canderous is one of those villains-in-love ships I can never resist. I'm also into Revan/Canderous/Carth as a horrible noncon mess where they do awful things to Carth to punish him. Mentions of past Revan/Malak are fine. I love HK-47 and I'm fine with any other KOTOR characters appearing, except for Bastila.

What I would like to see in fic:

• loyalty kink, because Canderous canonically just about worships the ground Revan walks on, so I'd love to see anything that expands on that - kneeling and hand-kissing and "loyal dog" rhetoric, including things liks Revan calling Canderous his dog in bed
• violent post-battle sex: Canderous loves a good fight and he considers Revan the greatest warrior who ever lived, so I bet they get up to a lot of blood-soaked fun after fights
• DS!Revan ruling the galaxy post-canon with Canderous as his general
• I'd also like to see disagreements between them, whether it's because you write a less unequivocally cruel and power-hungry Revan or simply because Revan and Canderous sometimes disagree on how to rule the galaxy or how to treat defeated enemies or whatever; I'd love to see Revan both respecting Canderous' opinion, and putting his foot down and reminding Canderous of his place when he's done arguing
• inappropriate uses of the Force: Force-choking, Force-bondage, rough pain play combined with Force-healing, inappropriate uses of telepathy - making Canderous hallucinate, making him feel Revan's presence in his mind, Revan controlling his body while letting Canderous be aware of what he's doing (I'm fine with dubcon, although I'd prefer if the relationship in itself was consensual/if Canderous basically considered it Revan's right to do whatever he likes with him) ... did I mention Force-choking? ;D
• mind bonds are generally a lot of fun to play around with: Revan staying in touch that way when they're apart, invading Canderous' dreams, commenting on Canderous' actions or thoughts, whispering into his brain when Canderous is jerking off or fucking someone else
• I'd prefer if Revan, no matter how DS, was at least somewhat emotionally attached to Canderous and didn't only consider him a useful tool; I love the whole villains in love trope - Revan loving Canderous with all that mad, possessive Dark Side passion ...

And that's it for this year! I hope that something in this letter inspires you, dear writer. I'm very much looking forward to reading what you come up with! Happy Yuletide, and I hope you get a wonderful gift, too!

Thanks!

linndechir  This entry was originally posted at https://linndechir.dreamwidth.org/65998.html. Please comment there using OpenID.