Yuletide Letter 2020
Oct. 15th, 2020 08:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sadlikeknivesDear 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.
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. I'm down with porn or not porn, or gen. 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 (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
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.
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.
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.
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.
7. I would also really like to see Shaw interact with Olympe and/or Livia? Olympe and Shaw both strike me as coldly practical in a way a lot of the rest of the cast likes to think they are but they're really not, and Shaw and Livia clearly hate each other and it's amazing. I had some prompts in this line in my Shipoween letter.
Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews
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. Arabella drags Stephen off on an adventure over his generalized objections and he ends up having an amazing time.
2. Maybe they've been dating for a while and there hasn't been a great time to slip that whole, "So, remember that time the Beast of Cologne showed up on the interstate a few years ago? That was me," thing into conversation, and now Things Are Happening and Stephen gets to find out by witnessing it up close and personal. What next?
3. Maybe Stephen has to work with Arabella for some reason and he doesn't want to like her at first. She's young. She's chaos. She's clearly not a magically compatible, responsible choice of spouse. She's a fan of the show his brother's on, so she's just after him for fangirl reasons, right? (Arabella: No, I'm after you because you're hot, get it straight.) Except she's also pretty and deeply competent at her job and protective of her family and oh no he's falling for her.
4. They run into each other at some society event and small talk leads to making out in a closet and now the event is under attack. What now?
5. What do they do about the question of kids? Does Arabella nervously blurt out, "My magic is Arcane and the kids will probably be really weird!" the first time she meets Stephen's family? ("Did you hear that, honey? Grandchildren!") 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.)
6. 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.
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*)
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 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.
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! Some of these are shippy but some of them can go either way, I think. I have...a lot of prompts. I'm sorry.
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 right in front of hersalad.
8. Wingkink? Wingkink.
9. 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.
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 Christmas 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) 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.
Soulbound Series - Hailey Turner
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.
If you choose to go the shippy route, 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.
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 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. I'm down with porn or not porn, or gen. 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 (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
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.
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.
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.
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.
7. I would also really like to see Shaw interact with Olympe and/or Livia? Olympe and Shaw both strike me as coldly practical in a way a lot of the rest of the cast likes to think they are but they're really not, and Shaw and Livia clearly hate each other and it's amazing. I had some prompts in this line in my Shipoween letter.
Hidden Legacy Series - Ilona Andrews
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. Arabella drags Stephen off on an adventure over his generalized objections and he ends up having an amazing time.
2. Maybe they've been dating for a while and there hasn't been a great time to slip that whole, "So, remember that time the Beast of Cologne showed up on the interstate a few years ago? That was me," thing into conversation, and now Things Are Happening and Stephen gets to find out by witnessing it up close and personal. What next?
3. Maybe Stephen has to work with Arabella for some reason and he doesn't want to like her at first. She's young. She's chaos. She's clearly not a magically compatible, responsible choice of spouse. She's a fan of the show his brother's on, so she's just after him for fangirl reasons, right? (Arabella: No, I'm after you because you're hot, get it straight.) Except she's also pretty and deeply competent at her job and protective of her family and oh no he's falling for her.
4. They run into each other at some society event and small talk leads to making out in a closet and now the event is under attack. What now?
5. What do they do about the question of kids? Does Arabella nervously blurt out, "My magic is Arcane and the kids will probably be really weird!" the first time she meets Stephen's family? ("Did you hear that, honey? Grandchildren!") 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.)
6. 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.
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*)
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 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.
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! Some of these are shippy but some of them can go either way, I think. I have...a lot of prompts. I'm sorry.
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 right in front of her
8. Wingkink? Wingkink.
9. 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.
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 Christmas 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) 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.
Soulbound Series - Hailey Turner
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.
If you choose to go the shippy route, 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.
