#thorns of death is probably my favorite episode period.

[bobzora]

would it be way too predicable of me to say that shiori is my favorite outside of the unstoppable trio that is utena&anthy&nanami. would it be too obvious that i have a type of character that i like.

[miss-m-calling]

Night on Fic Mountain 2017 letter

Dear writer,

Hello and thanks for writing for me! I hope these prompts inspire you!

Chronicles of the Kencyrath - P. C. Hodgell

Relationship: Brier Iron-Thorn & Torisen Knorth

Relationship: Jamethiel Knorth & Torisen Knorth

Relationship: Kirien Jaran & Torisen Knorth

Relationship: Torisen Knorth & Yce

Relationship: Trishien Jaran & Torisen Knorth

Some prompts:

A continuation of The Sea of Time – Torisen’s reaction to discovering Jame has bound a Kendar when he’s Highlord and lord of his House and struggles with binding all his Kendar. Now that the plot summary of The Gates of Tagmeth has been announced, feel free to write the start of or an episode based on that. I love this series’ combination of high and low fantasy, dark magic, loopy humor, complex characterization, dread destiny looming over all yet people kicking against destiny all the while, and rich worldbuilding - any/all of that in fic is swell.

Torisen before he was Highlord: I’d prefer a story about what it was like for him and Jame growing up in the Haunted Lands or Torisen growing to young adulthood once Jame was gone and he had to witness Ganth going mad on his own, rather than a story about his time with the Southern Host.

Torisen spends time with Brier and discovers they may actually be kindred souls (both closed off from the world yet bursting with perceptiveness and emotion, both underestimated by most people in their surroundings).

Brier anything – her childhood, her life after her mother died and she served the Caineron, how she copes with being bound by Jame while still serving Torisen, a canon divergence for Brier, speculative future fic…

Yce grows up from puphood in Torisen’s company and learns many things (bonus points if you do Yce’s wolf-girl POV) and/or Torisen deals (probably by not really dealing, because he’s Tori) with the likelihood that Yce sees him as a potential future mate and that is why she’s so protective of him and jealous of others who are close to him.

Jaran shenanigans, especially if you can combine their devotion to scholarship (which Hodgell depicts with such loving humor) with the customs of the Women’s World, and possibly something about the revelation of Kirien’s gender to the other Highborn lords. OR Kirien balancing out being the head of a house of scholars and singers with her position in the vipers’ nest which is the Highlord’s council, with Trishien’s help and advice. OR Kirien learning both knowledge and life skills from Trishien as she is groomed to be the head of her house.

More interactions between Tori and the Jaran matriarch! Could Trishien help him navigate his discomfort about being a Shanir? Could she help him banish Ganth once and for all?

For a probably darker fic, any/all of these character combos enter Perimal Darkling or join the final battle against him – what happens? Do they live (you can ignore ‘major character death’ being my DNW in this instance)? How are they changed by their experiences in the Master’s House?

Just as a general point, if you could avoid making the incest barely-subtext between the Knorth twins text and the center of the story, that would be swell.

  Deutschland 83

Relationship: Ingrid Rauch & Lenora Rauch

Relationship: Lenora Rauch & Tobias Tischbier

Relationship: Lenora Rauch & Walter Schweppenstette

Relationship: Martin Rauch & Walter Schweppenstette

Character: Lenora Rauch

I loved this show’s combo of characterization, mild soap opera, historical detail, and sympathy for what would soon prove to be a failed political and social system. I’d love to see any of these character relationships explored either in terms of their backstory, the complex shifting of affection and resentment and power between them (siblings, parents and children, fellow spies, spies and handlers), or in a post-canon setting, either the very last years of the Cold War or in reunified Germany.

One of my favorite things about the show is how it takes characters who are frankly terrible people (Lenora, Schweppenstette) and makes them sympathetic without whitewashing them, and it takes likable, sympathetic people (Ingrid, Martin) and has them do really iffy things or knowingly make choices which endanger themselves and others.

I’d especially encourage divergences that still make sense in terms of real events in the period: Martin discovers who his father is before, during or right after canon? Martin’s mother is Lenora rather than Ingrid - how does that influence her choices as a mother and as a ruthless spy? Lenora is the agent embedded long-term in the West, and Tischbier is her handler who risks his cover while partaking of the West’s gay scene?

If you’d prefer to stick to canon, that’s great too! How much does Ingrid really know about her sister’s work? How does the sisters’ relationship develop after Lenora’s escape to Africa (and possible return after 1990)? How did Lenora “run” Tischbier all those years and what does she think of him – is he just a tool, does she care about his well-being at all, has she ever used his sexuality to keep him in line or blackmail him? A day at work with Lenora and Schweppenstette being devious or their phone conversations from Bonn to East Berlin, knowing they’re being listened to, by their own side probably? Martin and Schweppenstette post-canon, in the days and weeks right after Martin’s return or years later – what do they both know and what are they both willing to admit about their relationship?

  The Sandman

Relationship: Corinthian & Dream

Relationship: Death & Dream

Relationship: Dream/Thessaly

Relationship: Lucien & Matthew the Raven

Relationship: Matthew the Raven & Thessaly

Character: Mazikeen

For Dream/Thessaly, a look at their relationship – I love Thessaly for being always herself, as unlikable as she can be, and often wonder how she and Dream ever hooked up, made a go of an actual relationship, and/or what all contributed to their breakup (besides their both being difficult people used to getting their way and being alone).

For Corinthian & Dream, I’d love to see this from the Second Corinthian’s perspective – requited or not (not seems more likely), tied up with all of the Corinthian’s identity issues and memories of his past self and his role in the Dreaming and the world, the maker/creation relationship he has with Morpheus. This can go as dark or erotic (/ instead of &) as you like, but please heed my DNWs.

For Lucien & Matthew as well as Matthew & Thessaly, I’d love something humorous (darkly humorous or droll - it’s the snarky raven!) and Dreaming-set. A book in Lucien’s library isn’t where it’s supposed to be, either a quest to find it ensues or the missing book somehow endangers the very fabric of the dreaming. Matthew is forced to spend time with the boss’ new girlfriend, maybe as a sort of honorary guard while she explore the Dreaming, and much snark and possibly some chilling magic happens.

For Death & Dream, a slice of whatever passes for life among the Endless. Dream accompanies Death on another day at work and learns a different life lesson than in The Sound of Wings. Or Death accompanies Dream on a mission in his realm or in the waking world, possibly with an agenda of her own which he discovers along the way. They might argue. Or they might get ice cream.

For Mazikeen, I just find her fascinating. She’s like a gruesome parody of a femme fatale, all mysterious and devoted to her man/boss/devil and deadly yet not really EVIL from what we saw of her in canon. Her backstory (how did she gain her half-woman, half-corpse appearance?), or what Lucifer did to win her love and eternal devotion, or a (dark, funny, darkly funny) incident from their time running a piano bar, or Mazikeen goes on a mission, armed with her mask and slurred speech and maybe lingering infernal powers… I am somewhat familiar with Mazikeen’s story in the spinoff comics, but I’d prefer it if you stuck to what we know of her in the Sandman canon (as far as The Wake) only.

  Likes:

I love pre-canon, canon, post-canon, canon-divergent, and “missing scene from canon” stories. I love character-driven and plot-driven stories equally, and I love fics which mix humor and angst/serious business when appropriate for the canon. I’m also requesting in-canon meta here, so fictional excerpts from diaries, letters, histories, novels/fairytales/songs would be awesome.

I love character studies, characters at work and play, stories about group dynamics, family dynamics (including constructed families), professional partnerships, friendships, alliances, rivalries, intimate couples, UST-ridden couples who are not just UST-ridden but connected in other ways too, parents and children, siblings, etc.

I love irony, snark, 5+1 stories, bittersweet endings, hopeful endings, happy endings, canon-fitting crack, worldbuilding, characters who are their own worst enemies as well as those who learn to get over themselves, characters with conflicting values which may or may not be reconciled/resolved in a believable and IC way, characters who treat each other with respect and as equals even if they hate/annoy/can’t stand/love to dislike each other.

I especially love workplace stories (this can mean anything from an office/procedural setting to anything that revolves around the canon world in which the characters live) in which the characters are competent and dedicated to the job, and while they may not be exactly friends and they may well irritate one another, they still manage to rub along to get the job done and maybe even grow to care about one another (much to their surprise and sometimes reluctance/discomfort). Or, if they can’t get along, show me why not and what’s preventing them from finding common ground.

DNWs:

Kinks, MPREG, A/B/O, knotting, D/s, incest, underage, genderswap and genderbent characters, non-con, dub-con, torture and abuse, dwelling on bodily fluids (mentions of gore and come are fine where appropriate), toilet humor, character bashing, soulmates and soul marks, major character death (unless it’s canon), pregnancy and children as the lynchpin of the story (unless strictly canon appropriate), characters agonizing over/analyzing/dwelling on their or others’ sexuality as if it’s the sum total of their existence, secondary characters acting like shipping the main pair is their be all and end all, fluff and schmoop, OCs (except for worldbuilding purposes – I just don’t want a fic in which OCs are the heroes and canon characters are cameos), PWP or porn-centric fic, issuefic, fic written in the first or second person, holiday or wedding setting or theme, AUs which have nothing to do with canon (cop characters working in a coffee shop, high-school janitor characters in space, etc.)