coaldustcanary | Entries tagged with motherland fort salem

Dear Author:

Thanks for checking out my letter! I've included some general notes about my preferences up front, some detailed prompts and thoughts about each of my requested fandoms, and then a big list of "Things I Generally Like in Fic" at the very end. Please note that I'm a regular participant in fanfic exchanges and so I had a lot of this already written up - don't feel you have to read every word or stick closely to the prompts given if you're inspired differently! I am generally very easy to please.

Overall, I am open to fic of any rating, and including any AO3 Archive Warning if appropriate to the story. When prompting for romantic pairings or shippy content I'm happy to receive (but in no way require) sexual content.

Enola Holmes (2020)
Edith Grayston & Sherlock Holmes

I received a wonderful gift for this fandom last year focusing on Enola and Sherlock's complicated familial relationship, so I thought I'd prompt for a different sort of relationship this year. I quite loved the brief scene between Edith and Sherlock in canon; Edith reads Sherlock so easily and thoroughly and is so utterly done with his nonsense from the first moment of their interaction. He, in turn, makes a half-hearted attempt at making a veiled threat but mostly looks totally chagrinned from Edith's first words back because she's summed him up accurately and the total wasn't all that impressive. It's rather as if they had a brief round of verbal sparring over a tea set and Edith left Sherlock metaphorically flat on his back on the mat.

I am very curious about the ways in which they might connect again either through Enola or Eudoria. Enola seems ready to set herself up independently in London and do her own thing, while Eudora seems ready, now that her youngest fledgling has left the nest, to devote herself entirely to the cause of women's suffrage. Edith seems a likely contact for Enola in the future, as well as a possible co-conspirator with Eudoria. Sherlock, on the other hand, seems amused by Enola's antics and possibly perturbed by whatever political activism Eudoria might be contemplating. I could see Edith and Sherlock teaming up to assist either Enola or Eudoria, to try to find them after something goes wrong, or even for Edith to work against Sherlock to keep him from interfering in Enola or Eudoria's work.

I'm amused by the idea of Sherlock deciding to regularly stop into the tea shop on increasingly transparent pretenses, ostensibly to learn more about Edith and her connection to his mother and sister, but increasingly because he's so intrigued by Edith herself.

I do ship them, primarily in a "she tells him off, he's unexpectedly charmed by the accuracy of her verbal barbs" sort of way, where they might challenge and annoy (and turn on) one another in the future.

Likes for this fandom and characters: Banter, case fic, winning each other over the hard way, grudgingly teaming up, sparring (verbally or physically), disguise/undercover work, chance meetings/meetings in unexpected circumstances,

DNW: Incest, death or harm to young (under 13) children (Enola and/or Tewky getting into trouble or peril is good, though!)

Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Sarah Alder & Worldbuilding

Note for this fandom: Please feel free to treat this as Sarah Alder OR Worldbuilding if you wish - Alder can feature very minimally in the fic, and anything you might write about Alder is very likely to include Worldbuildling content I'd be interested to see.

I am obsessed with the setting of this fandom and the richness of the alternate history and alternate universe that it sets up, and about which we know so frustratingly little. ANYTHING you want to tell me about your ideas for this world would be like water on parched soil for me. A few ideas, but do not limit yourself:

I'm really curious about the Imperatrix and the whole witch "breeding program" - and how the heck she specifically (unlike every other witch we see) is not under Alder's authority. How did that happen? How has she lost track of so many witch lines? Is this cultural myopia or is something specifically sinister going on with her or her office? Are there similar programs in other countries? Relatedly, what are "Matrifocal Compounds" (like where Tally grew up) besides women-only spaces? The Imperatrix seemed very unimpressed by her background - was it just that her mother received a dispensation not to serve, or something else? Are non-military witches like Tally's mother leading Mother Goddess cults in California?

What's up with male witches? They seem capable of performing magic, albeit more low-powered than what women can do. We finally learn in S2 that the child of a male witch and a non-witch can never be a witch, while a female witch's children are always witches, which explains the firm hand placed on arranged marriages, but why don't male witches seem to be part of military units beyond something of an auxillary flirtaton force?

Interviews with the showrunners have suggested that Sarah Alder's first and closest companions after the Salem Accords were previously enslaved witches, and seemed to strongly imply that most of High Atlantic society descends from former slaves, which is pretty fascinating! What would that have meant for society, both army and civilian?

What does the rest of the world's witch population/agreements look like? The Salem Accords seem to be a US thing - what about the UK, Russia, India, and other nations we briefly see members of

The Cession's existence is really interesting - what is it's relationship to the United States and to the Salem Accords? Are Native American/American Indian witches exempt from the Salem Accords? It seems to be something of a safe haven for witches who aren't entirely enthused about army life and a lot of Dodgers, but there are also many army veterans there, like Quinn. Non-Native people seem to live here, and obviously Raelle was still conscripted and Alder sent the army there a few times, but it does seem like there might be political considerations that mean that some "outsiders" are there and are at least tolerated, and possibly welcome.

For Alder herself, I'm very interested in any glimpse of her history - the actual Salem Accords, the early years of the military (perhaps with an early Bellweather ancestor at her right hand), any of the various conflicts throughout history, more about the Liberian conflict and "martyrdom" and what inspired Nicte Batan to create the Spree. I love her relationships with Petra, Anacostia, and Tally, if you'd like to explore any of them as colleagues, enemies, or lovers. I'd also be really interested to see any kind of further exploration of her connection to her Biddies, and how that magic (apparently from Native American witches) came to preserve her immortality. I love her complexity, and the sorts of factors that come into play besides the effective immortality to remain leader of what seems to be the most powerful military in the world.

DNW: death or harm to young (under 13) children

New World (Video Game)
Worldbuilding

This is my wildcard of a prompt, and will be pretty vague - this game is weird. It's an incredibly well-designed MMO from a gameplay standpoint - they've made missteps, but the gameplay overall is well-balanced and engaging. But the lore, to be frank, is a nonsensical mess. You expect me to believe that this is taking place in the 17th century in the REAL WORLD and there are castaways and sailors and pirates from Europe, Africa and Asia have washed up on this creepy magical island and EVERYONE has just ignored all political and cultural difference and teamed up without a blink?

Look, I understand why the game doesn't touch the politics of the setting with a ten-foot pole: by it's nature the game is already disturbingly framed as a colonialism narrative because they erased Native American references from the game as a "solution" to the Unfortunate Implications, which honestly just kind of made it worse. Apparently the game developers wanted this to be "the world stumbles upon the legend of Atlantis and puts aside conflict to survive the bigger threat" but kept faceplanting into the fact that Age of Sail/Age of Exploration narratives can't be divorced from racism and colonialism very easily. But it doesn't make sense.

That said: Tell me any kind of story you like about this world and how it became a terrifying magical cesspit of demons and undead. Go weird. Go meta. Go critical. Whatever floats your boat! (And sends it hurtling into a jagged shoreline of a weird magical island.)

DNW: death or harm to young (under 13) children

Rotkäppchen | Little Red Riding Hood (Fairy Tale)
Little Red Riding Hood

As a huge fan of wolves and werewolves in mythology, I love this fairy tale to no end. I am interested in any kind of retelling, angle, prequel or sequel of the tale (and feel free to use versions other than Grimm as your inspiration if you wish) and a focus on Red herself.

I'm a huge fan of anything where Red is just as Big and Bad as the wolf in her own way (or maybe even the same way). The Wolf may be an ally or enemy, same for the Woodcutter, but I'm interested in any kind of fic or art where Red is mostly standing on her own two (or four) feet, and the tale isn't quite the way it's usually told. Lighthearted or dark, comic or totally serious, whatever seems interesting, go for it!

I like any kind of play with the metaphors of Red, well, wearing Red, or going on a dangerous journey alone, or what the battling Woodcutter and Wolf represent, or speculation about why Red's visiting her grandmother in the first place, or what makes her such an appealing target of the wolf.

DNW: Incest, death or harm to young (under 13) children

The Wicker Man (1973)
Lord Summerisle

This movie is chilling and strange and engaging and not a little terrifying, and I have been in love since the first time I saw it years ago. I am fascinated by the character of Lord Summerisle--his easy confidence and powerful charm--and would be happy to receive any fic that focuses on him as a character. Despite him having quite considerable monologue opportunities in the film to lay out the whole of his belief and viewpoint to Sergeant Howie, I still feel like he's a bit of a mystery.

What would happen if, as the Fool warned, in a future year the crops fail once more and only a lordly sacrifice will do? How would it happen? How would he feel about it? Is he as ready for that to happen as he says he is?
Something exploring Summerisle's youth or how he became a figure imbued with authority and trusted in his role as both ruling lord and High Priest would be interesting, too.
What's his relationship with Miss Rose like? Obviously they are High Priest and High Priestess and there are symbolic roles they both fulfill, but they seem to have a very intimate and loving relationship beyond that as well.
Alternately, his relationship with other members of the community such as Willow MacGreagor or the young man he "introduces" to her (how did he come to honor Willow as an embodiment of Aphrodite?), or perhaps how he came to choose Rowan Morrison to serve in her particular role would be interesting ideas to explore.
I would also love to see an expansion on his interaction with Sergeant Howie - what if they'd had more time to talk during Howie's escalating investigation? What if Summerisle, recognizing that Willow would not be a proper temptation for the Fool to resist, had attempted to seduce Howie himself? Every time I watch the movie I half wonder if Summerisle sized Howie up and thought he would be too tempting and too likely to succeed if he made a move on the man, and they really needed the sacrifice...

DNW: death of young (under 13) children (for this fandom, canonically tangential things like Howie believing that Rowan was going to be a sacrifice or even more elaborate schemes to make him believe she was dead are fine, just no actual "on screen" deaths in the fic)

General Likes and Preferences

Setting tropes and AU premises I love

canon divergence/"what if" AUs - I love butterfly effect, "change one thing" AUs especially!
soulmates and soul bonds - and soulmate subversion, and soulmates played dark or strange - feel free to play it straight but I also love characters choosing someone(s) other than a soulmate, or the notion of soulmates being as much trouble as they are a joy. The worldbuilding would be wild in a world where soulmates are A Thing - I love exploring the effects of that, and the ambiguous bits of such an AU.
battle couples/trios - ties neatly into competency kink and loyalty kink sexual likes, but non-sexual love and romance among folks who fight together is A+ also
magical aus (give non-magical characters/canons magic - telepathy, mind magic, arcane magic, spellcasting. Though many of the canons I tend to like have magic of some kind, feel free to go on a worldbuilding dive into what any of my non-magical canon requests might look like if magic was real.)
alternate magical system AUs (keep the canon magic, but make it different somehow)
fairy tale AUs
daemon AUs (or any other "sentient animal companion" magic settings - Valdemar's Companions, Chronicles of the Cheysuli's lir, the "Animalled" of Beukes' Zoo City, witch familiars, etc)
time loops/Groundhog Day premise (via magic or weird science or no explanation whatsoever)
undercover antics and/or identity porn - undercover fake married, partners or lovers undercover as enemies, or characters having overlapping complex arrangements of fake identities are all good
future fic and "next gen" fic (about children of canonical characters as older teens or adults)
ghosts, communicating with the dead (via magic or weird science)
enemies to lovers
werewolves and other were-creatures/animal shapeshifters - tying into magical AUs, I like "everyone's a werewolf" or some kind of magical critter AUs, or just one particular character being "other". Mixing and matching - werewolf and vampire, or werewolf and magical creature hunter, for example, is also a lot of fun.
sharing a bed (sexual, romantic, or platonic) - enforced intimacy!
huddling for warmth - more enforced intimacy!
trapped in a cabin in a blizzard - are you seeing the trend about enforced intimacy?!
Hurt/Comfort - see the whole section on this trope below

Hurt/Comfort & Whump favorites (note that the "comfort" can be sexual, romantic, or platonic)
The thing I really like the most about h/c and whump is the intimacy of it all. The caring for another person in h/c, and/or the traumatic headspace/emotional rollercoaster of pain and angst the whumped character goes through are absolutely my personal catnip.

Hurt and Whump Preferences:

torture - I'm generally interested in the emotions and sensory elements more than the gore here. Exhaustion, pain, lingering emotional/mental trauma and mild-to-moderate long-term physical effects are my preferences. I'm less interested in super-severe injury, amputation, or mindbreak-levels of torture.
sleep deprivation/exhaustion
noble self-sacrifice - risking harm or death (by performing a noble last stand, or being a distraction, or playing the honeypot, or offering yourself up for torture/assault) to spare others punishment or to allow them to escape
drugging
hallucinations
forced to watch others being hurt

Comfort Preferences:

hair touching/running fingers through hair
helping others with personal care - hair washing, shaving, injury tending
small acts of intimacy/care - preparing food, standing guard while the hurt one sleeps, sharpening the hurt one's edged weapons or cleaning their guns
sex (with some consideration for the seriousness of the hurt, but I do not expect medical accuracy)

Sex tropes I love

dubcon - specifically in situations when both/all parties are consenting under duress due to outside forces, such as "sex pollen", "bad guys made them do it", or character(s) consenting to spare another character from having to do so. I like all kinds of outcomes from this plot - the somewhat positive outcomes of admitting hidden feelings or strengthening a relationship after such a difficult experience; a more tragic or negative outcome such as the end of a relationship/partnership, or tragedy; or something ambiguously between the two - I'm happy with any direction unless otherwise requested in my DNWs for a particular fandom/character/ship.
bondage - particularly of stoic or restrained characters getting tied up and absolutely wrecked
first time sex - both first time sex ever or first time performing a particular sex act for a character if there's a reasonable characterization of said character as inexperienced, and also first time sex with a particular partner
sex magic
pegging (both f/m and f/f)
praise kink - particularly of stoic and/or damaged characters unused to and undone by praise
casual physical intimacy between partners - falling asleep on partner's shoulder, cuddling, spooning, etc., especially of characters not used to casual physical intimacy becoming comfortable with it - this could include both characters who have lots of casual sex but not much casual cuddling, or characters who are touch starved or anything in between
begging during sex ("please!")
sex as an emotional outlet in the wake of tragedy or grief, such as friends grieving the loss of a mutual friend or loved one or getting over a shared bad experience
Dominance/submission (though I prefer it NOT be formalized BDSM, such as negotiating safewords and "Master/sir" address, etc. Also, if it's f/m I generally prefer the female character be dominant unless otherwise requested. For my various gender composition OT3+ ships I either don't care or will specify in the prompts.)
sex between platonic friends
competence kink
threesomes
loyalty kink
oral sex and fingering/handjobs, both as a precursor to vaginal or anal sex, and as its own thing

Dear Creator:

Thank you for checking out my letter! I am opening myself up to fic of any length and whatever you might wish to create in other requested mediums for this exchange. I am good with works of any rating and welcome (but in no way expect or require) sexual content for romantic/sexual ship prompts. Below you will find some brief comments on what I like about each requested fandom and character or ship as well as some prompts for each request, and then a huge list of general likes at the end. A few fandoms and ships have specific DNWs, those are listed with each fandom. Don't feel bound by my prompts in this letter if you think you have an idea for something I will like based on my big likes list or prompts I've made previously in other exchanges.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E (2015) | Motherland:Fort Salem (TV) | John Wick (Movies) | Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey | General Likes and Preferences

The Man From U.N.C.L.E (2015)

Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo/Gaby Teller
Worldbuilding

I only saw this film for the first time in late 2018 and I fell for it (and three ridiculous spies and their complicated relationship) very hard. The film has beautiful people, beautiful cinematography, gorgeous costumes, and a perfect soundtrack. It combines multiple strains of classic tropey relationship development: enemies to colleagues to friends (to lovers?) for all three of them, plus the great fake engagement between Illya and Gaby, the rivals to friends competition and one-upmanship between Illya and Napoleon, and then multiple big damn rescues (Napoleon rescuing Illya from drowning, Illya rescuing Napoleon from the electric chair, and then Napoleon and Illya both rescuing Gaby from the Vinciguerras). And all of it against a fun, iconic 60s setting backdrop, serving to set up the idea of them working together as a team for the forseeable future.

Prompts:

I live for tropey setups that push them into intimate situations and "oh. oh." realizations about how they feel about one another. Injuries in the line of duty, snowbound in a cabin, hurt/comfort, self-sacrifice (particularly when Napoleon Solo, Mr. Supposedly Always Looking Out For #1, does something very stupid and dangerous to save one or both of his partners, though I like this trope for any of the three of them), big fucking rescues (just like in the movie!), truth serum or other drugs, sharing a bed, etc. I particularly enjoy when they're trying very hard to focus on the extremely important world-saving case and/or punching Nazis but they keep getting distracted by how incredibly inconvenient their attraction to/affection for their partners has become.

Five times fics - whether a time loop caused by a mad scientist's machine, or due to drug/exhaustion hallucinations the same scenario plays out different ways, or a bunch of different themed incidents on different missions - are always good!

Undercover antics - I love the notion of the three of them all doing a mission with different covers (that might know each other or not) and having to play a dynamic that either differs from the one they share or reinforces feelings they're trying to ignore. For example, on a future mission it's Napoleon and Gaby playing at being engaged or married, and Illya "realizes" they're perfect for one another and tries (miserably) to "back off" much to his partners' confusion.

Napoleon does his best to matchmake Illya and Gaby and catches extremely inconvenient feelings for them both in the process.

As an UNCLE agent Gaby will be traveling outside of Germany for likely only the second meaningful time in her life post-film; she's also significantly younger and less experienced than Illya and Napoleon per their end-of-film dossiers. Despite getting one over on the CIA's best and the KGB's finest in the film, perhaps she has uncertainty about choosing the spy's life (maybe Illya and/or Napoleon even grimly encourage her to get out while she can) and she has to actively decide to stay with UNCLE (and her partners) when given the opportunity to do something different.

Any two of the three have to team up to rescue the third. (Doing a "three times" variation of this including scenarios where each pair has to save the third would be fun.)

Wild AU premises that seem interesting: supernatural/magical realism, a world where magic is known and they all have it, or space opera/sci-fi settings all sound like fun.

One of the trio gets blackmailed - perhaps with evidence of their unconventional relationship, or even just their feelings for one another - and tries to deal with the problem alone. (I could particularly see this being the sort of thing Illya would do.)

Post-retirement future fic - what might they get up to once they're too old to be in the field? What if injuries take one or more of them out of the game even earlier? What if they end up being pulled back to their respective agencies but only meet again by chance 10, 15, or 20 years post-movie?

Illya/Napoleon and Illya/Gaby are the main ships of the fandom besides the trio, but I find Gaby/Napoleon really intriguing - a fic where they believe Illya to be dead, or he's somehow out of their reach (a prisoner, gravely injured, on a mission that they can't interfere in without huge risk) and they hook up out of grief or fear or even in anger would be interesting. (And then they go rescue Illya, right?)

I do very much enjoy them getting up to sexcapades in any context. Feel free to totally ignore my headcanons, but when it comes to sex my thoughts are:

Illya has incredible sub energy and a praise kink the approximate size of the sun.
Napoleon is both really full of himself and confident in bed but isn't entirely comfortable with sex that has anything to do with feelings.
Gaby can be incredibly aggressive and likes to be in charge (she tackled Illya to the ground, after all) but has a hard time letting her guard down and being in the moment.

Dubcon scenarios like sex pollen, bad guys make them do it, having to have sex to keep their cover with one another or others are always interesting and welcome for these three (or any two of the three, as long as the overall/end ship is the trio) especially if it leads to major angst. Napoleon being extremely blasé about sex-for-the-job (even when it's only marginally consensual) in ways that unsettle his partners is a favorite trope of mine. (His slightly-strained insistence that he tried exhausting Victoria, presumably via marathon sex, in the film and his "womanizer" diagnosis hints at a lot that I'm curious about.)

Speaking of Victoria, if you're inspired to write any kind of "case fic" I think she is a fabulous villain and would love anything with her as the antagonist of the piece, trying to get her revenge on Napoleon and/or the trio!

Worldbuilding:

What is U.N.C.L.E like? How does it function? How does it get off the ground and what kind of politics does Waverly have to play to keep it functioning and to steal out the KGB's best and the CIA's finest right out from under their noses? What kind of rules does it have, and how much do any of the agents, including our trio, actually follow them?

Feel free to crib from the TV show canon as much or as little as you might want if you're familiar - I've seen the first season and bits of the rest and enjoy it immensely.

Art: Love art that riffs off any of my prompts above or general likes. Any and all styles welcome, and it need not be overtly shippy.

In-universe documents - mission reports (with or without notes by each team member and/or Waverly), debriefings, transcribed interviews, or whatever else you can come up with. Stolen intelligence? A report by an enemy (THRUSH?) agent on any of the trio or Waverly or UNCLE as a whole?

Academic reports: An academic article or review about UNCLE as an agency or any or all of the agents would be really interesting. This could be from any era, including modern.

DNW: Characters under 16 having sex. (References to past underage sex are fine.) Modern Mundane AUs. Permanent major character death. (Temporary death and/or believing another character is dead for a time is fine, though.) Total downer endings. Endgame Illya/Gaby or Illya/Napoleon without the third character involved. (Established Illya/Gaby that becomes Illya/Gaby/Napoleon is fine!)

Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)

Abigail Bellweather & Petra Bellweather
Abigail Bellweather
Sarah Alder
Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding prompts:

I'm really curious about the Imperatrix and the whole witch "breeding program" - and how the heck she specifically (unlike every other witch we see) is not under Alder's authority. How did that happen? How has she lost track of so many witch lines? Is this cultural myopia or is something specifically sinister going on with her or her office? Are there similar programs in other countries?

In general, I would love fic or in-universe reports about any tiny speck of alternate history implied by the setting and explored. For example, I can't find the interview now (will link it here if I find it) but I read something last year in which the show's creator offhandedly mentioned that Sarah Alder's first and closest companions after the Salem Accords were previously enslaved witches, and seemed to strongly imply that most of High Atlantic society descends from former slaves, which is pretty fascinating! What would that have meant for society, both army and civilian?

What is up with The Cession? Are Native American/American Indian witches exempt from the Salem Accords? It seems to be something of a safe haven for witches who aren't entirely enthused about army life and a lot of Dodgers. The casual news report in Ojibwe was very interesting, too!

Sarah Alder

What are all these 80+ military campaigns that Alder's been involved in about? Obviously the Spree have been a big part for the past 20 years, but before that? Were they all witch rebels, or have non-witches fought witches in large numbers? Does every country have a witch army, now? How has Alder dealt with them over the years?

Abigail Bellweather (& Petra Bellweather)

Abigail is my favorite of the trio, though I love them all very much, but her angst over living up to familial expectations and figuring out how to make her own way in the world has been a compelling story. I really enjoy her complicated relationship with her mother (and grandmother, and three dads, and Charvel) and would love any kind of exploration of those bonds, Bellweather family expectations/goals for leadership, and what might be next for her as she stakes out her own special project.

(Side note: I like Adil, and I'm fine with Abigail/Adil being a background component of the fic, but I would prefer that it not be the focus of any story.)

DNW: Characters under 16 having sex. (References to past events are fine.) Modern Mundane AU. Permanent major character death. (Temporary death and/or believing another character is dead for a time is fine, though.) Total downer endings. Focus on Raelle/Scylla. (References/background existence of the relationship is fine, and the presence of either or both characters in the fanwork is also very welcome.)

John Wick (Movies)

Worldbuilding

These films are somehow exactly what would happen if you measured out a hearty few cups of my fascination for detailed "hidden world" worldbuilding, stirred in my heart-eyes love for Keanu Reeves, baked it up as a cake, and then frosted it with extremely sexy gratuitous violence and topped it with a puppy. These movies are just so freaking fun that they never get old for me.

Prompts:

Worldbuilding! Feel free to give me something from John's past or future that showcases how weird and wonderful the assassin-world of the films might be, set anywhere you think might be interesting. I'm always curious about what Continental Hotels other than New York and Rome might look like, how the various supporting figures (Charon, the Sommelier, the various other contacts for weapons, money, armor, resources, and the like that John comes into contact with) fit into the world or came to be there in the first place.

I'm also really intrigued by the use of metaphor/code, such as the exchange between John and the Sommelier in Rome about wine that was not at all about wine. The very blurry line between the "hidden world" and the "real world" - at no time during either film any of the more public acts of violence particularly shocking to onlookers - they certainly try to get out of the way, and there are muffled shrieks a time or two, but how is it that all of this happens with absolutely no intervention by the authorities? (Certainly Jimmy is in the know, but are all law enforcement? Are the films set in a universe where there's general awareness and acceptance that conflict between the powers that be are handled via assassination? Could there be magic involved? Sometimes I wonder when watching the films if there's some kind of power inherent in being an assassin who's a member of the underground world that allows them to hide in plain sight...)

Anything that digs into the notion of The High Table further is interesting, too. Implied textual evidence in the films suggests that only major organized crime institutions/families have claim to a seat at it - how did they get them in the first place, and how did those disparate families/groups ever agree to such a thing? There's a subtle implication, too, that the High Table is a very "old world" institution and that the "new world" doesn't have much power - why not, when so much organized crime came to the Americas alongside immigrants, including John himself?

Art: Of any character, OC, or significant location from the films would be welcome. Graphic violence is OK, but please nothing sexually explicit.

In-universe documents: Records kept in the book of blood oaths, a police report by Jimmy or another cop "in the know", other records kept by the High Table

DNW: Characters under 16 having sex. (References to past underage sex are fine.) Setting change AUs with the exception of adding magic or creeping horror elements to the canon setting. Canon divergence is also fine. Animal death. (Do not kill the dog, please. Major Character Death is fine for this fandom otherwise.)

Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey

Worldbuilding

With the announcement that the Valdemar books are being adapted for television, I've been feeling very nostalgic for this world. Valdemar was my first real fandom - I recieved Mercedes Lackey fan club newsletters in the mid 90s - and it will always hold a special place in my heart. I love the setting, despite (or perhaps because of) all it's melodrama and silliness.

Prompts: I'm mostly interested in stories that poke at expectations and understandings of the world presented in the book without going really grim-dark. Outsider's perspective on Valdemar and the Heralds. I particularly enjoyed Alberich, Kerowyn, and other non-Herald's more clear-eyed view the strengths and weaknesses of Valdemar's systems.

On the flip side, from the inside, what about a story about a member of the Valdemaran royal family who isn't Chosen, either due to a lack of Gift or the Companions deciding that they had some more important purpose in a different role?

The books imply that prospective Monarch's Own sometimes have "unbonded Choosings" and only *really* Bond with the Grove Born Companion when they take office. (When Jisa is a child in the Last Herald-Mage books Vanyel implies this could be her future, and it's not clear if it didn't happen for political (keeping her out of the line of succession) or practical (Randale wouldn't live long, anyway) reasons.) But... what would that be like, and in what circumstances might it happen? How would the "temporary Companion" feel about it?

Similarly, what happens when an adult Herald is tapped as the next Monarch's Own? Was their bond with their existing Companion not real? Would the Companions argue about it?

In general I'm curious about Companion interpersonal interaction. They are definitely implied to have human-like conflicts and prejudices. How does that play out? Do they chastise one another for breaking the rules? How?

For what it's worth, besides Alberich and Kerowyn some of my favorite characters are Talia and Dirk, Kris, Selenay, and Skif. From Vanyel's time, I am fond of him, Savil, as well as Randale, Shavri, and Jisa. But any characters not in my DNWs are fair game, as are OCs both from within and outside of Valdemar.

Sun/Shadow:

Link to the lyrics of all of the Sun & Shadow music here: http://www.goldenboughmusic.com/music/SunShadow/SunShadow.htm

The legend within the story, the one that Lackey swore she'd never actually write about - but I'm intrigued. We know that "officially" Sun and Shadow were cursed, eventually found magic to undo the curse but instead used it to free an heir of Valdemar from an evil mage and lost their chance to beat the curse, and were eventually chosen by Companions to become Heralds, which then (because Companion Magic, presumably) caused them to be freed from the curse.

But...is that really how it went down?

In addition to a direct take on the legend, I would also be game for any fic in the Valdemar setting that touches on the ballads themselves and doesn't directly include the prompted characters - a Bard character working on their own variation of the legend in song or poetry, an archivist trying to find the real history in the legend, a pair of starcrossed lovers somewhere else in the universe of the books relating to the great tragic love of Sun and Shadow.

I'd also be interested in a very meta take involving "Herald-Archivist Myste" (Mercedes Lackey's extremely transparent self-insert, gods love her) writing about (critiquing?) the ballads and the history if that's your interest.

Art: Love art that riffs off any of my prompts above or general likes. Any and all styles welcome, and it need not be overtly shippy.

In-universe documents/academic reports: Anything by Collegium researchers, Herald scholars (or Archivists), Bards, out-Kingdom mages or scholars traveling in Valdemar (or working off second and third-hand reports...), etc, would be great!

DNW: Characters under 16 having sex. (References to past underage sex are fine.) Focus on any of the characters from the books where Mags or his children are protagonists. I have not read these books (Collegium Chronicles/Family of Spies) so I'm not interested in any extension of their stories. However, the founding of the Collegia is of interest to me, so focus on a story in that time period with Original Characters is fine! (Mention of canonical characters from the Mags books is fine.)

General Likes and Preferences

Setting tropes and AU premises I love

canon divergence/"what if" AUs - I love butterfly effect, "change one thing" AUs especially!
soulmates and soul bonds - and soulmate subversion, and soulmates played dark or strange - feel free to play it straight but I also love characters choosing someone(s) other than a soulmate, or the notion of soulmates being as much trouble as they are a joy. The worldbuilding would be wild in a world where soulmates are A Thing - I love exploring the effects of that, and the ambiguous bits of such an AU.
battle couples/trios - ties neatly into competency kink and loyalty kink sexual likes, but non-sexual love and romance among folks who fight together is A+ also
magical aus (give non-magical characters/canons magic - telepathy, mind magic, arcane magic, spellcasting. Though many of the canons I tend to like have magic of some kind, feel free to go on a worldbuilding dive into what any of my non-magical canon requests might look like if magic was real.)
alternate magical system AUs (keep the canon magic, but make it different somehow)
fairy tale AUs
daemon AUs (or any other "sentient animal companion" magic settings - Valdemar's Companions, Chronicles of the Cheysuli's lir, the "Animalled" of Beukes' Zoo City, witch familiars, etc)
time loops/Groundhog Day premise (via magic or weird science or no explanation whatsoever)
undercover antics and/or identity porn - undercover fake married, partners or lovers undercover as enemies, or characters having overlapping complex arrangements of fake identities are all good
future fic and "next gen" fic (about children of canonical characters as older teens or adults)
ghosts, communicating with the dead (via magic or weird science)
enemies to lovers
werewolves and other were-creatures/animal shapeshifters - tying into magical AUs, I like "everyone's a werewolf" or some kind of magical critter AUs, or just one particular character being "other". Mixing and matching - werewolf and vampire, or werewolf and magical creature hunter, for example, is also a lot of fun.
sharing a bed (sexual, romantic, or platonic) - enforced intimacy!
huddling for warmth - more enforced intimacy!
trapped in a cabin in a blizzard - are you seeing the trend about enforced intimacy?!
Hurt/Comfort - see the whole section on this trope below

Hurt/Comfort & Whump favorites (note that the "comfort" can be sexual, romantic, or platonic)
The thing I really like the most about h/c and whump is the intimacy of it all. The caring for another person in h/c, and/or the traumatic headspace/emotional rollercoaster of pain and angst the whumped character goes through are absolutely my personal catnip.

Hurt and Whump Preferences:

torture - I'm generally interested in the emotions and sensory elements more than the gore here. Exhaustion, pain, lingering emotional/mental trauma and mild-to-moderate long-term physical effects are my preferences. I'm less interested in super-severe injury, amputation, or mindbreak-levels of torture.
sleep deprivation/exhaustion
noble self-sacrifice - risking harm or death (by performing a noble last stand, or being a distraction, or playing the honeypot, or offering yourself up for torture/assault) to spare others punishment or to allow them to escape
drugging
hallucinations
forced to watch others being hurt

Comfort Preferences:

hair touching/running fingers through hair
helping others with personal care - hair washing, shaving, injury tending
small acts of intimacy/care - preparing food, standing guard while the hurt one sleeps, sharpening the hurt one's edged weapons or cleaning their guns
sex (with some consideration for the seriousness of the hurt, but I do not expect medical accuracy)

Sex tropes I love

dubcon - specifically in situations when both/all parties are consenting under duress due to outside forces, such as "sex pollen", "bad guys made them do it", or character(s) consenting to spare another character from having to do so. I like all kinds of outcomes from this plot - the somewhat positive outcomes of admitting hidden feelings or strengthening a relationship after such a difficult experience; a more tragic or negative outcome such as the end of a relationship/partnership, or tragedy; or something ambiguously between the two - I'm happy with any direction unless otherwise requested in my DNWs for a particular fandom/character/ship.
bondage - particularly of stoic or restrained characters getting tied up and absolutely wrecked
first time sex - both first time sex ever or first time performing a particular sex act for a character if there's a reasonable characterization of said character as inexperienced, and also first time sex with a particular partner
sex magic
pegging (both f/m and f/f)
praise kink - particularly of stoic and/or damaged characters unused to and undone by praise
casual physical intimacy between partners - falling asleep on partner's shoulder, cuddling, spooning, etc., especially of characters not used to casual physical intimacy becoming comfortable with it - this could include both characters who have lots of casual sex but not much casual cuddling, or characters who are touch starved or anything in between
begging during sex ("please!")
sex as an emotional outlet in the wake of tragedy or grief, such as friends grieving the loss of a mutual friend or loved one or getting over a shared bad experience
Dominance/submission (though I prefer it NOT be formalized BDSM, such as negotiating safewords and "Master/sir" address, etc. Also, if it's f/m I generally prefer the female character be dominant unless otherwise requested. For my various gender composition OT3+ ships I either don't care or will specify in the prompts.)
sex between platonic friends
competence kink
threesomes
loyalty kink
oral sex and fingering/handjobs, both as a precursor to vaginal or anal sex, and as its own thing

Hi there,

Thanks for checking out my letter. This is my first year participating in Holly Poly, though I have several OT3s both in my currently active fandoms and in longstanding fandoms of my heart.

General Preferences: I am overall open to receiving fic or art of any rating, including violent or sexually explicit content. I am OK with any AO3 required warning if appropriate to the fic or art.

Prompts for each of my ships below. Note that some prompts are re-purposed from past signups, especially for some of my perennial requests. Even if I've received fic based on those prompts before, repeating it here definitely means I still want more content based on those prompts!

At the end of the letter is a big list of prompted likes and preferences - do feel free to ignore my fandom-specific prompts and dive into one of those likes if it gives you any ideas.

Fandoms in alphabetical order:

Ladyhawke (1985)
Etienne Navarre/Isabeau d'Anjou/Philippe Gaston

What happens after the film? I don't buy that Philippe goes off on his own with Imperius and leaves the Great Lovers to their reunion...at least not permanently. I really like the idea that Navarre and Isabeau realize something is missing after a time relishing their freedom from the curse, and seek out their most loyal of friends eventually.

The three of them spending a winter together, or huddling up against miserable weather, is also very charming for either fic or art.

DNW: modern setting (more explicit fantasy setting or magic besides the curse - like soulmates or the like - is fine)

The Man from U.N.C.L.E (2015)
Gaby Teller/Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo

My primary fandom home these days is MUNCLE movie fandom, and I never tire of these three getting together and figuring out their professional and personal partnerships all at once. Mission fic is great, but so is slice-of-life downtime off the job - maybe something set around a winter holiday like New Year's Day, or Solo conning his partners into appreciation of a "Western" Christmas tradition.

Huddling for warmth/only one bed/staving off hypothermia/snowed in stuff is my catnip. Declarations of feelings due to serious injury or hurt/comfort scenarios, too.

I am open to lots of ways for them to be a trio, but I'm particularly fond of Napoleon Solo, "womanizing" self-absorbed criminal, selflessly trying to avoid getting in the way of Gaby and Illya's relationship despite his feelings for both of them (because as much as he appreciates himself, he doesn't think he'd be any good for them, and besides, they don't feel that way about him) or even trying to set them up and failing miserably. Because they both want him, too.

DNW: non-spy AU. (though canon divergence where they end up retiring together or casefic where they're undercover doing something else is fine! also adding magic or making the setting weirder a la magical realism is good, I just want them to be 60s cold war spies, too.)

(You can see all of my past letters requesting this fandom under the tag MUNCLE 2015, feel free to go with anything.)

Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Sarah Alder/Biddies
Anacostia Quartermaine/Petra Bellweather/Sarah Alder

For Alder/Biddies: what is the general's relationship like with them? How intimate must it be for her very life to be sustained by their sacrifice! How do they perform magic together? What does it feel like, and how does it connect them?

For Anacostia/Petra/Alder, I'm thinking power-play magic involving intense rituals - maybe sex, too? Perhaps the most advanced battle magics require deep intimacy, or at least performing it, whether or not there are emotions involved.

DNW: No Magic AU.

Once Upon a Time (TV)
Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan/Milah

I remain really, really mad about what happened to Milah. It was extremely unfair. What might have happened if she'd returned from the Underworld with Killian and Emma? (Like, besides kicking Rumple's ass six ways from Sunday.)

Alternately, an Enchanted Forest AU where princess Emma ends up in a relationship with a pair of dastardly pirates would be fantastic!

DNW: Modern AU.

Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Dirk/Kris/Talia (Valdemar)

Feel free to go canon divergence with this--somehow the three of them get together prior to Talia and Kris's ill-fated journey to Hardorn somehow. Maybe Dirk wasn't off mentoring Skif and got sent their way while Talia and Kris were on circuit and the separate complicated things between Talia and Kris and Talia and Dirk get pulled into the light abruptly.

Alternately, fix-it: Kris doesn't die, Dirk somehow Fetches both Kris and Talia back from Hardorn, and then pulls a noble sacrifice because he wants to leave his Best Friend and Epic Crush to their perfect love, not realizing the relationship is much more complicated than that (and they need him, too).

DNW: Modern AU.

The Witcher (TV)

Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier/Yennefer of Vengerberg (Witcher TV)

At some point post-S1, Ciri has a Mom and Two Dads who somehow get over their interpersonal strife for her sake. (Honestly, an outsider's perspective from Ciri would be great.)

I am always game for fic where Yennefer and Jaskier team up to lovingly top the hell out of Geralt because someone needs to take care of the big idiot so the other two bury the hatchet to see that it gets done.

Alternately, Geralt is confused, scared, and a liiiitle aroused when Jaskier and Yennefer end up teaming up without him for some reason.

DNW: None (This is the fandom I am open to Modern AUs for if you're interested.)

General Likes and Preferences

Setting tropes and AU premises I Love:

canon divergence/"what if" AUs - I love butterfly effect, "change one thing" AUs especially!
soulmates and soul bonds - and soulmate subversion, and soulmates played dark or strange - feel free to play it straight but I also love characters choosing someone(s) other than a soulmate, or the notion of soulmates being as much trouble as they are a joy. The worldbuilding would be wild in a world where soulmates are A Thing - I love exploring the effects of that, and the ambiguous bits of such an AU.
battle couples/trios - ties neatly into competency kink and loyalty kink sexual likes, but non-sexual love and romance among folks who fight together is A+ also
magical aus (give non-magical characters/canons magic - telepathy, mind magic, arcane magic, spellcasting. Though many of the canons I tend to like have magic of some kind, feel free to go on a worldbuilding dive into what any of my non-magical canon requests might look like if magic was real.)
alternate magical system AUs (keep the canon magic, but make it different somehow)
time loops/Groundhog Day premise (via magic or weird science or no explanation whatsoever)
undercover antics and/or identity porn - undercover fake married, partners or lovers undercover as enemies, or characters having overlapping complex arrangements of fake identities are all good
future fic and "next gen" fic (about children of canonical characters as older teens or adults)
ghosts, communicating with the dead (via magic or weird science)
enemies to lovers
werewolves and other were-creatures/animal shapeshifters - tying into magical AUs, I like "everyone's a werewolf" or some kind of magical critter AUs, or just one particular character being "other"
sharing a bed (sexual, romantic, or platonic) - enforced intimacy!
huddling for warmth - more enforced intimacy!
trapped in a cabin in a blizzard - are you seeing the trend about enforced intimacy?!
Hurt/Comfort - see the whole section on this trope below

Hurt/Comfort & Whump Favorites (note that the "comfort" can be sexual, romantic, or platonic)

The thing I really like the most about h/c and whump is the intimacy of it all. The deeply intimate nature of caring for another person in h/c, and/or the headspace/emotional rollercoaster of pain the whumped character goes through are absolutely my personal catnip.

Hurt and Whump Preferences:

torture - I'm generally interested in the emotions and sensory elements more than the gore here. Torture that leads to chronic injury/pain, mild-to-moderate debilitation over time or permanently, or psychological trauma are the sorts of things I want to see for this kind of hurt. I'm less interested in super-severe injury, amputation, or mindbreak-levels of torture.
sleep deprivation/exhaustion
noble self-sacrifice - risking harm or death (by performing a noble last stand, or being a distraction, or playing the honeypot, or offering yourself up for torture/assault) to spare others punishment or to allow them to escape
drugging
hallucinations
characters forced to watch others being hurt

Comfort Preferences:

hair touching/running fingers through hair
helping others with personal care - hair washing, injury tending, etc
small acts of intimacy/care - preparing food, standing guard while the hurt one sleeps, etc
sex (with reasonable consideration for the seriousness of the hurt!)

Sex tropes I Love:

dubcon - specifically in situations when both/all parties are consenting under duress due to outside forces, such as "sex pollen", "bad guys made them do it", or character(s) consenting to spare another character from having to do so. This can lead to a positive outcome - admitting feelings, strengthening a relationship after such a difficult experience - or a negative outcome - angst, the end of a relationship/partnership, tragedy - or something ambiguous.
bondage - particularly of stoic or restrained characters getting tied up and absolutely wrecked
first time sex - both first time sex ever or first time performing a particular sex act for a character if there's a reasonable characterization of said character as inexperienced, and also first time sex with a particular partner - I tend to prefer getting together over established relationship unless otherwise requested
sex magic
pegging (both f/m and f/f)
praise kink - particularly of stoic and/or damaged characters unused to and undone by praise
casual physical intimacy between partners - falling asleep on partner's shoulder, cuddling, spooning, etc., especially of characters not used to casual physical intimacy becoming comfortable with it - this could include both characters who have lots of casual sex but not much casual cuddling, or characters who are touch starved or anything in between
begging during sex ("please!")
sex as an emotional outlet in the wake of tragedy or grief - friends grieving the loss of a mutual friend or loved one or getting over a shared bad experience
Dominance/submission (if it's f/m I generally prefer the female character be dominant unless otherwise requested)
sex between platonic friends
competence kink
threesomes
loyalty kink

Hi there,

Thanks for checking out my letter. This is my fifth year participating in Yuletide and, as always, I'm looking forward to it. This letter is organized into three parts: first are general preferences around fic, next are fandom-specific prompts and Do Not Wants, and finally is a big list of general tropes I enjoy.

General Preferences: I am overall open to receiving fic of any rating, including violent or sexually explicit content. I am OK with any AO3 required warning if appropriate to the fic. I am also open to worldbuilding fic in each of my requested fandoms this year that barely includes any requested character, if such a premise interests you.

I do not have broad DNWs (in the sense of topics that I under no circumstances want to receive in any fic) just fandom-specific preferences detailed below with each set of prompts.

XXX

Enola Holmes (2020)
Requested Characters: Enola Holmes, Sherlock Holmes

I'm not going to lie: I initially watched this film mostly to see how Millie Bobbie Brown would take on another I'm Not Like Other Girls role, and to appreciate Henry Cavill's curls. I ended up finding it really charming and fun, and I really hope Netflix turns it into a film series. (Honestly, I think it would have been even better as a miniseries or short series, but I understand just about everyone in it is busy with other projects.) I liked how it centered Enola's relationship with her mother, but also complicated her distant admiration for her brother's sleuthing with the realization that Sherlock, for all his skills and talents, wasn't at all sure how to deal with her. I'd really like to see a fic set post-film that looks at that developing relationship.

Note that I haven't read the books that the film is based off of, but feel free to use some of that canon if it pleases you, I'm not worried about spoilers.

Prompts:

Both Enola and Sherlock continue to look into their mother's mysterious work, and keep running into one another throughout their investigations, to mixed feelings. It seems clear from the film that Eudoria is involved in suffrage movement activism that may very well turn violent - and I suspect that even as proud and fond of his sister as Sherlock is, he would not be particularly supportive of those kinds of actions. (Though, maybe he'd surprise me, I don't know!) Perhaps Enola (learning more about the Cause from Edith) and Sherlock debate about the issue and Enola tries to win him over to supporting their mother's work.

Does this Sherlock have a Watson? What's their relationship like, and how might Enola come to meet them or feel about them if they were to team up to help Sherlock at any point? (Ambiguous pronoun used on purpose, feel free to play fast and loose with the character of Dr. Watson however you like. I'm not invested in any particular variation of a Sherlock/Watson ship but if you're pulled in that direction go for it!).

Potentially riffing off the above prompt - ACD Holmes canonically had a cocaine addiction that Watson helped him overcome. (Obviously various adaptations have played with this more directly, like in Elementary.) Maybe Enola finds out that her Gifted older brother has some demons of his own?

Enola/Tewky is very cute (he's a good boy) and I'm fine with it being included in a fic - Sherlock seemed unbothered by the idea of their relationship, perhaps even a little amused. Whether Enola is really romantically attached to Tewky or just very protective of his helplessness or something in between, fic featuring the three of them could be interesting.

Slice of life stuff is good, too - Sherlock attempting to convince Enola to live with him as his ward more formally (I expect she's not interested, though perhaps tempted, but it would be intriguing to see that discussion), Sherlock and Enola running into one another in an unexpected context, Sherlock and Enola competing for a particular case to the former's consternation and amusement and the latter's increasing determination.

Fandom Specific DNW: Incest. Mycroft featuring as a Big Bad Villain in the fic. (He can be mentioned or even pass through, but I'd rather just ignore the big boor.)

Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Requested Characters: Anacostia Quartermaine, Berryessa Tansey

I think the worldbuilding for this show is fascinating...and full of holes screaming for further development. The alternate history is both intriguing and frustrating in its inconsistencies. I am absolutely starving for more details like the bits of history timeline we've seen in bits and pieces across the first season, and its effects on everything from global power structures to religious practices.

Prompts:

I chose Sgt. Tansey and Anacostia as my requests because they are my favorite minor and major characters, respectively, and I adored their conversation during the Beltane festivities. I would very much welcome Anacostia/Berryessa-focused fic, but I'm also okay with only one of them featuring in the fic, or neither. For a ship-focused fic, something about their pasts together (Beltane festivities when they were cadets, perhaps? or perhaps the idea that they were both fosterlings together?) or how Berryessa - as a ritualist and perhaps religious figure - might help Anacostia deal with her doubts prompted by the events of the end of S1.

Worldbuilding, religious-style: Sgt. Tansey is a "matrimonialist" - "Matrimonialist" appears to be a title and perhaps even a specific military rank - we see Sgt. Tansey on the show seem to lead both the Beltane ritual and Charvel Bellweather's marriage ceremony. With witchcraft ability being inherited and implied to come from extra-human physical development (per the ability of the Fort Salem witches to identify murder victims as witch-descendants by autopsying their vocal chords) it stands to reason that maintaining family lines is extremely significant. At the same time, there's enough witches who slip through the cracks that there were dozens of Bellweather-related victims previously unknown to the military. If there's a role that's equivalent to something between an archivist, matchmaker, and priestess devoted to keeping the family lines known and marrying well, what would that be like? What social and cultural norms would grow up around that - we see glimpses of some interesting worldbuilding around pregnancy in combat (considered an admirable thing, perhaps lucky for the baby?) and pagan-flavored temporary, contract-like marriages. Any exploration of this would be fantastic!

Worldbuilding, soldier-style: What does it mean to be a soldier - not a general and not a cadet - in the witch military? We've seen a bit of it filtered through the POV of Raelle's mother, but she had a very particular POV. What was Anacostia's experience like before she became an instructor and leader at Fort Salem? She must have had battlefield experience, but unlike most of the other adult characters on the show we don't actually hear her talk about that time much. If she has always been close to General Alder, as their relationship implies, what was that like for her? What has she seen or heard, and how does that influence the way she's made her choices re: Scylla and the Spree at the end of S1?

Fandom specific DNW: No Magic AU. Major focus on any romantic relationships between students. Background references to relationships are fine, inclusion of canon Raelle/Scylla's effect on Anacostia's work and emotional state is great, but I would prefer any relationship focus be on the adult characters I requested with each other or others.

Valdemar series - Mercedes Lackey
Requested Characters: Lythe Shadowdancer, Rothas Sunsinger

Link to the lyrics of all of the Sun & Shadow music here: http://www.goldenboughmusic.com/music/SunShadow/SunShadow.htm

The legend within the story, the one that Lackey swore she'd never actually write about - but I'm intrigued. I love the Sun and Shadow ballads in the books (I have owned the Firebird Arts and Music recordings since the 90s, I must admit) and I am always interested in seeing what others think of the legend and what might be behind it. We know that "officially" Sun and Shadow were cursed, eventually found magic to undo the curse but instead used it to free an heir of Valdemar from an evil mage and lost their chance to beat the curse, and were eventually chosen by Companions to become Heralds, which then (because Companion Magic, presumably) caused them to be freed from the curse.

But...is that really how it went down?

In addition to a direct take on the legend, I would also be game for any fic in the Valdemar setting that touches on the ballads themselves and doesn't directly include the prompted characters - a Bard character working on their own variation of the legend in song or poetry, an archivist trying to find the real history in the legend, a pair of starcrossed lovers somewhere else in the universe of the books relating to the great tragic love of Sun and Shadow.

I'd also be interested in a very meta take involving "Herald-Archivist Myste" (Mercedes Lackey's extremely transparent self-insert, gods love her) writing about (critiquing?) the ballads and the history if that's your interest.

Tonally, anything from total tragedy (they were not, in fact, saved by Companions, in the end...) to lighthearted comedy (*groan* oh god not ANOTHER Sun and Shadow ballad!) is welcome here.

XXX

And the final part of my letter is the below big list of preferred tropes. I am a pretty regular fic exchange participant and so this is my "list of likes". Not all of them will apply to every fandom or prompt, but if you're looking for some evidence of my tastes and trope preferences in fic, this might help clarify things.

Setting tropes and AU premises I Love:

canon divergence/"what if" AUs - I love butterfly effect, "change one thing" AUs especially!
soulmates and soul bonds - and soulmate subversion, and soulmates played dark or strange - feel free to play it straight but I also love characters choosing someone(s) other than a soulmate, or the notion of soulmates being as much trouble as they are a joy. The worldbuilding would be wild in a world where soulmates are A Thing - I love exploring the effects of that, and the ambiguous bits of such an AU.
battle couples/trios - ties neatly into competency kink and loyalty kink sexual likes, but non-sexual love and romance among folks who fight together is A+ also
magical aus (give non-magical characters/canons magic - telepathy, mind magic, arcane magic, spellcasting. Though many of the canons I tend to like have magic of some kind, feel free to go on a worldbuilding dive into what any of my non-magical canon requests might look like if magic was real.)
alternate magical system AUs (keep the canon magic, but make it different somehow)
time loops/Groundhog Day premise (via magic or weird science or no explanation whatsoever)
undercover antics and/or identity porn - undercover fake married, partners or lovers undercover as enemies, or characters having overlapping complex arrangements of fake identities are all good
future fic and "next gen" fic (about children of canonical characters as older teens or adults)
ghosts, communicating with the dead (via magic or weird science)
enemies to lovers
werewolves and other were-creatures/animal shapeshifters - tying into magical AUs, I like "everyone's a werewolf" or some kind of magical critter AUs, or just one particular character being "other"
sharing a bed (sexual, romantic, or platonic) - enforced intimacy!
huddling for warmth - more enforced intimacy!
trapped in a cabin in a blizzard - are you seeing the trend about enforced intimacy?!
Hurt/Comfort - see the whole section on this trope below

Hurt/Comfort & Whump Favorites (note that the "comfort" can be sexual, romantic, or platonic)

Hurt and Whump Preferences:

torture - I'm generally interested in the emotions and sensory elements more than the gore here. Torture that leads to chronic injury/pain, mild-to-moderate debilitation over time or permanently, or psychological trauma are the sorts of things I want to see for this kind of hurt. I'm less interested in super-severe injury, amputation, or mindbreak-levels of torture.
sleep deprivation/exhaustion
noble self-sacrifice - risking harm or death (by performing a noble last stand, or being a distraction, or playing the honeypot, or offering yourself up for torture/assault) to spare others punishment or to allow them to escape
drugging
hallucinations
characters forced to watch others being hurt

Comfort Preferences:

hair touching/running fingers through hair
helping others with personal care - hair washing, injury tending, etc
small acts of intimacy/care - preparing food, standing guard while the hurt one sleeps, etc
sex (with reasonable consideration for the seriousness of the hurt!)

Sex tropes I Love:

dubcon - specifically in situations when both/all parties are consenting under duress due to outside forces, such as "sex pollen", "bad guys made them do it", or character(s) consenting to spare another character from having to do so. This can lead to a positive outcome - admitting feelings, strengthening a relationship after such a difficult experience - or a negative outcome - angst, the end of a relationship/partnership, tragedy - or something ambiguous.
bondage - particularly of stoic or restrained characters getting tied up and absolutely wrecked
first time sex - both first time sex ever or first time performing a particular sex act for a character if there's a reasonable characterization of said character as inexperienced, and also first time sex with a particular partner - I tend to prefer getting together over established relationship unless otherwise requested
sex magic
pegging (both f/m and f/f)
praise kink - particularly of stoic and/or damaged characters unused to and undone by praise
casual physical intimacy between partners - falling asleep on partner's shoulder, cuddling, spooning, etc., especially of characters not used to casual physical intimacy becoming comfortable with it - this could include both characters who have lots of casual sex but not much casual cuddling, or characters who are touch starved or anything in between
begging during sex ("please!")
sex as an emotional outlet in the wake of tragedy or grief - friends grieving the loss of a mutual friend or loved one or getting over a shared bad experience
Dominance/submission (if it's f/m I generally prefer the female character be dominant unless otherwise requested)
sex between platonic friends
competence kink
threesomes
loyalty kink

Overview: I welcome fanworks of all ratings, with any warning. I enjoy fics with sexual content for romantic or sexual pairings, but it's not necessary. My only blanket DNW is: No Modern AUs and No "No Magic" AUs (for fandoms with canonical magic). Below the fandom-specific prompts you'll find a list of my general likes. Feel free to ignore any of the prompts and latch onto any of my general trope, AU, hurt/comfort, or sex likes if they spark your creativity.

In addition to fanfic and fanart of any kind, I'm interest in in-universe documents. I give some examples of in-universe documents that strike me as good fits for each fandom, but please feel free to think outside of those boxes if you are so inspired!

Game of Thrones (TV)
Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth (GoT)

Length Opt-In: Any Nominated Opt-In
Medium Opt-In: Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Medium Opt-In: Fanart

My forever OTP since I first read A Storm of Swords nearly 20 years ago. Show-version Jaime and Brienne are different than the books, obviously, but there was a lot that was wonderfully satisfying about their relationship on screen. Jaime knighting Brienne and the consummation of their relationship was wonderful and everything I could have hoped for...but everything that happened after that was less so.

Prompts:
FIX IT. Give me the canon divergence that makes Jaime's sad-sack "yeah guess I'm just that terrible and I have to go die with Cersei, peace out" end disappear. I'm game for pain, I'm game for hard-earned happy endings, I'm game for Jaime and Brienne not even living happily ever after, but I want something more satisfying than the show provided, please. Alternately, they get a happy ending of sorts, but some new threat comes along (maybe 10 years down the line while they're wrangling a couple kids) and they have to pick up their swords and armor once more.

In-universe AUs. Stuff like Soulmates, role reversal, gender swap, arranged marriage, etc, are always interesting!

I'm also open to creative fic formats. Epistolary would work well for them given an AU where Jaime flees Westeros, with or without Cersei. (I have no problem with Jaime/Cersei featuring in any gift.)

Alternately, a History of Ser Brienne of Tarth, the First Female Knight of Westeros (with as many "inconsistencies" or "artistic license" moments as you like) written by a Maester generations later in the vein of Fire & Blood would be fascinating.

xxx

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo/Gaby Teller (MUNCLE 2015)

Length Opt-In: Any Nominated Opt-In
Medium Opt-In: Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting
Medium Opt-In: Fanart

My perfect threesome of messy bisexual spies - I think the quote on a gifset of the three of them I saw recently perfectly sums up my feelings: "If two wrongs don't make a right, try three." [LINK] Individually they are disasters, together they somehow function enough to save each other and the day.

Prompts:
Getting together while saving the world - whether it's the end-of-the-movie teased Istanbul affair or another future mission, let them figure out their feelings and get together while kicking the ass of fascists. Hurt/comfort, enforced intimacy while on the mission, and other tropey nonsense a plus!

Also welcome - if you'd prefer to do several shorter fics vs a long one, glimpses of each individual relationship (Gaby and Illya, Illya and Napoleon, Napoleon and Gaby) would also be interesting! Maybe "times the other two had to save the third" or "times the other two had to go undercover together", etc. Outsider's POV - Waverly, Sanders, Oleg, or another UNCLE agent - would also be interesting!

I'm game for ALL of the in-universe content for this fandom - things like mission reports, debriefings, transcripts of interviews, etc. The same mission from three different POVs would be interesting! Feel free, if you're familiar with the TV show canon, to use elements of that worldbuilding if you like - UNCLE headquarters in New York, the notion that the bad guy fascists are an organization called THRUSH, that sort of thing, but also feel free to make up your own!

As this fandom is a perennial request for me, you can also check out my past letters for prompts - I'm game for anything with them.

[LINK] to past MUNCLE 2015 letters.

xxx

Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Abigail Bellweather & Petra Bellweather (Motherland: Fort Salem)
Abigail Bellweather & Raelle Collar & Tally Craven (Motherland: Fort Salem)
Anacostia Quartermaine/Berryessa Tansey (Motherland: Fort Salem)
Solo: Sarah Alder (Motherland: Fort Salem)

Length Opt-In: Any Nominated Opt-In

Medium Opt-In: Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting

Medium Opt-In: Fanart

I love the wild worldbuilding of this show, and all of the interesting, complicated protagonists. For romantic relationships I am primarily interested in the older characters - Anacostia/Sgt. Tansey, and Sarah Alder/Any non-student - but I'm fine with any romantic ships among the younger protagonists, canon or not, being in the background of any fic.

Prompts:
For the Bellweather Unit trio, how will they come back together post S1 after the events of the finale? How deeply has their faith in the military generally and Alder specifically been shaken? What if they teamed up with Petra to try to double down on the coup attempt against Alder somehow? What if they work with Anacostia to infiltrate the Spree? Alternately, have each of the three learn about the others' backgrounds and very different experiences. Maybe they travel to the Cession, or Tally's mother's commune, in addition to the High Atlantic culture we saw in the wedding episode.

For Abigail & Petra, what was Abigail's experience as a young debutante of the High Atlantic witches like? What does it mean to be of powerful lineage in terms of expectations and politics?

For Anacostia/Sgt. Tansey I *loved* their conversation reminiscing about past Beltanes. What were they like when they were younger? Did they maybe hook up at Beltane just for the ritual, or was there real feeling there?

For Sarah Alder, literally anything at any point in history that you want to explore is fair game. What does leadership really mean for Sarah Alder? She strikes me as a complex, gray character who makes what she thinks are good choices for all, but that may only be good choices for her and her power. How did the first Biddies come to sacrifice themselves for her? How did she choose the first soldiers to serve with her, like Abigail's Bellweather ancestor? How did other nations besides the US develop their own witch militaries, and what relationships does she have with leaders, witch and non-witch, military and civilian, in other places? (Characters to ship with Alder, if you're interested - Petra Bellweather, Anacostia Quartermaine, or President Wade. Any non-student character is fine if you're so moved!)

As far as in-universe documents are concerned, I like the idea of alternate history documentation - anything from a history report written by a Fort Salem cadet to an academic article focusing on Alder, military culture, witch culture, witch family lineage, or anything else that would flesh out the setting.

xxx

The Witcher (TV)
Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer (Witcher TV)

Length Opt-In: Any Nominated Opt-In

Medium Opt-In: Any In-Universe Documents That Fit the Canon Setting

Medium Opt-In: Fanart

I really enjoyed this show and I am very fond of the strong relationships that Geralt has with both Jaskier and Yennefer. We really saw the relationship with Jaskier develop into something deep despite their harsh parting in episode 6; at the same time we didn't get to see as much of the relationship with Yennefer develop, but I was totally sold on their connection to one another in that same episode - Geralt's ease and Yen's honesty said a lot.

(I am only marginally familiar with the video game series and not at all with the books directly, though I've picked up a bit by osmosis. I am spoiled for various book-canon plot points with regard to Ciri's connection to Nilfgard, etc, so feel free to incorporate such canon if you like, but also sticking totally to TV canon is great.)

I would really like Jaskier and Yennefer to dial down the sniping and realize that they really could be one another's favorite kind of bitch. (And then mutually, lovingly top the hell out of Geralt, ahem.) I'm also open to works focusing on a V-shaped relationship, where Jaskier and Yen both have a relationship with Geralt but aren't romantically attached. (Honestly, that...feels like canon to me, really.)

Prompts:
Post S1, Jaskier and Yennefer run into one another before either one sees Geralt again under whatever circumstances you can imagine. Maybe they help each other get ahead of some angry Nilfgardians, or recognize one another while trying to lay low, and they grudgingly team up, and decide to stay that way until they can find Geralt and his Child Surprise. (I quite like Ciri and she can feature heavily if you choose!)

Canon divergence with a comic edge: Yennefer finds out about "Her Sweet Kiss" sometime before the events of episode 6...and takes it as a compliment. So much so that she seeks out Jaskier to write more songs about her. Geralt is Confused and Concerned.

Feel free to play with the notion of a single event told from different perspectives (Geralt, Yen, and Jaskier - and maybe Ciri, too?) or Ciri's outsider POV on the three of them (she's very clever and I would be intrigued to see how she sizes up both Yen and Jaskier).

As for in-universe documentation, go wild. Annotations of Jaskier's song lyrics, parodies of Jaskier's songs, or academic treatises/research on Witcher magic, culture, or the like all strike me as interesting ideas!

[LINK] to past Witcher letters (includes prompts for Jaskier/Geralt, Yen/Geralt, and Jaskier/Yen/Geralt).

xxx

General Likes and Preferences

Setting tropes and AU premises I Love:

canon divergence/"what if" AUs - I love butterfly effect, "change one thing" AUs especially!
soulmates and soul bonds - and soulmate subversion, and soulmates played dark or strange - feel free to play it straight but I also love characters choosing someone(s) other than a soulmate, or the notion of soulmates being as much trouble as they are a joy. The worldbuilding would be wild in a world where soulmates are A Thing - I love exploring the effects of that, and the ambiguous bits of such an AU.
battle couples/trios - ties neatly into competency kink and loyalty kink sexual likes, but non-sexual love and romance among folks who fight together is A+ also
magical aus (give non-magical characters/canons magic - telepathy, mind magic, arcane magic, spellcasting. Though many of the canons I tend to like have magic of some kind, feel free to go on a worldbuilding dive into what any of my non-magical canon requests might look like if magic was real.)
alternate magical system AUs (keep the canon magic, but make it different somehow)
time loops/Groundhog Day premise (via magic or weird science or no explanation whatsoever)
undercover antics and/or identity porn - undercover fake married, partners or lovers undercover as enemies, or characters having overlapping complex arrangements of fake identities are all good
future fic and "next gen" fic (about children of canonical characters as older teens or adults)
ghosts, communicating with the dead (via magic or weird science)
enemies to lovers
werewolves and other were-creatures/animal shapeshifters - tying into magical AUs, I like "everyone's a werewolf" or some kind of magical critter AUs, or just one particular character being "other"
sharing a bed (sexual, romantic, or platonic) - enforced intimacy!
huddling for warmth - more enforced intimacy!
trapped in a cabin in a blizzard - are you seeing the trend about enforced intimacy?!
Hurt/Comfort - see the whole section on this trope below

Hurt/Comfort & Whump Favorites (note that the "comfort" can be sexual, romantic, or platonic)

Hurt and Whump Preferences:

torture - I'm generally interested in the emotions and sensory elements more than the gore here. Torture that leads to chronic injury/pain, mild-to-moderate debilitation over time or permanently, or psychological trauma are the sorts of things I want to see for this kind of hurt. I'm less interested in super-severe injury, amputation, or mindbreak-levels of torture.
sleep deprivation/exhaustion
noble self-sacrifice - risking harm or death (by performing a noble last stand, or being a distraction, or playing the honeypot, or offering yourself up for torture/assault) to spare others punishment or to allow them to escape
drugging
hallucinations
characters forced to watch others being hurt

Comfort Preferences:

hair touching/running fingers through hair
helping others with personal care - hair washing, injury tending, etc
small acts of intimacy/care - preparing food, standing guard while the hurt one sleeps, etc
sex (with reasonable consideration for the seriousness of the hurt!)

Sex tropes I Love:

dubcon - specifically in situations when both/all parties are consenting under duress due to outside forces, such as "sex pollen", "bad guys made them do it", or character(s) consenting to spare another character from having to do so. This can lead to a positive outcome - admitting feelings, strengthening a relationship after such a difficult experience - or a negative outcome - angst, the end of a relationship/partnership, tragedy - or something ambiguous.
bondage - particularly of stoic or restrained characters getting tied up and absolutely wrecked
first time sex - both first time sex ever or first time performing a particular sex act for a character if there's a reasonable characterization of said character as inexperienced, and also first time sex with a particular partner - I tend to prefer getting together over established relationship unless otherwise requested
sex magic
pegging (both f/m and f/f)
praise kink - particularly of stoic and/or damaged characters unused to and undone by praise
casual physical intimacy between partners - falling asleep on partner's shoulder, cuddling, spooning, etc., especially of characters not used to casual physical intimacy becoming comfortable with it - this could include both characters who have lots of casual sex but not much casual cuddling, or characters who are touch starved or anything in between
begging during sex ("please!")
sex as an emotional outlet in the wake of tragedy or grief - friends grieving the loss of a mutual friend or loved one or getting over a shared bad experience
Dominance/submission (if it's f/m I generally prefer the female character be dominant unless otherwise requested)
sex between platonic friends
competence kink
threesomes
loyalty kink

Hi FFFX Author or Artist:

Thanks for taking a look at my letter! I hope these prompts inspire you, if you're so inclined. Alternately, check out my big list of beloved tropes at the end of the letter if you want to take things in a different direction. As a rule, I have no hard content-related DNWs (though I have setting-related DNWs for each fandom, below), and I welcome works of all ratings and with any warning, as appropriate. I very much enjoy and appreciate explicit sexual content in romantic/sexual relationship fics, but it's not necessary.

Fandoms

Ladyhawke (1985)
Group: Etienne Navarre/Isabeau d'Anjou/Philippe Gaston (Ladyhawke)

What I like about this canon/fandom: I unironically love every silly minute of this film and the totally 80s soundtrack. The story of star-crossed lovers helped in their quest to defeat the curse hanging over their heads by the most unlikely of thieves is charming, and the notion that the lovers grew as fond of their friend as one another, in the end, makes me very happy.

Prompts:

The Turnabout: Post-film, Philippe goes his own way, perhaps promising to visit Navarre and Isabeau in the future, but not wanting to be in the way of the reunited lovers. Unfortunately, Philippe gets caught up in his own unfortunate circumstances - perhaps something magic-infused, perhaps a curse turning him into a *literal* mouse to match his nickname. Navarre and Isabeau might be the only ones who can help him, or who would believe his story at all.

The Right Kind of Help: A three-way soulmate AU. In the film it's Philippe's clever mix of half truths and inspiration that keep Isabeau and Navarre from losing heart in their quest. It seems like they have been cursed for years and not making much headway in trying to break the curse, even though Navarre is sure he knows how. Maybe that's because they specifically needed Philippe as their missing "piece" as their soulmate just as much as they are each other's, and they realize that along the way. How might that have changed the way things played out?

DNW: Modern AU. Keep the fantasy-medieval setting please!

XXX

The Man From U.N.C.L.E (2015)
Group: Illya Kuryakin/Napoleon Solo/Gaby Teller (The Man From U.N.C.L.E 2015)

What I like about this canon/fandom: While I feel passionately that this film was utterly robbed of a sequel, it's two hours of beautifully shot, fast-paced fun with snappy dialogue that slaps a few classic tropes - fake engaged, enemies teaming up as reluctant partners against a common enemy, competitive one-upsmanship, spy-vs-spy shenanigans - on top of a trio of spies who veer wildly between highly competent and utterly useless and can't stop snarking at and saving one another. And just when these three idiots heave a sigh of relief at the end of the film, knowing that these awkward feelings for one another that have been growing over the past few days of fighting fascists can finally be put aside once they go their separate ways, they find out they're working together for the indefinite future because Alexander Waverly is a genius and a troll. I'm always asking what happens next for these three.

Prompts:
The casefic get-together: I want to see them negotiating their professional and the personal relationships at the same time against the backdrop of spy games of any kind. They're all "I work best alone" types, but now they're partners - how do they manage it? Deepening bonds via any of my preferred situational tropes or hurt/comfort scenarios would be great.

The duo to a trio: The film obviously sets up the Illya/Gaby several almost-kisses as blooming sexual tension, while Napoleon seems highly amused by their budding romance. A story in which Napoleon is somewhere between a matchmaker and a meddling thorn in their side while trying to ignore his own growing feelings for the other two would be wonderful.

Us against the world: What would happen, down the line, if after a few years of working for U.N.C.L.E and falling into a solid relationship as a trio either Napoleon or Illya or both were called back to their home agencies? Or, worse yet, Napoleon's deal is reneged upon and he ends up back in prison, or Illya's suspected of too much fraternizing with the enemy and is sent to a gulag. How might Gaby fight to get them back or how might they all work their way back to one another and/or U.N.C.L.E?

DNW: Modern AUs. (I'm not fussed about major attention to every 60s-era detail, and funky, hand-wavy spy gadget tech is totally fine, but I like the Cold War-era setting.)

Alternately, for this fandom feel free to check out my past letters and prompts for this fandom since it's a perennial request for me: anything there is fair game!

XXX

Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Group: Sarah Alder & Original Historical Witch Soldier(s) (M:FS)
Original Witch Character (Motherland: Fort Salem)
Sarah Alder (Motherland: Fort Salem)
Other: Worldbuilding (M:FS)

What I like about this canon/fandom: I think the worldbuilding for this show is fascinating...and full of holes screaming for further development. The alternate history is both intriguing and frustrating in its inconsistencies. At the same time, the total focus on female characters, including complex leaders like Sarah Alder, Petra Bellweather, Anacostia Quartermaine, Izadora, and even President Wade is really unique.

While I like all of the younger protagonists on the show and would be happy to have them featured, my main interest is in the older characters. I'm also game for focusing on an original witch in either the present day or at any point in history - such as during the Revolutionary era, any of the history-divergent world wars that are suggested to have happened, or really anything.

Prompts:

The Leader Alone: What does leadership really mean for Sarah Alder? She strikes me as a complex, gray character who makes what she thinks are good choices for all, but that may only be good choices for her and her power. How did the first Biddies come to sacrifice themselves for her? How did she choose the first soldiers to serve with her, like Abigail's Bellweather ancestor? How did other nations besides the US develop their own witch militaries, and what relationships does she have with leaders, witch and non-witch, military and civilian, in other places?

Matchmaker, Matchmaker: "Matrimonialist" appears to be a title and perhaps even a specific military rank - we see Sgt. Tansey on the show seem to lead both the Beltane ritual and Charvel Bellweather's marriage ceremony. With witchcraft ability being inherited and implied to come from extra-human physical development (per the ability of the Fort Salem witches to identify murder victims as witch-descendants by autopsying their vocal chords) it stands to reason that maintaining family lines is extremely significant. At the same time, there's enough witches who slip through the cracks that there were dozens of Bellweather-related victims previously unknown to the military. If there's a role that's equivalent to something between an archivist, matchmaker, and priestess devoted to keeping the family lines known and marrying well, what would that be like? What social and cultural norms would grow up around that - we see glimpses of some interesting worldbuilding around pregnancy in combat (considered an admirable thing, perhaps lucky for the baby?) and pagan-flavored temporary, contract-like marriages. Any exploration of this would be fantastic!

A Good Soldier: For the Original Character prompts, what is it like to be a "regular" soldier in the all-witch US military? We see cadets, and we see the top brass, but what's life like for the average witch? Besides for injury or risk to a particular family line, are their other reasons a witch might be able to leave the service? Is there a retirement age, or is it a lifetime obligation? What's life like for those somewhere between the High Atlantic upper echelons of society and, say, Raelle's disdained, rural, and Christian-flavored witchcraft. How does the rest of the US, or even the world, react to your average witch? How has witchcraft and the resulting alternate history flavored modern American society?

DNW: No Magic AU. Primary focus on a non-witch character, though non-witch supporting characters or glimpses of their views are very welcome.

XXX

Valdemar series - Mercedes Lackey
Group: Kethry & Tarma shena Tale'sedrin (Valdemar series)

What I like about this fandom: The Valdemar books were my first fandom (I was a member of the official fan club back when that meant a monthly paper newsletter came in the mail) and I remain extremely nostalgic about the books. In particular, Tarma and Kethry's Oathbound/The Oathbreakers duology and all of their short stories are some of my favorites. I would adore a work exploring one of their adventures as mercenaries (either just as a duo or part of Idra's Sunhawks mercenary company) in the vein of the short stories. Alternately, the huge gap between the end of The Oathbreakers and when they appear again in By The Sword decades later to help Kerowyn always has me curious.

Prompts:

Oathsisters against the world: Tell me a story about one of their early adventures trying to make their way in the world as oathbound sisters. Maybe Need pulled them into a complicated situation, as usual, and they're having to defend a wronged woman in dire circumstances. Maybe they have to take a job for money out of desperation and it ends up being much more complicated than advertised-how do they make it through?

The School Years: Post The Oathbreakers, Tarma and Kethry (and Jadrek) found a school where they train royal children, baby mages, wannabe mercenaries, and others, while they also start repopulating Tarma's clan. What were those years like - wrangling students and their own children, making nice with their noble neighbors, and figuring out how to settle down, for whatever that means? Tarma and Kethry (with Jadrek) scandalizing the neighbors sounds a treat.

The Dhorisha Plains Years: At other times, when they weren't schooling young royals, they were living on the Plains reviving Tale'sedrin. Five of Kethry's children became the heart of the clan - what were they like? How did they make the decision to join the clan (and what prompted Jendar and Lenore not to? We're told for Jendar it was because he wanted to be a non-shaman mage, and Kethry thinks Lenore as the baby might have felt neglected, but was that really the case?) Alternately, I'm pretty sure in By the Sword Tarma claims they had 7 children, but only 6 are ever named in various books/short stories. Is there a Kethry/Jadrek kid That Must Not Be Named for some reason?

DNW: Modern AUs.

XXX

General Likes and Preferences

Setting tropes and AU premises I Love:

canon divergence/"what if" AUs - I love butterfly effect, "change one thing" AUs especially!
soulmates and soul bonds - and soulmate subversion, and soulmates played dark or strange - feel free to play it straight but I also love characters choosing someone(s) other than a soulmate, or the notion of soulmates being as much trouble as they are a joy. The worldbuilding would be wild in a world where soulmates are A Thing - I love exploring the effects of that, and the ambiguous bits of such an AU.
battle couples/trios - ties neatly into competency kink and loyalty kink sexual likes, but non-sexual love and romance among folks who fight together is A+ also
magical aus (give non-magical characters/canons magic - telepathy, mind magic, arcane magic, spellcasting. Though many of the canons I tend to like have magic of some kind, feel free to go on a worldbuilding dive into what any of my non-magical canon requests might look like if magic was real.)
alternate magical system AUs (keep the canon magic, but make it different somehow)
time loops/Groundhog Day premise (via magic or weird science or no explanation whatsoever)
undercover antics and/or identity porn - undercover fake married, partners or lovers undercover as enemies, or characters having overlapping complex arrangements of fake identities are all good
future fic and "next gen" fic (about children of canonical characters as older teens or adults)
ghosts, communicating with the dead (via magic or weird science)
enemies to lovers
werewolves and other were-creatures/animal shapeshifters - tying into magical AUs, I like "everyone's a werewolf" or some kind of magical critter AUs, or just one particular character being "other"
sharing a bed (sexual, romantic, or platonic) - enforced intimacy!
huddling for warmth - more enforced intimacy!
trapped in a cabin in a blizzard - are you seeing the trend about enforced intimacy?!
Hurt/Comfort - see the whole section on this trope below

Hurt/Comfort & Whump Favorites (note that the "comfort" can be sexual, romantic, or platonic)

Hurt and Whump Preferences:

torture - I'm generally interested in the emotions and sensory elements more than the gore here. Torture that leads to chronic injury/pain, mild-to-moderate debilitation over time or permanently, or psychological trauma are the sorts of things I want to see for this kind of hurt. I'm less interested in super-severe injury, amputation, or mindbreak-levels of torture.
sleep deprivation/exhaustion
noble self-sacrifice - risking harm or death (by performing a noble last stand, or being a distraction, or playing the honeypot, or offering yourself up for torture/assault) to spare others punishment or to allow them to escape
drugging
hallucinations
characters forced to watch others being hurt

Comfort Preferences:

hair touching/running fingers through hair
helping others with personal care - hair washing, injury tending, etc
small acts of intimacy/care - preparing food, standing guard while the hurt one sleeps, etc
sex (with reasonable consideration for the seriousness of the hurt!)

Sex tropes I Love:

dubcon - specifically in situations when both/all parties are consenting under duress due to outside forces, such as "sex pollen", "bad guys made them do it", or character(s) consenting to spare another character from having to do so. This can lead to a positive outcome - admitting feelings, strengthening a relationship after such a difficult experience - or a negative outcome - angst, the end of a relationship/partnership, tragedy - or something ambiguous.
bondage - particularly of stoic or restrained characters getting tied up and absolutely wrecked
first time sex - both first time sex ever or first time performing a particular sex act for a character if there's a reasonable characterization of said character as inexperienced, and also first time sex with a particular partner - I tend to prefer getting together over established relationship unless otherwise requested
sex magic
pegging (both f/m and f/f)
praise kink - particularly of stoic and/or damaged characters unused to and undone by praise
casual physical intimacy between partners - falling asleep on partner's shoulder, cuddling, spooning, etc., especially of characters not used to casual physical intimacy becoming comfortable with it - this could include both characters who have lots of casual sex but not much casual cuddling, or characters who are touch starved or anything in between
begging during sex ("please!")
sex as an emotional outlet in the wake of tragedy or grief - friends grieving the loss of a mutual friend or loved one or getting over a shared bad experience
Dominance/submission (if it's f/m I generally prefer the female character be dominant unless otherwise requested)
sex between platonic friends
competence kink
threesomes
loyalty kink

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