#non-cynical zombie au

[sunofaraven]

Ch.8 is out of Love Death + Grumbot!!

Grian panted, trying to catch his breath. His fingers shook as he attempted to reload the shotgun. “Hi there!” A voice made him jump. A stocky man was crossing the concrete towards them wearing a lab coat and holding a large flamethrower with a fuel tank on his back. He had curly, wool-like blonde hair with little horns curling from his forehead. “Just give me one moment, folks,” he skipped around the car, brandishing the flamethrower to squirt the sculker with fire. The creature screamed as the flame caught, front half writhing as it quickly burned. The man then turned towards them, pushing up his goggles with a leather-gloved hand to reveal keen, bright eyes. “Hi, I’m Zedaph. Or Zed for short. What brings you to my lab?”

They finally found Zedaph! And look at him, he's so silly goofy. Go read it here on ao3. This chapter has both mad scientist and zombie fight scene, what's not to love?

[norcumii]

for the ask meme: Rex/Obi or pairing/characters of choice - Werewolf/vampire AU / Sick/injured / Stranded Due to Inclement Weather / Huddling for warmth

For this trope mashup meme.

This was CLEARLY influenced by seananmcguire's Newsflesh series, which was the last zombie related media I interacted with, and I regret NOTHING.

(Meanwhile, much worldbuilding was done by Dogmatix, who I was foolish enough to let near the plunnies again ^_^)

*****

The problem with zombies, Obi-Wan couldn’t help but muse, was that they stopped thinking. Oh, there was some low-level intelligence left in there, but it was mostly focused on consuming the living. Not tactics, for the most part, not unless the bastards were very fresh or in large enough groups, but that also meant that when some brilliant asshole declared “oh, the zombies wouldn’t/couldn’t ever do that,” no one consulted the zombies.

Thus, an early morning patrol in an area that “never saw more than one or two zombies” turned into a clusterfuck retreat. Though ‘patrol’ was rather a gross overstatement for just the two of them taking an idle walk because some days, Rex was too jittery for sleep and too damn self-sacrificing to admit that he missed early morning runs.

There was always enough fog coming in from the river that they should have been fine.

There also shouldn’t have been an entire pack of at least a dozen, dozen and a half zombies in the area. Where the fuckers had even come from was an unpleasant mystery.

“Rex?” Obi-Wan murmured into the man’s ear. “Are you with me?” he asked as if he couldn’t make out the glacially slow beat of his heart.

Rex groaned, head lolling to nestle further in the crook of Obi-Wan’s neck. He mumbled something that was probably a curse, which left Obi-Wan in the unenviable position of having to close his eyes and take his own steadying breath. Yes, on the one hand he did have an unfairly attractive boyfriend draped across his lap, straddling his hips and feeling like he was several seconds away from some serious necking.

On the other, they were also treed a good thirty feet above a pack of damned zombies, which had already tried seriously munching on Rex, and ‘necking’ could have serious consequences when one of them was an actual vampire.

Speaking of. Obi-Wan shifted in the cautious little jig in an attempt to nudge Rex more to the left. If he could just free up his arm enough, then he could move around while not tossing them off the tree stand or dislodging the thick emergency poncho that was the only thing keeping Rex from turning into a charred crisp. It was not sized for two, but there hadn’t been time to be more careful and drape it over just Rex instead of just plonking it down over the two of them.

“If you refuse to leave base again without your entire damned armor because of this, I’m going to be very put out,” Obi-Wan informed him, getting another incoherent unhappy noise. The armor was good at keeping the soldiers bite free – not that they needed to worry about the zombification business, but it still hurt them and fed the damn undead. It was also effective at keeping the soldiers touch starved and isolated in ways Obi-Wan had difficulty standing.

Another careful shift, and he could just barely dig out one of the small, squishy packs he kept in his jacket for emergencies.

Since his luck was shit, as soon as he pulled it free, the bastard caught on a loose thread, and with his claws he didn’t dare grab too hard for it, and down it tumbled. One of the zombies lunged, snapping at it, and blood exploded all across the remains of the bastard’s face.

Not being too intelligent, the rest of the pack turned on it immediately. Obi-Wan tried to tune out the disgusting carnage, being much more careful on his second attempt. He didn’t have many packets to spare. This one, he managed to juggle up in front of Rex’s face, jostling it a little. “Here. Drink,” he ordered, hoping that would be sufficient. He hated trying to insert the little sippy straws – Anakin had loved juice pouches back as a child, and they’d had similar fiendish straws. Anakin had learned how to insert the little bastards without a problem, but he always asked Obi-Wan to do it for him – because Obi-Wan had never quite managed to master the process, and Anakin was a damned brat.

Bad enough when it was juice.

One way or another, Rex was conscious enough to shift and bite down on the plastic packet. It was always a wonder to watch the soldiers’ regenerative powers at work. As the level of mostly artificial plasma lowered, color drained back into Rex’s face, the nasty burns along truly unfair cheekbones fading as muscle and skin reknit. He could smell the distressing blood-and-raw-meat stench fading, and only then did he start to relax.

When things had started to go to hell around the globe, the powers that be had huddled together around their failing infrastructure and went looking for fantastical solutions to unnatural problems. Obi-Wan could only imagine the levels of exhaustion and terror that had led someone to the conclusion that vampires might be immune to the infections that spread the zombie virus. The sheer potential of that going horribly wrong was at least one movie franchise long, if not several, yet somehow they’d dedicated enough science to make artificial vampires. Oh, technically it wasn’t vampirism, but ‘drank blood, super fast and strong, sunburn to death within minutes, resting vitals dropping down far enough to pass as dead’ was close enough for everyone but petty bureaucrats and pedantic assholes.

Even at the time, Obi-Wan had cynically noted how that meant both a short leash, and a strong vested interest in keeping as many people from going zombie as possible. He’d also noted the infuriating demographics of those who were selected for and survived the process of becoming vampires.

He tried not to think on that much nowadays, because the heightened blood pressure and carnage bothered Rex.

The packet slurped dry in a way that always raised Obi-Wan’s hackles, then Rex blinked up at him a few times in confusion. “You’re fuzzy,” Rex accused.

“That’s called a beard, dear,” Obi-Wan drawled in his most obnoxious tone, pretending he didn’t also have fur sprouting most places, nor the partial muzzle of a transformation enough to give him speed and jumping ability enough to get to one of the safe perches they’d set up weeks ago.

The Powers That Be might have created vampires, but they had also somehow missed the small but stubborn population of entirely naturally occurring werewolves (and affiliated were-creatures) around the world. Some, like Obi-Wan and his pack, were doing their damndest to both keep a low profile and help the poor bastards trying to protect the last of humanity.

Some, like Obi-Wan, might have become unwisely open to certain non-lycanthropes due to unfortunate feelings – not that Obi-Wan was ever about to complain about that.

Either his sarcastic tone or the guttural noises of thwarted zombies sank in, because Rex stiffened and glared down. “Fuck!” he hissed, thighs clenching in a way that Obi-Wan both very much did and very much did not appreciate. His eyes damn well crossed at the wiggle that followed – he could only guess that Rex was going for a weapon that he didn’t have.

“Stop that!” he snarled, letting the wolf out a little more. He needed the muscle and mass to keep Rex in place, longer paws digging into the tree trunk for a slightly more secure hold that was notgroping his idiot boyfriend.

His idiot boyfriend leveled a flat, unimpressed look at him. “Really?” Rex grumped. His eyes flicked down, then back up. “Right now?”

“So sorry, but some of us don’t need to ingest extra blood to get it up, and under less fraught circumstances this might be my idea of a good time.” He tried for a drawl, but it was much more strained than he meant. Oh well, it wasn’t like Rex didn’t know he could be ridiculous. And it really wasn’t intentional.

“Less fraught meaning less zombies?”

“And less daylight.” Obi-Wan didn’t mean for his tone to turn sharp, either, but it did even as he very carefully wrapped his arms tighter around Rex. He made certain not to disturb the poncho, but he, at least, wanted the reassurance. He still wasn’t over the terror of having to go mostly wolf to grab Rex from the pack he was trying to slow down, nor the horror of slinging him over a shoulder to go pelting through the trees. Madcap desperation to find a tree stand before a foggy dawn was not his idea of fun. “Your life is worth a hell of a lot more than an inconvenient hard on.”

Rex huffed a laugh, leaning in to rest his cheek against Obi-Wan’s. “Stop being charming.”

“I’m afraid that’s going to happen approximately never. So sorry.”

For a moment, it was just them – two idiots cuddled together, healthy and alive on a genuinely beautiful, bright Spring morning.

Then a terrible gurgling noise broke the moment, and Rex glanced down at the pack still mingling around the tree, groaning their displeasure at not remembering how to climb. “Was that a zombie?” he asked, as if he damn well didn’t know the truth.

“Shapeshifting burns calories,” Obi-Wan reminded him primly. “As does marathon sprints lugging around idiots like potato sacks.”

“That explains the bruises on my stomach,” he muttered, shifting about to rummage in one of Obi-Wan’s pockets. “Jerky?”

“Please.” All in all, now that matters were calmer, Obi-Wan almost hoped that a rescue would take its sweet time. This was almost nice – all things considered.

~end

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

Camping Trip Headcanons

Ever wondered what the sides would be like while camping?

One of the plot points on this was inspired by a post by @aidensm8

So. Camping trip (I’m just going to assume this is a human AU). Roceit and Logicality just kind of became a thing.

-For starters, they get extremely lost.

-They were planning on camping in an actual designated camping spot. However, it all went downhill when the map was lost.

-There had been bickering throughout the entire car ride as to who got to hold the map. Eventually, a rotating schedule was decided on.

-By the time they’d been walking in the wrong direction for three hours, everyone had a different opinion on who actually lost the map.

-Roman blamed Janus, Janus blamed Virgil, Virgil blamed Logan, Logan blamed Remus, and Remus blamed Patton (who had never once touched the map. Remus knew this, and was only accusing him for the sake of chaos).

-After being lost in the woods for a while, they decide to pitch the tent. There were quite a few attempts, but in the end the monstrosity they assembled looked vaguely like a tent.

-A few things about the cast of characters

-Roman: Still the dramatic dude we know and love. Everyone’s around sixteen or so in this AU, and he’s got all of the Getting Out Of This Small Town dreams. One day, he’ll be famous, just try to stop him.

Currently having a bit of a rivals-to-lovers thing with Janus.

-Janus: This dorky snek. Wants similar things to Roman, but with a vein of cynicism that is leading him far from theater and towards law.

He and Roman have been competing for parts in various school plays since freshmen year. 

-Logan: Logan knows so very much about space and so very little about dealing with pining after a friend. But he’s planned this camping trip to perfection and he’s going to have a “totally unplanned” chat with Patton under the stars.

-Patton: Patton is oblivious as to why Logan is so excited about camping and the planning process, since he normally hates the outdoors.

Anyway, he’s really excited to go on a trip with all of his friends and eat marshmallows! 

One thing to note about Patton is that he has a small mark on his forearm the approximate size of a bug bite. This will be important later.

-Remus: Remus has a plan to make this camping trip...memorable. By which he means ✨Disturbing for all parties✨! Yes, he’s got a prank planned, which is why his backpack contains a live screech owl.

-Virgil: Virgil has a reputation at being the best at telling horror stories. Some kids can whistle with a blade of grass, some kids can curl their tongues, but Virgil’s talent is scaring people out of their minds. And he’s proud of it!

-Okay, back to your regularly scheduled programming

-Even though they’re lost, everything’s fine! They were able to build a fire (Remus brought a blowtorch), and when sunset came everyone was set up.

-Patton has found a variety of cool rocks, which he shows off to everyone.

-Logan looks up exactly what kind of rocks they are in his guide.

He brought a guide for this.

-Roman has been singing a veritable jukebox of musical numbers while setting everything up.

-Janus is trying to outsing him. 

-Virgil is trying get either Remus or Logan to bet with him as to when exactly they’ll become a couple.

-Remus tends to his screech owl.

-Soon, it’s dark, and marshmallows are consumed. Remus declines to stick his over the fire, instead lighting it with the blowtorch and placing the entire thing into his mouth, stick and all. 

-Then, it’s that much awaited time. Horror story time.

-Janus tells the first story. Very gothic horror Edgar Allen Poe stuff, better in terms of world building than actual scare factor.

-Roman goes next. His story isn’t that impressive (witchcraft and such), but his acting more than makes up for it.

-Remus tells a tale of the zombie apocalypse. There is cannibalism. However, he seems a little distracted, almost like he’s worried that a live animal in his bag will make a noise at the wrong time.

-Logan goes next. He’s not the best at horror stories, given his tendency to a) take things too literally and b) give all of his characters basic common sense.

So he tells some non-fiction instead.

He lists unsolved cases, tales of UFO’s, mysterious disappearances with no explanation. He declines to mention the likely scientific reasons for these events.

It works.

-And then, it’s Virgil’s turn. 

Damn.

He’s very good at it.

He somehow managed to make “tHeRe’S a MuRdErEr iN tHeSe WoOdS” actually nerve-wracking again.

Janus and Roman end up holding onto each other in fear by the end of the story. There’s indeed awkward springing apart and throat clearing, thank you for asking.

-They’re all ready to go back to the tent when Patton reminds them he hasn’t told a story yet.

-They sit down, somewhat relieved that they’ll have a less scary tale to finish the night off. After all, it’s Patton.

-Pat takes the flashlight, fiddles with the switch, and smiles innocently. He then proceeds to tell his friends exactly why he’s scared of spiders.

-When the flashlight dies at the end, there are screams, and not just from Roman. Everyone is terrified. Patton’s just eating the extra marshmallows like nothing is wrong as his friends have an existential crisis.

-Later that night...

-Virgil is questioning everything now that he is no longer the best at telling horror stories. So, when he sees Remus sneak off, he doesn’t stop him.

-Instead, he offers to join him in whatever spooky mischief he’s conducting. 

-Remus reveals Señor Scoodly-Scream, the screech owl. He plans to release the live bird into the tent at 3am in the morning and just kind of see what happens.

-Virgil agrees that this plan is a good one, but thinks that there a few things they can do to improve it.

-One of the factors of a good scare, he explains in an almost scientific voice, is that the participants are already on edge. If a live owl is released, sure, they’ll be shocked. But if they already have a feeling something is going on, and the imagination is allowed to linger, and THEN something is released?

Pandemonium.

-See! He still knows how to spook people!

-He suggests that they get long, spindly sticks that looks like brittle fingers to scrape against the walls of the tent. And the two of them head off together into the woods, hushing each other’s laughter and Señor Scoodly-Scream’s squawking. 

-As subtle as they tried to be, Logan had been keeping an ear open for when Remus would try to do something. So, after a few minutes, he follows them. 

-On his way out the door, Patton wakes up and joins him. The two of them try to follow Remus and Virgil.

-They go in the exact opposite direction as the devious pranksters, leaving Janus and Roman alone.

-Logan is jumpy for many reasons. He’s alone with his crush, it’s the middle of the night, he’s alone with his crush, many spooky stories were told, he’s alone with his crush-Our guy has a lot going on. Is it any wonder that he isn’t paying much attention to where exactly he and Patton are going?

-Roman is the fifth to wake up, only to realize that everyone except for Janus is just GONE.

-THEY’VE CLEARLY ALL BEEN MURDERED BY SPIDERS, OR THE MURDERER IN THE WOODS, OR ABDUCTED BY ALIENS

-Janus is the last person to wake up. It hard to not wake up when someone is screaming two feet from your ear.

-But upon finding that everyone else is gone, he’s almost tempted to join in the shrieks. One person leaving is one thing, but four people?? No, they’re clearly going to die in the middle of the woods.

-The two of them freak out. Roman suggests going to search for the others, and Janus point out that every horror movie suggests not! Doing! That!

-But Roman is adamant, and Janus isn’t going to be alone right now, so the pair of them sneak into the woods.

-Meanwhile, Remus and Virgil return with sticks. They scrape the walls of the tent. No reaction. They scrape louder. No reaction. They rattle the tent itself. Nope.

-They even release Scoodly-Scream into the tent! NOTHING.

-When they check, they realize that no one’s there (except the owl). PANIC ENSUES.

-Remus and Virgil come to the conclusions that everyone in the tent was eaten by spiders and they were lucky that they got out when they could. Remus decides that they should try to run back to town and out of the woods ASAP. 

-Which is what they try to do! However, they forgot one crucial detail: They’d been lost at the beginning of this camping trip.

-So, everyone’s kind of going in circles. Logan and Patton are having a stroll in the night air while everyone else runs like electrified hamsters.

-Roman and Janus have been holding onto each other for a solid fifteen minutes before even noticing. They both pretend that they didn’t notice, reasoning that it’s due to the cold, or the alien abductions.

-Suddenly, they hear a stick break. They freeze, seeing an outline of something of around human size in the distance. It moves again, and Roman and Janus rush at it, yelling and tackling the figure to the ground.

-It’s Remus. They don’t have time to apologize before Virgil comes out of nowhere and tries to fight them off with a stick.

-Once faces are spotted and no-one’s attacking anyone anymore, the four of them decide to head back to the tent.

-Then, they remember Logan and Patton.

-Logan and Patton are lost. You think everyone else in this fic is lost? These two are so lost you wouldn’t believe it.

-Eventually, their flashlight dies. The two of them are lost in the woods, in the middle of the night, with no flashlight.

-But without the flashlight, it’s easier to see the stars.

-Logan and Patton stop to rest under a tree. Logan points out the constellations. Patton points out that he has feelings for Logan. Logan.exe short circuits.

-The sweet moment is broken when they hear screaming. The two exchange a quick glance and run in the screaming’s direction.

-Meanwhile, Janus covers his ears as Virgil and Remus have a spontaneous screaming contest. The mood is light-hearted until they discover a dead flashlight on the ground under a tree.

-This freaks out the Everyone, and they scatter in fear accordingly.

-Roman trips over a rock and rolls down a hill as the others escape. The bulb of his flashlight breaks, and he is alone in the dark. He hates it, and panics, and is convinced that whatever evil force is in this woods is going to kill him.

-Janus notices that Roman isn’t with the group any more. All of his instincts tell him to run and save himself, and that’s what he does! For five seconds.

-Then, he runs back toward Roman (and potentially axe-murder). The two of them find each other at the bottom of the hill, and a thought enters both of their minds.

Oh.

OH.

Oh no.

-It’s pitch black now. Every flashlight has been taken out of commission. 

-All three groups run smack into each other at the top of the hill. After some more shrieking and stick-fighting, it’s established who everyone is. A collective sigh of relief is breathed that no one is dead.

-Slowly, carefully, they make their way back to the tent. It takes a while, but for once someone pays attention to where they’re going, and they get there eventually. 

-Everyone’s tired, and ready to catch what little sleep they can during this hell-night. Logan unzips the tent.

-And Señor Scoodly-Scream flies into his face.

So, there it is! Camping! Romance! An owl full of rage!

I hope you enjoyed this mini-fic :)

[argentdandelion]

Undertale Fans to Throw Money At

If you're an Undertale fan with money burning a hole in your pocket, look no further, for these are nine people you can throw money at.

CleverCatchphrase (Ghost Switch)

Patreon

Description:

Everybody can be a good person if they try...but what if they weren't allowed to try? What if that good decision wasn't even theirs? Can people still be good if they never even had a choice?

Review:

At only 49 pages in, the comic is presently establishing world-building and plot points that will take effect later. Though it broadly follows the in-game course of events, the fact the talking flower isn’t who you’d expect gives the character a lot more characterization early on. This flower doesn’t disappear after getting attacked by Toriel, instead following and conversing with Frisk as they go through the Ruins. Yet, soon after Frisk fell in, they were killed instantly with a seed-shaped bullet, so one wonders what the flower’s true motivations are.

Bunnikkila (Underrift)

Ko-fi

Description: The monsters are free. The resets are over. But is the damage to the timeline erased? Stalled? Or still deteriorating?

Review: Underrift's plot is intriguing and filled with mystery. It has bright, full-color pages, and a line-less stylistic shift for scenes in the non-place of the void. It also features a Sans backstory, linking him (through multiple possibilities) to the mysterious W.D. Gaster, the former royal scientist scattered through time and space.

Spookmoose (ZombieTale)

Patreon       Ko-fi

Description:

Frisk should not have survived that fall. ZombieTale is a slow-burning work about a zombie Frisk bringing a zombie apocalypse to the Underground, with all the horror and despair that entails.

Review:

Artistically, this isn’t what you’d expect when hearing “zombie apocalypse story that also takes place in an underground world of monsters.” Yet, the art works very well; it's like a blend of Disney's Frozen (with its indigo/purple/pink-dominant palette) and the 1500s-woodcut-esque art from The Last Apprentice, an old-timey horror book series. Through its texture, palette, and lighting choices, the style conveys isolation and paranoia. Even at its brightest and most colorful there’s a feeling something is not quite safe, not quite right.

Though Frisk is a pandemic-spreading zombie, they’re remarkably sympathetic. While distanced and unaffectionate, one can tell they’re just very hungry and in great pain. As they eat (and infect) more and more monsters, they become slightly less mindless, and able to feel regret for their actions, but are still unable to stop themselves in their pain and hunger.

C-Puff (Time Scar)

Patreon       Ko-fi

Description:

One day Sans wakes up with a huge scar on his body, one that definitely wasn't there yesterday. And now Sans must keep an eye(socket) on not one, but two humans. What do they want? Keeping that promise to Toriel is going to be harder than he thought...

Review:

Time Scar, a largely black-and-white comic, has crisp lineart and often detailed backgrounds. The trees of Snowdin are especially remarkable in their detail and abundance, and furniture, houses and other boxy objects are perfectly rendered. One can guess at where Sans’ mysterious scar came from; nonetheless readers will be intrigued and want to know exactly what caused it. Adding on to this mystery is why there are two humans: one innocent, another sinister.

Undertalethingems (Unexpected Guests)

Patreon       Ko-fi

Description:

Papyrus messes up his special attack, and shenanigans ensue. But there’s always more to the story, and skeletal dragons are just the beginning.

Review:

The artist is quite skilled at drawing skeletons; Sans’ and Papyrus’ special attacks (which manifested as draconic skeletons) showcase this well. Though largely monochrome, The artist is also remarkably good at drawing Toriel: her look is a perfect blend of an old lady, a mother and a goatlike monster. Asgore is similarly well-drawn, which is especially notable since so many fans find him difficult to draw.

WolvenOne (Long Road)

Ko-fi

(From an associated mini-comic. Lineart and shading by smieska-draws)

Description:

It's been a year since happily ever after. But, as the latest anti-monster conflict proves, happy endings are not one-time events: they must be constantly maintained. For one particular disturbed flower, happily ever after after is still far away, but that doesn't mean he must travel the long road to recovery alone.

Review:

(Note: Frisk and Chara are both a “she” in this work, for those who don’t like that.) This fanfiction excels in characterization and plot. The work is tonally versatile: its moments vary from quiet, to tense, to action-packed and cinematic. While Asriel-saving works are practically a subgenre in itself, the work nonetheless finds a way to make it unique with the angle of Flowey’s gradual recovery with soul-regeneration medication. Long Road’s human characters, including its new ones, also have well-developed personalities.

Kaitogirl (Kaitogirl's Underfell)

Patreon       Ko-Fi

Description:

One work based on the community-owned Underfell AU setting. A human child falls into an underground realm of bitter, cynical monsters who want revenge on humanity, but nonetheless cheers up their lives as they try to return home.

Review:

(Warning: Has blood and swearing) As expected for Underfell, red and black are common colors in this work. But, rather than making everything red and black, colors are often altered to darker, redder and duller shades than in canon. In fact, one could also accurately describe this as “that purple Underfell”: this color-altering often results in shades that are broadly purple. Or, perhaps, one could say “zero-orange Underfell”: there’s practically no orange, and when yellow and green does appear (largely from Flowey) they’re dull shades. By Waterfall, the colors get richer, along with a general jump in art quality. Flowey, as is common for Underfell, is broadly “good” rather than “evil”, but his characterization here is pleasantly close to his canon one nonetheless: he’s grumpy and cynical and prone to getting frustrated with Frisk.

AbsoluteDream (Over the Void)

Patreon

Description

After the events of Undertale, Frisk, Asriel, and Monster Kid find a secret room in Waterfall while visiting their old home in Mount Ebott. The room contained a mysterious mirror. Venturing through the mirror, they find themselves in an alternate reality where monsters were never sealed underground...but can they ever get back to their own reality?

Review

It’s just par for the course for the acclaimed AbsoluteDream: his art will blow your socks off, figuratively speaking. Over the Void’s art excels in virtually every aspect of comic-making; its flaws are so rare and minor I don’t think anyone not as thorough and critical as me would even notice them (or call them such). If one wasn’t wowed enough, Over the Void occasionally even has stunningly crisp animated panels. Characters’ distinct personalities shine out through facial expressions, body movements, and dialogue. While the plot hasn’t developed much only two chapters (and 76 pages!) in, the build-up is nonetheless intriguing.

Coffeelemental (The Anomaly)

Patreon

Description

Frisk’s personal control of the timeline is used to ensure monsters have a peaceful return to the surface world – but the seven who sealed them underground in the first place have some problems with this.

Review

(Note: Frisk is a “she” in this work, for those who don’t like that.) The Anomaly, by Coffeelemental, is simultaneously the “Saturday Morning Cartoon of Undertale sequels” and the Sistine Chapel of Undertale fan comics in its tone, dedication, polish and detail.

Though its time-travel element and time-skip might seem like a risk to a simple plot, it nonetheless keeps the plot a perfect medium between complexity and simplicity. While some of The Anomaly’s themes (e.g., “With great power [over time] comes great responsibility”) are pretty common in Undertale works with a Frisk-based, Post-Pacifist timeline premise, The Anomaly nonetheless deals with those themes in an interesting way. Characters from the game itself hew closely to their original, nuanced personalities, and its seven human antagonists have remarkable characterization. (derived from the full review)

[chiseler]

Utopia and Apocalypse: Pynchon’s Populist/Fatalist Cinema

The rhythmic clapping resonates inside these walls, which are hard and glossy as coal: Come-on! Start-the-show! Come-on! Start-the-show! The screen is a dim page spread before us, white and silent. The film has broken, or a projector bulb has burned out. It was difficult even for us, old fans who’ve always been at the movies (haven’t we?) to tell which before the darkness swept in.

--from the last page of Gravity’s Rainbow

To begin with a personal anecdote: Writing my first book (to be published) in the late 1970s, an experimental autobiography titled Moving Places: A Life at the Movies (Harper & Row, 1980), published in French as Mouvements: Une vie au cinéma (P.O.L, 2003), I wanted to include four texts by other authors—two short stories (“In Dreams Begin Responsibilities” by Delmore Schwartz, “The Secret Integration” by Thomas Pynchon) and two essays (“The Carole Lombard in Macy’s Window” by Charles Eckert, “My Life With Kong” by Elliott Stein)—but was prevented from doing so by my editor, who argued that because the book was mine, texts by other authors didn’t belong there. My motives were both pluralistic and populist: a desire both to respect fiction and non-fiction as equal creative partners and to insist that the book was about more than just myself and my own life. Because my book was largely about the creative roles played by the fictions of cinema on the non-fictions of personal lives, the anti-elitist nature of cinema played a crucial part in these transactions.`

In the case of Pynchon’s 1964 story—which twenty years later, in his collection Slow Learner, he would admit was the only early story of his that he still liked—the cinematic relevance to Moving Places could be found in a single fleeting but resonant detail: the momentary bonding of a little white boy named Tim Santora with a black, homeless, alcoholic jazz musician named Carl McAfee in a hotel room when they discover that they’ve both seen Blood Alley (1955), an anticommunist action-adventure with John Wayne and Lauren Bacall, directed by William Wellman. Pynchon mentions only the film’s title, but the complex synergy of this passing moment of mutual recognition between two of its dissimilar viewers represented for me an epiphany, in part because of the irony of such casual camaraderie occurring in relation to a routine example of Manichean Cold War mythology. Moreover, as a right-wing cinematic touchstone, Blood Alley is dialectically complemented in the same story by Tim and his friends categorizing their rebellious schoolboy pranks as Operation Spartacus, inspired by the left-wing Spartacus (1960) of Kirk Douglas, Dalton Trumbo, and Stanley Kubrick.

For better and for worse, all of Pynchon’s fiction partakes of this populism by customarily defining cinema as the cultural air that everyone breathes, or at least the river in which everyone swims and bathes. This is equally apparent in the only Pynchon novel that qualifies as hackwork, Inherent Vice (2009), and the fact that Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of it is also his worst film to date—a hippie remake of Chinatown in the same way that the novel is a hippie remake of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald—seems logical insofar as it seems to have been written with an eye towards selling the screen rights. As Geoffrey O’Brien observed (while defending this indefensible book and film) in the New York Review of Books (January 3, 2015), “Perhaps the novel really was crying out for such a cinematic transformation, for in its pages people watch movies, remember them, compare events in the ‘real world’ to their plots, re-experience their soundtracks as auditory hallucinations, even work their technical components (the lighting style of cinematographer James Wong Howe, for instance) into aspects of complex conspiratorial schemes.” (Despite a few glancing virtues, such as  Josh Brolin’s Nixonesque performance as "Bigfoot" Bjornsen, Anderson’s film seems just as cynical as its source and infused with the same sort of misplaced would-be nostalgia for the counterculture of the late 60s and early 70s, pitched to a generation that didn’t experience it, as Bertolucci’s Innocents: The Dreamers.)

From The Crying of Lot 49’s evocation of an orgasm in cinematic terms (“She awoke at last to find herself getting laid; she’d come in on a sexual crescendo in progress, like a cut to a scene where the camera’s already moving”) to the magical-surreal guest star appearance of Mickey Rooney in wartime Europe in Gravity’s Rainbow, cinema is invariably a form of lingua franca in Pynchon’s fiction, an expedient form of shorthand, calling up common experiences that seem light years away from the sectarianism of the politique des auteurs. This explains why his novels set in mid-20th century, such as the two just cited, when cinema was still a common currency cutting across classes, age groups, and diverse levels of education, tend to have the greatest number of movie references. In Gravity’s Rainbow—set mostly in war-torn Europe, with a few flashbacks to the east coast U.S. and flash-forwards to the contemporary west coast—this even includes such anachronistic pop ephemera as the 1949 serial King of the Rocket Men and the 1955 Western The Return of Jack Slade (which a character named Waxwing Blodgett is said to have seen at U.S. Army bases during World War 2 no less than twenty-seven times), along with various comic books.

Significantly, “The Secret Integration”, a title evoking both conspiracy and countercultural utopia, is set in the same cozy suburban neighborhood in the Berkshires from which Tyrone Slothrop, the wartime hero or antihero of Gravity’s Rainbow (1973), aka “Rocketman,” springs, with his kid brother and father among the story’s characters. It’s also the same region where Pynchon himself grew up. And Gravity’s Rainbow, Pynchon’s magnum opus and richest work, is by all measures the most film-drenched of his novels in its design as well as its details—so much so that even its blocks of text are separated typographically by what resemble sprocket holes. Unlike, say, Vineland (1990), where cinema figures mostly in terms of imaginary TV reruns (e.g., Woody Allen in Young Kissinger) and diverse cultural appropriations (e.g., a Noir Center shopping mall), or the post-cinematic adventures in cyberspace found in the noirish (and far superior) east-coast companion volume to Inherent Vice, Bleeding Edge (2013), cinema in Gravity’s Rainbow is basically a theatrical event with a social impact, where Fritz Lang’s invention of the rocket countdown as a suspense device (in the 1929 Frau im mond) and the separate “frames” of a rocket’s trajectory are equally relevant and operative factors. There are also passing references to Lang’s Der müde Tod, Die Nibelungen, Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, and Metropolis—not to mention De Mille’s Cleopatra, Dumbo, Freaks, Son of Frankenstein, White Zombie, at least two Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals, Pabst, and Lubitsch—and the epigraphs introducing the novel’s second and third sections (“You will have the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood — Merian C. Cooper to Fay Wray” and “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more…. –Dorothy, arriving in Oz”) are equally steeped in familiar movie mythology.

These are all populist allusions, yet the bane of populism as a rightwing curse is another near-constant in Pynchon’s work. The same ambivalence can be felt in the novel’s last two words, “Now everybody—“, at once frightening and comforting in its immediacy and universality. With the possible exception of Mason & Dixon (1997), every Pynchon novel over the past three decades—Vineland, Against the Day (2006), Inherent Vice, and Bleeding Edge—has an attractive, prominent, and sympathetic female character betraying or at least acting against her leftist roots and/or principles by being first drawn erotically towards and then being seduced by a fascistic male. In Bleeding Edge, this even happens to the novel’s earthy protagonist, the middle-aged detective Maxine Tarnow. Given the teasing amount of autobiographical concealment and revelation Pynchon carries on with his public while rigorously avoiding the press, it is tempting to see this recurring theme as a personal obsession grounded in some private psychic wound, and one that points to sadder-but-wiser challenges brought by Pynchon to his own populism, eventually reflecting a certain cynicism about human behavior. It also calls to mind some of the reflections of Luc Moullet (in “Sainte Janet,” Cahiers du cinéma no. 86, août 1958) aroused by Howard Hughes’ and Josef von Sternberg’s Jet Pilot and (more incidentally) by Ayn Rand’s and King Vidor’s The Fountainhead whereby “erotic verve” is tied to a contempt for collectivity—implicitly suggesting that rightwing art may be sexier than leftwing art, especially if the sexual delirium in question has some of the adolescent energy found in, for example, Hughes, Sternberg, Rand, Vidor, Kubrick, Tashlin, Jerry Lewis, and, yes, Pynchon.

One of the most impressive things about Pynchon’s fiction is the way in which it often represents the narrative shapes of individual novels in explicit visual terms. V, his first novel, has two heroes and narrative lines that converge at the bottom point of a V; Gravity’s Rainbow, his second—a V2 in more ways than one—unfolds across an epic skyscape like a rocket’s (linear) ascent and its (scattered) descent; Vineland offers a narrative tangle of lives to rhyme with its crisscrossing vines, and the curving ampersand in the middle of Mason & Dixon suggests another form of digressive tangle between its two male leads; Against the Day, which opens with a balloon flight, seems to follow the curving shape and rotation of the planet.

This compulsive patterning suggests that the sprocket-hole design in Gravity’s Rainbow’s section breaks is more than just a decorative detail. The recurrence of sprockets and film frames carries metaphorical resonance in the novel’s action, so that Franz Pökler, a German rocket engineer allowed by his superiors to see his long-lost daughter (whom he calls his “movie child” because she was conceived the night he and her mother saw a porn film) only once a year, at a children’s village called Zwölfkinder, and can’t even be sure if it’s the same girl each time:

So it has gone for the six years since. A daughter a year, each one about a year older, each time taking up nearly from scratch. The only continuity has been her name, and Zwölfkinder, and Pökler’s love—love something like the persistence of vision, for They have used it to create for him the moving image of a daughter, flashing him only these summertime frames of her, leaving it to him to build the illusion of a single child—what would the time scale matter, a 24th of a second or a year (no more, the engineer thought, than in a wind tunnel, or an oscillograph whose turning drum you can speed or slow at will…)?

***

Cinema, in short, is both delightful and sinister—a utopian dream and an apocalyptic nightmare, a stark juxtaposition reflected in the abrupt shift in the earlier Pynchon passage quoted at the beginning of this essay from present tense to past tense, and from third person to first person. Much the same could be said about the various displacements experienced while moving from the positive to the negative consequences of  populism.

Pynchon’s allegiance to the irreverent vulgarity of kazoos sounding like farts and concomitant Spike Jones parodies seems wholly in keeping with his disdain for David Raksin and Johnny Mercer’s popular song “Laura” and what he perceives as the snobbish elitism  of the Preminger film it derives from, as expressed in his passionate liner notes to the CD compilation “Spiked!: The Music of Spike Jones” a half-century later:

The song had been featured in the 1945 movie of the same name, supposed to evoke the hotsy-totsy social life where all these sophisticated New York City folks had time for faces in the misty light and so forth, not to mention expensive outfits, fancy interiors,witty repartee—a world of pseudos as inviting to…class hostility as fish in a barrel, including a presumed audience fatally unhip enough to still believe in the old prewar fantasies, though surely it was already too late for that, Tin Pan Alley wisdom about life had not stood a chance under the realities of global war, too many people by then knew better.

Consequently, neither art cinema nor auteur cinema figures much in Pynchon’s otherwise hefty lexicon of film culture, aside from a jokey mention of a Bengt Ekerot/Maria Casares Film Festival (actors playing Death in The Seventh Seal and Orphée) held in Los Angeles—and significantly, even the “underground”, 16-millimeter radical political filmmaking in northern California charted in Vineland becomes emblematic of the perceived failure of the 60s counterculture as a whole. This also helps to account for why the paranoia and solipsism found in Jacques Rivette’s Paris nous appartient and Out 1, perhaps the closest equivalents to Pynchon’s own notions of mass conspiracy juxtaposed with solitary despair, are never mentioned in his writing, and the films that are referenced belong almost exclusively to the commercial mainstream, unlike the examples of painting, music, and literature, such as the surrealist painting of Remedios Varo described in detail at the beginning of The Crying of Lot 49,  the importance of Ornette Coleman in V and Anton Webern in Gravity’s Rainbow, or the visible impact of both Jorge Luis Borges and William S. Burroughs on the latter novel. (1) And much of the novel’s supply of movie folklore—e.g., the fatal ambushing of John Dillinger while leaving Chicago’s Biograph theater--is mainstream as well.

Nevertheless, one can find a fairly precise philosophical and metaphysical description of these aforementioned Rivette films in Gravity’s Rainbow: “If there is something comforting -- religious, if you want — about paranoia, there is still also anti-paranoia, where nothing is connected to anything, a condition not many of us can bear for long.” And the white, empty movie screen that appears apocalyptically on the novel’s final page—as white and as blank as the fusion of all the colors in a rainbow—also appears in Rivette’s first feature when a 16-millimeter print of Lang’s Metropolis breaks during the projection of the Tower of Babel sequence.

Is such a physically and metaphysically similar affective climax of a halted film projection foretelling an apocalypse a mere coincidence? It’s impossible to know whether Pynchon might have seen Paris nous appartient during its brief New York run in the early 60s. But even if he hadn’t (or still hasn’t), a bitter sense of betrayed utopian possibilities in that film, in Out 1, and in most of his fiction is hard to overlook. Old fans who’ve always been at the movies (haven’t we?) don’t like to be woken from their dreams.

by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Footnote

For this reason, among others, I’m skeptical about accepting the hypothesis of the otherwise reliable Pynchon critic Richard Poirier that Gravity’s Rainbow’s enigmatic references to “the Kenosha Kid” might allude to Orson Welles, who was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Steven C. Weisenburger, in A Gravity’s Rainbow Companion (Athens/London: The University of Georgia Press, 2006), reports more plausibly that “the Kenosha Kid” was a pulp magazine character created by Forbes Parkhill in Western stories published from the 1920s through the 1940s. Once again, Pynchon’s populism trumps—i.e. exceeds—his cinephilia.

[generalfoolish]

Thanks for the tag April!!

the way that my list is embarrassingly long 🙈🙈 I'll keep it to fandom WIPS to save us all some time 😭 (we won't talk about all the non fandom WIPS)

with max phillips: roommate au

with Pero Tovar: time travel au

with Loki: mayhem times infinity, decoy bride au

with Ezra from prospect: college au, gold mining au, in all the stars, magic/supernatural au, staring at bakhroma, untitled (post movie)

with din djarin: far from home, of gardens and diatribes, florist!au

with obi-wan: bodyguard au, time bending au

with poe: all the things we said (/formerly we go together, it's a rewrite), enemies to loves with Poe

triple frontier: a long road ahead

with Santiago: this is all my fault

with Frankie Morales: Mechanic!Frankie Drabble, feel the heat

with Levi Ackerman: zombie au, modern/blending of worlds au

with Adrian Chase: MC/Adrian, unrequited love, period one shot

with Eddie Munson: this cynical heart

I don't even think I have enough mutuals to cover this list lmao, anyone can do this!!

Wip game. Tagged by the lovely @bvcksmunson

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs. I have deemed that this isn’t just for writing either. Sketch titles? Comics? DnD campaigns? If you have an unfinished project, it counts!!

Hurt/comfort. Eddie x reader

Gareth date fic

Ghost!eddie

Episode seven. Eddie x reader. In the upside down

Blueberry fic Adrian chase x reader

Tagging: @ksbbb @pretendfan @generalfoolish

[wnnbdarklord]

Dear Worldbuilding Exchange 2018 creator!

Hi! This is my first year participating and I am excite!

AO3 username: wnnbdarklord

Worldbuilding Exchange 2018 Letter:

General Likes

Art Likes

Do Not Wants

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Request #1 - worldbuilding Asgard and/or Jotunheim

Request #2 - worldbuilding Sokovia Accords, Wakanda, Stark Industries

Middle Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Star Trek the Next Generation

General Likes:

Polyamory, gen, het, slash, femslash, families of choice, competence, BAMF female characters, angst, hurt/comfort, teamfic, pretty much all the tropes especially if there is a twist, worldbuilding, humor, redemption, for want of a nail AUs, time travel, werewolves, dragons, crossovers, non fantasy/SF canons encountering the supernatural/aliens, fix it fics

For worldbuilding specific stuff: I think I'd be happy with pretty much any deeper exploration of canon or implications of canon. Building on throwaway references is also great as is considering logical endpoints that might not even have been intended by the creators. Or exploring something the creators never even mentioned but that has to exist for that world to be at all functional (like agriculture and trade in fantasy worlds as something rarely mentioned or explored in depth). Or unintended applications of technology and/or magic that exist in canon. Or exploring how history would change with the presence of certain canonical elements.

Feel free to combine or mix up the prompts! The character choices are mostly there just as preferences or ones I think would fit with the worldbuilding prompts. Since the focus of this exchange is on the worldbuilding, I'd be perfectly happy to get something that doesn't focus on any of the characters or even original characters.

All of my requests are open for either fic, art or in universe meta. I love fics that blur the lines with meta.

Art Likes:

I’m pretty sure I’d love any art! I love sketchy styles with maybe just a splash of color to draw the eye. Black and white images with only one color to highlight Important Things is A+. That said, any art in any style would be amazing! As for subject matter, I’d love to see any scenes from the prompts or stuff from my likes.

Do Not Wants:

The ones bolded are the most important to leave out, but here is an expanded list:

permanent character death, incest, rape, dubcon, torture porn, underage stuff, infidelity, humiliation, character bashing, ship bashing, no powers AUs, love triangles, fake married/dating, power imbalances in relationships, hate sex, scat/watersports, necrophilia, PWP, abuse, fusions, zombies, 1st person POV, issue fic, themes of cynicism and futility, nihilism that isn't of the optimistic kind, animal abuse, unrequested ships, slavery, genderswap of the always an x kind, unrequested AUs , jealousy

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Request #1 - worldbuilding Asgard and/or Jotunheim

Loki (MCU) || Thor (MCU) || Hela (MCU) || Brunnhilde | Valkyrie (MCU) || Original Character(s) (MCU) || Any or No Characters (MCU)

WB: Jotunheim (MCU)

Ever since the first Thor movie, I've wanted more about Jotunheim. Anything! What is their culture like? Society? Geography? Politics? Flora and fauna? Gender? Medicine? Education? Trade? It'd be really cool if there was something dealing with the differences pre and post war with Asgard.

Why did they try to colonize Midgard? Given the revelations about Asgard in Ragnarok, were the Jotnar even trying to turn the Earth into Jotunheim's image, or was that just propaganda by Odin and the possibly innocuous presence of Jotnar on Midgard a convenient excuse for more war? Was their attempt one of desperation?

How are their relations with the other Realms? Do they still have any trade with them after the war? What does Jotunheim think about the events of the Thor movie? Are they even aware who it was that tried to destroy them? What were the consequences of the Bifrost attack? Severe planetwide or just local?

For art: I'd love to see a map of Jotunheim or plant or animal studies. Or maybe something detailing Jotnar clothing. Or architecture. Or what their language and alphabet looks like.

For in universe meta/fic: Excerpts from books or videos from various scholars on all the Realms. This could be really interesting, especially as a way to see how the Jotnar view themselves vs others, especially with Asgardian propaganda (and racism in their tendency to refer to any species but their own in derogatory terms). Or maybe something detailing what Thor and Loki would have learned through their education, skewed as it likely was. There had to be some reason they were both so convinced Jotnar were monsters.

WB: Aesir and/or Jotnar biology (MCU)

I love me some alien biology worldbuilding! They're clearly more hardy than humans, stronger and longer lived, but what are the other differences? Why does Odin disintegrate into sparkles upon death, but not other Aesir? Are there developmental differences between Aesir and Jotnar? Is one more long lived than the other? Hardier? What about nutritional requirements? Are they allergic to any foods the other is not? Do Jotnar have hair? Horns?

Any reproductive differences? Aesir seem to align to human norms fairly well (and what if they don't?), but do Jotnar have more complicated arrangements? What is their sense of smell, taste and vision like? In the myths, Jotnar were shapeshifters and so is Loki in the MCU. Is this a species wide thing or just more common on Jotunheim? How do their instincts differ

How do Aesir and Jotnar powers work? Why do Odin, Hela, Heimdall and Thor have powers, but the rest of the population doesn't seem to? How does the freezing touch of Jotnar work? Is it constant or just a defense mechanism? How cold can they get to shatter leather and metal made by Asgardians? Can all of them produce ice?

For fic: I'd love something where Loki is forced to confront his Jotun form long term. Perhaps Odin's spell on him fails when Asgard is destroyed and he'll have to deal with whatever differences there are.

For art: Anatomical studies and/or comparisons would be amazing! I'd be especially delighted with anything highlighting the differences.

WB: Asgard and its history (MCU) || WB: Relations Between Asgard and the Other Realms (MCU) || WB: Politics of Asgard (MCU)

All of these seem thematically related, so I'm lumping them together. Feel free to focus on whichever you want or combine as you please!

Ragnarok really made me hanker for more info about Asgard's past and its relationship with the other Realms. How did Odin and Hela go about their conquests? The murals depict Asgard being built by slaves. Where did the slaves come from? What happened to them?

Neither Thor or Loki are aware of Asgard's true history. What were they taught instead? Was that just Odin being Odin and keeping secrets, or was there some magic or technology behind Asgard's collective amnesia? Or just fear of the king?

How were Asgard's relations to the other Realms affected by its bloody history? Do the other Realms remember it? How were they affected by it? Have they recovered? Has Asgard purposefully and actively kept them lower, despite all its words of peace later? What was the relationship like after Loki-as-Odin pulled Asgard away from actively policing the other Realms?

How has Asgard itself been affected by these revelations? Its destruction? Do the people start a revolution on the ship? Is there a reason they're so passive throughout Hela's reappearance? They didn't seem shocked or particularly resentful of Loki usurping Odin's place either.

For fic: I'd love something where the Asgardian refugees have to contend with going from the top of the pile to the bottom. How would the other Realms treat them?

For art: I'd love to see more of the murals! What other secrets has Odin been keeping? How prevalent are they? I'd love a before and after like in the movie, but for other events.

WB: Relationship between magic and science (MCU)

Thor says they're one and the same on Asgard. Is that true elsewhere? I mean, there seem to be quite a few differences functionally. How does magic work and how is it different from science? Is everything on Asgard just technology so advanced it basically works like magic? If not and magic is actually a thing, how does it work? Can anyone do it with enough study? Does there have to be a natural aptitude for it beforehand? Or are there degrees of separation where anyone can do magic with certain artifacts and rituals, but only naturally born magic users can use it without those interfaces? Is shapeshifting magic, a natural ability or technology?

For fic: I'd love something dealing with Loki learning magic, or even Thor trying to learn it! They both seem fairly comfortable with advanced technology, but Asgard itself doesn't seem to have any visible tech. How does that work on Asgard?

Request #2 - worldbuilding Sokovia Accords, Wakanda, Stark Industries

Tony Stark (MCU) || Pepper Potts (MCU) || James "Rhodey" Rhodes (MCU) || T'Challa (MCU) || Original Character(s) (MCU)

These requests might not be as detailed as the Asgardian stuff above, but don't take it to mean I'm less enthusiastic for them! I just found it easier to come up with prompts there. I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever you come up with!

WB: Stark Industries (MCU)

Stark Industries sounds like it should be a huge corporation! With all the advanced tech in the MCU in general, what wonders does SI create that make the MCU just that bit different from our Earth? How did the company restructure after Tony returned from Afghanistan? With SI's focus on clean energy, is climate change less of a big deal in the MCU?

What's the legal differentiation between SI and Iron Man and the Avengers? Especially after the Sokovia Accords? What about Tony's work for SHIELD before it went under? What's the public's perception of SI after everything? What does the day to day running of SI look like? Perhaps a perspective from the average worker that has to deal with the fallout of their boss being a superhero/involved with a superhero?

How did the internal shakeup of SI go after Obadiah Stane and his double dealing? After SHIELD fell, how many of its agents sought refuge with SI? Is Hill still there after the Civil War? What did SI get up to after the events of the Avengers? Did they get access from the government to the Chitauri tech?

For art: I'd love something schematic-y for one of their products or maybe pamphlets or something from their public relations department. Or magazine and newspaper articles on SI or Tony, Pepper or Rhodey.

WB: Sokovia Accords (MCU) || WB: Public Relations and superheroes/related agencies (MCU)

I'm Team Tony, so I don't really want anything dealing directly with Steve and his team, but I also don't want any character bashing. I just really don't understand Steve's perspective. Ross is definitely an asshole who used the Sokovia Accords as an opportunity to push his agenda, but the concept itself did not originate from him. And he isn't capable of single handedly forcing 117 countries to agree to them. I don't think the UN works like that.

I also don't think the script writers know what the UN works like either? So, give me the Sokovia Accords with more of a focus on the legal and diplomatic realities rather than the dramatic tension necessary in a movie! They had to have been in the works for years at the very least, how did none of the Avengers know about them? Or did they and it just wasn't mentioned in the movie? How many times were they amended? How will they be amended? How do they work in practice? They certainly weren't ratified during the bombing because of the bombing, so why did the movie proceed as though they were in full force?

What does superhero PR look like in the MCU? Before the Accords? After?

WB: Wakanda increasing its international openness (MCU)

I don't have anything in particular in mind for this, I just saw the tag and my brain went !!! How and why does Wakanda decide to stop its isolationist policies? How does it affect them? How does it affect the rest of the world?

Middle Earth - J.R.R. Tolkien

Boromir (Middle Earth - Tolkien) || Faramir (Middle Earth - Tolkien) || Original Character(s) (Middle Earth - Tolkien) || Original Gondorian Scholar (Middle Earth - Tolkien) || Gandalf | Mithrandir (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: Libraries & Archives (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: Southern Middle Earth (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: cultural differences between races (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: trade in Gondor (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: education in Middle Earth (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

WB: afterlife for non elven races (Middle Earth - Tolkien) /

WB: Mythology and Religion (Middle Earth - Tolkien)

I've been a Tolkien fan since I was 11, but haven't recently reread the books. I tend to float in and out of the fandom, but it is always near and dear to my heart. I don't really have detailed prompts for these, because it feels like they're pretty descriptive on their own.

I'd be most interested seeing something dealing with Gondor or Men in general throughout Middle-earth. In universe texts, stories, and songs dealing with aspects of the prompts would be great! Especially considering a lot of the mythology is presented to us as fact (despite the layers of 'it's just a translation' conceit) rather than from the perspective of the people themselves. The readers know what happens to Men when they die, but do the Men themselves know? Sure, there's accounts from the Elves and what the Valar and Maiar told them, but I doubt all of them are aware of it. Or if they had been at one point, how did that change after lack of contact?

Middle-earth is a big place, but we only really know a lot about one small part of it. What do the people we're familiar with think about the places we've never seen? Is there any contact at all? Are those places filled with familiar Races or is there more variety? Did they ever visit? What did they bring, if so? What did they leave with?

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Ken (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || Farah Black (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || Bart Curlish (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || Original Character(s) (Dirk Gently TV 2016)

WB: how the Blackwing subjects' powers work (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || WB: Cosmology (Dirk Gently TV 2016) || WB: Blackwing (Dirk Gently TV 2016)

Gosh, I just love this series so much! I want to know more about everything in it, but managed to limit myself to these :D

How does the universe work in DGHDA? In the second season it's implied that it's broken and that the Blackwing subjects are effectively the debugging programs of the universe. How does that work? How did Blackwing find them? Did they ever make a mistake? Are there more out there? What are they doing? How does the universe decide which people to chose? We also get to see the universe's backstage. Why do people's eyes go different in that place? Why were Amanda's and Todd's fairly normal, but Friedkin's were red? What does the glowy stuff mean?

There are a number of holistic identities and the way they work seems to be very varied. Francis Cardenas' power was very overt and amazingly powerful. Bart is basically unstoppable and Mona can turn into literally anything. Dirk's power, by contrast, is fairly low-key and unobtrusive. Has he fully realized his potential?

How did Blackwing come into existence? How long have they been operational? How were they so unsuccessful in determining their subjects' powers enough to lose almost all of their funding? Was it the recapturing of the subjects that made the universe broken? Anything dealing with Blackwing and their subjects during their captivity there would be great! Like, how did the logistics of keeping Ken in a taxi for 70 days even work? Things like that :D

Star Trek the Next Generation

Data (ST:TNG) || Jean-Luc Picard (ST:TNG) || Deanna Troi (ST:TNG) || Original Character(s) (ST:TNG) || Any or No Characters (ST:TNG) || Geordi La Forge (ST:TNG)

In most fandoms, I'm fine with a grimer, darker take, but for Star Trek I like it to encapsulate the ideals it was created with - namely, that we might not be perfect, but we can achieve so much if we're willing to try and strive to be better. Which isn't to say that life has to be perfect, but I'd like it to be hopeful. Cynicism need not apply.

WB: Warp Engines (ST: TNG)

There was a recent article about warp drive possibly not being such an impossibility anymore! The technical details would probably be beyond me, but I would love an explanation of Star Trek's warp engines combined with the real life science one! Give me all the pseudo technobabble!

WB: interspecies relationships (ST:TNG)

How common are they? How common is offspring? Genetic manipulation is forbidden in the Federation, but do people use it anyway to have children they otherwise might not be able to, legally or otherwise?

There's loads of culture clash between people from different countries from the same planet, how much more is there between two different species? Or does that make it easier in some ways?

WB: fashion and clothing (ST:TNG)

Honestly, this prompt was entirely and completely inspired by this tumblr post: http://cookiesforthedarkside.tumblr.com/post/169324738115/mosellegreen-justanothercarbonunit in which Gene Roddenberry has a problem with zippers. And buttons. By the time TNG rolled around, there were clothes with visible seams and such, but it was left ambiguous whether they were actually zippers. So, what does clothing without buttons or fasteners of any kind look like? How does it work? What material is it made out of? Is the lack of zippers and buttons the reason for some of the more...let's say eclectic looks?

WB: media reporting (ST:TNG)

Starfleet gets up to so many shenanigans, it's ridiculous. And we know reporters and journalists still exist! So, what do they report on? Is there a 24 hour news channel somewhere? Is there a gossip rag Picard secretly reads that absolutely butchers the Enterprise's mission reports? Are there dramatic readings of them in Ten Forward?

Are there a billion different channels of subspace radio that broadcasts all the local minutia of whatever system the Enterprise is currently in? Do they play it on the bridge?

I just feel like it'd be an interesting perspective on the little details of the Star Trek verse that have to be there, but we never really see. Go wild!

WB: AI rights and personhood (ST:TNG)

We know Data paved the way for AI rights in the ST verse. What ripples have his efforts caused? We know it's not just limited to him or other androids and robots - it seems like everytime we turn around, another hologram gains sentience. With the amount of holograms in use by the Federation, it could become a problem very quickly.

Do more androids eventually get built? Do the star ships themselves gain sentience? How would the Federation navigate these issues?

WB: Utopian Earth (ST:TNG)

It probably isn't a true Utopia, because those seem impossible and designed to fail, but I'd like to think it's pretty close. How does life for the average citizen of Earth look like? What do they do in a post-scarcity society? What do people not in Starfleet do? How do they live?

[odogaronfang]

Zombie apocalypse aus are neat. Tell me more.

oh thank you so much for asking!!!!!!!!

okay this might get long so prepare, uhhh where do i start

so basically. henry is my main character. in this au, the risen are the zombies, makes sense yknow. difference is, while most zombie media tags zombies as slow to move, slow to act, and without capability for higher thinking, the risen are still, on some level, fundamentally human. (this kind of stems from the risen’s capability to fight in awakening, and from of a support between ricken and henry; see “they’re just like us, but dead” (((: ) given, the risen are slow and not all too strong, they’re dead and decaying and atrophying- but the fresher risen, the recently turned, can in some cases rival a healthy, living human. i’m still thinking on what caused the pandemic, i’ll be honest, no haha-no-one-knows cop-out, i’ll get back to you on that. but no one knows of any cure yet, of course, or this au wouldn’t exist.

so. in a world of the living dead(?), where being a mage translates to being a gunslinger, cut to henry. was this an excuse to make henry dual wield handguns? maybe. will i apologize for it? absolutely not.

i digress. henry is the chaotic neutral/neutral evil gunslinger with incredible aim and a questionable at best moral compass. i’ve actually got a sketch of him somewhere, of him pointing a gun at someone saying “give me your stuff. or die! i win both ways!” ‘course i didn’t draw the other person, but it gets the message across. he’s generally just kind of desensitized to things. he comes from a neglectful but wealthy family (as he does in canon), so he never had much of a mentor or anyone to guide him in what’s right versus wrong. mostly he’s just interested in self-preservation, and the preservation of his birds; he’s been rescuing wounded birds (read: crows) since he was old enough to know how, and he names them bird puns and keeps them as pets, and now he’s got what’s basically a murder of loyal crows at his beck and call. they feed on the risen (and humans) he kills, and warn him when something is approaching. he trains them well. he’s the pavlov of corvids.

gaius is a slightly more morally responsible survivor, who probably raided a bass pro outdoor shop/renaissance festival as soon as the pandemic broke out. he’s got a sword, and throwing knives, and some daggers, and a bow (before it breaks and he doesn’t know how to fix it). the good thing about it is that he doesn’t spend time looking for ammo- the bad thing is he has to do a lot of maintenance on them. he is a thief, steals from encampments and sleeping lone wanderers, but he isn’t killing anyone for supplies, usually. except candy. he’d probably kill for candy if he liked the brand enough.

the shepherds are a survivors’ group dedicated to assimilating, training, and protecting fellow survivors- think alexandria, hilltop, or the kingdom from the walking dead, if you know it. their HQ is an abandoned castle, a historical landmark, that they filled with traps and alarm systems, and is practically impassable if you don’t know it. chrom founded the group, along with his (boy?)friend robin (that’s actually his nickname, because of his fighting style, not his real name).

-lissa is chrom’s little sister, an aspiring general surgeon and the current medic of the shepherds alongside maribelle, her close friend since VPK.

-frederick is a good family friend to chrom and lissa, and by extension the rest of the shepherds- he’s a war veteran and former hand-to-hand combat instructor, and does his part by training new recruits, and often acting as chrom’s and lissa’s bodyguard.

-sully is my wife also a veteran, was actually trained by frederick while still in active service. she leads a lot of patrols around their HQ, and interrogates new recruits. just to make sure.

-stahl is the resident herbalist/apothecary, it was his father’s trade and he grew up learning it. he’s often an assistant to lissa when she needs it, as he can make the salves and ointments and medicines that she needs to treat injuries. he also sometimes helps in the kitchen, because of his extensive knowledge of plants.

-miriel is their sniper, and hobbyist historian. the historian part doesn’t matter so much, but she likes to talk people’s ears off about things if they’ll let her. she’s pretty okay with math and science too, so she’ll help stahl with measurements, ratios, etc, but mostly she likes history and shooting things from 200+ yards.

-ricken is the baby boy of the shepherds. “it takes a village to raise a child” they say, and he’s the village’s child. everyone looks out for him. everyone is his parent. he is well loved and being trained by miriel in the art of sharpshooting. (he’d rather be with stahl learning how to make things.)

-donnel is their agricultural expert, and directs all their non-specialized workforce in the maintenance of their fields. he’s very strict about their schedule, about how things are planted and pruned and fertilized and harvested, about how croplands are rotated for optimal yields, but damn if the results aren’t better than anything they could’ve gotten at a market pre-apocalypse.

-virion is their bowhunter. they could use guns, but it wastes precious ammo and is loud and attracts attention, so he trains archers and leads them out on hunts when their tame livestock are running low or they feel they can risk the venture. it’s more sensible to take from the wild than their personal resources, robin says, and robin’s advice seldom fails them…

-panne and nowi are in charge of livestock (and nowi is a herpetologist on the side. she loves reptiles. she has a pet python.) panne hates to see any animals killed, but especially her babies, as she calls the one she raises, and fully supports virion and co’s ventures as long as it spares the lives of her animals. she recognizes necessity when she sees it, however, and if an animal needs to be killed for whatever reason, she does it herself, to make sure it’s quick and painless. she’s not the most social, but she and donnel get along well, and when henry joins their number she takes quickly to him and his avian following.

-generally, their guards/patrols consist of vaike, gregor, cherche, kellam, basilio, flavia my other wife, lon’qu, and say’ri. they’re alternating shifts on castle patrol, two to each group, one pair on each side of the castle, east and west. they’re always up late but they’re allowed to sleep in as compensation.

-cordelia, sumia, and libra jump around a lot, help a lot with donnel’s farming but also with out-of-camp ranging, as they’re skilled riders. cordelia helps tend to the horses, and ricken sometimes joins her.

-olivia was an aspiring actress before the pandemic, and before she became a single mother- now she’s practically a secretary, keeping their records of harvests and hunts and slaughters and rangings and patrols. she’s mentored by miriel, who adores that kind of boring work. olivia is also an excellent liar and if they ever need to negotiate with other people, she’s their go-to.

-tharja is also a sniper and everyone’s favorite hot topic membership cardholder. she and miriel like to have cynical conversations about the state of the world and complain about men with sully. the three of them definitely have a girls’ club going.

-inigo (the only child character i bothered to include) is olivia’s son to an unnamed father. his interests have always been in the performing arts field, but as that isn’t realistic anymore, he spends a lot of time with everyone. sometimes he’ll go and sit with ricken, and they’ll browse the castle library for fairy tales and folklore and read it together, and sometimes they’ll try and write their own and then perform it for everyone else, on stormy nights when the mood is dismal. they’re always stupid but they’re funny- they both have a gift for dramatic comedy- and everyone looks forward to their shows.

i feel as though i should warn people that it’s henry/gaius, though that isn’t the focus of it. it started as a bad shitpost and now it’s a ship so… [wattpad voice] don’t like don’t read, you feel

[prinzenhasserin]

Dear Trick or Treater

Dear Trick or Treater!

Please don’t feel obligated to use my prompts! This letter is just in case you might want to poke at some more of my prompts/likes. Generally, I’m open to a lot, and I will be delighted with any rating from gen to explicit. My AO3 account is here.

If you want to write me a crossover, great! If you need to check if I know the canon please go through the mods.

My prompts are pretty ridiculous in places. That is not a preference to the treat-side, that’s just where my brain goes first. If you want to scare me, then definitely go for the creeping existential horror. It doesn’t even need to be detailed, I freak out really easily.

(If this letter cribs a lot from my other letters, it’s because I’m lazy, and my likes don’t change around that much :D You can find some of my other letters under the exchange letter tag. I hope you have fun creating!)

General likes:

loyalty

odd couples

found family, dysfunctional families that nevertheless love each other

historical stories for same-sex pairings that aren't unhappy but that fit with the society of the time (so like, spinster ladies living together; bachelors-for-life)

cultural differences, age differences, height differences

heists, rescue missions

dragons, fairy tales, magical realism, urban fantasy

competent characters

people not realising they’re the most competent at their job/hobby

people failing their way to success

happy endings, earning your happy ending, open yet hopeful endings

cynical humour

mutual pining

suits, corsetry, fancy dresses

Identity shenanigans (secret identities, mistaken identities)

Blatant Lies

Enemies becoming friends and/or lovers

outsider POV

epistolary

orange/blue morality (that is, not entirely human morality); grey/grey morality

people not usually found in law enforcement solving crimes

non-verbal expressions of affection

Kinks:

wall sex

shifting power dynamics

semi-public sex

lots of foreplay, drawn out orgasms, edging

desperate sex, drunk sex, we-just-can’t-help-it!sex, sex for life-affirming

sex toys

sex toys in public (though I get embarrassed if someone else notices)

General dislikes:

infidelity in mentioned pairings

suicide

non-con (dub-con is totally fine though; as are consent issues due to power imbalances, people not knowing all the facts, or drunken sex-polleness)

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

Silas, Miss Lupescu

trick or treat; fanart or fanfiction

I'm very interested in their backstory, alone and together -- how did they meet? What's the purpose of the honour guard aside from killing all the Jacks?

But if you want to explore Miss Lupescu’s death — that would also be terrific (fix it! or make me cry because I will cry; either way is good)

Also here for: what scares a vampire? Other adventures Miss Lupescu went on. Where did she learn how to cook? What's up with the ghoul fighting? (How do Silas and Miss Lupescu earn a living? Do they pay taxes?)

Wynonna Earp (TV)

Xavier Dolls

trick or treat; fanart or fanfiction

Xavier Dolls is (SPOILER ALERT) a dragon. What's up with that? Does he hoard weapons? books? uncomfortable situations?

I'd be very interested in something that explored his supernatural side. Does his dragon-self work like a werewolf? Is he only mostly dragon? does he need to bathe in lava to grow?

Also terrific would be: Xavier Dolls knows that dragons exist, and revenants -- but ghosts?

Alternatively, Dolls hoards a collection of hats. Doc and Wynonna can never know.

Nirvana in Fire (TV)

Consort Jing

Trick or Treat; fanart or fanfiction

Consort Jing is very quiet. She also has a lot of dead friends. Maybe she's constantly surrounded by them?

Or: The real reason nobody stands in her way is that she’s a world class assassin. Or a witch, maybe.

Would also most definitely read a lot of words before anyone died and she was happy. Would also read her mothering her son, or Lin-shu, or quietly helping the other concubines in the palace.

Gokusen (Manga)

Sawada Shin, Yamaguchi Kumiko

Trick or Treat; fanart or fanfiction

Holiday-appropriate fic! Ghost houses! A school trip to the ghost forest where people kill themselves. One of these three is not like the other, but I would read all sorts of stories about these characters. Post-canon would be great, but anything goes really. I'd like additional appearances by any other of the cast, but it would be icing on the cake.

Focusing on just one character would be terrific. Kumiko has adventures with another class, or her minions! Shin goes to Africa, but gets lost in a different universe on the way there!

I ship Shin/Yankumi but gen is delightful also.

10 Things I hate about you

Kat Stratford, Patrick Verona

treat or trick; fanart or fanfiction

Kat and Patrick go to make-out in an abandoned factory. Too bad there's a ghost interrupting them every five minutes.

Would also read: Zombie apocalypse; Kat is a literal witch who devours boys and Patrick is her (virgin?) sacrifice. Obviously, you can probably come up with much better stories :D A look at what they do in ten, twenty years would be great, too! Separately, even!

Miss Marple - Agatha Christie

Jane Marple

treat or trick, fanart or fanfiction

St. Mary Mead’s police is convinced there’s a ghost robbing/murdering people. Miss Marple is convinced they have all been too deep in the bottle.

Miss Marple has always been able to see ghosts. They usually have nothing much to say, and are quite nonsensical, but this one is different.

Or: zombie apocalypse! Or it’s Miss Marple who is the ghost.

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch

Molly

treat or trick; fanart or fanfiction

Tbh, I just want Molly to be the protagonist of her own adventures. Molly is the best at riding the Folly of vermin like bed bugs, ghosts and the occasional angry spirit. Her cooking is a little bit magic.

Or: She has to fight with the traders at the market for magic ritual ingredients every time, since the Folly isn’t well liked among the demi-monde.

Also, what’s up with her heritage? Fae? Not Fae?

Original Works

Space Traveler, Incubus, Ghost Jellyfish, Incompetent Fortune Teller, Part-Time Ghost Exorcist, Eldritch Abomination In A Human Skin-Suit, Time-Travelling Artificial Intelligence, Long Abandoned Sentient Ship

trick or treat; fanart or fanfic

I think these tags speak pretty much for themselves. Feel free to combine them! I read anything from gen to explicit. Femslash, slash or any other relationships are great, too. If you want to take a look at my likes/dislikes see my letter.

How would a ghost jellyfish be different from a non-ghost jellyfish? Why would it turn into a ghost?

What kind of ghost stories do they tell in space? Space halloween traditions?

Tbh, I would read a story containing all those characters. It is by no means necessary, though!

Space Traveller: Tell me of the Halloween traditions that survive into the space age! Are there new traditions? What kind of scary stories do they tell in space?

Incubus: I have a thing for magical creatures doing totally mundane things, while being supernatural about it. Would also work for me if combined with any of the other characters! Also here for an Incubus dub-conning someone with sex pollen.

Ghost Jellyfish: How would that work? How would a ghost jellyfish be different from a non-ghost jellyfish? Why would it turn into a ghost? Maybe it’s a familiar of the Part-Time Ghost Exorcist?

Incompetent Fortune Teller: Ooh. In what way are they incompetent? Do they tell people what they want to hear, because they are incompetent at telling the future? Or are they incompetent at being a fortune teller, and tell people their future? Maybe they only see two seconds into the future -- maybe they are cursed and nobody believes the truth they are telling ;) Would also read if the Incompetent Fortune Teller was made incompetent by the Time-Travelling AI and was pretty angry about that... or any other combination, really

Part-Time Ghost Exorcist: As I mentioned, I love when the mundane meets the supernatural. What’s the other part-time? Is the ghost exorcising business only hiring part-time workers so they don’t have to insure their workers? (This is admittedly very US centric. Would also love an AU where a part-time job can have a living wage! Or any other setting) Would also love a space travelling ghost exorcist. 

Eldritch Abomination In A Human Skin-Suit: Existential horror freaks me out pretty quickly, but this is such an interesting concept. Why is the Eldritch Horror using a Human Skin Suit? Because they can? Is it like, a life-style choice? Is the EA doing it for the experience, or to be edgy? Would also read if the Eldritch Horror is the thing that gets exorcised. Would also read if there’s no existential horror.

Time-Travelling Artificial Intelligence: What is the AI doing while time-travelling? Does anyone find them out? Why is it time-travelling? Does it abide by Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics? Would also read a story where the AI figures out to be human -- or tries having sex with someone, or maybe they get best upon by an Incubus and there’s confusion all around.

Long Abandoned Sentient Ship: How does the sentience work out, did it become sentient through its abandonment, or is the ship even self-aware? Does it model itself on its creators? Is the ship going crazy in a mild way, or in a creepy way? Or maybe the sentience isn’t very human-like, and it doesn’t need contact at all, and is just merrily continuing its mission to map the unknown space? Maybe it collects hitchhikers. Maybe nobody knows how or who had created it, and it’s just there.

[sunofaraven]

Ch. 11 of LD+G is out early!

The flash of red and blue was bright in the otherwise brown and faded corner. Grian’s wings were hanging over the side of an armchair, feathers dragging in the dust on the floor. Sunbeams shone through the broken window glass, slipping through the haphazard planks that had been nailed over them. They illuminated the dust in the air and shone onto Grian’s mop of hair, making it flash gold. He looked almost angelic. Eyes shut, head back, legs curled neatly up on the seat with wings and arms draped over the sides. There was an old record player on the floor in front of him. The scratched record on it blared guitar, the soft singing voice low overtop it. Grian looked peaceful. His long eyelashes touched his freckled cheeks and his chest rose and fell as he breathed—the only indicator he was alive at all. A small piece of Mumbo wished he wasn’t.

I couldn't help myself. Have another chapter, folks!

[sunofaraven]

Ch.10 is out of Love Death + Grumbot!

“There they are!” An enthusiastic Tango greeted them as they entered the kitchen. A second table had been pushed up to the usual dining table to make space for all eight of them, the plates and cutlery a colourful mishmash of designs and styles. Jimmy was dishing up something vaguely pasta-looking, grinning at Tango as Pearl filled glasses with water. In the corner, Etho was wearing a frilly pink and white apron and drying dishes while Scott washed. Bdubs glanced at Etho’s turned back before he dipped his finger in a large pot. His eyes bulged as he promptly jerked it back out, shoving it in his mouth as he visibly bit back a curse. “Careful, the sauce is hot,” said Etho without even looking up from the bowl he was drying. His voice was even, but one of his ears twitched like he thought it was funny.

Watch out, this chapter contains indulgent, found family fluff of them eating dinner together. You're welcome <3

Happy Holidays!!

[sunofaraven]

Okay, okay, okay. So maybe I got distracted playing Lethal Company and I'm a little later than I said.

But it's up now!

Chapter 13: Road Trip

Tango’s hair was sticking up in wild tufts and he looked more tired than Grian felt. He was gesticulating wildly as he cracked eggs into a bowl one-handed, wearing a plain white tank top and pyjama bottoms. His prosthetic arm was off and the skin of his scarred stump looked red like it was sore. “What’s going on?” Mumbo asked. “Pancakes!” Jimmy beamed at him, spilling flour on the flour which Revy promptly lapped up.

Guess what, it's Sunday again folks! You know what that means...

[wnnbdarklord]

Chocolate Box 2018 letter

Dear Chocolatier, I'm glad we matched! This is my first Chocolate Box exchange, but I'm sure it'll be a great one :D For ease of access, I've provided a table of contents. Don't stress about it and feel free to pick and choose or combine bits of my prompts. Happy writing/arting!

AO3 username: wnnbdarklord

edit: I totally forgot to put Hela & Loki in the table of contents, but the prompt itself is there, not to worry!

General Likes

Art Likes

Smut Likes

Do Not Wants

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Bruce Banner & Loki || Bruce/Loki

En Dwi Gast | Grandmaster/Loki & Thor

Fenrir/Loki

Frigga & Loki

Gamora & Nebula & Loki & Thor

Heimdall & Loki || Heimdall/Loki

Hulk/Loki || Hulk & Loki

Korg of Krona/Loki

Loki/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

Nick Fury/Loki

Loki/Bruce Banner/Brunnhilde | Valkyie

Loki & Yondu Udonta

Crossover Fandom

Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Loki (MCU)

Farah Black (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Samuel Vimes (Discworld novels)

Granny Weatherwax (Discworld novels) & Loki (MCU)

Groot (MCU) & Treebeard (LOTR)

Loki (MCU) & Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Loki (MCU) & Ned Stark (ASoIaF)

Loki (MCU)/Theon Stark (ASoIaF)

Loki (MCU) & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson (Daredevil (TV))

Loki (MCU) & Q (Star Trek)

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (TV))/Jack Harkness (Doctor Who)

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries)/Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: TNG)

Samuel Vimes (Discworld novels) & the One Ring (LOTR)

Tauriel (Hobbit movies) & Boromir (LOTR)

Tony Stark (MCU) & Ned Stark (Game of Thrones)

Wonder Woman (DCU) & Loki (MCU)

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Farah Black/Todd Brotzman/Dirk Gently || Farah Black & Todd Brotzman & Dirk Gently

General Likes:

Polyamory, gen, het, slash, femslash, families of choice, competence, BAMF female characters, angst, hurt/comfort, teamfic, pretty much all the tropes especially if there is a twist, worldbuilding, humor, redemption, for want of a nail AUs, time travel, werewolves, dragons, crossovers, non fantasy/SF canons encountering the supernatural/aliens, fix it fics

Also, I'm fine with mpreg as long as there's some worldbuilding involved beyond 'assbabies are totally normal and unquestioned'. Is it magic? Science? Shapeshifting? Whatever? As long as it's not just a thing that happens normally on Earth (reactions of humans to someplace it's common is a+). Even a/b/o mpreg is iffy for me because it's usually a feature of the world.

For any pairings, as long as they don't clash with my DNWs (first and foremost the incest DNW), I'm fine with either gen or romance no matter what the actual match is. Also, don't consider the length of a prompt as an indication of my enthusiasm for it. Some pairings I just have more ideas for, but others I have no idea what to prompt, but my brain just went !!! when I saw it.

I'm fairly certain it's obvious from my sign up that MCU Loki is a favorite character of mine. In general, I prefer Loki to be morally grey or conflicted or redeemable and not outright villainous. Think more pre-Thor or Ragnarok Loki rather than chaotic evil Loki. Anything with jotun!Loki, genderfluid Loki and bi/pan Loki would be amazing!

My previous letters for Trick or Treat (http://wnnbdarklord.tumblr.com/post/165264151230/dear-trick-or-treak-2017-creator) and Crossovering (http://wnnbdarklord.tumblr.com/post/163153222375/dear-crossovering-2017-creator) if you'd like to get more info!

Art Likes:

I’m pretty sure I’d love any art! I love sketchy styles with maybe just a splash of color to draw the eye. Black and white images with only one color to highlight Important Things is A+. That said, any art in any style would be amazing! As for subject matter, I’d love to see any scenes from the prompts or stuff from my likes. Characters being affectionate, gentle touches, characters as werewolves, characters in fancy dress/costumes, characters doing magic, characters getting it on are also all welcome.

Smut Likes:

Frottage, coming untouched, size kink, transformation kink, pregnancy kink, breeding kink, a/b/o, mild dom/sub stuff, sex pollen, tentacles, telepathy, first times, routine sex in the missionary position, weird biology, xeno kink, sounding, lactation kink, consensual body modification (bonus points if it's magical), public sex...I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting, but since this is the first time I'm even expounding on smut I'd like, let's leave it at this.

Do Not Wants:

permanent character death, rape, dubcon, torture porn, underage stuff, infidelity, humiliation, character bashing, ship bashing, no powers AUs, love triangles, fake married/dating, incest, power imbalances in relationships, hate sex, scat/watersports, necrophilia, abuse, fusions, zombies, 1st person POV, issue fic, themes of cynicism and futility, nihilism that isn't of the optimistic kind, animal abuse, unrequested ships, slavery, genderswap of the always an x kind, unrequested AUs, jealousy

Generally speaking, a specific prompt is going to come before any stated DNWs.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Bruce Banner/Loki || Bruce Banner & Loki

One of my favorite pairings that there is a sad lack of fic for. I'd be happy with pretty much anything involving these two interacting, but I'd love something centered on their mutual realization of the similarity of their issues; their perceptions of themselves as monsters and realizing that 'hey, you understand!' and then being awkward friends (or more).

Maybe Loki's glamour fails at the end of Ragnarok, with Odin dead and Asgard gone. He might have put on plays revealing his origins, but that is way different than facing the reality. Bruce helps him cope.

Or maybe they talk about what's been going on on Earth. Does Bruce decide not to return there and goes off exploring the universe with Loki?

If you go the shippy route, I am a sucker for these two falling for each other very hard and very fast, like 'oh no, he's hot and kind and such an asshole?!' with a bit of pining and possessiveness.

En Dwi Gast | Grandmaster/Loki & Thor

Grandmaster/Loki is such a great ship that I somehow ended up shipping before I even saw the movie. This is one ship I am fine with a bit of dubcon and power imbalance. Loki's position on Sakaar canonically did not seem very stable and I can't imagine Loki would not be very aware of the power imbalance there and might end up doing things he normally wouldn't to keep being in the Grandmaster's favor. Especially considering the events prior to his arrival. That said, I would also not mind a fluffy and cracky version of them hooking up either, especially if Thor is watching the whole thing like ????

Actually, I would love something where Loki and the Grandmaster troll the everloving hell out of Thor. Maybe playing the strangest sounds coming from their bedroom when they know Thor can hear, but actually they're cuddling in bed and feeding each other grapes.

Or Thor's reaction if the Grandmaster comes find them on the ship looking for Loki. With Loki being oddly touched that someone went looking for him, even if he does still think the Grandmaster is insane.

Fenrir/Loki

Anything with this would have to involve a more intelligent Fenrir for my own sanity. Maybe even a shapeshifting Fenrir? That said, size kink ahoy. Also would not mind wolf babies.

Maybe Loki finds an...um interesting way to distract Fenrir during the battle? Would like Loki being utterly wrecked, but oddly satisfied by the end.

Frigga & Loki

A fascinating relationship that did not get explored nearly enough in the movies. I'd love a slightly darker take than fandom usually goes for. Frigga still stands by Odin, even after all the shit he's pulled and not once does she validate Loki's complicated feelings about him. Instead, it's all about trying to pull Loki back into the family fold without admitting Odin might have done anything wrong. And with Ragnarok's revelations, whole other facets can be explored. Is she Hela's mother? Does she know what happened and did that color her response to Loki? Was she part of the conquering? Was she the reason Odin changed?

I'd love an AU where she didn't die. How would have things turned out then?

Gamora & Nebula & Loki & Thor

Oh, all the parallels for the space siblings! Maybe Gamora and Nebula come across the Asgardian refugee ship? Maybe Thor and Loki go after Thanos and meet Gamora and Nebula who are doing the same and they decide to join forces?

As much as I would like to see Nebula & Loki and Gamora and Thor interacting, I would love to see Nebula & Thor and Gamora & Loki interacting instead (or as well). Maybe Thor gets along surprisingly (or not so surprisingly if we consider Loki) with Nebula and Loki is amazingly good at getting under Gamora's skin in a way she only thought Nebula could. Hell, maybe one set of siblings provides some therapy for the other. Seeing other people's problems is easier than reflecting on your own, after all.

Heimdall & Loki || Heimdall/Loki

These two have an interesting dynamic and I'd love to see it explored more! They go from kinda hating each other in the first movie to almost amused bantering in the third. How did that happen? Heimdall was obviously aware something was up with Odin, but he didn't really do anything about it beyond hide. And Loki didn't seem to keen on trying to catch him. Was he going to do something until he saw Loki was just taking a break from the shitshow his life had become? Or maybe Loki actually impressed him a little bit with how he ran Asgard and loosened the leash on the other realms?

Or, for an AU, Loki gets Heimdall on his side as he rules Asgard and feelings develop? And it's all very complicated due to the deception Loki pulls posing as Odin so they have to hide because imagine the scandal of the Allfather moving on from his beloved queen so quickly.

Maybe just something with the two of them interacting on the ship after everything. There's one theory that Heimdall is/has the Soul stone - does Heimdall know Loki has the Tesseract because of it?

Or maybe all that hate in the first movie was just UST that went unresolved because the Gatekeeper couldn't consort with a Prince and they finally let it all out after on the ship.

Hela & Loki

Far too little interaction between these two in the movie. I'd be happy with anything. Obviously, there are so many parallels between them. Do they commiserate? Does Hela view Loki with contempt?

Maybe Hela is the reason Odin reacted badly anytime Loki shapeshifted into a woman. How would the revelation about Hela play into Loki's perception of that?

I would also love an AU where Hela wasn't forgotten and trapped, but still a member of the family. What would their lives be like as siblings? Would she (still bitter about Odin's change of heart) reveal Loki's origins to him, trying to get him to hate her? I'd imagine that could backfire spectacularly, since she'd be the only one to tell him the truth. With Hela still there, would Odin even take Loki from Jotunheim? Maybe Hela is the one to pick him up, viewing him more like her beloved Fenrir than a son or brother.

Hulk/Loki || Hulk & Loki

All of the size kink, please. Also, I love stuff where Loki's jotun instincts kick him in the head and make him pay attention to the Hulk because yes, this one can beat the tar out of me without breaking a sweat. And the Hulk being a bit confused, but up for it. Loki is a puny god and puny giant, but it's not like he'll break. Green babies welcome (maybe Loki's instincts get kickstarted by the fact his world is gone now and well someone needs to repopulate the planet).

For stuff not quite so in the gutter, I'd love something that elaborated on their relationship (platonic or otherwise) on the ship. Maybe Loki is put in charge of making sure the Hulk doesn't tear the ship apart? It could go from Loki forcibly putting him to sleep or trying to bring Bruce back to telling him stories or maybe even the Hulk turns out to be great at flyting.

Maybe Loki finds out who the Grandmaster's champion is before Thor arrives and works on befriending him. Could start out as Loki wanting to use the Hulk for his own purposes, but growing to care for him on his own terms. Maybe the Hulk reminds him of Thor too much and heartsick at the thought that Thor is dead, Loki just clings a lot.

Korg of Krona/Loki

I literally have no idea how to make this pairing happen, but I'm totally open to it! Not sure what Korg would get out of it either, seeing how he's made of rock. But I believe in you, chocolatier! I know you can make this work :D

Maybe Loki ends up too electrocuted to be coherent enough to direct Korg and the other gladiators to go to Asgard and it ends up destroyed? Cue comforting.

Or maybe Loki just really likes debating with Korg about his revolutionary pamphlets and it goes from there.

Maybe Korg wins a particularly impressive fight and the Grandmaster lends him Loki for the day. Loki is game for it. I'd be deeply amused if this prompt just ended with them playing like chess or something because Korg misreads the situation.

Loki/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark

My OT3 for this fandom! I'd love anything! To see how it happens, to see a scene when they're already established, negotiating it, or defending it, anything! How does Loki deal with his longevity vs Pepper and Tony? Does he try to fix it? Does it happen without his intervention? Or does he decide to become mortal for them?

Perhaps an AU where a jotun Loki comes to Earth and gets involved with them (bonus for worldbuilding that jotnar relationships are polyamorous far more often than on Earth). Or maybe he has a fling with them (separately or together) when he was younger and then feelings when he meets them again?

Maybe after Civil War, Pepper manages to outmaneuver Loki into joining her and Tony, bagging them a powerful ally for Infinity War?

Nick Fury/Loki

Despite everyone teasing them about daddy issues, Loki and Fury were fucking long before Fury lost his eye.

Or maybe Loki approaches Fury after the Dark World with an offer of cooperation and things happen. Or Loki wrangles an offer of amnesty after the Avengers with the reveal that Hydra has infiltrated SHIELD after pulling the info from the mind of one of his minions (and things happen).

I'd love anything with the two power coupling all over the place. Or Loki baiting Fury into having his way with him everywhere.

Both of them pretended to be dead for a while, maybe they shared tips and commiserated?

Loki/Bruce Banner/Brunnhilde | Valkyie

I'd love something where, for all their individual dysfunctions, they all work together pretty well. Bruce doesn't have to worry about hurting them, even if he accidentally Hulks out, but also provides a stabilizing influence for them. Loki might be twisty and a drama queen, but he is fiercely loyal once he decides that he wants this. Brunnhilde gets a friend and sparring partner in Bruce and someone she can show her darker side to in Loki. Somehow, they make it all work.

Or for something more cracky, maybe they all just got together during one of the Grandmaster's orgies and never fell apart after.

Loki & Yondu Udonta

They're both blue aliens with issues! I can just see them being weird friends (that they would never ever admit to being) :D

Maybe after Loki falls off the Bifrost, he lands on Yondu's ship? He doesn't want to return to Asgard and can't think of anything better to do, so he sticks around. Yondu keeps him because a magic shapeshifting alien with Aesir strength is great to have around for ravaging.

Or maybe Loki uses Yondu to escape Thanos. Maybe he even drags Gamora and Nebula for the ride?

Or does Yondu visit Asgard, hoping to pull a con there and gets caught by Loki? Instead of handing him over to Odin, Loki takes him out for a drink and they swap ever more ridiculous stories.

Crossover Fandom

Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who)

Dirk Gently gets people where they need to go, which makes him a perfect companion for the Doctor. It lets the TARDIS have a break from doing the same. Or they join forces and make the Doctor's life even more chaotic.

Or perhaps the TARDIS takes the Doctor to Blackwing and he takes Dirk away from there. Or does Dirk accidentally get on the TARDIS, perception filter or no? Does the Doctor try to get rid of him or is he delighted by such unexpected company?

Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Loki (MCU)

Is Loki a Blackwing subject and that's how they meet? Does he break Dirk out, planning to use him for some purpose?

Or the man who gets people where they need to go meets the god who has no idea where he is supposed to be. How does Dirk help Loki in that case?

For a crack prompt, perhaps Loki mindcontrols Dirk and tries to use him for taking over, but the universe makes things go improbably wrong for Loki's plans, but pretty great for everything else for him.

Dirk ends up on Sakaar, the planet of the lost. Does the universe implode or is he just there to get a certain trickster god to where he needs to be?

Farah Black (Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency) & Samuel Vimes (Discworld novels)

Farah apprentices under Sam Vimes. He's impressed by her encyclopedic knowledge of criminal law (even Ankh Morpork's labyrinthine one), but less so with her attempts to blindly follow it. Especially considering some of them contradict each other twice.

Or maybe they team up to bring down a criminal. Maybe Vimes is the apprentice when he appears on Earth and wants to be a cop again.

Granny Weatherwax (Discworld novels) & Loki (MCU)

During my first Yuletide, I received a few amazing fics with this pairing and I'm hankering to see more of this scenario.

Loki falls to the Discworld in Lancre and Granny decides to knock some sense into him through hard work and headology.

Or maybe a young Loki gets sick of being called a witch all the time and decides to really learn how to be one. Granny has no idea what to do with an actual god trying to be her apprentice so of course she acts like she knows exactly what she's doing and takes him on. It ends up surprisingly well.

Groot (MCU) & Treebeard (LOTR)

Flora Colossi are either a subspecies or an offshoot of Ents. Does Groot come across Treebeard and Middle-earth in his travels? Did the Entwives disappear to Planet X?

Does Groot help the Fellowship out? Or does he invite Treebeard to go see the universe with him?

Loki (MCU) & Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Loki falls from the bifrost and crashes into the TARDIS. Donna, experienced with dealing with skinny angsty godlike aliens, knows how to handle him.

Or maybe Loki and Donna keep meeting through the years as she travels with the Doctor and he is intrigued by this mortal that never seems to age. Maybe he helps her deal with the Doctor's memories - perhaps what science cannot fix, magic can.

Loki (MCU) & Ned Stark (ASoIaF)

Because reasons, Loki swears fealty to Stark and helps out with the politics part of the GOT causing Ned to survive.

Maybe he'd been shapeshifted into the direwolf they find at the beginning of the book? Maybe he comes to Westeros during Robert's Rebellion and helps out, even when injured or something?

Loki (MCU)/Theon Stark (ASoIaF)

Loki discovers Westeros during the time of Theon Stark the Hungry Wolf and is super into him. Together, they go into bloodsoaked wars and emerge victorious. Does Loki decide this is a place he wants to rule? Is he content with just Theon?

Loki (MCU) & Franklin "Foggy" Nelson (Daredevil (TV))

So Avengers Academy had a Defenders event where Loki and Foggy had a beautiful friendship. Which just made me want the same for the movie and tv versions of them. I just want them bro'ing around together.

For a more serious prompt: Loki is kept for trial on Earth. No one but Nelson & Murdock want to represent him. Or the Hoggarth firm kicks it down to Foggy once complications arise. Anyway, there's something off about this case (I'm not a lawyer, but international/interplanetary jurisdiction, extradition,human rights etc etc) and Foggy is going to get to the bottom of it. This would be a variation where there were extenuating circumstances for the Incident.

Loki (MCU) & Q (Star Trek)

Tricksters in spaaaaace. Anything with Loki and Q being BFFs across the universe.

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (TV))/Jack Harkness (Doctor Who)

They met, they banged, she solved his murder.

Phryne Fisher (Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries)/Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: TNG)

This strikes me as a fascinating dynamic. Phryne would draw out some of Picard's mischievousness while he'd be a stabilizing influence. Does Picard time travel to the twenties? Does Phryne end up in the future somehow? Imagine her on the Enterprise!

Samuel Vimes (Discworld novels) & the One Ring (LOTR)

Anything inspired by this post http://emoinspace.tumblr.com/post/168728003648 where Vimes arrests the One Ring for being an accessory to murder.

Either that, or Vimes is the only Man who can resist the Ring for a long time out of sheer bloody mindedness.

Tauriel (Hobbit movies) & Boromir (LOTR)

Do they meet before the events of LOTR? Does she come across him on the road and accompany him to Rivendell? Or does she come across him on Amon Hen in time to save him?

I'd just be fascinated by them meeting. Tauriel who wants to go out in the world and do more to fight back and Boromir who has been fighting his entire life. I expect Boromir would be a little more at ease meeting a Silvan elf than the Noldor he first encountered.

Or maybe after the Battle of the Five Armies, Tauriel makes her way to Ithilien and spends her years there fighting. The soldiers of Gondor think she's a myth until Boromir meets her.

Tony Stark (MCU) & Ned Stark (Game of Thrones)

Tony Stark as a Stark of Winterfell would be great! How is he related to them? Does he just want to stay in his holdfast building stuff? How do events go (for his family especially) with him in the picture?

Or maybe Tony just finds himself in Westeros and gets in with the Starks due to his name. Does he hang with Ned? Does he try to upgrade Winterfell?

Wonder Woman (DCU) & Loki (MCU)

I want one thing from this interaction and that's Lasso of Truth angst. Does she tie him with it while fighting him? What does he say? How panicked does he get? When Diana realizes, how does she react? No one's ever really truly panicked before when she used it, after all. Do they become friends after? Or at least not enemies?

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Farah Black/Todd Brotzman/Dirk Gently || Farah Black & Todd Brotzman & Dirk Gently

These three just make my heart happy, ok? They're such great friends, I love them. Farah and Todd spent months trying to look for Dirk! Dirk kept thinking they would come for him! I love it.

This can be either shippy or no, but I would love something that deals with Dirk's time in Blackwing. He was such a mess in season 2, I would love for something where Todd and Farah take care of Dirk and help him be less high strung.

Or maybe something with the three solving a case in their newly acquired offices? Dirk and Todd helping Farah train and study (not that she needs to) for a PI license?

[prinzenhasserin]

Yuletide!

Dear Yule Goat/Creator/Person I Will Love Forever,

I am very excited for anything you write for these fandoms. Please feel free to take my prompts and likes any way you wish, as long as you stick to my dislikes. Don’t feel like you have to stick to the prompts! I’m always open for other characters. Generally, I will be delighted with any rating from gen to explicit. I hope you have fun creating!

My AO3 name is Prinzenhasserin, here. If you want to browse more of my letters, here are some at my exchange letter tag. 

Likes:

fake/pretend relationships, arranged marriages

loyalty

odd couples

found family, dysfunctional families that nevertheless love each other

historical stories for same-sex pairings that aren’t unhappy but that fit with the society of the time (so like, spinster ladies living together; bachelors-for-life)

cultural differences, age differences, height differences

heists, rescue missions, case fic

dragons, fairy tales, magical realism, urban fantasy

competent characters

people not realising they’re the most competent at their job/hobby

people failing their way to success

happy endings, earning your happy ending, open yet hopeful endings

cynical humour

mutual pining

suits, corsetry, fancy dresses

Identity shenanigans (secret identities, mistaken identities)

Blatant Lies

Enemies finding common ground and becoming friends/lovers; rivalry

outsider POV, 1st person narrator

epistolary, fictional non-fiction, worldbuilding, interactive fiction, poetry

orange/blue morality (that is, not entirely human morality); grey/grey morality

people not usually found in law enforcement solving crimes

non-verbal expressions of affection

contradictions: that is, I like my fantasy with the mundane (doing taxes in a mythical land of dragons, or space pirates!) and I like my mundane fiction with outrageous happenings.

Kinks:

wall sex! overcome with sudden desire! sex with clothes on! 

shifting power dynamics (outside the bedroom, and inside the bedroom), actions on both sides, basically

stiff characters letting go of their iron control inside the bedroom; characters feeling guilty of their desire but not guilty enough to stop; coming to terms with the guilt

lots of foreplay, drawn out orgasms, edging

desperate sex, drunk sex, we-just-can’t-help-it!sex, sex for life-affirming; sex pollen

sex toys

Dislikes (Do-Not-Want):

rape played for laughs, or as backstory

sexuality, or gender as the focus of plot or used for drama

suicide

tragic endings (ambiguous endings are fine, though!)

RED (Movies)

(Characters: Victoria, Sarah Ross)

This movie, goddamn it. It’s so silly, and so! much! shit! explodes, but I can’t help but find it charming and adorable.

If you want to write me Victoria teaching Sarah how to handle her weapons and shoot shit up, I am absolutely here for that. I would also love secret spy shenanigans, or a situation where only the secret skills of the customer service person Sarah or the filling skills of a bored bureaucrat (also: Sarah) save the day in a spectacular manner.

Or Victoria taking Sarah under her wing and teaching her everything she knows about life, men, and how to end both. Or trying to protect her from the fucked-up shit in her life, and then maybe realising that maybe Sarah doesn’t need to be protected.

I am a fan of the age difference, too, and I do ship them together, if you rather want to write that. Give me all the fucked up femslash! Going on murderous rampages together, and having sex amid the slain corpses of their enemies, yes, that. Bedsharing because circumstances have them hiding out in the Siberian Tundra. Victoria dressing up Sarah and taking her as a trophy wife to diplomatic functions? Seducing Sarah so Victoria can rub their togetherness into Frank’s face. Taking people of guard, because the expected a toy boy, and not -- whatever Sarah is.

DNW: mommy kink

Gokusen (Manga)

(Characters: any -- Fujiyama Shizuka, Kuroda Ryuuichirou, Sawada Shin, Yamaguchi Kumiko)

How do I love this manga so much? I have no idea. I’m not even near high school age anymore, and yet the plot (and tbh, sometimes its ridiculous nature) always gets to me. I’d read more about any aspect of this canon, and if you want to bring in any other characters, and leave others out, feel entirely free to.

Post-canon would be great, but anything goes really. Focusing on just one character would be terrific. Having all of them would be great!

Kumiko has adventures with another class, or her minions! Does she continue with being a school teacher? Maybe she starts leading the Yakuza group, and still goes to school to teach her kids manners, and morals, and how to fight the system?

Shin goes to law school/Africa/some place, but gets lost on the way there! Will he come back to Yankumi? Will he eventually lead the Yakuza group?

Fujiyama Shizuka doesn’t get why she’s the one without the beautiful student toy-boy, and tries to find one herself, and instead falls in love with, idk, the new female teacher? one of Yankumi’s brothers? the new janitor? Or she watches and cackles a lot as Yankumi and Shin date, and then maybe found a Yakuza orphanage, and/or marry.

Kuroda Ryuuchiro and his quest for the rightful heir to his Yakuza group! How does he feel about his granddaughter running around with the police chief’s son — does that bother him more than the whole student thing? Does Shin really inherit the Kuroda family group? Does he become a Yakuza lawyer? Or does Yankumi make him stay away, or maybe Kuroda makes them stay away?

I ship Shin/Yankumi but gen is delightful also.

How does Shin convince Yankumi to have sex with him? Is he getting kidnapped left and right before they actually get together because all and sundry already think they’ve been doing each other for years?

If they are already in an established relationship, how does Shin deal with Yankumi’s students (especially when one of them develops a crush)?

I have no problems about depicting violence, or graphic criminal activities, but please keep the violence perpetrated by the nominated characters within the spirit of the manga? I like to root for morally ambiguous characters, but not if they are truly evil.

Roundtable Rival - Lindsey Stirling (Music Video)

(Characters: Durango Black, The Violinist (Roundtable Rival))

I love this music video! It’s so silly and fun! It is here, if you want to watch it yourself, but basically, people are fighting each other with music instruments to a jaunty tune, set in the Wild Wild West.

Basically, fighting with music! Foiling dastardly plans! I want to read more about this! And anything goes, really. If you want to focus more on one character, or want to show this from an outside perspective, either would be great.

Lowkey, I’m really a fan of rival-dynamics, and love to ship enemies, so bringing a lovestory between Durango Black and the Violinist would make my day. Or if there’s a dynamic like "You are the only one allowed to catch me"? —Perfection

Maybe they know each other from before? Maybe there’s epic discussion about different ways to fight each other with music (I’d be into reading about that!).

Would also be into PWP where the Violinist dominates Durango Black. Some Bootlicking, maybe? Or creative uses of the music instruments. Or clothing porn!

Or case fic where The Violinist tours around the country, catching criminals; or just a glimpse into how music developed its own fighting style — or performing tricks like shooting an apple out of the air, just with music instruments!

(Additional question for worldbuilding: What is that clear liquid they serve in beer humps?)

DNW: rape (dubcon is fine, though!)

British Romantic Writers RPF 

Characters: John Keats (British Romantic Writers RPF), Lord Byron (British Romantic Writers RPF), Percy Shelley (British Romantic Writers RPF)

Okay, I’m not even vaguely sorry. Here’s my confession: I ship all of these with each other, as pairs, or as threesome. I’d read them writing spite!fic, or rather spite!poetry, about each other, though! Or a zombie!AU, in which they are all stumbling incompetently around the dead suddenly among the living. Or maybe they turn out to be surprisingly competent at killing/evading zombies! (I’d expect nothing less from Percy Shelley who seduced people on graveyards, tbh)

Hey — at least they knew of each other! I am into the really very dysfunctional relationships with each other, here. Who is to say they wouldn’t have been very happy with each other in various constellations? Lord Byron seemed to have detested Keats — or at least thought his poetry as "mental masturbation" — I’d dig them in a rival relationship, that suddenly develops into a sexual relationship. Maybe even romantic? (Definitely romantic in the original sense)

And I can definitely see Lord Byron condescending down on Keats for his poor upbringing, without being aware that this is what he is doing, and Keats so not having that. And Percy Shelley with his continued efforts into giving all his money to charity while having the luxury to seduce women and traipse around the continent!

How about an AU in which Keats doesn’t die and joins Percy Shelley in Pisa (and for some reason Lord Byron is there, too — I will not read this for the historical accuracy, believe me)

Basically! Literature! Orgies! Seducing people in graveyards, and skinny-dipping in French rivers, that’s all I really want. I’m not saying no if you do decide to go down the historical accurate road, but I’ll also read all sorts of wild AUs.

Or adventures in Greece during the revolution in an Everybody-Lives!AU?

Percy Shelley wrote an elegy about Keats, and said this when he invited him to Pisa: "I am aware indeed that I am nourishing a rival who will far surpass me and this is an additional motive & will be an added pleasure." Added pleasure? (He means fucking! says me) I am just very into rival relationships that turn sexual or more.

Look, I’m just here for Lord Byron and Percy Shelley seducing a reluctant Keats — and Keats maybe anchoring them a bit down to earth. Or various combinations.

I am not into the long-term effects of drug use and the suffering thereof, but if you want to mention it, that is totally fine. I wouldn’t want it glorified.

DNW: contemplation of suicide, vore

Miss Marple - Agatha Christie

Characters: Jane Marple

I am a fan of Miss Marple. I, too, have lived in a quiet town where you can see into the abysses of the human condition :D

I’d love to read something that lead her to the person we know her as, maybe when she went to the girl school in Switzerland? Maybe during her time in the cypher division, during the war — maybe the cypher division was really a cover for Miss Marple’s spy activities for the war office?

I’d also love fic about her as we know her: spending time in St. Mary Mead’s and solving crimes, quietly knitting her nephew another sweater. Holiday themed fic! Somebody keeps stealing the geese for the holiday celebrations!

Honestly, I’d also really like to read about her in a relationship, especially one that people wouldn’t expect of an elderly woman. Did she have a youthful indiscretion with the prime minister, and now that he is widowed, he visits her again, and Jane’s nephew is entirely shocked by the whole thing?

Was she maybe in love with a woman the whole time? Did she quietly retire into a cottage with her best friend, and they have a romantic relationship with each other?

(Or crossovers! It would be super interesting if Miss Marple knew a wizard from the Harry Potter universe, or maybe she’s a squib or a with herself? Or maybe she knows Phryne Fisher, or Lord Peter Wimsey!)

Island of the Aunts | Monster Mission - Eva Ibbotson

Characters: Dorothy (Island of the Aunts)

Look. This is one of my favourite books. I would read absolutely anything about every single character— I choose Dorothy, simply because she’s my most favourite, but if you want to write a story where she’s not the focus, I’d still be ecstatic.

That said, omg, Dorothy. I love her (and her wok!) and I would read countless stories on adventures she had while going off of the island in a rage to be angry at polluters, or hunters of endangered species, or both. I like that she seems to be the most competent in dealing with outsiders, even though usually she rather likes to resort to violence.

So! Pre-Canon, or Post-Canon, whatever; either would be great!

How is the work on the island? How is Dorothy dealing with her piranha farm? Maybe she decided to pursue some other, even stranger, protection against various and sundry? Does the Kraken return to the island?

How does Dorothy deal with the mermaids? Is she tolerant of their foibles, or is it a similar relationship to the one she has with her sister Betty, that is: polite bewilderment?

How does Dorothy feel to be suddenly the responsible one, who didn’t kidnap children and make them work with her? How’s her relationship with Etta, and does Dorothy milk it for all that it is worth?

Did Dorothy ever fall in love? Was it someone off the island, campaigning for more environmental protection? A mythical creature of her very own?

Who did she meet in prison? (Was Archie someone Dorothy pulled in?) How did she deal with prison in Hong-kong? Is Dorothy the reason there are now forest cities in China (— this is maybe a bit of a reach, since Hong Kong isn’t really mainland China and all, but I’d love if the Aunts have a bit of an influence on the world, even though Fabio is probably never going to be Brasilians prime minister. Though I would read a story about that.)

(Burning questions I have that aren’t relevant to Dorothy as a character: Is Herbert ever going to return? Is the younger Kraken?)

DNW: unhappy endings

If there’s something confusing, please don’t hesitate to ask! (Anon happens to be open, too.) And I hope you have a fun Yuletide!

[sunofaraven]

Taking the opportunity to share the way too much extra work I did on today's beginning snippet. BuJo for Gem!

Ch.15 of Love Death + Grumbot out now!!

We are 3/4 of the way through!! Today's chapter is probably one of my favourites!

“I just thought maybe since you’re a… you know. You might know how to not turn into a monster,” Grian muttered. “Look, if it weren’t for the sculk, you would already be dead by now,” Cleo wiped at their eyes with mismatched fingers as they stopped laughing. “So if anything you should be thanking whatever bit you. Besides, who’s saying I didn’t.” “Didn’t what?” “Turn into a monster,” something dark glinted in their eyes.