Rare Male Slash Exchange 2020

[corvusumbranox]

Rare Male Slash Exchange 2020

AO3 Username: StopTalkingAtMe

Hi, Mystery Author, and welcome to my 2020 Rare Male Slash Exchange letter. Some of my requests may be longer than others, but please don't take this as an indication that I want any request more than the others. I really do love all my tiny, and in many cases basically non-existent, ships and would be thrilled with a gift for any one of them.

Table of Contents

General Likes, Smut Likes and DNWs
Assassin's Creed: Odyssey
Crossover - (Thief/Dishonored/Skyrim)
Dishonored
Dracula
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Thief
Vampyr
Year of the Rabbit

General Likes and DNWs

General Likes

• Character studies and introspection
• Loneliness and isolation
• Atmospheric description, scenery porn, sensory description
• World-building and character development. Backstory
• Horror of all kinds, particularly body horror, folk horror, Lovecraftian horror, and atmospheric ghost stories.
• The Closed Circle trope (the most famous example is And Then There Were None) in both horror and mysteries.
• Case-fic.
• Death fic, mourning, and introspective fics dealing with one character's reaction to another's death. In ships where one character dies in canon, I'm happy for them to not actually appear in the fic
• Endings of all kinds, happy, bleak or bittersweet.
• Canon-divergent AUs, especially post-canon ones where the bad guys win.
• Older characters finding love
• Horror scenarios which involve being trapped in dark, claustrophobic places (especially caves) with monsters (As in The Descent)
• Smut

Smut Likes

• Consensual sex both gentle and rough
• Oral sex
• Mild bondage and other forms of gentle restraint, holding a person down or restraining their wrists.
• Dubcon, (when requested).
• Realistically imperfect but still pleasurable sex (e.g. taking factors into account such as age, one party feeling shy or vulnerable etc,)
• Ghost sex
• For vampires, bloodplay and biting
• Threesomes (and orgies)
• Sex in grimy, grim, uncomfortable places
• Tentacle sex, entirely consensual or dubiously so
• Monster fucking

DNWs

• A/B/O
• Noncon (Brief mentions of rape are also okay.)
• Dubcon involving unaroused characters
• Incest (unless requested)
• Bestiality (monsters don't count here)
• Scat and waterplay
• Formalised D/s dynamics (bondage and other forms of restraint are OK)
• Underage
• Breathplay
• Fisting
• Any variation of the word 'come' in a sexual context spelled as 'cum' (please use 'come', 'came', 'precome' etc)

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

Requested ships:
Maion/Skoura

~~

Maion/Skoura

Something about the Arena questline grabbed me on my first playthrough, maybe because I was expecting a different twist, and found the trope of who your final opponent in the Arena turns out to be appealing (*points to my Oblivion requests*). Something about Skoura’s character hits my id so hard – the sadness and resignation and general air of quietly dignified despair, and it feels like there’s so much potential in the contrast between their characters. These two fascinate me, and I’d love to know more about the two of them, whether backstory or something that examines their relationship during the course of the game’s events. Angst and deathfic are particularly welcome for this request, but I’d also love something that approaches the game’s events from a more stoic point of view.

Optional Prompts

• I’d love to see something exploring their backstory, whether that’s set during the Persian Wars or later on, perhaps from Skoura’s time as an Arena.
• Their last night before the final challenge in the Arena. What happens? Does Maion try to talk Skoura out of it, or does he know there’s no arguing with a Spartan?

Crossover - Thief/Dishonored/Skyrim

Requested ships:
Corvo Attano/Mercer Frey/Garrett

~~

The Stephen Russell sneaky bastard trifecta. First off, I know that this is a completely ridiculous long-shot request and that my chances of getting it are practically nil, but screw it, I'm requesting it anyway. :D This OT3 request is the absolute pie-in-the-sky fic of my dreams, but I would also be thrilled (seriously, I'm not kidding) with a fic that features only two of the characters if including the three of them is a step too far.

Handwave the details of how they came together, by all means. Meeting in the Void or in the Twilight Sepulcher? Nocturnal fucking with Mercer again? Or some weird tavern that's like a fixed point between all three fandoms for some inexplicable reason? I don't care: I just want to see these characters interacting, whether it's pure PWP, or if there's plotty stuff going on, or however you choose to do it. I'd particularly love to see them competing with each other, even if it's just over their stories about who's the best thief (Garrett, obviously).

Optional Prompts

• The three of them (or just the two of them) swapping stories about their accomplishments.
• A heist goes wrong. Perhaps they're competing against each other to steal a particular artifact, and get dosed with sex pollen or find themselves stuck in a trap that requires them to fuck to save themselves.
• The worlds are bleeding into each other, resulting in a world that’s a warped combination of Riften, Dunwall and the City. Corvo’s priority is protecting Dunwall, Mercer’s out for himself, and Garrett… eh, Garrett could go either way.

Dishonored

Requested ships:
Corvo Attano/Teague Martin

~~

I'm fascinated by the Loyalists and everything that's going on behind the scenes with the three conspirators while the events of the game are taking place. And Martin especially, with all the whump-potential of his suffering at the hands of the Overseers, and all the delicious angst and guilt as he struggles with his conscience and how he owes Corvo everything but still betrays him. Perhaps he's still recovering from his injuries, or Corvo's still mourning Jessamine, and trying to bury his grief in sex (whether meaningless or otherwise). Maybe they're trying to keep it quiet for whatever reason, or Martin is still struggling with the decision of whether or not he should turn against Corvo.

I’d be thrilled with anything that captures the awkward place between love/attraction, obligation and betrayal, or which tackles their awkward backstories and complicated emotions. Any level of relationship, from hateship, to using each other as a distraction, to one-sided pining, to genuine love and affection: mainly I’d be fascinated to see what you come up with for these two.

Optional Prompts

• Post-canon ‘fix-it’ fic, although the actual fix-it part is entirely optional. Perhaps an AU where Martin survives, or a Bad Guys Win AU, where Corvo fails to stop them, but isn’t killed. Or a Came Back Wrong fic.
• Something set during the events of the first time game. Corvo is still mourning Jessamine, Martin is still recovering from his injuries, and the whole situation is ripe for some gloriously angst iddy whump.
• Something set during the final mission of the first game: Emily is saved, the Loyalists are defeated, but Martin is still alive and Corvo has some loose ends to tie up.

Dracula – Bram Stoker

Requested ships:
Count Dracula/Abraham Van Helsing
Dracula/Jonathan Harker

~~

Ahhh, these two pairings. <3<3<3 All the potential for deliciously bloody dubiously consensual hate sex. Feel free to combine them if you want to: perhaps Dracula forcing them to fuck each other or for one man to drink the other’s blood. I haven’t requested Renfield since it’s the corruption/whump of two of the heroes that really appeals to me here, but again if you want to get Renfield involved in either of the pairings then please do.

For Jonathan, perhaps something set during his imprisonment at the castle, or alternatively something set after his escape. Perhaps his experiences there still haunt him or Dracula isn't willing to let him go, and is continuing to visit him, but is Jonathan hallucinating or is it real? Maybe it’s Jonathan that Dracula chooses to turn rather than Mina. Basically, I am always going to be here for Dracula menacing, seducing, and/or corrupting Jonathan, with or without use of mind manipulation, and I am almost always guaranteed to love a Bad Guys Win AU.

As for Van Helsing, (who happens to be, by the by, one of my earliest literary crushes), I want much the same thing – bloody and dubiously consensual whump, and possibly the corruption of goodness. In a way, Van Helsing is set aside from the other characters by the virtue of his age and experience, so perhaps there is a degree of subconscious envy there which Dracula is able to corrupt and take advantage of.

Optional Prompts

• Van Helsing encounters Dracula as a younger man
• Something bloody and dubiously consensual set during Jonathan’s imprisonment at the castle
• Jonathan has been dreaming about being trapped in a coffin, or any other tight space (possibly with rats or feral vampires)
• Rather than Mina, Dracula sets his heart on making Jonathan one of his Brides.
• Dracula attempts to corrupt one or both of the men.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Requested ships:
Corvus Umbranox/Lucien Lachance
Lucien Lachance/Vicente Valtieri
Martin Septim/Sanguine
Male Hero of Kvatch/Agronak gro-Malog

~~

Oblivion is my favourite of the Elder Scrolls games. I love everything about it, its goofy quirks, the scenery and landscape, the quests, and how virtually every quest in the game usually has a little twist or something special about it. Landscape porn, adventure, and any quiet meta nods to the game's goofy moments would be wonderful.

Corvus Umbranox/Lucien Lachance

The Thieves' Guild and the Dark Brotherhood questlines are unquestionably two of the highlights of the game, and I would love to see something of how the two factions and their leaders interact. Do they have an uneasy alliance, or are they at war? I would be thrilled with a story that explores the relationship between Corvus and Lucien and whether they are allies or enemies. I'd also be happy with Lucien as a spectral assassin after his death, and I'll quietly point to my 'ghost sex' like. I'd particularly love an exploration of the darker side of the Thieves' Guild, because there's no way everyone who belongs to the guild is entirely down with the 'no killing' Robin Hood ethos.

Touch-starvation, hate sex, enemies being forced to work together: there are so many elements of this potential relationship that hit my id, and Lucien is such a gloriously evil bastard, and I’d be happy either with something fully consensual or which leans hard on dubcon.

Optional Prompts

• Membership of the Dark Brotherhood seems to provide some degree of immunity to the effects of the cowl. After however many years of no one recognising Corvus or knowing his name, Lucien Lachance does, and an uneasy friendship/relationship starts to develop between the two men.
• Someone is murdering members of the Thieves' Guild. Corvus suspects the work of the Brotherhood.
• Something where Corvus and Lucien have known each other for a long time, since they were boys.
• Lucien and Corvus swap bodies and are forced to keep this information hidden from their respective guilds.
• After Lucien's death, Corvus looks back on their complicated relationship.
• I would be delighted with something as unexpectedly tropey as 'There's only one bed!' especially if the fic doesn't lose sight of how massively dark and fucked up Lucien is as a character
• Something weird is going on in the Anvil lighthouse.

Lucien Lachance/Vicente Valtieri

Oh man, these two. I love them and their creepy murder cult. <3<3<3 They're both such irredeemably evil monsters - literally, in Vicente's case, since he's a vampire - and yet the game does such a fantastic job getting you to care about them, and making them feel, despite the game’s limitations, like characters with a depth of backstory. I’m fascinated by the question of what the dynamic between them would be, and what form their shared history would take, so I would absolutely love to see that tackled, however you choose to do it.

I would also be up for you combining this ship with the Lucien/Corvus one above, especially for smut with a dubcon edge. And speaking of dubcon – these characters are both completely evil bastards, so consider this a hell yes to that here.

Optional Prompts

• PWP - Give me all the vampire sex, hate fucking, sex in the blood of the people they've just murdered, etc. etc...
• Backstory - show me what happened when Lucien became Speaker. Vicente's been a member of the Dark Brotherhood for two hundred years, so he might have been around to see Lucien when he first joined and moved through the ranks to become the Speaker
• Did Vicente ever offer to make Lucien a vampire?
• I mentioned hate-fucking but I would also really love to see some sparks of genuine affection between them (just to really dig the knife deeper when, well... y'know).
• Lucien's POV during the Dark Brotherhood questline. Was there ever a moment when he was tempted to warn Vicente? (I mean, obviously the answer is no, because Lucien, but maybe he idly considered it in a quiet moment, while knowing it was never going to happen).
• Time Loop from Vicente's point-of-view, where he realises the Hero of Kvatch keeps killing him, so he escapes and hunts down Lucien in order to warn him that the Hero of Kvatch is a traitor. Awkwardness ensues.

Martin Septim/Sanguine

Martin is such a wonderful character. I love the potential for internal conflict and introspection, and the backstory that's hinted at but not explored in detail. In game he seems so sad and calm and accepting of his fate, and the relationship that builds up between him and the Hero of Kvatch means that the main quest's ending is genuinely affecting.

I'd love to see something exploring his relationship with Sanguine, as backstory or as part of the events of the game. If you were in the mood to write some dubiously consensual smut, then I would absolutely be down for that. Any appearances from the Hero of Kvatch would be welcome too.

Optional Prompts

• Ritual sex - what's it like to have sex with a daedra, and just how badly can it go wrong?
• Explore Martin's backstory as a worshipper of Sanguine.
• When the Hero of Kvatch returns to Cloud Ruler Temple, they bring Sanguine's Rose with them, dredging up memories Martin would rather have forgotten.
• Sanguine visits Martin with the offer to lighten the burden of translating the Mysterium Xarxes.
• An AU where Uriel Septim acknowledged Martin as an heir rather than hiding him away.
• World-building: anything that explores Sanguine's different realms of Oblivion and all their varying opportunities for weird smut: vines, monsters, tentacles, vampires, etc.

Male Hero of Kvatch/Agronak gro-Malog

The perfect rip-my-heart-out-and-stamp-on-it ship. Oblivion has its limitations, no doubt, but there’s still something so sad about the Gray Prince’s quest to discover the secret about his family, and the resulting way the Arena questline ends. And okay, yeah, vampires, and how creepy Crowhaven is with its sealed-off room and the reveal of Agronak’s parentage and the implications.

Optional Prompts

• An AU where Agronak survives. Perhaps the Hero of Kvatch forfeits the match and somehow persuades him to keep living. Does Agronak set his heart on slaughtering as many vampires as he can? And how does his heritage affect him, if at all?
• Sparring together leads to sex.
• Play with all the vampire stuff. While out together, they’re approached by Ralsa Norvalo and drawn into the Order of the Virtuous Blood questline. What would happen if either character got infected with vampirism? Or both of them, but it turns out Agronak is immune?
• Rather than travelling alone, the Hero of Kvatch persuades Agronak to journey to Crowhaven with him.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Requested ships:
Male Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Commander Maro
Brynjolf/Mercer Frey
Teldryn Sero/Athis

~~

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 for the Dragonborn/Maro ship I'd be happy with an alternate start player character who isn't actually the Dragonborn. I would also love some scenery porn for this.

Male Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Commander Maro

This ship was born out of a longing for a more fleshed-out version of the Destroy the Dark Brotherhood quest. It’s a shame that it didn’t match the main version in terms of complexity, and I would have freaking loved a version which developed the relationship between the Dragonborn and Commander Maro in the same way as the relationships between the various assassins are developed in the version of the quest where you join them. And why couldn’t it have been triggered by the note from one of the random assassination attempts instead of forcing you to murder someone? It was such a missed opportunity.

It’s up to you whether you want to go the Destroy the Dark Brotherhood route and have them as allies, or if you’d rather go much darker, and have the Dragonborn join the Dark Brotherhood, and make it an enemy-ship instead, with all the ensuing attempts at corruption, dubcon, imprisonment, torture, etc. (Or alternatively, completely ignore the Dark Brotherhood, whether you go the PWP route, or something plottier which focuses on something like, like the machinations of the Thalmor).

Optional Prompts

• Maro and the PC fail in their quest to destroy the Dark Brotherhood, and are captured, imprisoned and tortured.
• Devastated by the murder of his son at the hands of the PC, Maro falls into the trap of allowing himself to be gradually corrupted. (Or alternatively, something along similar lines but the person who murdered his son is an NPC, and the PC is concerned for Maro and trying to prevent him from straying down a path he’ll regret.)
• Any kind of casefic. Such as Maro and the PC investigating a murder suspected to be the work of the Dark Brotherhood, or a Thalmor mole in the Penitus Oculatus.
• An all-too-brief moment of peace (I’d love to see some scenery porn for this)

Brynjolf/Mercer Frey

In the interests of full disclosure, I am completely team Mercer. It stems pretty much entirely from the differences between the Oblivion Thieves Guild and the Skyrim one, Mercer's interest in the Gray Fox, and an innate distrust of Nocturnal, but as much as he appeals to me, and as much as the Thieves guild questline leaves me wishing there was a choice to betray Karliah and break the oath to Nocturnal, he is a complete and utter amoral bastard, and I am fine with him being written that way.

For the Mercer/Brynjolf ship, I'd love anything: backstory, or something set during the events of canon, or a post-canon fic, whether Mercer is alive or dead, or a canon-divergent fic where Mercer survives, or is somehow brought back.

Optional Prompts

• The Thieves Guild questline from Mercer and Brynjolf's point of view (well, part of it). Bonus points for Falmer-related horror.
• What if Brynjolf cared more about his friendship/relationship with Mercer than Mercer stealing from the guild and Mercer brought him in on it?
• Mercer is a great admirer of the Gray Fox. Is there a reason? And whatever did happen to the Gray Fox's cowl?
• All the grimy, unpleasant little details of lives spent underground, and mostly in the sewers. Especially if you go the sex up against the sewer wall route.
• A Jessica Fletcher type turns up in the Flagon and starts poking around into Gallus's murder, stirring up Mercer's guilt (If it's a thinly veiled Skyrim version of Jessica Fletcher and crack-played-straight, then ALL THE BETTER.).
• After the events of the questline have been concluded, Brynjolf looks back on his memories of Mercer.
• Mercer's been in a dark mood lately and Brynjolf's concerned about him.

Athis/Teldryn Sero

Ah man, Athis. <3<3<3 He’s such a little shit, and I love him so much. I’m also fascinated by his backstory: there’s a bit where he talks about having crawled out of the ashes of Morrowind, and something about that aspect of having built up his life again from nothing is incredibly appealing to me. I completely headcanon him as an Ashlander (but please ignore that if you see him differently). And then there’s Teldryn Sero, who is unquestionably one of the best followers in the game. These two were made for each other: the contrast between them, the shared history and differences. How would Teldryn Sero feel about the Companions? Or Athis about visiting Solstheim, given what he has to say about Eastmarch and how he avoids it because it’s too close to the border? I’d particularly love to see some focus on loss and the devastation wrought on Morrowind, and how that puts into perspective any differences between them. As Athis puts it, they’re all Ashlanders now.

Bring the Dragonborn into it if you want, or leave them out entirely. And if you want to turn this into a threesome by including a male Dragonborn, then please do.

Optional Prompts

• Athis runs into Teldryn Sero in Solstheim.
• Follower Life – what’s it like being stuck following the PC around, and what happens when the PC isn’t there? (Something kind of meta, maybe?)
• Something focused on the Companions, seen from a perspective that isn’t the Dragonborn. Athis is (presumably) unaware of the secret of the Circle. What happens when he finds out?
• I would freaking love to see some dungeon crawling for this. Or cave crawling. And I do have a bit of a thing for the Falmer.
• They’re in Eastmarch, which Athis usually avoids. How to distract him from his painful memories? (Okay, admittedly this is just an excuse for PWP hot springs sex, but if you want to sneak some angst in there I wouldn’t say no...)
• Windhelm is even more of a shithole if you’re a Dunmer, but on the plus side it gives Teldryn Sero the chance to fuck the East Empire Company over while Athis is getting into brawls...

Thief

Requested ships:
Garrett/The Trickster
Garrett/Drept
Garrett/Original Male Character

~~

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.

Garrett/The Trickster

Basically, I would really love a Bad Guys Win AU here, with the Trickster keeping Garrett alive after the end of the first game. Angst, magical vines, monster fucking, torture, and extremely dubious consent: I'm here for it all.

Alternatively, something set during the course of the first game, where Constantine hasn't yet been unmasked as the Trickster. And if you want to combine this ship with either of the others for this fandom then please do.

Optional Prompts

• 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 to the Trickster. There's always something else to steal.
• Monster fucking, xeno, and sex pollen - The Trickster doses Garrett with sex pollen and hands him over to his monsters while he watches.
• Constantine invites Garrett to his house to give him the tour, especially of the gardens. I'd love to see more of their dynamic, 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.
• How easy is it to kill a god anyway? What happens if the Trickster comes back? Or if Garrett meets someone who resembles Constantine?

Garrett/Drept

Oh, the Hammerites. <3<3<3 Garrett's relationship with them is such a complicated one: in every game he veers between being their enemy and their ally, and how he is ultimately a heretic and they'd probably kill him for that alone if they could catch him. And Drept -- we don't see much of him, but I'd really like to know more: what was he doing during the events of the first game, or during the rise of Father Karras. Had he met Garrett before the events of the third game? I'd just really love to see more of their relationship, complicated as it is, especially in the wake of the events of the third game. Because I desperately want to know what happens next.

Optional Prompts

• Hurt/comfort -- maybe Garrett had met Drept before during the events of the first game when he'd just lost his eye, and look, if there's a character I want to see whumped, it's Garrett
• 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.
• The Hammerites have another task that they need Garrett to pull off.
• Whump - Drept is captured and tortured by the Pagans, or during the events of the second game because Karras considers Drept a heretic. Garrett rescues him, whether he does it deliberately or just happens to be in the right place at the right time.
• A Bad Guys Win AU for the events of the first game, with Garrett and Drept as uneasy surviving in a world plunged into darkness.

Garrett/Original Male Character

There are a lot of ways you can go with this. A fellow thief, maybe a rival from one of the guilds, looking to steal something back from him. A Keeper. A Pagan. A fence. A necromancer.

Optional Prompts

• Any kind of heist fic is always welcome.
• I love the setting of the City, 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.

Vampyr

Requested ships:
Jonathan Reid/Edgar Swansea

~~

Out of Jonathan's three progeny, Edgar is my favourite. I'm fascinated be him: his dubious ethics, and his background with the Brotherhood, and how grateful he is to Jonathan for the chance of becoming a vampire. All the three turning cut-scenes are hot as fuck, but I'm particularly fond of Edgar's scene for the copious amounts of whump and how tender Jonathan is with him, even despite everything he's learned and how angry he is with him. The game does a great job of building up the friendship and professional relationship between them, and I love the way Edgar adjusts to his new life as an Ekon and the eerie feeling I'm left with that maybe turning him wasn't such a great idea after all.

Something I really is the idea of Jonathan cracking and turning dark as a result of having denied himself blood for too long, so not dark from the outset, but as a result of attempting to follow the not-even-once route, and all the delicious wallowing in angst and guilt as a result, but not-even-once!Jonathan and shades-of-grey!Jonathan are great too.

Optional Prompts

• I am always here for incredibly bleak Bad Guys Win AUs. Jonathan loses the final battle, London descends into a post-apocalyptic nightmare, and it's him and Edgar against the world. Has the world adjusted and adapted, or is it just a matter of marking time until the inevitable miserable end?
• Get together fic, whether it happens when Edgar is still human or after he's been turned. Or an AU where a human Edgar survives the theatre, meaning that there's no need for Jonathan to turn him. Gentle sex because of Edgar's injuries.
• I’m fascinated by the ingame factions, particularly the Brotherhood, so I’d love anything that explores how it functions and/or its history. Perhaps Jonathan is considering joining.
• Whump and hurt/comfort, whether it’s Edgar who gets injured, or alternately, Jonathan gets severely injured and is unable to fight, resulting in Edgar (whether human or Ekon) having to step up to protect them both.

Year of the Rabbit

Requested ships:
D.I. Rabbit/D.I. Tanner
D.I. Rabbit/Wilbur Strauss

~~

Matt Berry and grim-dark Victoriana: I was pretty much guaranteed to love this. It’s very, very silly, but I discovered it at a time when I desperately needed something to distract me from everything that was going on, and damn, did it do the trick. I’ve fallen for it and for all the characters in a big way, and I want alllll the fic for it. So far, it’s a single 6-episode series, with another series planned, and I loved basically everything about it. It’s surprisingly sweet, and I loved all the details of the spoof-Victorian London, the characters (Rabbit in particular), the way it uses urban folklore (Brick Man and his brick knife!), and generally how thoroughly it cheered me up when I was very much in need of cheering up. I was delighted by the whole show from start to finish.

It’s one of those rare fandoms where I genuinely, completely love every single character, Mabel and her father (and oh my god do I want genfic about their relationship, but that’s definitely for another exchange), and Gwen, and Joseph Merrick, and basically everyone. But most of all, Rabbit. Oh my god, Rabbit. It’s been a while since I’ve fallen so hard for a character. I basically love Matt Berry in everything he’s ever done, even when I’m not quite sure if I really like the show or not (Looking at you, Toast of London), but holy crap do I adore him in this. The slightly against type East End London accent, the violence, how completely and utterly baffled he is by the concept of a telephone… *heart eyes*

For this I’d love anything that goes all out on the grimdark Victoriana aspects of the show, canon-typical anachronisms welcome, as is anything that deals with Rabbit’s incomprehension when it comes to technology. (Oh, and if you were at all interested in writing a crossover, I’d also be up for Rabbit/Laszlo from What We Do in the Shadows.)

I do love a good hateship, and I was already kind of shipping these two even before we learn the reason why Tanner hates Rabbit so much, which… :D Something a little more tender before it all went to shit, awkward drunken sex, or hatefucking, whichever way you choose to take it, I’d love to see it.

One of my favourite things about the show is the relationship between the three main characters, and particularly the mentor-mentee relationship between Rabbit and Strauss. I love how the show deals with the trope of the posh fast-tracked copper, and how well they work together despite how different they are. They’re both pretty romantic in their own way too.

Optional Prompts

• I am always here for backstory, and damn do I want some backstory for Tanner & Rabbit. I’d love to see something of how and why Tanner came to hate Rabbit so much.
• All the hatefucking for Tanner & Rabbit, especially it it’s fraught and messy and awkward, and kind of leads to feelings despite them both continuing to hate each other.
• Tanner & Rabbit are forced to work together, perhaps on a big case or because they’ve been thrown into captivity together.
• Some very, very ill-advised drunken sex between Strauss and Rabbit. Maybe they get to swapping stories and after it comes out how very, very inexperienced Strauss is, one thing leads to another.
• Something dealing with an irritatingly arrogant consulting detective in the Sherlock-Holmes mould. Is he incompetent, a criminal mastermind, or just fucking with them (either pairing) for lols?
• Undercover as a couple – for either pairing. For Tanner/Rabbit I’d love the conflict that’d come from forcing them into a situation where they have to work together, and for Rabbit/Strauss it would just be sort of adorable.
• Something set in a boarding school
• I do love the Closed Circle trope, so I’d love anything where they find themselves snowed in in at a hotel with a murderer picking them off one by one.

Thanks for reading!