FFFX Exchange 2021

[aurilly]

Hello, dear writer! I am so psyched for this. Especially for exchanges with really long minimums like this, what I want most is something YOU are having fun writing. So, please don't feel like you need to stick to the specific prompts. I'll also be happy with your own idea, maybe trying to incorporate one or two of the general likes? As long as there's a happy/hopeful ending, I'm sure I'll love it. Thank you! I'm aurilly on AO3 as well.

Here are anchor links to the different sections:
• Bucky Barnes (MCU) Notes
• Penny Dreadful
• Narnia
• Lymond Chronicles
• Sinbad (TV)
• Atlantis (UK TV)
• Once Upon a Time
• Bond (Craig)/Ted Lasso Crossover
• MCU/Wodehouse Crossover
• MCU/Derry Girls Crossover
• MCU/Narnia Crossovers
• Psmith Crossovers
• David Blaize & Related Crossovers
• Doctrine of Labyrinths & Related Crossovers


General Notes
I say it throughout, but just in case I missed one… I’m much less interested in how/why characters fell into a portal or first met than I am in what comes after--when they’re past the immediate ‘wtf’ or introductions stage. The dynamics they forge, the adventures they have, the things they learn, how they get together, stuff like that. So, feel free to start in media res, after they're already friends, or even years later when they're reuniting. Basically, stories that end shortly after the introductions make me sad.

I'm similarly often more interested in watching characters deal with what comes after a prompted premise than I am in the premise itself. So feel free to treat the premise prompts more as backstory than as the main thrust of the story.

Things I Always Love
• Devoted Odd Couples: enjoying one another's company; laughing at one another; fond exasperation; long-lost friends and reunions; friends to lovers (including for characters who never met in canon; I love stories that start after they’re already friends in order to focus on the ‘to lovers’ part)

• Adventures: 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 HERE (they’re for any ship, not just the ones listed there).

• 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: comforter is hiding their own hurt; bedside vigils; patching up loved one's wounds; fainting; stoic character trying to joke their way through pain; external force/person makes A hurt B; forced to watch loved one endure something awful; helping one another through an awful ordeal; "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; A trying to keep sacrifice secret from B; B finding out anyway

• Not Originally Sexual Bondage: I prefer restraint when it, at least initially, occurs for plot reasons. For example, 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, please! 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

• Historical or Fantasy Settings: SWORDS!; also archery and daggers; kneeling; knighting; tournaments; balls; "I don't know how to ride a horse!"; one horse goes lame so we have to share; camping in virgin forests; suddenly shot at by unseen archers; sleeping in haylofts; rowdy taverns; contrasting speech patterns; historical/fantasy characters intrigued by stuff or knowledge brought by realm hoppers

• On a Boat!: ropes and rigging; cabins and hammocks; white linen, big hats and brass telescopes; turning the big wheel; supplies running out; watching the stars from the bird’s nest; beset by storms; false flag operations; walking the plank; sword between the teeth; boarding parties; stranded on deserted islands; sheer terror before or during a sea battle; the only naval officer who knows how to swim; trying to find privacy on the crowded ship; seasickness; slowly winning the respect of the non-officer men; people falling off the ship at night under dramatic circumstances and being presumed dead except they’re not; rampage of rescue; the grumbling cook; bawdy port taverns


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; any mention of pregnancy or fertility issues (I just assume that none of the sex scenes will result in pregnancy)
• Headcanons: ace, aro, demi or gender identity headcanons
• Ship-Related: shovel talks; yentas and matchmakers; fated love or soulmates; unrequested non-canon romantic ships (however, mentions of backstory relationships with OCs are fine); poly/threesomes; non-canonical adultery or open relationships; conflicting requested ships (ex. A/B and A/C in same fic), unless prompted; non-canonical nicknames (ex. "Stevie", "Lokes")
• Writing-Related: 1st & 2nd person POV (exception for Bertie, Mildmay, Mehitabel, and Gerald Durrell); phonetically spelled dialogue (my brain genuinely struggles to process it)
• Crossover-Related: age differences of more than ~10 years within a ship (based on appearance for immortals); unprompted crossovers of more than two canons at a time; crossovers where the requested 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, for example, the Derry Girls thinking Bucky is just some normal guy, in a 'ships passing in the night' kind of way)
• Other: fusions; setting change AUs**; goofy crack (but crack taken seriously is fine!); real-life current issues (ex. Covid, US/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 mundane canons (ex. time loops, someone's mom was a fairy, Stonehenge is magic, etc.). Pretending late 19th/early 20th century canons actually happened at the same time, in order to minimize age differences, is highly encouraged! 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, or a canon is moved to a wildly different location or time period (ex. 21st century, space).


Bucky Barnes (MCU) Notes (for use in crossovers)
I have loved Bucky since TFA, before I had any idea he wasn't really dead. I love his self-sacrificing loyalty, kindness, badassery, common sense smarts, and wry sense of humor. I love what a stoic woobie he is; he has been bottling up ridiculous amounts of pain and self-loathing since TFA, even as it shows all over his expressive face. I love that he gets exasperated and can be a grumpy little shit.

FAWS was great, but all I’ve ever wanted is fic that explores Bucky beyond the Cap sub-franchise--befriending people other than Steve’s closest friends, having weirder adventures than canon tends to give him, and/or dealing with concerns beyond the usual Cap franchise plots/themes. Hence why I tend to request him with the space/magic or Wakandan parts of the MCU, or crossovers. So, I’d really like something that doesn’t focus on Bucky with Natasha, Sam, Sharon, Peggy, Zemo, or Tony. If you want to include background friendships for Bucky other than Steve, I’d love to imagine someone more unexpected for the role! (Just not Darcy, please.)

I’d love fic that canon diverges from literally any point in his story. I could read a million ways that Bucky finds healing. How do these canon divergent adventures help, and how could he help other characters? Or maybe he found healing in some canon divergent way before the fic started, so that he’s ready for the adventure. Note: I have a pet peeve about fics where Bucky (and Steve) say "ain't" all the time and sound like characters from a 1930s gangster movie. Cursing is fine, though. I really enjoyed “What If?”, so you can use a Bucky from any of those universes, even ones he didn’t explicitly appear in.


Penny Dreadful
• Vanessa/Victor

From the meet-cute over scalpels, to how they've both memorized all this Romantic poetry, to the shopping trip, to their tender heart-to-hearts and pep talks, to their playful teasing and arch banter… There's so much fondness, mutual respect, and loyalty here. They’re both so lonely and haunted, and so simultaneously proud and self-loathing about their monstrous states. I shipped them from the first episode. I want them to find something good in their shared darkness, unambiguously get together--with actual makeouts, or more!--and be endgame with a hopeful vibe.

I loved this show for Victor, Vanessa, Ethan, Malcolm, Sembene, and Lyle's Scooby Gang teamwork and found family, so a bit of that would be fun, if it fits your idea. But it's also great to isolate Victor/Vanessa if you prefer! I was vastly more invested in Victor's awkward efforts to connect with the living than I was in anything having to do with John Clare or Lily, so would prefer the story not to focus on them (mentions or super brief cameos are fine). DNW Victor to bring anyone else back to life. DNW possessed sex, pegging, anal, or knife!sex.

I also don't want Vanessa to die! Please pretend she never did. I'd love a divergence where she never met Dracula, thus eliding the whole situation. More extensive canon divergences are also welcome, like erasing all of S3, or pretending Victor never brought Brona back to life, or Sembene never died, or everyone stayed in London after S2, whatever you want. You can pretend Vanessa/Ethan wasn’t a thing, or pretend it was only a mild crush that they're both over by the time the fic starts. I similarly want Victor to completely get over Brona|Lily (or never have known her).

— Maybe everyone stayed in London at the end of S2 and found a new thing to fight. Catching the Ripper? Dealing when Jekyll goes full Hyde? Taking care of Ethan during a full moon? Investigating a haunted house? Something else? Whatever it is, how does the adventure help Victor/Vanessa get together?

— Undercover as a couple or marriage of convenience: How does the experience deepen their bond and lead to real feelings? What's their wedding night like? How do the others react?

— Some ritual or magic plot blah blah requires that Victor be relieved of his virginity... Vanessa volunteers. Or the sex has to be between people who feel pure, redemptive fondness for one another, even if they don't initially realize it's more than friendly. Either way, it makes them realize they want more.

— Does Vanessa invite Victor to live in Granage Place after S2? Or does she prefer Victor's garret? Helping each other get over their breakdowns/addictions? Can she--with her ghoulish love of taxidermy--assist him with science? Or can her witchcraft help with his addictions or other problems? Or do they both take the therapist's advice and try to have fun--but this time together (never meeting Dracula)? What do attempts at fun look like for them and how do they get together?

— Leaving London entirely? Do they go on a vampire-hunting mission, just the two of them (or with the whole gang), or heal a haunted house? A trip to Bath or some other place that their fancy names get them into but where their personalities don't quite fit? Back to the moors? Or some kind of stranded together or captured together scenario? Some other project that requires them to combine their talents and knowledge?

— They’ve both strayed quite far from their similarly posh country childhoods. Exploring the dichotomy between the Victorian high society they were born into (Victor's family's estate is enormous!) and the demi-monde that brought them together would be fascinating as a side theme. Like, maybe Victor comes into his family money, or has to put on the persona of the Frankenstein family, or…

— We never got anyone's reactions to Victor's extracurricular activities! Separately, I wanted more about him reconciling the existence of biblical demons with his scientific belief system. What does he think of it all? Incorporating either of these themes into a getting-together story would be great.


Narnia
• Emeth/Tirian

Tirian has such human flaws, and he started off as a hot mess of a king (like, why did it take him so long to hear/notice what was going on?), but he’s so noble and brave and driven, and he’s quite resourceful and clever when you rouse him out of his decadence. Emeth should win a prize for the level of admiration and affection he was able to inspire in so few pages. I loved the conflict he faced between his reason, his duty, his devotion, and his desire to prove himself. I think they’re perfect for one another—brave, noble warriors (and all-around lovely guys) who could come to respect and love one another despite their differences.

I would like them to fall in love while living, with actual makeouts (or more!) and have a hopeful ending that assumes the world continues and they don’t die young. I have a weakness for forbidden/secret relationships and 'honour and nobility know no sides' and 'love across enemy lines'. This ship has so much potential for any of these tropes! You could include Emeth/Tirian's first meeting, but you really don’t have to; I’d be super into something that starts later, when they already know each other, in order to focus on pining and getting together instead of insta-love/lust/etc. You could have Jill and Eustace in the story, or make a divergence where they didn’t come during TLB… whatever works!

The end of Narnia, train crash, and afterlife are my biggest DNWs. Please let it be clear that everyone will get to live out their lives. I don't need a fix-it (i.e. a fic focused on how their canon deaths were averted). I prefer to pretend it just never came up! I'm not at all invested in the religious allegory elements.

— What if they had met in Narnia while Emeth was undercover as a merchant, and their love changes the course of the story?

— Canon divergence where Calormen conquered Narnia, but no apocalypse. Tirian as war trophy, slave, or sacrifice to Tash? Tirian being kingly and stoic while tied up and beaten was very, um, interesting to me as a child; as long as there's subsequent comfort from Emeth and a hopeful ending, you can whump him as hard as you like, including with noncon (but only if perpetrated by a third party). What makes Emeth decide to help Tirian? How do they fall in love? Do they run away together? Do they get captured together? Anything!

— Tirian in a time loop in which he, with Emeth's help, goes through some kind of personal growth. It could be something that leads to the apocalypse not happening, or it could be set in a divergence where none of it was an issue, and you make up a time period and problem that he loops through.

— What if, instead of the world ending, Tirian & Co ran away to the mountains and started a resistance to the Calormene occupation, like they talked about doing at one point? I love espionage, desperate missions, angsty last stands, people bonding while struggling to survive in nature, etc. It could be set while they’re still setting it all up. Or you could start it later on, when the resistance has grown strong enough to start making moves. When/why does Emeth end up joining them? Did he defect due to his side’s lack of honor, or because Tirian blows the horn and summons him (from not super far away, lol)? Or something else? How does Emeth fit in? In this divergence, had they met and liked each other before, or are they meeting for the first time now? How do they get together? How do they make strides in the pro-Narnia project? Does Puzzle (the darling!) somehow end up saving the day? Do Emeth and Tirian go on a quest to the magic garden place? Anything!

— Maybe Tirian is given to Emeth as a war prisoner or war trophy (with Emeth as kind and noble jailer, please!), or to someone horrible and Emeth rescues him? Or maybe it’s Narnia that wins the war, and Emeth who ends up as (kind and noble!) Tirian’s prisoner? Angst because crushing on your prisoner might not be honorable? How do they get past that? Or, if you want to go to a more dubcon place… Do Calormene or Narnian traditions require a conquering soldier to fuck his war trophy, or require the Narnian king to fuck one of the conquered soldiers as a symbol of victory? Are they already in love by the time the ritual happens or do they fall for each other afterwards? Lots of hurt/comfort and stoicism, please!

— Optional themes to incorporate into any of the above…. Do the two countries have different views about same-sex romance? It doesn't have to be "Calormen=repressed, Narnia=free love" (though it could); maybe Calormen has a complicated Ancient Greek-style culture, or Narnia's never shaken its Victorian influences, or something about being a country of animals has led to unique ideas about sex... Some other take? Separately, does Tirian’s star heritage give him some sort of magic?


Lymond Chronicles
• Francis/Christian

I yearn for a canon divergence AU about Francis and Christian unambiguously getting together--with actual makeouts, or more!--and being okay after the first book. “The Game of Kings” is far and away my favorite, and the only one I reread (I reread it constantly, though). Francis is so much more insouciant and FUN in it, while still being deliciously anguished and badass. And he and Christian have so much fun together. I love their secret visits and correspondence and music. They conspire so dangerously, but at the same time, she's the only person he seems to relax around. I love how her blindness never stops her from being ridiculously capable. I love the way he understands how she wants to be treated, and quietly helps her get what she wants out of life. I love the way she is largely over his shit and keeps up with his erudite banter. I love their equal amounts of self-sacrificing love for one another. Lots of longing and denial and cleverness and OTT angst would be great. I'm fine pretending the later books never happened, or simply using random bits of them to inspire scenarios that Francis/Christian can get together in.

All that said, I'm going to ask for a bit of hard mode. I've received and read a few fics that are "fix-its", like, focused on the time period where she died and showing how it could have gone differently. And I've loved them!! But that itch is kinda scratched now. What I would like most is something that starts weeks or months after the first book, not focused on or mentioning her 'near-death' episode at all. Maybe she recovered, maybe she never had an accident at all… I don't care. Whatever canon divergence you have to do will work for me. What I want is the life she didn't get to have.

This is one of my most ultimate OTPs, so I need them to be unquestionably endgame and have a happy ending. Instead of bashing or hurting Tom, please pretend their engagement amicably ends/ended, or the pairing never existed at all. As long as he's over it, it’s okay to reference past Francis/Lady Lennox or random women he fucked before Game of Kings. No hints of other Francis pairings, please. Canon ships that don't involve Francis or Christian are fine to include in the background.

— Missions: More reputation-saving quests or diplomatic hijinks? Basically, any kind of canon-typical plot, but with the two of them working together while getting together. Perhaps the Queen Mother sends him/them on a mission to England or France? Undercover as a couple in France or London? Captured and abused by Lady Lennox, or a sultan, or any of the myriad people Francis has probably pissed off, or a rival mercenary gang, or…?

— Undercover as a Couple: I love how such tropes push relationships forward and help them learn new things about each other--both delightful and irritating. I also adore the awkward sexual situations. Feel free to handwave the set-up to get right to the good stuff.

— Just Add Magic: I always love "like canon except magic apparently exists" fics. Maybe Johnnie Bullo's work wasn't a con, or druids, or selkies, or they stumble into Avalon, or find Excalibur, or randomly magical streams, or the fair folk get up to some mischief, or a holy relic turns out to have real power, or there's a haunted castle, or some unexplained something leaves one of them with superpowers. Or you could pretend the books exist within the Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (book version) world; does the Raven King show up? Does the Gentleman kidnap one of them? Something else along those lines? ... IDK. Anything. I'd love to see Francis and Christian dealing with the ensuing adventure while also dealing with their feelings. I'd also love to imagine what Francis might have to say about weirder adventures than he got in canon!

— The books skipped over the first year of Francis's reinstatement into Scottish high society. Tell me more about how that went. What if they'd gotten the formal reintroduction they had wished for? Some other way they reconnected more officially?

— Time Loops: I love individual journeys of self-discovery, as well as self-help adventures in which people learn life lessons, overcome some baggage, figure out priorities, etc. This trope is amazing for all that! I don't really care how/why it starts or stops; feel free to handwave or leave things unexplained. I also don’t care which character is in the loop (or maybe both!). Depending on whether it would be in-character for the character at hand, I enjoy a variety of reactions and loop iterations—from wacky, to “give no fucks”, to suicidal, to darkest timeline, to erroneously thinking it’s over, etc. Or you could focus more on the aftermath, as the character transitions back to normal with the memories of all the other ways it could have gone. This trope gets a little creepy for me when it’s solely focused on making someone fall in love with you, or where character B is treated simply as character A's oblivious reward. However, as long as the loop person has other goals/projects, I'll be ecstatic. Or maybe find a way for the non-loop person to have agency? Or they're in the loop together?


Sinbad (TV)
• Sinbad/Gunnar

I shipped Gunnar/Sinbad from the moment they first made eye contact, and then they proceeded to spend every scene eyefucking. Please make them kiss (or more!)! Some random details that I especially loved: Sinbad's kohl eyeliner; Gunnar's whole muscles + tattoo + sword look; every single time Sinbad starts melodramatically choking to death does he end up with a choking kink?; general "on a boat" details (see general likes at the top of this letter)…

I loved their wry banter. I loved their self-sacrificing loyalty and protective instincts. I am weak for Gunnar's self-loathing about his past, as well as for Sinbad's guilt and character growth. They're such a lovely odd couple. Gunnar is so quiet and methodical while Sinbad is so brash and impulsive. I love how they defer to one another even though their approaches to things are so different. I love how thirsty Sinbad always looks whenever he sees Gunnar fight, and all the wistfully fond looks Gunnar gives Sinbad.

— Random Tropes: I will buy anything, no matter how handwaved. For example: undercover tropes (as a couple, as master/slave, as enemies, as…); bad guys made them do it; "fuck or die"; body swap; ritual sex (bonus points if the ritual involves bodypainting one another); captured together (bonus points if there's hurt/comfort and angsty hookups in their cell or whatever); Aladdin's lamp/wishes gone awry; heists gone awry; vacations gone awry…

— Other Curses: Canon divergence where Amma's curse was something completely, wildly different than 'choking to death if too long on land'. I have no idea what; let your imagination run wild! How do the gang (or just Gunnar, IDK) find out about the curse? How could Gunnar hurt/comfort Sinbad? Or, maybe it's only Cook or someone who knows, and the curse creates some kind of angsty, ridiculous impediment to Sinbad being with Gunnar until it's resolved?

— Random Acquisition of Superpowers: Gunnar gets walloped with a superpower. No need to explain how/why he gets it unless you really want to; handwave away! Any superpower would be great, from traditional ones to something super random and seemingly useless. Does he try to keep it secret? If Sinbad finds out, how does he help Gunnar through this weird time? Or does he get greedy and want Gunnar to use it for something he probably shouldn't? Or does Sinbad not find out, resulting in angsty misunderstandings? Is having the power fun and awesome, or awkward and awful? Does Gunnar accidentally hurt someone he cares about (the angst potential!)? Or can he use it to improve the group's lot? Does Gunnar need to quest to get rid of it (sort of like a curse)? How does this premise help them get together?

— Gunnar's Northern Past: Having to face some aspect of his past, and all the angst that brings out. Maybe we find out that the only way he finally got out of the Valsgarde was through some sort of magic or deal that finally catches up with him, and problems ensue? Or maybe they run into some Valsgarde guys he used to know, and they expect him to be the same old Gunnar (was he chattier back then? drunk? other?). Do they make fun of his new weird friends or make lewd jokes about thinking Gunnar's fucking one of them (doesn't have to be Sinbad)? Or something else?

— Cook: Sinbad and Gunnar getting together as a result of an adventure that revolves around Cook and some issue or mystery about him. What was his deal? He refused to leave the ship, didn't seem to have a name, and was so incredibly wise. Was he cursed in some way that prevented him from leaving it? Was there a magical reason why he was the only one of the original crew to survive? How did he gain all of his knowledge about magic? Or maybe it's less about his backstory and more about something that happens in an adventure-of-the-week way. A new (or old) recipe that goes awry?

— Whump: I love when super strong and stoic characters are made to suffer, and Gunnar would be perfect for this. Maybe some sort of magic makes him do bad things, or turns him into a berserker, or he accidentally hurts one of his new friends. Or maybe someone blackmails/coerces him into betraying (or seeming to betray) his friends, or bad people threaten to hurt Sinbad unless Gunnar does a bad thing... Or something else? Either way, followed up by some sweet, sweet comfort from Sinbad (and possibly also the rest of the gang!).

— If I have a criticism of the show, it's that I wanted more of everyone's dynamics with one another, not just with Sinbad. Ex. I loved Anwar&Rina, and wished all combinations of characters had gotten a focus like that. So, something that explores Gunnar's friendship with someone else, leading to Sinbad/Gunnar would be great (but without it being a yenta situation)!

— Time Loops: I love individual journeys of self-discovery, as well as self-help adventures in which people learn life lessons, overcome some baggage, figure out priorities, etc. This trope is amazing for all that! I don't really care how/why it starts or stops; feel free to handwave or leave things unexplained. I also don’t care which character is in the loop (or maybe both!). Depending on whether it would be in-character for the character at hand, I enjoy a variety of reactions and loop iterations—from wacky, to “give no fucks”, to suicidal, to darkest timeline, to erroneously thinking it’s over, etc. This trope gets a little creepy for me when it’s solely focused on making someone fall in love with you, or where character B is treated simply as character A's oblivious reward. However, as long as the loop person has other goals/projects (or if the non-loop person already had feelings), I'll be ecstatic. Or maybe find a way for the non-loop person to have agency? Or they're in the loop together?


Atlantis (BBC)
• Jason/Medusa
• Pythagoras/Icarus

General Atlantis Notes
If you're focusing on Icarus/Pythagoras, it's fine to keep Jason's canon het ships in the background, if you want. It's also fine to keep Medusa's canonical death if you're focusing on Pythagoras/Icarus. However, if writing Jason/Medusa, please pretend Jason’s canon ships were never a thing or that everyone got over it before the story started (or maybe he starts out with a little puppy crush on Ariadne that goes nowhere because he quickly develops deeper feelings for Medusa). While I like Hercules in general, DNW Hercules/Medusa. Please pretend Hercules never had a crush on her, or got over it before anything ever happened between them (DNW any drama between Jason and Hercules over Medusa).

I love all the protagonists, so feel free to include anyone you like! This is random, but I quite liked Korinna and her friendships with literally everyone (I vaguely shipped her with Ariadne). Feel free to include her in the background, if it makes sense. I’m also weirdly obsessed with the idea of Icarus and Cassandra becoming buddies in the background?


Jason/Medusa
DNW Medusa to die or be permanently stuck as a gorgon. Beyond that, as long as they unambiguously get together--with actual makeouts, or more!--and are endgame, I’ll be happy! My heart tends to ship non-canon m/f pairings who are canonically friends, and these two were lovely together. They always seemed so delighted to see one another. I loved whenever Medusa helped or saved the trio (or herself!) with non-action-girl smarts, and without it turning into a 'mom' to these 'silly boys' dynamic. I love that Jason is such a hero but also had realistic flaws, and could be shy, vulnerable and dorky.

I loved the contrast between their easy-going daily dynamic vs the epic drama of everything else about them--what with them both being new in town at first, him knowing her story in advance and wanting to prevent it, the awful destiny linking them, him being one of the few who could look at her after her transformation and live... They also had potential for epic hurt/comfort. What if they had been able to change things, at any point? That said, I don’t necessarily want a “fix-it”; I really love stories that assume people didn't die and that start much later on to tell me about adventures the person has in a world where there was never a question of them dying at all. For example, maybe it starts with her on the Argo with the rest of the gang, with no mention or explanation for why she is cured/alive needed.

— Alternate Post-Series In Atlantis: A canon divergence that handwavily assumes Medusa was cured before the fic started. Maybe Jason (or just Ariadne) took the throne, or they didn't have to flee, or Pasiphae died for real, or whatever you like. What things do the gang have to deal with in their new situation, and how does this result in Jason/Medusa getting together?

— Myth of the Week: Getting together while dealing with a Greek myth or creature not covered by the show. Could be something monstrous like cetea, dracaenae, or something more fun like satyrs or Silenus. Do they encounter a real god in its human form? Avert the unaddressed upcoming tsunami?

— Other Tropes: Friends with benefits? Undercover as a couple turns real? Something else?

— Fleece Quest: Assume Medusa survived and set sail with the rest of the gang (probably instead of Ariadne?). Slice of life on the high seas? What about a stop on an island with a magical premise or adventure that results in a personal or relationship breakthrough (kind of like the stops in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, if you know that book)? You can draw from actual Argonaut legend, or just make stuff up. What are everyone's contributions to the quest? Does Icarus (unnecessarily) continue to try to make up for his betrayal? Does Cassandra have a prophecy? Does Pythagoras finally figure out the damn theorem? Does Hercules accidentally complete one of his mythological acts of heroism? Other general “on a boat” tropes (see General Likes at top of letter for a list). How does any/all of this get Jason/Medusa together?

— 'Forced to Fuck' tropes: Ritual sex, sex pollen, fuck or die... Sex-oriented sacrificial rites to appease a god? Captured by a sex cult? To cure Medusa? To get something needed for the fleece quest? Ideally (for me, not for the characters), this is their fraught, angsty and awkward first time together, before they've confessed their feelings, and they find out after that they're in love. Or maybe the experience helps at least one of them to realize they are into the other?

— Resolving the Dropped Plot Thread: It frustrated me how the show just stopped addressing the fact that Jason was from a different world (the Oracle established that it was realm travel, NOT time travel). Did he slowly forget our world, the way the Pevensies forgot in the Narnia books? Or does he angstily keep it secret, as the Oracle told him to? Or does he only tell one person? Does he miss his life at all? Is he secretly stressed out about the tsunami that's supposed to come?!?! If someone figures it out, who and how? Can knowledge from our world help with something?


Pythagoras/Icarus
They are wonderful together. They make a great team. I was so invested in both their friendship and their love. And the angst! So much delicious, yummy angst. I love how their first instinct is to bottle up their pain, even as they wear their bleeding hearts on their sleeves. If possible I’d love some tender, fumbling first times—I'm not only thinking of sexual ones—as they transition from friends to lovers.

I love the contrasts between them, both physical and temperamental. I love Pythagoras’s quiet courage, detached braininess, awkward bluntness, and waspish sarcasm; I love that he is a bit cranky, not some blandly flawless ray of sunshine. I love Icarus's dry banter and his dynamic with his dad, where he was the responsible one, but could still be talked into shenanigans; he's very clever and resourceful in his own way, the practical everyman of the group. He always knows a useful guy here, or a secret entrance there... He’s like a well-connected street urchin, except without being a street urchin.

— Most of the Jason/Medusa scenarios above can work for these two, even if you don't do anything with Jason/Medusa.

— Canon Divergent Get-Togethers: I loved canon, but I could also read a million other ways they might have gotten together. As long as you keep basic character backstory facts intact (ex. Jason as Pasiphae's secret son raised in our world, Pythagoras as daddy-killing Samos expat mathematician, etc.), feel free to change everything else about the canon plot. Maybe they got together much earlier, during a missing myth-of-the-week?

— Save Medusa!: I loved her so much and wanted her to be un-gorgoned and live happily ever after (but not with Hercules). Maybe it’s a divergence where Pythagoras and Icarus worked together to save her in the episode where we met Daedalus (and the project helps them get together). Or maybe it’s sometime later when the gang comes up with a plan.

— Not Their First Kiss: While I definitely buy that they only got together in the finale, their interactions in the last few episodes could also be read as those of people who had already hooked up, making it THAT much more of a betrayal. Run somewhere with that! Had they been fully dating before Pythagoras ran away to live in the woods? If so, when/how did they get together? Did Jason and Hercules know (did they even know Pythagoras and Icarus were such good friends?). Or was Pythagoras keeping it secret? If so, why? Or, were they friends with benefits (pining for more) long before the viewers met Icarus? How did that start? Or was it just a drunken hookup that they don’t get a chance to sort out until the end of the series? You can focus the fic on this missing stuff, or background all that to explore how that might fit into a post-series story about their first few weeks together on the Argo, or a blend, or… Anything!


Once Upon a Time
• Jefferson | Mad Hatter/Dr Whale | Victor Frankenstein

A show that’s basically one giant crossover? Yes, please! I fell in love with Jefferson and Whale from their respective first appearances. Separately, the ‘Wood Between the Worlds’ is my favorite magical concept. So, imagine my delight when it turned out that my two faves had a whole ‘realm-hopping bros’ backstory! Everything about them bursts with romantic potential (both little r and capital R aesthetic). I wanted to see so much more of them together--whether it’s more pre-curse adventures, during the curse while Jefferson was the only one who remembered, or season 2 post-curse in Storybrooke when they were all trying to deal with their new dualities/reality. Or a mix! Basically, anything where they unambiguously get together--with actual makeouts, or more!--would be great. Bonus points for holding hands as they jump into the hat, and/or self-indulgent descriptions of their custom leather wardrobes.

I love the mix-and-match characterization possibilities this show gives us, and the opportunities to explore the core qualities from which a character’s multiple personas stem. You’ve got 1) earnest, reclusive, aristocrat scientist Victor; 2) mercenary adventurer-thief Jefferson; 3) snarky horndog (but still a caring doctor) Whale; and 4) desperate, crazed Jefferson. How do these different qualities play off one another and/or coalesce? (I know Grace|Paige was a lot of his motivation, but I didn’t care nearly as much about Papa!Jefferson, so will not care if you ignore or minimize her existence/importance. I’d prefer not to think about whoever her mother was.)

I stopped watching in late S2 (after August ‘died’), but Jefferson never appeared again, and the OUAT wiki suggests that Whale didn't have any significant appearances after that. However, please don’t stress about--or feel like you need to rewatch to remember--the exact line of what canon I know vs what I don’t. If your story includes concepts introduced after I stopped watching, I’ll happily roll with it. Or you can wildly canon diverge from a point even before I stopped watching.

Any other characters or canon ships are fine to include in the background, or you can pretend them away, if you didn’t like them, whatever you want! However, bonus points for Graham (I’ll never be over him or Emma/Graham), Granny, or Ruby (I loved the episode where she and Whale became friends), as well as mentions of past Whale/Mary Margaret (I shipped them, too, and always wished the show had at least done a ‘one night stand → friends’ arc with them).

— The hurt/comfort possibilities for this ship are epic. Jefferson was so tortured during the curse, and Whale was so drunk/suicidal after; helping each other heal would be lovely. Plus, given that Whale is the only person from his world in Storybrooke, Jefferson is the only friend he has from his old life. How do they reconnect and restart their relationship (whether they were lovers before or not) once the curse is broken? Or maybe a canon divergence where, sometime in late s2, they take a hat back to Whale’s world and save Gerhardt?

— Anything about Jefferson yearning for Whale, who doesn’t remember him. Does he try to “meet” or befriend Whale? Does he keep hurting himself as an excuse to go to the hospital? Does Jefferson manage to seduce Whale (or the other way around!), but has a lot of angst about it, either because Whale is different from Victor, or because Jefferson feels like he’s taking advantage of an amnesiac, or because the groundhog day effect of the curse keeps erasing their progress, or…? And then happy ending when the curse breaks. Or, what is this like from Whale’s perspective? (It’s fine if the curse doesn’t work exactly as it did in canon.)

— More pre- or post-curse adventures, working together to acquire artifacts that Jefferson wants to sell, or that will help Victor’s experiments. Differences in approach or fun partnerships between magic and science? Does Jefferson come up with projects for them to do mainly so he has excuses to hang out with Victor? Did Jefferson ever meet Gerhardt or Victor’s awful dad, or incognito attend a fancy ball hosted by the Frankensteins? Does pining Victor always try to get Jefferson to stay longer?

— Crossover Adventures: The room of doors that the hat took you to suggested Narnia and Oz among the options; I never saw what (if anything) the show did with those worlds, but I’d be up for Jefferson/Whale on a crossover adventure with the book versions. Or, they could go to Westeros/Essos (I only know the show), or the Witcher world (I only know the show), or Fillory from the Magicians TV show (just, please not Narnia and Fillory in the same fic, as the fourth wall-ness would break my brain).

— First Meetings: I reject the canon that Rumpelstiltskin was the one who first sent Jefferson to Whale. I always figured they only included that scene because Sebastian Stan was not available. I would love for them to have met and become friends on their own, without any intervention from Rumple, before the con on Regina. How did it happen? Was Jefferson just exploring and found himself in the gothic horror world? Was he stranded there for a bit for some reason? Did Victor take him in? Anything!

— I always wish the show had spent more time playing with the concept of identity and the mental/emotional impact of the curse in the weeks after it was broken. Like, how do they reconcile knowledge that was implanted vs their actual lived reality? For example, David once said he hadn’t ever actually read a certain book, but his curse self ‘remembered’ reading it as a child, so he knows what it's about. What does that feel like? As another example, if every day was the same for 28 years, and he didn't have sex on that 'day', then Snow might be the only person Victor has ever actually slept with, despite Whale's reputation as a womanizer. What’s that like for him? Jefferson had two sets of memories the whole time; how much of what we saw was his curse self manifesting? Was it frightening for him to feel this other personality trying to make space in his consciousness? Some of these concepts might have been addressed in canon (I have no idea), but probably not for these guys, since they were such minor characters.


Bond (Craig)/Ted Lasso Crossover
• Eve Moneypenny/Ted Lasso

I always want characters I love to love each other, and these two especially would make a great power/odd couple. My biggest asks are 1) unambiguously getting together, with actual, not-just-for-undercover-purposes makeouts (or more!), 2) that it’s not set pre-canon, and 3) that he finds out she’s a spy at some point. DNW adultery, so please don’t let anything happen between them until he has signed the divorce papers.

Her archness and playfulness would contrast so well with his deep earnestness. I’d love to see their senses of humor bump up against one another. Ted has an understatedly steely core that might make a great match for her badassery. They both project confidence and competence, but they sometimes screw up or show vulnerabilities that keep them endearing. They’re so incredibly loyal, but will bend the rules to do the right thing when needed.

Almost any characters or canon ships you like from either canon are welcome in the background (Madeleine and Madeleine/Bond is the only character and ship I’m not wild about). That said, I only want Rupert to appear if he’s going to get some come-uppance. I don’t know much about UK football clubs, so don’t worry about accuracy on that front. The next film and the new season aren't out/done yet, so these prompts won't be very up to date. However, I'm sure I'll adore both, so if you get inspired by something in the new canon(s), go for it! (ETA: You can try to redeem Nate, or not, either way!)

— What is Ted like when he’s wooing someone? Is he unexpectedly suave, or terribly out of practice? Does Moneypenny introduce him to fun stuff in London? Does she have a little crush, but keeps it to herself until after he’s officially divorced? Maybe she’s the one he sleeps with in his post-divorce hysteria instead of Sassy, and it leads to something real?

— Does something about his role as coach give Ted access to people or information that MI6 needs for a current project, and Eve is assigned to work with him? Is there more to why he specifically was picked to manage the team? Does Q make him some soccer-related gadget?

— Do Eve and Ted team up to take down Rupert, who is even more evil than we know?

— Do they live in the same building, and that’s how he accidentally gets pulled into her spy drama (with bonus cute ‘neighbors fall in love’ trope)?

— Is she a lifelong Richmond fan, and/or does she hang out at Mae’s pub? How does she feel about the job he’s doing? Does she give him tips? Is it a slow burn as they keep meeting at the pub, and develop feelings? Do weird (read: spy-related) things happen often enough that he wonders what her deal is? What are his hypotheses? How does he find out the truth?

— I am obsessed with the moments when Ted focuses his rage into action or subtle verbal burns. Ex. the dart competition… UNF. Hot. A story where he pulls Eve into one of his plans for quiet take-downs of assholes would be fun! Does she find it as hot as I do?

— Ted’s secret breakdowns get me right in the feels. He’s always looking out for everyone’s pain, and yet hides his own. In what other repressed ways does his hurt manifest? How might Moneypenny figure out that he’s hurting and comfort him, in her own unique character-driven ways? And/or is there some angst on her side that his sunniness is working to help resolve? Are they both clients of Dr Sharon?


MCU/Wodehouse Crossover
• Bertie Wooster & Loki & Thor

I love these guys and just think it would be fun for them to hang out! As long as they come to genuinely like one another, I’ll love anything. If you want to write something shippy (i.e. any of the sub-pairings with the third as an &; or even OT3) instead of gen, that would be fine, too. If you want to leave out Loki or Thor and have it just be Bertie with one of the brothers (gen or ship), also fine! My main ask is for Bertie to find out that they are Norse aliens/gods, and not have the story end with him still thinking they're regular guys.

I really want the focus on Bertie+Asgardian(s), and, as a bonus if you want, secondarily on Asgardians+Drones guys or aunts. My favorite parts of these stories are the scenes focused on my beloved Bertie with his pals, or trying on his own to deal with aunts, girls he doesn't want, authority figures, etc (but this time not on his own! this time with Loki and Thor!). So, Jeeves can appear, but I don’t need him to.

I would like something set in the early to mid-20th century, during Wodehouse canon times (DNW Bertie AU'ed into modern times). So, most likely a pre-canon Thor fic. I’m not into fics where Loki spends most of the fic shapeshifted into someone else or in Jotun form. DNW Loki to die, or any hint of Bertie or Jeeves ever having more than platonic feelings for one another. I don't want Jeeves breaking up any ships you might write. If you want to write 1st person Bertie POV, go ahead! However, I'd be equally thrilled to read a different narration/perspective on Bertie and his world (but in 3rd person, please).

— How can Loki and Thor help Bertie in the crisis of the week? Are the aunts or Sir Roderick or the Basset almost too formidable opponents, even for Loki's schemes? Or does his god of chaos-ness help him understand them? What are Loki's and Thor's reactions to Wodehouse characters? Like, are they having trouble deciding if the Wodehouse folks are stupid, or are they so unpredictably zany that Thor and Loki take them for dangerous savants? What are Bertie's reactions/thoughts on the existence of gods and magic and whatnot?

— If writing Thor/Loki, how does Bertie process the incest? Does he not realize they are brothers at first? Or not realize they are lovers? Or does Bertie help them get together? Has one been pining and Bertie almost accidentally sorts them out?

— Loki and/or Thor as Bertie's guest(s) at the Drones Club or at someone's country estate. Do they help Bertie finally get back at Tuppy for dunking him in the pool? Do they want to steal Anatole away to Asgard? Do Bertie's friends or family love his new friend(s), or have misgivings about them for entirely the wrong reasons, or...?

— Loki and Thor and Bertie scheming at Goodwood or at the boat races, or some other ridiculous Wodehouse-style plot you make up. Are their combined plans better than their individual efforts, or doubly disastrous?

— Or maybe Loki and/or Thor are here because of some MCU space-style dilemma (a canon divergence where early 20th century England was where they need to get an Infinity Stone in Endgame)? Or, no time travel, but they came back then to retrieve some other magic thing from a country estate? Or are they here on a similar prank as what sent Loki to be DB Cooper?

— Are Thor and/or Loki country members of the Drones Club? Meaning, they don't have a full membership because they visit only intermittently. But when they do stop by, everyone celebrates, because fun and chaos are about to happen. How did Bertie become their special bestie? What are parties like when they are there?

— Or start it when it's time for Loki and/or Thor to return home. He/they wants to take his friend/lover Bertie with him. Did Bertie know before what/who they are? Or not, and this is how he finds out? What are his reactions to Asgard and the characters there? What are their reactions to him? Did he learn about Norse mythology at school, or were they too focused on Ancient Greece at Eton?

— Random other ideas for getting Loki and/or Thor into the Wodehouse world, in case you’re stuck on the background: Loki falls off the Bifrost and into ~1930s London (just pretend Thor 1 happened back then), onto Bertie's roof or the garden at Brinkley Court or something. Or maybe he (and Thor?) visited Earth back then for fun or a project and got stranded here for awhile? Was Thor banished together to this time period? Thor and Loki banished together? Do Bertie or Aunt Dahlia take him/them in? Anything! (But seriously, I don't care how/why they get there; I’m all for starting later, even after they've met Bertie, or are even returning for their umpteenth visit to their friend, no explanation needed.)


MCU/Derry Girls Crossover
• Bucky & The Gang

This show is the perfect combination of heartwarming, zany, hilarious, and 1990s time capsule. I love that the adults are just as ridiculous as the kids. I would love to see how Bucky and the DG characters could help each other with something. I nominated "The Gang" because that seemed easiest, but I love every single character so much. So, you can focus on any subset of characters you want, and leave out any who don’t fit. Like, it’s fine if you end up focusing on the adults and the kids don’t appear. Or something else, whatever you like. My big Derry Girls DNW is any of the main kids hooking up with Bucky or with each other (with one exception, below). However, it's fine if the kids hook up with random other kids, and it’s fine if Bucky hooks up with any non-married adult. See above for general Bucky notes.

My biggest ask is that at least some of the characters find out about Bucky's whole deal (it doesn’t have to happen ‘on-screen’). Feel free to skip over the first meetings and start it when escaped Bucky has already been in town for awhile, or has been in hiding in someone’s house for awhile, or whatever. I would prefer the bulk of the story to be set in the 90s; however, if you want to include a bit of more recent times, you could include an epilogue (I LOVE reunions! also, I wouldn’t say no to Bucky/adult!Orla getting together in an epilogue, as the sole exception to the ‘no Bucky/main kids’ DNW?). Or you could do a Lost-style back and forth so that most of it is in the 90s, but there’s still some present-day action? Whatever you like!

— Hydra sent the Winter Soldier to Derry in the 90s for Troubles-related reasons, like, to bomb something or assassinate someone (maybe Clinton? but please don't let Clinton actually get assassinated)? Hijinks or confusion or mishap with Bucky escaping and/or hiding out with DG characters.

— Canon divergence where Bucky escaped before the story started, and is living in hiding in Derry. What do the DG characters make of this mysterious, brooding hottie? How do they figure out his deal (at least a couple MUST find out!)? What has he been up to? Substitute teaching? Fionnula's assistant at the chippie? Sister Michael's judo instructor? Does Hydra come for him, but the DG characters save him (either on purpose or accidentally)? Anything!

— Sister Michael! ♥️ Does she take escaped Bucky in? Does she rescue him with judo or plain old awesomeness? Why? Is she as stern-yet-secretly-fond with/about Bucky as she is with everyone else? What is their dynamic like? If you want them to have a little crushy time (or maybe they straight up fall in love... vow-breaking doesn’t bother me), that’s cool. Or just the greatest BFFs of all time!

— Assume that Granda Joe was one of the Howling Commandos back in WWII. But I don’t actually care about that part. The story starts in the 90s when he recognizes his confusingly not-aged, not-dead war buddy in Derry. What happens next? Does he rescue Bucky from Hydra and/or take him home? Or had Bucky already escaped on his own? What do the others make of all this? Does Erin have a crush? Do Bucky and Orla become unlikely best friends (I love her chill weirdness so much)? Or does Bucky help Gerry finally win Joe’s respect? Something else? If you want, you could backstory ship Bucky/Joe, or even present-tense ship them, as an exception to my lifespan/aging incompatibility DNW (Joe’s still hot!). Or keep them as just old friends!

— The kids DID get to go to Paris, and encounter the Winter Soldier there, and rescue him or something else. Or something about how hanging out with Bucky in Derry leads to them getting the money so they can go on the school trip to Paris?

— James's mom is totally Hydra and her company is totally a bullshit cover. Run with this to a place where that results in James meeting and rescuing the Winter Soldier. What happens next? FWIW, I see James as straight, but with hero worship tendencies.

— Do the kids, despite themselves, or possibly even without knowing what they're doing, defeat Hydra and save the world, twenty years earlier than canon?


MCU/Narnia Crossovers
• Bucky/Edmund
• Bucky/Tirian

General
I love fics that diverge from canon (as wildly as you like!) at any point before the closing chapters of the Last Battle. Time between these realms is already untethered and random, and I welcome as much timey-wimey handwaving as you want (honestly, I'm begging you!). For example, I see no reason why post-TWS Bucky couldn't travel to the Golden Age or Tirian’s reign; no explanation needed. I will take any and every era of Bucky for these ships. General Bucky notes are above above.

The end of Narnia, train crash, and afterlife are my biggest DNWs. Please let it be clear that everyone will get to live out their lives. I don't need a fix-it (i.e. a fic focused on how their canon deaths were averted). I prefer to pretend it just never came up! I'm not at all invested in the religious allegory elements.

Bucky/Tirian
Anything where they unambiguously get together--with actual makeouts, or more!--will be great. Tirian has such human flaws, and he started off as a hot mess of a king (like, why did it take him so long to hear/notice what was going on?), but he’s so noble and brave and driven, and he’s quite resourceful and clever when you rouse him out of his decadence. They would be so competent and delightful and hot together. Fairytale king + Brooklyn supersoldier smarts, yum. I really don't care how Bucky and Tirian get here or there. Feel free to leave it unexplained and/or start with him already there. I like all the 'nice' people in TLB, so include whomever you want. If it’s easier not to include the Friends of Narnia, that’s fine, too!

— Does Bucky seek Tirian or Narnia out? Somehow getting his hands on the rings? Or Tirian blows the horn? Something else?

— Met In Dreams First: You know how Tirian astrally projected to the Friends of Narnia that one time? Well, what if he's been doing it on the regular, with Bucky? They have always secretly thought they had an imaginary friend (or are going nuts), but one day they meet, either in Narnia or on Earth. Maybe Tirian inherited star magic, which makes this possible? What I'm most interested in is what happens when they are together in the flesh, so you can even background the vision part, if you want.

— Caught In Calormen: Bucky somehow joining Tirian for a pre-TLB jaunt into Calormen? Is Tirian there for espionage, diplomacy and/or undercover partying? How do they get together? Does this adventure result in the whole Calormene invasion getting nipped in the bud so the world doesn't have to end?

— Canon-Divergent Post-TLB: What if, instead of the world ending, Tirian & Co ran away to the mountains and started a resistance to the Calormene occupation, like they talked about doing at one point? I love espionage, desperate missions, angsty last stands and people bonding while struggling to survive in nature, etc. It could be set near the start when they’re corralling Narnians and spiriting them to safety. Or you could start it later on, when the resistance has grown strong strong enough to start making moves. At what point does Bucky end up with them (maybe he was the one Tirian summoned while he was tied to the tree, or someone blew Susan's horn, or other?), how he can help, and how do he and Tirian fall for one another? Does Tirian know more secret hideouts full of wine? Does Puzzle (the darling!) somehow end up saving the day along with Bucky? Do Bucky and Tirian go on a quest to the magic garden place? Anything!


Bucky/Edmund
I love that being redeemed into a just warrior king didn’t entirely cure Edmund of being a cranky, sarcastic little shit. Grown-up Edmund was so badass and kingly and hot and fun. I want him and Bucky to love each other as much as I love them, and to have adventures, and be competent, and unambiguously get together, with actual makeouts (or more!). What aspects of their angsty backgrounds can they pep talk each other through? How can their experiences and skill sets help each other or help solve an issue in either canon? How do they figure out one another's backstories, and what do they think of the other's? How do they fall in love? There's delicious potential for angsty separations and happy ending reunions in this ship, too, if you want.

Edmund being a kid and Bucky being a soldier during WWII is too situationally intrinsic to both characters' backstories for my usual timeline adjustment approach to work. However, I’d be thrilled to ignore or break the timelines to make it work in other ways. For example, post-TWS Bucky traveling to the Golden Age or some other point in Narnian history works for me, no explanation needed! Or maybe at the end of Endgame, Bucky time travels to the 50s/60s when Edmund is grown up again, either as the initial premise of the story or as the happy ending epilogue. Basically, do whatever you need to avoid an age discrepancy ending and I'll roll with it. (It's okay if adult!Bucky temporarily hangs out with kid!Edmund at some point, as long as he doesn't touch the kid, and the happy ending is with grown-up Ed).

— WWII: Canon divergence where the Pevensies return from the Golden Age as adults instead of getting de-aged? Does Edmund join the army and meet Bucky on the Front? Does he help/comfort Bucky post-Azzano, when Bucky was maybe realizing something weird had been done to him, and is all angsty and sad? Does Edmund join the Howling Commandos? How do they find out one another's secrets?

— Edmund in the Future: The story starts when grown up again Edmund returns from going on adventures with the rings. However, because of handwavey inter-realm time shenanigans, the rings have dropped him off decades after he left, and now he's stuck in the future… Whoops! Or maybe, in addition to coming back as adults, they also came back fifteen years after they left. Does Ed rescue Bucky from Hydra (possibly earlier than in canon?), or is it post-TWS? Or even post-Endgame? Out of time together, hurt/comfort, etc. Is Hydra after one or both, or is it more slice of life?

— Traveling with Rings: Hydra sends the Winter Soldier to the Professor's childhood home to get the rings on the same day that Edmund goes, resulting in them going together to other realms instead of Edmund dying. Exploring the Wood, or deserted Charn, or Asgard, or back to Narnia, or GoT's Westeros, or the Witcher (TV) world, or a world you make up?

— Canon-Setting Spies: I enjoy the fanon that Edmund grows up and becomes a spy. Does he get partnered with the Asset, is like, "gah, this poor guy" and run away with him? Or do they go on a spy mission while Bucky's in Narnia? What adventures do they have together?

— Bucky In Golden Age Narnia: Maybe someone blows the horn, summoning Bucky? Or the Tesseract or Bifrost takes him there? Or he fell off the train and into Narnia? Or some other way, or leave it unexplained, I don't care. Getting together while dealing with giants, or during some annual tournament in Archenland? Helping Edmund get rid of the remaining werewolves or hags from the Witch’s reign? Sea voyage adventures on the Splendour Hyaline? Outwitting Calormene spies, implementing educational policies, the Rabadash situation? Something else? Is it a divergence where the Pevensies ruled for longer? Or do Bucky and Edmund reunite later back in our world?

— Reunions: Does Bucky encounter the Pevensies while they’re still rather young (whether during ‘Prince Caspian’, VoDT, early on during the Golden Age, or during WWII); nothing shippy happens then, but it does when they reunite once Edmund is an adult and Bucky basically hasn’t aged? Or maybe some of the mythical figures that exist in both Narnia and Earth (ex. Bacchus, Father Christmas) help them meet or reunite, either here or there? You can include the flashbacks, or just focus on the reunions!

— Bucky as a Friend of Narnia: Maybe Bucky went to Narnia (or had some Narnia-related experience) during a time when the Pevensies weren’t there. He meets adult Edmund back in our world; how do they figure out their Narnian connection while also falling for one another?


Psmith Crossovers
• Mike/Psmith & Tirian (Narnia)
• Mike/Psmith & Edmund (Narnia)
• Mike/Psmith & Corin (Narnia)
• Mike/Psmith & The Durrells (Corfu Trilogy – Gerald Durrell)
• Mike/Psmith & Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
• Mike/Psmith & Frank Maddox (David Blaize) - see David Blaize Crossovers section below here

General
I will never get enough of Psmith and Mike having weirder adventures than they got to have in canon, and interacting with new people. Hence all the crossovers. I love what an odd couple they are, and how well they understand one another. I love their loyalty and what generous, self-sacrificing heroes they both are, while also being total little shits. Psmith's dialogue! Mike's pragmatism! I want anything where they unambiguously get together, with actual makeouts--or more! I don’t mind if they’ve had flings with other people in the past, but once they get together, 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.

Ship-wise… 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.


Psmith/Mike & The Durrells (Corfu Trilogy – Gerald Durrell)
Please pretend Psmith and Mike were in their early twenties during the 1930s. Did they spend a summer between university years in Corfu? Were they some of Larry's houseguests? Party guests (I love the Durrells' parties!)? Or did they just happen to be vacationing in Corfu and met the family when the story starts? Or did they run away to Corfu when Psmith's dad lost his money? Something else? Think of the combined eccentricity! I love all the family members, plus friends like Theo and Spiro, so feel free to focus on any subset of characters you like; it’s fine if the whole family doesn’t appear. There’s no need to write it from Gerry’s 1st person POV, unless you really want to; I've actually always wanted to read an outsider's (3rd person, please) perspective on the family and their friends (and, I mean, if you really want to do a pastiche, Wodehouse has an equally delightful style!).


Psmith/Mike & Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
It would be amazing to see Aziraphale and Crowley bounce off Mike and Psmith in the early 20th century (DNW Psmith and Mike AU'ed into modern times), even if it ends up having nothing to do with the Antichrist/apocalypse stuff. What were the angel and demon up to then? Are Psmith and Aziraphale members of the same club? Does Psmith try to buy a book from the shop? Does the adventure result in Crowley getting his Bentley? Do Psmith and Mike help the angel and demon get out of trouble with their bosses? I love both book and show canon, but my main Good Omens interest is with Crowley and Aziraphale (and the other angels/demons in the background), not so much Newt, Anathema, Shadwell, The Them, etc (they weren't even born yet!). Aziraphale/Crowley romance on the side is welcome, but don’t stress about including it if it doesn’t fit.

If you DO want to do something with the whole apocalypse plot, I’d love something where, instead of the way things actually went, A) Psmith or Mike is the Antichrist and B) Armageddon was scheduled during Psmith canon time period/setting. Since the Antichrist is a different character and age, and it's a different time period, things should go quite differently and be a different story. Please don't force fit Psmith and Mike into a rehash of canon GO plot points. How do this Antichrist's powers manifest, and what does he do with them? What would he name the hellhound (if he has one; maybe there's no dog in this version)? Do Crowley and Aziraphale go undercover as Sedleigh masters or bank managers or something? Or no undercover, and they instead take some wholly different approach to averting the apocalypse than they took in canon? Maybe Crowley wasn't given the baby job in this AU, and they only find out about the Antichrist's existence much later. If so, how? What brings him back from the brink (I don't want Armageddon to actually happen)? Does Psmith talk rings around Satan? Does Mike challenge Death to a cricket match? Something else bonkers played straight? Melodramatic acts of loyal self-sacrifice that turn out okay in the end? How does this whole hullabaloo help get Psmith/Mike together, or were they already together?


Psmith/Mike & Narnia Crossovers
What are their reactions to finding themselves in Narnia? How might they help characters there? What do the Narnians think of them? How does this adventure help them get together (or were they already together?)? DNW train crash, apocalypse, or the afterlife. Please make it clear that everyone will get to live out their lives. My biggest asks are a) for Psmith and/or Mike to find out about Edmund’s secret, if the story is set in our world.

— Does Edmund or Tirian blow the horn, summoning Psmith and Mike for help with a problem? Fighting giants, espionage, outwitting Calormene spies, implementing educational policies, dealing with the Rabadash situation? Something else? Or just exploring or partying with royalty in either of these eras/countries. Is Psmith or Mike erroneously jealous of someone (could be anyone, not just Ed, Corin or Tirian), leading to stoic angst before they sort it out?

— Helping Golden Age Edmund remember his previous life? Is this the only time they meet, or do they reconnect at boarding school or Cambridge?

— Is it Mike or Psmith's house that Edmund burgles to get the rings, resulting in them going on adventures to other realms together instead of Edmund dying? Exploring the Wood, or deserted Charn, or Westeros, or a world you make up? Or traveling to Narnia together to help Tirian?

— Corin is like the Narnia version of a public school story character. I think he’d get along splendidly with Psmith and Mike. Does he take them traveling through Archenland? Do they team up to play pranks on his new twin brother? Do Psmith and Mike help him keep score against the bear? Something else? What’s it like for Corin to suddenly not be the crown prince, or to suddenly have a twin who is basically a foreigner, or having grown up with a sweet but sad dad who was mourning his queen and son? How can Psmith and Mike help him work through any of his potential issues?

— Met In Dreams First: You know how Tirian astrally projected to the Friends of Narnia that one time? Well, what if he's been doing it on the regular, with Psmith or Mike? They have always secretly thought they had an imaginary friend (or are going nuts), but one day they meet, either in Narnia or on Earth. Is it possible because of Tirian's star heritage magic (IDK), or Psmith and/or Mike seek Tirian out, somehow getting their hands on the rings, or does Tirian blow the horn? Something else? What I'm most interested in is what happens when they meet in the flesh, so feel free to background the vision and transport parts.

— Caught In Calormen: Psmith and Mike somehow joining Tirian for a pre-TLB jaunt into Calormen (it's canon that he went there before becoming king)? Is he there for espionage, diplomacy and/or undercover partying? How do they get together? Does this adventure result in the whole Calormene invasion getting nipped in the bud so the world doesn't have to end?

— Canon-Divergent Post-TLB: What if, instead of the world ending, Tirian & Co ran away to the mountains and started a resistance to the Calormene occupation, like they talked about doing at one point? I love espionage, desperate missions, angsty last stands and people bonding while struggling to survive in nature, etc. How do Psmith and Mike end up with them (maybe they were the ones Tirian summoned while he was tied to the tree, or someone blew Susan's horn, or other?), and how they can help? Does the adventure help Psmith/Mike get together? Are there more secret hideouts full of wine? Does Puzzle (the darling!) somehow end up saving the day along with Mike? Do they go on a quest to the magic garden place? The more horrible of an ending for Shift, the better.


David Blaize & Related Crossovers
• Frank/Original Male Cambridge Student
• Frank/Original Male Archaeologist
• Frank/Bucky (MCU)
• Frank/Thor (MCU)
• Frank/Ethan (Penny Dreadful)
• Frank & Psmith/Mike (Wodehouse)

General David Blaize Notes
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 they can actually be with. Even though I do love Frank/David, I reached that point with them 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 hopeless crush on David and be entirely into a new guy, without bashing David. I want Frank to find happiness and self-acceptance with someone new—unambiguously, with actual kissing, or more! Please set it when Frank is anywhere between 18-30 (ie. canon divergence, or only a few years post-canon), so he doesn't have to wait long to be happier.

Frank is such a fascinating and endearing blend of judgmental, whimsical, bossy, charismatic, and melancholic. I love his cleverness, snark, take-chargeness, and sense of whimsy. The chapter where he devises the plan to catch the cheaters was such fun, as was his love of the macabre. If you want to run with the thing where he cured David with the power of love to a place where Frank literally has some kind of magic (whether he knew it or not at the time), go for it!

Note: while a little cricket talk/play is fun, I don't really understand or enjoy the long, detailed chapters that you find in books of the period (the house match against Dowling in 'Mike and Psmith' being the only exception).


Frank/Original Male Cambridge Student
I would love a canon divergence where Frank gets a nice boyfriend while at uni who is fellow student. How do they get to know one another? More homoerotic tennis? While debating archaeological theories? Or is the guy into topics Frank has never before been interested in, and they open one another's minds (and pants)? Do they first meet at Cambridge, or is it a reunion because they met sometime before? Is the guy virginal and moon-eyed, or is he really experienced? Or something else? What about this guy helps Frank get over some of his shit? Or are they both super repressed but work through it together?

Is it a canon divergence where Frank gets over some of his hangups and gets together with this guy during the years before David got there? Or does it happen during the year that he and David overlap? If David is around (he doesn't have to be), how does Frank process these shifting emotions and the change in their friendship? How does the other guy handle it? Is David just happy for them (DNW love triangles!) or completely oblivious? I love stories set at Cambridge, and will love any and all details about university or town life and traditions that you want to include, but don't worry if you don't know any! That's fine, too!


Frank/Original Male Archaeologist
Archaeology is such a great blend of the tedious and the romantic! Being outside, and research, and exploring, and getting lost, and securing access, and possibly staying in dodgy lodgings... My main ask here is that the love interest not be much older than Frank. Is he a fellow student on one of the trips to Greece that Frank takes in the second book? Or is he a young professional that Frank learns from or works with while in Greece? Or, does the story take place a little earlier, when they're both studying at university? Or maybe immediately after he gets his degree, Frank gets a job at a museum, where they meet? Do they like one another immediately, or is there a little brusqueness or rivalry that they have to work through? Is the guy also a Classical archaeologist, or does he study something else (like, Druid stuff, or Mayan, or French cave paintings, or IDK)? How do they get together?


Frank & Psmith/Mike (Wodehouse)
Both of these canons are about the same kinds of people, in the same settings, in the same time period. Of COURSE they knew each other, right?! I would love a story that results in Frank feeling better and ready to accept love in the future (and also Psmith/Mike endgame). If you want to take it a step farther and find someone for Frank to end up with, that would be great, but no pressure. Just not Psmith or Mike, since I’m so rabidly OTP-ish about them. Perhaps Frank ends up with Adair or Monty Bodkin or David (this option is the only exception to my overarching "get over David" request)? Or some other nice Wodehouse guy (not Jeeves, please)? Or OMC?

I don’t want matchmaking or yentas, but maybe getting an outsider POV on one character's angst or happiness or whatever inspires someone from the other canon to do something about his own feelings. Ex. Maybe Frank reexamines his stance on 'beastliness' when he finds out that Mike, whom he thinks is great, has a thing with Psmith. Or maybe seeing Frank so miserably repressed makes Mike decide to seize the day with Psmith. (But Frank must stop being miserable by the end, too!) Something else? I will love anything! My only larger Wodehouse DNWs are Jeeves/Wooster slash and Psmith/Mike endgame with anyone but each other (please set it before they met their wives and/or pretend they never did).

— University: Cambridge hijinks facilitating friendship and romance? Teaming up to rag on a professor or defeat a bully? Frank and Mike were obviously teammates on the Cambridge eleven. Nights in don’s rooms, talking about life. Anything!

— WWI: Fighting in WWI together; all three could meet for the first time, or maybe two already knew each other and meet the third during the war.

— Backstory Crossover Hookups: As long as they get over it so that Psmith/Mike remains endgame (DNW OT3), Frank hooking up or having hooked up with one or both of them could be fun to include. Perhaps when Marchester's team played Eton, Wrykyn or Sedleigh in cricket, or during holidays, or at Cambridge before Psmith/Mike got together, or some other time? How does that backstory affect my actual ship(s) later on, when they are all at Cambridge together? Is there misplaced jealousy or awkwardness that leads to feelings revealed? Something else?

— Reunions: Maybe Frank had some childhood past with either Psmith or Mike (grammar school or neighbors or cousins or something) and they reunite in a Wodehouse-style setting/plot during a country estate visit, or at the London clubs, or at boat race weekend or Goodwood or...


Frank/Bucky (MCU)
I would especially like a WWII getting together story (with actual makeouts—or more!). Please pretend the books were set later so that they are around the same age. They’d make such a great odd couple. Brooklyn boy/posh Brit, classical education/street smarts, etc. How do they overcome Frank’s (possibly also Bucky’s?) internalized homophobia and find something good? Is Bucky more open-minded or experienced with men than Frank? Or has he always denied himself, and Frank initiates him?

General Bucky notes are above here. Feel free to pretend he didn’t fall off the train so they can have a happily ever after. Or maybe Frank rescues his brainwashed old flame from Hydra in, like, 1950 (ie. before there’s a major age difference), or Bucky travels back in time with Steve at the end of Endgame for a happily ever after, or brings Frank to the future. Or you can make it bittersweet, with Bucky still falling, but even though he grieves, their time together has left Frank in a healthier place to live and love again without such self-loathing (and WE know Bucky will eventually be okay, per canon).

Is Frank initially jealous of Bucky’s friendship with Steve, because he’s projecting his own experiences with David onto Steve&Bucky? Does Bucky scoff because he and Steve aren't like that at all? Or is Frank actually correct in thinking Bucky has been unrequitedly pining (this is the one sort-of exception to my 'no conflicting ships' DNW)? If Bucky had been crushing on Steve, I need him to get over it completely as he and Frank fall for one another, without bashing Steve. Or you could not bring up Steve/Bucky as a question or issue at all.

— Met Fighting in WWII (Howling Commandos edition): Frank as part of the gang? Getting together while using their combined smarts on a mission, either with the whole group, or a side project just for them? I’m thinking stakeouts, disguises, foreign languages, need for quick thinking, getting information at a party, stranded in a snowy cabin, down time at a bombed out pub, appreciating the beauty of Europe despite the horror of war… anything!

— Met Fighting In WWII (general soldiering edition): Maybe the 107th is camped alongside Frank’s unit before or after their capture? Sharing a foxhole together? Exploring or hiding in a bombed out village together? Left behind and forced to trek to safety together? Saving one another? Bucky probably also needs some TLC after Azzano, even if Frank wasn't there with him… Does the desperation of war get them over their issues enough to act on their feelings?

— Canon-Setting Spies: Sent on an espionage + sniper mission together? Or maybe Frank isn’t a soldier, but rather some sort of archaeologist-civilian who is asked to use his knowledge to help the war effort. Is the mission to get information, or to prevent the Nazis from getting some Ancient Greek occult blah blah? Does Frank have to go ‘undercover’ as gay (when he already repressedly is)?

— Met In Captivity (Azzano edition): Was Frank also a prisoner in Azzano, possibly also getting experimented on? Do they huddle together between torture/experimentation sessions, clinging to each other and their identities? Hurt/comfort and desperate “we’ll probably die tomorrow” hookups? Nazis humiliating them or forcing them to have sex or confess feelings or watch each other be hurt? Or maybe they only get together after Steve’s rescued them (in a wartime hospital? as members of the Howlies? Other?) when they begin to realize the experiments left permanent changes on them (i.e. superpowers). Are they still traumatized, leading to even more closeness? The more hurt/comfort the better.

— Frank Goes to the Future: For a non-WWII option that I'm equally excited about, perhaps the story starts after Frank has been sucked into the present-day. Maybe some MCU-related cosmic business has brought him here/now, or he fell into a portal, or he is actually magical… It doesn't matter. How do he and Bucky get together? Bonding over both being 'out of time', Frank's reactions to the future, Bucky finding healing by helping Frank adjust… Can Frank's knowledge, skills or perspective help with an MCU-type plot?


Frank/Thor (MCU)
I love Thor so very much. He balances godly/regal gravitas and deadliness with jolliness, earnestness, gentleness, slyness, and a delightful alien weirdness. He would be such a fascinating foil for Frank's complicated temperament, and just generally, it would be boiling hot. Please let Frank find out who/what Thor is! What is Frank’s reaction to this literal fairytale prince? Thor’s reaction to this lovely but sad earthling? How do they get along and get together? Are Asgardians nonchalantly bisexual? If so, how does Thor react to Frank’s repression? Or do Asgardians have their own hangups? If so, how do their different hangups intersect and how do they get over them together?

It can be forever love (if so, please handwave a mention of magical solutions to the lifespan issues), or a fling that ends amicably when Thor has to go home again, leaving Frank in a healthier and happier headspace to continue on with the rest of his life, both of them retaining fond memories of their time together. I love every iteration of Thor, but for this ship, I want pre-Ragnarok Adonis!Thor. Loki and other Asgardians are welcome to be included, too, if you want.

— Frank really needs to get laid. Does Thor carefully, joyfully, overwhelmingly seduce and fuck Frank’s repression away? Like, not even Frank’s dedicated self-denial can hold strong. And if an actual god is so into it/him, who is Frank to say this is ‘beastly’ or wrong? Or is Thor actually rather inexperienced (with men, or in general) at this point in his life, and they learn together, or Frank initiates him? I would prefer Frank to become an enthusiastic, curious and active participant, not just lie down and take it the whole time.

— A canon divergence from the first film, where Thor was banished to Frank’s time and location, whether Cambridge or Frank’s backyard or one of his archaeology digs? Or maybe it’s set pre-Thor canon, when he snuck over to Earth for some secret fun and got stuck here (or Loki played a prank that got him stuck here)?

— Greece Setting: I love that Frank is an archaeologist! Maybe during one of his digs, he stumbles into an ancient place and accidentally sets off a magical thingy that summons gods, except a different set than expected arrive. Or some wholly other reason for Thor being in Greece? I don’t actually care how Thor gets there; feel free to skip over that part.

— Disguised/Fish Out of Water: Thor trying to blend into 1920s Cambridge, or a Wodehouse-style club, or with Frank’s family... What do Frank’s friends make of Thor? What does Thor make of everything? How does Thor take to having to keep their relationship on the DL? Is he even capable of it?

— Random Optional Details: Thor using Mjolnir to fly Frank somewhere gorgeously remote; switching; spanking; marathon sex; held down by Mjolnir so that Frank is completely at Thor's mercy


Frank/Ethan (Penny Dreadful)
I basically want Frank to hang with the PD gang in London and get involved with their supernatural drama. Does finding out about and dealing with all this demi-monde insanity put 'beastliness' into new perspective for Frank (I mean, Ethan is LITERALLY a beast, so Frank kind of needs to calm his angst)? Does Frank find out about Ethan's werewolfness? If so, how does he react (hopefully some hurt/comfort?)?

Please pretend the David Blaize books took place earlier, so that Frank is around the same age as Victor or Vanessa in the early 1890s (I think Ethan’s a few years older than them?). I really do want Ethan/Frank to be wholly into one another, so please pretend Vanessa/Ethan wasn’t a thing or that he’s moved on (from both Vanessa and Brona) by the time he meets Frank.

I loved this show for Victor, Vanessa, Ethan, Malcolm, Sembene, and Lyle's Scooby Gang teamwork and found family, so a bit of that in the background would be fun, if it fits your idea. I wasn’t very interested in John Clare or Lily’s plots, so would prefer the story not to focus on them (mentions or super brief cameos are fine). DNW Victor to bring anyone else back to life.

Maybe Frank knew one of the gang before the story started. I’ll give some examples for backstory to spark you, but what I’m most interested in is what happens after they’ve incorporated Frank into the group, not a fic that’s all about these backstories or his first meeting with Ethan. Ex. maybe Frank grew up in the same area as the Murray/Ives houses, and was a childhood friend of Vanessa’s? Or perhaps Victor went to Marchester or Cambridge with Frank? Do they reunite by chance, like, at a ball or at a scene of supernatural violence that Frank manages to survive? Or do Victor or Vanessa recruit him for help with their latest monster endeavor? Or maybe Frank works at the museum after his fellowship, and Lyle brings him in as a needed Classics or archaeology expert.

— Maybe everyone stayed in London at the end of S2 and found a new thing to fight. Catching the Ripper? Dealing when Jekyll goes full Hyde? Taking care of Ethan during a full moon? Something else? Whatever it is, how does the adventure help Frank/Ethan get together?

— Do they have to infiltrate a creepy gathering or society event? Does Frank help with post-canon or alternate S3 adventures (either keeping the ending or pretending Vanessa didn't die)? Going undercover as brothers with Ethan while pining? Do Frank or Ethan teach each other some kind of skill, the way Ethan taught Victor how to shoot? Does Vanessa give Frank the kind of pep talks she gives Victor?

— Or run with the thing where Frank cured David with the power of love to a place where Frank is literally magical; how does he realize he's part of the demi-monde and start helping (but DNW Frank to be a werewolf or vampire)?

— Some ritual or magic plot blah blah requires that Frank be relieved of his virginity... Ethan volunteers.

— Leaving London entirely? Do they go on a vampire-hunting mission, just the two of them (or with the whole gang), or heal a haunted house? A trip to Bath or some other society place? Or some kind of stranded together or captured together scenario? Some other project that requires them to combine their talents and knowledge?

— Does Ethan take Frank out on a date, and maybe Frank doesn't initially realize that's what it is, because he'd never think this hunky, seemingly 'normal' American would be like that, only to find out that Ethan has slept with at least one man without angsting about it? Does Frank angstily and unhealthily fuck Dorian before ending up in a more feelings-ful romance with Ethan? Do they bond about how everyone ends up sleeping with Dorian?


Doctrine of Labyrinths & Related Crossovers
• Mildmay
• Mildmay & Thamuris
• Mildmay/Mehitabel
• Mildmay & Bucky (MCU)
• Mildmay & Edmund (Narnia)

General DoL and Mildmay Notes
I loved so much about this series: the characters, the magical concepts, the history and worldbuilding, the nerdy language play… but MILDMAY. I love him so much, it hurts. Basically, I am hoping for a fic that gives me more Mildmay-centric time, whether it’s post-canon or a canon divergence that jumps off at any point in the story. Pretty much the only kinds of fic I wouldn’t be interested in are a) missing scenes, b) canon rehashes from someone else's POV, or c) canon-compliant pre-canon backstory. I want something new! As long as Mildmay has a not-entirely terrible time during the story, with a not-bleak ending, I'll be happy.

I’ll never stop being hysterical about Mildmay’s kind heart, cleverness, resourcefulness, street smarts, sense of humor, crankiness, self-sacrificing loyalty (not just to Felix, but to everyone, gosh, what a fucking hero) and the intense competence porn he delivers. It made me wibble how he thinks no one cares about him (cue the violins), oblivious to the fact that he spends the series building a little army of people (and even monsters!) who owe him their lives and who think he's awesome. His OTT angst and whump and self-loathing and stoic woobiness were utterly delicious, and made the last book and a half where he starts to heal so wonderfully soothing.

I didn’t request the tags with Felix simply because the books (and what little fic that exists) are already almost entirely about them. I would love fic that explores other aspects of Mildmay’s existence, too. That said, Felix is fascinating and so is their relationship, so feel free to include him as much as you like. If you’re writing one of the gen ideas, you can include Mildmay/Felix shipping, if you want. But if you’re shipping Mildmay with one of the optionally requested ships, I do not want Mildmay to ever return Felix’s feelings. Let Felix pine forever (or get over it, as he did in canon)! That said, Felix doesn't have to appear in the story at all, if it doesn’t work for your idea.

Other Notes: 1) If you’re writing a crossover (or Mildmay/Thamuris), I do not want the other guy to be attracted to Felix. 2) It’s fine to discuss the canonical rape and character death, but please don’t add any more rape and death. 3) I’d prefer Mildmay not to be angsting too hard about Ginevra, and would prefer that she not appear. 4) Kay seems truly lovely, but I’m so single-mindedly focused on Mildmay and Felix (and Mehitabel) that, no matter how many times I try, I have trouble focusing on his chapters, and end up skimming. I feel terrible about it! So, you can include him, but I probably won’t get references to his individual plot points.

For Crossovers: My main ask is for Mildmay and the requested character to become friends (or lovers!), and for the crossover guy to think Mildmay is the BEST. If you want to go fix everything that sucks in Mildmay’s life, go for it. If you want this canon divergent episode to simply be a bright spot that amicably ends when people have to go home, but that helps them both on a longer path to happiness, go for it. If you want to whump everyone some more before a happy-ish ending, go for it. I will love anything, as long as it isn’t all trauma, all the time, the end (I got that from the first three books, so I’m all set). You can write a DoL pastiche if you want, but please don’t feel like you have to; a third person POV from the crossover guy, or a pastiche of the other canon’s voice, or a more omniscient thing… It’s all good.


Mildmay & Thamuris
I love a tragic (yet powerful) consumptive! How deliciously operatic. It was nice that Felix had a nice friend he got to be nerdy with and didn’t want to sleep with. But a bratty part of me was always annoyed, like, “He was Mildmay’s friend first!” I hated how long it took Felix to even tell Mildmay the guy was still alive. Anyway, I’d love a fic where Mildmay and Thamuris got to remain friends and hang out. I could also ship Mildmay/Thamuris, if you want (how would Felix react? Probably badly, at least at first. Or maybe he doesn’t even find out? It would be a nice salve for him not telling Mildmay about Thamuris being alive). As a side note, I loved the whole thing about the kid who took care of Mildmay in the Gardens coming to care about him and becoming Thamuris’s buddy, so something that includes him, too, could be fun.

Maybe it's a canon divergence where Felix and Mildmay stayed longer in the Gardens of Nephele? Does Thamuris keep trying to do the prophesy thing on Mildmay? Does Mildmay help Thamuris get over his addiction? Yummy hurt-comfort between the two patients? Or maybe Thamuris gets better and ends up in Corambis with Felix and Mildmay? Or maybe it's a hand-wavy thing where Mildmay is able to get into the Khloidanikos long after they leave Thamuris in Nephele (I want Mildmay to get in on his own, not through Felix, just as I want Mildmay and Thamuris to have their own friendship independent of Felix). I loved the worldbuilding of the Khloidanikos, so if you want to imagine and expand on that to give Mildmay and Thamuris cool mind adventures there, that would be fun. What do they talk about, how can they help each other, etc? What if the rubies had really been… something even worse? How could they team up to defeat it?


Mildmay/Mehitabel
Mehitabel was an unexpected delight. She’s fun and pragmatic and resourceful, and, despite her own traumas, kind of refreshingly… healthy? The third book was so deeply depressing that I looked forward to her relatively lighter sections. I loved everything about the life of an actress in this crapsack fantasy world. She’s so different from Felix and Mildmay, and I love how she has different relationships with each of them.

I thought she and Mildmay were really sweet together (and the sex was scorching hot!). I loved how she saw and appreciated all the wonderful things about him that other people overlooked, and how uncomplicatedly interested in him she was. I completely understood why they broke up, and it was for the best for Mildmay’s psyche at that time, but I was still sad about it. I would love to read more about their adventures and romance, either set before they broke up, or a canon divergence where it worked out.

— The Missing Years: Something set in the years between the second and third books. The books skipped over pretty much everything between that cute first fuck and their breakup. I’d love to imagine more of their getting together story! Mildmay has such issues that I’m sure it was a little hesitant. Or, you could canon diverge and write about the skipped years of their relationship in a way that might have hastened his journey towards okayness, resulting in a sense that they might not end up breaking up in the future. I was also interested in how different Lord Stephen and Lord Shannon were in her POV from what Felix thought of them. They were kind of lovely! What about a canon divergence where Mildmay gets to know them better through Mehitabel, who seemed to be friendly with Shannon. Separately, what's it like to be in a relationship while one party is under the obligation d'ame?

— Adventures In Melusine: Maybe there was a theatre emergency that required Mehitabel to ask Mildmay to help out, like acting in a role or something else? How might that have gone? Or an adventure where Team Awesome Lower City Detectives (i.e. Mildmay, Gideon, Rinaldo, and Simon) works another case, and Mehitabel joins them. Or exciting dates they had! Nice things she tries to do for him, that possibly go awry? Or maybe Mildmay accompanied her on a short trip out of Melusine for a play. I loved the monster in the river who was Mildmay's #1 fan. Does he introduce it to his new girlfriend?

— Getting Back Together: I love a getting-back-together story, especially when both parties have done some soul-searching and grown in ways that solve the issues that made them part. I actually only started to care deeply about the pairing after they broke up; the way she kept thinking about Mildmay and missing him, and noticing him, and understanding him… and the way Lord Stephen was jealous of Mildmay because it was obvious to him--and maybe to a lot of people? (though not Mildmay)--how deep her feelings for him truly were... Mmmm. What about a canon divergence where she decided she didn’t want to be with anyone else, and tries harder to give him her real self, and they get back together? Or for some reason, she moves to Corambis and they get back together then?


General Mildmay Prompts (to use on their own, or in combination with any of the pairings)
— Post-Canon Divergence In Corambis: Mildmay and Felix’s healing life in the city was everything to me, and I was heartbroken when they were banished to the lighthouse. I was super into the scene where the nice "dean" of the "community college" type place asked if Mildmay wanted to take classes, or even teach one about Marathat! I would love a canon divergence that pretends Mildmay got to stay in the city so that something could have come of that. (Felix can keep his job in the city, too, or maybe Mildmay left him at the lighthouse for a few months?). How does Mildmay get on with his professors and the other students (or his own students!)? What are his favorite subjects? Anything! Does he get a job in the city so he can stop playing cards?

— Magical Cures: I love Mildmay just the way he is, but it would be fascinating to read a fic where he is cured of at least one of the things that he has morbidly defined himself by for so long. The same lady from the college-type place was suggesting that this could be done. What if he’d gotten his scar fixed? Would he even know who he is anymore? What new decisions does he make? How would he react to the new way people would treat him? How would Felix deal with everyone now seeing Mildmay as gorgeous? And/or, same question, if it's his leg that was healed. Or maybe the healing happens earlier on, like while they were in the Gardens of Nephele, or a wizard in the Mirador was able to fix Mildmay’s scar? How might this change situations earlier in the series? DNW him getting cured only for him to be un-cured at the end.

— Mildmay with Magical Ability: It would be cool to read a fic exploring what might happen if he started showing some latent magical ability. Even just the ability to get into the Khloidanikos and hang out with Thamuris would be lovely. Or something more imaginative that he can suddenly do! How does the talent begin manifesting and how does he realize what’s going on? How does he feel about it? Given that mistrusting hocuses is so core to him, how would he deal with this new development? How might it affect his relationships? Would it break or alter the obligation d'ame (since the recipient has to be non-magic for that)? Something else? Anything!

— Met Felix Earlier: What if Felix and Mildmay had met and realized they were brothers before canon started? What might their relationship have been like, if they'd met while Mildmay was working himself up to leave Keeper, or while Felix was still trying to pretend to be an aristocrat, or still studying with Malkar? What would their dynamic have been like then? How could they have helped/comforted (and hurt) on another? What adventures might they have gotten up to?

— Felix/Mildmay: On the one hand, it was clear to me from the start that Felix's lust for Mildmay was a symptom of his damage, and that the healthiest thing for him would be to get over it. I was so happy for him when he did! On the other hand, the whole thing was deeply hot and I am so frustrated that they never fucked. I don't want Felix to ever force Mildmay, but in what other way might it have happened? Is it 'sex for ~reasons', or does Mildmay actually end up exploring some bi leanings? How does he feel about it all? Is he confused, or weirded out by his own attraction, or surprisingly cool, or...? Does someone literally get fucked sideways until they cry?


Mildmay & Bucky (MCU)
My two beautiful, self-loathing, ‘forced to be an assassin’, badass woobies! I want them to like each other as much as I like them. There’s zero need to explain how/why people are going through portals. Feel free to start with Bucky already there and over the initial ‘wtf’ stage. You could even start with him having already met DoL characters! Bucky notes are above here.

Maybe they (or the adventure they share) could jolly one another to a better place? Or meeting someone with a vaguely similar sob story gives perspective that can help? Or maybe they just hang out in the Melusine baths and talk smack about all the flash folks. Is Bucky almost immediately able to understand Mildmay? Are they sexy knife bros? Does Bucky have insight to help Mildmay deal with the time he was tortured by Malkar? I nominated a gen tag, but if you want to ship them, I'd be up for that, too!

— I’d love to see Mildmay and Bucky deal with some sort of DoL concept together. Is there a fantôme that wants to get Bucky? General mikkary? Some labyrinths? Titan Clocks or a thaumaturgic engine? Or maybe they need to make Bucky into Mildmay’s esclavin, for reasons (or they have to pretend that he is). Or maybe the happy ending is that they find a way to meet forevermore in the Khloidanikos despite living in different worlds (is it the same one, or do they find/create their own dreamworld)?

— Reunions!: Maybe Bucky and Mildmay have met before, for reasons that do not need to be explained. Ex. an accident with the Tesseract in Azzano temporarily sent Bucky to the Lower City? Or necromancy gone wrong sent Mildmay to 1930s Brooklyn or WWII for a couple of days? Anyway! The story starts when they reunite in the DoL world years later! How does their relationship grow over these various times together?

— Revenge!: Can Bucky help Mildmay get back at someone who has it coming? Maybe finally taking down Kolkhis? Or Bastion assholes? Or the Dogs? Astanyax? Someone else? Any other demonstration of joint competence porn?

— General Bucky in DoL-land: Maybe Bucky shows up in the DoL world, at any point in the series, either because of a hero-summoning spell, or adventures with Infinity Stones, or… IDK, who cares. What I care about is what happens once he’s a bit more settled in this weird new world. Do Felix and Mildmay take him in? Why? How does having a third roomie go? What does Bucky do with himself in this weird place? Or is he being kept and studied by the authorities because his appearance is so strange and miraculous? How does Mildmay end up getting close with him, in this case? Is Mildmay the only one who doesn’t treat Bucky like a science experiment? Or maybe Bucky blundered into this world weeks before the story started, is trying to roll with being stuck here, and meets Mildmay in class? Do they explore the Corambis or Melusine's Lower City together? I’d love to see their street smarts/battle smarts complement one another. Does Bucky join the Team Awesome Detectives crew of Mildmay, Gideon, Simon, and Rinaldo to solve a mystery? Are Bastion spies trying to kidnap Bucky?

— For all that I was sad that they had to leave the city in Corambis, the lighthouse setting has so much potential, with its remote location and mysterious, disorganized magic papers and whatnot. Is there magic there that Felix uses to somewhat accidentally bring Bucky? Or is there some other kind of magic around the place? Lighthouses are very romantic; how do Mildmay and Bucky bond in a slice of life way?

— Or maybe Mildmay comes home with Bucky to help lay to rest all the people Bucky has killed, by making a labyrinth for them; and when they are at rest, Bucky can feel better? IDK. Given how out of touch Bucky feels in our world's present-day, does it help to have someone who's even more out of place?


Mildmay & Edmund (Narnia)
I think they’d be really great together, partners with very complementary skill sets. They're both so clever, resourceful and badass. I think Edmund would get a kick out of Mildmay, and I think Mildmay would be so impressed by this ‘king’ who is so down to earth and totally not-judgmental. For this, I’m equally interested in Mildmay going to Narnia, or in Edmund going to the DoL world… or both! After Edmund, Lucy is my favorite character, so if you want her to accompany her brother on an adventure to the DoL world or play a large role in a Narnia-set story, that would be great (Lucy being Mildmay’s non-yenta friend could be cute), but it’s also fine if not. I nominated a gen tag, but if you want to ship Mildmay with Edmund and/or Lucy (as the one exception to my threesome DNW), I'd be up for that, too!

I’d vastly prefer a story set mainly in Narnia or the DoL world, but I’m not against an epilogue or something set in our world (is Mildmay excited to find trains here, too?). I really don’t care about the portal mechanics; handwave away. Feel free to start with Mildmay or Edmund already in the new place, or even having been there for a bit, or even having met one another already!

The end of Narnia, train crash, and afterlife are my biggest DNWs. Please let it be clear that everyone will get to live out their lives. I don't need a fix-it (i.e. a fic focused on how their canon death was averted that day). I prefer to pretend it just never came up! I'm not at all invested in the religious allegory elements.

— Adventuring with the Rings: I always want fic about grown-up-again Edmund going on realm-hopping adventures instead of dying. Does he hop in a pond that takes him to the DoL world? How can he help Mildmay with an adventure there? Does he take Mildmay back to Narnia with him?

— Realm-Hopping During the Golden Age: There are portals between our world and Narnia. There’s no reason why there couldn’t be portals directly between the DoL world and Narnia. Does Mildmay blunder through one once (or even a few times, as a different kind of ‘Friend of Narnia’)? Does he meet Edmund at least one of those times? Do their ages get mismatched before an ultimate happy ending? Or maybe it’s Golden-Age Edmund who blunders through once or twice, and he helps Mildmay out with something in the Lower City and/or later on in the series or post-series?

— Mildmay in Narnia: Does someone blow the horn, summoning him? Maybe he goes by himself, or maybe Felix goes with him; Mildmay assumes the ‘hero’ has to be Felix, since Felix is the special one, only to realize it’s him that the horn really wanted? Honestly, he doesn't even need to be on a quest. I would read 10k words (a million words!) about Mildmay having a nice time in Narnia--hanging out, healing, living in a palace with windows, befriending Talking Animals, going to bacchanales, using his talents on secret missions for the monarchs...

— Assume they met as children (maybe there’s a door from Narnia to Melusine, or from Melusine to England), and it was an odd adventure that Mildmay fondly thinks of as a dream. Maybe it was Edmund who helped Mildmay realize he should leave Keeper? Anyway, what I really care about is later on, when they reconnect as adults. Maybe Edmund is adventuring with the rings again or Mildmay falls into the same portal or... Does Edmund end up in Melusine by accident, or was he hoping to find Mildmay again?

—You can also tweak prompts from the Mildmay/Bucky section above! Or even the Edmund/Bucky section elsewhere in this letter.