but don't be sad like knives

Dearest Yulethor,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, and I can't believe Yuletide is already here! I'm sure it's gonna be a great one. Let's get to it.

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose in fic, including for canons originally in first person. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and related bloodplay, size kink (I really like both the bigger party manhandling the smaller party and the smaller party loving it, and the smaller party bossing the bigger party around and the bigger party loving it), praise kink. If you want to write wintery, Christmasy fic (or other-winter-holiday fic) I'm totally into that for any of these fandoms!

For the record: I am open to extra gifts.

DNWs:
- bestiality (including sexual content involving shapeshifters in animal form)
- scat or watersports
- cannibalism/vore
- noncon
- infidelity/cheating involving requested characters: if someone is married or in a relationship in canon, I'm fine with either 'the canon couple never got together for whatever reason' or some kind of open relationship/poly situation, however you want to handle it! Just please no bashing of the canon partner.
- omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg
- graphic animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not great)
- permanent death of requested characters

( Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly )

( The Demon's Lexicon - Sarah Rees Brennan )

( Night World - L.J. Smith )

( The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch - Melinda Taub )

( Sons of the Fallen Series - Jaclyn Osborn )

Dearest Yulethor,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, and I can't believe Yuletide is already here! I'm sure it's gonna be a great one. Let's get to it.

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose in fic, including for canons originally in first person. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and related bloodplay, size kink (I really like both the bigger party manhandling the smaller party and the smaller party loving it, and the smaller party bossing the bigger party around and the bigger party loving it), praise kink. If you want to write wintery, Christmasy fic (or other-winter-holiday fic) I'm totally into that for any of these fandoms!

For the record: I am open to extra gifts.

DNWs:
- bestiality (including sexual content involving shapeshifters in animal form)
- scat or watersports
- cannibalism/vore
- noncon
- infidelity/cheating involving requested characters: if they're married or in a relationship in canon, I'm fine with either 'the canon couple never got together for whatever reason' or some kind of poly situation, however you want to handle it! Just please no bashing of the canon partner.
- omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg
- graphic animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not great)
- permanent death of requested characters

The Addams Family (Movies – Sonnenfeld)
Pubert Addams

We all remember this scene, right?



"Oh, no. He lives." Outstanding.

So here's what I want: I want Pubert's condition to have become irreversible before the family reconciled. I want this golden-curled, rosy-cheeked ray of sunshine Addams, and the rest of the family doing their best to relate to him and support his interests and vice versa, because in this household we love and support our family members even if we don't understand them or their bizarre desire to become an Eagle Scout. Or maybe Pubert out in the wider world pursuing his dream of becoming an orthodontist, a lawyer, or even...president, all-American as apple pie except for how he's still an Addams raised by Addamses. Maybe an AU where Debbie realizes she's found Her People in the Addamses and lovingly takes Pubert under her wing as the next generation of Pastel Addams, and somehow he turns out even weirder than he might have if he'd just stayed a regular Addams. (His parents are so proud, except for of the pastels.) Or maybe Margaret takes him under her wing instead, because while rewatching the Addams Family movies this Halloween season I sort of fell in love with Margaret. Maybe something happens and he has to call Wednesday to help him hide a body. Maybe something happens and the rest of the lacrosse team is like, "Why...why do you know how to hide a body?" and he's like, "What, like it's hard?" Where you go with this is entirely up to you, I just don't want Pubert to have a bad relationship with the rest of his family/look down on them for being "weird." Those aren't Addams Family Values. (Badum tish)

Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly
Abishag Shaw, Livia Levesque

Gentle author, we are gathered here today to make Abishag Shaw and Livia Levesque...talk to each other. If you just gasped, good. We're on the same page.

So here's what's amazing: they both clearly hate each other, and I don't think we've ever really seen them interact because LOL as if Livia willingly would, and also that is something Ben is willing to go to great lengths to prevent. Livia is still calling Shaw an animal over a dozen books in, and I'm pretty sure Shaw has called Ben's mom 'a real piece of work' at least once, and, I mean, he's not wrong. And they are both very intelligent people who excel at using other people's perceptions against them and figuring out why other people do the things they do, and using that, and so I really want them to have to deal with each other. I don't really have specific prompts here, just a nebulous notion: maybe Livia has a problem and she's like, "Ugh, fine, I guess I'll summon Ben's pet American policeman*," or maybe she's (however peripherally) involved in a case Shaw is investigating and he's like, "Fuck me gently with a not-yet-invented chainsaw, I have to interview Ben's mom." And then they are forced by circumstance to work together and/or use and/or respect one another's skill sets and forms of intelligence, and it's kind of horrible for both of them. And maybe one or both of them gains insight into What The Other One Thinks They're Doing Here that rattles the other, because...most people don't see that deep.

And then possibly Ben finds out and is never going to emotionally recover from this. Or maybe he remains blissfully oblivious. IDK it's up to you!

As you may (or may not) already be aware, I ship Ben/Shaw, and if you want to indicate in some way that they're a thing in your fic, I'd be into that (and if you'd like more info on how I'd like that handled, here's a letter from a previous exchange), but that's entirely up to you. If you do go that route, you can write that from the standpoint that Livia knows and deeply disapproves, Livia knows and thinks they don't know she knows (Shaw probably does, Ben is blissfully oblivious), or she is the blissfully oblivious one despite thinking she knows everything. I think any of these could be delightful.

*Bonus points if Livia refers to Shaw as Ben's pet American and/or policeman to his face and he's just like, "Yes, and?"

Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews
Nevada Baylor, Augustine Montgomery, Connor "Mad" Rogan

I was talking to a friend a while back about these books and I was like, "Basically at this point Ilona Andrews could reveal that Augustine and Rogan were actually together romantically and had a really bad breakup when he left for the military, and I feel like no one would be surprised," and just, that's it, that's the vibe. I'm really into the concept of them having broken up messily back in the day and then maybe Nevada finding/figuring it out and having to deal with this mess and them still being in love with each other in the present. I feel like the character dynamics of this trio are really interesting because they're all such prickly people, and they all have such clear reasons for friction in their interpersonal relations--Nevada & Augustine's professional dealings, Rogan & Augustine's rocky past, Rogan's whole psychological deal in general--but even when Rogan and Augustine don't seem to like each other that much they'd still throw down for each other. And my God, what a power trio this would be. And I feel like Nevada/Connor/Augustine would be a really interesting relationship because just...how do I phrase this? Picture the rotating pivot point of any two of them siding against the other one on any one petty issue. Picture the absolute terror that is the three of them united against you. It's glorious.

1. I'm thinking soulmates AU? Like, Rogan seems like just the kind of asshole that he'd ditch Augustine and run off to the military anyway because he was bucking against his whole life being lined up for him, and now it's ten years later and he's got to deal with the mess he made if the city doesn't burn down first. He might be hoping the city burns down first a little. (I have always sort of thought that part of the reason Augustine recruited Nevada for the Pierce case was that he realized Rogan would probably get involved and he was willing to do absolutely anything to avoid him a little longer, so...meanwhile Nevada is just standing here holding the brain cell.)

And Rogan totally seems like the kind of special that would have two soulmates. (If you go with something like 'soulmate-identifying marks,' Augustine could even suspect Nevada is the other soulmate before he sends her after Pierce, which would be interesting.) How does he feel about his soulmates unionizing against him, and why is the answer 'turned on?'
2. Until recently, I assumed (even though we've been told they'll fool things like retinal scanners) that Augustine's illusions were visual, but in recent Q&As Ilona Andrews have said things that make them sound like they're also physical--like that Augustine has clothes tailored in different sizes to make things easier on himself. I'm going to be honest, this is sort of bending my brain trying to figure out how the clothes fit without Augustine being an actual shapeshifter, but let's not stress the details of magic and let's just get right to the sexytimes possibilities of Augustine's illusions being that real. And combined with Rogan being a tactile? Yowza.
3. Augustine has finally started interviewing for a potential bride and Rogan can't figure out why he's so mad about it until someone, possibly one of his soldiers, possibly his mom, possibly Nevada, hits him with a clue bat.
4. Maybe Rogan and Augustine never broke up/fell out when Rogan went off to the military. Maybe they've been on again/off again for over a decade and they snipe at each other as a form of foreplay. Maybe they're Houston's secret or not at all secret power couple, and now Nevada's in the middle of this. Whatever you want to do with it!
5. Either Rogan or Nevada has some unskippable social event they're supposed to go to with the other and something comes up that means they can't make it, and need to not be seen not making it, so Augustine impersonates the missing partner. If it's Rogan I feel like he's slightly sarcastic about it all night and Nevada has to keep trying not to laugh. If it's Nevada Rogan is probably weirded out by how good he is at it. And then they all meet back up at home and *cough* debrief.
6. Rogan sees Augustine without his illusions for the first time in more than ten years and there's some sort of significant change he wasn't expecting. Maybe Augustine's hairline is, in fact, receding and Rogan's more upset about this than Augustine is ("I was joking about that!" "It's just hair, Connor.") Maybe the scar Konstantin could see in Ruby Fever is new, and Augustine refuses to tell Rogan how he got it so he can go kill the person who gave it to him ("They're already dead anyway." "There has to be SOMEONE I can kill!") Maybe Augustine distracts him with sex. Maybe Augustine just has new crinkles around his eyes and Rogan is alarmed by how attractive he finds them.
7. Rogan teaching Nevada how to play 'Spot the Pancakes' at society functions. His illusions are flawless, his impersonations impeccable, but Rogan will find him. (Possibly the forfeits are sexual?)
8. Anything with some bad guy realizing at the worst possible time that the power couple is actually a power trio and now they're screwed. Possibly:
Bad guys: and now we are going to kill you
Nevada and Rogan, bored: Oh no. Please don't.
Augustine: Oops there is an Illusion Prime with a knife in this room.

But it could also be like a business deal situation or literally anything.
7. Maybe an AU where the Rogan-Baylors had the good sense to get their on-call Illusion Prime to consult on that disgusting sex tape Victoria Tremaine had made and sent to them, and Augustine gets to hold the brain cell for once: "You are both going to sit down and not do anything rash because here are all the reasons this is a clear fake. I mean they didn't even get your cock right, Connor, it's much nicer than that."

Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews
Christopher Steed, Hugh d'Ambray

Quick note: I have not yet read the Wilmington books, although I keep meaning to get to it. I am, however, familiar with certain spoilers regarding Hugh which Ilona Andrews dropped in a Q&A after they got themselves into a bind by writing books set long after certain information has been revealed in-universe before writing the books where said information is revealed. (If you know, you know.)

Okay, so after the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher accidentally-on-purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (not consciously because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).

And now I ship it. It's a whole mess of history and dynamics to dig into and I'm into it. Like: they were horrible men, and they were equals. And then one of them kept the other one in a cage. And now they're both different people in some ways, living in the aftermath of all of that, and it's just...really interesting to me. And yet we never really get to see them interact. There's that one really tense moment in Magic Triumphs, and then their actual conversation takes place offscreen and that's it. I need more.

Note: please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. As far as the canon relationships go, I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with some form of polyamory, it never happened because of reasons, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray of all people, but, I mean, maybe? Or maybe they didn't get together. However you can make it work!

Prompts!
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh. Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die (and then possibly "I can't believe we survived that" sex?)?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst. (I mean, we now know it grew back, but that was still very much in doubt at the end of Magic Triumphs.
4. Something set during the preparations to face Neig, with Hugh and Christopher both being weirded out by how easily they fall into a groove of working together again and the Iron Dogs enthusiastically embracing Christopher because it's always nice when someone they used to know A) is alive and B) isn't trying to kill them, and possibly also ragging the hell out of Hugh for having A Type, because haha wow are there some similarities between Elara and Christopher.
5. The whole situation with Christopher crazy and being kept in a cage, from the POV of the guy who respected and/or loved him and was keeping him in a cage, and apparently feeding and talking to him in secret in his own castle.
6. So oops it turns out Hugh can't marry Elara to seal their alliance because he and Christopher are already married. Maybe they didn't realize that thing they did as a quick way to solve a problem one time was legally binding. Maybe it was entirely on purpose and a secret. Maybe they're trying to get a quickie divorce and absurd romcom style obstacles keep falling in their path. Whatever just run with it.
7. I noticed on reread that Hugh grows throughout the course of the series—something in the range of four to six inches. While I'm pretty sure this is just another authorial inconsistency like his country of origin switching early in the series from England to France, it could also be fanwanked as the result of his stint healing in a phoenix egg, so something with Christopher reacting to his new height (and Hugh to Christopher's new shoulders?) could be a thing.
8. Anything, platonic or romantic, to do with them after the series ends, dealing with the fact that they were both really horrible people who did horrible things (and that Hugh did some of those things *to* Christopher), and now...here they are in the aftermath, in some ways very different people but in some ways still who they always were, just with a chance to be better now.

Sons of the Fallen - Jaclyn Osborn
Any

For any of these scenarios, I would love to see some wing kink. Like, actual wing kink, not the wing slit kink we see in the text (although that is also hot). But like touching someone's wings being intimate and pleasurable for the one being touched, trying to avoid the sharp edges of the feathers, mutual grooming, etc. I would also like to see sexy biting/blood-drinking, because...hot.

Alastair/Lazarus
Okay, look. As early as book one I was like, "Why...why can they communicate telepathically and none of the other brothers know why? Wouldn't it be a total trainwreck if it's because they're secretly soulmates?...I see a lot of potential there, actually," and then they were secretly soulmates. But...I didn't love how it was handled in book seven. Like, Lazarus wasn't just "hard on Alastair" or whatever, he used him as a whipping boy. The history is ugly, and it felt like that got swept under the rug--Lazarus expected Alastair to reject him at first, but that was at least partially because of his hiding the truth and being an asshole for the last few millennia, not because of their early relationship, and Alastair sort of breezed right past all of it faster than I would have expected even for the guy whose sin makes it impossible for him to admit anything is ever wrong. Like, I really thought that when Lazarus was permanently marked with whip scars and then Alastair, the boy he used to whip whenever any of his brothers screwed up, was his freaking soulmate, that that would turn out to be more of a thing than it was. I mean, the scars were touched on, but...I expected more angst and drama there. Additionally I expected way more of a reaction from Alastair's brothers, and every time Lazarus called Alastair a brat or threatened to spank him I was like, "Nope, absolutely the hell not," and I'm not opposed to that kind of thing under the right circumstances. 'Literally and abusively raised him' is...not those circumstances, for me.

But I still think it's a pairing with a lot of potential, so: fanfic?

DNW anything involving punishment or like, whipping or spanking in a sexual context for this pairing. I think there's way too much baggage for that to be sexy here. References to their canonical history involving those things in a non-sexual context is a-okay, and I'm okay with face slapping. IDK why, brains and ids are weird. Maybe the snap-out-of-it slap in Raiden did things to me. But, yeah. Lazarus can slap Alastair to snap him out of a Pride meltdown or whatever, or just because they're into it (although ideally Lazarus should be conflicted at first in this case before he's like "...no okay that's really hot.").

1. I really thought Alastair knew. Like, I thought it was more likely that he knew and Lazarus didn't than the other way around, from some things he said and did in Bellamy. So: AU where Alastair's the one who knew all along and, like, Michael sealed the bond, and now the seal's it's broken and Lazarus has to come to terms with having been a dick to his soulmate for a few thousand years. (Or maybe without the added pressure of feeling the connection Alastair didn't, and the council breathing down his neck, he would have been less of a dick and more likely to spend some of that time trying to make amends for how he treated them as children, therefore making the situation harder for an Alastair who's aware? Hmmm.)
2. Or! AU where Lazarus told Alastair the truth early on and Alastair was able to make informed choices about how to conduct his life under such difficult and unusual circumstances, rather than having it sprung on him at the eleventh hour and having to feel vaguely guilty about every relationship he's ever had in front of Lazarus' face. Alastair still wouldn't feel the bond, but he might have organically developed emotions for Lazarus over time, leading to a lot of delicious pining and hidden angst behind his brothers' back.
3. Or maybe during the book the council pushes the issue and Lazarus puts his money where his mouth is and falls to be with Alastair, and is this just an excuse for more blood drinking porn? Absolutely. But you could also have the council after everything's done and it's firmly established that Lazarus was right like, "So...does anyone know how we reinstate an angel...?"
4. I really liked the bits about how Alastair tends to spiral and Lazarus can stop that and get him out of his head, and am totally into the idea of Alastair being submissive sexually for this purpose, with Lazarus praising him and telling him he's good and perfect and etc.
5. I would also like to see Lazarus experience some of the first times we didn't get to see in the book--first time bottoming, first time giving head, first rim job. I would kind of like to see him kneeling at Alastair's feet; that role reversal feels very satisfactory and possibly cathartic.

Just Alastair
I think about this quote on selfishness from the Tiffany Aching books a lot when it comes to Alastair, considering that Pride as a sin is all about selfishness, and I would sort of like to see him with that sort of mindset: these are his brothers, and his world, and therefore he has a duty to them. Or, to put a completely different and no less accurate tone on it: this is his circus, and these are his monkeys.

I love the running thing about how Alastair is basically a grandpa in the body of a young man. He loves his books and his classical music and his tea and, in the best under-the-radar joke in Raiden, Werther's fucking Originals. And I feel like he just really deserves a nice day off, maybe a trip to a rare bookstore...maybe at some point during canon, or the past, his brothers frantically trying to crisis manage and keep him from finding out A Thing Is Happening in the background, because they all agree that Al needs this.

Or I would love to see Alastair spending family time with his brothers. Their Christmases seem fun, how about that? Or maybe something with Alastair and Joseph? I felt like Joseph got a raw deal in the last book. He gave Alastair his whole life knowing Alastair couldn't give him all of his, and he got sort of...brushed aside. That love was real when it happened, and I would not object to a nice fic about it. Or maybe something set at some point in the past where Alastair got involved in some sort of shenanigans his brothers would not believe of him. Maybe Konnar was involved. Maybe he did drag or accidentally started one tiny little political revolution. Or both.

Bellamy
I feel like there's a lot of unexplored potential with Bellamy and Lust. There are some things that aren't really touched on in canon that I wonder about, and some things that are stated outright that I'd like to see fic going in a different direction from.

First off, the whole thing with Bellamy's real eye color feels like it deserves a deleted scene where his brothers find out about it, because in everybody else's POV we've gotten no indication that anyone knows Bellamy has a secret eye color he's angsting about, and at this point someone has to have seen Phoenix look at him and his eyes turn blue at least once. I want the fallout from that, because while it's by no means on the level of the Alastair/Lazarus thing, it's a secret he's been keeping from his brothers for thousands of years, and it feels like the reaction would be epic.

Second, we're told that Bellamy's never had sex with any of his brothers, but I don't really...buy that. Like, it doesn't seem to jive with how he gets sick if he doesn't have sex regularly, and the fact that they were isolated until they turned eighteen. I've been around teenaged boys, there is no way Lust didn't wake up until after Bellamy was eighteen. (And while it's possible, considering they were eight when they met and didn't automatically see each other as brothers, a strong incest taboo just doesn't...fit, especially when we know Castor and Galen had a fling.) I also find it kind of implausible there's never been a dry spell where there weren't really other options around in all the time since. So maybe something with one of those scenarios, or just even like, sex as comfort. Maybe at a different period in history, Bellamy was less all up in his head about it and saw things more like Raiden's worldview: orgasms are nice. Bellamy gives great orgasms. Who wants some?

Third, I'm interested in the darker side of Lust, both in the bloodlust that's been sort of touched on but not really explored--I'd like to see Bellamy go over to that for a longer, more cohesive period of time, both what that looks like and the fallout from it for everyone to deal with--and the fact that any time he goes out in public Bellamy must be exposed to all kinds of mental filth. I have a headcanon, completely unsupported by the text, that Echo Bay's vampire population mainly feeds on pedophiles and rapists Bellamy tips them off to, but basically anything dealing with those drawbacks of Lust instead of, "Oh, woe is me, I must have all the sex," would be interesting to explore, I think.

Also, I feel like Bellamy could be perceived as Lazarus' favorite, from how he was the only one who didn't hate or at least dislike him from the word go, and how he always tries to see the best of his motivations and whatnot. And I know most of them would care but, boy, all things considered, Alastair could. That bit in Bellamy where Lazarus is ripping into Alastair over his handling of Bellamy's kidnapping in front of everyone is...honestly pretty ugly, when you consider that Bellamy's already been safely retrieved at that point, and, again, all things regarding Alastair and Lazarus considered. I also wonder if Bellamy being pro-Lazarus at first had something to do with how harshly Lazarus cracked down on the whole group, to prevent him and say, Castor, from splitting the boys into factions. And I would kind of like to see some sort of blowup over all of that after everything's out in the open, in the interests of ripping some things that have been festering open so they can heal or what have you.

OR I'd like to see Phoenix (or someone else, as we've already established I think Bellamy should fuck his brothers) be like, "I know Lust makes you always be all about whatever your partner wants, but tonight it's all about YOU," and then just like, cater to Bell and help him figure out what he likes.

Gray
I love this sleepy ball of sunshine, and real talk, I remain somewhat surprised that his focus book did not go to even a little bit of a somnophilia place. "Oh, no, Gray is getting sleepy, now we cannot have sex." Yes, you can! I expect more initiative and can-do spirit from a marine. Gray doesn't even have to be fully asleep, you could go with sleepy, warm and relaxed sex or something during one of his bad lethargic periods, where he can't really do anything except lay there and take it, but that's okay because he's still mentally into it and his partner loves manhandling him. His partner doesn't have to be Mason, you could go with that pirate captain he used to roll with (love a pirate fic), or maybe he has an ongoing arrangement with one of his brothers, like he's Bellamy's go-to partner during a dry spell (he can totally come in his sleep!) or a stress relief thing with Alastair. Or maybe it's all of them, from time to time! (I know several of the bros only bottom on-page, but I think Raiden is the only one who's explicit about being an exclusive bottom--but I'm willing to ignore all of that for porn logic's sake.)

I'd also like to see fic about Gray just, like, navigating the world with Sloth. Oh, no, he's asleep again. In the middle of this battle. Or just in the middle of this Target. It never gets old to me. I love him. So just anything with Gray being Gray and everyone else fondly coping with that: A+.

Or how about, since Gray is the brother who really loves Christmas, Christmas fic? Maybe that Christmas that everything went wrong that...I think it's Daman talks about in the books, in more detail, or just another cozy family Christmas. What do you even buy Greed for Christmas, anyway? Hell, what do you buy Galen? And now there are all these soulmates and we've gotta shop for them, and fuck me, do I have to get Lazarus a Christmas present?

Just Lazarus
1. Maybe an AU where when Lazarus suddenly found himself a single parent to eight kids who hated him to various degrees it was more funny and awkward and less of a total fucking nightmare for everyone involved? Maybe he tried his best instead of beating them with a whip. Maybe that.
2. Maybe something when he was stuck at Clara's after he injured his wing in Bellamy and he just had to put up with this human witch being casually mean to him because she was also helping (and also, she's right).
3. Five times Raiden talked him into trying human food and one time he actually liked it.
4. Something with the 'Bellamy may be perceived as his favorite' thing I went into above.
5. In Bellamy it's revealed that Lazarus at one point agreed with/followed Lucifer, so, like, AU where he fell? (This could also be a juicy Alastair/Lazarus prompt, just sayin'.)

Dear Author,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great.

(For the record: I am open to treats, and for all of these fandoms I have requested fic only.)

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose in fic, including for canons originally in first person. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and related bloodplay, size kink (I really like both the bigger party manhandling the smaller party and the smaller party loving it, and the smaller party bossing the bigger party around and the bigger party loving it), and praise kink.

DNWs:
- bestiality (including sexual content involving shapeshifters in animal form)
- scat or watersports
- cannibalism/vore
- noncon/dubcon
- infidelity/cheating involving requested characters: if they're married or in a relationship in canon, I'm fine with either 'the canon couple never got together for whatever reason' or some kind of poly situation, however you want to handle it! Just please no bashing of the canon partner.
- omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg
- graphic animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not great)
- permanent death of requested characters

Onward!

Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews

I apparently am really into getting Augustine Montgomery paired off already.

Augustine Montgomery/Arabella Baylor
Yeah, okay, he's way too old for her and there's the whole thing where he held professional power over her family, but Arabella's an adult now, she can make her own decisions, Catalina says herself in Ruby Fever that she trusts Arabella's decisions about men, and I feel like this would be a really interesting dynamic. Very Beauty & the Beast, except they can both be either. And Augustine is so tightly wound and closed off, I could totally see Arabella getting him to loosen up a little bit, while I can totally see Arabella being drawn to someone a little bit more reserved and calm. The children would be very blond.

1. How does this even happen? Maybe they run into each other on vacation and wake up married. Maybe it's somehow a business decision. Maybe they hook up while trapped in a supply closet after assignments they're both working that turn out to intersect go horribly wrong, and then they're like, "...Nevada and Connor must never know." Maybe one of them is minding their own business having a nice day and gets dragged into the other's catastrophe (can't let Connor's sister-in-law or best friend get kidnapped on MY watch, after all). Maybe something else?
2. It was supposed to be a one-time fling but now it keeps happening, with increasingly complicated hijinks to keep Arabella's family from finding out.
3. Nevada and Connor (and the rest of the Baylors) Find Out. (Cut to: Catalina somewhat reluctantly wrestling a sniper rifle away from her mother.)
4. Arabella has ideas for sexytimes applications of Augustine's illusion magic that he hadn't even thought of.
5. Something with Arabella getting Augustine to loosen up and have some fun. Probably he's not convinced that whatever activity she has in mind will be fun at first, but she's so enthusiastic. And then he ends up having a great time!
6. I'm positive that by this point in the series Augustine knows what Arabella's magic is, but there's probably some leeway to play around with here as far as when he finds out and Arabella finds out he knows, etc., and how that plays out. Like, was it the incident on the interstate, something less dramatic, something she didn't even realize gave him a clue until later?

Augustine Montgomery/Cornelius Harrison
In Sapphire Flames when it's mentioned that Augustine came to the warehouse and picked Matilda up, everyone sort of brushes it off as, "Well, MII has a personal security division," which is true, but doesn't explain why the owner of the company is chauffeuring a random second grader, and so my brain helpfully decided that he's dating her dad, and him sitting with Cornelius's family at Runa & Bern's wedding sure didn't make me not think that, let met tell you!

And I know there was that whole, "Cornelius will never truly love again," thing, but maybe that's not, like, definitive. Maybe science magic turns out to be wrong about that. Or maybe it's an FWB thing and that works for them, or something! Maybe somehow it all works out.

1. Maybe Augustine's illusion magic goes haywire somehow and Cornelius has to help him get out of a situation. Or maybe the illusion magic has, uh, sexytimes applications. (NOT "I can look like your dead wife" applications. Fun applications!)
2. Or maybe Augustine does make the 'I could look like your dead wife' offer, considering how realistic his illusions apparently are (clothes in different sizes fit him!), and Cornelius is appropriately horrified and now they have to sort through, like, Augustine not thinking he's enough as himself, and also him thinking that's something Cornelius would go for because what the fuck, Augustine?
3. I almost died at Cornelius saying he would "ferret out" Tatyana's secrets in Emerald Blaze, so: something with Cornelius being a terrible maker of animal puns and Augustine NOT being charmed by it, not at ALL, he SWEARS (he is MELTING on the inside).
4. Augustine needs Cornelius's help with a job. More specifically, he needs the ferrets' help with a job. This isn't an excuse to spend time alone with Cornelius in an enclosed space, what are you talking about? (It is also that.)
5. Using your animal sidekicks to figure out who Augustine is impersonating at society events is cheating, Cornelius, and Augustine is going to withhold his (sexy) forfeit until you apologize (no he's not).
6. Augustine "It's my job to know all your secrets" Montgomery is the last person in Houston, or at least in their mutual social circle, to figure out that Cornelius faked his magical evaluation, despite having seen him do multiple things that should be impossible even for Primes with his own two eyes.

Augustine Montgomery/Connor "Mad" Rogan(/Nevada Baylor)
I was talking to a friend a while back about these books and I was like, "Basically at this point Ilona Andrews could reveal that Augustine and Rogan were actually together romantically and had a really bad breakup when he left for the military, and I feel like no one would be surprised," and just, that's it, that's the vibe. I'm really into the concept of them having broken up messily back in the day and then maybe Nevada finding/figuring it out and having to deal with this mess and them still being in love with each other in the present. I feel like the character dynamics of this trio are really interesting because they're all such prickly people, and they all have such clear reasons for friction in their interpersonal relations--Nevada & Augustine's professional dealings, Rogan & Augustine's rocky past, Rogan's whole psychological deal in general and whatever hidden mess is going on in Augustine's backstory--but even when Rogan and Augustine don't seem to like each other that much they'd still throw down for each other. And my God, what a power trio this would be. And I feel like Nevada/Connor/Augustine would be a really interesting relationship because just...how do I phrase this? Picture the rotating pivot point of any two of them siding against the other one on any one petty issue they can have a ridiculous argument and then makeup sex about. Picture the absolute terror that is the three of them united against you. It's glorious.

Re: the infidelity DNW: I'm pretty into the poly option here but also you could easily make the argument Nevada deserves better than to have to deal with these assholes and their issues, so if you do want to write some form of poly that would be awesome but also: Nevada and Connor broke up, never got together, it's set in the period before they met, whatever you want to do, it's all good. Just...anything but cheating, yeah. (Good luck cheating on a Truthseeker anyway lol.)

1. I'm thinking soulmates AU? Like, Rogan seems like just the kind of asshole that he'd ditch Augustine and run off to the military anyway because he was bucking against his whole life being lined up for him, and now it's ten years later and he's got to deal with the mess he made if the city doesn't burn down first. He might be hoping the city burns down first a little. (Recent blog postings indicate against this headcanon, but I have always sort of thought that part of the reason Augustine recruited Nevada for the Pierce case was that he realized Rogan would probably get involved and he was willing to do absolutely anything to avoid him a little longer, so...meanwhile Nevada is just standing here holding the brain cell.)

And Rogan totally seems like the kind of special that would have two soulmates. (If you go with something like 'soulmate-identifying marks,' Augustine could even suspect Nevada is the other soulmate before he sends her after Pierce, which would be interesting.) How does he feel about his soulmates unionizing against him, and why is the answer 'turned on?'
2. Until recently, I assumed (even though we've been told they'll fool things like retinal scanners) that Augustine's illusions were visual, but in recent Q&As Ilona Andrews have said things that make them sound like they're also physical--like that Augustine has clothes tailored in different sizes to make things easier on himself. I'm going to be honest, this is sort of bending my brain trying to figure out how the clothes fit without Augustine being an actual shapeshifter, but let's not stress the details of magic and let's just get right to the sexytimes possibilities of Augustine's illusions being that real. And combined with Rogan being a tactile? Yowza.
3. Augustine has finally started interviewing for a potential bride and Rogan can't figure out why he's so mad about it until someone, possibly one of his soldiers, possibly his mom, possibly Nevada, hits him with a clue bat.
4. Maybe Rogan and Augustine never broke up/fell out when Rogan went off to the military. Maybe they've been on again/off again for over a decade and they snipe at each other as a form of foreplay. Maybe they're Houston's secret or not at all secret power couple. Whatever you want to do with it!
5. Either Rogan or Nevada has some unskippable social event they're supposed to go to with the other and something comes up that means they can't make it, and need to not be seen not making it, so Augustine impersonates the missing partner. If it's Rogan I feel like he's slightly sarcastic about it all night and Nevada has to keep trying not to laugh. If it's Nevada Rogan is probably weirded out by how good he is at it. And then they all meet back up at home and *cough* debrief.
6. Rogan sees Augustine without his illusions for the first time in more than ten years and there's some sort of significant change he wasn't expecting. Maybe Augustine's hairline is, in fact, receding and Rogan's more upset about this than Augustine is ("I was joking about that!" "It's just hair, Connor.") Maybe the scar Konstantin could see in Ruby Fever is new, and Augustine refuses to tell Rogan how he got it so he can go kill the person who gave it to him ("They're already dead anyway." "There has to be SOMEONE I can kill!") Maybe Augustine distracts him with sex. Maybe Augustine just has new crinkles around his eyes and Rogan is alarmed by how attractive he finds them.
7. Rogan teaching Nevada how to play 'Spot the Pancakes' at society functions. His illusions are flawless, his impersonations impeccable, but Rogan will find him. (Possibly the forfeits are sexual?)
8. Anything with some bad guy realizing at the worst possible time that the power couple is actually a power trio and now they're screwed. Possibly:
Bad guys: and now we are going to kill you
Nevada and Rogan, bored: Oh no. Please don't.
Augustine: Oops there is an Illusion Prime with a knife in this room.

But it could also be like a business deal situation or literally anything.
7. Maybe an AU where the Rogan-Baylors had the good sense to get their on-call Illusion Prime to consult on that disgusting sex tape Victoria Tremaine had made and sent to them, and Augustine gets to hold the brain cell for once: "You are both going to sit down and not do anything rash because here are all the reasons this is a clear fake. I mean they didn't even get your cock right, Connor, it's much nicer than that."

Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews
Christopher Steed/Hugh d'Ambray

Okay, so after the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher accidentally-on-purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (not consciously because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).

And now I ship it. It's a whole mess of history and dynamics to dig into and I'm into it. Like: they were horrible men, and they were equals. And then one of them kept the other one in a cage. And now they're both different people in some ways, living in the aftermath of all of that, and it's just...really interesting to me. And yet we never really get to see them interact. There's that one really tense moment in Magic Triumphs, and then their actual conversation takes place offscreen and that's it. I need more.

Note: please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. As far as the canon relationships go, I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with some form of polyamory, it never happened because of reasons, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray of all people, but, I mean, maybe? Or maybe they didn't get together. However you can make it work!

Prompts!
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh. Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die (and then possibly "I can't believe we survived that" sex?)?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst. (I mean, we now know it grew back, but that was still very much in doubt at the end of Magic Triumphs.
4. Something set during the preparations to face Neig, with Hugh and Christopher both being weirded out by how easily they fall into a groove of working together again and the Iron Dogs enthusiastically embracing Christopher because it's always nice when someone they used to know A) is alive and B) isn't trying to kill them, and possibly also ragging the hell out of Hugh for having A Type, because haha wow are there some similarities between Elara and Christopher.
5. The whole situation with Christopher crazy and being kept in a cage, from the POV of the guy who respected and/or loved him and was keeping him in a cage, and apparently feeding and talking to him in secret in his own castle.
6. So oops it turns out Hugh can't marry Elara to seal their alliance because he and Christopher are already married. Maybe they didn't realize that thing they did as a quick way to solve a problem one time was legally binding. Maybe it was entirely on purpose and a secret. Maybe they're trying to get a quickie divorce and absurd romcom style obstacles keep falling in their path. Whatever just run with it.
7. I noticed on reread that Hugh grows throughout the course of the series—something in the range of four to six inches. While I'm pretty sure this is just another authorial inconsistency like his country of origin switching early in the series from England to France, it could also be fanwanked as the result of his stint healing in a phoenix egg, so something with Christopher reacting to his new height (and Hugh to Christopher's new shoulders?) could be a thing.
8. Anything, platonic or romantic, to do with them after the series ends, dealing with the fact that they were both really horrible people who did horrible things (and that Hugh did some of those things *to* Christopher), and now...here they are in the aftermath, in some ways very different people but in some ways still who they always were, just with a chance to be better now.
9. Once upon a time there was an ambitious, smart, wildly talented young twink of a necromancer who was bound and determined to climb Roland's warlord like a tree. This is his story.

Night World - L.J. Smith
John Quinn/Ash Redfern

Okay, listen, I am Night World trash going back to when we thought Strange Fate was gonna come out on schedule, and I feel like that's all I need to say about that.

Here is what I want: I want Ash to try to get a reaction out of Quinn until he snaps. I want Quinn to take that brat in hand in multiple senses of the word and put that smart mouth of his to better use. I want him to threaten to put Ash over his knee, and for Ash to call his bluff, and possibly for it not to have been a bluff at all. I want frustrated, frantic makeouts and/or sex up against a wall and then, "We're never going to talk about this again," except maybe it keeps happening, and every time is going to be the last time, and then it is not and both of them are mad and horny about it. I want Ash engineering scenarios to make it happen again and in total denial that that's what he's doing. I want prose dedicated to Ash Redfern's magical Mary Sue color changing eyes and how annoyed Quinn is at how hot he finds them. I want sexy biting. And I want Rashel and/or Mary-Lynette wide-eyed at this revelation of their soulmate's sexual history and like, "So...can I watch?" That is what I want, and I have wanted it since we all thought Strange Fate was gonna come out on time.

Sons of the Fallen Series - Jaclyn Osborn

For any of these scenarios, I would love to see some wing kink. Like, actual wing kink, not the wing slit kink we see in the text (although that is also hot). But like touching someone's wings being intimate and pleasurable for the one being touched, trying to avoid the sharp edges of the feathers, mutual grooming, etc. I would also like to see sexy biting/blood-drinking, because...hot.

Alastair/Lazarus
Okay, look. As early as book one I was like, "Why...why can they communicate telepathically and none of the other brothers know why? Wouldn't it be a total trainwreck if it's because they're secretly soulmates?...I see a lot of potential there, actually," and then they were secretly soulmates. But...I didn't love how it was handled in book seven. Like, Lazarus wasn't just "hard on Alastair" or whatever, he used him as a whipping boy. The history is ugly, and it felt like that got swept under the rug--Lazarus expected Alastair to reject him at first, but that was at least partially because of his hiding the truth and being an asshole for the last few millennia, not because of their early relationship, and Alastair sort of breezed right past all of it faster than I would have expected even for the guy whose sin makes it impossible for him to admit anything is ever wrong. Like, I really thought that when Lazarus was permanently marked with whip scars and then Alastair, the boy he used to whip whenever any of his brothers screwed up, was his freaking soulmate, that that would turn out to be more of a thing than it was. I mean, the scars were touched on, but...I expected more angst and drama there. Additionally I expected way more of a reaction from Alastair's brothers, and every time Lazarus called Alastair a brat or threatened to spank him I was like, "Nope, absolutely the hell not," and I'm not opposed to that kind of thing under the right circumstances. 'Literally and abusively raised him' is...not those circumstances, for me.

But I still think it's a pairing with a lot of potential, so: fanfic?

DNW anything involving punishment or like, whipping or spanking in a sexual context for this pairing. I think there's way too much baggage for that to be sexy here. References to their canonical history involving those things in a non-sexual context is a-okay, and I'm okay with face slapping. IDK why, brains and ids are weird. Maybe the snap-out-of-it slap in Raiden did things to me. But, yeah. Lazarus can slap Alastair to snap him out of a Pride meltdown or whatever, or just because they're into it (although ideally Lazarus should be conflicted at first in this case before he's like "...no okay that's really hot.").

1) I really thought Alastair knew. Like, I thought it was more likely that he knew and Lazarus didn't than the other way around, from some things he said and did in Bellamy. So: AU where Alastair's the one who knew all along and, like, Michael sealed the bond, and now the seal's it's broken and Lazarus has to come to terms with having been a dick to his soulmate for a few thousand years. (Or maybe without the added pressure of feeling the connection Alastair didn't, and the council breathing down his neck, he would have been less of a dick and more likely to spend some of that time trying to make amends for how he treated them as children, therefore making the situation harder for an Alastair who's aware? Hmmm.)
2) Or! AU where Lazarus told Alastair the truth early on and Alastair was able to make informed choices about how to conduct his life under such difficult and unusual circumstances, rather than having it sprung on him at the eleventh hour and having to feel vaguely guilty about every relationship he's ever had in front of Lazarus' face. Alastair still wouldn't feel the bond, but he might have organically developed emotions for Lazarus over time, leading to a lot of delicious pining and hidden angst behind his brothers' back.
3) Or let's go further AU! What if Lazarus managed to collect all the other brothers, but he wasn't able to pry Alastair out of the heart of Lucifer's army, so they meet as adults, across a battlefield, the same way Bellamy met Phoenix? Now it's enemies to lovers! Without all the child abuse! (I mean, presumably the others still got...yeah. Lazarus has a lot of work to do no matter how you slice it.)
4) Or even further AU than that! At one point it's revealed that Lazarus was a follower of Lucifer at one point, so like, what if he fell? Does he fall in love with Alastair as a young man and they realize together Lucifer is in the wrong? Or does like Michael steal the Nephilim bros, and then he meets Alastair across a battlefield as an enemy and, again, it's Bellamy and Phoenix 2.0? (I don't really want them to stay evil.)
5) Or maybe during the book the council pushes the issue and Lazarus puts his money where his mouth is and falls to be with Alastair, and is this just an excuse for more blood drinking porn? Absolutely. But you could also have the council after everything's done and it's firmly established that Lazarus was right like, "So...does anyone know how we reinstate an angel...?"
6. I really liked the bits about how Alastair tends to spiral and Lazarus can stop that and get him out of his head, and am totally into the idea of Alastair being submissive sexually for this purpose, with Lazarus praising him and telling him he's good and perfect and etc.
7. I would also like to see Lazarus experience some of the first times we didn't get to see in the book--first time bottoming, first time giving head, first rim job. I would kind of like to see him kneeling at Alastair's feet; that role reversal feels very satisfactory and possibly cathartic.

Bellamy
I feel like there's a lot of unexplored potential with Bellamy and Lust. There are some things that aren't really touched on in canon that I wonder about, and some things that are stated outright that I'd like to see fic going in a different direction from.

First off, the whole thing with Bellamy's real eye color feels like it deserves a deleted scene where his brothers find out about it, because in everybody else's POV we've gotten no indication that anyone knows Bellamy has a secret eye color he's angsting about, and at this point someone has to have seen Phoenix look at him and his eyes turn blue at least once. I want the fallout from that, because while it's by no means on the level of the Alastair/Lazarus thing, it's a secret he's been keeping from his brothers for thousands of years, and it feels like the reaction would be epic.

Second, we're told that Bellamy's never had sex with any of his brothers, but I don't really...buy that. Like, it doesn't seem to jive with how he gets sick if he doesn't have sex regularly, and the fact that they were isolated until they turned eighteen. I've been around teenaged boys, there is no way Lust didn't wake up until after Bellamy was eighteen. (And while it's possible, considering they were eight when they met and didn't automatically see each other as brothers, a strong incest taboo just doesn't...fit, especially when we know Castor and Galen had a fling.) I also find it kind of implausible there's never been a dry spell where there weren't really other options around in all the time since. So maybe something with one of those scenarios, or just even like, sex as comfort. Maybe at a different period in history, Bellamy was less all up in his head about it and saw things more like Raiden's worldview: orgasms are nice. Bellamy gives great orgasms. Who wants some?

Third, I'm interested in the darker side of Lust, both in the bloodlust that's been sort of touched on but not really explored--I'd like to see Bellamy go over to that for a longer, more cohesive period of time, both what that looks like and the fallout from it for everyone to deal with--and the fact that any time he goes out in public Bellamy must be exposed to all kinds of mental filth. I have a headcanon, completely unsupported by the text, that Echo Bay's vampire population mainly feeds on pedophiles and rapists Bellamy tips them off to, but basically anything dealing with those drawbacks of Lust instead of, "Oh, woe is me, I must have all the sex," would be interesting to explore, I think.

Also, I feel like Bellamy could be perceived as Lazarus' favorite, from how he was the only one who didn't hate or at least dislike him from the word go, and how he always tries to see the best of his motivations and whatnot. And I know most of them would care but, boy, all things considered, Alastair could. That bit in Bellamy where Lazarus is ripping into Alastair over his handling of Bellamy's kidnapping in front of everyone is...honestly pretty ugly, when you consider that Bellamy's already been safely retrieved at that point, and, again, all things regarding Alastair and Lazarus considered. I also wonder if Bellamy being pro-Lazarus at first had something to do with how harshly Lazarus cracked down on the whole group, to prevent him and say, Castor, from splitting the boys into factions. And I would kind of like to see some sort of blowup over all of that after everything's out in the open, in the interests of ripping some things that have been festering open so they can heal or what have you.

OR I'd like to see Phoenix (or someone else, as we've already established I think Bellamy should fuck his brothers) be like, "I know Lust makes you always be all about whatever your partner wants, but tonight it's all about YOU," and then just like, cater to Bell and help him figure out what he likes.

Gray
I love this sleepy ball of sunshine, and real talk, I remain somewhat surprised that his focus book did not go to even a little bit of a somnophilia place. "Oh, no, Gray is getting sleepy, now we cannot have sex." Yes, you can! I expect more initiative and can-do spirit from a marine. Gray doesn't even have to be fully asleep, you could go with sleepy, warm and relaxed sex or something during one of his bad lethargic periods, where he can't really do anything except lay there and take it, but that's okay because he's still mentally into it and his partner loves manhandling him. His partner doesn't have to be Mason, you could go with that pirate captain he used to roll with (love a pirate fic), or maybe he has an ongoing arrangement with one of his brothers, like he's Bellamy's go-to partner during a dry spell (he can totally come in his sleep!) or a stress relief thing with Alastair. Or maybe it's all of them, from time to time! (I know several of the bros only bottom on-page, but I think Raiden is the only one who's explicit about being an exclusive bottom--but I'm willing to ignore all of that for porn logic's sake.)

I'd also like to see fic about Gray just, like, navigating the world with Sloth. Oh, no, he's asleep again. In the middle of this battle. Or just in the middle of this Target. It never gets old to me. I love him. So just anything with Gray being Gray and everyone else fondly coping with that: A+.

Dearest Yulethor,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great.

(For the record, since apparently AO3 changed some settings and now we have to specify: I am very open to treats, if anyone should be so inclined.)

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose in fic, including for canons originally in first person. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and related bloodplay, size kink (I really like both the bigger party manhandling the smaller party and the smaller party loving it, and the smaller party bossing the bigger party around and the bigger party loving it), praise kink. If you want to write wintery, Christmasy fic (or other-winter-holiday fic) I'm totally into that for any of these fandoms!

DNWs:
- bestiality (including sexual content involving shapeshifters in animal form)
- scat or watersports
- cannibalism/vore
- noncon
- infidelity/cheating involving requested characters: if they're married or in a relationship in canon, I'm fine with either 'the canon couple never got together for whatever reason' or some kind of poly situation, however you want to handle it! Just please no bashing of the canon partner.
- omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg
- graphic animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not great)
- permanent death of requested characters

Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly
Abishag Shaw, Livia Levesque

If you've been around this fandom for a while, you may know me as a longtime stalwart Ben/Shaw shipper, and I still am, and if you want to indicate in some way that they're a thing in your fic, I'd be into that (and if you'd like more info on that, here's a letter from a previous exchange!). But we're not here for that today, and whether or not you want to include that ship in your fic is totally up to you! No, we are here to make Livia Levesque and Abishag Shaw...talk to each other.

If you just gasped, good. We're on the same page.

So here's what's amazing: they both clearly hate each other, and I don't think we've ever really seen them interact because LOL as if Livia willingly would, and also that is something Ben is willing to go to great lengths to prevent. Livia is still calling Shaw an animal over a dozen books in, and I'm pretty sure Shaw has called Ben's mom 'a real piece of work' at least once, and, I mean, he's not wrong. And they are both very intelligent people who excel at using other people's perceptions against them and figuring out why other people do the things they do, and using that, and so I really want them to have to deal with each other. I don't really have specific prompts here, just a nebulous notion: maybe Livia has a problem and she's like, "Ugh, fine, I guess I'll summon Ben's pet American policeman," or maybe she's (however peripherally) involved in a case Shaw is investigating and he's like, "Fuck me gently with a not-yet-invented chainsaw, I have to interview Ben's mom." And then they are forced by circumstance to work together and/or use and/or respect one another's skill sets and forms of intelligence, and it's kind of horrible for both of them. And maybe one or both of them gains insight into What The Other One Thinks They're Doing Here that rattles the other, because...most people don't see that deep.

If Ben and Shaw are an item in your fic, you can write that from the standpoint that Livia knows and deeply disapproves, Livia knows and thinks they don't know she knows (Shaw probably does, Ben is blissfully oblivious), or she is the blissfully oblivious one despite thinking she knows everything. I think any of these could be delightful.

Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews
Augustine Montgomery

So I have...several ships for everyone's favorite Pancakes, so let's get into it.

Augustine Montgomery/Arabella Baylor
Yeah, okay, he's way too old for her and there's the whole thing where he held professional power over her family, but Arabella's an adult now, she can make her own decisions, Catalina says herself in Ruby Fever that she trusts Arabella's decisions about men, and I feel like this would be a really interesting dynamic. Very Beauty & the Beast, except they can both be either. And Augustine is so tightly wound and closed off, I could totally see our maturing wild child getting him to loosen up a little bit, while I can totally see Arabella being drawn to someone a little bit more reserved and calm. The children would be very blond.

1. How does this even happen? Like, I have a couple of ideas. Maybe Arabella uses her Beast senses to see through Augustine's illusion at an event (Illusion mages never think of scent, after all), and decides to fuck with him by flirting for a while before he realizes she knows exactly who she's talking to. Maybe they run into each other on vacation and wake up married. Maybe it's somehow a business decision. Maybe they hook up while trapped in a supply closet after assignments they're both working that turn out to intersect go horribly wrong, and then they're like, "...Nevada and Connor must never know." Maybe one of them is minding their own business having a nice day and gets dragged into the other's catastrophe (can't let Connor's sister-in-law or best friend get kidnapped on MY watch, after all).
2. It was supposed to be a one-time fling but now it keeps happening, with increasingly complicated hijinks to keep Arabella's family from finding out.
3. Nevada and Connor (and the rest of the Baylors) Find Out. (Cut to: Catalina somewhat reluctantly wrestling a sniper rifle away from her mother.)
4. Arabella has ideas for sexytimes applications of Augustine's illusion magic that he hadn't even thought of.
5. Something with Arabella getting Augustine to loosen up and have some fun. Probably he's not convinced that whatever activity she has in mind will be fun at first, but she's so enthusiastic. And then he ends up having a great time!
6. Does Augustine know what Arabella's magic is? Like, I feel like he would be desperately trying to find out if he doesn't, and he's smart enough to have put it together after the freeway incident if nothing else, but there's probably some leeway to play around with here as far as whether he knows, she knows he knows, and how any of those scenarios play out.

Augustine Montgomery/Cornelius Harrison
In Sapphire Flames when it's mentioned that Augustine came to the warehouse and picked Matilda up, everyone sort of brushes it off as, "Well, MII has a personal security division," which is true, but doesn't explain why the owner of the company is chauffeuring a random second grader, and so my brain helpfully decided that he's dating her dad, and him sitting with Cornelius's family at Runa & Bern's wedding sure didn't make me not think that, let met tell you!

And I know there was that whole, "Cornelius will never truly love again," thing, but maybe that's not, like, definitive. Maybe science magic turns out to be wrong about that. Or maybe it's an FWB thing and that works for them, or something! Maybe somehow it all works out.

1. Thinking back to Augustine manipulating Nevada into taking Cornelius' case after Nari died, maybe Augustine has been carrying a torch for Cornelius for a while, but he knew it was hopeless and it was never going to be a thing. And now...it is a thing, and he's sort of freaking out, but trying to keep it cool because Augustine Montgomery does not freak out. (Cornelius? Charmed.)
2. Maybe Augustine's illusion magic goes haywire somehow and Cornelius has to help him get out of a situation. Or maybe the illusion magic has, uh, sexytimes applications. (NOT "I can look like your dead wife" applications. Fun applications!)
3. Or maybe Augustine does make the 'I could look like your dead wife' offer, considering how realistic his illusions apparently are (clothes in different sizes fit him!), and Cornelius is appropriately horrified and now they have to sort through, like, Augustine not thinking he's enough as himself, and also him thinking that's something Cornelius would go for because what the fuck, Augustine?
4. I almost died at Cornelius saying he would "ferret out" Tatyana's secrets in Emerald Blaze, so: something with Cornelius being a terrible maker of animal puns and Augustine NOT being charmed by it, not at ALL, he SWEARS (he is MELTING on the inside).
5. Augustine needs Cornelius's help with a job. More specifically, he needs the ferrets' help with a job. This isn't an excuse to spend time alone with Cornelius in an enclosed space, what are you talking about? (It is also that.)
6. Using your animal sidekicks to figure out who Augustine is impersonating at society events is cheating, Cornelius, and Augustine is going to withhold his (sexy) forfeit until you apologize (no he's not).

Augustine Montgomery/Connor "Mad" Rogan(/Nevada Baylor)
I was talking to a friend a while back about these books and I was like, "Basically at this point Ilona Andrews could reveal that Augustine and Rogan were actually together romantically and had a really bad breakup when he left for the military, and I feel like no one would be surprised," and just, that's it, that's the vibe. I'm really into the concept of them having broken up messily back in the day and then maybe Nevada finding/figuring it out and having to deal with this mess and them still being in love with each other in the present. I feel like the character dynamics of this trio are really interesting because they're all such prickly people, and they all have such clear reasons for friction in their interpersonal relations--Nevada & Augustine's professional dealings, Rogan & Augustine's rocky past, Rogan's whole psychological deal in general--but even when Rogan and Augustine don't seem to like each other that much they'd still throw down for each other. And my God, what a power trio this would be. And I feel like Nevada/Connor/Augustine would be a really interesting relationship because just...how do I phrase this? Picture the rotating pivot point of any two of them siding against the other one on any one petty issue. Picture the absolute terror that is the three of them united against you. It's glorious.

Re: the infidelity DNW: I'm pretty into the poly option here but also you could easily make the argument Nevada deserves better than to have to deal with these assholes and their issues, so if you do want to write some form of poly that would be awesome but also: Nevada and Connor broke up, never got together, it's set in the period before they met, whatever you want to do, it's all good. Just...anything but cheating, yeah. (Good luck cheating on a Truthseeker anyway lol.)

1. I'm thinking soulmates AU? Like, Rogan seems like just the kind of asshole that he'd ditch Augustine and run off to the military anyway because he was bucking against his whole life being lined up for him, and now it's ten years later and he's got to deal with the mess he made if the city doesn't burn down first. He might be hoping the city burns down first a little. (I have always sort of thought that part of the reason Augustine recruited Nevada for the Pierce case was that he realized Rogan would probably get involved and he was willing to do absolutely anything to avoid him a little longer, so...meanwhile Nevada is just standing here holding the brain cell.)

And Rogan totally seems like the kind of special that would have two soulmates. (If you go with something like 'soulmate-identifying marks,' Augustine could even suspect Nevada is the other soulmate before he sends her after Pierce, which would be interesting.) How does he feel about his soulmates unionizing against him, and why is the answer 'turned on?'
2. Until recently, I assumed (even though we've been told they'll fool things like retinal scanners) that Augustine's illusions were visual, but in recent Q&As Ilona Andrews have said things that make them sound like they're also physical--like that Augustine has clothes tailored in different sizes to make things easier on himself. I'm going to be honest, this is sort of bending my brain trying to figure out how the clothes fit without Augustine being an actual shapeshifter, but let's not stress the details of magic and let's just get right to the sexytimes possibilities of Augustine's illusions being that real. And combined with Rogan being a tactile? Yowza.
3. Augustine has finally started interviewing for a potential bride and Rogan can't figure out why he's so mad about it until someone, possibly one of his soldiers, possibly his mom, possibly Nevada, hits him with a clue bat.
4. Maybe Rogan and Augustine never broke up/fell out when Rogan went off to the military. Maybe they've been on again/off again for over a decade and they snipe at each other as a form of foreplay. Maybe they're Houston's secret or not at all secret power couple. Whatever you want to do with it!
5. Either Rogan or Nevada has some unskippable social event they're supposed to go to with the other and something comes up that means they can't make it, and need to not be seen not making it, so Augustine impersonates the missing partner. If it's Rogan I feel like he's slightly sarcastic about it all night and Nevada has to keep trying not to laugh. If it's Nevada Rogan is probably weirded out by how good he is at it. And then they all meet back up at home and *cough* debrief.
6. Rogan sees Augustine without his illusions for the first time in more than ten years and there's some sort of significant change he wasn't expecting. Maybe Augustine's hairline is, in fact, receding and Rogan's more upset about this than Augustine is ("I was joking about that!" "It's just hair, Connor.") Maybe the scar Konstantin could see in Ruby Fever is new, and Augustine refuses to tell Rogan how he got it so he can go kill the person who gave it to him ("They're already dead anyway." "There has to be SOMEONE I can kill!") Maybe Augustine distracts him with sex. Maybe Augustine just has new crinkles around his eyes and Rogan is alarmed by how attractive he finds them.
7. Rogan teaching Nevada how to play 'Spot the Pancakes' at society functions. His illusions are flawless, his impersonations impeccable, but Rogan will find him. (Possibly the forfeits are sexual?)
8. Anything with some bad guy realizing at the worst possible time that the power couple is actually a power trio and now they're screwed. Possibly:
Bad guys: and now we are going to kill you
Nevada and Rogan, bored: Oh no. Please don't.
Augustine: Oops there is an Illusion Prime with a knife in this room.

But it could also be like a business deal situation or literally anything.
7. Maybe an AU where the Rogan-Baylors had the good sense to get their on-call Illusion Prime to consult on that disgusting sex tape Victoria Tremaine had made and sent to them, and Augustine gets to hold the brain cell for once: "You are both going to sit down and not do anything rash because here are all the reasons this is a clear fake. I mean they didn't even get your cock right, Connor, it's much nicer than that."

Just Augustine

First off, I feel like several of my prompts for Augustine/Rogan(/Nevada) could totally work platonically, like I could fully see Rogan platonically wanting to murder whoever gave Augustine that scar, or trying to spot Augustine at society events for shits and giggles.

Secondly, I would really like a fic about what a job for an Illusion Prime of Augustine's caliber looks like, since he obviously at some point got down and dirty and wasn't just sitting behind a desk all day, and probably still does during some of the time he's offscreen. (Oooooh, was Augustine involved in the war? Is he assiduously keeping this information from Rogan?) Go as James Bond as you like with it!

Or whatever other ideas you have, I'm open!

Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews
Christopher Steed, Hugh d'Ambray

Okay, so after the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher accidentally-on-purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (not consciously because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).

And now I ship it. Or at the least I want to see them interact. It's a whole mess of history and dynamics to dig into and I'm into it. Like: they were horrible men, and they were equals. And then one of them kept the other one in a cage. And now they're both different people in some ways, living in the aftermath of all of that, and it's just...really interesting to me. And yet we never really get to see them interact. There's that one really tense moment in Magic Triumphs, and then their actual conversation takes place offscreen and that's it. I need more. (I need them to kiss.)

Note: If you're going shippy, and you're writing something set during the era of the books, as opposed to the pre-canon Preceptor/Legatus era, please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. As far as the canon relationships go, I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with some form of polyamory, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray of all people, but, I mean, maybe? Or maybe they didn't get together. However you can make it work!

Prompts! Most of these are shippy but some of them can go either way, I think.
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh. Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die (and then possibly "I can't believe we survived that" sex?)?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst. (I mean, we now know it grew back, but that was still very much in doubt at the end of Magic Triumphs.
4. Something set during the preparations to face Neig, with Hugh and Christopher both being weirded out by how easily they fall into a groove of working together again and the Iron Dogs enthusiastically embracing Christopher because it's always nice when someone they used to know A) is alive and B) isn't trying to kill them, and possibly also ragging the hell out of Hugh for having A Type, because haha wow are there some similarities between Elara and Christopher.
5. The whole situation with Christopher crazy and being kept in a cage, from the POV of the guy who loved him and was keeping him in a cage, and apparently feeding and talking to him in secret in his own castle.
6. So oops it turns out Hugh can't marry Elara to seal their alliance because he and Christopher are already married. Maybe they didn't realize that thing they did as a quick way to solve a problem one time was legally binding. Maybe it was entirely on purpose and a secret. Maybe they're trying to get a quickie divorce and absurd romcom style obstacles keep falling in their path. Whatever just run with it.
7. I noticed on reread that Hugh grows throughout the course of the series—something in the range of four to six inches. While I'm pretty sure this is just another authorial inconsistency like his country of origin switching from England to France, it could also be fanwanked as the result of his stint healing in a phoenix egg, so something with Christopher reacting to his new height (and Hugh to Christopher's new shoulders?) could be a thing.
8. Anything to do with them after the series ends, dealing with the fact that they were both really horrible people who did horrible things (and that Hugh did some of those things *to* Christopher), and now...here they are in the aftermath, in some ways very different people but in some ways still who they always were, just with a chance to be better now.
9. Once upon a time there was an ambitious, smart, wildly talented young twink of a necromancer who was bound and determined to climb Roland's warlord like a tree. This is his story.

Sons of the Fallen - Jaclyn Osborn
Any

Okay, look, I know we're flying close to the sun on this one with Alastair coming out on December 27, especially considering Raiden randomly dropped a couple of months early. If Alastair comes out early, you can safely assume I will have read it as soon as humanly possible, but please do not feel any pressure to rush anything as far as your own reading or writing experience goes on my silly account. "Canon compliant up to [wherever]," or for some of my prompts not canon compliant at all lol, it's all good. A lot of these prompts are apt to be jossed shortly, but we love an AU, right? So don't worry about it, we're all here to have fun!

Let's get to some prompts!

For any of these characters, I would love to see some wing kink. Like, actual wing kink, not the wing slit kink we see in the text (although that is also hot). But like touching someone's wings being intimate and pleasurable for the one being touched, trying to avoid the sharp edges of the feathers, mutual grooming, etc. I would also like to see sexy biting/blood-drinking, because...hot.

Alastair/Lazarus
Honestly, even in book one I thought there was something hinky going on with how opaque Alastair is in general, and specifically how Alastair could contact Lazarus at any time, but only behind closed doors and his brothers don't even seem to know how, but for a couple of books now I have been going, "Uh, are these...are there hints here? Is this--is she going to pair them up?" And then a few weeks ago (I apologize if this is a spoiler) Osborn confirmed via social media that she is, indeed, going to pair them up, and I'm gonna be honest: I have some trepidation here, considering all of the, you know, child abuse. But I've been thinking about it a lot and I feel like it's also a pairing rich with possibility for fic purposes, even if, you know, we're fully about to be jossed. (It's just more cake!)

For one thing, assuming they are, in fact, soulmates, which they pretty much have to be in this series, how long have they known? Everyone else knew pretty quickly, and a couple of things Alastair says about how the bond gets stronger and more impossible to ignore the more time you spend with your soulmate stood out to me, and in Bellamy he says something along the lines of, "I have no wish for a mate," when his brothers are ragging on him about how soon it'll be your turn, Al, that really stood out to me as...very specific phrasing, considering. They have to know. So what is going on? It makes an insane amount of sense that they're pretending they're not soulmates, considering how the rest of the angels would react to that--and even moreso back when Lazarus was seemingly the only one not on Team 'Let's Just Kill Them'--to say nothing of how the other Nephilim will react, which I think we can pretty well predict will just be the word 'no' shouted over and over, occasionally modified by various expletives.

Was the whole thing with Lazarus taking them somehow because of this in the first place? Did either of them know then, before all of the beatings and trauma? Yikes, but also: rich angst fic fodder. And like, I could totally see how it could have gone down that way: making everyone hate their sergeant to help unit cohesion is a basic boot camp concept, but these weren't boot camp recruits. These were eight-year-olds. Or did they figure it out later, after Alastair was an adult, and then somehow it was worse, because if Lazarus had known, he could have done things differently? Or does only one of them know (I think probably Alastair in this case) and the other one (Lazarus lbr, I could totally see him being deep in denial) is about to get a sledgehammer to the face? How would you keep the other party from finding out?

The more I think about this the more I think of ways it could go, and canon is only going to take one. It's kind of exciting. (And, like, if you manage to nail exactly what canon ends up going with, then wow! You're a wizard! Also exciting!) Did they do something to the bond, cut it or block it somehow? Is there just an insane amount of pining and yearning going on that we have not yet been privy to? What does Lazarus think about Alastair having other lovers? Like, does he think he's above all that and he doesn't care (he totally cares) or does he think that he's made himself unworthy of Alastair via all the child abuse, and they can't be together anyway, so of course Alastair seeks affection elsewhere, it's fine (cue angst)?

Or you could go AU! What if Lazarus managed to collect all the other brothers, but he wasn't able to pry Alastair out of the heart of Lucifer's army, so they meet as adults, across a battlefield, the same way Bellamy met Phoenix? Now it's enemies to lovers! Without all the child abuse! (I mean, presumably the others still got...yeah. Lazarus has a lot of work to do no matter how you slice it.)

To talk about sex for a moment, I have kind of a thing for Alastair being submissive in bed. Like, he has to be in charge and so in control all of the rest of the time, I could see him just wanting to let someone else take over for a while, and obviously he knows that Lazarus can do that for him...but then the role reversal with Lazarus kneeling at Alastair's feet would also be insanely hot, and feels very fitting.

DNW anything involving punishment or like, whipping or spanking in a sexual context for this pairing. I think there's way too much baggage for that to be sexy here, and though I could see a role reversal scenario with Lazarus as the punished party being cathartic, it's not something I'm looking for in a Yuletide gift. References to their canonical history involving those things in a non-sexual context is a-okay, and I'm okay with face slapping? IDK why, brains and ids are weird. Maybe the snap-out-of-it slap in Raiden did things to me. But, yeah. Lazarus can slap Alastair to snap him out of a Pride meltdown or whatever, or just because they're into it (although ideally Lazarus should be conflicted at first in this case before he's like "...no okay that's really hot."). But not that other stuff.

Just Alastair
While of course once we get in his head things may be completely different, I think about this quote on selfishness from the Tiffany Aching books a lot when it comes to Alastair, considering that Pride as a sin is all about selfishness, and I would sort of like to see him with that sort of mindset: these are his brothers, and his world, and therefore he has a duty to them. Or, to put a completely different and no less accurate tone on it: this is his circus, and these are his monkeys.

This could also tie into an Alastair/Lazarus fic, but: I think we all can agree that Alastair is nooooot doing well mentally. The man tried to stay in a burning house, for fuck's sake, and yeah, it wouldn't have killed him, but still, the house was on fire. And, I mean, it's not that surprising: he's under a lot of stress, he's grieving, he's probably trying to keep his secret fated bond with this asshole angel under wraps...someone please help him. (I know it's tricky because of Pride, but please.) Maybe Phoenix knows more than he should after whatever went down while Alastair was convincing Lazarus to leave the scene in Ireland and is extremely awkwardly and reluctantly like, "Hey...if you want to talk..." Maybe Kallias is like, "Hey, bro, speaking as the avatar of fucking Melancholy: yikes." Just something.

I love the running thing about how Alastair is basically a grandpa in the body of a young man. He loves his books and his classical music and his tea and, in the best under-the-radar joke in Raiden, Werther's fucking Originals. And at this point in the story I feel like he just really deserves a nice day off, maybe a trip to a rare bookstore...maybe his brothers frantically trying to crisis manage and keep him from finding out A Thing Is Happening in the background, because they all agree that Al needs this.

Or I would love to see Alastair spending family time with his brothers. Their Christmases seem fun, how about that? Or just anything, really, in canon he's so closed off, and while he's really busy and has been grieving and the Lazarus thing has to be part of it, too, I'd just like to see him with his family in a more relaxed way.

Bellamy
I feel like there's a lot of unexplored potential with Bellamy and Lust. There are some things that aren't really touched on in canon that I wonder about, and some things that are stated outright that I'd like to see fic going in a different direction from.

First off, the whole thing with Bellamy's real eye color feels like it deserves a deleted scene where his brothers find out about it, because in everybody else's POV we've gotten no indication that anyone knows Bellamy has a secret eye color he's angsting about, and at this point someone has to have seen Phoenix look at him and his eyes turn blue at least once. I want the fallout from that, because while it's by no means on the level of the Alastair/Lazarus thing, it's a secret he's been keeping from his brothers for thousands of years, and it feels like the reaction would be epic.

Second, we're told that Bellamy's never had sex with any of his brothers, but I don't really...buy that. Like, it doesn't seem to jive with how he gets sick if he doesn't have sex regularly, and the fact that they were isolated until they turned eighteen. I've been around teenaged boys, there is no way Lust didn't wake up until after Bellamy was eighteen. (And while it's possible, considering they were eight when they met and didn't automatically see each other as brothers, a strong incest taboo just doesn't...fit, especially when we know Castor and Galen had a fling.) I also find it kind of implausible there's never been a dry spell where there weren't really other options around in all the time since. So maybe something with one of those scenarios, or just even like, sex as comfort. Maybe at a different period in history, Bellamy was less all up in his head about it and saw things more like Raiden's worldview: orgasms are nice. Bellamy gives great orgasms. Who wants some?

Third, I'm interested in the darker side of Lust, both in the bloodlust that's been sort of touched on but not really explored--I'd like to see Bellamy go over to that for a longer, more cohesive period of time, both what that looks like and the fallout from it for everyone to deal with--and the fact that any time he goes out in public Bellamy must be exposed to all kinds of mental filth. I have a headcanon, completely unsupported by the text, that Echo Bay's vampire population mainly feeds on pedophiles and rapists Bellamy tips them off to, but basically anything dealing with those drawbacks of Lust instead of, "Oh, woe is me, I must have all the sex," would be interesting to explore, I think.

Also, I feel like Bellamy could be perceived as Lazarus' favorite, from how he was the only one who didn't hate or at least dislike him from the word go as far as we've seen so far (who knows what Alastair's deal was), and how he always tries to see the best of his motivations and whatnot. And I know no one else would care but, boy, all things considered, Alastair could, and considering how little the others can read him, he could well be hiding a lot of resentment about it. That bit in Bellamy where Lazarus is ripping into Alastair over his handling of Bellamy's kidnapping in front of everyone is...honestly pretty ugly, when you consider that Bellamy's already been safely retrieved at that point, and, again, all things regarding Alastair and Lazarus considered. I also wonder if Bellamy being pro-Lazarus at first had something to do with how harshly Lazarus cracked down on the whole group, to prevent him and say, Castor, from splitting the boys into factions. And I would kind of like to see some sort of blowup over all of that after everything's out in the open.

OR I'd like to see Phoenix (or someone else, as we've already established I think Bellamy should fuck his brothers) be like, "I know Lust makes you always be all about whatever your partner wants, but tonight it's all about YOU," and then just like, cater to Bell and help him figure out what he likes.

Gray
I love this sleepy ball of sunshine, and real talk, I remain somewhat surprised that his focus book did not go to even a little bit of a somnophilia place. "Oh, no, Gray is getting sleepy, now we cannot have sex." Yes, you can! I expect more initiative and can-do spirit from a marine. Gray doesn't even have to be fully asleep, you could go with sleepy, warm and relaxed sex or something during one of his bad lethargic periods, where he can't really do anything except lay there and take it, but that's okay because he's still mentally into it and his partner loves manhandling him. His partner doesn't have to be Mason, you could go with that pirate captain he used to roll with (love a pirate fic), or maybe he has an ongoing arrangement with one of his brothers, like he's Bellamy's go-to partner during a dry spell (he can totally come in his sleep!) or a stress relief thing with Alastair. Or maybe it's all of them, from time to time! I know Raiden seems to be the other exclusive bottom in the bunch (I think we only see Daman bottom on the page, but he mentions at least once that he would like to fuck Warrin sometime), but I'm willing to ignore that for porn's sake. Go wild!

I'd also like to see fic about Gray just, like, navigating the world with Sloth. Oh, no, he's asleep again. In the middle of this battle. Or just in the middle of this Target. It never gets old to me. I love him. So just anything with Gray being Gray and everyone else fondly coping with that: A+.

Or how about, since Gray is the brother who really loves Christmas, Christmas fic? Maybe that Christmas that everything went wrong that...I think it's Daman talks about in the books, in more detail, or just another cozy family Christmas. What do you even buy Greed for Christmas, anyway? Hell, what do you buy Galen? And now there are all these soulmates and we've gotta shop for them, and fuck me, do I have to get Lazarus a Christmas present?

Just Lazarus
Originally I was like, "IDK that I know Lazarus well enough as a character to have much in the way of prompts for him," but I turned out to be wrong about that lol.

1. Maybe an AU where when he suddenly found himself a single parent to eight kids who hated him to various degrees it was more funny and awkward and less of a total fucking nightmare for everyone involved?
2. Maybe something when he was stuck at Clara's after he injured his wing in Bellamy and he just had to put up with this human witch being casually mean to him because she was also helping (and also, she's right).
3. Five times Raiden talked him into trying human food and one time he actually liked it.
4. Something with the 'Bellamy may be perceived as his favorite' thing I went into above.
5. In Bellamy it's revealed that Lazarus at one point agreed with/followed Lucifer, so, like, AU where he fell?

Dear Author,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great. For all of my requested fandoms, I have requested fic only.

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose in fic, including that for canons originally in first person. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and related bloodplay, size kink (I really like both the bigger guy manhandling the smaller guy and the smaller guy loving it, and the smaller guy bossing the bigger guy around and the bigger guy loving it). You are probably going to notice that I really like werewolves and vampires and generalized urban fantasy-ness.

DNWs:
- bestiality (including sexual content involving shapeshifters in animal form)
- scat or watersports
- cannibalism/vore
- noncon or dubcon
- infidelity/cheating involving requested characters
- omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg
- graphic animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not great)
- permanent death of requested characters

Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly
Abishag Shaw/Benjamin January, Abishag Shaw/Benjamin January/Rose Vitrac January
You remember waaaaaaaaaay back at the end of A Free Man of Color when Shaw's standing by Ben's table at the Place des Armes Because Society and Ben's like, "Or you could sit the fuck down one of these days?" Gentle Author, I shipped it then, and I ship it still. I just want to shove them together like a couple of really tall Ken dolls and go, "NOW KISS." I love how they navigate their godawful society's expectations and restrictions, how they often communicate via what's not said. I love how tentative Ben has always been to trust Shaw, in the face of evidence that Shaw is All In on Ben, and then how in Murder in July he realizes Shaw would march off to assassinate the Queen of England if he asked him to (although it sort of drives me crazy that then at the end of the book Hannibal and Ben decided they needed to pull a fast one on Shaw just in case he randomly decided to confiscate the papers at the expense of Rose, like that's a thing he would ever do). I love how committed to justice they both are, and how they recognize that's different from the rule of law, and their mutual frustration with society's preference for a tidy resolution over true justice being done. I love how respectful they both are of the other's skills, and how they both use other people's expectations of their behavior. In short, I love them, and I want more of them.

And Rose! I love Rose! She's so practical except when it comes to science, when she is often two seconds away from an explosion, and she and Ben are so good together! And I think she would basically be the boss of Shaw and he would let her.

Quick note: As I said above I'm really not into straight up infidelity/cheating, and Ben, of course, has a wife. So if you don't want to write the poly option, you could set your fic before Ben met Rose, or handwave the whole relationship away/platonic, or have Rose be really open-minded because she's Rose, but please: no straight-up cheating.

Additional note: I think we as a fandom have come to a consensus on this by now but just to be clear: I generally picture Shaw as more, you know, sexy scruffy (like, Hollywood historical scruffy) than with the level of hygiene, if one can even call it that, described in the books, because seriously, he's an intelligent man, he knows what soap is for, why will he not use it?? It's not cute. So, like, if you could steer away from descriptions where he is as unpleasant as in canon, I would greatly appreciate that.

Prompts
1. Possibly Shaw could be pining after Ben. I feel like this makes a lot of narrative sense. Like, he knows it's useless and never gonna happen (but then it DOES?) and probably beats himself up over it, but ooooh that commitment to justice and all that expertise, so sexy. Possibly Rose has known about this for a while and is amazed Ben has been so oblivious.
2. Concept I know I've been banging like a drum for a while now, but that's because I love it so: Abishag 'what is bathing, and also, I can track you through a hurricane' Shaw is a werewolf. Like, just, anything with that. Canon happenings with werewolf Shaw? Rose being absolutely fascinated? Anything.
3. While so much of these books is in the setting, I just really love modern New Orleans. Like a lot. And it's still very atmospheric, no? Picture it: Shaw's still a cop, Ben's a surgeon who moonlights in a jazz band. Rose is a badass chemistry professor at Tulane. Together, they solve crimes. And make out.
4. Shaw realizes that, vis a vis the end of Murder in July, Ben has not yet gotten the memo that he's All In, and his feelings are really hurt, but he's trying to be, like, an adult about it. Things get awkward. Possibly Rose has to knock some heads together.
5. Shaw stays in Texas instead of Hannibal in Lady of Perdition that's it, that's the prompt. Listen, I just found it hilarious how the book kept hanging a lampshade on how Shaw would have been the better choice to help actually investigate the murder, but it had to be Hannibal who stayed Because Of Reasons.
6. Something with Shaw and his six-shooters because I feel like the day he got them in Lady of Perdition must have been one of the most exciting of his life thus far.
7. Carnival/Mardi Gras shenanigans. "We have got to stop meeting over dead bodies at balls," or some sort of costumery hijinks (possibly Rose crossdresses again) or like...anything involving this period of revelry.

Abishag Shaw & Olympe Corbier
There's a line from the Hidden Legacy books that came to mind when I thought about this team-up, something like: "My job in this family of Care Bears is to provide logical analysis." And I feel like Rose would protest that that's her job, but honestly, Shaw and Olympe are both, in their own ways, a lot more practical and just colder than the rest of Team January. Plus, they met when Shaw arrested Olympe for murder, and as Ben pointed out, he wouldn't have arrested her if he didn't think she really might have done it, so uh, they got off to a great start. I feel like they're never really going to 100% trust each other, especially on Olympe's side (and that Shaw would just be like, "Fair.") but that over time a certain amount of respect may have developed.

Prompts!
1. Shaw has a voodoo problem or just needs to know something about voodoo for a case, and obviously there is only one practitioner in the city he's going to go to about it. Olympe is reluctant but ugh Ben would never forgive her if she didn't help.
2. Olympe has some sort of legal problem and she is reluctant to involve the white legal system but if she has to Shaw's the best option available.
3. Ben thought Marie Laveau was behind that jailhouse poisoning at the end of Murder in July, but I always thought the symptoms sounded like the castor bean from The Shirt On His Back, so like: what if that was Shaw and Olympe working together? What if that? (It would not be the first time Shaw arranged a convenient jailhouse death to protect Ben, after all...)
4. Any other time they teamed up, either behind Ben's back to deal with a problem before he even knew it existed, or just to deal with their own shit.

Abishag Shaw & Livia Levesque
So here's what's amazing: they both clearly hate each other, and I don't think we've ever really seen them interact because LOL as if Livia willingly would, and also that is something Ben is willing to go to great lengths to prevent. Livia is still calling Shaw an animal thirteen books in, and I'm pretty sure Shaw has called Ben's mom 'a real piece of work' at least once, and, I mean, he's not wrong. And they are both very intelligent people who excel at using other people's perceptions against them and figuring out why other people do the things they do, and using that, and so I really want them to have to deal with each other. I don't really have specific prompts here, just a nebulous notion: maybe Livia has a problem and she's like, "Ugh, fine, I guess I'll summon Ben's pet American policeman," or maybe she's (however peripherally) involved in a case Shaw is investigating and he's like, "Fuck me gently with a not-yet-invented chainsaw, I have to interview Ben's mom." And then they are forced by circumstance to work together and/or use and/or respect one another's skill sets and forms of intelligence, and it's kind of horrible for both of them. And maybe one or both of them gains insight into What The Other One Thinks They're Doing Here that rattles the other, because...most people don't see that deep.

Basically, just make them interact.

Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews
Augustine Montgomery/Connor "Mad" Rogan/Nevada Baylor
I was talking to a friend recently about these books and I was like, "Basically at this point Ilona Andrews could reveal that Augustine and Rogan were actually together romantically and had a really bad breakup when he left for the military, and I feel like no one would be surprised," and just, that's it, that's the vibe. I'm really into the concept of them having broken up messily back in the day and Nevada finding/figuring it out and having to deal with this mess and them still being in love with each other in the present. I feel like the character dynamics of this trio are really interesting because they're all such prickly people, and they all have such clear reasons for friction in their interpersonal relations--Nevada & Augustine's professional dealings, Rogan & Augustine's rocky past, Rogan's whole psychological deal in general--but even when they don't seem to like each other that much they'd still throw down for each other. And my God, what a power trio this would be.

1. I'm thinking soulmates AU? Like, Rogan seems like just the kind of special that he'd have two soulmates. And just the kind of asshole that he'd ditch Augustine and run off to the military anyway, and now it's ten years later and he's got to deal with the mess he made and Nevada's just standing here holding the brain cell.
1a. If Nevada and Augustine are also soulmates that could be really interesting and also a real game changer. Like, do they figure it out when he summons her to his office over the Pierce case, or before that? How does Rogan feel about his soulmates unionizing against him, and why is the answer 'turned on?'
2. Until recently, I assumed (even though we've been told they'll fool things like retinal scanners) that Augustine's illusions were visual, but in recent Q&As Ilona Andrews have said things that make them sound like they're also physical--like that Augustine has clothes tailored in different sizes to make things easier on himself. I'm going to be honest, this is sort of bending my brain trying to figure out how the clothes fit without Augustine being an actual shapeshifter, but let's not stress the details of magic and let's just get right to the sexytimes possibilities of Augustine's illusions being that real. And combined with Rogan being a tactile? Nevada is one lucky, lucky girl.
3. Augustine has finally started interviewing for a potential bride and Rogan can't figure out why he's so mad about it and Nevada, standing here holding the brain cell, has to be like, "Why are you both this stupid?"
4. Either Rogan or Nevada has some unskippable social event they're supposed to go to with the other and something comes up that means they can't make it, and need to not be seen not making it, so Augustine impersonates the missing partner. If it's Rogan I feel like he's slightly sarcastic about it all night and Nevada has to keep trying not to laugh. If it's Nevada Rogan is probably weirded out by how good he is at it. And then they all meet back up at home and *cough* debrief.
5. Rogan teaching Nevada how to play 'Spot the Pancakes' at society functions. His illusions are flawless, his impersonations impeccable, but Rogan will find him. (Possibly the forfeits are sexual?)
6. Anything with some bad guy realizing at the worst possible time that the power couple is actually a power trio and now they're screwed. Possibly:
Bad guys: and now we are going to kill you
Nevada and Rogan, bored: Oh no. Please don't.
Augustine: Oops there is an Illusion Prime with a knife in this room.

But it could also be like a business deal situation or literally anything.
7. Maybe an AU where the Rogan-Baylors had the good sense to call in their Illusion Prime bestie for a consult on that disgusting sex tape Victoria Tremaine had made and sent to them, and Augustine gets to hold the brain cell for once: "You are both going to sit down and not do anything rash because here are all the reasons this is a clear fake. I mean they didn't even get your cock right, Connor, it's much nicer than that."

Arabella Baylor/Augustine Montgomery

Yeah, okay, he's way too old for her and there's the whole thing where he held professional power over her family, but Arabella's an adult now, she can make her own decisions, and I feel like this would be a really interesting dynamic. Very Beauty & the Beast, except they can both be either. And Augustine is so tightly wound and closed off, I could totally see our maturing wild child getting him to loosen up a little bit, while I can totally see Arabella being drawn to someone a little bit more reserved and calm.

1. How does this even happen? Like, I have a couple of ideas. Maybe Arabella uses her Beast senses to see through Augustine's illusion at an event (Illusion mages never think of scent, after all), and decides to fuck with him by flirting for a while before he realizes she knows exactly who she's talking to. Maybe they run into each other on vacation and wake up married. Maybe it's somehow a business decision. Maybe they hook up while trapped in a supply closet after assignments they're both working that turn out to intersect go horribly wrong, and then they're like, "...Nevada and Connor must never know." Maybe one of them is minding their own business having a nice day and gets dragged into the other's catastrophe (can't let Connor's sister-in-law or best friend get kidnapped on MY watch, after all).
2. It was supposed to be a one-time fling but now it keeps happening, with increasingly complicated hijinks to keep Arabella's family from finding out.
3. Nevada and Connor (and the rest of the Baylors) Find Out. (Cut to: Catalina somewhat reluctantly wrestling a sniper rifle away from her mother.)
4. Arabella has ideas for sexytimes applications of Augustine's illusion magic that he hadn't even thought of.
5. Something with Arabella getting Augustine to loosen up and have some fun. Probably he's not convinced that whatever activity she has in mind will be fun at first, but she's so enthusiastic. And then he ends up having a great time!
6. Does Augustine know what Arabella's magic is? Like, I feel like he would be desperately trying to find out if he doesn't, and he's smart enough to have put it together after the freeway incident if nothing else, but there's probably some leeway to play around with here as far as whether he knows, she knows he knows, and how any of those scenarios play out.

Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews
Christopher Steed & Hugh d'Ambray, Christopher Steed/Hugh d'Ambray
Okay, so after the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher on purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (like, maybe not consciously, because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).

And now I ship it. Or I at least want to see them interact, even if it's not shippy. It's a whole mess of history and dynamics to dig into and I'm into it. Like: they were horrible men, and they were equals. And then one of them kept the other one in a cage. And now they're both different people in some ways, living in the aftermath of all of that, and it's just...really interesting to me. And yet we never really get to see them interact. There's that one really tense moment in Magic Triumphs, and then their actual conversation takes place offscreen and that's it. I need more.

Note: If you're writing something set during the era of the books, as opposed to the pre-canon Preceptor/Legatus era, please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. As far as the canon relationships go, I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with some form of polyamory, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray of all people, but, I mean, maybe? Or maybe they didn't get together. However you can make it work!

Prompts!
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh. Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die (and then possibly "I can't believe we survived that" sex?)?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst.
4. Something set during the preparations to face Neig, with Hugh and Christopher both being weirded out by how easily they fall into a groove of working together again and the Iron Dogs enthusiastically embracing Christopher because it's always nice when someone they used to know A) is alive and B) isn't trying to kill them, and possibly also ragging the hell out of Hugh for having A Type because hahaha wow are there some similarities between Christopher and Elara. Meanwhile I feel like Elara and Christopher would be somewhere between "initially slightly spooked by each other" and this.
5. So oops it turns out Hugh can't marry Elara to seal their alliance because he and Christopher are already married. Maybe they didn't realize that thing they did as a quick way to solve a problem one time was legally binding. Maybe it was entirely on purpose and a secret. Maybe they're trying to get a quickie divorce like in a Hallmark movie and life keeps throwing obstacles in their path. Whatever just run with it.
6. I noticed on reread that Hugh grows throughout the course of the series—something in the range of four to six inches, with his descriptions going from "almost six feet tall" to "almost six and a half feet tall" over time. While I'm pretty sure this is just an authorial inconsistency, it could also be fanwanked as the result of his stint healing in a phoenix egg, so something with Christopher reacting to his new height (and Hugh to Christopher's new shoulders?) could be a thing.
7. Wingkink? Wingkink.
8. Once upon a time there was an ambitious, smart, wildly talented young twink of a necromancer who was bound and determined to climb Roland's warlord like a tree. This is his story.

Dear Author,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great. For all of my requested fandoms, I have requested fic only.

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and related bloodplay, size kink (I really like both the bigger guy manhandling the smaller guy and the smaller guy loving it, and the smaller guy bossing the bigger guy around and the bigger guy loving it). I'm down with porn or not porn for all romantic ships. You are probably going to notice that I really like werewolves and vampires and generalized urban fantasy-ness.

DNWs:
- bestiality (including sexual content involving shapeshifters in animal form)
- scat or watersports
- cannibalism/vore
- noncon or dubcon
- infidelity/cheating involving requested characters (so like, a PI handling a cheating case is fine)
- omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg
- graphic animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not fine)
- permanent death of requested characters

Benjamin January Mysteries - Barbara Hambly
Abishag Shaw/Benjamin January, Abishag Shaw/Benjamin January/Rose Vitrac January
You remember waaaaaaaaaay back at the end of A Free Man of Color when Shaw's standing by Ben's table at the Place des Armes Because Society and Ben's like, "Or you could sit the fuck down one of these days?" Gentle Author, I shipped it then, and I ship it still. I just want to shove them together like a couple of really tall Ken dolls and go, "NOW KISS." I love how they navigate their godawful society's expectations and restrictions, how they often communicate via what's not said. I love how tentative Ben has always been to trust Shaw, in the face of evidence that Shaw is All In on trusting Ben, and then how in Murder in July he realizes Shaw would march off to assassinate the Queen of England if he asked him to (although it sort of drives me crazy that then at the end of the book Hannibal and Ben decided they needed to pull a fast one on Shaw just in case he randomly decided to confiscate the papers at the expense of Rose, like that's a thing he would ever do). I love how committed to justice they both are, and how they recognize that's different from the rule of law, and their mutual frustration with society's preference for a tidy resolution over true justice being done. I love how respectful they both are of the other's skills, and how they both use other people's expectations of their behavior. In short, I love them, and I want more of them.

And Rose! I love Rose! She's so practical except when it comes to science, when she is often two seconds away from an explosion, and she and Ben are so good together! And I think she would basically be the boss of Shaw and he would let her.

Quick note: As I said above I'm really not into straight up infidelity/cheating, and Ben, of course, has a wife. So if you don't want to write the poly option, you could set your fic before Ben met Rose, or handwave the whole relationship away/platonic, or have Rose be really open-minded because she's Rose, but please: no straight-up cheating.

Additional note: I think we as a fandom have come to a consensus on this by now but just to be clear: I generally picture Shaw as more, you know, sexy scruffy (like, Hollywood historical scruffy) than with the level of hygiene, if one can even call it that, described in the books, because seriously, he's an intelligent man, he knows what soap is for, why will he not use it?? It's not cute. So, like, if you could steer away from descriptions where he is as unpleasant as in canon, I would greatly appreciate that.

Prompts
1. Possibly Shaw could be pining after Ben. I feel like this makes a lot of narrative sense. Like, he knows it's useless and never gonna happen (but then it DOES?) and probably beats himself up over it, but ooooh that commitment to justice and all that expertise, so sexy. Possibly Rose has known about this for a while and is amazed Ben has been so oblivious.
2. Concept I know I've been banging like a drum for a while now, but that's because I love it so: Abishag 'what is bathing, and also, I can track you through a hurricane' Shaw is a werewolf. (And just maybe Hannibal is a vampire?) Ben finds out (Silver allergy? Something connected to a case?). He's intrigued. Possibly, together they fight supernatural crime. (Rose? Rose is gonna science about it a lot, while Shaw is just like, "...it's magic...")
3. While so much of these books is in the setting, I just really love modern New Orleans. Like a lot. And it's still very atmospheric, no? Picture it: Shaw's still a cop, Ben's a surgeon who moonlights in a jazz band. Rose is a badass chemistry professor at Tulane. Together, they solve crimes. And make out.
4. Shaw realizes that, vis a vis the end of Murder in July, Ben has not yet gotten the memo that he's All In, and his feelings are really hurt, but he's trying to be, like, an adult about it. Things get awkward. Possibly Rose has to knock some heads together.
5. Shaw stays in Texas instead of Hannibal in Lady of Perdition that's it, that's the prompt. Listen, I just found it hilarious how the book kept hanging a lampshade on how Shaw would have been the better choice to help actually investigate the murder, but it had to be Hannibal who stayed Because Of Reasons.
6. Something with Shaw and his six-shooters because I feel like the day he got them in Lady of Perdition must have been one of the most exciting of his life thus far.
7. Carnival/Mardi Gras shenanigans. "We have got to stop meeting over dead bodies at balls," or some sort of costumery hijinks (possibly Rose crossdresses again) or like...anything involving this period of revelry.

Abishag Shaw & Olympe Corbier
There's a line from the Hidden Legacy books that came to mind when I thought about this team-up, something like: "My job in this family of Care Bears is to provide logical analysis." And I feel like Rose would protest that that's her job, but honestly, Shaw and Olympe are both, in their own ways, a lot more practical and just colder than the rest of Team January. Plus, they met when Shaw arrested Olympe for murder, and as Ben pointed out, he wouldn't have arrested her if he didn't think she really might have done it, so uh, they got off to a great start. I feel like they're never really going to 100% trust each other, especially on Olympe's side (and that Shaw would just be like, "Fair.") but that over time a certain amount of respect may have developed.

Prompts!
1. Shaw has a voodoo problem or just needs to know something about voodoo for a case, and obviously there is only one practitioner in the city he's going to go to about it. Olympe is reluctant but ugh Ben would never forgive her if she didn't help.
2. Olympe has some sort of legal problem and she is reluctant to involve the white legal system but if she has to Shaw's the best option available.
3. Ben thought Marie Laveau was behind that jailhouse poisoning at the end of Murder in July, but I always thought the symptoms sounded like the castor bean from The Shirt On His Back, so like: what if that was Shaw and Olympe working together? What if that? (It would not be the first time Shaw arranged a convenient jailhouse death to protect Ben, after all...)
4. Any other time they teamed up, either behind Ben's back to deal with a problem before he even knew it existed, or just to deal with their own shit.

Abishag Shaw & Livia Levesque
So here's what's amazing: they both clearly hate each other, and I don't think we've ever really seen them interact because LOL as if Livia willingly would, and also that is something Ben is willing to go to great lengths to prevent. Livia is still calling Shaw an animal thirteen books in, and I'm pretty sure Shaw has called Ben's mom 'a real piece of work' at least once, and, I mean, he's not wrong. And they are both very intelligent people who excel at using other people's perceptions against them and figuring out why other people do the things they do, and using that, and so I really want them to have to deal with each other. I don't really have specific prompts here, just a nebulous notion: maybe Livia has a problem and she's like, "Ugh, fine, I guess I'll summon Ben's pet American policeman," or maybe she's (however peripherally) involved in a case Shaw is investigating and he's like, "Fuck me gently with a not-yet-invented chainsaw, I have to interview Ben's mom." And then they are forced by circumstance to work together and/or use and/or respect one another's skill sets and forms of intelligence, and it's kind of horrible for both of them. And maybe one or both of them gains insight into What The Other One Thinks They're Doing Here that rattles the other, because...most people don't see that deep.


Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews
Augustine Montgomery/Connor "Mad" Rogan, Augustine Montgomery/Connor "Mad" Rogan/Nevada Baylor
Augustine and Rogan's friendship is really interesting to me, the way they often don't seem to like each other that much, or at least are really prickly with each other—and yet they're also each other's best friend in the world, and know stuff about each other no one else knows. And, like, how we know they'd each kill the other person without a moment's thought if their family was on the line, but they'd feel really bad about it afterward, and in their world, that's really rare. It's honestly almost like they are family, or at least are operating on a higher level of intimacy than most of the relationships around them. I'm into it.

In keeping with my aforementioned infidelity DNW, I would prefer this to be set in either the period before Nevada and Rogan got together, or for there to be some kind of open relationship/poly arrangement going on, or maybe Nevada and Rogan never got together! Just...anything but cheating, yeah. (Good luck cheating on a Truthseeker anyway lol.) And I feel like Nevada/Connor/Augustine would be a really interesting relationship because just...how do I phrase this? They're all so prickly and sharp. Picture the rotating pivot point of any two of them siding against the other one on any one petty issue. Picture the absolute terror that is the three of them united against you. It's glorious.

1. Maybe Rogan and Augustine never broke up/fell out when Rogan went off to the military. Maybe they've been on again/off again for over a decade and they snipe at each other as a form of foreplay. Maybe they're Houston's secret or not at all secret power couple. Whatever you want to do with it!
2. Some bad situation has happened and Augustine has completely drained his magic and is without his illusion and now Rogan(+Nevada) has to get him out of it. (And maybe it's the first time Nevada's seeing him without the illusions! Drama!)
3. I just really like the idea of Rogan making Augustine while he's undercover. Like, his illusion is flawless, his impersonation dead to rights, but there is some little detail that makes Rogan mutter, "Hi, Pancakes," in his ear as he walks past. (Maybe this is a game they play at society functions. Maybe Rogan is teaching Nevada how to play it.)
4. Something with Rogan being a tactile okay go.
5. Augustine has to pretend to be Rogan and escort Nevada to an event. Or Augustine has to pretend to be Nevada and go with Rogan to an event. And then they all meet back up at home and *cough* debrief.
6. AU where Augustine was there to be like, "Stop. Breathe. It is my professional opinion that that is obviously an illusion mage on that tape and we are going to fix this and no one is going to do anything dramatic and drastic, Nevada, Connor, put those divorce papers in the shredder this instant," about Victoria Tremaine's disgusting "test."

Augustine Montgomery/Cornelius Harrison
In Sapphire Flames when it's mentioned that Augustine came to the warehouse and picked Matilda up, everyone sort of brushes it off as, "Well, MII has a personal security division," which is true, but doesn't explain why the owner of the company is chauffeuring a random second grader, and so my brain helpfully decided that he's dating her dad.

And I know there was that whole, "Cornelius will never truly love again," thing, but maybe that's not, like, definitive. Maybe science magic turns out to be wrong about that. Or maybe it's an FWB thing and that works for them, or something! Maybe somehow it all works out.

1. Thinking back to Augustine manipulating Nevada into taking Cornelius' case after Nari died, maybe Augustine has been carrying a torch for Cornelius for a while, but he knew it was hopeless and it was never going to be a thing. And now...it is a thing, and he's sort of freaking out, but trying to keep it cool because Augustine Montgomery does not freak out. (Cornelius? Charmed.)
2. Something involving Augustine having to deal with Cornelius' animal friends. There are so many animal friends. One of them is a cat thing from another dimension. Augustine doesn't seem like a pets person, so it's...a lot.
3. Something about Cornelius having to deal with Augustine's best friend, Mad Rogan. It goes way better than Augustine and the menagerie does. After all, he works with his wife.
4. Maybe Augustine's illusion magic goes haywire somehow and Cornelius has to help him get out of a situation. Or maybe the illusion magic has, uh, sexytimes applications. (NOT "I can look like your dead wife" as just occurred to me after I typed that. Fun applications!)
5. I almost died at Cornelius saying he would "ferret out" Tatyana's secrets in Emerald Blaze, so: something with Cornelius being a terrible maker of animal puns and Augustine NOT being charmed by it, not at ALL, he SWEARS (he is MELTING on the inside).
6. Augustine needs Cornelius's help with a job. More specifically, he needs the ferrets' help with a job. This isn't an excuse to spend time alone with Cornelius in an enclosed space, what are you talking about? (It is also that.)

Arabella Baylor/Stephen Jiang
Get it, Arabella! This development is delightful and I am here for it. And really, aside from the possible 'loyalties to different Houses' issue that plagued Nevada and Rogan, they're a great pairing. Arabella needs to settle down some. Stephen needs to loosen up some. The children might have completely insane magic, but they will be breathtakingly beautiful.

1. Stephen's reaction to finding out what Arabella's magic is by witnessing it firsthand. And/or Arabella's reaction to witnessing Stephen's waterbending, besides 'fanning herself.'
2. Stephen's reaction to the general Baylor family chaos. Rogan and Alessandro were both sort of urchins outside the bakery window about it, although Alessandro at least did a good job of hiding it. Would Stephen also be drawn to their kind of family, or would he like, not even be able to cope at first?
3. Or are the Baylors more like the Jiangs than expected? Maybe House Jiang turns out to be more chill than they appear on the surface. They haven't actively stopped Henry from being an actor in China, after all. Maybe they welcome Arabella with open arms, even after she nervously blurts out, "My magic is Arcane and the grandchildren will probably be really weird!" ("Did you hear that, honey, grandchildren!")
4. Or maybe Arabella's like, "I don't want kids," and Stephen's like, "Oh thank God, me neither." Maybe that. (Maybe this is what leads to his leaving House Jiang and joining House Baylor? Hmm.)
5. The Artisan & The Scourge of Mexico: We're here to give you the shovel talk.
Stephen Jiang: No offense, but your wives are scarier.
The Scourge of Mexico & The Artisan: Oh, you're gonna fit in just fine.
6. "Arabella, you can't marry him, your magics are completely incompatible." "Okay, who said anything about marriage, slow down, we've been on three dates." Stephen: *hides ring box*
7. They go on ONE little strictly professional business lunch and now everyone on Herald is shipping it. Crazy, right? (Grandma Frida: *hides in-progress fanfic*)
8. Arabella drags Stephen off on an adventure and he ends up having an amazing time.

Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews
Christopher Steed & Hugh d'Ambray, Christopher Steed/Hugh d'Ambray
Okay, so after the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher on purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (like, maybe not consciously, because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).

And now I ship it. Or I at least want to see them interact, even if it's not shippy. It's a whole mess of history and dynamics to dig into and I'm into it. Like: they were horrible men, and they were equals. And then one of them kept the other one in a cage. And now they're both different people in some ways, living in the aftermath of all of that, and it's just...really interesting to me. And yet we never really get to see them interact. There's that one really tense moment in Magic Triumphs, and then their actual conversation takes place offscreen and that's it. I need more.

Note: If you're writing something set during the era of the books, as opposed to the pre-canon Preceptor/Legatus era, please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. As far as the canon relationships go, I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with some form of polyamory, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray of all people, but, I mean, maybe? Or maybe they didn't get together. However you can make it work!

Prompts!
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh. Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die (and then possibly "I can't believe we survived that" sex?)?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst.
4. Something set during the preparations to face Neig, with Hugh and Christopher both being weirded out by how easily they fall into a groove of working together again and the Iron Dogs enthusiastically embracing Christopher because it's always nice when someone they used to know A) is alive and B) isn't trying to kill them, and possibly also ragging the hell out of Hugh for having A Type because hahaha wow are there some similarities there. Meanwhile I feel like Elara and Christopher would be somewhere between "initially slightly spooked by each other" and this.
5. So oops it turns out Hugh can't marry Elara to seal their alliance because he and Christopher are already married. Maybe they didn't realize that thing they did as a quick way to solve a problem one time was legally binding. Maybe it was entirely on purpose and a secret. Maybe they're trying to get a quickie divorce like in a Hallmark movie and life keeps throwing obstacles in their path. Whatever just run with it.
6. I noticed on reread that Hugh grows throughout the course of the series—something in the range of four to six inches. While I'm pretty sure this is just another authorial inconsistency like his country of origin switching from England to France, it could also be fanwanked as the result of his stint healing in a phoenix egg, so something with Christopher reacting to his new height (and Hugh to Christopher's new shoulders?) could be a thing.
7. Wingkink? Wingkink.
8. Once upon a time there was an ambitious, smart, wildly talented young twink of a necromancer who was bound and determined to climb Roland's warlord like a tree. This is his story.

The Mandalorian (TV)
Cobb Vanth/Din Djarin

GOD my thirst for this silver fox space western sheriff and this shiny gunslinger dad, let me show it to you. I am pretty sure every line Cobb Vanth uttered was meant to be a come-on, and I want Din to have picked up what he was putting down. PLEASE.

I prefer for the helmet to stay on or Cobb to have to wear a blindfold or something.

Prompts!
1. Just make them fuck! After the krayt dragon 'I can't believe we're still alive' sex, pre-krayt dragon 'we might die tomorrow' sex, sometime post canon Din winds up back in Mos Pelgo (with or without Grogu), whatever. Bonus points for Din being touch-starved and weird about it.
2. Maybe with the krayt dragon and the Empire and the mining collective gone and peace with the Tuskens, Mos Pelgo gets...boring, and Cobb Vanth decides to tag along with Din see the universe. Never mind that there's barely room for one fully grown being on his ship, they'll make it work! Cobb doesn't mind a tight fit *wink wink*. Maybe Din is initially just thrilled to have another reliable and heavily armed babysitter, and then he finally buys a clue.
3. Trying to have sex on a cramped spaceship where the sleeping berth is just a little nook and your baby sleeps in an adorable little hammock above it, and most other surfaces are covered in weaponry. Maybe eventually they give up because they almost concuss each other/set off the carbonite/die a few times and also Grogu keeps walking in on them or nearly exploding the ship while left unattended, and they're like, "Okay, okay, we'll wait for a planet and a real bed," but then they're dying of anticipation/blue balls. Maybe they determinedly FIND a way to make it work. Maybe they fuck in the pilot's chair. Maybe they finally make it to a planet and then some bounty hunter interrupts them and dies REAL FAST.
4. Okay, so...listen. I have this weird fondness for modern/Western AUs for this pairing, like, Din is on the run with his baby for reasons and Cobb is the local sheriff or whatever. But here's the twist: I don't want Grogu to be a human baby I still want him to be a baby Yoda.
5. Grogu decides to play matchmaker. That's it that's the prompt.
6. Cobb gawking at things they don't have on Tatooine: trees! grass! rivers! oceans (oh god too much water TOO MUCH)! SNOW! and maybe being adorable with Grogu about it? Din is thoroughly charmed.

Mercy Thompson Series – Patricia Briggs
Kyle Brooks/Warren Smith
Let's talk about how much I have always loved Warren and Kyle. Like, on paper, they don't work: a hundred and fifty year old Texas cowboy werewolf who works at a gas station and a rich, human, Ivy League educated lawyer. And they both know that. And it doesn't matter. I love Kyle's ridiculous marble statues, and his vanity and the chip on his shoulder, and the way Warren loves those things too and sees Kyle's good heart. I love how easygoing and Texan Warren is, and all the pain and violence that's simmering away under the surface, and how Kyle doesn't care about all of the werewolf shit, he just loves him—and how Kyle, as he says in the short story "In Red, with Pearls," is his own kind of predator, and that just because he eviscerates his prey in court, not, you know, literally, doesn't mean he can't understand Warren's wolf.

Prompts!
1. There's like seven or eight rough months for Warren and Kyle between Moon Called and Blood Bound that we know very little about, and I'm really interested in this period—the pining and the draw that kept them coming back to each other (Were they sleeping together at any point in this period? That must have been really bittersweet) and saw Kyle hiring Warren, especially, but also how the 'so, werewolves' conversations went (and the fights, you know there were fights). There was even a Valentine's Day in there! Make it hurt good.
2. Concept: Kyle gets turned into a werewolf. I feel like he'd probably be pretty good at it. How does that happen? Is it on purpose, like he's sick or something? Or does some rogue or some other pack trying to come at Columbia Basin, now that they're exiled, attack him? How does that affect the pack structure? How many bed frames do he and Warren break while Kyle is learning his new strength?
3. In Frost Burned, Kyle reveals that his mating bond with Warren is starting to be two-way, but, being human, he just thought he was going crazy. And then we never really hear about that again. So: how does that psychic bond work for a human? Do he and Warren have enough control over it for it to be useful? Does it have sexytimes applications?
4. Something dealing with Kyle's family. Maybe his sister he still speaks to is coming to visit for Thanksgiving and he's freaking out (especially since Thanksgiving seems to be cursed for the Columbia Basin Pack?), or his deploying the nuclear option with regards to his father in Frost Burned comes back to bite him (possibly on multiple fronts, I know you were going through a rough time but using your boyfriend as blackmail material was sort of...not cool, Kyle) and has to be dealt with somehow.
6. As per some hinting in Storm Cursed, Kyle apparently wants kids. I feel like Warren would not even have thought about kids because...that wasn't an option. So either they have an adult discussion about this and figure out whether they, in fact, want to pursue parenthood, or they semi-accidentally acquire like, some kind of magic toddler or something. Or like, both.

Adam Hauptman & Warren Smith
Hi, my name is sadlikeknives and fun facts you might not know about me: Like Adam Hauptman, I'm from Alabama and I speak Russian! (Okay, I used to speak Russian. Now I honestly don't remember that much.) So I've always been really interested in Adam, and as previously established I love Warren, and I would really love to see more of their friendship explored. I feel like we're told more about it than we're shown, partly because it's rarely plot-relevant and thus exists as a sort of background thing. But they're both old, and Southern, and very dominant werewolves, and they get along like a house on fire, and I want more of that.

Prompts!
1. Patricia Briggs never really leans in on both of them being Southern. Like, they both canonically suppress their accents and 'y'all' is described as 'bad grammar,' (I'll fight you Briggs) which they only use deliberately in certain contexts. I will accept these speech patterns, even if I'm not thrilled about them (especially for Warren, who has had no good reason to suppress his accent), but there is more to being Southern for them to bond over. Especially food. I would love to see them bonding over food. Do they both have a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge at all times? Are they still weirded out by the Yankee madness that is sugar in cornbread? Does Warren show up at Adam's office one day to kidnap him for lunch because he finally found a place that makes decent collards?
2. Reading between the lines in the last couple of books, possibly starting from Silence Broken, possibly from the entire pack ending up at his house in Frost Burned, it looks like Warren is inching closer to being recognized in his rightful place as second in the pack (independent of the question of whether Darryl might be leaving to become an Alpha). Like, in one of the Alpha & Omega books it's mentioned that generally the pack's second's house is a secondary gathering place, and Pack Movie Night's been happening at Warren and Kyle's for a while now. And I think that would be great (especially if Darryl can stay), because Warren's placement has been unfair and artificial since the beginning, but I feel like Warren would still be hesitant/concerned, and need some reassurance from his Alpha/bestie.
3. Something about Warren and Adam's early relationship. I keep thinking about how Warren worked at the closest gas station to Adam's house, before Adam even built that house. And he was besties with Mercy. They definitely met, several times, before Mercy approached Adam about him and Adam invited Warren to join the pack. Like, there was probably some kind of formal notice when Adam & Co. first showed up, right? And so it seems weird that Adam never even thought about inviting Warren to join the pack before, even considering he's *gasp* gay. Did he think he wanted to be left alone? Did he think Warren was probably pissed because the Tri-Cities were basically his territory before Adam showed up? Did Warren show up to that meeting with Adam expecting to be told, "It's been real, now, leave town." What was going on there? And what were Warren's early days in the pack like? Apparently Christy thought Warren might make a pass at Adam; how much did the two of them laugh over that?
4. Poor Warren stuck in the middle of being Mercy's best friend AND Adam's best friend while they were determined to not get along.
5. Something about Adam meeting Kyle and realizing he needed to Do Something about these heteronormative homophobic werewolf rules before Warren lost this guy. Be a good wingman, Adam. (Or at least try, as ultimately everything blew up and it was Mercy who had to Do Something.)
6. Because Thanksgiving is clearly cursed, it is hereby canceled and will henceforth be known by the Columbia Basin Pack as 'Thursday,' a day on which we serve Anything But Turkey and try really hard not to get kidnapped.

Asil Moreno/Original Male Character
Listen, I just want Asil to get laid by someone who doesn't turn out to be evil. He deserves it. The guy's had a really rough time of it. I just want him to have a nice time. And he's old enough that his attitude toward sex and sexuality probably does not line up with our modern ideas, so maybe that someone is a guy. Maybe after the five blind dates he decides to try a hookup app and accidentally downloads Grindr instead of Tinder and then just decides to roll with it. Maybe one of the other gay werewolves moves to Aspen Creek and oh no he's hot, Asil was not expecting this.

It doesn't even have to be an original character, it can be someone who's basically an OC with a name, like that French guy Juste who has completely reasonable beef with him (antagonism that leads to makeouts, yesss) or, I don't know, Carlos, since it seems like Carlos might be bi now? Just, anything. Somebody show Asil a real good time/let Asil show them a real good time.

Soulbound Series – Hailey Turner
Gerard Breckenridge | Cú Chulainn & Patrick Collins, Gerard Breckenridge | Cú Chulainn/Patrick Collins

From the first moment Gerard showed up in that phone call at the end of A Ferry of Bones & Gold cussing Patrick out for working with the goddamned vampire again, I was delighted and in love. And then he actually showed up on the page and:

1. Oh, no, he's hot.
2. Oh, no, he has a spear and that's hot.
3. Oh no, he's fucking Cú Chulainn.

Amazing.

A thing you may or may not be aware of: there's a free prequel short story, "Down a Twisted Path," available via Hailey Turner's website (I believe you have to join her mailing list to get access, but don't quote me on that) in which Patrick & Gerard interact, and I have read that, but if you haven't, that's fine, I don't think it's necessary.

Regarding my infidelity DNW: Legendarily speaking, Cú Chulainn was a giant slut, so I'm assuming that Órlaith is fine with that and they have an open relationship (and like...maybe it's an AU where Gerard happened to mention he was engaged at some point in the past instead of awkwardly blindsiding Patrick with, 'My fiancee's been kidnapped btw I have a fiance.'). On Patrick's end, if you're writing a fic set after he met Jono I'm good with whatever AU or poly arrangement you come up with to make that work.

Some prompts!
1. Something set during the Hellraisers era, whether that be, like, "I can't believe we survived that," sex, or facing down some unspeakable evil together, or drinking games. Or all three.
2. Or maybe Patrick had a puppy crush on Gerard (because, look at him), but he was young and already fucked up and under his command so that never happened, but now two of those three things are no longer true, so: let's get it on and get it out of our systems or try to have a relationship or something.
3. Cú Chulainn's berserker state, the warp spasm, is vaguely hinted at several times, especially in the third book, but it hasn't happened yet. I would like to see it, please, and everyone else freaking the fuck out. (And possibly Patrick just being like, "Oh great he's back on his bullshit.")
4. Something dealing with the revelations of book three and Gerard and Patrick working to repair their relationship.
5. Or maybe an AU where Patrick put together the clues of 'part fae' and 'berserker' and 'magic bone spear' a lot sooner and they dealt with that before it became A Thing.
6. Something with Gerard standing up to other immortals for Patrick. I'm so tired of the, "You're a failure and you failed," refrain when as best I can tell Patrick has always been out here doing the best he could in a horrible situation. Please, let Gerard give Persephone a piece of his mind and both edges of that sharp tongue of his. Please.
7. That one time Gerard attempted to teach Patrick to cook. His kitchen was only a little bit on fire, maybe.
8. Why is Gerard called Smooth Dog? There is a really good story here, I can feel it.


Jonothon de Vere/Patrick Collins

This canon and this pairing could have been tailor made for me, holy shit. HE'S a lonely alpha werewolf who just wants a pack to take care of, to whom the god Fenrir speaks. HE'S a mage with secrets, dramatic scars, and metaphysical damage that makes his magic painful and draining to use, resulting in many opportunities for h/c, despite the fact that he takes to h/c about as well as a cat does to water. Also he's indebted to the gods and they keep trying to run/ruin his life. They have an ACCIDENTAL SOULBOND and one of them thinks it's great and the other one thinks it's the worst thing ever. Together, they fight crime and learn about found family. AMAZING.

PROMPTS!
1. See above re: opportunities for h/c. Maybe Patrick overtaxes his magic again. Maybe he just has the flu! Maybe something else. Whatever way you go with it, Jono's caretaker instincts are triggered and Patrick is grumpy about it (But humoring him. Yeah, that's what it is. Humoring him.).
2. Something involving their CANONICAL SOULBOND (and possibly sex applications thereof). I'm not picky.
3. Listen just make them fuck and I'm happy. Bonus points for something about Patrick's scars/self-consciousness about his scars and/or Jono's need to make Patrick smell like him.
4. Something involving the various gods in their lives! Either something about Jono dealing with Fenrir's opinions/interference or just, like, Patrick's whole situation. Or both, both is good.
5. "We are trying to have date night/Valentine's Day like a nice normal couple but supernatural bullshit keeps interfering so much."
6. Jono attempts to teach Patrick to cook. It...it goes...on the bright side, the kitchen did not burn down? At least Jono's really hard to poison? (Gerard & Keith: "Wow you're so much braver than us.")

West Hell Magic Series – Devon Monk

Real talk I don't understand how this series doesn't have more of a following in fandom. It's about werewolves and wizards playing hockey! It's super slashy! What more do I need to say?

Hawthorn Graves/Random Hazard
Okay so in the scene where Ran sees Graves for the first time, when he's just some random guy at the skating rink, the way he described him had me going, "Is this...is this an M/M book? It didn't say anywhere that it was an M/M book but YAY!" And then the female love interest showed up and it turned out to not be an M/M book after all, but for a while there I really thought it could be! And like, it only continues with the way Graves is willing to toss himself on the sword of the Dead Man trade for Ran and Ran's promising career in Spark, and just, like, it's slashy as hell, okay?

1. Seriously what the fuck is Graves? My best guess at the moment is, "Dragon? Maybe?" but take your best shot. Or don't and just play around with the weirdness we've been given.
2. "You're just starting your career, I'm near the end of mine, this can't last....but we really want it to last..."
3. Maybe Graves helpfully points out to Ran that if his middle name is somehow disastrous enough to not be preferable to being known as 'Random Hazard,' there is always a thing called a legal name change he could explore. Maybe that.
4. Graves tests Ran's control over his magic...during sex.

Elliott Clay/Hawthorn Graves

This might actually be canon? They've known each other for ages and that scene in Spark where Coach Clay borrows Graves' phone but Graves won't actually let him touch it because he'll just break this one, too did nothing to convince me they're not an old married couple, anyway.

1. See above re: WTF is Graves? I feel like Coach Clay might be the one person who already knows the answer to this question.
2. Something with them sneaking around hiding their relationship from the team. Sex in an equipment closet. Sex on Clay's desk, possibly with "you've been a bad bad player and you need to be punished" roleplaying. Also, "We're too old for all this sneaking around."
3. The two of them watching the younger generation's *cough*Ran*cough* drama like "Were we ever that young?"
4. Or! Maybe they're NOT in a relationship yet. Maybe they've been like two ships passing in the night their whole careers and it was just never the right time, and now Clay is in a position of authority over Graves and it just wouldn't be right, he feels, and there is pining, and then Graves finds out that THAT'S what the holdup is this time and is like, "LOL sure authority, screw that, let's get it on."
5. Just like...anything involving Coach Clay being a were-snow leopard, because that's awesome.

Dear Author,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great. For all of my requested fandoms, I have requested fic only and all three theme tags. Some of my fandoms may not include prompts that fit all three themes, but that's just because I don't have specific prompts for those tags in mind. I'm open to whatever you've got!

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and related bloodplay, size kink (I really like both the bigger guy manhandling the smaller guy and the smaller guy loving it, and the smaller guy bossing the bigger guy around and the bigger guy loving it). I'm down with porn or not porn. You are probably going to notice that I really like werewolves. I love all the basic bitch fall accouterments like pumpkin spice everything and leaves and scarves and apples. All of it.

DNWs:
- bestiality (including shapeshifters in animal form)
- scat or watersports
- cannibalism/vore
- noncon or dubcon
- infidelity/cheating involving requested characters (so like, a PI handling a cheating case is fine)
- omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg
- graphic animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not fine)
- permanent death of requested characters

Benjamin January/Abishag Shaw, Benjamin January/Rose Vitrac January/Abishag Shaw
You remember waaaaaaaaaay back at the end of A Free Man of Color when Shaw's standing by Ben's table at the Place des Armes Because Society and Ben's like, "Or you could sit the fuck down one of these days?" Gentle Author, I shipped it then, and I ship it still. I just want to shove them together like a couple of really tall Ken dolls and go, "NOW KISS." I love how they navigate their godawful society's expectations and restrictions, how they often communicate via what's not said. I love how tentative Ben has always been to trust Shaw, in the face of evidence that Shaw is All In on trusting Ben, and then how in Murder in July he realizes Shaw would march off to assassinate the Queen of England if he asked him to (although it sort of drives me crazy that then at the end of the book Hannibal and Ben decided they needed to pull a fast one on Shaw just in case he randomly decided to confiscate the papers at the expense of Rose, like that's a thing he would ever do). I love how committed to justice they both are, and how they recognize that's different from the rule of law, and their mutual frustration with society's preference for a tidy resolution over true justice being done. I love how respectful they both are of the other's skills, and how they both use other people's expectations of their behavior. In short, I love them, and I want more of them.

And Rose! I love Rose! She's so practical except when it comes to science, when she is often two seconds away from an explosion, and she and Ben are so good together! And I think she would basically be the boss of Shaw and he would let her.

Quick note: As I said above I'm really not into straight up infidelity/cheating, and Ben, of course, has a wife. So if you don't want to write the poly option, you could set your fic before Ben met Rose, or handwave the whole relationship away/platonic, or have Rose be really open-minded because she's Rose, but please: no straight-up cheating.

Additional note: I think we as a fandom have come to a consensus on this by now but just to be clear: I generally picture Shaw as more, you know, sexy scruffy (like, Hollywood historical scruffy) than with the level of hygiene, if one can even call it that, described in the books, because seriously, he's an intelligent man, he knows what soap is for, why will he not use it?? It's not cute. So, like, if you could steer away from descriptions where he is as unpleasant as in canon, I would greatly appreciate that.

Prompts
1. Possibly Shaw could be pining after Ben. I feel like this makes a lot of narrative sense. Like, he knows it's useless and never gonna happen (but then it DOES?) and probably beats himself up over it, but ooooh that commitment to justice and all that expertise, so sexy. Possibly Rose has known about this for a while and is amazed Ben has been so oblivious.
2. They could investigate something new! Who's dead, in the middle of a scandal, or robbed blind this week? Which combination of medical, musical, tracking, science, and marksmanship expertise saves the day? (Maybe Shaw and Rose have to team up?)
3. Concept I know I've been banging like a drum for a while now, but that's because I love it so: Abishag 'what is bathing, and also, I can track you through a hurricane' Shaw is a werewolf. (And just maybe Hannibal is a vampire?) Ben finds out (Silver allergy? Something connected to a case?). He's intrigued. Possibly, together they fight supernatural crime.
4. While so much of these books is in the setting, I just really love modern New Orleans. Like a lot. And it's still very atmospheric, no? Picture it: Shaw's still a cop, Ben's a surgeon who moonlights in a jazz band. Rose is a badass chemistry professor at Tulane. Together, they solve crimes. And make out.
5. Shaw realizes that, vis a vis the end of Murder in July, Ben has not yet gotten the memo that he's All In, and his feelings are really hurt, but he's trying to be, like, an adult about it. Things get awkward. Possibly Rose has to knock some heads together.
6. Shaw stays in Texas instead of Hannibal in Lady of Perdition that's it, that's the prompt. Listen, I just found it hilarious how the book kept hanging a lampshade on how Shaw would have been the better choice to help actually investigate the murder, but it had to be Hannibal who stayed Because Of Reasons.
7. Something with Shaw and his six-shooters because I feel like the day he got them in Lady of Perdition must have been one of the most exciting of his life thus far.
8. Something else seasonal! Which, with New Orleans, would maybe mean either a late hurricane ("Well since we're stuck in this unlikely location until the water goes down we might as well have sex"?) or something totally spooky involving voodoo. Or both? Both is good.

Abishag Shaw & Olympe Corbier
There's a line from the Hidden Legacy books that came to mind when I thought about this team-up, something like: "My job in this family of Care Bears is to provide logical analysis." And I feel like Rose would protest that that's her job, but honestly, Shaw and Olympe are both, in their own ways, a lot more practical and just colder than the rest of Team January. Plus, they met when Shaw arrested Olympe for murder, and as Ben pointed out, he wouldn't have arrested her if he didn't think she really might have done it, so uh, they got off to a great start. I feel like they're never really going to 100% trust each other, especially on Olympe's side (and that Shaw would just be like, "Fair.") but that over time a certain amount of respect may have developed.

Prompts!
1. Shaw has a voodoo problem or just needs to know something about voodoo for a case, and obviously there is only one practitioner in the city he's going to go to about it. Olympe is reluctant but ugh Ben would never forgive her if she didn't help.
2. Olympe has some sort of legal problem and she is reluctant to involve the white legal system but if she has to Shaw's the best option available.
3. Ben thought Marie Laveau was behind that jailhouse poisoning at the end of Murder in July, but I always thought the symptoms sounded like the castor bean from The Shirt On His Back, so like: what if that was Shaw and Olympe working together? What if that? (It would not be the first time Shaw arranged a convenient jailhouse death to protect Ben, after all...)
4. Any other time they teamed up, either behind Ben's back to deal with a problem before he even knew it existed, or just to deal with their own shit.

Abishag Shaw & Livia Levesque
So here's what's amazing: they both clearly hate each other, and I don't think we've ever really seen them interact because LOL as if Livia willingly would, and also that is something Ben is willing to go to great lengths to prevent. Livia is still calling Shaw an animal thirteen books in, and I'm pretty sure Shaw has called Ben's mom 'a real piece of work' at least once, and, I mean, he's not wrong. And they are both very intelligent people who excel at using other people's perceptions against them and figuring out why other people do the things they do, and using that, and so I really want them to have to deal with each other. I don't really have specific prompts here, just a nebulous notion: maybe Livia has a problem and she's like, "Ugh, fine, I guess I'll summon Ben's pet American policeman," or maybe she's (however peripherally) involved in a case Shaw is investigating and he's like, "Fuck me gently with a not-yet-invented chainsaw, I have to interview Ben's mom." And then they are forced by circumstance to work together and/or use and/or respect one another's skill sets and forms of intelligence, and it's kind of horrible for both of them. And maybe one or both of them gains insight into What The Other One Thinks They're Doing Here that rattles the other, because...most people don't see that deep.

I've gotten some great gifts for this fandom lately but they just make me want more, so okay let's go.

Augustine Montgomery/Connor "Mad" Rogan, Nevada Baylor/Augustine Montgomery/Connor "Mad" Rogan"
Augustine and Rogan's friendship is really interesting to me, the way they often don't seem to like each other that much, or at least are really prickly with each other—and yet they're also each other's best friend in the world, and know stuff about each other no one else knows. And, like, how we know they'd each kill the other person without a moment's thought if their family was on the line, but they'd feel really bad about it afterward, and in their world, that's really rare. It's honestly almost like they are family, or at least are operating on a higher level of intimacy than most of the relationships around them. I'm into it.

In keeping with my aforementioned infidelity DNW, I would prefer this to be set in either the period before Nevada and Rogan got together, or for there to be some kind of open relationship/poly arrangement going on, or maybe Nevada and Rogan never got together! Just...anything but cheating, yeah. (Good luck cheating on a Truthseeker anyway lol.) And I feel like Nevada/Connor/Augustine would be a really interesting relationship because just...how do I phrase this? They're all so prickly and sharp. Picture the rotating pivot point of any two of them siding against the other one on any one petty issue. Picture the absolute terror that is the three of them united against you. It's glorious.

1. Maybe Rogan and Augustine never broke up/fell out when Rogan went off to the military. Maybe they've been on again/off again for over a decade and they snipe at each other as a form of foreplay. Maybe they're Houston's secret or not at all secret power couple. Whatever you want to do with it!
2. Some bad situation has happened and Augustine has completely drained his magic and is without his illusion and now Rogan(+Nevada) has to get him out of it. (And maybe it's the first time Nevada's seeing him without the illusions! Drama!)
3. I just really like the idea of Rogan making Augustine while he's undercover. Like, his illusion is flawless, his impersonation dead to rights, but there is some little detail that makes Rogan mutter, "Hi, Pancakes," in his ear as he walks past. (Maybe this is a game they play at society functions. Maybe Rogan is teaching Nevada how to play it.)
4. Something with Rogan being a tactile okay go.
5. Augustine has to pretend to be Rogan and escort Nevada to an event. Or Augustine has to pretend to be Nevada and go with Rogan to an event. And then they all meet back up at home and *cough* debrief.
6. AU where Augustine was there to be like, "Stop. Breathe. It is my professional opinion that that is obviously an illusion mage on that tape and we are going to fix this and no one is going to do anything dramatic and drastic, Nevada, Connor, put those divorce papers in the shredder this instant," about Victoria Tremaine's disgusting "test."

Cornelius Harrison/Augustine Montgomery
In Sapphire Flames when it's mentioned that Augustine came to the warehouse and picked Matilda up, everyone sort of brushes it off as, "Well, MII has a personal security division," which is true, but doesn't explain why the owner of the company is chauffeuring a random second grader, and so my brain helpfully decided that he's dating her dad.

And I know there was that whole, "Cornelius will never truly love again," thing, but maybe that's not, like, definitive. Maybe science magic turns out to be wrong about that. Or maybe it's an FWB thing and that works for them, or something! Maybe somehow it all works out.

1. Thinking back to Augustine manipulating Nevada into taking Cornelius' case after Nari died, maybe Augustine has been carrying a torch for Cornelius for a while, but he knew it was hopeless and it was never going to be a thing. And now...it is a thing, and he's sort of freaking out, but trying to keep it cool because Augustine Montgomery does not freak out. (Cornelius? Charmed.)
2. Something involving Augustine having to deal with Cornelius' animal friends. There are so many animal friends. One of them is a cat thing from another dimension. Augustine doesn't seem like a pets person, so it's...a lot.
3. Something about Cornelius having to deal with Augustine's best friend, Mad Rogan. It goes way better than Augustine and the menagerie does. After all, he works with his wife.
4. Maybe Augustine's illusion magic goes haywire somehow and Cornelius has to help him get out of a situation. Or maybe the illusion magic has, uh, sexytimes applications. (NOT "I can look like your dead wife" as just occurred to me after I typed that. Fun applications!)
5. I almost died at Cornelius saying he would "ferret out" Tatyana's secrets in Emerald Blaze, so: something with Cornelius being a terrible maker of animal puns and Augustine NOT being charmed by it, not at ALL, he SWEARS (he is MELTING on the inside).
6. Augustine needs Cornelius's help with a job. More specifically, he needs the ferrets' help with a job. This isn't an excuse to spend time alone with Cornelius in an enclosed space, what are you talking about? (It is also that.)

Arabella Baylor/Stephen Jiang
Get it, Arabella! This development is delightful and I am here for it. And really, aside from the possible 'loyalties to different Houses' issue that plagued Nevada and Rogan, they're a great pairing. Arabella needs to settle down some. Stephen needs to loosen up some. The children might have completely insane magic, but they will be breathtakingly beautiful.

1. Stephen's reaction to finding out what Arabella's magic is by witnessing it firsthand. And/or Arabella's reaction to witnessing Stephen's waterbending, besides 'fanning herself.'
2. Stephen's reaction to the general Baylor family chaos. Rogan and Alessandro were both sort of urchins outside the bakery window about it, although Alessandro at least did a good job of hiding it. Would Stephen also be drawn to their kind of family, or would he like, not even be able to cope at first?
3. Or are the Baylors more like the Jiangs than expected? Maybe House Jiang turns out to be more chill than they appear on the surface. They haven't actively stopped Henry from being an actor in China, after all. Maybe they welcome Arabella with open arms, even after she nervously blurts out, "My magic is Arcane and the grandchildren will probably be really weird!" ("Did you hear that, honey, grandchildren!")
4. Or maybe Arabella's like, "I don't want kids," and Stephen's like, "Oh thank God, me neither." Maybe that. (Maybe this is what leads to his leaving House Jiang and joining House Baylor? Hmm.)
5. The Artisan & The Scourge of Mexico: We're here to give you the shovel talk.
Stephen Jiang: No offense, but your wives are scarier.
The Scourge of Mexico & The Artisan: Oh, you're gonna fit in just fine.
6. "Arabella, you can't marry him, your magics are completely incompatible." "Okay, who said anything about marriage, slow down, we've been on three dates." Stephen: *hides ring box*
7. They go on ONE little strictly professional business lunch and now everyone on Herald is shipping it. Crazy, right? (Grandma Frida: *hides in-progress fanfic*)
8. Arabella drags Stephen off on an adventure and he ends up having an amazing time.

Kate Daniels - Ilona Andrews

Hugh d'Ambray & Christopher Steed, Hugh d'Ambray/Christopher Steed, Hugh d'Ambray/Elara Harper/Christopher Steed
Okay, so after the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher on purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (like, maybe not consciously, because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).

And now I ship it. Or I at least want to see them interact, even if it's not shippy. It's a whole mess of history and dynamics to dig into and I'm into it. Like: they were horrible men, and they were equals. And then one of them kept the other one in a cage. And now they're both different people in some ways, living in the aftermath of all of that, and it's just...really interesting to me.

As far as Hugh/Elara/Christopher goes, Christopher is a wildly magically powerful human with a god stuffed in him, whose hair was turned white by magic (Maybe? The books seem to go back and forth on whether it's blond or white. I think it's white.). Elara, as far as we can work out thus far, is a wildly magically powerful human with some kind of elder power stuffed in her whose hair was turned white by magic. What if Hugh has a very specific type? What if. I'm just saying.

Note: If you're writing something set during the era of the books, as opposed to the pre-canon Preceptor/Legatus era, please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. As far as the canon relationships go, I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with some form of polyamory, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray, but, I mean, maybe? Or maybe they didn't get together. However you can make it work!

Prompts!
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh. Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die (and then possibly "I can't believe we survived that" sex?)?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst.
4. Something set during the preparations to face Neig, with Hugh and Christopher both being weirded out by how easily they fall into a groove of working together again and the Iron Dogs enthusiastically embracing Christopher because it's always nice when someone they used to know A) is alive and B) isn't trying to kill them, and possibly also ragging the hell out of Hugh for having A Type, because haha wow are there some similarities between Elara and Christopher. Meanwhile I feel like Elara and Christopher would be somewhere between "initially slightly spooked by each other" and this.
5. So oops it turns out Hugh can't marry Elara to seal their alliance because he and Christopher are already married. Maybe they didn't realize that thing they did as a quick way to solve a problem one time was legally binding. Maybe it was entirely on purpose and a secret. Maybe they're trying to get a quickie divorce like in a Hallmark movie and life keeps throwing obstacles in their path. Whatever just run with it.
6. I noticed on reread that Hugh grows throughout the course of the series—something in the range of four to six inches. While I'm pretty sure this is just another authorial inconsistency like his country of origin switching from England to France, it could also be fanwanked as the result of his stint healing in a phoenix egg, so something with Christopher reacting to his new height (and Hugh to Christopher's new shoulders?) could be a thing.
7. Elara finally finds out that Hugh knows how to make panacea when he and Christopher start bickering about some fine point of its preparation.
8. Wingkink? Wingkink.
9. It's Halloween or some other magical thing is going on and Elara and Christopher are being generally spookier and more of an eldritch horror and fear god than they usually are on the surface and this is fine, everything is fine. Hugh might even be into it.

Mercy Thompson Series – Patricia Briggs

Kyle Brooks/Warren Smith
Let's talk about how much I have always loved Warren and Kyle. Like, on paper, they don't work: a hundred and fifty year old Texas cowboy werewolf who works at a gas station and a rich, human, Ivy League educated lawyer. And they both know that. And it doesn't matter. I love Kyle's ridiculous marble statues, and his vanity and the chip on his shoulder, and the way Warren loves those things too and sees Kyle's good heart. I love how easygoing and Texan Warren is, and all the pain and violence that's simmering away under the surface, and how Kyle doesn't care about all of the werewolf shit, he just loves him—and how Kyle, as he says in the short story "In Red, with Pearls," is his own kind of predator, and that just because he eviscerates his prey in court, not, you know, literally, doesn't mean he can't understand Warren's wolf.

Prompts!
1. There's like seven or eight rough months for Warren and Kyle between Moon Called and Blood Bound that we know very little about, and I'm really interested in this period—the pining and the draw that kept them coming back to each other (Were they sleeping together at any point in this period? That must have been really bittersweet) and saw Kyle hiring Warren, especially, but also how the 'so, werewolves' conversations went (and the fights, you know there were fights).
2. Concept: Kyle gets turned into a werewolf. I feel like he'd probably be pretty good at it. How does that happen? Is it on purpose, like he's sick or something? Or does some rogue or some other pack trying to come at Columbia Basin, now that they're exiled, attack him? How does that affect the pack structure? How many bed frames do he and Warren break while Kyle is learning his new strength?
3. In Frost Burned, Kyle reveals that his mating bond with Warren is starting to be two-way, but, being human, he just thought he was going crazy. And then we never really hear about that again. So: how does that psychic bond work for a human? Do he and Warren have enough control over it for it to be useful? Does it have sexytimes applications?
4. Something dealing with Kyle's family. Maybe his sister he still speaks to is coming to visit for Thanksgiving and he's freaking out (especially since Thanksgiving seems to be cursed for the Columbia Basin Pack?), or his deploying the nuclear option with regards to his father in Frost Burned comes back to bite him (possibly on multiple fronts, I know you were going through a rough time but using your boyfriend as blackmail material was sort of...not cool, Kyle) and has to be dealt with somehow.
6. As per some hinting in Storm Cursed, Kyle apparently wants kids. I feel like Warren would not even have thought about kids because...that wasn't an option. So either they have an adult discussion about this and figure out whether they, in fact, want to pursue parenthood, or they semi-accidentally acquire like, some kind of magic toddler or something. Or like, both.
7. Because Thanksgiving is clearly cursed, it is hereby canceled and will henceforth be known by the Columbia Basin Pack as 'Thursday,' a day on which we serve Anything But Turkey and try really hard not to get kidnapped.

Adam Hauptman & Warren Smith
Hi, my name is sadlikeknives and fun facts you might not know about me: Like Adam Hauptman, I'm from Alabama and I speak Russian! (Okay, I used to speak Russian. Now I honestly don't remember that much.) So I've always been really interested in Adam, and as previously established I love Warren, and I would really love to see more of their friendship explored. I feel like we're told more about it than we're shown, partly because it's rarely plot-relevant and thus exists as a sort of background thing. But they're both old, and Southern, and very dominant werewolves, and they get along like a house on fire, and I want more of that.

Prompts!
1. Patricia Briggs never really leans in on both of them being Southern. Like, they both canonically suppress their accents and 'y'all' is described as 'bad grammar,' (I'll fight you Briggs) which they only use deliberately in certain contexts. I will accept these speech patterns, even if I'm not thrilled about them (especially for Warren, who has had no good reason to suppress his accent), but there is more to being Southern for them to bond over. Especially food. I would love to see them bonding over food. Do they both have a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge at all times? Are they still weirded out by the Yankee madness that is sugar in cornbread? Does Warren show up at Adam's office one day to kidnap him for lunch because he finally found a place that makes decent collards?
2. Reading between the lines in the last couple of books, possibly starting from Silence Broken, possibly from the entire pack ending up at his house in Frost Burned, it looks like Warren is inching closer to being recognized in his rightful place as second in the pack (independent of the question of whether Darryl might be leaving to become an Alpha). Like, in one of the Alpha & Omega books it's mentioned that generally the pack's second's house is a secondary gathering place, and Pack Movie Night's been happening at Warren and Kyle's for a while now. And I think that would be great (especially if Darryl can stay), because Warren's placement has been unfair and artificial since the beginning, but I feel like Warren would still be hesitant/concerned, and need some reassurance from his Alpha/bestie.
3. Something about Warren and Adam's early relationship. I keep thinking about how Warren worked at the closest gas station to Adam's house, before Adam even built that house. And he was besties with Mercy. They definitely met, several times, before Mercy approached Adam about him and Adam invited Warren to join the pack. Like, there was probably some kind of formal notice when Adam & Co. first showed up, right? And so it seems weird that Adam never even thought about inviting Warren to join the pack before, even considering he's *gasp* gay. Did he think he wanted to be left alone? Did he think Warren was probably pissed because the Tri-Cities were basically his territory before Adam showed up? Did Warren show up to that meeting with Adam expecting to be told, "It's been real, now, leave town." What was going on there? And what were Warren's early days in the pack like? Apparently Christy thought Warren might make a pass at Adam; how much did the two of them laugh over that?
4. Poor Warren stuck in the middle of being Mercy's best friend AND Adam's best friend while they were determined to not get along.
5. Something about Adam meeting Kyle and realizing he needed to Do Something about these heteronormative homophobic werewolf rules before Warren lost this guy. Be a good wingman, Adam. (Or at least try, as ultimately everything blew up and it was Mercy who had to Do Something.)
6. Because Thanksgiving is clearly cursed, it is hereby canceled and will henceforth be known by the Columbia Basin Pack as 'Thursday,' a day on which we serve Anything But Turkey and try really hard not to get kidnapped.

Asil Moreno/Original Male Character
Listen, I just want Asil to get laid by someone who doesn't turn out to be evil. He deserves it. The guy's had a really rough time of it. I just want him to have a nice time. And he's old enough that his attitude toward sex and sexuality probably does not line up with our modern ideas, so maybe that someone is a guy. Maybe after the five blind dates he decides to try a hookup app and accidentally downloads Grindr instead of Tinder and then just decides to roll with it. Maybe one of the other gay werewolves moves to Aspen Creek and oh no he's hot, Asil was not expecting this.

It doesn't even have to be an original character, it can be someone who's basically an OC with a name, like that French guy Juste who has completely reasonable beef with him (antagonism that leads to makeouts, yesss) or, I don't know, Carlos, since it looks like Carlos might be bi now? Just, anything. Somebody show Asil a real good time/let Asil show them a real good time.

Soulbound Series – Hailey Turner

Gerard Breckenridge | Cú Chulainn & Patrick Collins, Patrick Collins/Gerard Breckenridge | Cú Chulainn

From the first moment Gerard showed up in that phone call at the end of A Ferry of Bones & Gold cussing Patrick out for working with the goddamned vampire again, I was delighted and in love. And then he actually showed up on the page and:

1. Oh, no, he's hot.
2. Oh, no, he has a spear and that's hot.
3. Oh no, he's fucking Cú Chulainn.

Amazing.

A thing you may or may not be aware of: there's a free prequel short story, "Down a Twisted Path," available via Hailey Turner's website (I believe you have to join her mailing list to get access, but don't quote me on that) in which Patrick & Gerard interact, and I have read that, but if you haven't, that's fine, I don't think it's necessary.

Regarding my infidelity DNW: Legendarily speaking, Cú Chulainn was a giant slut, so I'm assuming that Órlaith is fine with that and they have an open relationship (and like...maybe it's an AU where Gerard happened to mention he was engaged at some point in the past instead of awkwardly blindsiding Patrick with, 'My fiancee's been kidnapped btw I have a fiance.'). On Patrick's end, if you're writing a fic set after he met Jono I'm good with whatever AU or poly arrangement you come up with to make that work.

Some prompts!
1. Something set during the Hellraisers era, whether that be, like, "I can't believe we survived that," sex, or facing down some unspeakable evil together, or drinking games. Or all three.
2. Or maybe Patrick had a puppy crush on Gerard (because, look at him), but he was young and already fucked up and under his command so that never happened, but now two of those three things are no longer true, so: maybe?
3. Cú Chulainn's berserker state, the warp spasm, is hinted at several times, especially in the third book, but it hasn't happened yet. I would like to see it, please, and everyone else freaking the fuck out. (And possibly Patrick just being like, "Oh great he's back on his bullshit.")
4. Something dealing with the revelations of book three and Gerard and Patrick working to repair their relationship.
5. Something with Gerard standing up to other immortals for Patrick. Please, let him give Persephone a piece of his mind. Please.


Patrick Collins/Jonothon de Vere

This canon and this pairing could have been tailor made for me, holy shit. HE'S a lonely alpha werewolf who just wants a pack to take care of, to whom the god Fenrir speaks. HE'S a mage with secrets, dramatic scars, and metaphysical damage that makes his magic painful and draining to use, resulting in many opportunities for h/c, despite the fact that he takes to h/c about as well as a cat does to water. Also he's indebted to the gods and they keep trying to run/ruin his life. They have an ACCIDENTAL SOULBOND and one of them thinks it's great and the other one thinks it's the worst thing ever. Together, they fight crime and learn about found family. AMAZING.

PROMPTS!
1. See above re: opportunities for h/c. Maybe Patrick overtaxes his magic again. Maybe he just has the flu! Maybe something else. Whatever way you go with it, Jono's caretaker instincts are triggered and Patrick is grumpy about it (But humoring him. Yeah, that's what it is. Humoring him.).
2. Something involving their CANONICAL SOULBOND (and possibly sex applications thereof). I'm not picky.
3. Listen just make them fuck and I'm happy. Bonus points for something about Patrick's scars/self-consciousness about his scars and/or Jono's need to make Patrick smell like him.
4. Something involving the various gods in their lives! Either something about Jono dealing with Fenrir's opinions/interference or just, like, Patrick's whole situation. Or both, both is good.
5. "We are trying to have date night/Valentine's Day like a nice normal couple but supernatural bullshit keeps interfering so much."
6. Jono attempts to teach Patrick to cook. It...it goes...on the bright side, the kitchen did not burn down? At least Jono's really hard to poison? (Gerard & Keith: "Wow you're so much braver than us.")
7. What does Halloween look like in this world? Is the veil, in fact, super thin and Patrick needs Jono's help keeping idk demons from rampaging in New York? Or is there just a costume contest at Tempest?
8. Patrick and Jono (and possibly Sage and Wade for pack bonding fun?) go on some ridiculously seasonal outing. Like apple picking. (And then possibly supernatural shenanigans ensue.)

West Hell Magic Series – Devon Monk

Real talk I don't understand how this series doesn't have more of a following in fandom. It's about werewolves and wizards playing hockey! It's super slashy! What more do I need to say?

Hawthorn Graves/Random Hazard
Okay so in the scene where Ran sees Graves for the first time, when he's just some random guy at the skating rink, the way he described him had me going, "Is this...is this an M/M book? It didn't say anywhere that it was an M/M book but YAY!" And then the female love interest showed up and it turned out to not be an M/M book after all, but for a while there I really thought it could be! And like, it only continues with the way Graves is willing to toss himself on the sword of the Dead Man trade for Ran and Ran's promising career in Spark, and just, like, it's slashy as hell, okay?

1. Seriously what the fuck is Graves? My best guess at the moment is, "Dragon? Maybe?" but take your best shot. Or don't and just play around with the weirdness we've been given.
2. "You're just starting your career, I'm near the end of mine, this can't last....but we really want it to last..."
3. Maybe Graves helpfully points out to Ran that if his middle name is somehow disastrous enough to not be preferable to being known as 'Random Hazard,' there is always a thing called a legal name change he could explore. Maybe that.
4. Graves tests Ran's control over his magic...during sex.

Hawthorn Graves/Elliott Clay

This might actually be canon? They've known each other for ages and that scene in Spark where Coach Clay borrows Graves' phone but Graves won't actually let him touch it because he'll just break this one, too did nothing to convince me they're not an old married couple, anyway.

1. See above re: WTF is Graves? I feel like Coach Clay might be the one person who already knows the answer to this question.
2. Something with them sneaking around hiding their relationship from the team. Sex in an equipment closet. Sex on Clay's desk, possibly with "you've been a bad bad player and you need to be punished" roleplaying. Also, "We're too old for all this sneaking around."
3. The two of them watching the younger generation's *cough*Ran*cough* drama like "Were we ever that young?"
4. Or! Maybe they're NOT in a relationship yet. Maybe they've been like two ships passing in the night their whole careers and it was just never the right time, and now Clay is in a position of authority over Graves and it just wouldn't be right, he feels, and there is pining, and then Graves finds out that THAT'S what the holdup is this time and is like, "LOL sure authority, screw that, let's get it on."
5. Just like...anything involving Coach Clay being a were-snow leopard, because that's awesome.

Dear Author,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great. For all of my requested fandoms, I have requested fic only.

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and bloodplay (especially in vampire-related contexts and possessive/claiming type werewolf contexts), size kink (I really like both the bigger guy manhandling the smaller guy and the smaller guy loving it, and the smaller guy bossing the bigger guy around and the bigger guy loving it). I'm down with porn or not porn for all shippy pairings.

DNWs:
- bestiality (including shapeshifters in animal form)
- scat or watersports
- cannibalism/vore
- noncon or dubcon
- infidelity/cheating involving requested characters (so like, a PI handling a cheating case is fine; also, there's a canon-specific exception to this below)
- omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg
- graphic animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not fine)
- death of requested characters

Adrien English – Josh Lanyon

Adrien English/Jake Riordan
Man, did these two have a long and rocky road to happiness, but they got there! I love how they both made bad decisions (I mean, Jake made the worst bad decisions, just, spectacularly bad, but Adrien also made some mistakes along the way let's be real) and screwed things up and they had to really work to get to where they were supposed to be, and be happy, and now they're there. In the Holmes & Moriarity book where they guest-star there's a line about how they look like they went through a war to be together, and it's not that far off. I'm so happy for them.

Speaking of that infidelity DNW, uh, here's looking at you, Jake Riordan! It's kind of hard to avoid that one with this pairing. I'm fine with discussion of the canonical, historical instances of infidelity as necessary for your fic to work, but please no new/additional cheating for these guys.

1. Accidental Baby Acquisition. That's it that's the prompt. (God help Adrien.)
2. Alternately, Deliberate Baby Acquisition. Just...listen, Jake Riordan really, really, really wants a baby. And I know Adrien thinks he is bad with kids but maybe after Natalie has her kid and he has actually been around a baby some he changes his tune?
3. Supernatural AU: Adrien is some type of fae, or possibly a dhampir/born vampire/something of that nature. Jake is probs a werewolf but I'm open to alternatives.
4. The one where Jake came to his senses a lot sooner and didn't marry Kate Keegan, who after all never asked to be included in this narrative. It's up to you whether or not he and Adrien sorted their shit out at that point in time or still took a while. (Maybe how does the whole thing with Paul Kane go down in this reality? If Jake and Adrien still stayed split up for three years (and presumably Jake went back to the club/Kane) I think it's really different than if they got together a lot sooner (in which case Jake probably would not have gone back to the club/Kane), but I feel like definitely at least the murder would have still happened, so it could be interesting either way.)
5. So. In one of the Holmes & Moriarity novels there's a line that closes one of the great plot holes of the Adrien English series, namely, "How the hell has a man who is regularly told he looks like Montgomery Clift and Matt Bomer been single for several years AND on a long dry streak at the start of his series?" The answer turns out to be, "He is staggeringly oblivious to when he is being hit on, to the point that every gay guy in mystery publishing has struck out with him without him ever knowing it," which lines up with his reaction to Kevin O'Reilly in A Dangerous Thing literally bringing him chocolates. I would like to see Jake figuring this out and being charmed by it (and maybe a little amused by his own past jealousy of Kevin) and Adrien remaining his oblivious self.
6. We Are Trying To Have A Nice Normal Vacation/Honeymoon But Someone Is Mysteriously Dead, Goddammit Adrien.

The Art of Murder Series – Josh Lanyon

Jason West/Sam Kennedy
Bless these guys' hearts, they're so bad at this and all the mayhem and murder and living on opposite sides of the freaking country doesn't really help, but they're trying because they love each other so much, even if it seems to be against their own will/better judgment at times. I love how bad they are at communicating, like, Jason still thinks he is the more emotionally invested one here when Sam is clearly a fucking mess over him. I'm really cheering for them. I want these two crazy kids to make it.

Prompts!
1. Supernatural AU. I have a lot of ideas here, I'm sorry. Take what you will, or don't:
- Jason is still an art crimes expert from an old money family, just, he's also a born vampire (or maybe fae, but vampire works really well with my next point). If you're familiar with the Night World series (a formative influence of my adolescence), I'm thinking something broadly along the lines of their lamia.
- Sam is probably still human (or not, surprise me) but is maybe a hunter type/specializes in supernatural killers (or supernatural serial killers? idk). Maybe Ethan's unsolved murder was committed by a vampire (and if you don't want supernatural stuff to be known, maybe nobody believed him). This could add a delicious extra layer of conflict into Sam's resistance to getting involved with Jason.
- Or maybe Sam sees dead people and that's why he's so good at his job.
- If you want to do something with the stalking stuff obviously Kyser is some form of supernatural entity. If not, some twist on one of their cases (maybe the victims in The Mermaid Murders were actual mermaids?) or just them navigating their relationship with these additional factors.
2. Something from Sam's POV would be awesome. I have this deep and abiding love of that scene in The Monet Murders where Sam's first sighting of Jason in eight months is him striding down the beach toward him in a tuxedo, and the delayed realization by the reader that that scene was painstakingly designed by the universe/author to punish Sam for his sins. Or when Jason thinks Sam is taking this whole thing really calmly in The Magic Murders and then opens the door to his office and realizes that uh really not so much. So just getting inside Sam's POV! What does Jason/Jason's actions look like from his perspective?
3. Okay, so I really enjoy domesticity, and these guys are...not great at it. But I would like to see them figuring it out together. Maybe something from that second week in Wyoming when there wasn't an art theft or surprise serial killer, or any other unspecified time where they manage to be in the same place at the same time long enough for questions like, "What are we going to do for dinner?" or even "Uh West are you aware there are fake flower petals on your coffee table?" to matter. (I got a great fic in this vein for Yuletide, but I always want more of this kind of thing. It's a flaw.)
4. Case fic! Art and murder intersect once again! Maybe a serial killer is posing their victims like famous paintings or stealing art from them or something IDK and Sam is like, "YES AN EXCUSE TO SEE MY BOYFRIEND" but in like a very professional manner. (This prompt presupposes that Jason doesn't get fired after The Monuments Men Murders.)
5. It's Valentine's Day, and Jason and Sam are in the same place at the same time. Do they attempt the romantic dinner out thing? Or do they stay in and have lots of sex and chocolate? It's up to you.
6. H/C but now the shoe is on the other foot and it's Sam that needs taking care of. (There's this outtake, but I always want more of this kind of thing.) Maybe something happens to Sam on the job, or maybe he gets injured in some random and slightly embarrassing way, or maybe the one weekend they can manage in the same place this month is just also the one weekend Sam has the flu.

Benjamin January Mysteries – Barbara Hambly

Benjamin January/Abishag Shaw, Benjamin January/Rose Vitrac January/Abishag Shaw
You remember waaaaaaaaaay back at the end of A Free Man of Color when Shaw's standing by Ben's table at the Place des Armes Because Society and Ben's like, "Or you could sit the fuck down one of these days?" Gentle Author, I shipped it then, and I ship it still. I just want to shove them together like a couple of really tall Ken dolls and go, "NOW KISS." I love how they navigate their godawful society's expectations and restrictions, how they often communicate via what's not said. I love how tentative Ben has always been to trust Shaw, in the face of evidence that Shaw is All In on trusting Ben, and then how in Murder in July he realizes Shaw would march off to assassinate the Queen of England if he asked him to (although it sort of drives me crazy that then at the end of the book Hannibal and Ben decided they needed to pull a fast one on Shaw just in case he randomly decided to confiscate the papers at the expense of Rose, like that's a thing he would ever do). I love how committed to justice they both are, and how they recognize that's different from the rule of law, and their mutual frustration with society's preference for a tidy resolution over true justice being done. I love how respectful they both are of the other's skills, and how they both use other people's expectations of their behavior. In short, I love them, and I want more of them.

And Rose! I love Rose! She's so practical except when it comes to science, when she is often two seconds away from an explosion, and she and Ben are so good together! And I think she would basically be the boss of Shaw and he would let her.

Quick note: As I said above I'm really not into straight up infidelity/cheating, and Ben, of course, has a wife. So if you don't want to write the poly option, you could set your fic before Ben met Rose, or handwave the whole relationship away/platonic, or have Rose be really open-minded because she's Rose, but please: no straight-up cheating.

Additional note: I have to confess, I'm shallow. I generally picture Shaw as more, you know, sexy scruffy (like, Hollywood historical scruffy) than with the level of hygiene, if one can even call it that, described in the books, because seriously, he's an intelligent man, he knows what soap is for, why will he not use it?? It's not cute. So, like, if you could steer away from descriptions where he is as unpleasant as in canon, I would greatly appreciate that.

Prompts
1. Possibly Shaw could be pining after Ben. I feel like this makes a lot of narrative sense. Like, he knows it's useless and never gonna happen (but then it DOES?) and probably beats himself up over it, but ooooh that commitment to justice and all that expertise, so sexy. Possibly Rose has known about this for a while and is amazed Ben has been so oblivious.
2. They could investigate something new! Who's dead, in the middle of a scandal, or robbed blind this week? Which combination of medical, musical, tracking, science, and marksmanship expertise saves the day? (Maybe Shaw and Rose have to team up?)
3. Concept I know I've been banging like a drum for a while now, but that's because I love it so: Abishag 'what is bathing, and also, I can track you through a hurricane' Shaw is a werewolf. (And just maybe Hannibal is a vampire?) Ben finds out (Silver allergy? Something connected to a case?). He's intrigued. Possibly, together they fight supernatural crime.
4. What if, for case-related reasons (he's posing as part of a band of slave stealers or something), the Best Possible Option in the moment is for Shaw to, say, shoot Ben? Like, wing him, in the arm or something, and then Ben dramatically falls into a river and Shaw's like, "Welp, guess that one's dead dear God please let there not be any snakes or gators and please let me have basically missed for once." And then he spends some amount of time anxiously afraid he's just killed Ben before he's able to sneak off and find him and like, help him tend to his wounds.
5. While so much of these books is in the setting, I just really love modern New Orleans. Like a lot. And it's still very atmospheric, no? Picture it: Shaw's still a cop, Ben's a surgeon who moonlights in a jazz band. Rose is a badass chemistry professor at Tulane. Together, they solve crimes. And make out.
6. Shaw realizes that, vis a vis the end of Murder in July, Ben has not yet gotten the memo that he's All In, and his feelings are really hurt, but he's trying to be, like, an adult about it. Things get awkward. Possibly Rose has to knock some heads together.

Abishag Shaw & Olympe Corbier
There's a line from the Hidden Legacy books that came to mind when I thought about this team-up, something like: "My job in this family of Care Bears is to provide logical analysis." And I feel like Rose would protest that that's her job, but honestly, Shaw and Olympe are both, in their own ways, a lot more practical and just colder than the rest of Team January. Plus, they met when Shaw arrested Olympe for murder, and as Ben pointed out, he wouldn't have arrested her if he didn't think she really might have done it, so uh, they got off to a great start. I feel like they're never really going to 100% trust each other, especially on Olympe's side (and that Shaw would just be like, "Fair.") but that over time a certain amount of respect may have developed.

Prompts!
1. Shaw has a voodoo problem or just needs to know something about voodoo for a case, and obviously there is only one practitioner in the city he's going to go to about it. Olympe is reluctant but ugh Ben would never forgive her if she didn't help.
2. Olympe has some sort of legal problem and she is reluctant to involve the white legal system but if she has to Shaw's the best option available.
3. Ben thought Marie Laveau was behind that jailhouse poisoning at the end of Murder in July, but I always thought the symptoms sounded like the castor bean from The Shirt On His Back, so like: what if that was Shaw and Olympe working together? What if that? (It would not be the first time Shaw arranged a convenient jailhouse death to protect Ben, after all...)
4. Any other time they teamed up, either behind Ben's back to deal with a problem before he even knew it existed, or just to deal with their own shit.

Abishag Shaw & Livia Levesque
So here's what's amazing: they both clearly hate each other, and I don't think we've ever really seen them interact because LOL as if Livia willingly would, and also that is something Ben is willing to go to great lengths to prevent. Livia is still calling Shaw an animal thirteen books in, and I'm pretty sure Shaw has called Ben's mom 'a real piece of work' at least once, and, I mean, he's not wrong. And they are both very intelligent people who excel at using other people's perceptions against them and figuring out why other people do the things they do, and using that, and so I really want them to have to deal with each other. I don't really have specific prompts here, just a nebulous notion: maybe Livia has a problem and she's like, "Ugh, fine, I guess I'll summon Ben's pet American policeman," or maybe she's (however peripherally) involved in a case Shaw is investigating and he's like, "Fuck me gently with a not-yet-invented chainsaw, I have to interview Ben's mom." And then they are forced by circumstance to work together and/or use and/or respect one another's skill sets and forms of intelligence, and it's kind of horrible for both of them. And maybe one or both of them gains insight into What The Other One Thinks They're Doing Here that rattles the other, because...most people don't see that deep.

Hidden Legacy Series – Ilona Andrews

Augustine Montgomery/Connor Rogan
Their friendship is really interesting to me, the way they often don't seem to like each other that much, or at least are really prickly with each other—and yet they're also each other's best friend in the world, and know stuff about each other no one else knows. And, like, how we know they'd each kill the other person without a moment's thought if their family was on the line, but they'd feel really bad about it afterward, and in their world, that's really rare. It's honestly almost like they are family, or at least are operating on a higher level of intimacy than most of the relationships around them. I'm into it.

In keeping with my aforementioned infidelity DNW, I would prefer this to be set in either the period before Nevada and Rogan got together, or for there to be some kind of open relationship/poly arrangement going on.

1. Maybe in college they had an FWB thing that got complicated because of feelings/ended poorly when Rogan took off for the military. Maybe Augustine is still pissed about it and now that Rogan's slightly less of a mess he wants to talk it out/get back together.
2. When did Rogan see Augustine without his illusion? What's the story there? Was it something stupid, like a dare (was it another frat thing?) or something serious, like Augustine completely drained his magic somehow and Rogan had to rescue him from a bad situation? Or, at some point, did Augustine just trust him that completely?
3. I just really like the idea of Rogan making Augustine while he's undercover. Like, his illusion is flawless, his impersonation dead to rights, but there is some little detail that makes Rogan mutter, "Hi, Pancakes," in his ear as he walks past. (Maybe this is a game they play at society functions.)
4. Something with Rogan being a tactile okay go.

Cornelius Harrison/Augustine Montgomery
In Sapphire Flames when it's mentioned that Augustine came to the warehouse and picked Matilda up, everyone sort of brushes it off as, "Well, MII has a personal security division," which is true, but doesn't explain why the owner of the company is chauffeuring a random second grader, and so my brain helpfully decided that he's dating her dad. And I got a great fic for this ship for Shipoween that did not in any way make me ship it any less, so. Yeah.

And I know there was that whole, "Cornelius will never truly love again," thing, but maybe that's not, like, definitive. Maybe science magic turns out to be wrong about that. Or maybe it's an FWB thing and that works for them, or something! Maybe somehow it all works out.

1. Thinking back to Augustine manipulating Nevada into taking Cornelius' case after Nari died, maybe Augustine has been carrying a torch for Cornelius for a while, but he knew it was hopeless and it was never going to be a thing. And now...it is a thing, and he's sort of freaking out, but trying to keep it cool because Augustine Montgomery does not freak out. (Cornelius? Charmed.)
2. Something involving Augustine having to deal with Cornelius' animal friends. There are so many animal friends. One of them is a cat thing from another dimension. Augustine doesn't seem like a pets person, so it's...a lot.
3. Something about Cornelius having to deal with Augustine's best friend, Mad Rogan. It goes way better than Augustine and the menagerie does.
4. Something about Augustine's illusion magic. Maybe he's in disguise but Zeus is like 'oh hai' anyway, or maybe it goes haywire somehow and Cornelius has to help him get out of a situation. Or maybe the illusion magic has, uh, sexytimes applications. (NOT "I can look like your dead wife" as just occurred to me after I typed that. Fun applications!)

Matilda Harrison & Zeus
I just really love this tiny, extremely smart child and her menagerie of Disney sidekicks, and also this giant blue cat monster from the eldritch realms who is now her friend. So: anything about Matilda and her pets, or Matilda and Zeus being friends and doing normal kid-and-pet things together at like the park (while people stare), or Zeus dealing with the rest of the Harrisons' menagerie. Or, like, anything, really, as long as Matilda and Zeus are having fun. (Sergeant Teddy can come too.)

Alternately, Matilda can be put in danger and Zeus can teach this week's bad guys why that was a really bad idea.

Kate Daniels – Ilona Andrews

Hugh d'Ambray/Christopher Steed, Hugh d'Ambray/Elara Harper/Christopher Steed
Okay, so after the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher on purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (like, maybe not consciously, because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).

And now I ship it. It's a whole mess of history and dynamics to dig into and I'm into it.

As far as Hugh/Elara/Christopher goes, Christopher is a wildly magically powerful human with a god stuffed in him, whose hair was turned white by magic (Maybe? The books seem to go back and forth on whether it's blond or white. I think it's white.). Elara, as far as we can work out thus far, is a wildly magically powerful human with some kind of elder power stuffed in her whose hair was turned white by magic. What if Hugh has a very specific type? What if. I'm just saying.

Note: If you're writing something set during the era of the books, as opposed to the pre-canon Preceptor/Legatus era, please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with V-shaped poly or a triad, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas goes, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray, but, I mean, maybe? However you can make it work!

Prompts!
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2. Or in that same period, something with Christopher and Hugh working together to salvage a situation, possibly one that's gone south thanks to Roland's meddling/not listening to Hugh/maybe even brainwashing Hugh. Like, when Omaha got broken, was that...was that what was supposed to happen? Or were they both pretty sure for about five minutes there that they were super going to die (and then possibly "I can't believe we survived that" sex?)?
3. Something to do with Christopher losing his wing in Magic Triumphs, because I have this notion that Hugh is the healer you call in to deal with the situation when you've got an actual avatar with an extra-crispy appendage, and then you've got Christopher, of course, devastated, and Hugh feeling really guilty about being unable to save the wing and yes good angst. (And then maybe the wing grows back?)
4. Something set during the preparations to face Neig, with Hugh and Christopher both being weirded out by how easily they fall into a groove of working together again and the Iron Dogs enthusiastically embracing Christopher because it's always nice when someone they used to know A) is alive and B) isn't trying to kill them, and also ragging the hell out of Hugh for having A Type. Meanwhile I feel like Elara and Christopher would be somewhere between "initially slightly spooked by each other" and this.
5. Any sex is good sex, but I'm really feeling intercrural for this pairing, so please, Hugh, fuck Christopher's thighs. It will be so hot. (Or vice versa. It's all good.)
6. So oops it turns out Hugh can't marry Elara to seal their alliance because he and Christopher are already married. Maybe they didn't realize that thing they did as a quick way to solve a problem one time was legally binding. Maybe it was entirely on purpose and a secret. Whatever, just run with it.


Mercy Thompson Series – Patricia Briggs

Kyle Brooks/Warren Smith
Let's talk about how much I have always loved Warren and Kyle. Like, on paper, they don't work: a hundred and fifty year old Texas cowboy werewolf who works at a gas station and a rich, human, Ivy League educated lawyer. And they both know that. And it doesn't matter. I love Kyle's ridiculous marble statues, and his vanity and the chip on his shoulder, and the way Warren loves those things too and sees Kyle's good heart. I love how easygoing and Texan Warren is, and all the pain and violence that's simmering away under the surface, and how Kyle doesn't care about all of the werewolf shit, he just loves him—and how Kyle, as he says in the short story "In Red, with Pearls," is his own kind of predator, and that just because he eviscerates his prey in court, not, you know, literally, doesn't mean he can't understand Warren's wolf.

Prompts!
1. There's like seven or eight rough months for Warren and Kyle between Moon Called and Blood Bound that we know very little about, and I'm really interested in this period—the pining and the draw that kept them coming back to each other (Were they sleeping together at any point in this period? That must have been really bittersweet) and saw Kyle hiring Warren, especially, but also how the 'so, werewolves' conversations went (and the fights, you know there were fights).
1a. Hey, there was a Valentine's Day in the middle of that! And wasn't that around when the werewolves came out officially? Make it hurt. Make it hurt good.
2. Concept: Kyle gets turned into a werewolf. I feel like he'd probably be pretty good at it. How does that happen? Is it on purpose, like he's sick or something? Or does some rogue or some other pack trying to come at Columbia Basin, now that they're exiled, attack him? How does that affect the pack structure? How many bed frames do he and Warren break while Kyle is learning his new strength?
3. In Frost Burned, Kyle reveals that his mating bond with Warren is starting to be two-way, but, being human, he just thought he was going crazy. And then we never really hear about that again. So: how does that psychic bond work for a human? Do he and Warren have enough control over it for it to be useful? Does it have sexytimes applications?
4. Something dealing with Kyle's family. Maybe his sister he still speaks to is coming to visit and he's freaking out, or his deploying the nuclear option with regards to his father in Frost Burned comes back to bite him (possibly on multiple fronts, I know you were going through a rough time but using your boyfriend as blackmail material was sort of...not cool, Kyle) has to be dealt with somehow.
6. As per some hinting in Storm Cursed, Kyle apparently wants kids. I feel like Warren would not even have thought about kids because...that wasn't an option. So either they have an adult discussion about this and figure out whether they, in fact, want to pursue parenthood, or they semi-accidentally acquire like, some kind of magic toddler or something. Or like, both.

Adam Hauptman & Warren Smith
Hi, my name is sadlikeknives and fun facts you might not know about me: Like Adam Hauptman, I'm from Alabama and I speak Russian! (Okay, I used to speak Russian. Now I honestly don't remember that much.) So I've always been really interested in Adam, and as previously established I love Warren, and I would really love to see more of their friendship explored. I feel like we're told more about it than we're shown, partly because it's rarely plot-relevant and thus exists as a sort of background thing. But they're both old, and Southern, and very dominant werewolves, and they get along like a house on fire, and I want more of that.

Prompts!
1. Patricia Briggs never really leans in on both of them being Southern. Like, they both canonically suppress their accents and 'y'all' is described as 'bad grammar,' (I'll fight you Briggs) which they only use deliberately in certain contexts. I will accept these speech patterns, even if I'm not thrilled about them (especially for Warren, who has had no good reason to suppress his accent), but there is more to being Southern for them to bond over. Especially food. I would love to see them bonding over food. Do they both have a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge at all times? Are they still weirded out by the Yankee madness that is sugar in cornbread? Does Warren show up at Adam's office one day to kidnap him for lunch because he finally found a place that makes decent collards?
2. Reading between the lines in the last couple of books, possibly starting from Silence Broken, possibly from the entire pack ending up at his house in Frost Burned, it looks like Warren is inching closer to being recognized in his rightful place as second in the pack (independent of the question of whether Darryl might be leaving to become an Alpha). Like, in one of the Alpha & Omega books it's mentioned that generally the pack's second's house is a secondary gathering place, and Pack Movie Night's been happening at Warren and Kyle's for a while now. And I think that would be great (especially if Darryl can stay), because Warren's placement has been unfair and artificial since the beginning, but I feel like Warren would still be hesitant/concerned, and need some reassurance from his Alpha/bestie.
3. Something about Warren and Adam's early relationship. I keep thinking about how Warren worked at the closest gas station to Adam's house, before Adam even built that house. And he was besties with Mercy. They definitely met, several times, before Mercy approached Adam about him and Adam invited Warren to join the pack. Like, there was probably some kind of formal notice when Adam & Co. first showed up, right? And so it seems weird that Adam never even thought about inviting Warren to join the pack before, even considering he's *gasp* gay. Did he think he wanted to be left alone? Did he think Warren was probably pissed because the Tri-Cities were basically his territory before Adam showed up? Did Warren show up to that meeting with Adam expecting to be told, "It's been real, now, leave town." What was going on there? And what were Warren's early days in the pack like? Apparently Christy thought Warren might make a pass at Adam; how much did the two of them laugh over that?
4. Poor Warren stuck in the middle of being Mercy's best friend AND Adam's best friend while they were determined to not get along.
5. Something about Adam meeting Kyle and realizing he needed to Do Something about these heteronormative homophobic werewolf rules before Warren lost this guy. Be a good wingman, Adam. (Or at least try, as ultimately everything blew up and it was Mercy who had to Do Something.)

Soulbound Series – Hailey Turner

Patrick Collins & Gerard Breckenridge | Cú Chulainn, Patrick Collins/Gerard Breckenridge | Cú Chulainn

From the first moment Gerard showed up in that phone call at the end of A Ferry of Bones & Gold cussing Patrick out for working with the goddamned vampire again, I was delighted and in love. And then he actually showed up on the page and:

1. Oh, no, he's hot.
2. Oh, no, he has a spear and that's hot.
3. Oh no, he's fucking Cú Chulainn.

Amazing.

It's not actually clear to me that Gerard is, technically speaking, a god? Like, certainly he is an immortal, but is he a god? (By some interpretations, I believe Cú Chulainn is a demigod/basically a divine hero, others consider him an incarnation of Lugh. It's complicated!) I don't think this actually matters for Patrick being mad at him, but like, it might. Anyway if you want to do something with that murkiness it could be a thing.

A thing you may or may not be aware of: there's a free prequel short story, "Down a Twisted Path," available via Hailey Turner's website (I believe you have to join her mailing list to get access, but don't quote me on that) in which Patrick & Gerard interact, and I have read that, but if you haven't, that's fine, I don't think it's necessary.

If you choose to go the shippy route, regarding my infidelity DNW: As per Irish legend, Cú Chulainn is, uh, a giant slut (and probably bi), and his wife Emer was pretty much fine with that (except for the one time he caught feelings for the sea goddess Fand, but that's another story), so I'm assuming that Órlaith is also fine with it and they have an open relationship (and like...maybe it's an AU where Gerard happened to mention he was engaged at some point in the past). On Patrick's end, if you're writing a fic set after he met Jono I'm good with whatever AU or poly arrangement you come up with to make that work.

Some prompts!
1. Something set during the Hellraisers era, whether that be, like, "I can't believe we survived that," sex, or facing down some unspeakable evil together, or drinking games. Or all three.
2. Or maybe Patrick had a puppy crush on Gerard (because, look at him), but he was young and already fucked up and under his command so that never happened, but now two of those three things are no longer true, so: maybe?
3. Cú Chulainn's berserker state, the warp spasm, is hinted at several times, especially in the third book, but it hasn't happened yet. I would like to see it, please, and everyone else freaking the fuck out.
4. Something dealing with the revelations of book three and Gerard and Patrick working to repair their relationship.
5. After the dust settles Patrick figures out that as per Gerard's bargain with the Cailleach Bheur, technically he is going to have to move to Ireland at some point, because he is one of Gerard's people. He's not into this plan. So they've got to figure out what they're doing about that.
6. Jono and Gerard make friends over how Patrick is a dumbass who should stop trying to get himself killed and stop talking to vampires, and it's the worst best thing that has ever happened to Patrick.
7. Gerard has got one hell of a sharp tongue on him, and now that his secrets are out I would like to see him giving both edges of it to some of the (other) gods fucking around in Patrick's life. Specifically, I would like to see Persephone try to tell him that Patrick, and by extension the Hellraisers and Gerard himself, failed in Cairo (when the Dominion Sect didn't get a fucking godhead, did they, Persephone?), and the smoking crater that happens next.
7a. Or let him read Lucien to filth like he so desperately wants to.
8. Based on what we know of what happened in Cairo/what happened to Ashanti (and considering how unclear that is I am prepared to be completely wrong here), shouldn't Gerard be, like...dead? Does this have something to do with that murkiness regarding whether or not he's technically a god that I referenced above (Thanks, Human Mom!)? Did Gerard actually figure he might die there and was like, "Oh, well, acceptable risk," and proceeded with the plan anyway? Or did he not have a clue until Ashanti showed up and promptly dropped dead? Either way I would like to see Patrick figure this out and be retroactively horrified.


Patrick Collins/Jonothon de Vere

This canon and this pairing could have been tailor made for me, holy shit. HE'S a lonely alpha werewolf who just wants a pack to take care of, to whom the god Fenrir speaks. HE'S a mage with secrets, dramatic scars, and metaphysical damage that makes his magic painful and draining to use, resulting in many opportunities for h/c, despite the fact that he takes to h/c about as well as a cat does to water. Also he's indebted to the gods and they keep trying to run/ruin his life. They have an ACCIDENTAL SOULBOND and one of them thinks it's great and the other one thinks it's the worst thing ever. Together, they fight crime and learn about found family. AMAZING.

PROMPTS!
1. See above re: opportunities for h/c. Maybe Patrick overtaxes his magic again. Maybe he just has the flu! Maybe something else. Whatever way you go with it, Jono's caretaker instincts are triggered and Patrick is grumpy about it (But humoring him. Yeah, that's what it is. Humoring him.).
2. Something involving their CANONICAL SOULBOND. I'm not picky.
3. Listen just make them fuck and I'm happy. Bonus points for something about Patrick's scars/self-consciousness about his scars and/or Jono's need to make Patrick smell like him.
4. Something involving the various gods in their lives! Either something about Jono dealing with Fenrir's opinions/interference or just, like, Patrick's whole situation. Or both, both is good.
5. "We are trying to have date night/Valentine's Day like a nice normal couple but supernatural bullshit keeps interfering so much."
6. Jono attempts to teach Patrick to cook. It...it goes...on the bright side, the kitchen did not burn down? At least Jono's really hard to poison? (Gerard & Keith: "Wow you're so much braver than us.")

West Hell Magic Series – Devon Monk

Real talk I don't understand how this series doesn't have more of a following in fandom. It's about werewolves and wizards playing hockey! It's super slashy! What more do I need to say?

Hawthorn Graves/Random Hazard
Okay so in the scene where Ran sees Graves for the first time, when he's just some random guy at the skating rink, the way he described him had me going, "Is this...is this an M/M book? It didn't say anywhere that it was an M/M book but YAY!" And then the female love interest showed up and it turned out to not be an M/M book after all, but for a while there I really thought it could be! And like, it only continues with the way Graves is willing to toss himself on the sword of the Dead Man trade for Ran and Ran's promising career in Spark, and just, like, it's slashy as hell, okay?

1. Seriously what the fuck is Graves? My best guess at the moment is, "Dragon? Maybe?" but take your best shot. Or don't and just play around with the weirdness we've been given.
2. "You're just starting your career, I'm near the end of mine, this can't last....but we really want it to last..."
3. Maybe Graves helpfully points out to Ran that if his middle name is somehow disastrous enough to not be preferable to being known as 'Random Hazard,' there is always a thing called a legal name change he could explore. Maybe that.
4. Graves tests Ran's control over his magic...during sex.

Hawthorn Graves/Elliott Clay

This might actually be canon? They've known each other for ages and that scene in Spark where Coach Clay borrows Graves' phone but Graves won't actually let him touch it because he'll just break this one, too did nothing to convince me they're not an old married couple, anyway.

1. See above re: WTF is Graves? I feel like Coach Clay might be the one person who already knows the answer to this question.
2. Something with them sneaking around hiding their relationship from the team. Sex in an equipment closet. Sex on Clay's desk, possibly with "you've been a bad bad player and you need to be punished" roleplaying. Also, "We're too old for all this sneaking around."
3. The two of them watching the younger generation's *cough*Ran*cough* drama like "Were we ever that young?"
4. Or! Maybe they're NOT in a relationship yet. Maybe they've been like two ships passing in the night their whole careers and it was just never the right time, and now Clay is in a position of authority over Graves and it just wouldn't be right, he feels, and there is pining, and then Graves finds out that THAT'S what the holdup is this time and is like, "LOL sure authority, screw that, let's get it on."
5. Just like...anything involving Coach Clay being a were-snow leopard, because that's awesome.

Dear Author,

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great.

For all of my requested fandoms, I have requested fic and all three of the 'theme' tags (No Theme, Seasonal, and Spooky). If, for a specific fandom, I don't have a specific prompt that seems to fit one of those tags, that's just me not having a specific prompt. I would still love anything fitting any of the themes that you might come up with.

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose. I'm fine with either porn or no porn. I really like werewolves! I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, soulbonds and soulmates, sexy-type biting and bloodplay (especially in vampire-related contexts and possessive/claiming type werewolf contexts), size kink (I really like both the bigger guy manhandling the smaller guy and the smaller guy loving it, and the smaller guy bossing the bigger guy around and the bigger guy loving it), and wingkink (when canonical wings are involved).

DNWs: bestiality (including shapeshifters in animal form), scat, watersports, cannibalism, noncon, dubcon, infidelity/cheating, omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg. 

Additionally, I have a powerful embarrassment squick; seeing characters embarrassed, especially socially, or behaving in an embarrassing way without being aware of it where it's played for audience laughs really upsets me. And please no animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not fine) or major character death outside of addressing those that happen in canon if/when necessary.

Benjamin January Mysteries – Barbara Hambly
Benjamin January/Abishag Shaw, Benjamin January/Rose Vitrac January/Abishag Shaw
You remember waaaaaaaaaay back at the end of A Free Man of Color when Shaw's standing by Ben's table at the Place des Armes Because Society and Ben's like, "Or you could sit the fuck down one of these days?" Gentle Author, I shipped it then, and I ship it still. I just want to shove them together like a couple of really tall Ken dolls and go, "NOW KISS." I love how they navigate their godawful society's expectations and restrictions, how they often communicate via what's not said. I love how tentative Ben has always been to trust Shaw, in the face of evidence that Shaw is All In on trusting Ben, and then how in Murder in July he realizes Shaw would march off to assassinate the Queen of England if he asked him to (although it sort of drives me crazy that then at the end of the book Hannibal and Ben decided they needed to pull a fast one on Shaw just in case he randomly decided to confiscate the papers at the expense of Rose, like that's a thing he would ever do). I love how committed to justice they both are, and how they recognize that's different from the rule of law, and their mutual frustration with society's preference for a tidy resolution over true justice being done. I love how respectful they both are of the other's skills, and how they both use other people's expectations of their behavior. In short, I love them, and I want more of them.

And Rose! I love Rose! She's so practical except when it comes to science, when she is often two seconds away from an explosion, and she and Ben are so good together! And I think she would basically be the boss of Shaw and he would let her.

Quick note: As I said above I'm really not into straight up infidelity/cheating, and Ben, of course, has a wife. So if you don't want to write the poly option, you could set your fic before Ben met Rose, or handwave the whole relationship away/platonic, or have Rose be really open-minded because she's Rose, but please: no straight-up cheating.

Prompts
1. Possibly Shaw could be pining after Ben. I feel like this makes a lot of narrative sense. Like, he knows it's useless and never gonna happen (but then it DOES?) and probably beats himself up over it, but ooooh that commitment to justice and all that expertise, so sexy. Possibly Rose has known about this for a while and is amazed Ben has been so oblivious.
2. They could investigate something new! Who's dead, in the middle of a scandal, or robbed blind this week? Which combination of medical, musical, tracking, science, and marksmanship expertise saves the day?
3. Concept I know I've been banging like a drum for a while now, but that's because I love it so: Abishag 'what is bathing, and also, I can track you through a hurricane' Shaw is a werewolf. (And just maybe Hannibal is a vampire?) Ben finds out (Silver allergy? Something connected to a case?). He's intrigued. Possibly, together they fight supernatural crime.
4. Something else seasonal! Which, with New Orleans, would maybe mean either a late hurricane or something totally spooky involving voodoo. Or both? Both is good.

Abishag Shaw & Livia Levesque
So here's what's amazing: they both clearly hate each other, and I don't think we've ever really seen them interact because LOL as if Livia willingly would, and also that is something Ben is willing to go to great lengths to prevent. Livia is still calling Shaw an animal thirteen books in, and I'm pretty sure Shaw has called Ben's mom 'a real piece of work' at least once, and, I mean, he's not wrong. And they are both very intelligent people who excel at using other people's perceptions against them and figuring out why other people do the things they do, and using that, and so I really want them to have to deal with each other. I don't really have specific prompts here, just a nebulous notion: maybe Livia has a problem and she's like, "Ugh, fine, I guess I'll summon Ben's pet American," or maybe she's (however peripherally) involved in a case Shaw is investigating and he's like, "Fuck me gently with a not-yet-invented chainsaw, I have to interview Ben's mom." And then they are forced by circumstance to work together and/or use and/or respect one another's skill sets and forms of intelligence, and it's kind of horrible for both of them. And maybe one or both of them gains insight into What The Other One Thinks They're Doing Here that rattles the other, because...most people don't see that deep.

The Demon's Lexicon – Sarah Rees Brennan
Alan Ryves/Nicholas "Nick" Ryves | Hnikarr

Nick's a demon and Alan's a liar, and they love each other more than anything in two worlds. They're so fucked up and codependent and I love them. They love each other so much they'd burn down the world for each other, but they communicate so badly. Like, that is one of the things that always gets me, how Alan has spent Nick's entire life teaching him to communicate, but they don't always understand each other, or they get caught up in all these preconceived notions and miss what's really going on with each other. I love these disasters so much.

Prompts!
1. Something seasonal, like something with Bonfire Night or them having to deal with a ghost instead of a demon for once, or Nick finding out about the increasing encroachment of Americanized Halloween in Britain and being absolutely scandalized that Alan never took him out to shake people down for free candy as a child.
2. Nick and Alan doing things that make each other happy like Nick reluctantly but of his own free will spending time in a library or Alan attempting to help Nick work on cars or them doing unspeakable violence together.
3. Just like generally anything about them being incredibly fucked up and codependent and dangerous but like in a way bizarrely sweet.
4. Something with Nick experimenting with his demonic powers. Maybe in like a sexy way. Maybe he has to mark Alan for some reason and Alan trusts him intrinsically not to use it against him and that's the good shit right there. Maybe there are thunderstorms in their bedroom and it's a little awkward.
5. Generally any hot demon on brother action idk.

Hidden Legacy series – Ilona Andrews
Matilda Harrison & Zeus
I just really love this tiny child and her menagerie of Disney sidekicks, and also this giant blue cat monster from the eldritch realms who is now her friend. So: anything about Matilda and her pets, or Matilda and Zeus being friends (Do they still trick or treat in the Hidden Legacy world? What kind of costume does Matilda put on Zeus? Because obviously Zeus needs a costume.), or Zeus dealing with the Harrisons' menagerie. Or, like, anything, really, as long as Matilda and Zeus are having fun. (Sergeant Teddy can come too.)

Alternately, Matilda can be put in danger and Zeus can teach this week's bad guys why that was a really bad idea.

Augustine Montgomery/Cornelius Harrison
Okay, so this ship is so new to me that I honestly don't even have much in the way of prompts, just, in Sapphire Flames when it's mentioned that Augustine came to the warehouse and picked Matilda up, everyone sort of brushes it off as, "Well, MII has a personal security division," which is true, but doesn't explain why the owner of the company is chauffeuring a random second grader, and so my brain helpfully decided that he's dating her dad. Congrats, Augustine! Your new boyfriend comes with a kid and a menagerie. (Please write about Augustine and the menagerie.) (Also Augustine is the guardian for his much younger siblings so, congrats, Cornelius! Your new boyfriend ALSO comes with kids.)

And I know there was that whole, "Cornelius will probably never truly love again," thing. Maybe it started as a FWB thing and now it's getting serious, and maybe Augustine angsts about that. Maybe Cornelius worries about it. Maybe it somehow works out in the end!

Augustine Montgomery/Connor Rogan
Their friendship is really interesting to me, the way they don't seem to like each other that much, or at least are really prickly with each other—and yet they're also each other's best friend in the world, and know stuff about each other no one else knows. And, like, how we know they'd each kill the other person without a moment's thought if their family was on the line, but they'd feel really bad about it afterward, and in their world, that's really rare.

In keeping with my aforementioned infidelity DNW, I would prefer this to be set in either the period before Nevada and Rogan got together, or for there to be some kind of open relationship/poly arrangement going on.

1. Maybe in college they had an FWB thing that got complicated because of feelings/ended poorly when Rogan took off for the military. Maybe Augustine is still pissed about it and now that Rogan's slightly less of a mess he wants to talk it out/get back together.
2. When did Rogan see Augustine without his illusion? What's the story there? Was it something stupid, like a dare (was it another frat thing?) or something serious, like Augustine completely drained his magic somehow and Rogan had to rescue him from a bad situation? Or, at some point, did Augustine just trust him that completely?
3. I just really like the idea of Rogan making Augustine while he's undercover. Like, his illusion is flawless, his impersonation dead to rights, but there is some little detail that makes Rogan mutter, "Hi, Pancakes," in his ear as he walks past. (Maybe this is a game they play at society functions.)

Kate Daniels – Ilona Andrews
Barabas Gilliam/Christopher Steed
"Will you marry me," INDEED. These sneaky bastards! I just—I mean, we don't know anything about their courtship. We know that they love each other, and that they're both wildly intelligent (and that Barabas is into that, and I feel like Christopher is, too), and that Barabas Doesn't Need To See Christopher In A Suit. And I just want to know all about how this happened, and what's next for them, and, and, and.

Prompts!
1. So Barabas is culturally a bouda, right? Meaning courtship is expressed through invasion of territory for the purpose of practical jokes. And I feel like Christopher would be really bad at this, even aside from the complication of them already living in the same house. So I would love to see something with Christopher first having to subtly determine, without setting anyone's relationship gossip alarms off, A) whether Clan Nimble or Clan Bouda is the correct reference here and then B) what Clan Bouda does for courtship, and then quietly panicking because he's expected to prank him? But he loves Barabas, so he is determined to make this the best prank ever. (Still without anybody finding out, apparently. What even, you guys.)
2. Wingkiiiiiink.
3. Christopher attempts to teach Barabas to cook and/or bake? This goes...not well, but possibly it ends in sex involving whipped cream, so chalk it up as a win.
4. H/C after Christopher loses his wing in Magic Triumphs.
5. Something about dealing with Christopher's history as Legatus and all that entails. Maybe something happens with The People, or Landon Nez pops in from Hugh's series to cause problems.

Hugh d'Ambray/Christopher Steed, Hugh d'Ambray/Elara Harper/Christopher Steed
Okay, so after the part in Magic Triumphs where Christopher tells Kate that A) unlike pretty much everyone else outside the Iron Dogs, he paid enough attention to figure out what Roland was doing to control Hugh pretty early on and B) Hugh took better care of him when he was in the cage than previously thought, and possibly than he was supposed to, considering it's mentioned he fed and talked to him only at night when no one else was around, and Hugh's guilt-flashback re: Christopher in the cage in Iron & Magic and how he thinks about Christopher as the only Legatus he could ever stand, I went back and reread Magic Rises and I realized that maybe Hugh set Kate up to rescue Christopher on purpose with the 'anything in this courtyard' wording (like, maybe not consciously, because of Roland's conditioning and because he really didn't expect to lose that match, but on some level I really think he knew what he was saying there, because Hugh is not wired to withstand someone suffering on his watch like that and he had to fix it somehow).

And now I ship it.

As far as Hugh/Elara/Christopher goes, Christopher is a wildly magically powerful human with a god stuffed in him, whose hair was turned white by magic (Maybe? The books seem to go back and forth on whether it's blond or white. I think it's white.). Elara, as far as we can work out thus far, is a wildly magically powerful human with some kind of elder power stuffed in her whose hair was turned white by magic. What if Hugh has a very specific type? What if. I'm just saying.

Note: If you're writing something set during the era of the books, as opposed to the pre-canon Preceptor/Legatus era, please nothing sexual during the period when Christopher was mentally unstable. I'm happy for Hugh's marriage to Elara to remain a professional business arrangement, or with V-shaped poly or a triad, whatever you want to do there. As far as Christopher's relationship with Barabas goes, I can't really see Barabas sharing Christopher with Hugh d'Ambray, so I would prefer you go with their canon relationship never really taking off.

Prompts!
1. Some kind of FWB arrangement set during their days as Legatus and Preceptor that maybe gets more serious than either of them meant it to, or mutual pining and both of them aware that it's a REALLY BAD IDEA as far as Roland is concerned, and then maybe after everything they meet up again and realize they have a second chance.
2.Delicious angst and Hugh's broken heart while Christopher is crazy and stuck in a cage, but also respecting what Christopher's doing here (despite all of Roland's conditioning) and not really trying that hard to force him to fix himself. (I feel like this is supported by even Hibla going along with Christopher's delusion that he was Hugh's librarian, like, that seems counterproductive.)
3. H/C after Christopher lost his wing in Magic Triumphs, because you know Hugh was the healer you want when you've got an extra crispy deity and he felt really guilty about not being able to save the wing. And then maybe it grows back.
4. AU where Hugh somehow retained custody of Christopher post-Magic Rises and into his exile, and Christopher ends up at Baile with him and the Iron Dogs. (Maybe we can assume the barrels of panacea weren't poisoned in this universe so I didn't just inadvertently kill off a bunch of innocent shapeshifter children? And I have no idea how Kate got out of Mishmar—okay, I'm overthinking this.) I just would really love to see Elara's reaction to Hugh with an obvious weak spot/Hugh as caretaker, and also Hugh and Elara and Christopher figuring this thing out after Christopher is, for whatever reason in this AU, sane again. And like, Hugh having A Type.
6. Wingkink? Wingkink.
7. Any sex is good sex, but I'm really feeling intercrural for this pairing, I mean, Christopher is kind of Greek, it seems appropriate, plus I have this headcanon I think is supported by the sex scene in Iron Covenant that Hugh's refractory period is ridiculous because of all the healing magic, and it's canon that his cock is huge, so please, Hugh, fuck Christopher's thighs and give his ass a break.
8. So it turns out Hugh can't marry Elara to seal the alliance because he and Christopher are already married. Maybe they didn't realize that thing they did as a quick way to solve a problem one time was legally binding. Maybe it was entirely on purpose and a secret. Whatever, just run with it.
9. Hahaha WOW did some eldritch abomination/pack of bandits/whatever pick the wrong couple/threesome alone in the middle of the woods to fuck with.

Mercy Thompson Series – Patricia Briggs
Kyle Brooks/Warren Smith
Let's talk about how much I have always loved Warren and Kyle. Like, on paper, they don't work: a hundred and fifty year old Texas cowboy werewolf who works at a gas station and a rich, human, Ivy League educated lawyer. And they both know that. And it doesn't matter. I love Kyle's ridiculous marble statues, and his vanity and the chip on his shoulder, and the way Warren loves those things too and sees Kyle's good heart. I love how easygoing and Texan Warren is, and all the pain and violence that's simmering away under the surface, and how Kyle doesn't care about all of the werewolf shit, he just loves him—and how Kyle, as he says in the short story "In Red, with Pearls," is his own kind of predator, and that just because he eviscerates his prey in court, not, you know, literally, doesn't mean he can't understand Warren's wolf.

Prompts!
1. There's like seven or eight rough months for Warren and Kyle between Moon Called and Blood Bound that we know very little about, and I'm really interested in this period—the pining and the draw that kept them coming back to each other (Were they sleeping together at any point in this period? That must have been really bittersweet) and saw Kyle hiring Warren, especially, but also how the 'so, werewolves' conversations went (and the fights, you know there were fights).
2. I'm very into Domesticity With Werewolves, apparently, so give me some of that. Maybe make Kyle go camping (Oh god. He will be so bad at it.), since Warren's been trying to get him to for several books now, but any sort of domestic cozy shit I'll eat up with a spoon.
2a. Seasonal option: Kyle wants to go apple picking and Warren is too old (and was dirt poor for too long) to consider picking his own food a leisure activity, but, if it makes Kyle happy...
3. Concept: Kyle gets turned into a werewolf. I feel like he'd probably be pretty good at it. How does that happen? Is it on purpose, like he's sick or something? Or does some rogue or some other pack trying to come at Columbia Basin, now that they're exiled, attack him? How does that affect the pack structure? How many bed frames do he and Warren break while Kyle is learning his new strength?
4. In Frost Burned, Kyle reveals that his mating bond with Warren is starting to be two-way, but, being human, he just thought he was going crazy. And then we never really hear about that again. So: how does that psychic bond work for a human? Do he and Warren have enough control over it for it to be useful? Does it have sexytimes applications?
5. Something dealing with Kyle's family. Maybe his sister he still speaks to is coming to visit and he's freaking out, or his deploying the nuclear option with regards to his father in Frost Burned has to be dealt with somehow.
6. Kyle and Warren get married that's it that's the prompt. Do they just go to the courthouse and formalize it (and then the rest of the pack is scrambling trying to put a reception together on zero notice)? Does Kyle want a big thing? Or does Kyle have a lot of hangups about marriage because of his profession, but he also knows the legal benefits are Important?

Soulbound series – Hailey Turner
Jonothon de Vere/Patrick Collins
This pairing could have been tailor made for me, holy shit. HE'S a lonely alpha werewolf who just wants a pack to take care of, to whom the god Fenris speaks. HE'S a mage with secrets, dramatic scars, and metaphysical damage that makes his magic painful and draining to use, resulting in many opportunities for h/c, despite the fact that he takes to h/c about as well as a cat does to water. They have an ACCIDENTAL SOULBOND and one of them thinks it's great and the other one thinks it's the best thing ever. Together, they fight crime and learn about found family. AMAZING.

PROMPTS!
1. See above re: opportunities for h/c. Maybe Patrick overtaxes his magic again. Maybe he just has the flu! Maybe something else. Whatever way you go with it, Jono's caretaker instincts are triggered and Patrick is grumpy about it (But humoring him. Yeah, that's what it is. Humoring him.).
2. What does Halloween look like in this world? Is the veil, in fact, super thin and Patrick needs Jono's help keeping idk demons from rampaging in New York? Or is there just a costume contest at Tempest?
3. Something involving their CANONICAL SOULBOND. I'm not picky.
4. Patrick and Jono (and possibly Sage and Wade for pack bonding fun?) go on some ridiculously seasonal outing. Like apple picking. (And then possibly supernatural shenanigans ensue.)
5. Listen just make them fuck and I'm happy. Bonus points for something about Patrick's scars/self-consciousness about his scars and/or Jono's need to make Patrick smell like him.

West Hell Magic series – Devon Monk
Real talk I don't understand how this series doesn't have more of a following in fandom. It's about werewolves and wizards playing hockey! It's super slashy! What more do I need to say?

Random Hazard/Hawthorn Graves
Okay so in the scene where Ran sees Graves for the first time, when he's just some random guy at the skating rink, the way he described him had me going, "Is this...is this an M/M book? It didn't say anywhere that it was an M/M book but YAY!" And then the female love interest showed up and it turned out to not be an M/M book after all, but for a while there I really thought it could be! And like, it only continues with the way Graves is willing to toss himself on the sword of the Dead Man trade for Ran and Ran's promising career in Spark, and just, like, it's slashy as hell, okay?

1. Seriously what the fuck is Graves? My best guess at the moment is, "Dragon? Maybe?" but take your best shot. Or don't and just play around with the weirdness we've been given.
2. "You're just starting your career, I'm near the end of mine, this can't last....but we really want it to last..."
3. Maybe Graves helpfully points out to Ran that if his middle name is somehow disastrous enough to not be preferable to being known as 'Random Hazard,' there is always a thing called a legal name change he could explore. Maybe that.
4. Graves tests Ran's control over his magic...during sex.

Hawthorn Graves/Elliott Clay

This might actually be canon? They've known each other for ages and that scene in Spark where Coach Clay borrows Graves' phone but Graves won't actually let him touch it because he'll just break this one, too did nothing to convince me they're not an old married couple, anyway.

1. See above re: WTF is Graves? I feel like Coach Clay might be the one person who already knows the answer to this question.
2. Something with them sneaking around hiding their relationship from the team. Sex in an equipment closet. Sex on Clay's desk, possibly with "you've been a bad bad player and you need to be punished" roleplaying. Also, "We're too old for all this sneaking around."
3. The two of them watching the younger generation's *cough*Ran*cough* drama like "Were we ever that young?"
4. Or! Maybe they're NOT in a relationship yet. Maybe they've been like two ships passing in the night their whole careers and it was just never the right time, and now Clay is in a position of authority over Graves and it just wouldn't be right, he feels, and there is pining, and then Graves finds out that THAT'S what the holdup is this time and is like, "LOL sure authority, screw that, let's get it on."

Hello, dear Yulethor!

AO3 user sadlikeknives here, really excited to find out what you're going to write for me! I'm sure it's going to be great.

Basic likes: I strongly prefer third person prose. I'm fine with either porn or no porn. I like pining, hurt/comfort, people using other people's prejudices and expectations of them to their own advantage, loyalty kink, competence kink, scars, and sexy-type biting and bloodplay, especially in vampire-related contexts and possessive/claiming type werewolf contexts. And if you want to write wintery, Christmasy fic (or other-winter-holiday fic) I'm totally into that for any of these fandoms!

DNWs: bestiality, scat, watersports, cannibalism, noncon, dubcon, infidelity/cheating, omegaverse, aka a/b/o, or any other type of mpreg.

Additionally, I have a powerful embarrassment squick; seeing characters embarrassed, especially socially, or behaving in an embarrassing way without being aware of it where it's played for audience laughs really upsets me. And please no animal harm (for example: mention of a werewolf eating a bunny: fine; graphic description of what happened to the bunny: not fine) or major character death outside of addressing those that happen in canon if/when necessary. Also, I would prefer no unrequested crossovers or AUs.

Benjamin January mysteries – Barbara Hambly
Abishag Shaw, Benjamin January

What It Is: A series of mystery novels set in 1830s New Orleans, starring Benjamin January, a free man of color, Paris-trained surgeon, professional pianist, and sometime amateur detective. There are sixteen books and five short stories in the series so far.

What I Love About It: Okay, so, you remember waaaaaaaaaay back at the end of A Free Man of Color when Shaw's standing by Ben's table at the Place des Armes Because Society and Ben's like, "Or you could sit the fuck down one of these days?" Gentle Yulethor, I shipped it then, and I ship it still. I just want to shove them together like a couple of really tall Ken dolls and go, "NOW KISS." I love how they navigate their godawful society's expectations and restrictions, how they often communicate via what's not said. I love how tentative Ben has always been to trust Shaw, in the face of evidence that Shaw is All In on trusting Ben, and then how in Murder in July Ben realizes Shaw would march off to assassinate the Queen of England if he asked him to. I love how committed to justice they both are, and how they recognize that's different from the rule of law, and their mutual frustration with society's preference for a tidy resolution over true justice being done. I love how respectful they both are of the other's skills, and how they both use other people's expectations of their behavior. In short, I love them, and I want more of them. (I'm also open to Shaw/Ben/Rose if that's something you'd be interested in writing!)

Quick note: I have to confess, I'm shallow. I generally picture Shaw as more, you know, sexy scruffy (like, Hollywood historical scruffy) than with the level of hygiene, if one can even call it that, described in the books, because seriously, he's an intelligent man, he knows what soap is for, why will he not use it?? It's not cute. So, like, if you could steer away from descriptions where he is as unpleasant as in canon, I would greatly appreciate that.

Prompts
1. . Possibly Shaw could be pining after Ben. I feel like this makes a lot of narrative sense. Like, he knows it's useless and never gonna happen and probably beats himself up over it, but ooooh that commitment to justice and all that expertise, so sexy. (And then maybe it does happen? Or maybe at least one of the other characters notices and is like, "Wow, that's rough, buddy?")
2. Shaw gets hurt and Ben (and possibly Rose) nurse him back to health. Possibly while trying to conceal in increasingly slapstick fashion that they're sheltering runaways in their house, which Shaw has probably known for like years now lbr.
3. The two of them could investigate something new! Who's dead, in the middle of a scandal, or robbed blind this week? Which combination of medical, musical, tracking, and marksmanship expertise saves the day?
4. Concept: Abishag 'what is bathing, and also, I can track you through a hurricane' Shaw is a werewolf. (And just maybe Hannibal is a vampire?) Ben finds out (Silver allergy? Something connected to a case?). He's intrigued. Olympe knew all along. Possibly, together they fight supernatural crime.
5. "It's just until we get back from Colorado." (Or is it?)
6. Something involving loyalty kink.

The Demon's Lexicon – Sarah Rees Brennan
Alan Ryves, Nicholas "Nick" Ryves | Hnikarr

What It Is: A trilogy of supernatural YA books about the Ryves brothers, Nick and Alan, who are on the run from magicians who use demons to get power, and their various allies. Nick's a [spoiler] and Alan's a liar, and they love each other more than anything in two worlds.

Why I Love It: I mean did you read what I just typed? They're so fucked up and codependent and I love them. They love each other so much they'd burn down the world for each other, but they communicate so badly. Even when they think they understand each other, they really don't, but they try so hard—what often got me in the first book, from Nick's POV, is that you could tell Alan didn't think Nick was trying, or could love him, but inside Nick's head there's just a lot of frustration at how much he does both of those things and Alan doesn't get it. I totally ship it, but if you don't, I also love them as fucked-up brothers trying their hardest.

Prompts!
1. So when I mentioned I was thinking about requesting The Demon's Lexicon to a friend of mine, she was like, "Oh have you seen this?" and linked me to this, and I didn't quite understand what was going on at first but apparently it's a deleted scene from SRB's tumblr, only copypasted to an anon meme? I'm not sure this is true but I WANT TO BELIEVE because in this deleted scene Anzu-in-Alan kisses Nick and Nick's only objection is, "Alan wouldn't like it." Well what if you're wrong, Nick? You've been wrong before. I'm just saying.
2. Nick and Alan doing things that make each other happy like Nick reluctantly but of his own free will spending time in a library/museum/studying or Alan attempting to help Nick work on cars or them doing unspeakable violence together.
3. Just like generally anything about them being incredibly fucked up and codependent and dangerous but like in a way bizarrely sweet.
4. Something with Nick experimenting with his demonic powers. Maybe, if you want, in like a sexy way. Maybe he has to mark Alan for some reason and Alan trusts him intrinsically not to use it against him and that's the good shit right there. Maybe there are thunderstorms in their bedroom and it's a little awkward.
5. Generally any hot demon on brother action idk.
6. Several years ago I got a lovely fic for Yuletide about the Ryves brothers at Christmastime, and I am always up for more of that sort of thing.


Mercy Thompson series – Patricia Briggs
Kyle Brooks, Warren Smith

What It Is: An urban fantasy series set in the Tri-Cities area of eastern Washington State, about Mercy Thompson, a coyote shapeshifter, a lot of werewolves, some fae, and assorted vampires. There are ten books in the series so far, as well as five books and a novella in the sister series Alpha and Omega (...not that kind), and several short stories. As far as I know, I'm up to date, unless another short story has been released recently. There's a lot of sexism and homophobia baked into werewolf culture in this universe, which is obviously not great Bob, but a lot of the series is about unlearning or throwing that stuff out and changing the rules to be better and more modern, and those elements I do enjoy.

What I Love About It: I love a lot of things about it, but let's talk about how much I have always loved Warren and Kyle. Like, on paper, they don't work: a hundred and fifty year old Texas cowboy werewolf who works at a gas station and a rich, human, Ivy League educated lawyer. And they both know that. And it doesn't matter. I love Kyle's ridiculous marble statues, and his vanity and the chip on his shoulder, and the way Warren loves those things too and sees Kyle's good heart. I love how easygoing and Texan Warren is, and all the pain and violence that's simmering away under the surface, and how Kyle doesn't care about all of the werewolf shit, he just loves him—and how Kyle, as he says in the short story "In Red, with Pearls," is his own kind of predator, and that just because he eviscerates his prey in court, not, you know, literally, doesn't mean he can't understand Warren's wolf.

Prompts
1. There's like seven or eight rough months for Warren and Kyle between Moon Called and Blood Bound that we know very little about, and I'm really interested in this period—it seems like they were sort of on-and-off, with Kyle trying to figure out whether or not the werewolf thing was something he could deal with right up until he got tossed in the deep end in Blood Bound and went all in, no turning back, in about .02 seconds flat. I'd love to see something from this period, whether that's some kind of bad-decisions-we-probably-shouldn't-right-now-but-we-are-anyway sex or a giant screaming fight over werewolf bullshit, or a whole lot of delicious pining.
2. I'm very into Domesticity With Werewolves, apparently, so maybe give me some of that. Maybe make Kyle go camping, since Warren's been trying to get him to for several books now and you know he'd be so bad at it, but any sort of domestic cozy shit I'll eat up with a spoon.
3. Concept: Kyle gets turned into a werewolf. I feel like he'd probably be pretty good at it. How does that happen? How does that affect the pack structure? How many bed frames do he and Warren break while Kyle is learning his new strength?
4. In Frost Burned, Kyle reveals that his mating bond with Warren is starting to be two-way, but, being human, he just thought he was going crazy. And then we never really hear about that again. So: how does that psychic bond work for a human? Do he and Warren have enough control over it for it to be useful? Does it have sexytimes applications?
5. Something involving Warren's century and a half of history as a werewolf cowboy before he met Kyle. I mean, he was a werewolf cowboy! Come on, that's awesome. Maybe some old enemy pops up. Maybe Kyle learns things through the aforementioned mating bond in his dreams or something. Maybe a pack member randomly finds a daguerrotype in an antique shop and Kyle is fucking delighted that Warren used to have that ridiculous mustache. The field is wide open.
6. Thanksgiving is the traditional holiday of kidnappings, but aside from the David Christiansen short story, I think we haven't seen a Christmas in the Mercy Thompson-verse. So maybe something Christmasy?

Midnight Texas (TV)
Chuy Strong, Joe Strong

What It Is: A contemporary fantasy TV series set in the small town of Midnight, Texas (at the intersection of Witch Light Road and the Davy Highway), based on a trilogy of books by Charlaine Harris (which are set vaguely in the same world as the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series, but the show is not). One season of ten episodes has aired so far, with season two set to start in late October. The show follows Manfred Bernardo, psychic and seer, who arrives in Midnight on the run from a con gone bad in an RV populated by the ghost of his grandmother, Xylda, and quickly learns that he's not the weirdest thing in town. His neighbors include a witch, a were-tiger preacher, an assassin for hire and her vampire boyfriend, an angel and half-demon who are married and own a combination tattoo and nail parlor, and a guy named Bobo. Oh, and a talking cat.

What I Love About It: So this series was pitched to me as "there's a demon and an angel and they're husbands" and I was SOLD. And then I actually watched it and I love Joe and Chuy (and everyone else in this bar, but: we're focusing on Joe and Chuy now) and I want more of them. I love the found family aspects of Midnight, how everyone's come together in the middle of nowhere and found the one place and one group of people that can embrace their weird and let them be themselves. Also I really love Mr. Snuggly's incredibly cranky self, he's such a CAT, and if you can find a way to work him in that would be amazing.

Prompts
1. Something about Chuy and Joe's past, because we know very little of it and there's a lot of past. How did they come to settle in Midnight? (Does Chuy have human family in the area, like he does in the books?) What kind of adventures have they had along the way? How did they get together in the first place, beyond what we know of it—like, there's a lot of space between 'maybe not all part-demons are bad' and 'married couple.'
2. What kind of awesome sex do an angel and a half-demon have?  Like, I know Chuy can't use his powers very much or he risks going darkside, and Joe until very recently avoided using his, but, okay, let me be honest: I'm thinking wingkink. Or, since Joe paints and Chuy loves watching him paint, something with that.
3. Christmas in Midnight! Maybe it's kind of an emotionally fraught holiday for Joe, what with the whole 'fallen' thing. Maybe Chuy/the others try to cheer him up through Traditional Christmas Nonsense (maybe Fiji even makes it snow, because otherwise that's probably not happening in Texas).
4. Something about the tattoo/nail parlor because it's such a random combination with such incredibly different clientele to have under one roof, I feel like that must be fun.
5. Maybe something with Chuy and Joe interacting with the other Midnighters and dealing with somebody's Problem Of The Week in their own special Midnight way.
6. Give them back their dog! They had a dog in the pilot, which I believe was even referred to by the same name as their dog in the books? And then he disappeared and was never seen again. Bring him back!


Ordinary Magic series – Devon Monk
Ben Rossi, Jame Wolfe

What It Is: A contemporary fantasy series set in the small town of Ordinary, Oregon, where the gods go for vacation and various other supernatural beings live under the watchful eye of Delaney Reed, the local police chief. There are three books so far, plus one novella and another coming out in November which I plan to read when it comes out, but if you don't want to incorporate new canon in your story, don't worry about it. Just know that if you do, you won't be spoiling me any.

What I Love About It: I love the concept of Ordinary, a town that's half-mundane and half-really not. I love all the different supernatural beings and especially the gods, and I love the subplot of Jame and Ben. Love them. Like, I started texting my best friend while reading the first scene in which they appear something like, "OMG this book has a vampire and a werewolf and they're firefighters and boyfriends. MY JAM." And then they just kept on being more and more my jam? With the obviously being very much in love, and so very tough, and dealing with their family issues in such a mature way, and then Ben was KIDNAPPED and Jame was BROKEN and their PSYCHIC SOULBOND WAS SEVERED and I spent like half a book reading frantically like "Ben better not be dead!!!!" And then after they were reunited they had to recreate their psychic soulbond through biting and like: *kisses tips of fingers* beautiful. That scene with all the vampires and werewolves getting along and playing cards in Ben's hospital room, while several of the werewolves transfer energy through Jame to Ben, because Well I Guess We're In-Laws Now? LOVE IT. I love these guys and want them to live happily ever after.

That said, I don't really care for Ryder, and therefore, for the main romance plot. I think he's supposed to read like he thinks he's A Big Bad Fed and the Reeds are small town cops, but...he comes off to me as very mansplainy, and, dude, you didn't know werewolves were real. So I would prefer he be kept to a minimum.

Prompts
1. Vampire/werewolf firefighter domesticity fluff. Or hot porn. Or fluffy porn. I just want them to be happy. Something about, I don't know, grocery or house shopping, or on the job stuff, or just like them really going at it in the bedroom and possibly breaking the bed or like sweet reunion 'I thought I lost you' sex once they're both up for such activities after Gods and Ends. With biting. (I love how they play rock paper scissors to decide who drives in the books, and feel it raises the question of what else they play rock paper scissors to decide.)
2. Speaking of biting, I'm here for it. Intimacy through biting! Sexy biting! The first time being A Huge Freaking Deal You Can't Take Back because of the bond that comes with a vampire's bite in this universe! Becoming so settled in together that Ben can lean across in the truck and take a quick nip! Recovering their bond through biting!
3. Hurt/comfort with both of them recovering after the third book. Like, obviously Ben's much worse off, but he can tell Jame's not one hundred percent yet. And they're both worried about each other. Possibly fussing over each other until someone gets annoyed, and then they have to deal with that.
4. Anything about their courtship, which was both a total supernatural Romeo and Romeo situation and apparently a workplace romance at the same time. How did they deal with their families being so totally at odds? How did they get past the bad blood between their species to get together in the first place? How did Old Rossi deal with his only son shacking up with a werewolf?
5. Ben's full name is Benoni, which is Hebrew, so is he Jewish? Or, considering it means 'Son of my sorrow,' (as, in fact, Old Rossi addresses him at one point), did Old Rossi rename him for some reason after making him a vampire? Or maybe are both of those things true? If he's Jewish, among other things, does he trade in his beloved french fries for latkes for Hanukkah, and always take the Christmas shift for that sweet, sweet holiday pay?
7. Soulbond stuff. Just...soulbond stuff.