Yuletide Letter 2018
Oct. 5th, 2018 05:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sadlikeknivesHello, 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.
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.
