![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Shipoween 2019 Dear Author Letter
Sep. 17th, 2019 08:28 pmDear 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."
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."
