Dear AU Exchange writer

[chronicbookworm]

Thanks for writing me a story! Should you so want, I can be found at both Tumblr and AO3 also as ChronicBookworm, for any stalking purposes.

In general, I like most things. I am a multishipper, and I read slash, het, femslash, and gen. I also like most genres: fluff, angst, adventure, case fic, humour, get-together, established relationship, character study, slice of life/domestic, you name it – or a mix of them all! If I prompt for a romantic ship, I will also be very happy to read the gen counterpart. 

I adore AUs, especially canon divergence AUs – there’s just so much potential in thinking what might happen if things might just have gone a little bit differently! I’m also very fond of crossovers – I like seeing characters from different canons interact.

Tropes that I particularly enjoy are:

·       found families

·       loyalty

·       ride or die friendships

·       friends to lovers

·       arranged marriages (that can either lead to love or strong friendship)

·       marriages of convenience (that can either lead to love or strong friendship),

·       pining

·       hurt/comfort

·       characters with low self-worth being loved and accepted

·       characters used to being belittled/bullied/abused being shown warmth and kindness

·       complicated relationships (not necessarily romantic)

·       characters keeping secrets or secrets being revealed

·       characters working with limited knowledge

·       outsider POV

·       characters uniting forces against a common enemy

·       case fic

·       time travel (both time-travel fix-its and travel to unfamiliar times for the character)

·       competent characters

·       characters being recognised for their competence

·       women being awesome

·       women supporting other women

 

DNWs:

·       smut (fade to black or references to sex are fine)

·       incest, teacher/student, mpreg or a/b/o, even as romantic tropes

·       adultery, infidelity or jealousy (real or imagined)

·       love triangles that end in only two of the three ending up together

·       conflicts between characters entirely due to misunderstandings or a failure to communicate (conflict from legitimate differences in opinions, ideas, needs, wants etc. are fine and fun!)

·       character bashing

·       hopeless endings, grimdark settings/tone

·       modern/mundane AUs of historical/fantasy/sci-fi canons

·       massive age gaps in ships (the rule of “half the older character’s age plus seven” usually works quite well, although for teenagers a max of 2-year age-gap works better)

·       sex involving characters under 15

 

This all being said, I’m not that picky and will enjoy most things, if none of my prompts below grab your imagination. The lengths of the sections have nothing to do with how much I want the request, but rather how many different ideas or questions I have for each request – I want to read them all very badly, so I’m sure I’ll love whatever you write! Feel free to pick and choose between any and all of my tags and prompts, combining and discarding as you see fit!

 

Fandom specifics:

 

A Song of Ice and Fire

Characters/relationships: Sansa Stark (ASOIAF)

Tags: All: canon character death didn't happen AU, ALL: Canon Character Death Evaded, ALL: Canon Divergence AU, All: character marries a different person, ALL: More People Live/Fewer People Die AU, ASOIAF: Queen in the North Sansa Stark, ASOIAF: Queen Sansa,

Sansa is one of my favourite characters in ASOIAF/GoT – I’d love to see a story that doesn’t gloss over the horrors she’s suffered, but also doesn’t reduce her to them. She’s clever and cunning, and she’s learnt to play the game, but she’s still managed to keep her kindness and compassion, despite everything she’s suffered.

I like stories that deal with politics and playing the game of thrones, especially ones that allow Sansa to demonstrate that she actually knows how to play – ones where she demonstrates her cunning and agency earlier in Kings Landing, and somehow manages to save her family, or stories where she’s older and has come into her own in a position of power, maybe as Queen in the North or maybe even Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

For shipping, I am a multishipper, and would be happy with the ships I’ve requested in the GoT section (Sansa/Jaime, Sansa/Tyrion, Sansa/Oberyn, Sansa/Oberyn/Ellaria, Sansa/Podrick, Sansa/Brienne), or Sansa/Willas, Sansa/Gendry, Sansa/Stannis, Sansa/Sandor, Sansa/Theon, Sansa/Margaery, Sansa/Shae or most other ships (however common or rare) – I’m quite easy to convince to like a ship – except I’m less keen on Sansa/Petyr or non-canonical incest. I’m also more than happy with gen fic!

 

As a general note, I’m really not fussed about book or show canon – if I want something for one canon, I will be equally happy to see it using the other canon!

GoT/ASoIaF are exceptions to a few of my DNWs. Taking out the fantasy/magic elements, and keeping it as a mediaeval-inspired intrigue setting is fine. References to or depictions of canonical incest are fine for this canon. Canon-typical age gaps are fine for this canon, but I still prefer only fake sex to occur (if any) if any parties in the relationship are below 15.

 

Crossover fandom: GoT/Narnia

Characters/relationships: Group: Edmund Pevensie (Narnia - Lewis)/Sansa Stark (GoT), Group: Lucy Pevensie (Narnia - Lewis)/Brienne of Tarth (GoT), Group: Peter Pevensie (Narnia - Lewis)/Sansa Stark (GoT)

ALL: Portal(s) to Narnia AU, ALL: arranged marriage AU, ALL: marriage of convenience AU, ASOIAF: Queen in the North Sansa Stark, ASOIAF: Queen Sansa, Crossover: character crosses into different canon, Crossover: character gets stranded forever into different canon, Crossover: Melisandre’s (GoT/ASOIAF) magic summons hero(s) from another canon, Crossover: Susan’s horn brings crossover character(s) to Narnia, Narnia: Friend(s) of Narnia use rings instead of dying, GoT/Narnia: The North borders Narnia,

I love crossovers in any way, shape or form! I’d be open to any other characters from any canon in the crossover fandoms also being included – whether they’re from the world the story is set in or the world the story’s crossed with.

I’m very open about how you make the crossover work – what I’m interested in is how the characters interact and deal with each other. There are tons of possibilities!

Maybe the Pevensies (one or more) get transported to Westeros (finding a portal, using the rings, being summoned, or something else) and find Sansa in the Eyrie, helping her escape Petyr Baelish’s creepiness? Or the story could be set afterwards, when she’s returned to Winterfell, preparing for the winter and the war against the Others? The Pevensies have experience fighting against a very long winter, after all. Maybe Sansa somehow ends up in Golden Age Narnia, a magical land of summer with good and just rulers where she can heal from her past? Or maybe she ends up in Narnia during their long winter, and has to use the skills she learned from Westeros to survive and help the Pevensies defeat the White Witch? Maybe the Land of Always Winter north of the Wall is actually Narnia during the White Witch’s reign? Maybe Sansa marries Peter or Edmund for a political or military alliance?

Sansa/Peter: Peter is the shining noble knight she always dreamed of, both without and within, in a way that no one in Westeros seems to match: he’s handsome, noble, chivalrous, dependable, and kind. He’s also a very good monarch, and Sansa hasn’t had much experience with those. He might restore her faith in songs, stories, and knights, and she would help him be the best High King he could possibly be.

Sansa/Edmund: Sansa and Edmund have a lot in common. They both have experience of being slightly resentful of their circumstances and family, being charmed beguiled by a beautiful but terrible Queen and trusting the wrong person, and suffering vastly disproportionate consequences from it. Both Edmund and Sansa value justice very highly, partly due to what happened to them. They would understand each other in a different way than the other Pevensies would understand Sansa, and might even be able to share some of the darker aspects of their pasts with each other.

Lucy Pevensie/Brienne of Tarth: I feel like these two would get on so well! Lucy who embraces life fully, delights in those who are difference, and has such strong faith in the goodness of people would be absolutely perfect for Brienne, and Brienne with her strong honour, her determination and her ideals of chivalry would be a wonderful complement to Lucy.

Everything I said about being very open about the method used to get these to the same location for the Sansa-centric prompts above applies here. I’d love to read about their adventures, maybe in Westeros trying to find the Stark sisters to fulfil Brienne’s vow – maybe they even manage to find them (one or both) and get to Winterfell. Maybe they get involved in the politics of Westeros, or maybe they stay out of them and just focus on completing their own tasks and surviving. Or maybe they’re in Narnia playing politics or fighting against threats to Narnia during the Golden Age. Maybe Brienne is a hero summoned by Susan’s horn in an hour of need? How would Brienne react to Talking Animals and the fairy-tale creatures in Narnia? Narnia is a much more friendly and permissive place, so she’d probably fit in much better at Cair Paravel than she did in Westeros.

Either book or show canon is fine for ASoIaF/GoT.

 

Doctor Who

Characters/relationships: Donna Noble, Martha Jones (Who 2005)

ALL: Crossover AU, All: Stargate Atlantis crossover,

I saw the Stargate Atlantis crossover tag in the tagset, and realised just how much I want a story with either Donna (with her memories intact) or Martha as a British or UNIT representative on Atlantis! I’d love to see Donna and/or Martha make a place for themselves in Atlantis, and interact with the other members of the Atlantis expedition. I’d love to see them apply the skills they had before travelling with the Doctor and the skills they picked up during their travels in a new environment. I’d love to see them be appreciated for who they are and what they can do – maybe not at first, maybe it takes some time, but eventually. I’d love to see them deal with and try to move on from the horrors and wonders they experienced during their time in the T.A.R.D.I.S., and I’d love to see them deal with the horrors and wonders of Atlantis and the Pegasus galaxy.

I’d be especially keen on the Atlantis people not knowing that they’ve travelled with the Doctor (maybe they don’t even know who the Doctor is, or maybe they think he’s a myth, or maybe they have access to some of Torchwood or UNIT’s archives about him), and being a little bit suspicious of them at first (why are they here, how are they qualified, where do their loyalties lie), maybe finding out during the course of the story, or maybe it never comes up – maybe Donna and/or Martha manage to prove their competence and loyalties some other way.

 

Game of Thrones

Characters/relationships: Sansa Stark (GoT), group: Jaime Lannister/Sansa Stark (GOT), Group: Oberyn Martell/Sansa Stark, Group: Oberyn Martell/Ellaria Sand/Sansa Stark, Group: Podrick Payne/Sansa Stark (GoT), Group: Sansa Stark/Brienne of Tarth (GoT), Group: Tyrion Lannister/Sansa Stark (GoT)

AU tags: ALL: Characters become friends/allies earlier than canon, All: canon character death didn't happen AU, ALL: Canon Character Death Evaded, ALL: Canon Divergence AU, All: character marries a different person, ALL: Marriage of Convenience AU, ALL: More People Live/Fewer People Die AU, GOT: Jaime takes Sansa out of King's Landing instead of Baelish and no Ramsay happens, GoT: Sansa and Oberyn are Forced to Marry, GoT: Sansa Flees to Dorne, GoT: Sansa is a Warg, GoT: Sansa Takes The Iron Throne, GoT: Tyrion Convinces Catelyn He Was Framed; They Ally Against A Common Enemy, GOT: Tyrion escapes King's Landing with Sansa after Joffrey,

As I said in the above request for ASOIAF, Sansa is one of my favourite characters in ASOIAF/GoT – I’d love to see a story that doesn’t gloss over the horrors she’s suffered, but also doesn’t reduce her to them. She’s clever and cunning, and she’s learnt to play the game, but she’s still managed to keep her kindness and compassion, despite everything she’s suffered.

I like stories that deal with politics and playing the game of thrones, especially ones that allow Sansa to demonstrate that she actually knows how to play – ones where she demonstrates her cunning and agency earlier in Kings Landing, and somehow manages to save her family, or stories where she’s older and has come into her own in a position of power, maybe as Queen in the North or maybe even Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

Jaime Lannister/Sansa Stark: Does Jaime take his last chance of honour? Does he return Sansa to Catelyn and Robb, and maybe manage to prevent the Red Wedding? Does he meet her when he rides North to fight for the living as promised, and how conflicted is he between Cersei’s planned betrayal and his promise to fight for the living? How does he react to Sansa growing from essentially a non-entity in King’s Landing: a frightened, abused girl who parroted what she was told to say, to the competent, powerful Queen in the North?

Oberyn Martell/Sansa Stark, Obery Martell/Ellaria Sand/Sansa Stark: I love the idea of Sansa going to Dorne, where they don’t hurt little girls (disregarding the part where they, uh... do). Maybe Oberyn marries her to save her from the Lannisters, knowing the abuse she suffers in King’s Landing? Maybe Robb makes a marriage alliance with Dorne in exchange for their support – the two Kingdoms who most want their independence. Maybe Joffrey marries Sansa to the infamous Viper to be cruel, and it backfires horribly on him? Maybe she escapes on her own, and makes her way to Dorne? Maybe Oberyn sees something of Elia in Sansa? Maybe Ellaria is outraged at the way Sansa's treated, and she's the one who makes the first overture?

Podrick Payne/Sansa Stark: Podrick is so dependable and loyal, he would be a great match for Sansa! Maybe Tyrion/Shae and Podrick/Sansa come to an arrangement in King’s Landing? How does that change Sansa’s experience of King’s Landing? Does she still escape at the Purple Wedding, does Podrick come with her, and how does that change Petyr’s plans? Or does she stay in King’s Landing – and how does she fare after Tyrion is jailed? Is she also accused, and how does she get out of it? Or maybe they meet instead when Podrick is with Brienne? Does Sansa go with them when they meet in the Vale – how does that change things with no marriage to Ramsay etc. and they arrive at Castle Black before Jon’s death? Or does love only grow between them after Brienne and Podrick have saved her from Ramsay and they’ve retaken Winterfell for the Queen in the North?

Sansa Stark/Brienne of Tarth: A knight and her Lady! Strong bonds of loyalty! Their profound respect for each other, the way they listen to each other! Maybe Brienne manages to save Sansa from King’s Landing and deliver her to Robb and Catelyn and somehow prevent the Red Wedding? Maybe Sansa does go with Brienne when they meet in the Vale – how does that change things with no marriage to Ramsay etc. and they arrive at Castle Black before Jon’s death? Maybe something set after they’ve retaken Winterfell, maybe Sansa’s Queen in the North and Brienne the Lady Commander of her Queensguard?

Tyrion Lannister/Sansa Stark: Perhaps they were better friends before their marriage, thus setting better conditions for love to grow out of it? Maybe they work together to become the power couple of King’s Landing? Maybe Tyrion and Sansa escape together after the Purple Wedding? Or maybe they meet later, with Sansa as Queen in the North? Tyrion was the one character who seemed to realise the potential Sansa was hiding, so he might be less surprised by her transformation.

 

As a general note, I’m really not fussed about book or show canon – if I want something for one canon, I will be equally happy to see it using the other canon!

GoT/ASoIaF are exceptions to a few of my DNWs. Taking out the fantasy/magic elements, and keeping it as a mediaeval-inspired intrigue setting is fine. References to or depictions of canonical incest are fine for this canon. Canon-typical age gaps are fine for this canon, but I still prefer only fake sex to occur (if any) if any parties in the relationship are below 15.

 

Pride and Prejudice

Characters/relationships: Elizabeth Bennet, Group: Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy, Group: Jane Bennet/Charles Bingley, Jane Bennet, Kitty Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), Mary Bennet, Lydia Bennet

ALL: Socioeconomic Status Swap, ALL: arranged marriage AU, ALL: marriage of convenience AU, ALL: different first meeting

I’m very interested in how canon would have played out if the Bennets were nobility or the upper end of landed gentry, as opposed to the lower end of landed gentry – how would it have changed things if they weren’t so very desperate for husbands, since they had some security of their own, and if they moved in larger circles and were more eligible due to large dowries. How would this impact each of the Bennet sisters, and change her outlook on life, and her actions and opportunities? Would it change how they related to each other at all – or would the Bennet family still be full of the same dysfunctional relationships, just with more money? Perhaps having more money and more connections might even make it worse? Maybe Jane might almost fall prey to a fortune-hunter, with her gentle manners and being unwilling to break someone’s heart? Perhaps Elizabeth would find that the ton is less forgiving of her idiosyncrasies than rural Hertfordshire? Perhaps Mary might face more pressure to marry from different directions? Perhaps Kitty and Lydia would get into worse scrapes: with more money and more prestige come worse consequences from a misstep?

For shipfic, perhaps you want to make a full-out swap, and Darcy and Bingley are the sons of country squires barely managing to keep their estates breaking even. How would Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice play out in those circumstances? I’d love it if their relative positions to each other didn’t change their base personalities too much – I would be less interested in an AU in which Elizabeth was the prideful one and Darcy the prejudiced one, for instance, but I’d love to see how their relationship played out if their relative positions of power were reversed. Would their first impressions be more favourable ones, or would they still be adversarial and full of misunderstandings?

Would the course of true love for Bingley and Jane run smoother? Or would Darcy and Bingley’s sisters still have strong objections to the lady, even if she came with a substantial dowry? Or would it be her family who throw a spanner in the works, thinking Bingley beneath them and suspecting him of mercenary motives?

Or maybe they’re all in the nobility/very top of the landed gentry, and their families arrange the marriages for the sake of everyone’s fortunes – slightly outdated at the time (even the upper classes would allow their sons and daughters to pick their own partners – from a very limited set, of course), but still possible – maybe due to obscure inheritance clauses in dead relatives’ wills. I imagine Jane and Bingley would have a much smoother ride than Darcy and Elizabeth (who probably would not take well at all to essentially being forced to marry someone they don’t particularly like), but even they might face some uncertainties in the beginning! It would definitely be something worth exploring.

 

Sense and Sensibility (TV 2008)

Characters/relationships: Group: Colonel Brandon/Elinor Dashwood/Edward Ferrars (S&S 2008)

ALL: canon divergence AU, ALL: marriage of convenience AU, ALL: Alternate First Meetings, All: character marries a different person, ALL: characters meet earlier than in canon

I’m very fond of sensible people coming to practical solutions! Perhaps a married couple living with a very good “bachelor friend” of theirs would probably be (just) within the bounds of regency propriety. I’d love to see how they came to the arrangement, and how they live – if you want to go full curtain-fic here, I definitely wouldn’t mind!

Or course, if you do want to add some uncertainty, internal conflict and pining to make a fun story, there are lots of possibilities! Perhaps Elinor and Brandon enter into a marriage of convenience for her family’s sake – and then Edward enters back into her life and feelings develop in all directions… Or perhaps Edward and Elinor marry after he’s been disinherited and move into the unmarried Brandon’s parsonage as in canon – and then he manages to fall for both his good friends at the same time, and worries that he’s taking advantage of them (meanwhile they’re worrying that they’re taking advantage of him)… Or maybe Edward and Elinor marry before canon starts (maybe he avoids being disinherited, maybe they have to rely on charity from their good friend Brandon), and they console and help Brandon as he’s searching for Eliza Williams, and feeling develop as they mutually support and help one another…

 

Stranger Things

Characters/relationships: Robin (Stranger Things), Jonathan Byers (Stranger Things), Group: Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson (Stranger Things), Group: Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler (Stranger Things), Group: Jonathan Byers & Steve Harrington & Nancy Wheeler (Stranger Things), Steve Harrington (Stranger things)

ALL: Peggy-Sue, ALL: Multiple Characters Travel Back in Time, ALL: Possessed by time travelling future self, ALL: Main character goes back in time to the body of their younger self and changes what happened, All: Time Travel Fix-It

I'd love to see one or more of these characters end up in the past, maybe season 1, season 2, or even before the series - knowing what's about to happen and trying to change it - the forces they're up against are quite powerful, and even if they do know what's coming, some things will still be very difficult to prevent and solve, so it would be very interesting to see what they can and can't change!

It would also be really interesting to see them interact with others around them who haven't time travelled - the characters have grown to know a lot about each other and grown quite close (shared trauma) over the course of the show, so the discrepancy between where the characters stand with each other in the early and later seasons would make for some very interesting dynamics!