Chocolate Box 2022 Letter

AO3 Username: StopTalkingAtMe

Welcome to my letter, Mystery Creator. Let me start by saying I’m open to a LOT of different things. I’m also open to unrequested crossovers, so as long as you have good reason to believe I’m into a fandom, then go for it. 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. All requests are for both art and fic.

General Likes
Art Likes
Smut Likes
DNWs
Agatha Christie’s Poirot (TV)
Anaconda
Bergerac
Cockneys vs Zombies
Dishonored
Doctor Who (1963)
Primeval
The Professionals
Sapphire & Steel
Strange

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.
Closed Circle - Stranded with a murderer in your midst, whether in horror or murder mustery. 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. (Please note the exception for Cockneys vs Zombies)
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. (and for the record, I’m not sure why The Professionals has become the fandom I would really love to see crossed over with everything, but for some reason it has.)
Post-Apocalypse scenarios, with focus on angst and the struggle for survival. This includes zombie apocalypse AUs.
Stranded Together With No Way Home, us against the world, deep mutual dependence on the other party because there’s no one else around (which may not be entirely healthy)
Time Loops
Older characters finding love.
Age gap relationships

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

General Art Likes

In terms of artwork I'm open to a lot of different things. I'd love to see something which captures the atmosphere of canon, whether that be beautiful scenery, or something grim and gritty. All the fandoms I’m requesting for this exchange are ones where I love the visuals of the setting and the world. I love contrast and lots of rich intricate detail, whether in colour, or intricate detailed monochrome line art but I also love softer, more muted colours if that's your style. I also quite like diptychs and triptychs, as well as the use of stylised borders which incorporate themes and objects from canon, such as clockwork, books, or vines. Artist-wise, I'm particularly fond of art nouveau, but seriously, anything.

DNWs

A/B/O
Noncon (Bad Guys Made Them Do It scenarios are fine though)
Dubcon involving unaroused characters
Incest
Bestiality (monsters don't count here)
Scat and waterplay
Formalised D/s dynamics (bondage and other forms of restraint are OK)
Underage (normally <18, but for Ceolbert, <16)
Het anal sex
Breathplay (antagonistic choking is fine)
Fisting
Sexualised lactation
Any variation of the word 'come' in a sexual context spelled as 'cum' (please use 'come', 'came', 'precome' etc)
Infidelity (Applies to Doctor Who only)

Agatha Christie’s Poirot

Requested Ships: Egg/Charles Cartwright

I was torn between which one to pick, and went with the series because of the wonderful dynamic between Poirot and Sir Charles, and, um, *cough* Martin Shaw arguably at his hottest in a tragic May-December romance, but I have read the book recently, so base your fic on that if you’d prefer, or an amalgam of both.

Oh god, I just love the way the age gap is dealt with, the no one’s really judgemental of it even if it does raise a couple of eyebrows – it’s treated as natural and understandable on both their parts, and they just adore each other so much in a way that I am completely weak for. I love the moment where Egg’s mother points out that an older man’s discretions are mostly behind him, and whether that’s right or wrong I can’t help making hearteyes at the pair of them.

Go with a fix-it, or something which very much does not fix it (and let me just say I am completely fine with Main Character Death here), something canon-compliant or something which looks at how differently things might have gone had the circumstances been different. (Background Egg/Oliver Manders is fine too, especially in post-canon canon-compliant fics). And if you want to go hard on that delicious loyalty kink between Sir Charles and Poirot then that’s welcome too. :D

Optional Prompts

Missing scenes and sweet little moments from their courtship and the investigation. The two of them bonding over clue-hunting, or going sailing together, Sir Charles trying to be noble and self-sacrificing (ha!) and Egg not standing for it. (In age gap relationships I’m particularly fond of the younger party doing the pursuing)
A canon-divergent fix-it of sorts? Because for whatever reason there’s no impediment to the marriage. Sweetly indulgent fluff or does the tragic part just happen differently? |Do they end up tangled up in another murder, and if so, is one of them the victim or the murderer??
Or another canon-divergent fic where Poirot doesn’t get involved until much later, and the case only comes to his attention after Egg and Sir Charles have already got married (happy endings not necesssary here, and if you want to draw parallels with Rebecca...)
A role reversal AU where Egg is the murderer.
What would have happened if Egg had recognised Sir Charles at Strange’s party, and he was forced to pass it off as a joke?
They hold their own murder mystery party.

Art Likes

I’d love to see lavish depictions of evening dress, moments from their courtship, something happy and sweet, or something bleaker where she goes to visit him in prison immediately post-canon. Play with the theatre themes if you want, lighting and stage sets and costuming, or depict a moment from the scene where they confess their love for each other, or a scene where they go sailing. Or play on the parallels with Jane Eyre, and give me something where they’re enacting the Jane and Mr Rochester roles. Or an image from a murder mystery game.

Anaconda

Requested Ships:
Terri Flores/Paul Serone

Consent-wise, I'm open to anything up to and including extremely dubious consent for this request and ship.

I have a huge soft spot for monster movies, and Anaconda is one of my favourites. I unashamedly love it. It’s a fun film to watch, I like all the characters, and something about the setting of a bunch of people isolated on a boat hits my id hard (see my related request for The River). Then on top of that there’s the Terri/Paul Serone thing, which… well… There are very, very few things that hit my id harder than the trope of a woman trying to distract the bad guy by pretending to seduce him (blame it on watching Disney’s Aladdin at an impressionable age). This ship is skeevy and messed up, so dubcon, sex pollen, and forced seduction are all possibilities here… Or alternatively maybe something goes wrong, the rest of the crew goes missing, leaving the two of them stranded, and Terri realises she has to go through with her pretended seduction.

Silly popcorn movie or not, I actually find the character dynamics in it kind of interesting and there’s potentially quite a lot to explore. I like that the characters don’t always act as expected, such as when Gary throws his lot in with Serone, and the pompous English dickhead (there’s always one) much more likeable in a moment of crisis. And then there’s Serone himself: simultaneously revolting, sinister and OTT. Is all the priest stuff real or is it an act? I also like the idea of exploring the conflict in having to rely on someone who is simultaneously a threat to your life, and I would be particularly interested in explorations of his character where he isn’t just the cartoon villain he almost becomes in canon, but treated as a rounded character, ruthless and brutal as he is.

Setting the ship aside, I really do love the film purely for itself. Ignore the ship completely and give me more canon-style survival horror and I will be happy, I swear.

Please note that this request is specifically for the first film. References to the sequels are fine, but I'm equally happy for them to be completely ignored. The only thing I will say is that I really like the imagery of the Blood Orchid in the second film, even if you use absolutely nothing about it except its appearance (my sex pollen prompt is probably relevant here).

Optional Prompts

An AU where Steven and Serone come to an agreement about which way to travel so there’s no need for the wasp. (Maybe Serone manages to persuade him or they’ve met previously?) How would that change the course of the film, with perhaps the others suspecting him slightly less? After all, he was right about the tribe...
Something goes wrong, and Terri and Serone are separated from the rest of the crew (or everyone else is killed). Set-up for sex pollen or something more serious. Whether they’re shipped or not (and please feel free to make this gen if you’d prefer), I’d really like to see some exploration of their dynamic. How you approach this probably depends on how suspicious Terri is of him: whether he’s already revealed himself as a villain, or if her suspicions haven’t yet been confirmed (but maybe she’s warming towards him because he saved her life, even if he is a massive fucking weirdo). I’d be happy with either. Also open to her seducing him to prevent him from killing her/leaving her stranded.
An exploration of where the snakes come from. Use the sequels if you want or ignore them completely and make shit up. I do like the aesthetic of the orchids in the second film (and the, uh, giant snake orgy), but there shouldn’t be any need to have watched the film to use them. Does it occur to Terri at any point that there may in fact be more of a market for a documentary about a massive 40 ft anaconda than the original topic?
The attempt to distract Serone goes horribly wrong and she has to go through with it (perhaps an AU there aren’t enough of them left to overpower him), or an extremely dubiously consensual no no yes situation. Or with Gary dead, Denise is particularly vulnerable, and so Terri seduces Serone thinking she’s protecting her.
Why is Serone so obsessed with that damn snake? Is it really purely about money, or is there something more at work? Is it any snake, or is it purely that specific snake that he’s after? And I am, as always, up for backstory and character development.
I’d love to see something Lovecraftian here, exploring obsession and the possibility that the anacondas are harbingers of an Elder God. Maybe Terri gets sucked into it in his wake, and the near-madness of facing it creates a kind of bond between them, which she can’t escape afterwards as much as she hates him.

Optional Art Prompts

I mean… snakes? Lots and lots and lots of snakes. Terri as some kind of snake-goddess? I’d love to see some scenery porn for this, or possibly a cut-through scene where we can see on the deck of the boat and underneath and the anaconda can be seen readying to strike while everyone remains completely oblivious. The imagery of the blood orchid? Waterfalls? Terri and Paul having to work together to survive, or fighting each other while surrounded by thousands of snakes. (oh, and it’s fine to ignore the ship if you need to).

Bergerac

Requested Ships/Characters: Barney Crozier/Alice Crozier
Jim Bergerac/Barney Crozier

Fandom-specific DNWs – The requested characters cheating on their wives/girlfriends/each other. (For Barney Crozier, an AU where he’s divorced/separated/never married and Alice Crozier is barely mentioned would work.) References to the canonical one-night stand between Jim and Philippa Vale are okay though.

Currently the entire series is available through streaming on UK BritBox, and AFAIK at least the first couple of seasons are available on other versions of BritBox. It's also an old series, so episodes may also be available on YouTube and Daily Motion. The first episode is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHWW92AbT1E&t=2s

Jim Bergerac/Barney Crozier

Man, these two. <3<3<3 I have very gradually fallen for them bit by bit, and so slowly I didn’t realise how hard I’d fallen until it was too late. Jim is one of my favourite characters and there’s a lot to dig into here: he can be feckless and snarky, has a bit of a bitter streak, and isn’t always great at facing up to his responsibilities, but he mostly tries, despite how bleak and miserable his love-life gets. Case in point: almost everything that happened with Susan.

And then there’s Barney, whom I absolutely, unreservedly adore. He’s just the right balance of ‘a bit of a dick’ and ‘total sweetheart’, and I’m drawn to the contrast between him being on the face of it a very serious, strait-laced character but then having these adorably hapless goofy moments (His model aeroplanes! His (extremely dubious) advice to Jim on how to have a successful long-term marriage!), and then that’s contrasted again with the darker edge to his character in A Man of Sorrows (which is without question my favourite episode in the entire show.).

I’m also completely fascinated by Barney’s relationship with Jim. In the first episode, Barney’s only just been promoted to Inspector over Jim, and they’re both so bitter and shitty to each other and I just want to know why. Their relationship improves over the course of the series, but there’s always this odd mix of tension and friendship between them, as well as a great feeling of history between the characters that I really like, and I’d love to see their relationship explored in fic, especially as the series progresses and they both have to face up to the darker sides of being a copper. Their relationship is a weird mixture of semi-hostility and friendliness, trust and mistrust: it kills me how ready Barney is to believe that Jim’s started drinking again in Ninety Per Cent Proof, and then at the end of the episode he tries to make up for it by turning a blind eye to Jim kicking the shit out of the man who framed him. Ultimately they’ve (mostly) got each other’s back and all the resentment and trust issues just makes me ship it harder.

And while I can think of quite a few men to whom my ‘Smartly dressed men less smartly dressed at the end of a long and trying day’ like applies, I’ve added it specifically with Barney in mind, especially after he gets promoted to chief inspector and he kicks his wardrobe up a couple of notches. Those three piece suits hit my id hard, and canon is pretty good to me in that regard. Oh, and if you at all feel like getting him and/or Jim into wetsuits again then please do.

Optional Prompts

Jim has the dubious habit of letting his girlfriends find him places to live. Instead of shacking up with Francine or Susan, he accepts Barney’s offer of a place to stay instead.
Give me the aftermath of A Man of Sorrows, because it’s one of my favourite episodes and the possibilities for angst are endless, starting with Barney’s potential PTSD from the events in the opening of the episode. I’d really love to see something digging into the bleak realities of that kind of policing, the repercussions of what happened to Hallowes, the fundamental differences between the kind of police officers Barney and Jim are, want to be, or are willing to be, or looking at some of the fallout between them and how it affects them in the aftermath.
Or the aftermath of Ninety Percent Proof, which is such a brutal, angsty episode to watch, going heavy on the hurt/comfort, with this possibly being the catalyst to finally get them together.
For some reason, Barney and Jim roleswap, leading to Jim trying to do the case by the book while for once Barney is the one going rogue, such as an AU version of the episode Root and Branch where it’s Barney’s family being targeted rather than Jim’s?
A supernatural casefic. I really love atmospheric M R Jamesian ghost stories, and I really like the spookier episodes, so I’d be delighted with anything along those lines.
Midsomer Murders crossover – Barney and Jim attend a training course held in one of the Midsomer villages, which goes about as well as can be expected Casefic, crossover weirdness, or pure tropey ‘there was only one bed’ shipfic are all welcome here. (actually, that last one would work for a fic that isn’t a crossover too).
Barney and Jim find themselves stranded on a tiny islet and have to fend for themselves overnight while waiting to be rescued. (In the middle of a storm? A deserted and possibly haunted hotel? With a killer possibly loose on the island?)
What the hell was going on with Barney and Susan in the episode The Other Woman while he was interviewing her? Granted, she was never going to be happy about being suspected of murder, but her attitude towards him really felt personal and like there was something more going on, and that he might have a reason for wanting to find her guilty. Like, oh I don't know, her suspecting that Barney's secretly in love with Jim? (Again, Jim and Susan mutually agreeing it isn't working between them and ending it over the course of the fic is fine.)

Barney Crozier/Alice Crozier

Admittedly, Alice Crozier appears in very few episodes, but I’d love to see more of her relationship with Barney. Let’s just say I wasn’t altogether convinced that the secret to a happy marriage is dragging your wife along to watch you fly model aeroplanes (his extremely questionable relationship advice to Jim in Treasure Hunt), and given everything that happens between them in A Horse of a Different Colour, it seems I was right. XD But… she still goes with him, even though she’s clearly bored shitless and the weather is miserable. That is a woman who must really love her husband.

I find the few brief glimpses we get into their relationship utterly charming, and I'd love to see their relationship explored in a bit more detail. For this, I’d love to see something sweet, maybe an exploration of two long-term married middle-aged people trying to reconnect with each other. Does she ever wish he was more like Jim? Does she take up a hobby of her own and drag him along to that in retribution for all those afternoons with the model planes? Does she toy with the idea of an affair, or think about divorcing him? I’m normally all over heavy angst and am usually open to bad endings, but if there’s going to be a focus on this ship, I would really prefer there to be a happy ending (for the ship, anyway. The rest of the fic can be as bleak and depressing as you like).

Optional Prompts

The set-up in The Deadly Virus is actually the set-up for a 28-Days-Later zombie apocalypse scenario. Does it spread across the rest of the world, or is it quarantined and confined to Jersey? Go with whatever tone you want here, from angst and horror, to something more light-hearted, maybe looking at how the Jersey residents adapt to zombies. Zombieism as a fast track to a Jersey resident’s permit?
The continuing attempts of Alice and Barney to find a hobby that they can both enjoy. Model aeroplanes bore her shitless; he takes the tango far too seriously. Maybe a murder mystery weekend but it turns into a busman's holiday when someone actually gets murdered? Or maybe things keep going wrong -- floods, power cuts, etc -- they think it's going to be a disaster and potentially end their marriage, but then in the end they just stay in the hotel room and reconnect through frantic boning instead.
Or the aftermath of A Man of Sorrows, but with the focus on Barney/Alice going heavy on the emotional hurt/comfort.
A supernatural casefic. I really love atmospheric M R Jamesian ghost stories, and I really like the spookier episodes, so I’d be delighted with anything along those lines.

Cockneys vs Zombies

Requested Ships: Emma/Terry

Canon-specific DNW: Normally I’m fine with character death, but in this case, please don’t kill off anyone in the cast who’s still alive at the end of the film. Anyone else is fair game. (Unless you go with a long-term future fic, in which case implied death through natural causes is fine, but please don’t dwell on it)

Because what if Lock Stock, but with pensioners and zombies? Um, okay, I’m not going to claim that this is a good film, but I’m still pretty damn fond of it. It’s ridiculous, and silly, but something about it just really appeals to me. Maybe it’s the combination of the zombie apocalypse (a trope which I will forever be a sucker for) with so many British actors of a certain age, with a plot that’s… kind of sweet, actually, and look, I just like it, okay, zimmerframe-against-a-shambling-zombie-race and Chas ‘n’ Dave soundtrack and all, and I would really, really love to know what happens next.

Emma and Terry dating against the background of the apocalypse? Do they find his grandfather and his friends a new place to live? Is the apocalypse permanent or just a temporary blip that only really affects London? The Emma/Terry relationship is another aspect of the film that I find unexpectedly rather sweet and heartwarming, which is sort of impressive given how they meet and the schlocky blood and gore going on around them. But the whole thing with her sister just gets me making hearteyes at the pair of them, and especially given the difference in their backgrounds (I am such a sucker for people of different class backgrounds being thrown together by apocalyptic events), I am rooting for the pair of them so damn hard.

Other random stuff I appreciate about this canon: zombies and zombie-related horror, Eric’s completely inexplicable stabs at rhyming slang, the swearing, the large cast of older characters, and the clash between the two genres: zombies and Lock, Stock-style London gangster films.

Optional Prompts

All Terry wants is one normal date with Emma. Preferably one with no interruptions from zombies, his brother, his grandfather, or his grandfather’s friends. It doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
Long-term future fic with Terry and Emma telling their kids about how they met.
Or a post-canon fic in the immediate aftermath of the end of the film, with scenes from that boat as they gradually decompress, get to know each other, and discover whether or not the outbreak is going to spread beyond London. Hurt/comfort and humour are particularly welcome here.
While gathering supplies, Terry and Emma end up barricaded in a house with nothing to do except wait to be rescued and… well, surely they can think of something else to do?
Show me all the rebuilding of society in the aftermath. Is the outbreak long-term, or easily dealt with, or able to be quarantined in London? If it quickly all blows over then maybe Emma and Terry break up, or never really got together in the first place, but their paths cross when they both get caught up in another outbreak, or else it’s something to do with her sister and the treatment of zombies.
Since the original point of the film was Terry and his brother trying to save their grandfather’s retirement home, I’d love to see something following that through, with them finding somewhere new for them all to live, like a ridiculously fancy stately home.
Go hard on the Lock, Stock references and have Ray narrate the fic Guy Ritchie style, whatever the actual plot is, whether it’s Terry’s attempts to have a successful date with Emma or them trying to pull off a heist post-apocalypse style.

Art Prompts

Emma and Terry as a (slightly unlikely) battle couple? A quiet moment looking back at the smoking ruins of London from the deck of the boat while the sun sets? Holding hands. Zombie-related gore and violence is welcome too.

Dishonored

Requested Ships:
Corvo Attano/Teague Martin
Emily Kaldwin/Teague Martin

Corvo Attano/Teague Martin

I’m honestly a little baffled that this ship isn’t larger than it is, given all the whump potential of Corvo rescuing Martin from Holger Square. And yeah, okay, maybe it’s because Martin is a treacherous little weasel, but he’s a fascinating treacherous little weasel, and I ship them like burning. It hit me out of nowhere this ship, and I ship them all the harder for how hopeless and bleak and messed up it all is, with the betrayal and Corvo having been marked by the Outsider, not to mention his having just seen his lover murdered right in front of him. I just wish there was more fic for this pairing.

I'm enthralled by the Loyalists and everything that's going on behind the scenes with them while the events of the first game are taking place. But Martin especially: all that delicious angst and guilt as he struggles with his conscience and how he owes Corvo everything but still betrays him. His shady background is hinted at, but never really expanded on, and his true feelings about the Overseers is never quite made clear. Is he really a man of faith, or is it just a convenient route to power?

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 is welcome, 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. Perhaps Martin'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.

Optional Prompts

Post-canon ‘fix-it’ fic, although the actual fix-it part is entirely optional.
A Bad Guys Win!AU. Corvo fails to stop the Loyalists but isn’t killed. Maybe he’s just injured or imprisoned, and resurfaces years later. Perhaps Martin regrets what happened and has done his best to make amends by serving Emily as best he can, and then he starts to hear rumours about an assassin who sounds very much like Corvo. Does he hole up somewhere or go looking for him?
(Uh, also writing the above prompt has made me realise that I’d be open to a fic with the above set-up where Emily and Martin stumbled into a love affair once she was old enough, but they're both still hugely fucked up over Corvo (who could be alive or dead). Falling in love with her older protector/advisor was what her mother did, after all, and she thinks of Martin as one of her father's loyal supporters, and meanwhile Martin's basically obsessed with Corvo and Emily is almost a replacement for him.)
Something set during the events of the first 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. Could be smut or emotional or physical hurt/comfort.
The Outsider reaches out to Martin and offers him powers, perhaps the chance to go back and change events.
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.
A canon-divergent AU where they’re discovered or betrayed and the Hound Pits Pub is overrun with the Lord Regent’s men and they have to scramble to survive whilst protecting Emily.

Emily Kaldwin/Teague Martin

I’d prefer that Emily be 18+ when the possibility of a sexual relationship occurs to Martin, although a crush on Emily’s part is fine before them.

This one is a little awkward due to my Underage DNW, which still stands, but I ship adult Emily/Teague Martin so freaking hard. It grew out of a prompt for the Corvo/Martin ship, but thinking about it and how it might work got me shipping it as its own separate thing. I would also be fine with it treated as entirely gen if you'd prefer to set it during the course of the first game - Martin fascinates me as a character and we don't really see him interacting with Emily.

But if you do decide to ship it, there's a very specific ship dynamic that I adore and which this hits for me: a man who acted as a semi-guardian to a younger woman, and the two of them just sort of accidentally falling into an awkward, guilty, somewhat angsty relationship once she's well past the age where she's old enough to be acting in an adult capacity. Seriously, it's like CATNIP, and that's part of what appeals to me about this ship.

I almost always adore older man/younger woman age gap ships anyway, particularly when the power balance isn’t always as clear-cut as it might seem. What I first imagined for this request is a canon divergent AU where Corvo died failing to stop the Loyalists and Martin finds himself as High Overseer and acting in an advisory role to Emily who remains unaware of the betrayal, while they conduct an affair. She’s still sort of messed up over the events of the first game, and, since Jessamine was probably about 12 when Corvo was appointed as her Royal Protector, she sees an affair with Martin as somehow following in the steps of her mother. Meanwhile Martin is conflicted about his betrayal of Corvo and guilty as fuck about having an affair with a woman he knew as a child. There’s so much potential for trauma, horribly conflicted loyalty kink, and guilty angst here, especially if you feel like combining the two ships with Martin having formerly been Corvo’s lover.

That really is a much more elaborate head-canon than I usually like to give, but it’s honestly just a suggestion, mainly because it seems the simplest way of getting them together. If you have another idea of how this could work (Outsider shenanigans or time travel or a Came Back Wrong fic – all of which I’d freaking love), then please do run with it. Martin can survive a high chaos run, so there’s every chance he could be imprisoned in Coldridge, and I would love to see how a High Chaos version of the first game would go on to affect Emily as an adult and how that might play into her relationship with Martin and her memories of her father.

I’m also fine with the ship taking a back-seat to the plot, and with one-sided pining or extremely awkward and badly timed UST.

Optional Prompts

A canon-divergent AU where the Outsider pays Martin a visit shortly before his death and offers him the Mark. Maybe he goes back in time and it's him rather than Daud who winds up preventing Delilah from taking over Emily’s body, or Delilah succeeds in that, and years later, he has to restore Emily's spirit to her adult body, only she’s been a disembodied spirit growing up in the Void for all this time, touch-starved and desperate for human contact.
Martin survives the events of the first game, but is imprisoned for his crimes, only to then become one of Emily’s few allies during the events of the second game (perhaps the Outsider chooses to mark him rather than Emily, and he sees a chance to make amends).
The headcanon in the general notes about the ship. Maybe rumours start to surface about someone who looks very much like Corvo appearing in Dunwall, or the other surviving Loyalists are being killed off one by one. Or maybe Emily runs into Samuel and learns the truth about what happened to her father.
Time-travel – as an adult, Emily travels back to the events of the first game. Maybe she takes over Corvo’s place in the missions, or sees a chance to put things right.

Optional Art Prompts

I absolutely love the gritty visuals of Dunwall: the rats, the grimy brickwork, the ruined buildings, the whales, and the eerie distorted imagery of the Void, so I'd be thrilled with anything that captures the look and feel of the world, and in particular, if you can somehow capture moments of beauty (a gorgeous sunset? oilslick rainbows on the river water?) along with the grittiness, then all the better.

For Corvo and Martin, oh god, the look of these two together. *hearteyes* Maybe a quiet moment captured in the pub, Martin still bruised and beaten to shit, but recovering? Or the moment where Corvo frees him? Or something darker, when Corvo confronts him towards the end of the game? Also up for AUs here too: maybe they meet again in the Void, or Martin's somehow come back? Oh, and explicit fanart for this pairing is welcome.

If you'd like to draw something for Emily/Martin, then I'd love to see something involving an adult Emily, with or without emphasis on the age-gap. Maybe in an AU where Martin survived and is now High Overseer and one of her advisors. Perhaps a post-coital moment between them, or a quiet flirtatious moment when they think no one's watching. Or Martin awkwardly comforting her at Corvo's memorial. Or a scene from that AU version of the events of the second game where Martin is her ally – watching a Karnaca sunset together on the Dreadful Wale or a moment of hurt/comfort after (or during) a mission.

Doctor Who (1963)

Requested Ships: Jo Grant/The Third Doctor
Vislor Turlough/Tegan Jovanka
Peri Brown/Sixth Doctor

*On the subject of my infidelity DNW, if it comes to it (e.g. for anything more than unrequited or unrealised pining), then either disregard Clifford Jones or have them be separated UNLESS you choose to indulge my ridiculous 'Clifford Jones is actually the Doctor' headcanon, in which case anything goes.

Jo Grant/The Third Doctor

”Jo, you've got all the time in the world, and all the space. I'm offering them to you.” *hearteyes*

I was already kind of shipping them because I am a sucker for hand-holding and they are always holding hands or hugging, but then I skipped ahead to The Green Death and oh my fucking god. I can’t see that speech at the beginning with the Doctor offering her the universe as anything but a love confession. It’s not just the words, but his delivery, which is ridiculously solemn given that he’s just giving her the choice of which shithole planet she wants to fail to get to. And she says no! And then the end of the story where he says goodbye to her and gives her the sapphire from Metebelis 3 as a wedding present (the way their hands touch!) and then she looks back at him as he slips out of the celebrations. Uh, which is to say that The Green Death got me from kind of shipping it to shipping it like burning.

Even if you set the ship aside, the Third Doctor and Jo are one of my favourite Doctor-Companion combinations. I absolutely fucking love the Pertwee years, and I love Jo so much: even back when Dr Who wasn’t on TV I had a battered novelisation of The Daemons that I read to death… (and rewatching it recently I’ve realised that may well be the source of my love for the trapped-in-a-creepy-village trope. The bit in Time Monster where the Master calls the Doctor's bluff and the Doctor can't bring himself to sacrifice Jo, so she makes the decision to sacrifice the both of them. <3<3<3 She’s tougher than she looks and she’s adaptable, but she’s still so vulnerable at times, and he’s so protective of her – all the putting his arm round her, and her flinging herself into his arms and being willing to sacrifice herself for him, him going in to kiss the top of her head… Yeah, I ship them hard.

Set it during canon or alternatively years late when Jo is older and wiser. I’m not really familiar with what the extended media has Jo doing after she leaves the show, so you’ve got an open book there as far as I’m concerned and I’m not bothered about spoilers for other media. Follow that canon or disregard it entirely: it’s up to you. The same goes for the fate of UNIT.

Regarding Clifford Jones, I happen to have a completely unsubstantiated headcanon that he's a previously unmet regeneration of the Doctor under the influence of the Chameleon Arch (perhaps one prior to Three who’s been forgotten about for some reason). It all kind of fits – his eccentricity, his name, his research being, according to the Doctor, remarkable for the age he lives in. Alternatively, I’m fine with him being ignored completely or for him and Jo to have gone on to divorce further down the line.

Optional Prompts

Remember my headcanon about Clifford Jones? Well, after Jo’s marriage, the Doctor is distracted by inconvenient memories of her, memories which shouldn’t belong to him at all.
Years after her marriage to Clifford breaks up, Jo finds herself meeting the Third Doctor again. A time paradox at Llanfairfach? The Master?
Something ridiculously tropey – there’s only one bed, or they arrive on a planet where they’re forced to pose as husband and wife. Or, my favourite, trapped in a cupboard and hiding from monsters.
Explore the shift in their relationship. Why did the Doctor go from not giving a damn about her flirtation with the Peladon to being so protective of her over Clifford?
That speech the Doctor gave at the start of The Green Death: what would have happened if she’d agreed to go with him to Metebelis 3 (on the assumption that it would be a stop-off on the way to Llanfairfach).
Undercover - Undercover as a Couple brings out Feelings - On arriving on a planet, the Doctor and Jo attempt to blend in (Curse of Peladon-style) by pretending to a pair of expected visiting government officials. Unfortunately, those government officials are actually husband and wife and events -- mysterious murders? -- mean they have to pretend to be married so as not to draw suspicion to themselves, and they find themselves enjoying the act. Or maybe they stage a breakup but the act of arguing actually draws them closer together.
Oh No We Have to Get Married For .... Political Reasons Yeah That's It - Accidental marriage. <3<3<3 I have no idea how this could come about... maybe a planet where marriage is a requirement and so Jo insists on marrying the Doctor to save his life, and then it proves not to be quite so easy to annul as they'd anticipated.
outsider pov - One of the things I really love about the Pertwee-era is how different the Doctor's manner was with Liz and Jo and it would be fantastic to see Jo's relationship with the Doctor explored through her bonding with Liz. Maybe it just started with Jo seeking out advice for how to work with the Doctor, and then it gradually becomes clear to Liz that Jo is falling in love with him.
Slow Burn - Soulbonding is the only way for A to save seriously injured B's life - God, I love this concept so much. I could see this working with either character in the life-saving role. All the angst and guilt and anger, whether the anger is directed at the other character or that the other character had to be put in that position, or a messy mixture of both. <3
Characters Stranded Without Any Other People For Decades - And another concept that's pure id. <3<3<3 Are they stranded for real, and is it permanent, or are they rescued at the end? And if/when Jo dies, will that mean the Doctor has to go on alone? Or, alternatively, is it an implanted memory situation or kind of simulation, with them living out the course of decades over a much shorter period of time, but it's no less real for that? Do they both live through it, or is it just one of them (Jo for preference if only one of them lives it.) (Struck through because I’m working on a version of this myself, but please don’t let that stop you from using this prompt if it appeals. I’d love to see your version.)

Peri Brown/Sixth Doctor

First, a heads up that I haven’t seen the Sixth Doctor’s full run yet, but I will have done by the end of reveals (so please don’t worry about spoilers). Unfortunately it makes prompting a little bit trickier, but hopefully you can get some ideas from what I am able to write and my general likes.

Somehow, I have managed to go my entire life of being a Dr Who fan without having seen a single Colin Baker episode. Turns out season 22 is the most fun I’ve had watching Dr Who since Three & Jo’s run. So far I adore Six as the Doctor, love him and Peri together, and thoroughly appreciate the darker edge to the character (a fucking acid bath? God, Vengeance on Varos was glorious from start to finish). I love the way he bickers with Peri, his terrible jokes, even the coat… And that regeneration scene, damn. There’s a moment after he tries to kill her in his fit of mania when he realises she’s terrified of him, and I love that moment so damn much, the utter bewilderment in his voice. He’s the Doctor – innocent young women aren’t supposed to be scared of him, and yet...

Shipwise, I love the bickering, the way he keeps putting his arm around her, (I’m a simple girl – gestures of affection like that get me every time). I’m also really drawn to the… oddness of this ship, which doesn’t strike me as an obvious ship in the way Three/Jo does (although YMMV, obviously :D), but I really love the idea of them being drawn together despite everything – despite the bickering and the rocky start and his fashion sense and the sheer weirdness of how the whole situation must have felt for Peri, going from Five (who she called sweet!) to Six, who almost immediately tried to kill her (especially since that came straight after everything that happened with Sharaz Jek). But she’s tough and she sticks things out, even when she isn’t feeling entirely courageous, and I really like the way they sometimes each have to encourage the other to get involved. I like that this Doctor is dangerous, I like that he’s more violent than he usually is and more inclined to kill to solve his problems. And I also like the trust that develops between them despite the rocky start to their travelling together.

Delve into the weirdness of this ship, Peri telling herself she absolutely definitely isn’t attracted to this Doctor (and if you want to explore the potential weirdness of her having first been attracted to the Fifth Doctor first, only to then be confronted by this guy, then do), except, oh wait, actually she kind of sort of is. Or give me a quieter moment between then, more hugging, all the goodnatured (ish) bickering, hurt/comfort with neither of them necessarily being comfortable about it… Whatever you come up with, I’m sure I will be delighted.

Optional Prompts

Oh no, he’s hot – Maybe there’s a moment while they were travelling together when the Doctor’s removed his coat, maybe rolled his sleeves up, or changed his clothes, and Peri realises to her quiet horror/astonishment that this version of the Doctor is, uh, pretty fucking sexy actually.
Undercover as a couple – For whatever reason, no matter how spurious, whether because they need to do it to protect Peri, or because they’re pretending to be other people who happen to be married, or because they’re investigating somewhere that requires them to be married. It doesn’t matter how spurious it is, just go all out on the tropeyness, especially if it’s combined with there only being one bed. And if no one believes they’re newly weds, because of all the bickering. An old married couple on the other hand...
Stranded together for a very long time – Look, I’m a sucker for characters being put in the position of being forced to rely on each other and being drawn together because of that. This is recycled from my Three/Jo request, and I’m fascinated by how differently Peri would react given how different her motivations are for travelling with the Doctor compared to Jo.
Sex pollen and its aftermath, where they’re either both equally affected or Peri is more affected than he is and he’s resisting but she can’t, and if they don’t have sex she’ll die. Please err on the pleasurable rather than traumatic side for Peri (awkwardness is fine though), but feel free to delve into his feelings of unease about losing control and what happened when he regenerated (and any residual guilt about not being able to protect her from Sharaz Jek). Or if you’d rather keep it lighter then go with the sex pollen making it easier for them to act on existing feelings, and acting as a catalyst to get them together (with an optional awkward ‘well that was weird’ aftermath)
As a semi-apology for being a dick about her American vernacular, the Doctor takes her to an important moment in American history, past or future.
They meet up with Turlough again, and while she’s reminiscing with him about the Fifth Doctor, Peri realises the Sixth Doctor isn’t that bad actually, or maybe getting to the point where she can reconcile the concept of the Doctor as being two different personalities but still the same person with Turlough’s help.
Just give me a quieter moment from their travels together.
Hurt/comfort – the Doctor is injured or sick and is refusing to cooperate with Peri’s attempts to care for him.
Huddling for warmth. Especially – especially – if it involves if it involves Peri wearing the Doctor’s coat.

Vislor Turlough/Tegan Jovanka

The more I watched the harder I shipped them. Turlough is one of my favourite companions, mainly because of the way he was introduced and what a delightfully amoral little shit he is, and how he goes from that point to actually being pretty damn brave. His relationship with Tegan reflects that too, how at first she wouldn’t trust him as far as she could throw him to me getting the feeling that there really was something going on between them, or that at least Turlough wanted there to be – the way he looks at her when they’re reunited in Resurrection of the Daleks, for example. It’s all pretty damn dark in a way that really appeals to me.

Tegan is not in a good place at this point, what with Adric’s death (and his being replaced with Turlough, who is, let’s face it, a shifty little fucker, at least at first), and Nyssa’s departure (I ship Tegan/Nyssa too btw), and the general gloomy hopelessness and depressing atmosphere of some of those episodes, and the feeling that Tegan’s chasing something that she’s never going to get back, all the fun’s been sucked out of it, and the way she leaves, oh GOD – it’s heartbreaking and bleak and angsty in a way that is so completely up my street. Give me something that reflects that, OR alternatively something where they actually enjoy themselves for once.

Here for anything from one-sided unrequited pining to meaningless sex/friends-with-benefits, to Tegan drowning her pining for Nyssa/grief about Adric by having angsty sex with Turlough, to something sweeter with genuine feelings gradually beginning to evolve between them. Set it during their time travelling in the TARDIS, or have them reconnect later sometime after she’s left, or a canon-divergent fic where either she doesn’t leave the TARDIS at that point, or he stays around for a while, whether on purpose or accidentally. Or they’re stranded somewhere together. Also, er, turns out Turlough tied up and being menaced by a knife by a buxom pirate queen in Enlightenment is RTMI. Do with that what you will. XD

It’s not immediately clear how old Turlough actually is, btw, but with the whole alien thing I headcanon him as being over eighteen. There’s no need to mention that, but please don’t contradict it.

Optional Prompts

After the events of Terminus, in which Turlough spent most of his time trapped in a series of crawl spaces looking at Tegan’s backside, he develops an inconvenient crush on her.
Explore how Tegan goes from actively distrusting Turlough (probably for good reason, admittedly), to feeling like she can rely on him
From the pyrrhic victory of Warriors of the Deep to the Doctor almost taking on the role of executioner in Resurrection of the Daleks, those last few episodes of Tegan’s run were bleak as fuck, and that’s not even counting Adric’s death and Nyssa’s departure (which might have been on her terms, but was still pretty grim). Dig into all the angst and give me some hurt/comfort and/or comfort sex, whether it’s just sex or leads to actual feelings.
Sex pollen leads to mutually dubiously consensual of the enabling kind, and/or its awkward aftermath.
They’re separated from the Doctor and end up stranded somewhere together for a lengthy period of time, which brings them together. Are they somewhere relatively safe, or in an isolated wilderness where they have to struggle to survive?
Some time after the Doctor and Turlough leave Tegan on Earth, she meets up with Turlough again.
Or go with something tropy: undercover as a couple, or they have to attend a masked ball.
Smut – Poor Turlough gets himself tied up again. Tegan rescues him, but they get a little bit distracted.
A slice of everyday life in the TARDIS, one of those moments when things are just normalish for once. Smut, angst, or quiet hurt/comfort and grief. Maybe Tegan sees the changes Turlough’s made to Adric’s old room.

Optional Art Prompts

I love the look of the series as a whole, and the differing styles of the various different eras, so anything that captures the look of the characters and canon will be appreciated. I particularly love it when Dr Who goes a bit darker and horror tinged, especially the folk horror elements that appear in the Third Doctor’s era. Folk Horror is basically catnip to me, so feel free to incorporate that (or any other kind of horror elements) however you want. I especially love the various costumes and clothing styles (and height differences).

For Jo and the Third Doctor, show me a moment of hurt/comfort or the two of them in captivity together, all the touchy feely hugs and other displays of affection. Give me something set on an alien planet or set during the UNIT years.

For Peri and the Sixth Doctor, the clooooothes. Oh god, the clothes. Or that huddling for warmth prompt where Peri wears the Doctor’s coat because she needs it more than he does. I also love the height difference, and every time the Doctor puts his arm around her shoulders.

For Tegan/Turlough, possibly something darker tinged, or which shows the course of their relationship from the early days when Tegan didn’t trust him to later on when they were closer? If you can capture the way Turlough looked at her when they’re reunited in Resurrection of the Daleks then I will be over the moon.

Primeval

Requested Ships: Claudia Brown/Nick Cutter

This show is just so much damn fun to watch. I’m currently in the middle of a rewatch (up to about halfway through season 3). I’ve seen the last two seasons ages ago, but I’m a bit hazy what happens in them, which may affect my prompting. I should have rewatched them by the time of reveals, so don’t worry about spoilers, but equally, and especially as Nick and Claudia don’t appear in them, it’s fine to disregard them. And as always, canon-divergence from any point is welcomed.

In my rewatch, I’ve fallen in love with the Nick/Claudia/Jenny thing all over again. It’s all so horrifically awkward and messy, especially since the show never quite delivered on explaining what the hell was going on and essentially dropped the entire storyline, leaving it all dangling. While I’ve requested Claudia/Nick, feel free to deal with the Jenny-Claudia thing however you want, whether you go with Nick/Claudia, Nick/Jenny (but it’s extremely awkward), or anything inbetween. The whole situation is so awkward and weird and difficult in a way that gets me right in the id, and it’s such a shame that the storyline was dropped.

It raises so many questions, like the moral dilemma of Nick potentially getting the chance to revert back to the original timeline, and possibly erasing Jenny in the process, for example. Is Claudia dead or does she still exist in a parallel universe? Could she be brought back? How utterly fucked up would it be to know the man you’re dating was once in love with another version of you and his first act on finding out she no longer existed was to attempt to go back through the anomaly in the hopes of bringing her back and destroying you (granted he didn’t know Jenny existed then, but still…)?

I like both Jenny and Claudia, although Claudia’s vulnerabilities appeal (the golfclub episode in which she temporarily loses her sight was one of my favourites) and I loveloveLOVE the way Nick talks about her when Jenny asks him what she was like. But I’m also fascinated by the differences between them, and the way those differences seem to be softened somewhat in series 3, with Jenny starting to look a little more like Claudia. Is her other self starting to bleed through? And if so, how many more versions of herself might there be? (It makes me laugh how blithe they all are about potential changes to the past, which in return makes me wonder how fluid and subject to change the timeline actually is, and whether there are any other changes that might be going on without them realising it.)

Other random things that really appeal to me about the show: Helen Cutter and Nick’s relationship with her (and feel free to include background Nick/geHelen if you want). I really like her a lot, her motivations and her relationship with Nick, (both the good and the bad) really fascinate me. She’s brilliant and utterly amoral, and while she’s clearly massively flawed I prefer shades-of-grey!Helen to malicious-for-no-good-reason!Helen. And I find it pretty appealing how Nick always seems to have the bad luck to only seem to fall for a woman, when he’s semi-grieving for the loss of another (first Helen and Claudia, then Claudia and Helen). I also adore Connor/Abby, James Lester (<3<3<3), the future creatures, and glimpses into the apocalypse.

Explore all the timey-wimey potential weirdness of alternative universes, multiple anomalies, the timeline proving to be more fluid than they’d previously realised, with Cutter and Jenny-Claudia as the focus. (5 + 1 Times Shit Got Weird?)
For a show that dealt with time travel, it’s noticeable that the characters never really found themselves in the more recent past (or future). What if Nick and Claudia find themselves stranded in the more recent past, whether it’s a shippy stranded together moment or something more plotty. If he’s there with Jenny, for instance, and the opportunity arises for him to warn his younger self about what’s going to happen.
A role reversal AU where it was Nick who first found out about the anomalies (accidentally finding himself stranded, if it might be a bit OOC for him to just fuck off the way Helen did), and it’s Helen who’s working for Lester. So when Claudia first meets him he’s an outsider and her colleague’s estranged ex-husband.
Explore all the implications of the changing of history. Is there any trace of Claudia left in Jenny? Are the boundaries between the women starting to break down? Maybe the team discover a strange nexus point where all possibilities are equal, so Claudia-Jenny starts shifting between the two (or more?) versions of herself.
The original plan for the plotline seemed to be that it would become clear that there were more people like Jenny who used to be someone else in another timeline. So perhaps they meet another person who used to be someone else.
The whole situation with Jenny-Claudia was so very odd. Why that change? Granted there were others, like the ARC building, but it’s so hyper-specific that it feels like there must have been something more going on. Was it deliberate? Was Helen somehow behind it, and if so, why?
Claudia is somehow brought back to find herself in a world where she never existed.
So given all the changes after the season 1 finale, how would Nick himself have changed if he hadn’t been on the other side of that anomaly? Who would he have been in this new world? How would the cases he’d already experienced have gone differently? How did the ARC come into existence? Trying to make sense of everything, Nick sets out to find out about this new timeline.
And finally if you want to go the tropey route, perhaps an anomaly opens up which leads to Nick and Claudia getting dosed with sex pollen, whether you go with PWP or the awkward aftermath.

Art Prompts

A scene from a first date interrupted by an anomaly, or a quiet moment in the middle of a case. Or Claudia’s fond exasperation when Nick gets excited over a creature. Or explore the contrast between Claudia and Jenny (possibly doing something clever with reflections?). A quiet scene where they’re stranded beyond an anomaly, or Nick dreaming about post-series 1 cases but with Jenny in Claudia’s place.

The Professionals

Requested Ships/Characters: William Bodie/Ray Doyle
George Cowley/William Bodie
Annie Irvine/George Cowley

God, I love this show so much. I could spend forever watching the dynamic between Cowley, Bodie, and Doyle, the banter, the jokes, the friendly rivalry, the way their different backgrounds give them different insights and skills, and the vibe I get that Cowley (who I fucking adore beyond all region) is actually harder than Bodie and Doyle put together. Cowley chewing them out because they've disobeyed his orders and then immediately doing a U-turn and supporting them to the hilt. Oh, and the whump. Getting shot and beaten up and captured and generally getting the shit kicked out of them. So damn here for all of that. XD I love the way it subverts expectations too – all the literary references in particular, and the acknowledgement of CI5’s often deeply questionable tactics.

I’d also like to make it clear that I am extremely here for Bad Guys Made Them Do It for all the ships I’ve requested. Handle that however you want with Bodie/Doyle, but for Cowley/Bodie I’d prefer Cowley topping if it comes to penetrative sex. Beyond that I have no topping preferences.

William Bodie/Ray Doyle and George Cowley/William Bodie

For Bodie/Doyle, explore the mutual codependence that comes as a result of working in close confines in a way that may not be entirely healthy, the tedium of surveillance, working and training together, working late and falling asleep at your desk, actively threatening to murder a suspect if anything happens to your partner… Anything goes here from explicit smut to pining (mutual or otherwise), and including canon-style relationships with women is fine too. Maybe they come to the realisation that while women come and go, their relationship remains immutable. They also sure do seem to get shot/beaten up on the reg, and look very pretty doing it, *especially* Doyle, so if you wanted to go hard on the whump… I absolutely love all the moments of character interaction, the bonding moments in Mixed Doubles and that bit where Bodie interrupts Doyle’s brooding session by just sitting there and looking at him? Yeah…

Give me canon style casefic or something that takes them out of their comfort zones, backstory for either one of them, or post-canon fic. Also here for character studies, and anything that digs into any moral qualms they might have about CI5 and its methods, especially Doyle.

And then there’s Cowley/Bodie. This ship hit me pretty hard after a chance comment got me thinking how it would work, and then in the middle of that I watched Need to Know, and noticed that little bit where Cowley brushes back Bodie's hair after administering oxygen (all Doyle gets is a cheek pat), and huh, okay, turns out I do actually ship it, and turns out I really ship it.

I'm nearly always drawn to age-gap relationships anyway, and something about this particular age gap ship just really appeals -- it's something about the mix of loyalty, trust issues, and the low-level disapproval on Cowley's part - his little dig about how it's not like Bodie will ever have to worry about it when the subject of them needing his permission to get married comes up (also Bodie's 'Wait, what?' reaction, XD). Even aside from the age gap, there are so many fundamental differences between them -- faith, repression, romanticism, etc -- but in a way that gets me wanting to see just how they'd fit together, as well as all the different ways they could fit together.

This is another short request, I'm afraid, but repression and trust issues and pining (mutual or otherwise) are always golden, as well as imperfect awkward sex and scenarios where they're both out of their depth and forced to rely on each other. Not to mention having to keep any relationship secret and/or self-denial because of Cowley's 'No Fraternisation Between Agents' rule. And Bad Guys Made Them Do It scenarios, which take on an extra layer of interest if it's Cowley being made to fuck Bodie -- that delicious additional guilt during and afterwards because ultimately Cowley is the one responsible for their safety. Just... fucking yes please. That, and the delicious guilt and angst of the aftermath.

There absolutely doesn't need to be a happy ending. Oh, and I should mention that background Bodie/Doyle is welcome here too.

Optional Prompts (some of these have been written with specific ships/characters in mind, but please feel free to mix and match)

Casefic, or elements from a partially realised casefic, whether canon-typical or something which takes them out of their comfort zones.
5 + 1 ways of livening up surveillance detail.
Bonding in captivity – whether as a result of trauma and torture, or being imprisoned together somewhere dark and claustrophobic.
Ever seen Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)? Well, that AU, where one half of the pairing is a ghost the other can’t see, whether the ghost is potentially a sign that the other one is cracking up, or an actual literal ghost, and the first case they have to solve together is who murdered him. I was thinking Bodie/Doyle for this, with one of them as the ghost, but Cowley as the ghost (and being absolutely livid about it) would be great too, whichever ship you go with.
If they do get together, how does it happen? How do they come to realise they have feelings for the other? When it starts is it just about sex, or is the sexual attraction develop out of a result of their bond?
The bit in Stake Out where Bodie flung himself across a bowling alley to manhandle Doyle to the floor to stop him from kicking off at an aggressive member of the public, including hooking his leg over Doyle's in the process, did things to me. More undercover stuff please, with them both trying to keep a low profile, and having to rely on the other one to rein them in. Additional manhandling is optional, but very much appreciated.
”Casual” sex turning tender - (both ships) neither character thinks the other has any genuine feelings, or maybe the sex is just something that keeps happening without either of them ever intending it to. What happens when tenderness starts creeping in? Is it mutual? Is the other party unnerved by it? Into it? Or both?
Aftermath of Torture – Character trying to hold it together is clearly low-key fraying at the edges - Either paring, any character. Trying to remain stoic and refusing help much to the frustration of the other/s. If Cowley’s the whumped character then maybe it could be a semi-fakeout, where he’s using his weakness as bait, and it works, but actually he’s suffering too.
Agonisingly slow build-up of sexual tension - Along with copious amounts of mutual self-denial and pining, while trying to hide the mutual attraction from each other/other people/themselves.
A zombie apocalypse AU.
Character A confesses feelings because they think Character B is unconscious - Man, the awkwardness and painful aftermath, the self-doubt and the questioning – did they mishear? Should they say anything, or would it be better to pretend they didn’t hear?
Character A tilting Character B’s chin up with the tip of a sword - Possibly during a training session, but if you can figure out a way to work it into a case…
While working undercover, one half of the couple is forced to torture the other to maintain their cover
Complicated feelings of love and loyalty and hurt and resentment - For either pairing really, although I have to admit I have Cowley/Bodie in mind specifically. Just a relationship study, really, examining all the complicated trust issues and matters of loyalty
Estranged Characters – Injured A shows up on B’s doorstep saying ‘I didn’t know where else to go’. – future fic or canon-divergent where the injured character has gone AWOL or otherwise rogue.
Fighting/sparring as foreplay – I mean, the usual, but for Cowley/Bodie this would probably also include Cowley watching (disapprovingly?) as Bodie gets the shit kicked out of him by Macklin, followed by something that could theoretically be described as comfort if you squint. For Bodie/Doyle, them enjoying sparring with each other.
Cowley goes rogue. Is it for real, or another ruse?
Country House Party – Weird time-slip where they find themselves in an interwar house party that ended in murder. Ghosts? Inexplicable events that are never explained beyond handwavy nonsense? Sapphire & Steel nonsense? Or is this just an excuse to get them into period dress?
Time Loop – the part where the looper breaks and stops giving any fucks

Annie Irvine/George Cowley

When I started watching this series, I was completely unprepared for how hard and how quickly I’d fall for Cowley, although in retrospect, and given the way my id tends to shake out, I, uh, probably should have seen it coming. :D I think it’s a combination of his dynamic with Bodie and Doyle and the heavily implied suggestion that he’s tougher than the pair of them put together, along with his ethics and stance against bigotry, and if I’d been in the slightest bit of doubt the episode where they meet Annie sealed it. Yep, I utterly, unreservedly adore him, and with every episode I watch, I love him a little bit more.

The episode in which Annie appears was an absolute delight. From Bodie and Doyle’s reaction to the idea of Cowley in a relationship with a woman (that conversation in the car! Doyle slightly dubiously describing him as attractive :D) to the way Cowley actually behaves when he meets her and then quietly having his heart broken all over again (and oh god, my heart).

And the backstory we get for him, picking his education back up after the war, as a student going to political meetings, and falling in love with a woman who he keeps loving even after she breaks his heart. Just that line about him watching her. And that line about how she never knew him at all? Damn. It’s so up my street I can’t even say: quiet loneliness and a lingering feeling of regret even while you’re getting on with all the shit that needs to get done will get me every time. Him wanting to look after her when she’s not the sort of woman who wants to be looked after, and if she had been, then he probably wouldn’t have fallen in love with her as hard as he did.

Optional Prompts

Okay, so what the hell did happen with Annie Irvine? Explore their backstory. When they meet Annie says it’s been about ten years since they last met, so depending on how you figure the timeline that must have been significantly after their university days. Was he at her wedding? I have so many questions.
What did she actually say to Bodie and Doyle which made them so reluctant to share with Cowley?
And oh god, the ending to that episode. Give me something that follows on from that. Do their paths cross again? Where do they go from there? Once the shock’s worn off, does she forgive him for what happens with Stanley, or is the whole thing just too messed up for her to deal with?
Give me an AU of that episode where events go differently.
Go hard on the pining, whether mutual or one-sided.
Although when I think of Bad Guys Made Them Do It I had the other two ships more in mind, I keep thinking about how gloriously horribly traumatic it would be for Cowley and Annie (the guilt! The terrible all-consuming guilt!), especially because of him thinking he needs to protect her, so holy shit, yes please.
An epistolary fic where Cowley and Annie keep in touch by exchanging letters over the years.
Get Together – Character recovering from torture gets taken care of by the person they’re pining for – When Cowley and Annie’s paths meet again after a case has gone wrong, she reluctantly starts looking in on him despite his protests.
Smut – guiding an inexperienced partner in how to perform cunnilingus – Look, he’s been pining after Annie for, what, twenty years or so, so chances are he hasn’t had that much experience with women. A painfully awkward moment where he definitely isn’t asking Bodie for sex advice?
Stranded at a roadside motel (storm optional) – Or the British equivalent. Or some isolated out-of the way place, which is potentially derelict, where the forced proximity puts them in a position where they have to work together and get over any potential awkwardness.
Undercover as a couple leads to mutual feelings – When their paths cross again, Cowley poses as Annie’s lover to protect her.
5 Times Cowley had his heart broken by Annie Irvine.

Optional Art Prompts

I’d love to see something which captures the tone of canon here, guns and fight scenes, possibly focusing on them, the way they work together, their banter and general dynamic, with added shippiness, whether they’re in a relationship or pining (mutual or otherwise).

Sapphire and Steel

Requested Ships: Sapphire/Steel

I have fallen utterly, completely head-over-heels in love with this series. It’s the weirdest fucking show, and I love that it makes absolutely no attempt to explain what the hell’s going on or who or what Sapphire and Steel are (or Silver and Lead for that matter). It’s basically made for me, the tone of it, the first two episodes with their quiet almost M.R Jamesian eerie ghost stories reconceptualised as kiiiiind of sci-fi with creepy cosmic horror elements, but they never move away from them as ghost stories. And then there’s the Fifth Assignment, The Dinner Party, which I am still delighted about, because if there’s one thing I love more than n eerie ghost story, it’s an And Then There Were None pastiche, and not only did I get that, it also happened to be combined with Undercover as a Couple. I’m still a little dazed that that happened. :D And then there’s that incredibly bleak ending, and the idea of Sapphire and Steel trapped together in a greasy spoon floating in the middle of nowhere forever.

I ship them so damn hard. I love the contrast between them, Sapphire so serene and composed while Steel is so tightly wound and intense (and this is the goofiest damn thing to fixate on, but I have a bit of a thing about the way he goes up and down stairs. It’s ridiculous, I know, and yet...). What the hell are they? What the hell went on between Sapphire and Silver? What the hell is going on between Sapphire and Steel, for that matter? Are they beings who actually date, fall in love, fuck, or when they do – and I’m thinking about Sapphire and Silver, here – are they just adopting human habits which aren’t inherent to their real natures at all?

I’m especially fascinated by Steel, since while I could believe Sapphire used to be human, I don’t for a second buy that about him. He’s a fascinating character, and one thing I’ve loved is seeing the way he seems to shift over the course of the series, how different he is in The Dinner Party when he’s actually making the effort to pass for a human being. I need (and want) to go back to the beginning and watch it all over again, but I got the impression in the early episodes that he cared about very little other than the assignments and Sapphire – his disregard for most of the human characters (like the moment when he’s talking with Tully and Sapphire contacts him and Tully is instantly forgotten and dismissed, and… well, poor Tully in general), his mannerisms, the odd little gestures of affection he makes towards Sapphire in the second assignment and how… veeery slightly off and experimental they feel, combined with his lack of comprehension of what love is and being unable to distinguish being in love with someone from using them… Damn.

I’d love to see anything that explores that inhumanity. One thing I loved about the Dinner party assignment is the suggestion that their Miles and Veronica personas somehow took on lives of their own. It struck me that he seemed more human/humane in the last assignment – he actually seemed more protective than usual about what happened to the woman – so I kind of headcanoned that as a lingering after-effect of the Miles persona. What happens if that effect starts to wear off and he starts getting less human again? What happens if Miles and Veronica are actually called into existence as real separate people?

But on top of that I also love the moments of humour you get with Steel (even though, or perhaps because of, the way they emphasise his inhumanity) – his occasional jokes that you can’t tell are jokes (“You can’t trust the transuranics – they’re unstable”), or the moment in The Dinner Party when he forgets his name, or his complete incomprehension over bridge or which way to pass the port…

Alternatively, I am so, so here for fucked up bad endings. Follow up on the bleak way the series ends. What do they do together for the rest of eternity stuck in that miserable little greasy spoon? Or give me a horror story, whether more outright horror the more understated canon-style ghost stories, or something closer to canon. One thing I loved about the various assignments was the way they impacted on the various guest stars, so if you want to explore how they’re affected afterwards, please do. Or explore the cosmic horror elements of canon, the creatures moving against them, the transient life forms… and what the hell are the transuranics, anyway?

Optional Prompts

A forced to choose between B and the greater good - chooses B even though it's not what B wants - I could see either character taking either role and sacrificing everything to save the other character. I am totally here for their loyalties to each other being pushed to extremes, whether it’s Steel who gets to the point where Sapphire’s well-being is more important to him than the assignment, or Steel expecting Sapphire to sacrifice him and his fury when she doesn’t.
A goes evil & can't be cured/contained; B stays with them as they wreak havoc instead of killing them - More loyalty kink. I was specifically thinking about Steel here (although again, reversing the roles could work too). I’d love to see their loyalty to each other and their dedication to the job explored. Which is more important? How much are they each willing to sacrifice for the good of the other? And how much do they really care about human beings anyway?
Look how much better off I am without you; I do not miss you or even think about you (I am lying) - For one reason or another, Sapphire and Steel’s partnership is broken up. Or they have an affair and it does not work out. Steel’s fine with that. Except he really fucking isn’t.
Just give me a canon-style ghost story and I will be so damn happy. Or more Undercover as a Couple, which was one of the most delightful moments.
I LOVE time loops, and they seem like the perfect trope for this canon. Maybe with every loop the beings outside time encroach more on the present and reality starts to decay more and more. Are they both stuck in the loop, or just one of them? Or are they both stuck in their own personal loop and are left unable to communicate with one another? Or maybe they figure out a way, but every time they use it reality decays a little more.
Stranded alone together for a very long time - I have no words for how much I love the bleakness of the canon ending and the idea of them both being trapped together potentially for eternity. Do they age at all? Are the transient beings still fucking with them or have they been completely abandoned? What happened to Silver?
Having to destroy the happily married doppelgangers you accidentally created - The Dinner Party was a favourite of mine, and I love the idea that their Undercover as a Couple routine actually called Miles and Veronica Cavendish into being as a Tommy-and-Tuppence style married couple who trip around the 1930s (or the 80s) solving murders whilst being desperately, ecstatically in love. Which would be lovely except that their very existence is damaging the fabric of time. Possibly an outsider POV from either Miles or Veronica, and going hard on the horror of the sudden appearance of a pair of doppelgangers who insist that you have to die (and Steel’s realisation that that is what love is meant to be like and which he will almost certainly never experience).
Non-human character seems less human with every passing day - Oh god, I am so here for this with Steel. Whether because it’s because the Miles Cavendish effect is wearing off, or because he attempt at a human love affair has broken his heart so he retreats from human emotions because they hurt too much, or because an eternity stranded has resulted in him gradually losing his mind.
Something where for one reason or another they’re forced to work against each other. Or an alternative universe where one of them did take the job offered to them mentioned in the final assignment.
The mention of the Marie Celeste in the first assignment suggests they don’t necessarily deal with their cases in chronological order. They deal with a case from another time period.
Sex, whether explicit or otherwise. How does it work between them?

Optional Art Prompts

Art-wise, I would absolutely love something that captures the atmosphere of canon, or which bumps up the horror elements. And them, just the two of them, the way they stand so close together – which, yes, shippy, but also a little eerie at the same time because of the lack of personal space. The way they touch each other, all those little moments where they hold hands, or Steel kisses her on her cheek or her hand. Ghosts, bannisters, non-Euclidean impossible spaces. Sapphire being serene and elegant with Steel so tense he’s practically vibrating. And, um, I know this is ridiculous, but I have a bit of a thing about the way Steel goes up and down stairs, so I will be over the moon with anything that incorporates staircases, however you choose to interpret that. XD

Strange

Requested Ships: Jude Atkins/Jonathan Strange

Man, this ridiculous, wonderful, tragically doomed show – I love it so much, and I’m frankly just a little bit broken-hearted that it never lasted beyond one season. For those who aren’t familiar with it, it’s a British horror series starring Richard Coyle and Samantha Janus as Jonathan Strange (not that one – this one’s a defrocked vicar) and Jude Atkins, a nurse and ex-researcher who gets sucked into investigating supernatural casefics, and it’s available in its entirety on YouTube. The first episode is here. It’s so much fun to watch, never takes itself too seriously, and occasionally takes a turn into absolutely batshit WTFery, especially towards the later episodes.

I really love the relationship that builds up between John and Jude in the brief time they get, and the relationships between their extended circle of friends. But let’s face it, the absolute best thing about the series is Ian Richardson’s glorious turn as Canon Black, who may or not be evil, and is one moment hilarious, the next moment sinister as fuck. Oh, and the long-suffering Doddington, who is delightful and who I’m pretty sure knows more about demons than he’s letting on, just saying. Appearances from those two, and from any of the other supporting characters, are very much welcome.

I love the way the show uses the found family trope, and the relationship that develops between John and Jude, with her being sucked in for the sake of her son, Joey, who also may or may not be potentially evil, but has a really lovely friendship with Kevin. I love the question mark over who or what Joey could grow up to be, and John’s ongoing trauma over his fiancee’s death (I know, I know but the dead significant other trope gets me every time), with the question of what actually happened and why the wounds on his back periodically reopen… basically all the questions that canon raised and never got the chance to answer. Or give me quieter moments more in line with their aborted trip to the zoo (in what surely has to be one of the weirdest episodes of anything ever.), or just more of the delightful found family vibe that canon does so well.

Optional Prompts

Given the show’s premise, John’s scepticism over ghosts existing made me laugh so damn hard. So maybe something where the case they’re investigating sees like it’s the work of ghosts, and for once he’s the sceptical one.
Undercover as a couple. Maybe because the demon they’re hunting only kills lovers? Or else they’re undercover in a hotel which appears to be stuck in the 1950s for reasons.
John and Jude’s incredibly awkward first proper date.
Follow on from the cliffhanger ending. Does John recover or is that not a natural coma? What happens with Joey given everything that happened in the finale? Where would the show have taken these characters next (*sobs*)?
Forced proximity leads to them bonding. (trapped in a lift? Bonding in captivity?)
While it’s possible I’ve missed something, canon is vague about where it’s set. So go a bit meta, if you want – maybe it’s literally set nowhere and what the characters think is reality isn’t real.

Art Prompts

Horror imagery is always welcome, so anything horror themed, or which plays with light and shadow. I also really love the way John’s house looks, with its candles and all the esoteric shit plastered on the walls contrasted with their scientific equipment, and the boarded-up windows. Also the wounds in John’s back, and the way they keep reopening in a way that reminds me of stigmata (possibly not all that appropriate for an ex-Anglican priest XD).

Thanks for reading!

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