Yuletide 2020 Letter
Oct. 1st, 2020 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aurillyThank you so much for offering one of these! I like to leave a lot of info for those who want it, but please don’t feel boxed in by the prompts. Write whatever you want for these characters, maybe with a general like or two thrown in. As long as you’re having fun, I’m sure I’ll love it! I'm ![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
aurilly on AO3 as well.
Here are anchor links to the different sections:
• The Enchanted Castle - Edith Nesbit
• David Blaize - EF Benson
• Sky Island - L Frank Baum
• Psmith - PG Wodehouse
• His Dark Materials (TV)
• Dark (TV)
General Notes
I like fic where people talk and do new things (not missing scenes or alternate POVs of canon scenes). I'm just as--often more!--interested in watching characters navigate what comes after a prompted premise than I am in the premise itself. If you have the time and inclination to include the set-up as well, then great! But feel free to skip all that and start in media res.
Things I Always Love
• Devoted Odd Couples: enjoying one another's company; laughing at one another; fond exasperation; reunions; friends to lovers (including for characters who never met in canon; you can pretend they’ve been friends since before the story started)
• Adventures: fish out of water; exploring new territory; dramatic rescues or escapes; finding out about magic; complementary skill sets; badassery; laughing in the face of danger or absurdity; the pen is mightier than the sword (but I also really love swords)
• Sexy Times: This letter is already long, so I left general porn likes/dislikes at the Yuleporn post HERE.
• Clothing Porn: suits, leather, armour, uniforms, boots, breeches; admiring how good (or ridiculous) love interest looks in the above; not sure how to get these weird clothes off; neckties and the many uses thereof
• Hurt/Comfort: external force/person makes A hurt B; forced to watch loved one endure something awful; stoic character trying to joke their way through hurt; shame about desires or how badly they want it; comforter is hiding their own hurt; bedside vigils; patching up loved one's wounds; helping one another through an awful ordeal; fainting; "I thought you were dead!"
• Loyalty & Self-Sacrifice : taking someone else’s blame or punishment; jumping in front of a bullet; sacrificing career, safety, reputation or happiness for loved one (but it turns out okay in the end!); volunteering to be beaten, humiliated, tortured, fucked, etc to spare loved one or to secure some benefit for them; trying to keep sacrifice or hurt secret from loved one, either out of shame, or because A doesn't want B to feel beholden/guilty, or because A doesn’t want B to know the extent of A's feelings; B finding out anyway
• Not Originally Sexual Bondage: I prefer restraint when it, at least initially, occurs for plot reasons. A ties B to the bed for sexy fun? Not my thing. A ties B to the bed to keep B from hurting himself while possessed? Yes! Whether or not it then turns sexy in the story (it certainly can!), it's already sexy to me. Examples... tied or chained up for a ritual or because of imprisonment; stoicism and nobility while bound, stripped, whipped, jeered at, or nonconsensually touched; captives find ways to kiss and touch despite being bound; strong character submits or pretends to be unable to break out of bonds for reasons; noble struggling and writhing
• Crossovers: applying skills/knowledge from one canon to another canon’s problems; characters coming up with logical but incorrect theories about what's going on before discovering the truth; contrasting or reconciling differences in how a concept manifests across canons (ex. immortality, magic, realm hopping, time shenanigans); magic or plot point in one canon has roots in another
Do Not Wants
*These are the same as in my signup, but with a little more explanation on some. The category headers and organization don't mean much; I'm just trying to loosely group to reduce scrolling.
• Death & Endings: permanent death of requested characters; the afterlife; bleak endings; as-if-it-never-happened erasure endings (ex. "it was all a dream" or events of fic are permanently mind-wiped away)
• Sex-Related: BDSM; underage/overage sex; A/B/O; pregnancy or infertility
• Headcanons: ace, aro, demi or gender identity headcanons
• Ship-Related: non-canon romantic ships, unless prompted (however, mentions of backstory relationships with OCs are fine); poly/threesomes, unless prompted; non-canonical adultery or open relationships; conflicting requested ships (ex. A/B and A/C in same fic), unless prompted; non-canonical nicknames; shovel talks; yentas and matchmakers; fated love; age differences of 10+ years within requested ships (based on appearance if immortal)
• Writing-Related: 1st & 2nd person POV; phonetically spelled dialogue (my brain genuinely struggles to process it)
• Crossover-Related: unprompted crossovers of more than two canons at a time; fourth wall breakage (ex. World A characters know World B as fiction); crossovers where the main characters remain unaware of each others' backgrounds or magic (the reveal/explanation doesn't have to happen 'on-screen', but please don't let it end with everyone thinking everyone else is normal, in a 'ships passing in the night' kind of way); age differences of more than ~10 years within a ship
• Other: fusions; setting change AUs**; goofy crack (but crack taken seriously is fine!); references to 2020 real-life issues (ex. Covid, US or UK politics)
**A Note on setting change AUs: I welcome invented mechanisms, like portals, to get characters from one world to another. I also welcome the addition of supernatural elements to a canon (ex. selkies exist, time loops are possible, someone's mom was a fairy, Stonehenge is a magical place, etc.). Shifting timelines within a late 19th/early 20th century range is also fine! My DNW for setting change AUs is meant to cover scenarios where the supernatural elements that form a canon's premise are wholly removed, or a requested character's pre-canon backstory beats are wholly unrecognizable (ex. I always want Clark Kent to be a Kryptonian who grew up in Kansas), or a canon is moved into a wildly different location or time period (ex. 21st century, space).
Enchanted Castle – E Nesbit
Characters: Phoebus Apollo
Where to Get It: Free on Gutenberg HERE. My promo post is HERE.
The section where the children party all night with the gods and goddesses is one of the loveliest things I've ever read. The gods were all so friendly and sexy and nonchalant and wise and wonderful. Especially Phoebus! I want to learn more about him perspective on stuff, how he spends his nights, his friendships with the other gods, etc. But especially more of his interactions with humans! Since I'm asking for more adult characters, content and themes, there's zero need to mimic the canon narrative voice (though you can, if you want). Any of the other godly or human characters are welcome to appear! I love them all.
'The magic must come to an end' is my least favorite ending, for anything. Thankfully, it seems that the statues would continue to come to life at night regardless. However, feel free to pretend the ring's magic didn’t end so the castle can remain magical and people can still use the ring to become statues (I loved that so much). Whatever works; no need to explain the divergence. Phoebus kept talking about his world vs the kids' world, so you could possibly argue that the kids realm-hopped into a different dimension? What's that like? Or is it our plane of existence, after all? Or something else? I'm interested in a wide variety of interpretations of the worldbuilding, so go wild. But you can also not get into that at all.
DNW: the Ugly Wuglies (they still terrify me). I also don't want tragic lifespan incompatibilities, so please make any god/human ships a revelrous, casual thing; DNW pining or heartbreak or epilogues where the human has gotten old while Phoebus is still young, or for the gods to grow old.
Random Note: I've got a weird existential hangup about these kinds of canons (see also: Night at the Museum and the Muppets). I need to think of the characters as real, not as man-made statues. Basically, as long as you don't dwell on the idea that they aren't really alive or aren't really Greek gods, and you don't have them meet other statue versions of themselves, I’ll be happy. Perhaps they are actual Apollo & Co who were long ago cursed to be dormant during the day, so that, of all the statues of these gods that exist in the world, these are the only ones that come to life, because they are the 'real' gods. Or something. The way Phoebus talked about the other special place in Greece made it sound like Zeus was real…
— Post-Canon Shipping: I would adore something set 5-10 years later (whenever the children are at least 18), when one or all of them return to the castle. Do they see one another regularly, or only at these magical reunions? Do they now have grown-up problems or angst (either regarding the castle stuff or in their regular lives), or is everything fine? If angst, can the statues help? Have the gods watched them grow up over the years? If you’re up for it, I would love to have one of the now grown-up kids make out (or more!) with Phoebus. Any of them, your pick! What causes things to change from friendly to more? Does it happen when everyone's a statue, or one is a human, or new magic makes Pheobus flesh for a night? Is this the first time Phoebus has hooked up with a human? Or not? I'll take anything!
— Phoebus & Other Gods: What’s it like on a normal night for Phoebus and the other statues? What types of dynamics does he have with the other gods/goddesses? Do they have little dramas or flirtationsor orgies? Or observe and comment on the humans around them? What happened on previous special annual magic nights?
— New Homes: Has Phoebus somehow gotten sold and moved elsewhere? Is it just him, or the whole collection? Does Phoebus team up, either with other statues or the now grown-up kids, to deal with a threat or a problem? Are they trying to break the curse so they can become flesh (but still immortal) again, or defeat an enemy who wants to destroy them or put him/them somewhere awful? Or maybe it's a house party whodunnit where the silently watching statues help solve a mystery, without the majority of humans knowing they're alive? Let your imagination run wild!
— Crossovers: Similar to the above prompts, but with crossover characters. More people should experience the magical evenings! Since the castle's been around for ages, it could be set pre-canon, too. I’d very much like crossover characters to be the age they were at some point in their canons, even if it means moving Enchanted Castle timelines (it feels timeless to me, anyway, mid-19th to mid-20th century). Here are some characters I'd love to see hang out with Phoebus (gen or ship!):
• Psmith (Wodehouse) – Perhaps Psmith or Mike is related to the Yaxleys and takes his friend along for a visit? Or some other excuse. I only want Psmith/Mike emotionally shipped with each other, though a one-time hook up with Phoebus (whether a twosome or threesome) that results in Psmith/Mike getting together could be hot (PG with kissing would also be awesome, just to be clear!).
• Bertie Wooster (Wodehouse) – His latest country estate visit is even more confusing than usual! Any of Bertie's friends are welcome to tag along. Jeeves doesn't need to appear, though he can if you want; please don’t ship him with anyone. Bertie is the one exception to my 1st person POV DNW, but I'd be just as interested in a 3rd person POV, whether Phoebus or general narration.
• Edmund Pevensie (Narnia) – He is NOT allowed to die! Does he visit accidentally, or does he have his own magic rings that allow for something even more interesting? As long as he's grown up again, he can hook up with Phoebus, too! Lucy, Eustace, and/or Jill are welcome to come, too.
• Bucky Barnes (MCU) – Perhaps the castle became a hospital in WWII, where Bucky recovers after Azzano, and because of the experiments, he's the only one who can see the gods? Or, any other premise you want! How do they help him? Or maybe the story starts decades later, when he goes back for a visit after he’s recovered, because he was never sure if he dreamed that initial WWII night?
• Victor, Vanessa, and/or Ethan from Penny Dreadful – Investigating something funky at the castle, or the gods help them defeat monsters, or simply helping Victor loosen up, or they visit the castle because Lyle has read about the ring as a way to defeat some monster, or…? (Note: I would prefer to ignore the last season)
David Blaize – EF Benson
Characters: Frank Maddox, Hughes
Where to Get It: First book is free on Gutenberg HERE. There’s a free copy of the sequel, ‘David of King’s’, HERE; this version of the sequel isn’t the most user-friendly, but, I’ll confess... I find the sequel kinda boring. Since Frank is offscreen in Greece for large swaths of it, I control-F for “Frank” and only read the parts that he's in; therefore, the user-friendliness doesn’t matter so much.
While Frank's anguished self-loathing is super compelling, I ultimately want him to get over it (and get over himself, a little). I adore pining, but sometimes, if it goes on for years and years and makes my fave miserable or repressed, I end up just wanting him/her to move on with someone else he or she can actually be with. I reached that point with Frank/David by the end of the second book (which depressed me a bit, on Frank's behalf, even as it made me love him even more). So, please let Frank get over his crush on David and be entirely into a new guy, without bashing David (whom I do like!). I want him to find happiness and self-acceptance—with actual kissing, or more! Hughes is the only canon character I'm interested in shipping with Frank; however, there's no need for Hughes to appear if you write Frank/OMC or the crossover options below.
I originally read this series because I love boarding school stories, but I ended up mainly wanting fic about Frank's post-Marchester life. Please set it when Frank is anywhere between 19-30 (ie. canon divergence after he leaves Marchester, or shortly post-canon), so he doesn't have to wait too long to be happier. He's such a fascinating and endearing blend of judgmental, whimsical, bossy, charismatic, and melancholic. The chapter where he devises the plan to catch the cheaters was such fun, as was his love of the macabre; if it fits, shipfic that incorporates his cleverness, snark, take-chargeness, and/or sense of whimsy would be lovely. Or run with the thing where he cured David with the power of love to a place where Frank is literally magical?
— Hughes: The melodrama of Frank seducing Hughes, dumping Hughes, and then poor Hughes getting expelled when he tries to move on… It's an amazing Part 1. Give me the 5-10 years later sequel! How and where do they meet up again? We know Hughes ended up at Sandhurst, but what about after that? How has he been? If the answer is "great!", how does Frank reconcile that with his years of miserable repression? Is Hughes still hurt, or has he blissfully accepted himself? Or does he have complementary hangups that they work through together? Do they run into one another in London or at war or at a wedding or…? How do they get back together for a happy/hopeful ending? Who makes the first move?
— OMC: A canon divergence where Frank gets together with someone at Cambridge? Or during his Greek archeological expeditions? Archaeology is so romantic! Or set a couple of years after the end of the second book… Does Frank live in London, join a Wodehouse-style club, visit country estates, have a job? Or some sort of fucked up initiation rite (for Cambridge or London clubs?) forces Frank to give into what he really wants and he ends up better for it? Or maybe a canon divergence where he fights in WWI, and he and a fellow soldier are all desperately angsty and passionate in their trench?
— Crossovers 1: Prompts for Frank/Edmund Pevensie (Narnia), Frank/Bucky Barnes (MCU), Frank/Thor (MCU), Frank/Ethan (Penny Dreadful) or Frank & Psmith/Mike (Wodehouse) are HERE.
— Crossovers 2: See HERE for Frank with Tirian (Narnia), Dumbledore (Fantastic Beasts), Atlantis (UK TV) characters, or Richard (Lost). The write-ups for these are shorter, but I want them just as much!
Oz – L Frank Baum
Pairing: Polychrome, Button-Bright
Where to Get It: For Yuletide, the fandom is called “The Sea Fairies & Sky Island”, but neither of these characters appear in ‘The Sea Fairies’; I personally haven’t read it. You can read Sky Island, for free, HERE. Button-Bright and Polychrome also appear in various books in the same author’s Oz series, but I don’t think reading them is necessary for this request. However, if you’re interested, they first met (before Sky Island takes place) in Road to Oz. Button-Bright also stars in The Scarecrow of Oz, and Polly has a biggish role in Tik-Tok of Oz, but they don’t have any scenes together post-Sky Island. They have small roles in other books, too, but I honestly don’t think they appear enough in them to be worth it or relevant to this request. That said, if you’re a true completist, all the Oz books are free on Gutenberg. You can also get the whole set in a single Kindle file for $1 HERE), for easy control-Fing for their names.
These darlings! They're both always getting lost! Polly is such an ethereal delight with a quietly regal core, understated power, and great diplomacy. She’s very sweet, but not a pushover. Button-Bright is so unflappable, friendly, and practical, so brave and with such a good heart. I love how they both take life as it comes, with relative good cheer (but are not above crying when things really suck).
You don't need to base fic on Sky Island settings or plots; using the regular Oz series canon is great, too! The reason I nominated ‘Sky Island’ instead of the Oz series is because I vastly preferred that book's characterizations of Button-Bright and Polychrome (and Trot, too). They’re much more active protagonists in it. Button-Bright was especially sociable, mature and quick-thinking, and Polly was assertive and take-charge. They were less interesting too me (Button-Bright especially) in 'Road to Oz', when they were sillier and/or more helpless.
I’ll be happy with friendship or shipfic. If you write shipfic where they are pre- or early-teens, please keep it super innocent--hand-holding, first crushes, confused feelings, cute kisses, sweet gestures, huddling for warmth, innocently awkward attempts at comfort... But if you're aging them up to 17+, you can go as hot and heavy as you like. Does Button-Bright even realize that what he feels is a crush? Or is it Polly who has been crushing on oblivious Button Bright? Is love (or friendship) between a sky fairy and a dopey American kid frowned upon? Or is everyone happy for them?
Incorporating worldbuilding about literally any place or concept in the books, or culture clashes between life in the sky, Oz, or US would be amazing, if it fits. You could keep it whimsical, go way angstier than the books, tackle canon concepts more seriously, or go all-in on the darkness lurking under the surface (there were some seriously messed-up implications played very casually in these books... but I still want a happy ending!). I’m not someone who needs pastiche, especially if you’re writing more grown-up themes than the source material, so please don’t feel like you must mimic Baum’s narration.
I only know the Baum books, so please keep it to canon from those. There are so many inconsistencies in the books, so don't stress about canon compliance. I'm fond of everyone (except Scraps and the Glass Cat, sorry), so pretty much anyone is welcome to appear in the background. However, bonus points for more rarely written characters such as Trot, Cap'n Bill, Ojo, the Ork, or Tik-Tok, instead of focusing on Ozma and Dorothy (I love them, but they already get so much attention in canon and fic).
— I loved Polly's parting promise in 'Sky Island' to always look out for Button-Bright (that's when I decided I shipped it). Tell me about a time when she made good on that promise. There’s a lot of talk of Polly being a ‘powerful sky fairy’, but we rarely see her do anything; tell me more about these powers!
— We don’t know what Button-Bright got up to between the end of Sky Island and the beginning of Scarecrow of Oz. Was Polly involved? What adventure did they have that led to him being stuck in that popcorn snowdrift in the Land of Mo? Or, think up a canon divergence that results in him leaving Earth but ending up somewhere other than Mo, for a different adventure (with Polly!).
— Does Button-Bright visit Polly on the rainbow? Or does Polly actively recruit him for help with a problem in the sky? How can he help (or mess things up further)? I'd love to imagine more about the sky fairies, their sky palaces, Polly’s relationship with her sisters, and, just generally, Polly’s life as the Rainbow’s reckless, misfit daughter.
— Button-Bright gets so lost that he (and somehow Polly) ends up back in our world. What happens next? Is it a short visit, or do they stay long enough to grow up a bit? How does Polly like or adapt to our world? Did Button-Bright's family even notice he’d been gone? Has a long time passed but he hasn’t aged? Does Polly’s family notice she’s gone (it makes me sad how long it takes her dad to find her whenever she gets lost)? How do they work together, have feelings, and get back to fairyland?
— Polly and Button-Bright are the only ones who can save their friends from the latest peril. How do they work together to do it? Does he accidentally (or knowingly) do something valiant that makes her swoon? Does she do something that makes even oblivious Button-Bright realize how much she cares? Or captured or stranded together; forced proximity, and working together to rescue themselves, etc.
— I'd love an exploration of the carefree pros and melancholy cons of immortal childhood. Button-Bright stopped aging once he moved to Oz. Does Polly, who's thousands of years old (but appears the same age as where he gets stuck at), help Button-Bright adjust?
— What if something (a spell, a fruit they shouldn't have eaten, it doesn't matter) has left them both temporarily aged up to late teens? What happens next? Suddenly experiencing hormones? Gaining new perspectives? Changes in their dynamics with other characters? Wistfulness if/when they get de-aged again?
Psmith - PG Wodehouse
• Psmith/Mike
Where to Get It: All four short books are free on Gutenberg HERE. Only 'Mike & Psmith' and 'Psmith In the City' are necessary for these requests.
The odd coupling of Mike’s everyman pragmatism and Psmith’s hilariously eccentric dialogue is endlessly delightful to me. I love their loyalty and what self-sacrificing heroes they both are, while also being total little shits. Every time Psmith throws himself on his sword for Mike makes me die a little, in a good way. I love how Mike holds his own with Psmith, and how he rolls his eyes but quietly loves him just as much. Mike has his own self-sacrificing streak, too. These two!
There’s so much they feel but don’t say, even with Psmith’s incessant talking; in what other ways can those feelings come out? Who is the forward one here, or do they bumble equally in their own ways? Does either try to hide his nerves/inexperience? Or not? Or maybe one or both is actually experienced? Any take on a romance between them would be fascinating.
If you don't ship it, a crossover (see below for options) or an adventure that adds magic or supernatural elements to the otherwise canonical universe would also be good, especially if it digs into their relationship and shows how well they work together (no vampires or werewolves, please). Regardless of whether you write ship or gen, DNW any hint that they will ever be with anyone else in the future; please set it before they met their wives and/or pretend they never did.
I’ve requested them so many times that, at this point, I have endless prompts. I tried to write a few new ones here to keep it fresh. However, feel free to use a prompt from an older letter, if you want. Or come up with your own idea!
— First Times: Does it start out as FWB that both secretly wish could be more? Do either of them have previous experience, or is it their first time? If yes on the prior experience, was it all lovely, or does A have angsty backstory whump about sex that B slowly realizes is a thing and gently, lovingly helps A through? Or does A have an unexpected kink that he’s embarrassed about, but B rolls with it? Is it an awkward first time that leaves one or both thinking the other doesn’t want to try again, but it all turns out all right in the end?
— Ritual Sex: Maybe it's part of a university team or London society club initiation? Ideally (for me, not for the characters), this is their awkward first time together, before they've confessed their feelings. Or maybe the experience helps at least one of them to realize they like the other? I like it to feel angsty and fraught in the moment (no pre-arranged discussions of consent, please), and they find out only later that they were both into it and get together. Are there interesting details to the ritual? Ex, is it in public, or do they have to draw on one another, or feed one another, or come a certain number of times, or...
— Visits at Home: I was so into Mike visiting Psmith’s house at the start of ‘Psmith In the City’, and the way Psmith A) had just learned how to drive and B) put Mike in an adjoining room, promising to pop in during the night. Tell me more! This is the first time they were together outside of the strict rules of school. Does one or both hope this is a time to finally make a move? How does it happen? Does Psmith’s dad almost catch them, without meaning to, and without having any idea what’s going on (he’s so cutely absent-minded)? Do they take the car out, only for it to break down? Or a different idea?
— Time Loops: This trope has such potential for angst+humor, which is perfect for the things I love about this ship. What if A has to watch his beloved B suffer over and over? Or what if being stuck in the loop leads to A realizing his feelings? Or maybe they’re stuck in the loop together and this is the kind of intense scenario they need to get together? I enjoy a variety of loop iterations—from wacky, to “give no fucks”, to suicidal, to exploratory, to the darkest timeline, to erroneously thinking it’s over—and using these iterations to explore a character's more extreme sides. Does the loop focus on a quotidian time (ex. redoing a day at Sedleigh, or during the ship voyage to New York, or a normal day during the bank period) or is it something more dramatic (ex. NYC gangsters, WWI battles)?
— Running the Estates: It sounded like this happened for a little bit, before Smith Sr died? Tell me more! Were they sneaking around, hooking up in gazebos? Was Mike a good estate manager? Did Psmith always try to distract him?
— Cambridge: Aside from the epilogue of ‘Psmith, Journalist’, we didn’t get to see any of their university years. I feel robbed! Tell me more about nights Mike spends on the sofa in Psmith’s roomor bed, about the boat race weekend, about formal hall, about the difference between ragging on school masters vs university professors, about adjusting to new freedoms. Do they rekindle old friendships from their previous schools? If so, is there erroneous jealousy or angst, thinking that the other prefers his old school chums? Do A’s old friends teach B something not previously known about A? Or, tell me about the ‘desultory way’ in which Psmith played cricket at Cambridge. Do they have adventures with characters from other parts of Wodehouse’s universe? Anything!
— Canon Setting Spies: God, they'd be the best/worst spy team. Is it for the war? Or do they open a spy/detective business when their dads lose all their money? What is the job? Is it domestic espionage, or are they abroad working for the government? Does it require a moment of pretending to be together (like, the mark is in gay club or something)? Or is it more action-based (I love badass Psmith and Mike fighting together)? Do they get caught? Are there disguises? Anything!
— WWI: The boys meeting at boarding school is usually sacrosanct to me, but something about the army's strict rules, complicated hierarchies to navigate, all-male forced proximity, ragging potential, etc, creates a similar environment—only with even more opportunities for whump, action, and angst. You could also keep them having met at Sedleigh, as in canon, and go on to fight in the war. Either way! Fighting together, espionage missions, winning a key battle through impertinent ragging, unexpected application of cricket talents, writing for The Wipers Times… Meeting or reuniting during training, in the trenches, as prisoners… Do they have special skills or jobs? Mike the accidental war hero, keeping one another warm in their trench, making out in a bombed out Belgian village, the desperation of war causing them to reveal long-secret pining, Psmith going behind enemy lines to rescue Mike…
— Just Add Magic: Accidental acquisition of super powers? Magical artifact grants wishes? Weird stuff happening around the archeological ruins near the school/university? Something eerie about their apartment building? Mirrors or paintings not working how mirrors should? Learning alchemy at school? A kind of Susanna Clarke approach to England, where magic exists in England? Or a gothic trope or idea that tickles your imagination! If magic is part of everyday life, how do Psmith and Mike use it, similarly or differently? What subtle changes does that make on canonical Wodehousian customs or institutions? Or,if magic is not known to be a thing, how do Psmith and Mike hide this weird development?
— Crossovers: I want to hear what Psmith and Mike have to say about these weird people and places. Prompts with Narnia here. Prompts with Penny Dreadful, Good Omens, Atlantis BBC, or My Family & Other Animals are here. Prompts with David Blaize are here. I'd also be up for Psmith and Mike traveling to Westeros/Essos (but I only know the TV show); most of what I wrote here can be tweaked to fit Psmith/Mike instead of the characters I originally prompted. Prompts with The Enchanted Castle are in that section above.
His Dark Materials (TV)
• Lord Boreal/Thomas
Where to Get It: It's streaming on HBO services in the US, and I assume BBC outlets in the UK (it's a co-production). Season 2 starts in a few weeks, but this request only needs season 1.
Lord Boreal is so rivetingly sexy-terrible, wracked with inconvenient feelings. And I have loved Robert Emms since Atlantis, so I was primed to find Thomas adorable and endearing. Boreal stalks around not giving a shit about anything, except, in my mind, Thomas ("He IS important." Aaaaa!). Boreal seems relaxed in our world and around Thomas in a way he isn't otherwise. Their little smiles, how seamlessly they work together, how Thomas knows what Boreal is thinking even when he's being pissily silent. Thomas's praise kink can be seen from space, and he's just so thirsty, in addition to being extremely smart. It's all so weirdly sweet, without ever losing sight of the fact that Boreal is not a good person.
Perhaps Boreal is used to getting what he wants because people are scared of him, so being wanted simply for himself (or his hotness) is precious to him? Does he vaguely worry that Thomas only likes him for the novelty of a man from another world (but Thomas doesn't actually)? Some other take? Is Boreal only free to sleep with men in in our world? Does Boreal keep meaning to get rid of Thomas, because he's served his purpose/knows too much/other, but keeps finding excuses not to, refusing to face the real reason he can't let go? What makes him finally accept his feelings? How does knowing the enormous secret of the existence of other worlds affect how Thomas lives his day to day life?
DNW either Boreal or Thomas to die. Please pretend it was the other guy who tripped over the cat, or set it before then with no foreshadowing of what's coming. I don't want Boreal's connection to his daemon (or Thomas's hilarious terror-arousal about it) ignored, but I'd really like something that isn't solely about daemons. The daemon stuff is cool and all, but so are the bazillion other world-building concepts from this series that rarely get explored in fic.
— Does Thomas cross? Either because there's an emergency, or to impress Boreal? How does he go about finding his boyfriend and navigating this world? Or maybe Boreal takes him through the window and they fuck in the creepy greenhouse.
— Thomas crosses and gets captured by the Gobblers or the bears or the witches or I don't even know. Boreal masterfully swooping in to save him. Lots of traumatized, shivering Thomas needing to be comforted and warmed upwith Boreal's body would not be amiss.
— Thomas crosses and gets captured by the Magisterium. Do they consult the alethiometer to figure out his deal? Is Boreal angry with Thomas for being such an idiot, or just worried? I feel like worry and anger probably manifest similarly with him. Do they angstily bang in Thomas's cell, or in Boreal's apartment after the rescue? Thomas getting whumped by the Magisterium, and then comforted by Boreal? Oooh, what if, before he can effect a rescue, Boreal has to join in on the whump to hide that he knows/loves Thomas? Mmm.
— Boreal runs afoul of the Magisterium and needs to hide out in our world for much longer than usual. His trips so far have been practical; how does he act now that he's trying to live a more permanent life? What do he and Thomas do? Domestic nights at the lake house? Nights on the town? Learning more about one another in a more quotidian way?
— Given that Boreal doesn't live in our world, doesn't visit when he says he will, and is generally an asshole, Thomas has no reason to think they're going steady or that Boreal gives a shit. Therefore, what if Thomas has been casually sleeping with someone else, too? How does Boreal find out and how does he react? Perhaps this is what makes Boreal face how much he actually cares. Or maybe Boreal/Thomas weren't sleeping together before, but this angst is what pushes them to get together. Either way, they sort it out, hopefully without Boreal having the other person killed.
— Mary Malone is my favorite character and has my favorite storyline in the books. What about a canon divergence where Thomas gets involved with her discovery of the angels or something else? How might this affect his relationship with Boreal? Are they at odds? Or...?
Dark (TV)
Characters: Peter Doppler, Bernadette Wöller, Torben Wöller
Where to Get It: This is a Netflix series about the effects of time travel in a small German town. Like a fucked-up Back to the Future, the action goes back and forth between the 1880s, 1920s, 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s. There are missing children, accidental incest, people being their own grandparent, an apocalypse, and all sorts of depressing yet compelling insanity. This request is full of massive spoilers.
There were so many characters in this great show, but I was weirdly fixated on Torben Wöller, and really into the universe-spanning love story between Peter and Benni. You could write a story focused on Torben, including some of Torben's relationship with his sister, and, as an extension, Benni/Peter. Or you could write something more focused on Benni or Peter, including Benni's sibling relationship with Torben on the side. Or something else. I'm flexible. Keeping canon character deaths in the first two universes is fine here, since it's all okay in the third. But I'm also open to canon divergences!
Showing a little bit of any of these three characters' relationships with other characters in the background would be interesting, especially people we never or barely saw them hang out with. Ex. Claudia, Jonas, Egon Tiedemann, Franciska, Tannhaus… Even though I'm telling myself that final!Hannah was probably a lovely person, I'm less interested in reading about Torben/Hannah. No need to pretend they aren't together or anything; I just want to focus more on his other relationships! Even though I ship Peter/Benni, I really loved Charlotte, so would prefer not to bash her. Sometimes people just aren't suited!
— I loved the payoff of all of Torben's unexplained missing parts in the first two universes, and then how he was fine in the "right" universe. Was there something in the first two universes that caused accidents that didn't exist in the third? Did Benni save him in the third?
— Backstory on Peter/Benni in any/all of the three universes would be cool. Do they ever feel any whispers of something in the third/"correct" universe, the way Hannah was feeling in that last scene? How did Torben feel about it all? Poor Benni in the trailer! So much angst. As a side note, I loved the plotline about Franciska trying to help out.
— Did either of the Wöllers know anything about the time travel? Did one or both have a time travel adventure? Did they know it was a time travel adventure, or do only we the readers see what was going on?
— Did Torben know more than he was letting on to his bosses? What was it like for him, in the first two universes, to know that his bosses were always having affairs, and/or that Benni was sleeping with his boss's husband? He was always the lackey in the police department; in the final universe, does he get to be the boss, now that Charlotte and Ulrich aren't there? Was he dating anyone in the first two universes that we didn't see?
— It amused me that Peter, who was clearly SUCH a mess, was a therapist/priest – giving advice to other people. LOL. How did that work out? How did he rationalize his own issues and problems? Did he and Torben ever have to work together, or talk about issues?
Here are anchor links to the different sections:
• The Enchanted Castle - Edith Nesbit
• David Blaize - EF Benson
• Sky Island - L Frank Baum
• Psmith - PG Wodehouse
• His Dark Materials (TV)
• Dark (TV)
General Notes
I like fic where people talk and do new things (not missing scenes or alternate POVs of canon scenes). I'm just as--often more!--interested in watching characters navigate what comes after a prompted premise than I am in the premise itself. If you have the time and inclination to include the set-up as well, then great! But feel free to skip all that and start in media res.
Things I Always Love
• Devoted Odd Couples: enjoying one another's company; laughing at one another; fond exasperation; reunions; friends to lovers (including for characters who never met in canon; you can pretend they’ve been friends since before the story started)
• Adventures: fish out of water; exploring new territory; dramatic rescues or escapes; finding out about magic; complementary skill sets; badassery; laughing in the face of danger or absurdity; the pen is mightier than the sword (but I also really love swords)
• Sexy Times: This letter is already long, so I left general porn likes/dislikes at the Yuleporn post HERE.
• Clothing Porn: suits, leather, armour, uniforms, boots, breeches; admiring how good (or ridiculous) love interest looks in the above; not sure how to get these weird clothes off; neckties and the many uses thereof
• Hurt/Comfort: external force/person makes A hurt B; forced to watch loved one endure something awful; stoic character trying to joke their way through hurt; shame about desires or how badly they want it; comforter is hiding their own hurt; bedside vigils; patching up loved one's wounds; helping one another through an awful ordeal; fainting; "I thought you were dead!"
• Loyalty & Self-Sacrifice : taking someone else’s blame or punishment; jumping in front of a bullet; sacrificing career, safety, reputation or happiness for loved one (but it turns out okay in the end!); volunteering to be beaten, humiliated, tortured, fucked, etc to spare loved one or to secure some benefit for them; trying to keep sacrifice or hurt secret from loved one, either out of shame, or because A doesn't want B to feel beholden/guilty, or because A doesn’t want B to know the extent of A's feelings; B finding out anyway
• Not Originally Sexual Bondage: I prefer restraint when it, at least initially, occurs for plot reasons. A ties B to the bed for sexy fun? Not my thing. A ties B to the bed to keep B from hurting himself while possessed? Yes! Whether or not it then turns sexy in the story (it certainly can!), it's already sexy to me. Examples... tied or chained up for a ritual or because of imprisonment; stoicism and nobility while bound, stripped, whipped, jeered at, or nonconsensually touched; captives find ways to kiss and touch despite being bound; strong character submits or pretends to be unable to break out of bonds for reasons; noble struggling and writhing
• Crossovers: applying skills/knowledge from one canon to another canon’s problems; characters coming up with logical but incorrect theories about what's going on before discovering the truth; contrasting or reconciling differences in how a concept manifests across canons (ex. immortality, magic, realm hopping, time shenanigans); magic or plot point in one canon has roots in another
Do Not Wants
*These are the same as in my signup, but with a little more explanation on some. The category headers and organization don't mean much; I'm just trying to loosely group to reduce scrolling.
• Death & Endings: permanent death of requested characters; the afterlife; bleak endings; as-if-it-never-happened erasure endings (ex. "it was all a dream" or events of fic are permanently mind-wiped away)
• Sex-Related: BDSM; underage/overage sex; A/B/O; pregnancy or infertility
• Headcanons: ace, aro, demi or gender identity headcanons
• Ship-Related: non-canon romantic ships, unless prompted (however, mentions of backstory relationships with OCs are fine); poly/threesomes, unless prompted; non-canonical adultery or open relationships; conflicting requested ships (ex. A/B and A/C in same fic), unless prompted; non-canonical nicknames; shovel talks; yentas and matchmakers; fated love; age differences of 10+ years within requested ships (based on appearance if immortal)
• Writing-Related: 1st & 2nd person POV; phonetically spelled dialogue (my brain genuinely struggles to process it)
• Crossover-Related: unprompted crossovers of more than two canons at a time; fourth wall breakage (ex. World A characters know World B as fiction); crossovers where the main characters remain unaware of each others' backgrounds or magic (the reveal/explanation doesn't have to happen 'on-screen', but please don't let it end with everyone thinking everyone else is normal, in a 'ships passing in the night' kind of way); age differences of more than ~10 years within a ship
• Other: fusions; setting change AUs**; goofy crack (but crack taken seriously is fine!); references to 2020 real-life issues (ex. Covid, US or UK politics)
**A Note on setting change AUs: I welcome invented mechanisms, like portals, to get characters from one world to another. I also welcome the addition of supernatural elements to a canon (ex. selkies exist, time loops are possible, someone's mom was a fairy, Stonehenge is a magical place, etc.). Shifting timelines within a late 19th/early 20th century range is also fine! My DNW for setting change AUs is meant to cover scenarios where the supernatural elements that form a canon's premise are wholly removed, or a requested character's pre-canon backstory beats are wholly unrecognizable (ex. I always want Clark Kent to be a Kryptonian who grew up in Kansas), or a canon is moved into a wildly different location or time period (ex. 21st century, space).
Enchanted Castle – E Nesbit
Characters: Phoebus Apollo
Where to Get It: Free on Gutenberg HERE. My promo post is HERE.
The section where the children party all night with the gods and goddesses is one of the loveliest things I've ever read. The gods were all so friendly and sexy and nonchalant and wise and wonderful. Especially Phoebus! I want to learn more about him perspective on stuff, how he spends his nights, his friendships with the other gods, etc. But especially more of his interactions with humans! Since I'm asking for more adult characters, content and themes, there's zero need to mimic the canon narrative voice (though you can, if you want). Any of the other godly or human characters are welcome to appear! I love them all.
'The magic must come to an end' is my least favorite ending, for anything. Thankfully, it seems that the statues would continue to come to life at night regardless. However, feel free to pretend the ring's magic didn’t end so the castle can remain magical and people can still use the ring to become statues (I loved that so much). Whatever works; no need to explain the divergence. Phoebus kept talking about his world vs the kids' world, so you could possibly argue that the kids realm-hopped into a different dimension? What's that like? Or is it our plane of existence, after all? Or something else? I'm interested in a wide variety of interpretations of the worldbuilding, so go wild. But you can also not get into that at all.
DNW: the Ugly Wuglies (they still terrify me). I also don't want tragic lifespan incompatibilities, so please make any god/human ships a revelrous, casual thing; DNW pining or heartbreak or epilogues where the human has gotten old while Phoebus is still young, or for the gods to grow old.
Random Note: I've got a weird existential hangup about these kinds of canons (see also: Night at the Museum and the Muppets). I need to think of the characters as real, not as man-made statues. Basically, as long as you don't dwell on the idea that they aren't really alive or aren't really Greek gods, and you don't have them meet other statue versions of themselves, I’ll be happy. Perhaps they are actual Apollo & Co who were long ago cursed to be dormant during the day, so that, of all the statues of these gods that exist in the world, these are the only ones that come to life, because they are the 'real' gods. Or something. The way Phoebus talked about the other special place in Greece made it sound like Zeus was real…
— Post-Canon Shipping: I would adore something set 5-10 years later (whenever the children are at least 18), when one or all of them return to the castle. Do they see one another regularly, or only at these magical reunions? Do they now have grown-up problems or angst (either regarding the castle stuff or in their regular lives), or is everything fine? If angst, can the statues help? Have the gods watched them grow up over the years? If you’re up for it, I would love to have one of the now grown-up kids make out (or more!) with Phoebus. Any of them, your pick! What causes things to change from friendly to more? Does it happen when everyone's a statue, or one is a human, or new magic makes Pheobus flesh for a night? Is this the first time Phoebus has hooked up with a human? Or not? I'll take anything!
— Phoebus & Other Gods: What’s it like on a normal night for Phoebus and the other statues? What types of dynamics does he have with the other gods/goddesses? Do they have little dramas or flirtations
— New Homes: Has Phoebus somehow gotten sold and moved elsewhere? Is it just him, or the whole collection? Does Phoebus team up, either with other statues or the now grown-up kids, to deal with a threat or a problem? Are they trying to break the curse so they can become flesh (but still immortal) again, or defeat an enemy who wants to destroy them or put him/them somewhere awful? Or maybe it's a house party whodunnit where the silently watching statues help solve a mystery, without the majority of humans knowing they're alive? Let your imagination run wild!
— Crossovers: Similar to the above prompts, but with crossover characters. More people should experience the magical evenings! Since the castle's been around for ages, it could be set pre-canon, too. I’d very much like crossover characters to be the age they were at some point in their canons, even if it means moving Enchanted Castle timelines (it feels timeless to me, anyway, mid-19th to mid-20th century). Here are some characters I'd love to see hang out with Phoebus (gen or ship!):
• Psmith (Wodehouse) – Perhaps Psmith or Mike is related to the Yaxleys and takes his friend along for a visit? Or some other excuse. I only want Psmith/Mike emotionally shipped with each other, though a one-time hook up with Phoebus (whether a twosome or threesome) that results in Psmith/Mike getting together could be hot (PG with kissing would also be awesome, just to be clear!).
• Bertie Wooster (Wodehouse) – His latest country estate visit is even more confusing than usual! Any of Bertie's friends are welcome to tag along. Jeeves doesn't need to appear, though he can if you want; please don’t ship him with anyone. Bertie is the one exception to my 1st person POV DNW, but I'd be just as interested in a 3rd person POV, whether Phoebus or general narration.
• Edmund Pevensie (Narnia) – He is NOT allowed to die! Does he visit accidentally, or does he have his own magic rings that allow for something even more interesting? As long as he's grown up again, he can hook up with Phoebus, too! Lucy, Eustace, and/or Jill are welcome to come, too.
• Bucky Barnes (MCU) – Perhaps the castle became a hospital in WWII, where Bucky recovers after Azzano, and because of the experiments, he's the only one who can see the gods? Or, any other premise you want! How do they help him? Or maybe the story starts decades later, when he goes back for a visit after he’s recovered, because he was never sure if he dreamed that initial WWII night?
• Victor, Vanessa, and/or Ethan from Penny Dreadful – Investigating something funky at the castle, or the gods help them defeat monsters, or simply helping Victor loosen up, or they visit the castle because Lyle has read about the ring as a way to defeat some monster, or…? (Note: I would prefer to ignore the last season)
David Blaize – EF Benson
Characters: Frank Maddox, Hughes
Where to Get It: First book is free on Gutenberg HERE. There’s a free copy of the sequel, ‘David of King’s’, HERE; this version of the sequel isn’t the most user-friendly, but, I’ll confess... I find the sequel kinda boring. Since Frank is offscreen in Greece for large swaths of it, I control-F for “Frank” and only read the parts that he's in; therefore, the user-friendliness doesn’t matter so much.
While Frank's anguished self-loathing is super compelling, I ultimately want him to get over it (and get over himself, a little). I adore pining, but sometimes, if it goes on for years and years and makes my fave miserable or repressed, I end up just wanting him/her to move on with someone else he or she can actually be with. I reached that point with Frank/David by the end of the second book (which depressed me a bit, on Frank's behalf, even as it made me love him even more). So, please let Frank get over his crush on David and be entirely into a new guy, without bashing David (whom I do like!). I want him to find happiness and self-acceptance—with actual kissing, or more! Hughes is the only canon character I'm interested in shipping with Frank; however, there's no need for Hughes to appear if you write Frank/OMC or the crossover options below.
I originally read this series because I love boarding school stories, but I ended up mainly wanting fic about Frank's post-Marchester life. Please set it when Frank is anywhere between 19-30 (ie. canon divergence after he leaves Marchester, or shortly post-canon), so he doesn't have to wait too long to be happier. He's such a fascinating and endearing blend of judgmental, whimsical, bossy, charismatic, and melancholic. The chapter where he devises the plan to catch the cheaters was such fun, as was his love of the macabre; if it fits, shipfic that incorporates his cleverness, snark, take-chargeness, and/or sense of whimsy would be lovely. Or run with the thing where he cured David with the power of love to a place where Frank is literally magical?
— Hughes: The melodrama of Frank seducing Hughes, dumping Hughes, and then poor Hughes getting expelled when he tries to move on… It's an amazing Part 1. Give me the 5-10 years later sequel! How and where do they meet up again? We know Hughes ended up at Sandhurst, but what about after that? How has he been? If the answer is "great!", how does Frank reconcile that with his years of miserable repression? Is Hughes still hurt, or has he blissfully accepted himself? Or does he have complementary hangups that they work through together? Do they run into one another in London or at war or at a wedding or…? How do they get back together for a happy/hopeful ending? Who makes the first move?
— OMC: A canon divergence where Frank gets together with someone at Cambridge? Or during his Greek archeological expeditions? Archaeology is so romantic! Or set a couple of years after the end of the second book… Does Frank live in London, join a Wodehouse-style club, visit country estates, have a job? Or some sort of fucked up initiation rite (for Cambridge or London clubs?) forces Frank to give into what he really wants and he ends up better for it? Or maybe a canon divergence where he fights in WWI, and he and a fellow soldier are all desperately angsty and passionate in their trench?
— Crossovers 1: Prompts for Frank/Edmund Pevensie (Narnia), Frank/Bucky Barnes (MCU), Frank/Thor (MCU), Frank/Ethan (Penny Dreadful) or Frank & Psmith/Mike (Wodehouse) are HERE.
— Crossovers 2: See HERE for Frank with Tirian (Narnia), Dumbledore (Fantastic Beasts), Atlantis (UK TV) characters, or Richard (Lost). The write-ups for these are shorter, but I want them just as much!
Oz – L Frank Baum
Pairing: Polychrome, Button-Bright
Where to Get It: For Yuletide, the fandom is called “The Sea Fairies & Sky Island”, but neither of these characters appear in ‘The Sea Fairies’; I personally haven’t read it. You can read Sky Island, for free, HERE. Button-Bright and Polychrome also appear in various books in the same author’s Oz series, but I don’t think reading them is necessary for this request. However, if you’re interested, they first met (before Sky Island takes place) in Road to Oz. Button-Bright also stars in The Scarecrow of Oz, and Polly has a biggish role in Tik-Tok of Oz, but they don’t have any scenes together post-Sky Island. They have small roles in other books, too, but I honestly don’t think they appear enough in them to be worth it or relevant to this request. That said, if you’re a true completist, all the Oz books are free on Gutenberg. You can also get the whole set in a single Kindle file for $1 HERE), for easy control-Fing for their names.
These darlings! They're both always getting lost! Polly is such an ethereal delight with a quietly regal core, understated power, and great diplomacy. She’s very sweet, but not a pushover. Button-Bright is so unflappable, friendly, and practical, so brave and with such a good heart. I love how they both take life as it comes, with relative good cheer (but are not above crying when things really suck).
You don't need to base fic on Sky Island settings or plots; using the regular Oz series canon is great, too! The reason I nominated ‘Sky Island’ instead of the Oz series is because I vastly preferred that book's characterizations of Button-Bright and Polychrome (and Trot, too). They’re much more active protagonists in it. Button-Bright was especially sociable, mature and quick-thinking, and Polly was assertive and take-charge. They were less interesting too me (Button-Bright especially) in 'Road to Oz', when they were sillier and/or more helpless.
I’ll be happy with friendship or shipfic. If you write shipfic where they are pre- or early-teens, please keep it super innocent--hand-holding, first crushes, confused feelings, cute kisses, sweet gestures, huddling for warmth, innocently awkward attempts at comfort... But if you're aging them up to 17+, you can go as hot and heavy as you like. Does Button-Bright even realize that what he feels is a crush? Or is it Polly who has been crushing on oblivious Button Bright? Is love (or friendship) between a sky fairy and a dopey American kid frowned upon? Or is everyone happy for them?
Incorporating worldbuilding about literally any place or concept in the books, or culture clashes between life in the sky, Oz, or US would be amazing, if it fits. You could keep it whimsical, go way angstier than the books, tackle canon concepts more seriously, or go all-in on the darkness lurking under the surface (there were some seriously messed-up implications played very casually in these books... but I still want a happy ending!). I’m not someone who needs pastiche, especially if you’re writing more grown-up themes than the source material, so please don’t feel like you must mimic Baum’s narration.
I only know the Baum books, so please keep it to canon from those. There are so many inconsistencies in the books, so don't stress about canon compliance. I'm fond of everyone (except Scraps and the Glass Cat, sorry), so pretty much anyone is welcome to appear in the background. However, bonus points for more rarely written characters such as Trot, Cap'n Bill, Ojo, the Ork, or Tik-Tok, instead of focusing on Ozma and Dorothy (I love them, but they already get so much attention in canon and fic).
— I loved Polly's parting promise in 'Sky Island' to always look out for Button-Bright (that's when I decided I shipped it). Tell me about a time when she made good on that promise. There’s a lot of talk of Polly being a ‘powerful sky fairy’, but we rarely see her do anything; tell me more about these powers!
— We don’t know what Button-Bright got up to between the end of Sky Island and the beginning of Scarecrow of Oz. Was Polly involved? What adventure did they have that led to him being stuck in that popcorn snowdrift in the Land of Mo? Or, think up a canon divergence that results in him leaving Earth but ending up somewhere other than Mo, for a different adventure (with Polly!).
— Does Button-Bright visit Polly on the rainbow? Or does Polly actively recruit him for help with a problem in the sky? How can he help (or mess things up further)? I'd love to imagine more about the sky fairies, their sky palaces, Polly’s relationship with her sisters, and, just generally, Polly’s life as the Rainbow’s reckless, misfit daughter.
— Button-Bright gets so lost that he (and somehow Polly) ends up back in our world. What happens next? Is it a short visit, or do they stay long enough to grow up a bit? How does Polly like or adapt to our world? Did Button-Bright's family even notice he’d been gone? Has a long time passed but he hasn’t aged? Does Polly’s family notice she’s gone (it makes me sad how long it takes her dad to find her whenever she gets lost)? How do they work together, have feelings, and get back to fairyland?
— Polly and Button-Bright are the only ones who can save their friends from the latest peril. How do they work together to do it? Does he accidentally (or knowingly) do something valiant that makes her swoon? Does she do something that makes even oblivious Button-Bright realize how much she cares? Or captured or stranded together; forced proximity, and working together to rescue themselves, etc.
— I'd love an exploration of the carefree pros and melancholy cons of immortal childhood. Button-Bright stopped aging once he moved to Oz. Does Polly, who's thousands of years old (but appears the same age as where he gets stuck at), help Button-Bright adjust?
— What if something (a spell, a fruit they shouldn't have eaten, it doesn't matter) has left them both temporarily aged up to late teens? What happens next? Suddenly experiencing hormones? Gaining new perspectives? Changes in their dynamics with other characters? Wistfulness if/when they get de-aged again?
Psmith - PG Wodehouse
• Psmith/Mike
Where to Get It: All four short books are free on Gutenberg HERE. Only 'Mike & Psmith' and 'Psmith In the City' are necessary for these requests.
The odd coupling of Mike’s everyman pragmatism and Psmith’s hilariously eccentric dialogue is endlessly delightful to me. I love their loyalty and what self-sacrificing heroes they both are, while also being total little shits. Every time Psmith throws himself on his sword for Mike makes me die a little, in a good way. I love how Mike holds his own with Psmith, and how he rolls his eyes but quietly loves him just as much. Mike has his own self-sacrificing streak, too. These two!
There’s so much they feel but don’t say, even with Psmith’s incessant talking; in what other ways can those feelings come out? Who is the forward one here, or do they bumble equally in their own ways? Does either try to hide his nerves/inexperience? Or not? Or maybe one or both is actually experienced? Any take on a romance between them would be fascinating.
If you don't ship it, a crossover (see below for options) or an adventure that adds magic or supernatural elements to the otherwise canonical universe would also be good, especially if it digs into their relationship and shows how well they work together (no vampires or werewolves, please). Regardless of whether you write ship or gen, DNW any hint that they will ever be with anyone else in the future; please set it before they met their wives and/or pretend they never did.
I’ve requested them so many times that, at this point, I have endless prompts. I tried to write a few new ones here to keep it fresh. However, feel free to use a prompt from an older letter, if you want. Or come up with your own idea!
— First Times: Does it start out as FWB that both secretly wish could be more? Do either of them have previous experience, or is it their first time? If yes on the prior experience, was it all lovely, or does A have angsty backstory whump about sex that B slowly realizes is a thing and gently, lovingly helps A through? Or does A have an unexpected kink that he’s embarrassed about, but B rolls with it? Is it an awkward first time that leaves one or both thinking the other doesn’t want to try again, but it all turns out all right in the end?
— Ritual Sex: Maybe it's part of a university team or London society club initiation? Ideally (for me, not for the characters), this is their awkward first time together, before they've confessed their feelings. Or maybe the experience helps at least one of them to realize they like the other? I like it to feel angsty and fraught in the moment (no pre-arranged discussions of consent, please), and they find out only later that they were both into it and get together. Are there interesting details to the ritual? Ex, is it in public, or do they have to draw on one another, or feed one another, or come a certain number of times, or...
— Visits at Home: I was so into Mike visiting Psmith’s house at the start of ‘Psmith In the City’, and the way Psmith A) had just learned how to drive and B) put Mike in an adjoining room, promising to pop in during the night. Tell me more! This is the first time they were together outside of the strict rules of school. Does one or both hope this is a time to finally make a move? How does it happen? Does Psmith’s dad almost catch them, without meaning to, and without having any idea what’s going on (he’s so cutely absent-minded)? Do they take the car out, only for it to break down? Or a different idea?
— Time Loops: This trope has such potential for angst+humor, which is perfect for the things I love about this ship. What if A has to watch his beloved B suffer over and over? Or what if being stuck in the loop leads to A realizing his feelings? Or maybe they’re stuck in the loop together and this is the kind of intense scenario they need to get together? I enjoy a variety of loop iterations—from wacky, to “give no fucks”, to suicidal, to exploratory, to the darkest timeline, to erroneously thinking it’s over—and using these iterations to explore a character's more extreme sides. Does the loop focus on a quotidian time (ex. redoing a day at Sedleigh, or during the ship voyage to New York, or a normal day during the bank period) or is it something more dramatic (ex. NYC gangsters, WWI battles)?
— Running the Estates: It sounded like this happened for a little bit, before Smith Sr died? Tell me more! Were they sneaking around, hooking up in gazebos? Was Mike a good estate manager? Did Psmith always try to distract him?
— Cambridge: Aside from the epilogue of ‘Psmith, Journalist’, we didn’t get to see any of their university years. I feel robbed! Tell me more about nights Mike spends on the sofa in Psmith’s room
— Canon Setting Spies: God, they'd be the best/worst spy team. Is it for the war? Or do they open a spy/detective business when their dads lose all their money? What is the job? Is it domestic espionage, or are they abroad working for the government? Does it require a moment of pretending to be together (like, the mark is in gay club or something)? Or is it more action-based (I love badass Psmith and Mike fighting together)? Do they get caught? Are there disguises? Anything!
— WWI: The boys meeting at boarding school is usually sacrosanct to me, but something about the army's strict rules, complicated hierarchies to navigate, all-male forced proximity, ragging potential, etc, creates a similar environment—only with even more opportunities for whump, action, and angst. You could also keep them having met at Sedleigh, as in canon, and go on to fight in the war. Either way! Fighting together, espionage missions, winning a key battle through impertinent ragging, unexpected application of cricket talents, writing for The Wipers Times… Meeting or reuniting during training, in the trenches, as prisoners… Do they have special skills or jobs? Mike the accidental war hero, keeping one another warm in their trench, making out in a bombed out Belgian village, the desperation of war causing them to reveal long-secret pining, Psmith going behind enemy lines to rescue Mike…
— Just Add Magic: Accidental acquisition of super powers? Magical artifact grants wishes? Weird stuff happening around the archeological ruins near the school/university? Something eerie about their apartment building? Mirrors or paintings not working how mirrors should? Learning alchemy at school? A kind of Susanna Clarke approach to England, where magic exists in England? Or a gothic trope or idea that tickles your imagination! If magic is part of everyday life, how do Psmith and Mike use it, similarly or differently? What subtle changes does that make on canonical Wodehousian customs or institutions? Or,if magic is not known to be a thing, how do Psmith and Mike hide this weird development?
— Crossovers: I want to hear what Psmith and Mike have to say about these weird people and places. Prompts with Narnia here. Prompts with Penny Dreadful, Good Omens, Atlantis BBC, or My Family & Other Animals are here. Prompts with David Blaize are here. I'd also be up for Psmith and Mike traveling to Westeros/Essos (but I only know the TV show); most of what I wrote here can be tweaked to fit Psmith/Mike instead of the characters I originally prompted. Prompts with The Enchanted Castle are in that section above.
His Dark Materials (TV)
• Lord Boreal/Thomas
Where to Get It: It's streaming on HBO services in the US, and I assume BBC outlets in the UK (it's a co-production). Season 2 starts in a few weeks, but this request only needs season 1.
Lord Boreal is so rivetingly sexy-terrible, wracked with inconvenient feelings. And I have loved Robert Emms since Atlantis, so I was primed to find Thomas adorable and endearing. Boreal stalks around not giving a shit about anything, except, in my mind, Thomas ("He IS important." Aaaaa!). Boreal seems relaxed in our world and around Thomas in a way he isn't otherwise. Their little smiles, how seamlessly they work together, how Thomas knows what Boreal is thinking even when he's being pissily silent. Thomas's praise kink can be seen from space, and he's just so thirsty, in addition to being extremely smart. It's all so weirdly sweet, without ever losing sight of the fact that Boreal is not a good person.
Perhaps Boreal is used to getting what he wants because people are scared of him, so being wanted simply for himself (or his hotness) is precious to him? Does he vaguely worry that Thomas only likes him for the novelty of a man from another world (but Thomas doesn't actually)? Some other take? Is Boreal only free to sleep with men in in our world? Does Boreal keep meaning to get rid of Thomas, because he's served his purpose/knows too much/other, but keeps finding excuses not to, refusing to face the real reason he can't let go? What makes him finally accept his feelings? How does knowing the enormous secret of the existence of other worlds affect how Thomas lives his day to day life?
DNW either Boreal or Thomas to die. Please pretend it was the other guy who tripped over the cat, or set it before then with no foreshadowing of what's coming. I don't want Boreal's connection to his daemon (or Thomas's hilarious terror-arousal about it) ignored, but I'd really like something that isn't solely about daemons. The daemon stuff is cool and all, but so are the bazillion other world-building concepts from this series that rarely get explored in fic.
— Does Thomas cross? Either because there's an emergency, or to impress Boreal? How does he go about finding his boyfriend and navigating this world? Or maybe Boreal takes him through the window and they fuck in the creepy greenhouse.
— Thomas crosses and gets captured by the Gobblers or the bears or the witches or I don't even know. Boreal masterfully swooping in to save him. Lots of traumatized, shivering Thomas needing to be comforted and warmed up
— Thomas crosses and gets captured by the Magisterium. Do they consult the alethiometer to figure out his deal? Is Boreal angry with Thomas for being such an idiot, or just worried? I feel like worry and anger probably manifest similarly with him. Do they angstily bang in Thomas's cell, or in Boreal's apartment after the rescue? Thomas getting whumped by the Magisterium, and then comforted by Boreal? Oooh, what if, before he can effect a rescue, Boreal has to join in on the whump to hide that he knows/loves Thomas? Mmm.
— Boreal runs afoul of the Magisterium and needs to hide out in our world for much longer than usual. His trips so far have been practical; how does he act now that he's trying to live a more permanent life? What do he and Thomas do? Domestic nights at the lake house? Nights on the town? Learning more about one another in a more quotidian way?
— Given that Boreal doesn't live in our world, doesn't visit when he says he will, and is generally an asshole, Thomas has no reason to think they're going steady or that Boreal gives a shit. Therefore, what if Thomas has been casually sleeping with someone else, too? How does Boreal find out and how does he react? Perhaps this is what makes Boreal face how much he actually cares. Or maybe Boreal/Thomas weren't sleeping together before, but this angst is what pushes them to get together. Either way, they sort it out, hopefully without Boreal having the other person killed.
— Mary Malone is my favorite character and has my favorite storyline in the books. What about a canon divergence where Thomas gets involved with her discovery of the angels or something else? How might this affect his relationship with Boreal? Are they at odds? Or...?
Dark (TV)
Characters: Peter Doppler, Bernadette Wöller, Torben Wöller
Where to Get It: This is a Netflix series about the effects of time travel in a small German town. Like a fucked-up Back to the Future, the action goes back and forth between the 1880s, 1920s, 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s. There are missing children, accidental incest, people being their own grandparent, an apocalypse, and all sorts of depressing yet compelling insanity. This request is full of massive spoilers.
There were so many characters in this great show, but I was weirdly fixated on Torben Wöller, and really into the universe-spanning love story between Peter and Benni. You could write a story focused on Torben, including some of Torben's relationship with his sister, and, as an extension, Benni/Peter. Or you could write something more focused on Benni or Peter, including Benni's sibling relationship with Torben on the side. Or something else. I'm flexible. Keeping canon character deaths in the first two universes is fine here, since it's all okay in the third. But I'm also open to canon divergences!
Showing a little bit of any of these three characters' relationships with other characters in the background would be interesting, especially people we never or barely saw them hang out with. Ex. Claudia, Jonas, Egon Tiedemann, Franciska, Tannhaus… Even though I'm telling myself that final!Hannah was probably a lovely person, I'm less interested in reading about Torben/Hannah. No need to pretend they aren't together or anything; I just want to focus more on his other relationships! Even though I ship Peter/Benni, I really loved Charlotte, so would prefer not to bash her. Sometimes people just aren't suited!
— I loved the payoff of all of Torben's unexplained missing parts in the first two universes, and then how he was fine in the "right" universe. Was there something in the first two universes that caused accidents that didn't exist in the third? Did Benni save him in the third?
— Backstory on Peter/Benni in any/all of the three universes would be cool. Do they ever feel any whispers of something in the third/"correct" universe, the way Hannah was feeling in that last scene? How did Torben feel about it all? Poor Benni in the trailer! So much angst. As a side note, I loved the plotline about Franciska trying to help out.
— Did either of the Wöllers know anything about the time travel? Did one or both have a time travel adventure? Did they know it was a time travel adventure, or do only we the readers see what was going on?
— Did Torben know more than he was letting on to his bosses? What was it like for him, in the first two universes, to know that his bosses were always having affairs, and/or that Benni was sleeping with his boss's husband? He was always the lackey in the police department; in the final universe, does he get to be the boss, now that Charlotte and Ulrich aren't there? Was he dating anyone in the first two universes that we didn't see?
— It amused me that Peter, who was clearly SUCH a mess, was a therapist/priest – giving advice to other people. LOL. How did that work out? How did he rationalize his own issues and problems? Did he and Torben ever have to work together, or talk about issues?