FFFX Letter 2024

FFFX 2024 Letter

AO3 Username: StopTalkingAtMe

Welcome to my letter, Mystery Creator. Let me start by saying I’m open to a LOT of different things, including unrequested crossovers with other fandoms that I’m into. If I’ve ever written it or requested it or otherwise given you reason to think I’m a fan then go ahead.. And while my general likes might lean towards the bleak and angsty, believe it or not, I do also really love more light-hearted styles of fic as well as pure unadulterated smut. Do whatever you want with my prompts. Use them, subvert them, or ignore them completely and go off my general likes if you’d prefer. Some of the sections here may be longer than others but please don’t read anything into that – I’d be delighted with a gift for any one of them. I’m excited to see what you come up with! :D

Table of Contents

• General Preferences
  
  • General Likes
  • Smut Likes
  • DNWs
• The 4400 (2004)
• Butch Cassidy (Ferrante Movies)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Fallout (TV)
• House on Haunted Hill (1999)
• I Know What You Did Last Summer (Movie Series)
• Re-Animator (Movies)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• Thief (Original Games)
• Would You Rather

General Likes and DNWs

General Likes

• Character studies and introspection
• Loneliness and isolation
• Angst
• Atmospheric description, scenery porn, sensory description
• World-building, backstory, and character development.
• Horror of all kinds, understated ghost stories, body horror, cosmic horror, claustophibic horror where the characters are trapped underground, potentially with monsters (think The Descent), etc.
• Closed Circle - Stranded with a murderer in your midst, whether in horror or murder mystery. Think And Then There Were None.
• Case-fic, whether fully realised or just touching on elements from a case.
• Whump, hurt/comfort and hurt/no comfort.
• Endings of all kinds, happy, bleak or bittersweet.
• Canon-divergent AUs, especially post-canon ones where the bad guys win.
• Pining, whether mutual or one-sided
• Repression and stoicism
• Descriptions of scars
• Main Character Death and grief; characters getting together while still grieving for previous partners, taking solace in each other, the dead character still seeming like a presence in the relationship, etc.
• Crossovers, especially oddball crossovers that come completely out of left field, although I do tend to prefer crack played straight rather than outright crack. If you have reason to believe I know and like the other fandom, then I encourage you to go for it.
• Post-Apocalypse scenarios, including zombies (probably my favourite AU scenario of all time), with focus on angst and the struggle for survival.
• Stranded Together With No Way Home, intense (and probably pretty damn unhealthy) fire-forged relationships that come about as a result of being isolated together and being able to rely on no one but each other.
• Time Loops
• Older characters finding love.
• Age gap relationships
• I really love historical detail and extensive research notes, so if that’s what you’re into then feel free to go wild. (If that’s not your thing, then please don’t worry: I am in no way an expert, and I love tropey indulgent stuff and cheerfully anachronistic fics just as much).
• Hair kink. Hands pushed into hair, coiling it around fingers, routinely cutting another character's hair if appropriate in context (e.g. in post-apocalyptic scenarios), hairwashing as part of hurt/comfort, yanking head back by the hair, etc
• Textiles, especially knitwear and embroidery; men in jumpers; historical and cultural details and craft in general
• Unusual structures and ways of telling a story, such as Rashomon plots, non-linear narratives, outsider POVs, epistolary works, etc.
• Cigarette kink: descriptions of smoking, sharing cigarettes, lighting cigarettes for each other, etc.
• Finally, and I cannot emphasise this enough, men in sleepwear, particularly pyjamas and dressing gowns.

Smut Likes

• Sex Pollen and aftermath, and any other kind of something made them do it scenario
• Angry Sex, rough sex, hate sex, rough sex that turns tender
• Clothed Sex, or clothed/naked
• Comfort Sex
• Dubcon when requested (mutual dubcon of the something-made-us-do-it kind is ALWAYS okay even when not explicitly requested)
• Mild bondage and other forms of gentle restraint
• Oral Sex, especially cunnilingus in all its forms, and ESPECIALLY cunnilingus with fingering
• Rough Sex - Lots of Scratching and Biting and Hair-Grabbing/Pulling and Holding Partner(s) Down
• Sex in grimy, grim, uncomfortable places
• Threesomes
• Situations where one character is too tired, injured etc to orgasm themselves, but takes great pleasure in making the other person come, so long as it's part of a wider give-take relationship when it comes to sex.

DNWs

• Omegaverse
• Noncon between requested ships (Something Made Them Do It scenarios are always okay though, including Bad Guys Made Them Do It)
• Dubcon involving unaroused characters
• Unrequested Incest
• Bestiality (monsters don't count here)
• Scat and waterplay
• Formalised D/s dynamics (more casual power play, bondage and other forms of restraint are OK)
• Underage
• Het anal sex
• Breathplay (antagonistic choking is fine)
• Fisting
• Lactation kink
• Any variation of the word 'come' in a sexual context spelled as 'cum' (please use 'come', 'came', 'precome' etc)

Back to the top

The 4400 (2004)

Requested Ships:
Kevin Burkhoff/Tess Doerner
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

(I understand there are post-canon novels available, but I haven’t read them yet. It’s fine to disregard them and purely go off the series.)

~~

The canon Kevin/Tess relationship still makes me a little giddy that it actually happened. It hits me in so many iddy spots: the age gap, the mutual protectiveness, unwavering devotion, and caretaking, all the potential for guilt and grief, how very uncomfortable with it Kevin is at times, and just in general all the complexities of their relationship. It was made for me, and I feel beyond spoiled that it happened at all, let along how it almost perfectly fulfilled every one of my hopes for how it might happen. :D I am very much here for younger characters pursuing older ones and for the older characters feeling weird and guilty as hell about it, but they just adore each other so much, and again SPOILED. I also love the weirdness of her being so much younger than him despite having been born in the thirties.

Okay, I do kinda wish their chemistry came across as a little more explicitly sexual on-screen, but I can headcanon that as Kevin feeling guilty about the age gap, and they are so affectionate with each other (I’ll settle for hugs, kisses and forehead pressing *sobs*). They run away together. Twice!

Given the weird not-quite-superheroes vibe of this show, it absolutely cracks me up how ridiculously incongruously badass they both are. He can heal himself from any wound! She has insanely powerful mind control and can essentially create her own army! And what do they mainly use those abilities for? SCIENCE. Tess in particular is fucking terrifying. The scene where she rescues Kevin from Promisetown? Just gathering up a bunch of 4400s and using their powers for herself? They never quite explored the full ramifications of her powers or how far they spread, but yeeeeah.

There’s an argument to be made that she’s the most powerful 4400 after Isabelle (and it cracks me up the way they kept having to dose her with kryptonite pack her off to visit her grandniece to get around the problem of why the characters wouldn’t just send Tess in every time there’s a problem that needs fixing. It’s not a perfect show, but it’s imperfections are part of what I find so delightful XD).

And that leads me to another thing about their relationship: the sheer casual indifferent cruelty of how they came together in the first place, with Tess being sent back purely to cure his paranoid personality disorder (but only just enough so that he’s able to develop promicin; not to the point where he necessarily has good judgement or is fully capable of making ethical judgements or anything). Just, oof, how guilty would Kevin feel learning the circumstances of how he came to be healed? While the show never really touches on it, it colours so much of their relationship going forwards, and I would love to see that explored.

I mentioned the incongruousness of Kevin and Tess's abilities, and there’s a weird fucked-up sort of synergy about how they seem designed to protect each other. Like, yes, okay, maybe Kevin’s invulnerability is to protect his promicin-research, but it also means that when Tess has a schizophrenic break he’s able to survive anything she does to him, and he’s devoted enough to hang on in there. The more you start to tease out the implications, the more the cruelty starts to show itself, so dig into that all you want.

Go with something plotty if you want, but for these two I would just love to wallow in something indulgent smut or hurt/comfort. Or just explore missing scenes – so much of their relationship development happens off-screen. And I am so, so here for tender, gentle (and maybe just slightly guilty) smut I cannot even say.

Regarding the show itself, although the wheels started to come off by the end, on the whole I loved this weird convoluted little puzzle box of a show in its entirety. I wish we’d got more closure about the future and the catastrophe and everything that was going to happen. Right up to the end I genuinely couldn’t predict where it was going to go and how things were going to shake out, and I just had so much fun watching it and trying to figure out what was going to happen and what the implications were. It’s kind of superheroes-by-stealth, and I really love how it’s an upside down version of the X-Men while not being anything of the kind, and the way it focuses on the day-to-day realities of a situation like this by mostly following NTAC (and god, I ADORE Tom and Diana’s rock-solid, loving, affectionate, I-would-die-for-this-person friendship <3<3<3)

And then there's all the fucked up time weirdness and the way it’s cosmic horror adjacent. The show even gives a nod to Lovecraft at one point and specifically to A Shadow out of Time, in which people swap minds with impossibly alien creatures from the far future, which is so fascinating giving everything revealed in the later episodes. Plus, even the supposed good guys of the future are capable of being incredibly spectacularly cruel: witness their kidnapping and erasure of Maia from the timeline, plus virtually everything about Kevin and Tess. We never really learn that much about the people from the future – on the one hand, I’d like answers, but on the other, I’m actually really glad the show ultimately left that sort of ambiguous. What I keep coming back to is that all we know about the future is what the future tells us, which has the potential to be spectacularly creepy. If you want to play with even the good guys of the future turning out to be neither as good or as human as they claim, then please do.

And time stuff: how does the butterfly affect change the original plan of the people from the future? If Isabelle was meant to destroy the 4400s and she is actively working against the plan, then what does that mean for the promicin developed later in the series? I think Kevin even says at one point that it’s different from his. So how might things have played out if Isabelle had never been sent back and the original plan had played out with Kevin’s promicin becoming more slowly available, perhaps with fewer deaths because he’s able to figure out the compatibility test earlier?

And then I have a bunch of other questions. Like what the hell was going on with Cassie? What parts of the plot were down to the good future people and which the bad future people? How will things play out post-series? Does Jordan actually manage to clear the interloper and what happens if he doesn’t? Play with the butterfly effect: give me a Sliding Doors style thing which explores different timelines, or a canon-divergent fic, or character studies of any of the characters. Or a future-fic which looks at what happens a significant length of time post-canon.

(And yet another goofy crossover possibility, but the nod to Re-Animator in this series delights me. If you want to do a crossover where Herbert is one of the 4400 and maybe possibly meets up with Kevin, then PLEASE DO.)

Comic Prompts

Take full advantage of this canon’s adjacency to superheroes to go all out on nods to DC and Marvel. What would these two look like if they were trapped in a superhero comic? (Given canon that could very well be someone’s ability). Or go meta with them discovering that they’re characters in a comic. The two of them getting together while Kevin’s still scarred. Post-apocalyptic imagery in a future fic: what happens to them after the world’s gone to hell? Something smutty (potentially involving consensual mind control kink?)

Optional Prompts

• A bad guys win!AU in which Marked!Jordan Collier is removing the abilities of the p-positives, while the original 4400s are being hunted down one by one. Tess and Kevin go on the run.
• Their reunion after Tess gets out of hospital happens off-screen. I would love to see how that went, and how they came to be working together. There’s so much potential for everything I love here: his guilt over how he came to be cured, and the hurt/comfort as the promicin side effects get worse.
• Yet another thing that happens off-screen: how they got together as a couple in the first place. Given that they kiss just after he’s sloughed off his skin, clearly something was happening while he was still scarred, and oh god that DELIGHTS me. Him being so ashamed of it and not wanting her to see her like that, her being so into him anyway? Mmph.
• The first time they sleep together.
• Oof, that scene where he says goodbye in the hospital (the book, the kiss on the cheek, the hairtouching). It isn’t clear how much Kevin has realised at that point and whether he understands that it was Tess who cured him, but he’s a smart man: he’ll figure it out quickly. I’d love something exploring his grief and survivor’s guilt over the way things panned out (and I adore early Kevin where he’s still adjusting to being cured, spitting sunflower seeds in the general direction of the bin and not quite having shaken off his mental illness yet).
• Thanks to a 4400’s ability akin to the one in No Exit, Kevin and Tess and a bunch of other people find themselves trapped in an alternate universe. Except that this one is a superhero AU, and they specifically have to use their abilities as superheroes. Mainly because I find it so amusing that the least badass people get the most badass abilities. (and it also cracks me up how the various abilities were basically magic by the end.)
• They reunite after the end of the series.
• Something fluffy and sweet and indulgent where another handwavey 4400 ability allows Kevin and Tess the opportunity to go back in time and give her the Sweet 16 birthday party she never got to experience. Maybe something that works along similar lines to Alana’s, so they don’t lose any time in the real world, and this is set during the penultimate episode, right before he sends her away, and it’s a little respite for them, and perhaps the other people at the party can’t see them? And it’s sweet and romantic and a little bit hot, but also sort of uncomfortable for Kevin given everything that happened in the diner. And play with the age thing: on the one hand it reminds him how young she is, but at the same time he hasn’t actually been born yet, so...
• MIND CONTROL KINK. Because I can see the sex being a little bit uncertain and awkward at first, and I find the idea of them stumbling into a consensual set-up where Tess orders Kevin around in bed (or makes him tell her what he wants to do) hot as fuck.
• And also mind control, but slightly less consensual: I am so, so into all the chewy complexities of these two and the way the mind control plays into that, with Tess potentially using her ability to make Kevin ignore his qualms about the age gap? Because what’s a little gentle mind control between people who love each other? :D On the one hand it’s such a violation of trust, but on the other hand he really does love her and is happier with her, so it’s kind of understandable, but still… So explore that, or even just his underlying unease that it might be a possibility.

Back to the top

Butch Cassidy (Ferrante Movies)

Requested Ships:
Charles Siringo/Tom Horn
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

These films, starting with Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch (the 2023 version), which is followed up by the sequel Butch vs Sundance, aren’t perfect by any means, but I found them a lot of fun to watch, the first one especially. They’re free on Tubi, but I’m not sure if they’re available elsewhere yet – I had to use a VPN to access them. I enjoyed the first film more, although I did appreciate a lot of what the second film tried to do, (and ftr I ship the Butch Cassidy/Sundance Kid/Etta Place OT3 too).

Horn is only in the first film and I was a little disappointed with how the sequel defanged Siringo a little – he wasn’t nearly as much as a bastard as he was in the first film, and depending on what you want to write, you could easily write for this request only having seen the first film. OTOH that bit where he slams Sundance into the bars of the cell? HOT. And I am apparently very into him being called ‘Charlie’. (Also the whole section where Siringo and Sundance are travelling together and all the testing his loyalty stuff? I’m not quite sure it pulled off what it was trying to do, but I would have been very very into what it was trying to do had it managed to do it, so I think of it fondly for that reason alone. Kinda shipping Siringo/Sundance a little bit too, ngl. XD)

As for Siringo and Horn, I ship them so damn hard. Turns out I am extremely into a violent dangerous man making a surprised pikachu face when the even more violent dangerous man he tried to leash turns out to be harder to control than expected, whilst still remaining apparently completely loyal to the man who tried to leash him. Add in the height difference, and damn. *hearteyes*

I adore their dynamic so much: in their first scene together, Siringo approvingly watching Horn beat the shit out of someone for the crime of stealing a chicken; giving him a badge and turning Horn into his monster on a leash – all of that is golden. The potential for loyalty kink is delicious, and it’s all the better for how Siringo’s control over Horn isn’t always total. I would love to see that dynamic of having tried to leash a hurricane captured, particularly in the context of them having a sexual relationship: Siringo having maybe bitten off more than he can chew, and not quite being in control, but at the same time doing his damndest to maintain the appearance of being in control.

Siringo fascinates me – why is he so intent on bringing Cassidy in? Does it just come down to him being obsessed with the law? I’m also really drawn to the question of morality, and the way his association with Horn leads to him compromising his moral values. (Or not. Maybe he really was always just that much of a bastard, and Horn gave him the excuse). In other words, if you want to go to town on a character study, or more along the lines of canon, then please, please do, but ftr I would also be happy with pure indulgent smut.

The theme of apparently dead people turning out not to be dead at all comes up repeatedly, so what about an AU where Horn survives, and is only thought to be dead, whether for handwavy reasons or because Siringo thought that if he was thought to be dead, he might be able to use him to outwit Butch.

Comic Prompts

I love the Western visuals, the scenery, the clothing porn, the height difference. Something atmospheric that explores the visuals of travelling in the West, campfires and the stars, smut or UST, or anything exploring Siringo’s discomfort when he realises he’s bitten off more than he can chew.

Optional Prompts

• Pure indulgent smutfic. I’d especially love to see something exploring Siringo’s potential feelings of being out of control, and having unleashed something he’s maybe not quite ready to deal with. Also for this pairing I’m especially here for sex under the stars, rough sex, oral sex, campfire sex, scar worship/comparison, and a potentially repressed man getting borderline dubconned while at the same time being very into it.
• Something set during the second film which digs into how Horn’s canonical death provides Siringo with a further motive to bring Cassidy in, particularly if they were lovers. (It’s fine for Horn not to appear in the fic.)
• One thing I really did like about the second film was Siringo and Sundance travelling together, and Siringo’s attempts to win Sundance over to his side. Assuming Horn’s still dead, maybe they recognise that the other is attracted to men, and Sundance figures out what Siringo’s relationship with Horn really was, adding a whole interesting layer to the relationship Siringo’s trying to build between them, especially if Sundance is playing up the UST, whether or not they actually sleep together.
• Alternatively, how would the second film have played out if Horn had survived? Perhaps if he’s there while Siringo is travelling with Sundance?
• Prison break! Horn did survive the first film after all, and breaks Siringo out of jail after the end of the second. What happens? Do they go after Cassidy? How does the whole having the law turned against him affect Siringo’s moral worldview?
• Hurt/comfort -- they both survive the end of the first film, but are both wounded and have to patch each other up.
• A's Love Language Is Killing B's Enemies And Dropping Them At B's Feet Like A Cat Gifting Dead Mice – With A being Horn. :D Go hard on the loyalty kink, and it’s fine to handwave whatever canon events you need to or ignore them completely.
• Zombie AU – I always love zombies, and there isn’t nearly enough zombie apocalypse stuff set in alternative time periods. Potentially as an excuse to force Siringo to work with Butch and the rest of his gang.
• Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting – I’d love to see the version of Siringo recruiting Horn where they met before, potentially as an anonymous one night stand (although it doesn’t have to be) – maybe he isn’t sure if Horn recognises him, but turns out he does, which leads to complicated feelings. (or just sex. That’s good too.)
• Give me Siringo’s version of the story, in which he very much sees himself as the hero. Is it a case of unreliable narrator, or is he well aware of all the terrible things he’s done, but sees them as a necessary price to pay? (First person and epistolary works, maybe a memoir written in prison are particularly welcome here.)
• I’d love something digging into their onscreen dynamic, exploring how Siringo really feels about Horn's propensity for violence and the way his own moral code is compromised, or if he was just secretly always that much of a bastard and Horn just gave him the excuse. Also here for him being taken aback by how drawn he is to Horn because of how good he is at killing.
• Character Surprised By Their Own Deep Loyalty Feels; Object Of Loyalty Even More Surprised – The tag speaks for itself. :D Here for all the loyalty kink. and for Horn unexpectedly being genuinely loyal to Siringo, even though he might not always obey him
• One character shaves another's face with a straight razor – Ideally Horn shaving Siringo, but the alternative is good too. Bring this about however you can, whether Siringo’s hands have been injured, or maybe they’ve already slept together and this is just an extension of that intimacy. If there’s an undercurrent of mild threat to the shaving and Siringo isn’t entirely comfortable with it, then all the better.
• Only One Bed – Or maybe there is another bed and it’s in the brothel next door, so everyone’s expecting Horn to take it, including Siringo (and maybe Horn himself), but actually he ends up sharing Siringo’s room and bed instead and trying to pass it off as being because of his moral uprightedness which literally no one believes for a minute.

Back to the top

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Requested ships:
Female Dragonborn/General Tullius
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

I love the Elder Scrolls games: that feeling when you start playing and know that a ridiculous amount of time is going to be sucked up by the game for the foreseeable future. I love the depth of the lore and the history, and I should mention that I'm also a huge Oblivion fan, so I will particularly appreciate any references to events in that game (or its occasional goofy quirks, although Skyrim has plenty of goofy quirks of its own :D).

Screwing with canon events, timelines and quests is all welcome. I especially like it when events don't unfold as in game, and when, while in-game events may take place, it's not necessarily the Dragonborn at the heart of them. Canon-divergent AUs are especially welcome here. Please note that I'd also be happy with an alternate start player character who isn't actually the Dragonborn.

Me being me, of course General Tullius would turn out to be my favourite character in Skyrim: it's the sarcasm, mainly, along with his ruthless competence and implied conflict over the Thalmor. For this pairing, what appeals to me is the dynamic of two older characters with plenty of history and experience, and who just might be starting to get a bit too old for this shit. Having said that, a younger Dragonborn offers up a lot of interesting possibilities too. This seems like a ship suited for introspection and quieter thoughtful moments (and I'd be thrilled with that), but I'd also love to see him taken out of his comfort zone, and being forced to survive away from the safety of Solitude and the Legion. Especially if it involves 'Thank god we're alive sex' by the side of a campfire.

Oh, and if you happen to be looking for a first name for him, my head-canon preference happens to be 'Reman', but PLEASE ignore this if you prefer something else or choose not to give him a first name at all.

Comic Prompts

I love the visuals of the game anyway, the landscape porn, the armour (especially Tullius’s), and the Solitude setting. Snowstorms, caves, quiet moments in between battles, something action-packed or alternatively quiet and moody, persistent trauma from the original war with the Thalmor and the ongoing difficulties of diplomatic relationships with the Thalmor, and Tullius’s changing attitude towards Skyrim and its people.

Optional Prompts

• The eve of the battle for Windhelm (or Solitude -- who says the winning side has to be the one the player character picks?), and they both might die tomorrow
• There's an awkward moment at the Thalmor embassy party
• Anything delving into the lore and history of Solitude or any of the quests revolving around the city, like the Potema questline or the Sheogorath quest.
• The Dragonborn comes seeking revenge for what happened in Helgen
• The Dragonborn isn't really the Dragonborn but a con-artist who gets caught up in the civil war.
• Their party is waylaid on the way to Windhelm and they're isolated from the rest of the group or involved in a skirmish with Stormcloaks.

Back to the top

Fallout (TV)

Requested ships:
Chet/Norm MacLean
Cooper Howard | The Ghoul/Lucy MacLean
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

Note on my DNWs: Regarding the fact that Norm and Chet cousins, I’d prefer no heavy angst or focus on it, or it being treated by any of the characters as a major obstacle. If you want to touch on it, I really like the matter-of-fact way canon handled it, acknowledging it as less than ideal, but not something to make a huge deal about.).

Firstly, I just want to apologise if this request doesn't seem as extensive as some of the others: I loved this show so damn much, but I feel like I really need to give it a rewatch to be able to put my thoughts into order, and while I will absolutely be rewatching it, and probably soon, I haven't had the chance to do it yet. If you choose to write or do art for this request, then please know that I'm excited to see whatever you come up with. And while I'm also not really familiar with the games, I'm also hoping to be able to play Fallout 4 at least before reveals. Including canon from the wider universe is absolutely fine and I don't mind spoilers: just please bear in mind that I might not get the references.

I absolutely loved the post-apocalyptic setting, the retrofuturism vibes, and the way the show mixed the darkness with moments of humour. And also tongue-in-cheek meta nods to video game mechanics, like Cooper's line about getting distracted by bullshit in the Wasteland, and Lucy's skill building speech in the first episode, are always fun to see.

Norm/Chet

Oh, god, these two. I'd love to see them explored more, And Norm especially: this prickly, apathetic, little weirdo, forever stuck in the shadow of his prettier, perkier, overachieving sister! And the way his inability to give a shit about any kind of work is ultimately vindicated by the show, and that it actually turns out he's pretty damn brave after all. I am also an absolute SUCKER for vulnerable men, and there is SO much opportunity for that with him, not just from external threats, but everything involving Chet having previously been in love with Lucy and Norm's potential anxiety about being a stand-in for his sister, not to mention everything that happens with Steph, and I just... oof, it's so horribly messy with so much potential for pain and self-doubt. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that size difference.

Explore their history, or how things might pan out post-canon, or alternatively get them up on the surface and exploring the world beyond the vaults. Does Lucy try to contact him via another vault to tell him what she's learned about their mother and their past? What if for whatever reason she wasn't in a position to leave the vault, and so he went in her stead, and unlike her didn't stop Chet when he offered to come? How would that difference affect canon? How would Norm, who has a very different set of skills to Lucy (and again, I love the meta concept of him as a different character 'class'), respond differently to the same threats? And Chet is quite passive in canon and easily manipulated: how would he react to leaving the vault? I am completely here for the character study of it all, but also for survial, the threats of the Wasteland, whether human or monstrous, hurt/comfort, resentment, and loyalty kink.

I'd also love to see Norm's relationship with his sister explored, and how he'd react to her with Cooper if they end up reuniting. As for Chet, he's so passive in the show, and I'd love to see that developed.

Lucy/Cooper

Ohhhh, be still my enemy-shipping heart. God, this ship is a *delight*, and I hold my hands up to finding the whole thing scorching hot, aside from all the fucked up complications of their relationship -- the way he treated her when they first met, the finger, her ultimately saving his life and telling him she's not like him (even though she potentially kinda is, or vice versa). I'd love to see something exploring how the two of them might change each other while they’re travelling together whether they’re still in the antagonistic phase of their relationship or if it happens once they’re allies. What's going to happen when she learns who he used to be (and probably still is) and that she grew up watching his films? Western themes and references are very welcome, as are canon divergent fics where they stay together for longer while they're still enemies. How would the slow burn enemies-to-lovers shift come about in that case? What would have happened if they were still travelling together when they find themselves in Vault 4? I’d also like to draw your attention to my hand kink like, and my like for cunnilingus with fingering.

So long as Lucy/Cooper is endgame, I'm fine with Cooper/Barb and references to their relationship, and escpecially with explorations of all the messy fallout (ha) of the way it ended, plus some residual feelings for her on his part.

Comic Prompts

I love the visuals of the show so much, the bleak post-apocalyptic imagery, the retrofuturism, the body horror elements of the ghouls and THIS ghoul in particular. Also feel free to pack in as many Western tropes and references as you can, tumbleweed, cinematic Western visuals, smut, the contrast between the cleanliness of the Vaults and the decay of the Wasteland.

Optional Prompts

• The episode where Lucy and Maximus find themselves in Vault 4 was one of my favourites, and I’d love to see that Vault explored more, whether it’s an expanded version of that episode which takes more time over what’s going on, (maybe an AU version where it’s Lucy and Cooper) or an entirely different visit to the Vault. In particular, I’d really love to find out more about what the hell was going on with the Mother of Flames culty stuff, because canon skipped waaaay too quickly over that for my liking, but also I’d just really love to spend more time with that overly polite helpful bunch of adorable weirdos. (OH GOD THE CYCLOPS GUY <3<3<3)
• "I can make them worse" with Lucy/The Ghoul in mind, because the process of redemption fascinates me, and I can’t help envisaging a situation where he’s starting to go back to being a better person, but for plot reasons, Lucy has to stop or slow down the redemption process and force him to be temporarily worse again.
• Accidental Baby Acquisition – delightful for either pairing, honestly. If they’re out in the Wasteland, I love all the complications of having to feed it and keep it alive, and the potential for characters to behave in unexpected ways. For Lucy/Cooper, her being taken aback that he’s unexpectedly good with kids, even if he’s making noises about it being better to abandon it. For Norm/Chet, is it Steph’s baby?
• Sex Pollen – Always and forever one of my favourite tropes, whether it focuses on the event or the aftermath or both. Either pairing, one character affected, or both? If it’s just Cooper affected, then I’d especially love to see his reaction to Lucy’s matter-of-fact attitude to sex and her willingness to get on with it.
• Alternate Univerve - Zombie Apocalypse – I just love zombie apocalypses so much, and I’d love to see the characters reimagined in this universe. Did the turn happen a long time ago, or is it more recent (and how would that affect the characters?) Is Cooper a zombie hybrid of some kind? Or alternatively, the ghouls hit some very similar tropes, so go with a survival horror in which the characters have to defend themselves from a bunch of feral ghouls.
• Body Swap - Characters Are Alarmingly Good At Being Each Other – And body swaps in general. Maybe it can only be reversed with sex.
• Something where Norm is convinced that the only reason Chet wants to sleep with him is as a stand-in for Lucy, and turns him down as a result. Chet decides to stop being so passive and decides to go after what he wants for a chance.
• Bad Guys Make Them Do It – always and forever. I love this trope so much, the potential for guilt and self-blame, the way it can act as a catalyst for revelation of feelings and abs an obstacle to them (that delicious guilt), the hotness of being forced to go through public or semi-public sex, mutual protectiveness and bonding, and the potential threat from the onlookers. I like it both as something fun and tropey, where it’s more Bad Guys Enabled them, and as something darker where there is a genuine threat from the bad guys and it’s traumatic (but they still find it sexually arousing).
• Lucy and Norm are reunited in the Wasteland post season one.
• Due to some handwavy technological simulation, Cooper becomes stuck in his memories of the past and thinks he’s his old self again with the end of the world nothing but a bad dream. Lucy has to travel into his mind and memories to remind him of who he really is and get him to snap out of it before he dies. Only trouble is he’s happier there, and meanwhile Lucy gets to meet some familiar faces.
• So what does Cooper plan to do when he finds his family?
• Something that focuses on Shady Sands and the things that have happened there over the years. A 5+1 piece, maybe, about past, present, and future. Or something written from the point of view of Shady Sands itself.
• All the Body Horror and/or hurt/comfort/whump that comes from turning into a ghoul, whether Cooper's condition is worsening, or one of the other characters is also turning into a ghoul, with their respective partner stuck in the position of being unable to do anything other than help them through it.
• character reveals feelings while out of it from illness/injury/alcohol - I particularly have Cooper in mind here, mainly because of the sheer depth of secrets/feelings he could spill, but this would absolutely apply to any of the other characters too.
• UH OH, Lucy's pregnant, and the baby is Cooper's. CAN ghouls father children? That's up to you, but perhaps some kind of VaultTec fuckery where his sperm was somehow kept on ice, and a malfunctioning AI 'misreads' their relationship, which is entirely platonic they *swear,* and knocks her up. Cue all the complicated feelings for Cooper of a baby on its way, and a half-sister for Janey, and for Lucy of finally getting the chance to reproduce, but it's with this guy.
• Character that acts tough and stoic is secretly vulnerable and needs to be tenderly fucked - I specifically have Cooper in mind here, and OK OK, I will admit there are limits to how vulnerable he's capable of being, but at the same time, I’m really drawn to redemption arcs and to all those tough layers being torn away to reveal the traumatised gooey centre.
• Manhandling, specifically with Lucy/Cooper in mind. I mean, goddamn, thouse scenes from early canon with him dragging her around were so fucking hot. I'd love something along those lines with her giving as good as she gets. Maybe something where they're working together now and they have to pretend to be antagonistic and that she's his prisoner, with all the rough handling necessary for show and infused with sexual tension, and afterwards they spar which leads to angry angry sex. (and for something set when they're more antagonistic, Lucy fighting back also leads to angry sex.).
• Manhandling with Norm/Chet in mind. That height difference, man. It doesn't feel like something Chet would do naturally, but maybe something happens which leads Norm to realise how easily Chet can handle it, and how hot he finds it.
• Clothing porn
- realising their jumpsuits make them stand out now that they're no longer in the vaults, Norm and Chet find some new clothes, which leads to weird feelings seeing each other in a different light.
• A desperate fight for survival -- for either pairing, but particularly Norm/Chet, partly because they're not quite as competent or good at surviving, so it makes the fight all the more desperate. Maybe they're attacked by raiders or ghouls, or stuck somewhere freezing and have to huddle for warmth. Anything where they get the chance to show off their own skills and knowledge especially.
• Emotionally repressed but deeply in love character finally breaks and gives into feelings - Specifically thinking about Lucy/Cooper here, because OH GOD YEP. What would this moment look like? How long would it build until it gets to this point? Would there be a catalyst?
• Cooper goes feral; Lucy has to bring him back. I don’t know if it’s reversible in canon, but handwave that if you need to. Maybe there’s an external plot reason why she has to bring him back, while other characters are telling her to abandon him or kill him outright, or maybe there isn’t and she knows they’re probably right but still can’t bring herself to do it. All the hurt/comfort here, her chaining him to a bed and trying to nurse him through it, while he gets flashes of lucidity and maybe even he’s telling her she should just kill him, idk.
• Hurt/Comfort - Buried Alive & Rescue and Locked in a coffin together – no surprises which pairing I have in mind for obvious reasons, but if you want to do this for Norm/Chet instead then PLEASE DO, because this is a grade A whump trope. Maybe Lucy is captured and buried because hey, she’s a vaultie, so surely she’ll be happier underground, and Cooper has to rescue her. Feel free to dive into the trauma, horror and claustrophobia of this set-up, or her trauma in the aftermath, and Cooper’s complicated feelings. Also, if they’re buried together, Lucy’s realisation that this is something that’s happened to him before, and the UST that arises from the forced proximity.
• Instead of Lucy, it's Norm and Chet who leave the Vault in search of Norm's father. How would that affect canon? Would they still get involved in the hunt for the head? Or would they find their way to Moldaver by another route? Would they meet Max or the Ghoul? Something plotty is very welcome, but I'd also be here for scenery porn, the struggle for survival, and the two of them huddling for warmth by campfires.
• Pining while having sex - welcome for either pairing, but I love this especially for Norm/Chet, with Norm thinking that the only reason Chet is sleeping with him is as a stand-in for Lucy, and maybe that is how it started (or not: it's up to you), but things change pretty quickly.
• Sparring leads to sex. For either pairing. For Norm/Chet, Norm has to learn to fight so that he can protect himself, and Lucy has to keep up her skills somehow.
• Tentacles - RoboTentacles as a Sex Toy - For either pairing. Up to you whether this is entirely consensual and the characters choose to incorporate them into their sex, or if the robotentacles are malfunctioning and there's a dubcon element at play. Either way, NICE.
• Time loop - Either pairing, and the details are up to you. Is one character stuck, or are they both trapped? Is one character repeatedly dying, or having to watch the other one die? And feel free to incorporate meta elements of gameplay.

Back to the top

House on Haunted Hill (1999)

Requested Ships:
The House & Dr Richard B Vannacutt
Watson Pritchett & Dr Richard B Vannacutt
The House & Watson Pritchett
Watson Pritchett/Dr Richard B Vannacutt
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

Note on my DNWs: For Pritchett, please have him be 16 or older for direct sexual contact, but sexually arousing dreams/visions/hallucinations are fine from 13+).

Canon-specific DNW: This request is specifically for the first film, and it’s fine for Return to House on Haunted Hill to be ignored. If you do include it, please avoid having the evil in the house being purely due to the Baphomet Idol.

~~

I have a very particular fondness for 90s cheese, architectural horror, and the disparate bunch of people trapped somewhere for *reasons* trope, which is one of my favourite tropes of all time. Add in ghosts, and ohhhh baby, I am there. (As an aside, I'm also a big fan of the original trilogy of Thief games, and the ghost visuals in this were the direct inspiration for the Shalebridge Cradle mission in Thief 3 (possibly one of the best, creepiest missions in anything EVER), so I'm inclined to be kindly predisposed towards this film purely because of that.)

It’s a curious one, because the things that mean it doesn’t work that well as a horror film for me (the CGI smoke-monster climax! The criminal underuse of Dr Vannacutt!) are the exact same things that make the question of what the hell is going on significantly more interesting. The more you dig into the first film, the more it becomes clear that there’s something more going on that just a haunting as a result of what happened at the asylum.

I also find it fascinating that despite the male Dr Vannacutt being the most prominent ghost, Pritchett refers to the house as female, and specifically as ‘a stupid vengeful whore’ iirc. The Shadow primarily speaks with female voices (and according to one of the extras they used imagery of naked women to create the Rorschach effect). Then there’s the women Price sees while he’s in the Saturation Chamber. It all adds together to create this feeling of the house being a separate entity in its own right.

I'd love to see the mythology of the house dug into, because I have a lot of unanswered questions. Like the walled off room we finally see towards the end where Vannacutt used to dump his corpses, and in the middle of the room there’s a chair, just sitting right in front of the rubble, which is the creepiest fucking thing. Why is that chair there? Did Vannacutt sit on it, staring into the rubble, listening to the Shadow talk to him? (And while I’m not hugely keen on the canon introduced by the second film, and I especially dislike the suggestion that the evil in the house is all down to the Baphomet idol, I do quite like the way it expands on the way the house seduces people, the idea of good if flawed people being corrupted, and the suggestion that Vannacutt wasn’t always evil).

And then there’s one of my favourite things about this film: Pritchett, a fucked-up traumatised asshole woobie packed with neuroses, who clearly has a boat-load of issues with the house. It’s not immediately clear whether he actually used to live in the house or not, but he’s clearly spent a lot of time there and he’s familiar with it enough to know the history of the house, his way around the basement, and quite a lot about how it’s haunted, including the existence of the Darkness/Shadow and Dr Vannacutt. I’d love to see something about his previous experiences with it, what happened with his grandfather and father, and what it was like growing up in the vicinity of that house, whether he lived there or not. And I am completely here for the house’s attempts to seduce him.

Other random things I love about this canon: the Saturation Chamber! I’m really drawn to the concept of machines that can drive you insane through sensory experiences, and it’s just the icing on the cake that it takes the form of this extraordinary period-appropriate zoetrope. The relationship between Price and Evelyn! This complicated tangle of love and hatred and contempt, spitting daggers at each other, and him clearly being so desperately in love with her still, while she's so completely batshit. I love her. And the whole thing of there being multiple conflicting agendas, with the three competing guest lists, and even then the house doesn’t get what it wants because of Sara being an imposter.

Watson Pritchett/Dr Richard B Vannacutt

Not a pairing that I’d originally considered, but then a seed took root and now I can’t stop thinking about these two and what sort of dynamic they’d have.

We see so little of Vannacutt, but Pritchett absolutely freaks the fuck out when he realises he’s around, so they clearly have a history, but exactly what that history is, and what Vannacutt’s role is as a ghost in the house, is left decidedly unclear. It’s gradually become one of my favourite things about this film: the way the focus shifts from the villain being Vannacutt to the house itself, and the way that upends the way his character could potentially be seen – is he a villain, or potentially another victim of the house, or both?

There are just so many unanswered questions about what it means to be a ghost in that house, how much of it is reenacting the terrible things that happened there, and how much free will they have, and to what extent they’re being controlled by the house, and just… damn, I don’t know, but dig into it as much as you want.

The sequel flattens out most of the unexpected wrinkles in the worldbuilding, and is mostly forgettable, so I don’t really recommend watching it (although I will admit to being delighted by Steven Pacey and Andrew Lee Potts’ inclusion in the cast), but what it does do is develop the idea of people being corrupted and seduced by the house, with one line being: ‘Vannacutt was known for being a brilliant physician and great humanitarian. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in the '20s. But somehow, this great man went from saving people to butchering them’ and oof.

The whole trope of otherwise good-but-flawed people getting corrupted to evil and doing terrible things (and there’s no doubt that he’s done terrible things) gets me right in the id. Corruption and redemption arcs are welcome in all their forms for either character, as is the all-encompassing guilt that comes from realising what you’ve done. I’m also just generally interested in the idea of them finding common ground as fellow victims of the house, even if Vannacutt remains wholly evil, and that would affect how they might relate to each other, before and after Pritchett’s death. And pre-canon too – why does Pritchett react like that to finding out Vannacutt’s around?

Explore the ship in whatever way you choose. The gen dynamics fascinate me just as much, but shipwise, anything is welcome, from fucked up extremely dubious consent, where the sex is part of the house’s way of torturing Pritchett (potentially with some medical kink mixed in, but anything where Pritchett gets strapped down?), to anything on the enemy-fucking scale, to something a little more sympathetic where we do actually get a glimpse of a glimmer of goodness in Vannacutt. Or maybe the house is fucking with them both by making them fuck each other?

Comic Prompts

As you might have guessed I love the visuals of this film so much: the stained glass window, the steampunky aspects of the Saturation Chamber, the Shadow’s nightmarish appearance at the end and the way they used naked women as part of its imagery, the architecture of the house, the sculptures in the basement, and all the visions of horror the various characters see. Something precanon in which Pritchett visits the house and while nothing quite happens on the surface it’s all going on in the background? Or alternatively all-out schlocky horror is good with me too. Vannacutt having a conversation with the house in the room where he dumped the bodies? Historical detail is particularly welcome.

Optional Prompts

• This House has a Personality and that Personality is Fucked Up – And adolescence is tough enough as it is, without having to go through it while you're living in a haunted house that can't seem to decide whether it wants to fuck you or kill you.
• Explore the deaths of Pritchett's father and grandfather, because it feels like there are a lot of unanswered questions there. Did the house exert any influence over them? Could Pritchett’s father have murdered his grandfather? How did his father really die?
• A both hates and loves how good the sex with B is – Vannacutt/Pritchett (because the more I think about shipping them, the harder I ship them.)
• Character is forced to work with someone who scares them – I’m intrigued by what it means to be a ghost and how much free will they have. Pritchett has to work with Vannacutt for reasons (especially delighted by the idea of this considering how Pritchett crapped himself when he recognised Vannacutt’s description).
• So how does Pritchett manage to resist the Shadow at the end in order to free Sara and Eddie, when seemingly no one else was able to resist?
• Something revolving around the stained glass ceiling, because creepy though it is is just suggest a marginally less evil side to Vannacutt and the idea of good people being corrupted by evil will always fascinate me.
• Character with trauma is freaked out and turned on by getting tied up – Specifically thinking of Pritchett here, the poor little bastard. XD
• Conversations In Liminal Spaces On The Border Of One World And Another – Ghost!Pritchett and ghost!Vannacutt have a conversation.
• Evil!Pritchett – A canon-divergent fic where Pritchett isn’t so resistant to the house. How would that affect canon?
• Entering someone's dreams/nightmares – Vannacutt and/or the Shadow enter Pritchett’s dreams, where pre-, during, or post-canon.
• Time Travel Fix-It – Pritchett travels back in time to the 20s-30s, and finds himself caught up in events at the asylum. Could he potentially change the way events pan out? (The actual fix-it is optional here)
• Time Travel - Character meets their child self – Ghost!Pritchett realises it’s possible to travel through time and interact with his younger self.
• Vannacutt manages to escape the house. There’s a deleted scene (after the credits roll in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdo8voI87LI) in which Vannacutt brings the real Jennifer Jenzen to the house, and another scene where his spot being tortured is taken by Price. Which leads me to wonder if it’s possible for him to buy his freedom, or if he’s figured out a way to outwit the house.
• Explore what the hell was going on with that chair. Was Vannacutt listening to the Darkness, or was it potentially a seduction/sex thing?
• Corruption Arc – Either for Vannacutt or for Pritchett. Or, conversely, a redemption arc for Vannacutt, or Vannacutt getting a redemption arc while Pritchett goes the other way. I really love the idea of the house seducing people into evil (the second film goes harder on that, and iirc explicitly states that Vannacutt wasn’t always a monster), and the question of whether someone who’s done terrible things can really be redeemed.
• Eldritch Architecture – I’d love to see something that goes hard on the Lovecraftian elements in the plot, the idea of this ancient nameless evil existing even before the house was built, and of what the Darkness at the heart of the house really is.
• Tentacles made them do it – Probably no surprises that I have Pritchett/Vannacutt in mind here.

Back to the top

I Know What You Did Last Summer (Movie Series)

Requested Ships
Mr Brooks & Nancy
Mr Brooks/Nancy
Will Benson & Ben Willis
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

This request is for the first two films in the series, and particularly the second film. There is a third film too, but while I have watched, I have forgotten virtually everything about it except for the fact that Ben Willis is suddenly a zombie or a ghost or whatever. If you want to include it, then that’s fine, but otherwise it can be safely ignored. Note that Will, Brooks and Nancy only appear in the second film, and depending what you want to write, you may only need to watch that one, but I’ve requested them both because of Ben’s overall plotline.

~~

I like the first film a lot (and I really appreciate how the relationship that gets the most focus is the friendship between Julie and Helen), but it’s the second film I really, really love beyond all reason. I’m not going to claim it’s a good film, but it is endearingly dumb, and I’m inexplicably fond of it. Why do I keep coming back to it over objectively better slashers from the same period? Fuck knows, to be honest, but there’s a good chance it has something to do with the characters being stranded in an empty hotel on an island in the Bahamas in the middle of the hurricane season. Isolated storm-swept hotel? TICK. I’m willing to forgive just about everything for that trope, which, uh, is probably just as well. XD It’s certainly not perfect, but I find it very fun to watch and I maintain that the chase set scenes towards the end are great.

So what do I like about it? Well, for one thing, there’s the setting: isolated storm-swept islands are so RTMI I can’t even say, and the fact that it was partly filmed at an abandoned hotel in Mexico just makes the whole thing that little bit more interesting. I’m also charmed by how convoluted Ben's plan is: why follow your victims to college when instead you can lure them to the Bahamas for… no good reason? Granted, it’s the off-season, so at least the hotel rooms must have been cheap, but still… why? What is the purpose of this diabolical scheme, other than to explore a piece of Ben’s backstory which has nothing to do with Julie at all?

I’m also really drawn to the contrast between what is to all appearances a genuinely lovely looking hotel and the staff-members who work there. Like the check-in scene, with that potted history of the hotel, which just gives the most delightful Shining vibes, and Mr Brooks is creepy and ever so slightly menacing, while at the same time being utterly DONE WITH THIS SHIT. And Nancy, with her snark, tough-girl attitude and threatening karaoke machine -- what brought her to the island? Did she really shoot a guy?

I just want to know more about what the hell is going on. Why is Mr Brooks so hostile? Is he just pissy because it’s the end of the season and he really didn’t want to be dealing with guests? Or was he just hoping to hunker down and play strip-poker with Nancy? OR is there something more going on behind the scenes? At one point he says that he knew they’d be trouble: why? Does he have his suspicions that Ben Willis is involved somewhere along the line but took a backhander to keep his mouth shut? Are they both semi-complicit in the events of the film, and I'm including Nancy in that because she sure acted suspiciously when that karaoke machine acted up? Is the hotel cursed along the lines of the Overlook, and if it isn’t prior to the opening of the film, is it cursed afterwards? Why does it take so long for anyone to point out that Rio isn’t actually the capital of Brazil?

I’d love to see something that digs a little bit more into what’s going on behind the scenes with Ben, and his ridiculous get-Julie-to-the-Bahamas scheme. Was it because he wanted to punish the islanders too, and it’s a case of killing two birds with one stone? What’s his relationship with his son like? Why does Will go along with his father’s plan, given he doesn’t have much of a reason for vengeance himself (and let’s face it, even Ben’s reason is a bit shaky once you start examining it). I’m just very interested in the idea of them returning home and the ghosts that might be waiting for them there, and I’d love to see something exploring all the little details of their backstory that only get briefly touched on in canon.

Something else I’d love to see is a fic which explores the hotel and the island, because again I just love the setting so much. Horror is particularly welcome, but it doesn’t have to be in the same vein as the films. Feel free to completely disregard the actual plot of the fulms if you want. One thing I do like about the first film is the urban legend aspect of it, how it starts with the story of the hook hand killer, and ends with Ben losing his hand and becoming the urban legend. I’m reminded of how Ben cuts Helen’s hair because he hears her sister talking about it, and it’d be interesting to explore how urban legends can be recursive and self-perpetuating.

What urban legends (or ghost stories) have grown up around him on the island, either after he left the first time or after the events of the second film? Is the hotel haunted, before, during, or afterwards? How did the requested characters come to be on the island in the first place? I also just really love the idea of this tiny island and the hotel being haunted by this terrible thing that happened (shades of The Shining again), and I should also point out that I have a particular weak spot for ghost stories set by the coast. I’m always open to slasher-style horror too, though, so if you don’t feel like going spooky and understated, then don’t. :D

Comic Prompts

Again, anything that I’d like to see explored in fic, I’d love to see in a comic. Scenery porn: the island and the hotel, the sea and rocky coastlines. Horror, whether of the canon-style slasher kind, or something quieter. Ben in between the moments when he puts on the slicker, ghosts, images of decay and the hotel gradually eroding, scenes from Will’s life growing up and his fucked-up relationship with his father and sister.

Optional Prompts

• Ghosts! After the events of the film, the hotel is abandoned except for the ghosts haunting its corridors. Is Will one of them? How about Ben? Also here for decay, abandoned buildings, the place gradually eroding as it gives way to the elements and the storms.

Explore the setting up of the plan behind the scenes, and to what extent the characters are complicit, whether they knew or suspected anything was up.

Something quiet, with a quiet undercurrent of menace, where the night before Julie and her friends arrive Mr Brooks and Nancy share an uneasy drink in the bar. It’s the last night of the season so they’re probably going to be rushed off their feet, but maybe despite how busy they are, there’s a feeling at the back of their minds that something bad is going to happen.

So what do they actually know about each other? What brought them both to the island and what are they running away from, if anything?

God, I love Ben Willis and his stupid, stupid plans. This whole thing is a terrible idea, and when it comes to Julie he really needs to cut his losses and let it fucking go, but he never will, the dumbass. Why the island? Why the absurd, convoluted plan? Why does Will go along with it? Explore the idea of their homecoming, and the question of them both having ghosts of their own, namely Ben’s wife.

An AU where I Still Know is an understated ghost story rather than a slasher.

A time-loop where the events of I Still Know keep happening, and the characters are trapped in it, repeatedly dying until they figure out how to break the loop.

An AU where Julie never comes to the island, but Ben Willis and his son return to wreak revenge on the islanders anyway.

Look, Closed Circle scenarios like this are my CATNIP. Always. Give me missing scenes, or a version of the scene where events play out differently. Maybe where the killers aren't so efficient at clearing away the evidence of that corpse in the wardrobe so Mr Brooks isn't quite so quick to dismiss it, and events play out at a slower more 'And Then There Were None'-style pace with lots of paranoia and suspicion.

Five times something weird happened at the hotel (and the one time everyone got butchered)

Back to the top

Re-Animator

Requested Ships:
Herbert West/Dan Cain
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

Canon-specific DNW: Please pretend that the scenes of sexual violence against women in Beyond Re-Animator never happened. References to the Meg/Hill scene in the first film are fine though, and I’m also fine with Dan or Herbert being nonconned (onscreen or otherwise) by a third party for the purposes of whump or hurt/comfort.

~~

I fell absolutely head over heels in love with the first Re-Animator film from the first moment I saw it – it’s so much damn fun to watch, funny, gory, obscene, and I think Herbert West might actually be one of my favourite characters in anything ever (and while I have some reservations about the sequels I do really like them both). As for Dan/Herbert, I shipped it right from the scene where they bring the cat back, and specifically from the moment where they’re side by side with weapons in hand, although with Herbert hanging back a little bit and clinging onto Dan’s shirt, because obviously.

The way from that moment they’re just… together, and there’s no way Dan is going to do anything other than help Herbert. I love that, and I love the way Dan sticks with Herbert through thick or thin (right up until the moment that he doesn’t, but more of that in a minute). So many things about this ship are tailor-made to my id: the combination of earnest/obsessive and likeable/abrasive, the constant touching with Herbert grabbing Dan at every single opportunity (this in particular just freaking delights me XD), the potential for hurt/comfort and protectiveness, and a complicated mixture of loyalty, manipulation, and betrayal that will get me every damn time.

I’d love anything that goes hard on the hurt/comfort and mutual protectiveness between Herbert and Dan, or anything that captures the tone and bonkers exuberance, gore, humour and horror of the films. Maybe something that explores what happens in between the films, especially between the first and second films, because damn, are there some unanswered questions there – like how did Meg’s heart come to be outside of her body (from the autopsy presumably, but WHAT IF...), and how the hell did Herbert manage to persuade Dan to go to Peru with him? And any of the reunions where an apparently dead Herbert pops up again. I also cannot emphasise enough how here I am for Herbert getting menaced and/or whumped.

I know it’s a deleted scene, but I find it really interesting that it doesn’t seem to be the prospect of having to give Dr Hill the credit for his work that gets Herbert to break the hypnosis, but Hill threatening Dan’s life. And the way he immediately abandons their current work to switch focus onto making the Bride to stop Dan from moving out. On the one hand, it’s a terrible manipulative thing to do, but on the other hand… *eyes* And also, what the hell was Herbert’s ultimate plan with the Bride anyway? How did he see that whole thing panning out long-term, beyond a short-term fix to keep Dan from leaving?

And then there’s the third film. While I have reservations about it, Dan turning state’s evidence on Herbert actually isn’t one of them. I am a complete sucker for complicated relationships, and I actually really love the way it shifts the balance of their relationship, especially considering the unfortunate consequences and the hellhole of a prison Herbert ends up getting thrown into. The way it hints at the way he’s suffered without ever quite going into details (the years in solitary), along with that moment when the warden hits him… and Herbert’s very deliberate act of revenge on the warden, which I firmly believe is something the Herbert of thirteen years previously would not have contemplated in a million fucking years, just shows how much the experience has changed him. That, and the way he reacts when Howard calls him doctor when they first meet. Mmph. It’s all very painful in a way that hits me right in the id.

I’m also delighted by how differently Herbert acts towards Howard, particularly at the end of the third film, where he comes across Howard cradling Laura’s head, looks at him for a moment, and then just effectively shrugs and yoinks his ID card. It’s a detail that brings home just how important Dan is to him. As far as I’m concerned, at the end of the 3rd film he is 100% going off to find Dan, and I would love something that explores them meeting again post-canon, and how the dynamics between them might shift with a Herbert who’s hurt at the betrayal and bruised by everything he’s been through and a Dan who’s not quite so naive and trusting.

Comic Prompts

I am completely here for smut and shippy moments, as well as schlocky gore, the rampaging dead, and body-horror. Also the two of them in middleage, whether they’re reuniting after an estrangement or solidly established as partners (however you want to interpret that XD). Crossovers with other canons featuring Jeffrey Combs, or Herbert meeting the version of himself from Lovecraft’s original story, Herbert as a ghost! Eldritch Lovecraftian horrors, or historical AUs (Herbert in Regency clothing!!!!! *eyes*)

Optional Prompts

• 5 Times Dan Assumed Herbert was Dead – Because in various places, namely the screenplay and the novelisation, he is explicitly stated to have died at the end of the first film and I like the idea of him repeatedly appearing to die and popping up again mostly unscathed (and I’m amused that the one film where he doesn’t appear to die at the end is the one in which Dan does not appear. XD).
• Accidental Baby Acquisition – I mean, they’re doctors. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they might find themselves in a situation where they have to deliver a baby in a crisis (possibly involving zombies), and end up separated from the mother and stuck having to look after the baby.
• Addiction - Character tries to distract Addict from addiction with sex – Dan tries to break Herbert’s reliance on the serum.
• Alternate Universe - Russian Doll Fusion – I love time loops in all their forms anyway, but this one in particular, with its focus on constant, unrelenting death, and the way the discovery that the loop is being shared with another person would play out with these two is perfect. (and for time loops in general, I’m amused by the way Herbert would probably adapt his work to take full advantage of the loop (er, an endless supply of fresh corpses with no consequences – hey, how is it murder if they don’t stay dead? – having to memorise the results because he can’t write them down, etc.)
• Hurt/Comfort – Hurt/Comfort is always welcome, but one thing I’d love to see is Dan helping Herbert through withdrawal from the serum. Mainly because I really wish that deleted scene had been included in the film. I have some quiet headcanons about Herbert’s addiction to reagent, and amongst them is the fact that avoiding sleep is really, really not a good idea, and that maybe the times when he’s at his most batshit are the times when he’s suffering from chronic sleep-deprivation. All of which convinces Dan to help him to break the habit.
• Bad Guys Made Them Do It – and every other iteration of Something Made Them Do It.
• Betray them to save them – Dan’s presence looms so large in Beyond Reanimator even though he doesn’t appear. I can definitely see a situation where Dan got to a point where he couldn’t see any other choice, and he genuinely believed if things carried on the way they were that Herbert was going to get himself killed. I’d love to see that decision explored and the fallout when/if they’re reunited and he realises what Herbert’s been through.
• Hurt/Comfort - Character with injured hands requires assistance (which turns sexual) – Here for the hurt/comfort and smut potential of this (and also very fond of one character shaving another.)
• Inspired by the novelisation, Dan is completely taken by surprise when Herbert unexpectedly turns out to be massively into ice hockey. Maybe it’s a hobby he only occasionally spares the time for, but either way Dan is extremely weirded out by the prospect of Herbert going to bars and talking to fans.
• You Hurt Me More Than Anything; But Being Without You Hurts More – Herbert goes in search of Dan after the end of Beyond Reanimator. Is he planning on revenge (even if he ultimately can’t face going through with it?) Does something else happen as a catalyst that forces them to work together again? I’d love to see all the messy hurt/comfort and emotional fallout of everything that happened.
• Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence – How might things have played out if Meg hadn’t been so hostile to Herbert from the get-go? Maybe if she hadn’t been there when he came about the room, allowing Dan to prime her for his oddball roommate beforehand? And if she hadn’t walked in on them bringing Rufus back, which meant that Dan wouldn’t have fallen out with Dean Halsey, who then wouldn’t have died, etc etc. It’s interesting how differently Herbert treats Francesca. While he’s not exactly polite to her (XD) he tolerates her presence in a way he doesn’t really tolerate Meg’s, and I can’t help but read that as at least partially being the result of Meg’s attitude towards him.
• Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence – A canon-divergent AU where Francesca isn’t on the scene and the creation of the Bride is much more successful, and she isn’t quite so much of a monster. Mainly because I’m really curious what the hell Herbert actually had in mind beyond keeping Dan with him at all costs. (And for the record, I’m completely open to Herbert/Dan/The Bride in whatever form that takes.)
• Hurt/Comfort - Technically awful attempts at comfort are actually very comforting – Okay, so Herbert is pretty terrible at doing the whole comfort thing, but the fact that he even tries is pretty damn significant.
• Road trip after the end of the world – Any post-apocalypse scenario will do, but I am particularly fond of zombie apocalypses, which seems particularly apt for this canon. Was it Herbert’s fault, or was he entirely innocent for once? Where are they going? What’s the plan? And how does reagent factor into things?
• Estranged Characters - Injured A shows Up on B's doorstep Saying "I didn't know where else to go" – My first thought with this was Herbert turning up out of the blue, but what if it’s the other way around? What if, potentially after Herbert’s prison break, he considered hunting Dan down, but reluctantly decided not to follow through, only for Dan to suddenly turn up unexpectedly, and turns out he’s been keeping track of Herbert all these years and somehow or other the shit’s about to hit the fan?
• Herbert and Dan take the places of the narrator and the version of Herbert in the original story by Lovecraft. – I read the story after watching the films, and I was really not expecting to find that so much of what happens in the first two films came more or less directly from the story (with a fair few changes along the way). I’m fascinated by the way the films work as adaptations, but especially by the similarities and differences between the two Herberts (running away screaming the first time they reanimate a corpse? Film!Herbert would never. On the other hand the stuff with the revolver? Yeeeeah, he totally would). So perhaps a historical AU where Herbert and Dan are from that period, or where they’re still their 80s selves but have switched places with the versions of themselves from the story. Or maybe it’s just Dan who’s switched places, and he has to content with a different version of Herbert, who is BLOND (and, y'know, also slightly more actively murderous than Dan's Herbert, and has a disconcerting habit of eyeing his healthy physique with a covetous eye). (If you haven’t already read it, be warned it has some racist elements. I’d prefer for those to be avoided if you go with this prompt, please)
• A Re-Animator/Ghosts (UK) crossover. Why, yes, this is goofy as hell but I want it. :D In the eighties or nineties Dan and Herbert rent out Button House. Unfortunately something goes wrong and Herbert ends up dying on the property and coming back as a ghost. Or alternatively, Dan and Herbert are estranged, and Dan inherits the house from a mysterious relative, only realising who his benefactor is when he stumbles across the lab.
• A rewatch of Bride of Re-Animator left me wondering what a M*A*S*H cross over would look like. So that, basically, whether it's Re-Animator reimagined as a half-hour sitcom set during their time in Peru, with slashy vibes between Herbert in the Frank role and Dan as Hawkeye. Or a more traditional crossover with MASH if you'd prefer to go with that.

Back to the top

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Requested Ships
Quark/Brunt
Odo/Weyoun
Mirror Brunt/Weyoun 6
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

DS9 is easily my favourite Star Trek series. I love all the shades of grey, the complicated questions of morality it raises, everything to do with the Dominion War and the Cardassians and the damn Ferengi. One of my favourite things about it is how it deals with the overturn of the status quo on a planetary scale, whether on Bajor, Cardassia, in the Dominion, and even on Ferenginar. I love what this series did with the Ferengi so, so much. They could just have been comic relief, but instead they’re so much more complicated than that. Partly it’s because the whole Ferenginar plotline ties in with the themes of the rest of the series, but it’s also because Quark is actually one of the most complicated characters in the whole show. I particularly love the way he’s used to comment on the Federation, and on humans in particular. His speech to Nog about how humans are only wonderful and friendly so long as their bellies are full in the Siege of AR-558 gives me the shivers.

Comic Prompts (for all pairings)

Again, whatever I’d like in a fic, I’d also love to see explored in a comic. Action, hurt/comfort, romance, adventure, horror, smut. Explorations of alien worlds (especially Ferenginar!), the grimdark bleakness of the Mirror Universe, sexual tension between Brunt and Quark, or Weyoun’s slavish devotion to Odo and Odo’s grudging discomfort, Weyoun’s facial expressions alone... The visuals of changeling transformations, Ferengi clothing porn! Rain and other forms of inclement weather.

Odo/Weyoun

Go with any Weyoun you want, whether past, present, or future. In the relaunch novels, Odo creates a ninth clone to act as his aide, and while I’m not otherwise tied to the canon of the relaunch novels, as far as I’m concerned, Odo bringing Weyoun back absolutely happened, and that is a hill I will die on. :D

I’d love to see their relationship explored in all its forms, whether gen or shippy. There’s so much to explore in their relationship, and just what each character says about the other. I've shipped Odo/Weyoun pretty damn hard right from Weyoun's first episode, and Weyoun 6 sacrificing himself and then dying in Odo’s arms certainly didn’t make me ship them any less, but their gen relationship is fascinating too. There's so much to dig into: the complexities of the Vorta and their inbuilt loyalty to Changelings, the potential for changes to the way the Vorta are created and how that might affect the Dominion, Odo's blind spot for his people, and the fact that they're both capable of leading very long lives. Even when almost every other solid Odo’s known in his life has passed on, Weyoun could potentially still be around, and there are a lot of possibilities there.

There’s also a moment in A Time to Stand when Weyoun 5, gloriously insincere arsehole that he is, talks about the habitat ring echoing with the sound of happy children, but this is a man who’d knowing preside over wiping out the population of entire planets, and of course the Vorta don’t have children or childhoods in the usual way, and that’s probably something else the Dominion have taken away from them. It’s pure nightmare fuel.

I have a lot of feelings about everything that happens between them both in Faith, Treachery and the Great River, and what it says about both their characters. That story Weyoun 6 tells Odo about the origins of his people, and the way Odo seems to take it as kindness when actually what the Founders did was at the very least mass enslavement, and possibly even something akin to genocide? The suggestion that the Vorta are powerful is laughable, given that their entire purpose, over and above their own wellbeing, is to serve the Founders, and Odo of all people should know that. Would he have thought of himself as powerful when he was facilitating the Cardassians on Terok Nor? (Yeah, I wasn’t kidding about having a lot of feelings about that episode. XD) There are a lot of interesting parallels to be drawn.

Optional Prompts

• DS9: Post-canon attempt to return the Vorta to sexual reproduction; first non-clone baby born - With Weyoun and Odo being at the heart of the attempt.
• A canon-divergent fic where Weyoun 6 survives to defect to the Federation, exploring how their relationship goes after the war is over.
• A canon-divergent AU where the canonical baby Changeling turns up while the station is in the hands of the Dominion and Weyoun is involved with Odo's attempts to look after it.
• Complicated emotions at being pregnant with a baby character believes is a god - somehow Weyoun ends up knocked up, whether it's some kind of handwavy transporter accident type accident, or the result of a sex pollen incident necessary to save Odo's life and neither of them realised Weyoun could get pregnant that way. Is there some kind of side effect from the pregnancy which leaves Weyoun with some degree of shapeshifting powers, or the ability to link with the baby, which is amazing but also very uncomfortable because he's just a Vorta.
• Cloning Accident result in creating a baby - The real reason Weyoun 6 tried to defect. :D Is it a wholly new person or just a baby version of Weyoun, and what are the implications of it not being going through the full cloning process?
• character that thought they had zero parenting instincts goes into hardcore protective mode - I love Weyoun as a villain at least partly because of how very... unintimidating he is in a lot of ways. He's small and slight and vulnerable and he keeps dying, and I'm really drawn to this prompt both for him embracing his violent side in the interests of protecting a baby and for the potential to explore his character because I’ll always love a character study.
• a 5+1 fic exploring the way Odo's relationship with the various different Weyouns changes over the years.
• Sex Pollen – Whether it’s Odo affected and Weyoun willingly sacrifices himself to save the Founder, or Weyoun is affected and is horrified/pathetically grateful at Odo being willing to help. Or the aftermath of the sex pollen situation with all the fallout.
• A canon-divergent AU where Odo remains human for longer, and he’s still a solid when he meets Weyoun 5 for the first time. What effect would Odo's becoming a solid have on their dynamic? How would the Vorta conceptualise the concept of a god becoming a solid, and what does that mean for the way Weyoun’s worldview? I’d be delighted with anything from a character/relationship study that follows their time on the station together, or perhaps something plottier where they're stranded on a planet together and have to work together to survive, but now Odo's just as vulnerable as Weyoun is. (Sex pollen always welcome)
• Hurt/Comfort - Character Treats Other Character's Injuries – Weyoun is injured and Odo has to treat his injuries, whether it’s Weyoun 6 or one of the other ones. I’m just fascinated by all the messy feelings of faith and awe, and Odo’s discomfort at being thought of as a god.
• Slow and painful process of recovering from lifetime of cultural brainwashing – Whether it happens over the course of one Weyoun or several. I really love all the tangled complexities of the way the Vorta see the world. Maybe this is a canon-divergent fic where Weyoun 6 survives and Odo tries to deprogram him? Or maybe a future Weyoun where the process has begun but isn't quite there yet.
• Whump - A sacrifices themself to protect B; B is forced to watch A being tortured – The obvious candidate for self-sacrifice is Weyoun, but Odo sacrificing himself and Weyoun's struggles watching him being tortured (perhaps that Romulan device that stops him from changing shape) would be delicious too.

Quark/Brunt

These two had my enemy-shipping heart right from the moment Brunt got his Nausicaan goons to beat Quark half to death. *hearteyes* They are so, so shippy I can’t even: from how ridiculously unsubtle the show was about the subtext at the end of Ferengi Love Songs, to the air-kiss Quark blows him in Profit and Lace, to basically everything that happens between them in Body Parts. Brunt spending a small fortune purely to fuck Quark over, turning up in his quarters and reclining on Quark’s couch as he talks gleefully about his plans planning on defiling Quark’s remains (and that moment of ‘what do I do with my hands?!’ panic when Quark suddenly moves closer to him?)… yeah, um, that… that right there is a Ferengi who might just be up for some contract renegotiation.

It’s fascinating how much their relationship shifts throughout the series, going from entirely antagonistic to some degree of them being willing to work together even though Brunt’s ultimately always out for himself. There’s actually a lot of common ground between them – compared to just about everyone else in his family Quark’s a traditional Ferengi (or at least he wishes he was a traditional Ferengi), and it’s probably only because of his very non-traditional mother (Ishka, you glorious creature, you <3<3<3) that they end up at odds. I’m fascinated by the question of what makes a good Ferengi, and by Quark, who despite his first appearances as an amoral little schemer actually has a pretty strong moral code, and I found their reactions to the changes on Ferenginar in The Dogs of War, with Quark being outraged and Brunt much more pragmatic, pretty damn interesting, given how very, very bound to tradition Brunt’s been throughout the series. Granted he’s seen the changes first hand, and is trying to suck up to and manipulate Quark, but still… (and as an aside, that bit when he drops to his knees and kisses Quark’s hand? *eyes*)

I’d love to see anything from any moment of their relationship, from the early days when Brunt is so obsessed by (and horny for) Quark that he’s willing to do virtually anything to destroy him, to later when Brunt is more focused on his own gain and becoming Grand Nagus himself, to a post-canon fic which focuses on how their relationship might develop after the end of the series and the massive sweeping changes on Ferenginar. Similarly, tone-wise I’d be delighted with anything from UST and pining (one-sided or mutual), to hate-fucking, to something more genuine, and anything on the enemies-to-lovers to enemies-to-enemies-who-fuck scale.

Explore the worldbuilding – how progressive is Ferenginar when it comes to gay relationships? (and repression, denial, and internalised homophobia on one or both their parts is always welcome.) Alternatively, maybe Ferengi are actually pretty relaxed about it when it comes to casual relationships, or in the context of an M/M/F poly relationship because at least that solves the question of who pre-chews the tube grubs? In theory at least...

It’s also fine to write about their mirror universe counterparts instead, whether the story is focused on the actual mirror universe versions (and canon-divergent AUs are always welcome, btw), or something that involves pining while fucking the mirror-universe counterpart of the object of your affections, or a selfcest threesome (We barely saw Mirror!Quark, but Mirror!Brunt is such a sweetheart and I just want him to have nice things. D:). I also really, really love the look of (male) Ferengi clothing, so if you want to go all-out on clothing porn, then please do, as well as exploring any avenues of clothed or clothed/unclothed sex you might want to go down.

Optional Prompts

• 'Dirty little secret' relationship leads to Too Many Feelings leads to unexpected marriage proposal – Because I am so here for the two of them having a secret relationship on the downlow, and maybe they keep telling themselves it’s just about sex and it doesn’t mean anything, but actually...
• Accidental Marriage – When they’re on an alien planet negotiating a contract, they accidentally wind up married (maybe because in that planet’s laws rivalry is considered a sign of great regard), and this cannot stand. Turns out getting it annulled is a little trickier than first envisioned, and in the meantime pining, forced proximity, and sex-of-convenience ensues.
• Hate Sex – I am so, so here for the two of them hatefucking, and for moments of unexpected tenderness in the middle of the hatefucking, and for hate sex where they gradually start to develop feelings.
• Exploration of Aftermath of Canon Events – A relationship study that looks at how things might develop between the two of them after the end of the series, with neither of them entirely happy about the changes on Ferenginar.
• Characters don't realise they're in a relationship but everyone else can see it – Maybe Brunt keeps finding reasons to return to Deep Space Nice to make Quark’s life a misery, and Quark does everything he can to irritate Brunt, and neither of the two of them wants to admit that actually they’re sort of starting to enjoy each other’s company, while as far as everyone else is concerned they’re already basically together.
• A post-canon fic with an established relationship between Quark and Brunt. They’re… sort of settled. Almost happy. And then, like a hand grenade tossed into the middle of their relationship, Quark’s old lover Natima Lang comes back. Somehow Brunt finds out what happened between them and is torn between horrified disgust at Quark being willing to abandon everything to run off with her and seething jealousy because he thinks, rightly or wrongly, that Quark wouldn't do that for HIM in a million years. Maybe Quark and Natima have both moved on with no lingering feelings other than a faint poignant ‘what might have been’, or maybe they’re still as in love with each other as ever and the only way to resolve this is with Quark/Natima/Brunt.
• 5+1 Things – A post-canon 5+1 fic exploring the ways every single member of Quark’s family undermines their attempts at (semi-)tradition Ferengi parenting (preferably of a boy, please, unless the focus is on them both overcoming their terrible ingrained sexism to the point where it’s probably going to be a bit ooc, let’s face it).
• Having met by chance with an oddly familiar stranger in a bar who shares his animosity for Quark, Brunt obtains a copy of a unique holosuite program involving Major Kira with Quark’s head in return for a discounted price and the promise to use it to destroy Quark. Which would be easier to do if he could just stop thinking about how it would be better with Quark’s head on Quark’s body. To facilitate Getting Revenge, obviously. (And just as soon as he figures out why the hell Quark would make the program so damn good at oo-mox if it was written for a non-Ferengi).
• So, um, those scenes in The Dogs of War when Brunt is sucking up to Quark because they both think Zek is going to appoint him the next Grand Nagus? He’d be remiss if he forgot Rule 113 of the Rules of Acquisition: Always have sex with the boss.
• Ishka figures out why Brunt is so fixated on bringing Quark down. And, well, okay, yes, Brunt is terrible, but also he’s a good Ferengi, and frankly, Quark could probably do worse.
• Time Travel Fix-It – Brunt and Quark travel back to a point where they’re in a position to alter the course of Ferengi history and prevent the sweeping changes brought about by Quark’s mother, but potentially ruining their fortunes in their present, since with the franchisement of Quark’s they’re actually doing pretty damn well for themselves. Do they go through with it, or disagree about whether they should go through with it?

Back to the top

Mirror Brunt/Weyoun 6

Because a passing stray thought that Mirror Brunt and Weyoun 6 should hook up got into my head and then refused to go away. Which I can understand, because fucking hell, yes. I have absolutely no idea how it would work or how it would come about, but goddamn do I want it to happen.

As ships go, this is absurdly self-indulgent, but at the same time there are some potentially really interesting dynamics and parallels to be drawn between them. They're both more sympathetic versions of more or less antagonistic characters, both desperately loyal to another person with whom they have a somewhat one-sided relationship, (and they're both adorable tragically doomed cinnamon rolls. D:) Maybe Weyoun finds himself stranded in the Mirror universe – does the fact that it isn’t his universe provide a loophole that allows him to override his inbuild loyalty to the Dominion? (Keevan shows that not all Vorta are unquestionably loyal, which suggests that Weyoun is just like that, unswervingly terrifyingly loyal, whether to the Dominion or to Odo, and I love him all the more for that) Does he immediately set out to try to find a way back to his universe, or to find the wormhole in the Mirror universe? How does Mirror Odo complicate matters? Does he shift his loyalties to Mirror Brunt?

There are countless things I’d love to see here, and explore it however you want, but I do really love the idea of him gradually coming to terms with being stranded in the Mirror universe, and even though it’s a grimdark hellhole, realising he’s better off there, even though he’s conflicted about staying. And as for Mirror Brunt, mmph, these two sweethearts would be absolutely perfect for each other. Just get them together and make them kiss, however you have to do it. And maybe they’re both pining for other people at first, but gradually they catch feelings for each other. They’re both so lovely: they deserve some happiness.

Optional Prompts

• Look, if in doubt, please just make them kiss and I will be happy. :D
• Body Swap - Characters Are Alarmingly Good At Being Each Other
• Conflicting loyalties – Explore the issue of loyalty and how it manifests in each of them. Especially Weyoun, whose loyalties are at least somewhat artificial. How does the Mirror universe affect his loyalties to the Founders? Is he able to override it? Perhaps because he’s stuck there he gradually becomes used to feeling free of his obligations to the Dominion, and transfers his loyalties to Mirror Brunt instead, but then an opportunity to return to the prime universe arises and he has to deal with his conflicting loyalties.
• Weyoun has fallen in with M!Ezri and M!Brunt and has been working with them for a while without issue until they capture Mirror!Odo. And maybe he can override his instinctive loyalties because this is the Mirror!Universe version and so not a true Founder, but it doesn’t come easily.
• Character finally finds an unconditionally good relationship; not sure how to handle it - They're both just so damn sweet, and while everything else might be going to hell, the two of them still manage to carve out some moments of sweetness in the middle of the nightmarish dystopia that is the Mirror Universe.
• Character isn't used to being loved and shown tenderness/affection – Because loving relationships aren’t normally part of a Vorta’s life experience, and Weyoun isn’t quite sure how to handle it.
• Food as part of the language of love – They both have interesting relationships with food. Given Mirror Brunt’s tendency to make sure everyone’s fed (with tube grubs, but still...), and the way Weyoun works his way through everything on the replicator’s menu, it seems like this would be the perfect way for them to bond. And okay, maybe Brunt can’t get his hands on kava nuts or rippleberries but there must be something.
• Creating your moral code from scratch after the last one imploded – So let’s say Weyoun is stranded, temporarily or otherwise, in the Mirror universe. He’s finally free of his obligations to the Dominion, because there is no Dominion there, and so has to figure out a few things and relearn the sort of person he wants to be.
• Gently touching a character's scar(s) – Because again this is one of the contrasts between them, Mirror Brunt being scarred (because picking up scars in the Mirror Universe is inevitable, let’s face it) while Weyoun is almost entirely scar-free due to being a recent clone. I’m particularly here for scar kink, and all the associated fascination and sympathy and tenderness, but you could also play with the issues over cloning: Weyoun’s memories of injuries sustained by other Weyouns, which aren’t reflected on his body, but which maybe he feels as phantom scars of some kind?
• Emotional hurt/comfort – Ordinarily Vortas’ memories of their previous deaths and injuries are suppressed as part of the cloning process to ensure they remain motivated and willing to sacrifice themselves, but every now and then those suppressed memories return in full force.
• Identity Porn - A scam/heist requires that they both have to pose as their other selves.
• Smut - experimenting with and exploring interspecies biology.
• on the run together – Whether from the Alliance or from some kind of crime syndicate (potentially run by Mirror Ishka XD), and bonding in the process.
• Two tired people taking quiet comfort in each other – Exhausted sex, moments of respite in the middle of the world going to hell, the two of them finding moments of common ground, etc.
• Competence Kink - And the two of them being quietly impressed and turned on by the other’s competence: Brunt’s toughness and fighting skills and Weyoun's innate diplomacy and negotiating skills.

Back to the top

Thief (Original Video Game Trilogy)

Requested Ship: Garrett
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

Every now and then a game gets hold of you and you can't put it down. I love this series. I love everything about it: the gameplay, the lore, the level design, the characters, and the setting. I love the set-up, the competing factions of the Hammerites and the Pagans, the folk-horror imagery, and the steam-punky vibes. Oh, and Garrett. He's sort of a bastard, tries to be a misanthrope, but then there are those moments when his compassion shine through, like the Trail of Blood mission in the second game which was so sad and unexpected. In the first two games it's interesting to see the difference in his character between the cut-scenes when he's interacting with others (where he's misanthropic, angry, and bitter), and the pre-mission voice-overs (where he's confident, collected, and wry).

I'd love to see some world-building: the City is such a fantastic, fascinating setting, and there's so much scope for exploring, with the mix of old technology with the steampunky vibes of the first two games.

In many ways, this is the perfect canon for horror. Garrett is extremely vulnerable once spotted, and there are some seriously creepy antagonists in the game, as well as certain missions and locations being slanted towards horror, particularly the Haunted Cathedral, Constantine’s mansion, and – most of all – Shalebridge. Not to mention zombies, ghosts, the Hammer Haunts, necromancers, the bleak desolation of the walled off part of the City, the folk horror aspects of the Pagans, the Trickster’s monsters, torture, and the grotesque body horror of the Hag. There’s so much to explore, and I would love to see something exploring any aspect of these games.

Garrett is and remains one of my favourite characters of all time, and if there’s ever been a character who I’d love to see getting whumped, it’s him. I would LOVE a fic that focuses on him and him alone, or which focuses on his relationship with the City (which deserves to be a ship in its own right, honestly), his day-to-day life, or his background.

In the first two games it's interesting to see the difference in his character between the cut-scenes when he's interacting with others (misanthropic, angry, bitter), and the pre-mission voice-overs (confident, collected, dark humour). I'd be fascinated by anything exploring that apparent 'discrepancy' in his character, or by his backstory, what led him to be the way he is, what really happened while he was with the Keepers, why he left, and what happened after he left.

Prequels, sequels and fics set during canon are all welcome. I'd particularly love anything exploring Garrett as a young man, particularly his time with the Keepers, or just after leaving them. I'd especially love to see a Bad Guys Win AU for the first game in particular -- what happens if the Trickster wins and the world is plunged into darkness? Or alternatively, something exploring Garrett's past and his time with the Keepers. What was it like for him being one of their number, and why did he leave?

I would be thrilled with gen, but if you're interested in writing shipfic, I'm up for Garrett being shipped with Viktoria (whether consensual or dubconny), the Trickster/Constantine (leaning towards dubcon), Inspector Drept, or an original character (with a slight preference for a female OC).

Comic Prompts

I especially love the style and visuals of the first two games, but the third has its moments as well. I love the style of the box art and the cut scenes (particularly in the first two games – the deep shadows contrasted with the jewel-bright colours), and I am always here for horror imagery, not only of the zombies and various monsters, but all the folk horror stuff as well, not to mention the urban cityscapes and the Thieves’ Highway, all the intricate little passages and differing styles of architecture, the old mixed in with the modern, the way the city is layered and constantly reinventing itself, the Keepers and their library, the mages, the Hammerites and their religious trappings, the steampunk elements… And then there’s Garrett himself. Look, basically, I’d love to see any element of the game explored.

Optional Prompts

• Shalebridge Cradle. Just that, basically, whether it’s set during the game’s events, or perhaps a pre-canon fic where Garrett is younger.
• Anything that follows on from the loss of his eye. I’d be fascinated to see something which looks at his early relationship with Karras before the events of the second game
• I love the bleakness of the walled-off part of the City, the ruined buildings, the zombies, and in particular the Hammer Haunts. It’s so atmospheric and creepy.
• The Eye fascinates me too, the way it speaks to him, how manipulative it is, and just what the implications are of it coming into his possession at the end of the third game.
• Any kind of heist fic is always welcome.
• I love the setting and the world building, and I'd love to see your take on balancing the different versions of the City. The third game is very different from the first two: how do you reconcile those differences?
• A fellow thief (ex-lover?) tricks him when they're going after a particular priceless artefact (guarded by Kurshok? Zombies?), and they repeatedly turn the tables on each other.
• A post-canon fic where one of the ex-Keepers now turned loose in the world comes to him for help.
• Something exploring the healing process Garrett goes through after his escape from Constantine's mansion and the loss of his eye. It was Karras who gave Garrett his replacement mechanical eye, and I'd particularly love something which explores the complicated relationship between them -- Garrett being vulnerable and hurt and broken, and it being Karras of all people who helps him start to heal.
• The Trickster Wins AU. Garrett, being Garrett, is nothing but pragmatic, and decides that he might as well make the best of a bad situation and seeks to make himself useful.
• Constantine invites Garrett to his house to give him the tour. I'd love to see more of their early game dynamic (and those creepy gardens), so stick to pre-slash conversation if you want: that mix of hostility and mistrust and greed. Maybe Constantine slips something in Garrett's drink to make him more voluble (or something in the air in the gardens?). Or, if you want to do smut, then that, whether Garrett remembers it all afterwards or not.
• Drept meets up with Garrett after the events of the third game. What happens to the Keepers, given the destruction of the glyphs? Does the destruction of the glyphs mean that the sealed-off part of the Old Town won't be sealed off anymore? And what will happen to Garrett now that he has the Eye? I have so many questions.
• For the Bad Guys Win AU, after being tortured, Garrett is seriously injured and close to death. Viktoria tends to his wounds.
• A fic set during the course of the second game when Garrett and Viktoria are gradually getting used to working with one another, and still don't quite trust each other. Does Viktoria try to make amends?

Back to the top

Would You Rather (2012)

Requested Ships:
Iris/Shepard Lambrick
Iris & Shepard Lambrick
Julian Lambrick & Shepard Lambrick
Requested Mediums:
Fanart: 1 x 10-Page Comic OR 2 x 5-Page Comics
Fanfic: 1 x 10000-Word Fic OR 2 x 5000-Word Fics

Note on my DNWs: It’s fine to include references to the attempted rape in canon. Anything up to and including extremely dubious consent is fine for this canon.

Shepard Lambrick & Julian Lambrick

Fucked-up Lambrick family dynamics please! :D While the film itself doesn’t do too much digging into the Lambrick family, it sets up a lot of hints that seem like they’d be very fun to dig into. Like, what the deal is with the Lambrick Foundation, and everything to do with the games, past, present and future. And especially the relationship between Julian and his father, which I find deeply uncomfortable to watch but in an extremely satisfying way (much like the film itself XD). Julian is a terrible excuse for a human being, but it’s pretty clear at least part of the reason he’s so sadistic and screwed up and ultimately a cringing little worm (that bit where he’s cowering under the table much to Shepard’s contempt? Oof) is because of having Shepard as a father. And god, Shepard: from his first appearance where he’s putting on the thinnest veneer of philanthropy possible to the way he manipulates the proceedings of the game, terrorising basically everyone except Bevans? Even when things are going wrong, he’s never less than in control. He’s a genuinely terrifying villain and an absolute blast to watch.

Every moment Shepard and Julian interact is gold, and I would very much like to know more about their relationship. There are some interesting wrinkles there: the whole thing about Shepard being glad that Julian’s finally taking an interest in the Foundation, the question of what happened with Julian’s mother, the way Shepard reacts when he finds out about Julian’s attempt to sexually assault Iris, and whatever happens between them off-screen when Shepard excuses himself to talk to Julian… It shouldn’t be that hard for Julian to live up to his father, right, and yet he keeps failing and disappointing his father again and again, and yeeeeah, I’m not sure Shepard Lambrick is a man you really want to disappoint.

I’d love to see exploration of other games, whether in the past or the future, alternative ways the game in the film could have gone, what Julian’s childhood was like, what happened to his mother, how the whole thing came about in the first place. Even just a fic exploring the day-to-day running of the Foundation, which might seem entirely normal on the surface, but with occasional glimpses behind the curtain to suggest that something is very, very badly wrong, like glimpses of ex-players who are now working for the Lambricks. How many of them are morally compromised in the way that Dr Barden was, and how many have willingly, even eagerly, embraced everything Shepard had to offer?

I’m fascinated by the way Shepard manipulates everyone around him (including his family?), and the way he seems to be building up this network of people who are complicit in murder, and what his motivations for doing that might be. Or the consequences of the game we see in canon: what will Iris do next given her reason for playing is now gone? Will she make use of Shepard’s patronage any way or turn against him?

And then there’s Lucas. Watching the film for the first time, I was convinced he was going to turn out to be the other Lambrick brother, and to have been a ringer in on it all along. It would probably have been too obvious a twist, but story-wise and character-wise the possibilities are delicious, and I am so so here for Lucas and Julian as siblings with a fucked-up codependent relationship: Lucas as the golden child, the one who has the guts to actually take part in the games himself, risking genuine physical pain and potential harm (short of death because they've been rigged just enough) because that’s what his father’s ‘rules’ call for, with Julian as the weaker son who can never live up to his father’s legacy. (The film ultimately doesn’t really bear this out, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the eye injury could have been faked, and maaaaybe the death too if you squint. And hey, that's what AUs are for.)

It throws an interesting spin on Julian’s bitterness, and on some of Lucas’s behaviour in the game, and the possibility that he too is pushing back against his father. Or maybe the reason he gives the others a chance to run is to give Julian the chance to go after her, because because he’s doing it for his brother or because he knows how his father will react. I particularly love the idea of Shepard taking a hands-off approach to discipline, but manipulating them into punishing each other instead.

If you do go this route, I am absolutely here for Lucas and Julian having an incestuous relationship. Perhaps one which they think their father doesn’t know about, although actually not only does he know about it, he’s quietly done everything in his power to encourage it. (Or for extra fucked-up vibes, Lucas knows their father knows, but Julian doesn’t.)

Comic Prompts

Again, anything I’d like in a fic, I’d love in a comic. And while I’d love something that goes hard on the violence of a game, I’d also love something quieter and atmospheric, which maybe only hints at the horrors going on in the name of the Lambrick Foundation. Maybe that ‘date’ between Iris and Shepard, where there’s a hell of a lot going on under the surface, or Julian and Shepard at a similar public event. But outright horror and violence is very welcome too.

Optional Prompts

• Something Lovecraftian – Because apparently I’m almost incapable of requesting an entirely non-Lovecraftian film with Jeffrey Combs in it without going ‘Yeah, but what if Lovecraft though?’ On the one hand, you could just take this film at face value, but on the other there does seem to be an odd sense of duty about the way Shepard treats the games, with his attention to the rules and tradition, so what if the Foundation and the games have some kind of supernatural reason for existing?
• Antagonism - characters don't like each other but nobody else understands them this well Characters who can't stand each other would also die for each other
• Daddy Issues – Because if there was ever a character with hang-ups over his father, it’s Julian Lambrick.
• Fantasies about murdering your father – Whether a 5+1 fic about the times Julian has thought about killing his father throughout his life, or something a bit more involved, where he’s actually seriously thinking about going through with it. Or dreaming about doing it. Will he ever have the guts? Does Shepard know? (And if Lucas is involved, maybe the two of them plotting together as part of some fucked-up sexual fantasy, but actually Lucas is telling Shepard about it)
• Shepard is beginning to have doubts about whether Julian really has the necessary qualities to follow in his footsteps. Maybe he decides to give Julian one last chance.
• A fucked-up slice of life fic following the everyday operations of the Lambrick Foundation.
• Something investigating Shepard’s relationship with his son in contrast to Shepard’s relationship with his own father.
• What was the first game like? Did it happen under Shepard, or was it something that he inherited? If the latter, then what was his experience of his first game like?

Shepard Lambrick & Iris, Shepard Lambrick/Iris

And then there’s my Iris &/ Shepard requests. Whether entirely platonic or shippy (in whatever form that takes) or something in between, these have so much potential to be utterly fucked up and uncomfortable in a way that very much appeals to me. Given Shepard’s ongoing relationship with Dr Barden at the start of the film, it can be assumed that he makes a habit of taking a continuing interest in the winners of his games, and his ‘Call me Shep’ at the end of the film (*shiver*) suggests that it’s going to be the same sort of situation with Iris, and that he’s going to follow her career through college with an eye to manipulating into a position where she can be of some use to him. And oh dear fucking god, that’s creepy.

The situation at the end of the film throws that completely out of joint though, and I go back and forth on which way she might go. Her primary reason for taking part in the game has gone, but it’s also one of the few things that Shepard isn’t responsible for, and I could go either way on whether she chooses to take advantage of Shepard’s patronage or not.

And Shepard himself is such a bundle of conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he’s a fucked-up, sadistic, manipulative arsehole who gets a kick out of psychological and physical torture (he’s just enjoying himself so much), but on the other hand he really does seem to run the games by a certain set of rules and maybe a sick sort of honour, which almost makes him more terrifying in a way. I’m thinking of the moment when he apologises to Iris for Julian’s behaviour – in a way that touch on her shoulder makes my skin crawl more than the attempted rape. It’s all very messy and uncomfortable, and one of the reasons why I love this fucked up little film so much, aside from how tense and claustrophobic it is.

What if the situation leads him to take even more of an interest in her than he usually would? Or perhaps his additional interest is in reaction to something she does? Maybe every now and then one of the players of the game does something to genuinely surprise him, and something about her draws him to her, to the point, perhaps, where he starts to shape her into a potential protoge. (Which Julian isn’t exactly happy about naturally).

As for the shippy version a lot of the appeal of this is how deeply fucked up it would be, and the deal with the devil vibes it would have, and Iris telling herself that she’s going into it with her eyes open because she knows what a monster he is, and finding herself in way over her head anyway. What does it take for this to come about?

Optional Prompts

• Enemies to Lovers - Enemy tenderly treats character's injuries that the enemy inflicted – Whether this follows on directly from the end of the film, or relates to a whole new injury that Iris has sustained, I am so completely here for this. Or alternatively, what if Shepard is the one who’s been injured at Iris’s hands. It’s a couple of years down the line and, trying to get her revenge on him, she’s taken him to an isolated cabin while his people hunt for them. Only she isn’t sure whether she can really bring herself to kill someone again. Manipulation ensues.
• Antagonist Surprises With Honourable Behavior – ‘honourable’ according to Shepard’s judgement, anyway. Because he really does seem to have a fucked-up code of his own when it comes to the games, even if that is just one of his manipulation techniques. But he honours his promises, and Iris finds herself conflicted.
• Breathplay - top/dom likes getting choked – Consider this an exception to my Breathplay DNW. Shepard has a thing about being choked. Iris obliges because she just hates him so much. They’re both drawn to the element of risk: him because he knows she might well kill him if she was capable of it, she’s not sure if she is capable of it, but knows that if she takes it too far it could end very badly for her.
• Captivity – For one reason or another, Shepard decides it’s necessary to have Iris quietly disposed of, but he’s unwilling to have her killed so imprisons her instead.
• Character has their face shaved with a straight razor (by someone they have reason to distrust) – Having established a sexual relationship, although still aware that there’s good chance she’d like to kill him, Shepard lets Iris shave him. What appeals to me here is the sexual tension and Iris’s ever-present temptation to just cut his throat and have done with it.
• Character Trains a Protege – Ohhh baby. Explore this however you want to, whether the focus is on the beginning of the process or if you start with her taking her place as a witness to a game. Is Iris all in (for whatever reason), or does she still have her doubts, or is she working against him somehow? And what exactly is Julian doing in all of this?
• Slow Seduction/Corruption Arc – So uncomfortably hot, whatever form the seduction takes, whether it’s about sex or a moral corruption. I am absolutely here for a sexual relationship developing between them, but also her originally resisting him trying to use her for his own ends once she’s gone through college, and his attempts to bring her around, finding her a job, etc.
• Outsider POV of a 'date' between Shepard and Iris. Especially if its clearly deeply uncomfortable, but to the outsider it just looks like a normal date between a solicitous older man and a younger woman (aside from maybe a couple of out-of-place moments).
• Possessiveness - No One Is Allowed to Hurt You Except Me – Times when Shepard went out of his way to protect Iris.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – After the game, Iris is struggling to recover from the experience.
• Scar Worship – Specifically that stab-wound. But also, maybe Shepard has one or two scars of his own.

Thanks for reading!