#plotbunnies

[enchanted-day-dreams]

Undecided on which trope I like better for a Harringrove relationship reveal: everyone knows but them, where all their friends and loved ones catch on to the fact that they have non-platonic feelings for each other before Steve and Billy are willing to admit it to each other, or the opposite way where everyone thinks they're Still Just Friends (or maybe friends with benefits at most) while they've been exclusive for awhile.

Both have such good potential for angst (insecurity in thinking they're not good enough or that it won't last so they better enjoy it while they can) that it's hard to decide which I love more.

[superbeans89]

[aquila1nz]

Where oh where is the Shortland Street femslash?

I'm still sad that there's essentially no Shortland Street femslash fic. There were a smattering of Nicole/Harper stories back in the day, mostly on the pit of voles (fanfiction.net).

There's a tiny set of Nicole/Maeve stories on AO3 now, and an even tinier bit of Leanne/Rosalyn. There's no Samira/Francesca, even though I know there are other people like me that loved them and were so sad when that storyline went south so fast. There was so much scope for writing fic for them. This is the heartbreak of tiny fandoms.

I want to read Samira and Francesca's conversation at the wedding reception. I want extensions of all the episodes to give them more time together. I want Francesca taking Samira on a jetboat ride while they're at the conference because Samira has never been to Queenstown before. And oh boy do I want fixit fic: Francesca doesn't leave, Samira goes after her, they meet again in several years time. Francesca has taken that job at Central and they're quietly continuing their relationship during Samira's later episodes but Samira has had enough of the gossip wheel so she's not telling anyone. Any fixit will do.

Samira and Francesca both start working at Seattle Grace at around the same time but their paths don't cross straight away. To confuse things people keep referring to "the new surgeon from New Zealand" without realising there are two of them.

And then this year, where was the Rebekah/Maeve fic? That was so sweetly done for such a fucked up relationship.

Give me Rebekah and Maeve on the run together fic. Unhealthy Maeve trying to be everything for Rebekah fic. Future fic where they live somewhere very quiet far from everything.

Give me your headcanons where Rebekah didn't have Scott kill Wilder, she really has been trying to do her best and it's just all gone wrong along the way.

Give me redemption fic - Rebekah admits it, does her time and finds Maeve in the end.

Give me a crazy prison AU - Rebekah goes to prison for Scott's murder, but the nature of hearsay, proof and what can and can't be included in evidence means Maeve still gets convicted for Wilder's. And they end up in prison together. Maximum angst.

And where is the longform Nicole/Maeve fic trying to make Watsonian sense of their crazy Doylist on again off again relationship and sudden character changes? Where is the fluff fic that ignores it all? Where is my everyone is gay fic that pulls in every possible Shortie character? Where is my future fic that ignores Wilder's death and has all three of Nicole's stepsons working at the hospital, while Pele is a trouble making teenager? Where are the AUS?

And my younger self would love fic about Meredith and Annie, or Caroline and Laura.

Tell me what fic you wish for in the comments. Share your headcanons! Or please write some!!!

[wuxiaphoenix]

Plotbunny: Fixing Up Old Haunts

I’m not into restoration and construction, so I’d probably never do this... maybe someone has done this, but...

In a story, there may be more than one way to deal with a haunted house.

Some people dehaunt houses by goodwill, blessings, or unlicensed nuclear accelerators. But it’s possible that sometimes, none of these quite work. So if the house is still standing... it’s time to call in the Contractor.

No, not that kind of contract, stop panicking. There’s nothing infernal involved. There’s not even anything remotely supernatural involved... unless you consider the Power of the Oblivious Bystander.

I picture the Contractor (possibly also called the Renovator) as a kind of average guy in a paint-stained t-shirt and jeans. Hair maybe a bit thin, with the eyes of a man who’s Seen It All....

And chalked all of it up to the hangover.

The Contractor’s seen terrified families, no doubt. But more often he’s seen baffled pastors, exhausted scholars, and way, way too many lawyers and real estate agents trying to make the best of an unwise purchase or abandoned inheritances before the property taxes eat them alive.

Well, whatever. Time to get to work.

Creaky doors? Order some squeak-proof hinges.

Cold spots? Modernize the heating system. And insulate! Sheesh, too many places were built when they thought electricity would be free....

Moans and wails? Might look into a white noise system.

Flickering lights? Electrical systems check. Put in some surge protectors.

Hallucinations? Check for gas leaks.

Odd thumps, creaks, doors sticking or swinging without cause? Alright, we need to look at foundation and settling issues. And probably clear out the spiders down there....

Plants withering? Check the irrigation systems. Maybe see if there are some better-adapted local landscaping varieties. Heck, check with the local extension office. Odds are there’s some botany or landscaping undergrads rattling around looking for a class project. Free help!

...Okay, maybe not free, they run on soda, chips, and the occasional takeout. But cheap help.

(I can picture a specter eventually dissolving out of sheer frustration!)

I’m not sure you could make a whole book out of it. But as a short story or subplot... free to good home!

[justjed8]

Remember when I wrote this post on plot bunnies?

I found the notes where I had started writing dialog. Use if you want because, again, I'm never going to write it.

This is for the 3rd plotbunny I believe.

Link: "Fairytales don't exist, only a world where we're all just pawns to those in power."

King Rhoam: "You bring this blasphemy to me?"

Zelda: "Should I not? Shouldn't I trust my father to have my best interest in mind? Link has been nothing but loyal to his duty and this country. Should he be punished for only being human?"

Rhoam: Tell me, what are your feelings towards my daughter?

Link: "She is a member of the royal family, one I have sworn my fidelity to, Your Majesty."

Rhoam: "A safe choice of words, my boy, but I'm not looking for false words."

Link: "I would have laid down my life for her easily, even before she found her inner power."

Rhoam: "And now?"

Link: "When the time comes for her to take over the crown I will continue to fight for Hyrule. Not just for my loyalty to this land and its people, but because Hyrule will prosper greatly under her leadership."

Rhoam: "You believe in my daughter so strongly?"

Link: "Undeniably, Your Majesty."

[c-moineau]

I'm slooooowly getting back on here, but it's gonna be a bit before I really get back into the swing of things and posting stuff of my own--not that I did much of that before, but whatever.

My Bridgerton post is still in the works and hey, I've read a couple of the books so it's ALSO anti-Julia Quinn, if that's also your thing.

It's been ages since I've written fanfic or had any plotbunnies, but thanks to X-Men '97, I've got a Romy fic cooking, but don't know if anything will come of it.

[charlotterhea]

Therapy group????

😂 I have this pretty persistent plotbunny bouncing about in my head about Harry dying in the final battle and Severus surviving which leads to Ginny becoming borderline suicidal in her way of playing Quidditich, granting her a place in group therapy because she almost killed a teammate, and Severus being in the same group therapy to shorten his suspended sentence because he wants to fucking leave GB once and for all.

As you see, it will be exactly my vibe of drama, two absolutely broken characters and a lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms. I love writing it and I haven't even started yet... 😂

[the-bar-sinister]

“Escape to Margaritaville”; a Dream Daddy fix-it fic where Joseph and POV Dad actually run away together.

[peterlorres21stcentury]

the file is called "plotbunnies"

I wish I could somehow transcend human limitation and write ALL of my story ideas at once, with perfect clarity and within a year or so. Barring my unexpected evolution into the next stage of cosmic existence or something, I want to share all the plot ideas from my notes file, which seems to expand the more I look at it (spoiler, every one of them involves Peter Lorre because I seem to have devoted my whole creative life to him; I don't make the rules)

Category 1: stray ideas for stories that don't fit into any particular established universe:

a tale of the wild west, starring Peter as a morally gray, but goodhearted gunslinger, cowboy, and all-around ladies' man (and some of the gentlemen too)

Peter as impoverished violinist living in Vienna. I do not have a specific plot for him yet but I'm kind of thinking of a continuation of "Kitten on the Keys" where Laszlo and Betty visit post-war Europe and run into Laszlo's shy brother playing violin in a destroyed corner of the city, after failing to become a music teacher like he wanted... this is literally just a mental image left over from a long-ago unfinished story and I have no idea where it goes from here. What do you think, yea or nay?

One last little goodbye coda to my OG characters Leo and Tanya Becker, as they enjoy the post-war life and relative calm while raising a family in Washington, DC.

...I lied, one day I also want to write something about the Becker kids after they grow up.

Category 2: TORG. Oh I have so many ideas for the little cannibal:

Georg escapes a cruel mental institution only to join an even more abusive traveling carnival through central Europe in 1910

Torg in the Fallout universe, eating his way through the wasteland and surviving mad science experiments

My notes include this joke title which riffs on an actual play: "The Inexplicable Rise of Georgio Ui." This makes no sense but I thought it was funny. The actual story idea is more serious, as it involves a Holocaust survivor relating her experiences to a historian, and she tells the unbelievable tale of one fellow prisoner who set them all free by devouring the place whole. Includes a Twilight Zone-esque twist that I will not reveal here, yet. :3

Category 3: Actual fanfic ideas expanding on Peter's real movies. These ideas are free for any other writer out there who wants to tackle it because omg do you see all those ideas above, I don't know how or even if I will get to these:

The Constant Nymph. Fritz Bercovy got a raw deal in the book AND the film, and I want him to get as far away from the unappreciative, racist and rude Sanger family as possible. Instead let him have some refined and sexy adventures around the world as he splashes the cash on a more deserving woman, for a change.

The Island of Doomed Men. Something that really leans into the whole BDSM theme that was toned down in the original film but was quite obvious anyway. Lots of whipping and barely-repressed emotion and fucked-up relationships and yeah :3

Andre and Polo of "I Was An Adventuress" need their own adorably kleptomaniacal comedy series, pronto.

The Face Behind the Mask. Janos deserves a second chance! An alternate version where he was still burned, but some soft-hearted employer decides to give him a job. His hardships aren't over, but at least he doesn't have to turn to a life of crime and maybe even Maria can join him like he wanted (but does she still want him??)

[darkshrimpemotions]

Consider: Dean trying to put the moves on Cas like he would with any hot girl in a bar because that's all he knows and it's always worked before. Cas getting mad and hurt because he thinks Dean is making fun of him or worse, humoring him. They figure it out eventually.

[k-she-rambles]

Have an outline for a fic I may never write:

some background: the year is 2012, and everything is Avengers. People still write these (❤️ u), but it's the golden age of avengers tower fics. Everyone is friends in messy dramatic ways, overpowered oc's abound and it's fabulous.

This is also the golden age of Loki drama. It started with Thor, but ramped up with Avengers. The discourse was usually "Loki is entirely Evil mcEvil" vs "Loki is my perfect shmoopy-poo, and Thor is a Murderous Meanie"

I'd settled (& found others too) on "Loki DEFINITELY killed people but he was also obviously under duress." I'd recently read some early Diana Wynn Jones (Dogsbody and Eight Days of Luke), I was listening to a lot of Florence and the Machine (Heartlines) and somehow all of that blended to create...this tropey monstrosity. I just didn't have the skill to sit down and bang it out, and I still don't really

(tw for...well Loki's mental state at the end of Thor did not exactly get better by Avengers.)

This is part one|

We start out directly after Avengers, with Thor bringing Loki home to Asgard to face judgement.

Imagine Loki, before the dias in the throne room of the palace of Asgard. It's fall, there is an occasional chill breeze.

Odin, Frigga, and Thor are on the dias above him. The rest of the court behind him. Loki himself in chains.

Odin has described the charges against Loki, and has asked, each time, if Loki had anything to say.

Each time, Loki has remained silent.

He has nothing to say for himself. He's not sorry for trying to conquer Earth. Thanos is coming for them all, and they don't deserve a warning.

In the jumble of grief over losing the approval of the man he once called his father (if he ever had it in the first place), his madness inducing fall through multidimensional space, capture and manipulation by Thanos, and use of an infinity stone, his "crimes" are small potatoes to him. He can't muster the energy to care.

Finally, Odin asks if there is anyone willing to speak in Loki's defense, or on his behalf in regards to his character or extenuating circumstances.

Thor, grief stricken and angry, looks away.

But from the crowd, someone does volunteer: Baldur. Not the wet blanket of the comics, but the closest thing Asgard has to a real lawyer, and someone who grew up with Loki. They have similar fighting styles, and spent a lot of time together as kids.

We get an inside look at Loki's head and discover that this (for reasons that will be revealed later) is, in Loki's opinion, the WORST turn of events. Loki despises Baldur. Baldur obviously does not share Loki's antipathy, and Loki hates him even more because he should.

Despite Loki being uncooperative, Baldur and Frigga argue for leniency.

The closest Loki comes to breaking his silence is when Frigga kneels before Odin to beg for her son's life.

It's granted. Loki is free within the realm of Asgard, but his magic is dampened by what's basically a magic handcuff.

And, because he refused to speak at his trial, he is forbidden by magic to speak within the realm of Asgard.

After this opening, we get into Loki's new life. He's shiftless, depressed, and doesn't want to be here.

He stays in his rooms for the most part. Frigga visits. Thor does not.

Eventually Loki's habits of wanting to get into everything slowly resurface. He's persona non grata in the court. People don't trust him, and mostly ignore him. The exception is Hodur, Baldur's brother, who really does hate Loki, and makes Loki's life miserable whenever possible.

It's not like Loki can say anything.

There is some recovery as Loki goes back to something he used to do as a boy --helping in the stables.

It's hard work that he's no longer used to. And the enchantments binding his words and his magic are affecting his health: he gets dizzy sometimes. A tremor in his hands.

It is a reason to haul himself out of bed at the same time every day.

It is a long winter caring for the horses. One of the mares has a difficult pregnancy, but under Loki's care, Ashes and Ember are born healthy, and spring comes.

Slowly, in small ways, Loki and the Warriors Three make amends, mostly through visits to the stables.

Loki and Thor's old friend and tutor Amora the Enchantress visits. She asks some very interesting questions about Loki's magic handcuffs. Namely, WTF --they are, apparently, pretty overkill --but also, eventually, about Loki's health.

Loki hasn't put much thought into it because his mental health has improved tremendously by not being in Thanos' direct thrall + regular work + a dose of silence being good medicine, but over spring, as people who were once prince Loki's friends become familiar with Loki the very good groom, it gets confirmed: he looks like shit. Is he sick?

It's not the handcuffs --they're only designed to suppress the wearer's magic. He could probably still shape-shift, Amora explains, but that wouldn't affect the cuffs.

Loki gives her a look. He never could shape-shift anyway.

Shape-shifting requires you to pass through your true shape each time, Amora explains. Loki the Asgardian can't shape shift. He already is shapeshifted. Loki the Jotunn could.

Loki's not too keen on this, to put it mildly. His head may be clearer but he still harbors a deep self hatred for being Jotunn. He was raised Asgardian, and the Aesir consider the Jotunn lesser at best, savage monsters at worst. Every day Loki lives he lives a lie, and it's not one of his choosing.

The symptoms Loki displays look more like...well they look like a blood curse of some kind, but that can't be right because if it's a blood curse it's older than Loki is and...blocked somehow, as if someone else is suffering part of it, or part of it has already been fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Thor is sick with guilt over having turned away from Loki --symbolically giving up on him during the trial. Especially now that he sees, from a distance, Loki's progress.

It drives home once again how thoughtless and self centered Thor has been over the ages, that it was Thor himself who was, directly and indirectly, telling Loki that his only value came from being prince and heir, that Loki the person wasn’t worth anything. So that when Loki realized he would inherit nothing and that he wasn't a prince of Asgard he lost his sense of self, and started scrabbling for things to make him worthy...much like Thor himself had

Sometime in this time, Thor finally puts together something that he noticed but didn't comprehend during Loki's trial: Baldur carries Mistilteinn.

When Mjolnir was made, a companion weapon was made for Loki: Mistilteinn, a dagger as well suited for Loki as Mjolnir was for Thor. Only Thor received a ceremony, but he'd never really noticed that Loki didn't carry the princely weapon he deserved. How did Baldur have it?

When Thor goes to find out, he catches Hodur harassing Loki. It's escalated, and Thor intervenes, bodily dragging Loki to the healers afterwards.

Why didn't he say anything? Thor wants to know.

Loki only gives him an ironic look. It's not like Loki could have. It's not like Thor would have cared.

Thor does. At one time it was Loki who rejected Thor. But what recent evidence does Loki have that Thor wouldn't reject him?

This is also where Thor realizes that Loki was acting under threat of torture just as much as willingly conquering Earth. Those burn marks weren't there before.

The story of Mistilteinn is this: the drinking at the ceremony celebrating Thor as crown prince got a little out of hand. Loki, pleased for Thor but still struggling with resentment and the blow at being...pretty much ignored even though part of the royal family, had reacted badly when his childhood companion Baldur had thought to console him.

Baldur asked for Mistilteinn, the weapon that had almost killed him, instead of publicly humiliating his friend, and never revealed what happened except to Odin and to his brother, who found him injured, alone, with Loki nowhere to be found. Loki took this as in deference to Thor's special day, and deeply resented it. Hodur held a grudge for Loki almost killing his brother.

Loki has a vision and comes to realize that Thanos can and probably will track him down for his failures, realizes that he does in fact care if Asgard gets flattened, shapeshifts into his Jotunn form and leaves Asgard for Jotunheim.

Loki reveals that the spell keeping him silent has worn off by whispering a goodbye before he slips through a gate in the world-tree's branches

Baldur reveals that he enchanted Mistilteinn in much the same way Mjolnir was: if Loki should voluntary bear the consequences of harm that he caused another and make amends, the dagger will return to it's rightful owner.

[ssuperssloth]

A/N: First Larry fic. Can’t believe I actually had a plot bunny for a fic for the first time in a decade. Can’t believe I’m posting it, either…

The Pain & The Pill

A Larry Fic

From: Harry to Louis

Louis

From Harry to Louis:

Louis!

From Harry to Louis

Louis. Why aren’t you answering me!

From Harry to Louis:

I swear to God I will text Oli if you don’t answer in the next five minutes!

From Louis to Harry:

wut

From Harry to Louis:

Can you explain to me why you weren’t wearing your sling at the footy viewing tonight?

From Harry to Louis:

And

From Louis to Harry:

…

From Harry to Louis:

I swear to God if you don’t answer me I will be withholding sex next time I see you.

——

Harry had just finished his workout at the gym and was nursing a green protein smoothie when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and rolled his eyes.

“Hello, darling!”

“You wouldn’t, ‘Arry!” Louis cried. “We already don’t see each other much as is!”

“Watch me.” Harry smiled fondly as he heard his partners voice.

Harrys voice sounded harsh, but Louis could hear the fondness in his voice.

“The doctor said I could stop wearing the sling if I could handle the pain.” Louis said harsher than he intended.

“And can you handle the pain?”

“It’s ‘right. Painkillers are doin’ their job.” Louis replied stubbornly.

“And did you take them recently?”

The silence on the other end tells Harry all he needs to know.

Harry could picture Louis on their couch in their flat in London, nothing but pajama bottoms and his arm splint on, feet bare, as he made his morning cuppa.

“It’s fine, love.” Louis replied, voice softer this time. “I’m fine.”

“You can’t even lift your arm! I can see you babying it on FaceTime.”

“Slings aren’t cool. ‘Sides Oli n’ Joni are watchin’ out for me arm. Got me sitting’ on the end of the tables n’ everythin’.” Louis explained, proud of himself for making an effort.

Harry sighs, knowing he can’t win, but appreciating the effort of his partners team.

“I’ll try to be careful, love. I promise.” Harry can hear Louis whisper, as he hears Louis gently pad from the tile in the kitchen to the carpet in the living room.

“Just wear your damn sling when you get home.” Harry replies, as he unlocks his Tesla, throws in his gym bag to the passenger seat, and slides in gracefully.

There’s a brief pause before Harry adds. “Just be careful. I know your arm is hurting more than you’ll admit.” Harry adjusts his mirrors, perhaps with a little more effort than necessary.

“I will, love.” Louis promises.

Harry can hear the squeak of Louis sitting down gently on his fave other leather recliner.

Harry can visualize Louis wincing as he sits down awkwardly and his upper arm jostles with the impact.

Harry knows he’s not imagining the soft whine from Louis as Louis adjusts the pillow under his right arm.

“Take another dose. I know you haven’t taken any in a while.” Harry instructs, his nurturing instinct unable to be put aside, as he hears his partner in pain.

“You know I hate those nasty side effects.” Louis groans, as he reaches for his tea on the table next to the recliner.

“Oh, you mean like the pain of a shattered humorous with pins from surgery?” Harry puts the car in drive.

“Fine.” Louis says, voice sounding cranky, but Harry suspects it’s the throbbing from his arm that’s causing it more than their quarreling.

Harry can hear Louis pick up pain pill he knows Oli left out on a tea saucer since Louis can’t open a pill bottle with only one good hand and swallow it with a warm sip of tea.

“See you next week, Lou.” Harry says, as he pulls his shades down and pulls onto the 101.

“Next week, Sun.” Louis murmurs, already half asleep.

“Can’t wait.” Harry smiles, ending the call. He knows his lover is finally at rest.

[superbeans89]

[gynoidgearhead]

#really want a star trek episode about something like this #space barnacle attaches to the ship #they cant tell if its symbiotic or only parasitic #it is harmless but small #what happens as it grows? #and it is a living thing #do you leave it be and risk the ship #do you try to get it to attach to something else #do you kill it? (via @elephant-in-the-pride-parade)

Mind if I use this? Now I'm thinking about starship symbionts that attach to the whole ship and that have hyperparasites that gradually break off and fuse with the crew. Ooh, maybe the crew symbionts always try to kill the ship symbiont for some instinctual reason...

Dendrogaster (a crustacean that parasitizes starfish)

[wuxiaphoenix]

On Writing: Plotbunnies and Escalation

One writing hazard is falling down a research rabbit-hole, where you end up reading up on things like ancient Greek loom weights despite your story being neither ancient, nor Greek, nor about weaving at all. Another writing hazard, also tied to research though possibly more productive, is... escalating bunnies.

You know, the kind that start from a simple, “gee, a vampire paladin would be really neat if I could pull it off; would it work better xuanhuan-style in ancient Korea?”

You’d think that would be an innocent question. Until you start reading up on the various times and kingdoms occupying the Korean Peninsula pre-modern times. Which is when the bunnies start to escalate.

“I don’t want to do a generic in-the-past thing. I ought to pick a specific section of history so I have a good idea what would be going on, even if I do make it fantasy. Hmm, I know a bit of the Tokugawa Era in Japan, that might be a place to start given I know Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea in 1592....”

Said innocent thought leads to reading up on the Imjin War. Interesting stuff. If eep.

“...Maybe that’s a little too interesting. I couldn’t have characters running off on Adventures without worrying about battles over the next ridge. And I’m not up to writing major battle scenes. Maybe a little later than that? What else was going on? Outside of some Pilgrims hijacking a ship to go to New England, of all places, during the Little Ice Age....”

Cue Little Ice Age research jaunt, especially a big thick book on said age all over the known world. Cue even more eep.

“So there’s info on China here but not much on Korea specifically. Though I know they were into astronomy as much as China, and there were some interesting supercomets in recorded history....”

Cue reading up on supercomets, old speculations on space spores, and modern known facts on organic compounds in comets. During which the bunnies are quiet. One might even say, suspiciously quiet.

“Huh, maybe I should check if there’s any books specifically on China that at least are in the right time for the Little Ice Age-”

(Yes. Yes there are. At least one is very specific.)

Cue stumbling into all kinds of weirdness from the 1500s on, great backstory for an ageless cultivator character (ah, xuanhuan flavor!) that also drags in European explorers, Jesuits, the whole mess with possibly seditious priests plotting to take over Japan, and a whole chain of events that could plausibly connect hummingbirds, the Manila galleons, and an ancient vampire.  

Currently staring at plot and notes. “I was trying to just write a good final battle against shark-pirates. What do you mean I need to study Yi Sun-sin’s maneuvers in the Roaring Strait?”

...Bunnies. Sigh.

[csilla-nocturne]

Just wanted to let everyone who follows me and anyone else who might be interested know that I have made a pinned post here listing(hopefully) all of the plotbunnies I have to far!