chronicbookworm: (Default)
[personal profile] chronicbookworm
Thanks for creating things for me! 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’m 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! I’m very fond of long, plotty fic, so this exchange is right up my street!
The prompts below are there to help, not box you in, so please feel free to write/make something different if none of my prompts below grab your imagination or inspiration strikes you in a different direction. I’m not very used to prompting for non-fic things, so if anything seems unclear or you want more information about the art likes, just reach out via the mods and I’ll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
If I request the shippy version of a relationship, I am also very happy to consume the gen version (it sometimes but not always goes the other way as well – feel free to check via the mods if you’re at all unsure). This goes even if the prompts are romantic in nature – I’m also very fond of deep platonic relationships that are the most important to the characters and relationships that straddle the line between platonic and romantic.
The length of the sections has nothing to do with how much I want the request, only with how many different prompts I have for each. I want to read them all very badly, so I’m sure I’ll love whatever you write!
This got quite long – feel free to just read the parts that are relevant to you. There’s also quite a lot of repetition between the sections, if things apply to several sections, to make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for in the place you’re looking for it, but that means the letter seems to be a bit longer than it actually is.


General likes
DNWs

Bridgerton
Crossover Fandom, A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones and Narnia
Crossover Fandom, A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon
Crossover Fandom, Mansfield Park and Master and Commander 2003/Persuasion/Pride and Prejudice
The Goblin Emperor
House of the Dragon
Leverage
Mansfield Park
Orphan Black
Sunrise on the Reaping
Tortall



General likes

• kindness as a choice, characters who are kind even when it’s difficult
• characters who are principled and who stick to their principles, characters who grapple with what being a moral person is
• protectiveness, characters who are willing to sacrifice themselves or their comfort for others (either because that’s just who they are or because they feel strongly for the other character)
• loyalty and devotion, both strong, reciprocated loyalty, and more complicated forms such as conflicting loyalties, loyalty to the undeserving, one-sided loyalty, etc.
• characters who trust each other and are rewarded for it, characters who trust people they shouldn’t
• “us against the world” plots and relationships (whether it’s true or just what the characters imagine)
• found families, especially ones that don’t try to fit characters into traditional family roles but instead lets them be close and prioritise each other like family on their own terms
• ride or die friendships, characters that are very intense about each other (whether it is platonically or romantically)
• relationships that straddle the line between platonic and romantic
• friends to lovers
• pining
• quiet romances, love that grows slowly, love that creeps up on characters without them realising it
• gentleness and tenderness
• respect as an integral part of relationships, listening to your partners and friends, being considerate of their needs
• arranged marriages (both platonic and romantic versions)
• marriages of convenience (both platonic and romantic versions), including lavender marriages
• hurt/comfort, trauma recovery
• grief and mourning
• characters who are expecting or used to being hurt (verbally or physically) who are then shown warmth and kindness
• characters navigating power differentials and power dynamics
• characters dealing with political problems, complicated politics, courtly and political intrigue, politics in general
• characters uniting forces against a common enemy, shifting alliances, uncertain alliances
• partisan and resistance movements, small groups of people going up against or being pursued by large, powerful governments or organisations
• cultural differences, characters trying to communicate when they have wildly different expectations or frameworks for understanding the world
• explorations of faith of various kinds and what it means to different people, including but not limited to explorations of religions and religiosity
• complicated and messy relationships (platonic, romantic or familial)
• conflicts between characters based on differences in opinions, wants, and needs (rather than misunderstandings or erroneous assumptions), conflicts between characters without easy solutions, conflicts between characters where neither side is completely right or completely wrong
• moral dilemmas, trying to do the right thing in situations where there is no good choice, doing the right thing even when it costs the characters
• characters making mistakes and dealing with the consequences, characters reacting to situations in non-optimal ways, characters lashing out due to pain or trauma
• secrets (both kept and revealed)
• characters working with limited knowledge
• competent characters, characters being recognised for their competence
• women supporting other women
• period-typical attitudes, explorations of the various and diverse strategies marginalised people used to adapt (or not) to their prescribed social roles, exercising agency in different ways when the social structures are set up to deny that agency
• canon divergence
• fix-it fic
• outsider POV
• case fic/mission fic, adventures
• time travel (both Peggy Sue style and physical time travel)
• worldbuilding
• longfic

Art/Comic likes:
• black and white, pastels, soft, muted colours and deep, rich colours
• variation in or playing around with panel shapes and sizes
• contrasts between text and visuals
• flowing lines, sense of movement
• Art Nouveau influences
• realistic body and facial proportions (rather than e.g., caricatures, chibi or other deliberate distortions – but this is a preference and not a hard DNW)
• any level of detail, from rough sketches of the characters to individual leaves on trees in the background
• landscapes
• clothing, jewellery and hairstyles
• declarations of loyalty (such as illustrations of people getting engaged/married, being knighted or crowned, for instance)
• quiet, domestic scenes (hugs and cuddles, cooking, eating, reading, playing an instrument, playing games, walking in nature/the garden, etc. - the list is far from exhaustive!)
• action-packed, adrenaline-filled scenes (running, sword-fighting, climbing, riding a horse, etc. - the list is far from exhaustive!)

DNWs
• explicit sex (fade to black or references to sex are fine, including noncon/rape)
• changes to human anatomy or physiology (such as mpreg, omegaverse, soulmarks, etc.)
• teacher/student (if it’s relevant, please set any romance sometime after they've stopped being teacher/student)
• non-canonical incest (including between adopted or foster family members and biological family members who don’t know they’re related. Cousin incest and canon-typical Targaryen incest are OK)
• non-canonical infidelity (real or imagined) or jealousy within romantic relationships unless prompted (open relationships and jealousy as a path to feelings discovery are OK. Infidelity in the context of a loveless arranged marriage is OK)
• more than 3-year age gaps for any ships involving characters 16 years or younger (except in Westeros canons)
• sex involving characters under 15 (except for relationships involving Joffrey Baratheon), setting a date when the character is considered "old enough"/"legal" for sex and fixating on that date
• modern-day terminology for sexual and gender identities in historical or fantasy canons
• characters being ostracised by their friends and loved ones
• public embarrassment, humiliation
• character or ship bashing (characters being biased against each other and the narration reflecting that bias and/or highlighting characters’ negative traits is OK, but please don’t give characters negative traits that they don’t have in canon or make everything that goes wrong the fault of one character, unless that character is canonically capital-E Evil (e.g. Palpatine, the White Witch, or similar villains))
• hopeless endings, grimdark tone (sad and bittersweet endings are OK, including major character death of requested characters or ships, as long as there is some hope that the (surviving) characters’ situation will improve and that they’ll be happy in the future)
• unrequested setting change AUs (merging crossover universes into one or having characters from one universe dimension travel to the other by either hand-wavey or explained means are all fine)


Fandom-specific DNWs:
• ASoIaF/GoT: requited Petyr/Sansa (his canonical desire for her is fine)
• Narnia: the rift between Susan and her family, the end of TLB (let me pretend everyone’s alive and happy), explicitly making Christianity the only way to find Aslan in the real world
• House of the Dragon: Aemond/Lucerys

return to top


Bridgerton
Characters/ships
• Alfred Debling/Eloise Bridgerton
• Alfred Debling/Penelope Featherington
• Benedict Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington
• Benedict Bridgerton/Cressida Cowper
• Benedict Bridgerton/Marina Thompson
• Colin Bridgerton/Marina Thompson
• Cressida Cowper/Alfred Debling
• Daphne Bridgerton/Prince Friedrich
• Simon Basset/Marina Thompson

General Thoughts
What I like about this show is the characters, and the conflicts between them, the different points of view that are explored as they try to find love. I am fully aware that historical realism has been thrown out of the window, and it’s essentially Regency fairyland. If you want to write something more historically accurate (for instance, a world in which the Napoleonic wars are a thing), by all means go ahead—but I’m also quite fond of the ridiculousness of the show and would be equally delighted by something that adheres to the same level of fantasy as the show itself. I’m interested in getting a better ending for the characters who didn’t get their happy ending on the show! If there is a canonical couple that’s in the way of the requested ship, feel free to have them never get together, break things off before the wedding, or kill off any character to make the ship work.

Alfred Debling/Eloise Bridgerton
Alfred wants someone who isn’t afraid of being herself and doesn’t feel the need to play along with society’s strict rules—and Eloise certainly matches that! She wants the freedom to dedicate herself to her investigations and political causes—and being married to Debling will give her that! I would love to see how they discover what each other can bring to themselves, and what they can give to each other! I think they might discover that they have a passion for doing good together, even if it takes different form, and can learn a lot from each other: Debling can learn to appreciate people, and Eloise can learn to be slightly more considerate of other in her enthusiastic and relentless efforts to find something to dedicate herself to!

Alfred Debling/Penelope Featherington
I have to admit, this almost-romance really charmed me! They were so wonderful together, and I really liked the connection between them! I like how they were open to each other’s eccentricities and how they are both considered odd by society, yet have found a niche of their own. Given Debling isn’t interested in society, Penelope being Lady Whistledown would be much less of an issue! What would have happened if Colin hadn’t shown up to ruin Debling’s plan to propose? How does Penelope settle in as the mistress of Debling’s estate, and how does she get on with managing it throughout his absence? What sorts of challenges does she face, and what sorts of tales does he have to tell on his return?
It might be interesting to explore how they reconcile Penelope’s romanticism with Debling’s pragmatism, and how Penelope’s wish to be placed first conflicts with Debling putting his work ahead of his family?

Benedict Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington
I think they’d do really well together! Benedict is easy-going and would probably take Penelope being Lady Featherington a lot better than Colin did! He might be more inclined to help and support her, rather than want her to quit: he doesn’t have much patience for the ton, and might see a kindred spirit in her. She might also encourage him to keep up with his art even when he’s discouraged. They’re both kind, quite sensitive people, even if they express it differently, and I think Benedict could help Penelope out of her shell, and Penelope could help Benedict find some direction with his life!

Benedict Bridgerton/Cressida Cowper
This is a bit of an odd-ball pairing, but it would be very fun to explore! Does Benedict see a different side to Cressida when she becomes friends with Eloise? Or do the Benedict and Cressida become friends first—and if so, how—and love grows from there? Or is it a marriage of convenience, and if so, does it turn into anything more?
It might be fun to explore how she has to find her place with all of her in-laws, who are all sceptical of her, and how she makes a place for herself as Cressida Bridgerton. I would be very interested to see who she is when out from under her parents’ thumbs, and I think Benedict could coax a more carefree, kinder Cressida out of her shell!

Benedict Bridgerton/Marina Thompson
Benedict could be Marina’s saviour, while giving himself a cause to dedicate himself to! Perhaps he discovers the secret and proposes, or perhaps he sees that the love between her and Colin is one-sided and steps in to save his younger brother: and finds, not a Machiavellian manipulator trying to get herself connected to the Bridgerton family, but a desperate young woman searching for any kind of lifebuoy to keep herself from drowning. From attending Granville’s parties and meeting Lady Granville, he knows that a happy marriage can take any form! I’m happy for this to be a marriage of convenience—especially if Benedict is gay himself, and for him to have a male lover, as long as there is respect and consideration for each other between him and Marina. Or perhaps he discovers Marina’s charms for himself, either before or after the marriage, and they fall in love!

Cressida Cowper/Alfred Debling
I love Cressida in all her petty, spiteful, insecure, lonely glory! I love how complicated she is, how she is what her parents made her be, how she becomes a better person when exposed to better influences but can’t quite shake herself free from her parents’ hold over her. She made bad decisions, but so understandable ones, scrabbling for whatever power she could get. I would love to see her gain happiness and independence, and be valued for who and what she is—maybe some of her rough edges are sanded off if she no longer feels under threat.
I also love Alfred Debling’s openness and frankness—he’s a man who knows who he is and what he wants, and doesn’t let anyone make him ashamed of that. I love his practicality and pragmatism, his kind-heartedness and willingness to accept people as they are, not trying to please him!
I can see this as a marriage of convenience: Debling get his wife who can manage his estate and be someone to come back to after his travels, and Cressida gains the freedom she’s been looking for! Maybe they grow to find that they have more in common than they thought, or that even if they are very different, they complement each other well? Maybe love grows slowly after marriage, as they navigate society and their duties on the estate as a couple?
I would also be happy with this as a lavender marriage, with either or both of them being gay or ace, and them just growing into good friends who support each other and are happy to cover for each other!

Colin Bridgerton/Marina Thompson
I feel so bad for Marina, trapped by circumstances and trying to make the best of the hand she’s been dealt! I have a great deal of sympathy for her actions in trying to save herself a horrible future. I would love to see her gain a better end than she got in the show, and a chance at real happiness, real love to grow from her marriage!
Maybe she confesses to Colin and he decides to go through with it regardless, out of love for her and compassion at her circumstances? How do they navigate that imbalance of feelings, does Marina fall as in love with Colin as he is with her?
Or maybe Penelope doesn’t write her exposé, and he finds out after the marriage? How does Colin react, and how do they navigate that, very different relationship than the one described above? How do they reach an equilibrium and reconciliation under those more difficult circumstances?
Or maybe they fall in love later, after they’ve both matured and grown, as a second love or second marriage for both of them? How does their shared past colour that kind of relationship, and how have they changed in the meantime?
I would also be interested in seeing Colin deal with Marina’s children. Does he ever grapple with the fact that they aren’t his, or does he simply step into the father role without any second thoughts?

Daphne Bridgerton/Prince Friedrich
Prince Friedrich was such a sweetheart! I loved the care with which he courted Daphne, and how gallant he was! I loved how kind, understanding and non-possessive he was, and how considerate he was of Daphne and her wants and wishes.
I would love to see a story in which his courtship of Daphne was successful. Does she accept out of obligation (one doesn’t simply turn down royalty, no matter how kind) and love grows afterwards, or does she fall in love with Friedrich over the course of the courtship? How does she adjust to being Princess—even though she’s the daughter of a Viscountess, that’s still a massive step up in the social hierarchy! Everyone who sees Friedrich and her together agree that she’d make a very good Princess—are they right, or does she struggle getting her feet under her in her new role, like she did as Duchess? How does Friedrich adapt to living in England? Does he miss Prussia, and how does he deal with that? What’s their family like—both the one they make on their own, and their relationships with their new in-laws and extended family?

Simon Basset/Marina Thompson
As I said in my above request for Colin/Marina, I feel so bad for Marina, trapped by circumstances and trying to make the best of the hand she’s been dealt! I have a great deal of sympathy for her actions in trying to save herself a horrible future. I would love to see her gain a better end than she got in the show, and a chance at real happiness, real love to grow from her marriage!
Maybe Simon decides the best way to spite his father is to have the Hastings name continue through children with none of his blood? How does Simon find out—before or after the wedding? How does he react if it’s after the wedding? How do they deal with rumours and the threat of scandal if it’s before, given that they would have to have a very quick wedding and the children would still be quite premature yet healthy!
How does Marina cope with being Duchess, and how do her Featherington relations react? Is there any jealousy? Does her relationship with Penelope remain intact if Penelope isn’t put in a position to choose between her and Simon, or does Penelope still choose to disclose her pregnancy to everyone?

return to top


Crossover Fandom, Narnia and A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones
Characters/Ships
• Brienne of Tarth & any Pevensie sibling
• Brienne of Tarth/any Pevensie sibling
• Sansa Stark & any Pevensie sibling
• Sansa Stark & any Pevensie sibling

General thoughts
I'd just like anything that crosses these two worlds – both fairly similar in that they borrow from mediaeval Europe to create a fantasy world, but so very different in tone and content. Use Narnia to fix things for our heroine(s) or throw the Pevensies into Westeros and see how they cope, either way, I just love the thought of the potential of these groups of people with such different experiences and expectations meeting and interacting!

Brienne and the Pevensies
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.

Brienne & Peter, Brienne/Peter
With Peter, there are some interesting parallels and contrasts. Both are loyal, moral protectors and knights – however, Peter came to it almost reluctantly, whereas Brienne trained all her life to be a knight. Peter never had to prove himself the way Brienne did – after his first battle against the wolf, he as accepted and hailed, and he’s a King, to boot! Maybe she becomes his bodyguard or a general in his army in Narnia, or maybe he joins her in Westeros, looking for and protecting the Stark sisters. How would she react to another golden hero helping her on her quest – would she think him genuine, or would she be as suspicious of him as she was of Jaime to start, despite that she and Peter would meet under very different circumstances?

Brienne & Susan, Brienne/Susan
Susan would absolutely respect Brienne as a warrior, and she would be very impressed by Susan’s grace and poise, while still managing to be a fine marksman. I’d love to read about their adventures, trying to find the Stark sisters for Brienne – maybe they even manage to get to Winterfell and find them: Susan with her experience of managing a castle and running a kingdom would probably feel right at home in Winterfell. Or maybe Brienne is Susan’s bodyguard in Narnia, protecting her from threats. Would she go with Susan to Calormen, and would that change anything? Or does she arrive after Susan’s trip, and is that why Susan prefers female bodyguards?

Brienne & Edmund, Brienne/Edmund
I feel like these two would have a very fun dynamic – Edmund’s sarcasm and Brienne’s sincerity. They’ve also both thought very hard about their moral codes and made them deliberate – Edmund after the White Witch debacle and to earn his epithet of the Just, and Brienne to determine what chivalry means for her. Where do they clash and where do they align? How have they adapted to the very different worlds they come from, and how do they meet the other and how the other has adapted to their world and their circumstances?

Brienne & Lucy, Brienne/Lucy
This would also be a really fun dynamic to explore – instead of contrasting Brienne’s sincerity with Edmund’s sarcasm, it’s paired with Lucy’s boundless faith and joy! I think Lucy would just accept Brienne completely as she is, no questions asked, and that would be such a breath of fresh air for Brienne who’s always had to justify herself and her choices! Lucy is also not as ladylike and dignified as Susan, so she might not be as intimidating to Brienne, and I’d love to read about their adventures together!


Sansa and the Pevensies
Maybe the Pevensies (one or more) get transported to Westeros 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?

Sansa & Peter, 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 & Susan, Sansa/Susan
Sansa and Susan have a lot in common: they’re both noble ladies, used to being coveted for their looks and having their intelligence overlooked. They’re also both good leaders, diplomatic, and practical. Together they would be nigh unstoppable. They also have similar experiences of being wanted not for who they are but for what they represent. Would they bond over Sansa’s experiences in the Vale, King’s Landing, and, if you go with show canon, with Ramsay, and Susan’s experiences in Calormen? Or is the story set before the trip to Calormen, and Susan hasn’t quite experienced the downsides of being a beautiful woman with political connections yet? How does Sansa relate to a more open and unaware Susan, and is that the balm she needs?

Sasna & Edmund, Sansa/Edmund
Sansa and Edmund also have a lot in common, but differently than Sansa and Susan. 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.

Sansa & Lucy, Sansa/Lucy
In contrast to Susan and Edmund sharing some of the darker parts of Sansa’s past. Lucy is light and faith and innocence, and maybe that’s what Sansa needs from Narnia! Maybe Lucy shows her to have fun again and just delight in life, and not worry about the past or the future? Maybe Sansa and Lucy go on adventures in Narnia together? Maybe she helps Sansa in Winterfell, keeping everyone’s spirits us during the Long Night? Lucy is a healer, so maybe she teaches Sansa valuable skills? Maybe

return to top


Crossover Fandom, House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones
Characters/Ships
• Sansa Stark/Jacaerys Targaryen
• Aegon II Targaryen (HotD)/Margaery Tyrell (GoT)
• Alicent Hightower (HOTD) & Sansa Stark (GOT)
• Margaery Tyrell (GoT)/Viserys I Targaryen (HotD)
• Sansa Stark (GoT) & Rhaena Targaryen (HotD)
• Sansa Stark (GoT)/Viserys I Targaryen (HotD)

General thoughts
I love both shows (the quality of the latter half of GoT notwithstanding) and I would love to see them crossed over! I love the politics, the intrigue, the way the characters all have their own motivations, goals and desires that sometimes align and sometimes conflict, and the way even good characters make bad choices! I have also read both ASOIAF and Fire & Blood, so if you want to use the book events or characterisation of any characters instead of the show version (either because you haven’t seen the show(s) or because you prefer the book or any other reason), feel free!
Time travel would be a lot of fun: either the later era characters going back to the time of the Dance, and having to make their way while knowing there is a civil war coming: how much do they try to change, how much can they change, what do they know and what has been lost or twisted by time and biased retellings, or the Dance characters coming to the later era: how does the arrival of a historical figure with potentially a dragon upset the War of the Five Kings, or the lead-up to it, or the War for the Living, or any other point of the show?
Or maybe the characters have always been there, with the Tyrells of the Dance being the later-day characters we know, and the Starks being related to either Rickard or Cregan somehow, or the Targaryens being lost Targaryens that survived Robert’s Rebellion? Either way, it would be really fun to see how the addition of new characters changes the political dynamics and outcomes of the show(s)!

Aegon/Margaery
I think this pairing would be really intriguing! Margaery has a talent manipulating recalcitrant kings, as evidenced by her relationship with Joffrey, and unlike Joffrey, Aegon in some way does care about smallfolk and does want to be loved, not just feared. I think she could be a fantastic addition to the Green Council—would that change things? Would having Aegon married to Margaery leave space for Helaena to be married to Jace, thereby avoiding the Dance, or would the battle lines still be drawn? Would having Margaery by his side make Aegon want to do better, and does that change how he’s seen by the smallfolk, and the course of the war. Can she avoid Aegon being injured, or does he still insist on riding to battle, and how does she manage when Aemond takes over as regent? Does Margaery ever chafe against the role assigned to her as a woman, and how does she manage that?

Alicent & Sansa
Alicent and Sansa are very similar in some ways, and different in others—it would be really fascinating to explore their parallels and contrasts! Both are young women caught in the schemes of older, manipulative men around them, grabbing for whatever power they can and using their soft power to the best of their ability, both eventually become Queen, but what they do with the power they have is so very different, and so is how they approach their powerlessness. Maybe Sansa counsels a younger Alicent before her wedding to Viserys? Maybe Alicent is there in the Red Keep when Sansa’s a prisoner of the Lannisters? Maybe Sansa is a hostage of the Hightowers to make Cregan join the Greens? Whatever way you think of bringing these two together, I would love to see them exchange ideas and perspectives!

Jacaerys/Sansa
These two would be so sweet together! They’re both kind, considerate people who care about the others around them, and they both have a skill with politics and getting people to want to follow them. Maybe they get engaged before the Dance, or maybe it’s part of the negotiations for Northern support? Maybe Sansa is at Dragonstone as part of Team Black, and counsels Jacaerys through his impatience? Maybe she’s able to use either her cunning, or her knowledge of the future, to help the Blacks to victory and allow Jace to survive the Dance? How would they do, ruling a war-torn kingdom? How would they ensure peace in the Seven Kingdoms? I would also be really interested in seeing Sansa interact with Vermax, and how she as a non-Targaryen deals with the dragons—maybe she even has Lady, still, and Lady and Vermax have to reach an equilibrium?

Margaery/Viserys
Margaery as Viserys’ Queen would be so fascinating! She would know how to play politics, and would manage him to be better—but what would “be better” mean for her? Would she manage where Alicent failed, and get her sons put before Rhaenyra in the succession? Would she see that it’s hopeless, and work on cultivating Rhaenyra instead, and betroth their children? Would she cultivate allies for the inevitable war, like the Hightowers did, and not be blindsided like Alicent wat? How would her relationship with Viserys be? Would it be fond but platonic, or would they grow to love each other? Or would it be one-sided, with Viserys in love, and Margaery appreciating him for what he can give her, but ultimately not interested in him herself? So many different possibilities to explore!

Rhaena & Sansa
There are quite a lot of parallels and differences between these two characters as well, and I think they’d get on well! Both are more political and calmer people in a family that’s more boisterous. Maybe they bond over Sansa being the only Stark without a Direwolf and Rhaena as the only Targaryen without a Dragon? Maybe they meet in the Vale, and learn to play politics during wartime together? Or maybe they go further afield—to Pentos, to the North? Maybe Rhaenyra sends her younger children North, placing them well out of the way for the Greens?

Sansa/Viserys
What if Sansa was in Alicent’s position as Viserys’ second wife? No idea how she got there—perhaps Baelish was pushing for her, or it was a political choice to bind the North closer to the Iron Throne, or perhaps when Otto pushed for Alicent, Viserys took it as encouragement to go after Sansa, or perhaps it was actually love? How would Rhaenyra react, and how would Viserys not choosing Alicent change the relationship between Viserys and Rhaenyra? What would Sansa be like as Viserys’ Queen, both in his prime and as his health started to fail him? How would she navigate the time leading up to the Dance? Would she bind Rhaenyra closer, and cultivate a relationship between her children and Rhaenyra’s, or would she, like Alicent, try to shore up their position? How would that change the alliances and factions during the Dance? Would having someone who also knows about the threat from beyond the Wall and the Song of Ice and Fire, but from a Northern perspective, mean they were more likely to be working towards the same goal? Would that even come out, given it’s a secret they were both keeping, or would they keep their motivations hidden and marvel that the other part was being so cooperative in avoiding bloodshed—or maybe they wouldn’t even reflect on it, as avoiding bloodshed is generally seen as a good thing, even when you’re not trying to prevent a calamity that will have repercussions generations down the line?

return to top


Crossover Fandom, Mansfield Park and Master and Commander 2003/Pirates of the Caribbean/Persuasion/Pride and Prejudice
Characters/ships
• Fanny Price/Tom Pullings
• Charles Bingley (Pride and Prejudice)/Fanny Price (Mansfield Park)
• James Norrington (PotC)/Fanny Price (MP - Austen)
• James Benwick (Persuasion)/Fanny Price (MP – Austen)

General thoughts
I just want Fanny to marry a dashing naval officer or gentleman who will respect her thoughts and opinions and treat her right! This request is mainly due to my desire to see a better outcome for Fanny than she got in canon – she deserves someone who will respect her and listen to her, which neither of her canonical suitors did (they both came close, but they also both put their own desires and wants above hers).
I’m very fond of the Regency period, and would be delighted with something that leaned into the aesthetics and trappings of the time era, and the ritualised etiquette of courtship and marriage. It might be fun to contrast the quiet stability and elegance of life at home with the dangerous and rough life of a sailor, even an officer.

Fanny/Norrington
Someone said that Norrington’s only flaw was to be an Austen hero in the wrong genre – so let’s make him an Austen hero!
Fanny Price has connections to the Navy, maybe she meets Norrington through her brother? Or maybe they meet by chance in Portsmouth while Norrington is in dock and she’s with her family? Or maybe Sir Thomas meets him on his trip to the Caribbean, and introduces him to his family in England? Maybe he sees how they treat her at Mansfield Park and wants to do something about it?
Norrington would also be in a position to help William, and unlike Henry Crawford, he’d do it because he’s a good person, without any ulterior motives. I feel like she’d be quietly supportive of him and his supernatural pirate-related trauma, and he would appreciate her inner strength.
Or perhaps Sir Thomas took his family with him on his trip to the Caribbean! How does the family settle into Port Royal? Are they swept up in the pirate-related excitement, or do they stay out of it? Maybe Norrington is stationed on the ship they take to get over there, or maybe they meet while already there?
Perhaps Fanny even marries Crawford or Edmund, and her husband turns out to be controlling and emotionally abusive. Maybe Norrington meets her while she’s in the abusive marriage (cue pining), or maybe he only meets her when she’s already widowed and is taken by her endurance and fortitude.

Fanny/Pullings
I must admit, this is about 40% because of how handsome James D’Arcy looks with the ponytail, scar, and the naval uniform! The other 60% are because I think they would work quite well together. Pullings is easy-going and cheerful enough to balance out Fanny’s more serious side, but he’s also hard-working, loyal, and dutiful enough that she’d still be able to admire and respect him, unlike Henry Crawford. Like in the above request, Fanny has a naval connection through William, perhaps they serve together when William’s made lieutenant and he introduces them to each other? Or perhaps they meet in Portsmouth when she’s banished from Mansfield? Perhaps he sees her being relentlessly pursued by a man she doesn’t want and steps in to rescue her? Or maybe he can offer her an escape from her family’s poverty and dysfunction? Although, as is pointed out with William, it’s hard to have a successful career when you lack connections in the navy, so they might have to deal with that as well during their married life.
Or, again, just as in the above request, perhaps she even marries Crawford or Edmund, and her husband turns out to be controlling and emotionally abusive. Maybe Pullings meets her while she’s in the abusive marriage (cue pining), or maybe he only meets her when she’s already widowed and is taken by her endurance and fortitude.
I haven’t read the Aubrey/Maturin books, but I am more than happy for you to use material from them, as long as it can be understood by someone who just knows the film!
Historical accuracy very optional - as long as there's a general sense of the Regency period, I'll be happy (of course, I won't say no if you do want to painstakingly research how much a naval officer would make and what that meant for the kind of household his wife would be expected to manage, but that part is definitely not required)!

Fanny/Bingley
This is such an intriguing pairing! We know that Bingley has a fondness for reserved ladies with great moral character, which Fanny definitely is, and Bingley is a very good man who would be a great match for Fanny—outgoing enough to bring her out of her shell, but still amiable enough not to overwhelm her! How do they meet? How does her family react, when she’s courted by someone as wealthy as Bingley—do they claim the credit for her upbringing that allowed her to catch his attention, or do they begrudge her it, especially Mrs Norris, Maria and Julia? How do Bingley’s sisters and Darcy react to Fanny—do they try to separate them the same way they did Bingley and Jane, given Fanny’s low connections and lack of dowry, and is Bingley receptable? What other obstacles lie in their path towards happiness?

Fanny/Benwick
They are both Romantics! Fanny and her love of nature with Benwick and his love of poetry, I’m sure they would find great similarity of spirit with each other! Benwick is clearly ready to move on from losing his fiancée (even though he might not think he is), and Fanny might be what he needs to bring him out of his melancholia—courting her would give him a chance to play the gallant hero, and he would most likely be very attentive to her needs and wants. Like many of the other potential suitors for Fanny I’ve requested, he’s a Navy man—is that the connection between them? Perhaps he meets Fanny in Portsmouth? Or perhaps Fanny comes to Lyme for some reason? How does Benwick’s career influence their courtship? Does he still want to make a fortune before marrying, or has he learnt from his experiences with Fanny Hartville’s death—and how does his prior engagement influence his approach to his new suit? How does Fanny’s upbringing at Mansfield influence how she receives him? How does Fanny adapt to being a Navy wife, whether Benwick has made his fortune or not?
How does Hartville and his family react to Benwick moving on (with a new Fanny, at that!)? Would they welcome Fanny, seeing her worth, or would they be a bit more resistant? How would Fanny get on with Anne, Wentworth, and the Crofts, and Benwick’s other friends?

return to top


The Goblin Emperor
Characters/ships
• Solo: Arbelan Drazharan (Goblin Emperor)
• Solo: Chenelo Drazharan (Goblin Emperor)

General Thoughts
This is such a nice comfort read book! I loved Maia finding his feet in court, how he started to flourish and come into his own, and how he, through his kindness and consideration, managed to win people over and start making changes for the better, and I'd love to see that through the perspective of Arbelan or Chenelo – or a story of their early days at court, under Varenechibel, or during their relegations, anything about these two disfavoured Empresses will be bound to delight me!
I would also be incredibly happy with something that features both and lets them have a relationship. The two Drazharan who were relegated by Varenechibel should definitely get to meet and bitch about him, and get their vengeance by basically ruling the ladies’ side of the court and being trusted and valued advisors to Edrehasivar the Emperor as well as beloved mentors to Maia the person. What would their relationship be like, how well would they get on, would there be anything that separated them: their experiences of both the Court, Varenechibel, and their respective relegation, is likely to be quite different? Besides, Arbelan would be old enough to be Chenelo’s mother, so while they’re equals socially (more or less, officially, at least), the age might play a role in how they relate to each other?
What if they were relegated together: if Chenelo and Maia were relgated to Cethoree instead of Isvaroë? How would they have got along in isolation? How would Arbelan have dealt with Chenelo’s illness and raising Maia? I imagine that might have led to a better fate for all of them: giving Arbelan company and a child to dote on, almost like a grandchild, and Chenelo an older woman she could turn for support and guidance, and to help her through her illness. Perhaps she even survived in these circumstances?
Or, what if it’s not due to Maia’s ascendancy to Emperor that they’re both recalled to court, but due to Nemolis’, or one of his other brothers? How would they get on with Empress Sheveän? Would there be a battle of wills between them, or would they have to be more subtle about their alliance-building and influence? Or Empress Stano, if Ciris was the sole survivor? I imagine she would be more easily led by the two older women, but if Sheveän was still around, she might make life difficult for them!
I’d also be incredibly interested in seeing how the women’s court functions, politics among the ladies—both their own politics, but also how they move things in the national politics that’s usually seen as the men’s domain, how they wield influence over other ladies and over men, the different factions among the women – not just Csoru’s faction and Csethiro’s, but what other factions, among the older ladies, and to what extent does it mirror the men’s factions, what Csethiro is like as the Empress, Vedero’s circle and who is included in it, and how it interacts with other factions in the women’s court, what role Arbelan has at court and how she fits in, or what role Chenelo would have in Maia’s court if she survived – or what role Chenelo or Arbelan had before their relegations, when they were the Empress?

Arbelan Drazharan
I would love something about Arbelan, at any time point! Her early life with Varenechibel would be interesting to explore: what was court like under Varevesena? What was Arbelan like as Empress, or before he was even crowned? What was Varenechibel like in his early reign, or as Crown Prince? What political issues were on the agenda, and how did Arbelan manage them? What conflicts did she have to navigate?
What was her life like during relegation? What did she do during the days, who did she interact with? How did she settle back into court after her relegation—did she still have friends? What was her relationship with the other women of the Drazhada family? What was her role at court? She was one of the first courtiers Maia let in behind his guard—I’d love to see more about their relationship, how she advised him and guided him. And how did that affect her standing at court? Was she ever courted for a second marriage after Varenechibel’s death, and how did she react to that?
Or, what if she had been able to give Varenechibel children—what if her miscarried child had survived to be born? What if she’d given him a son—obviously that would have changed the course of the story a great deal, since he wouldn’t have been able to marry any of his subsequent wives. What would have happened to him and his family instead? What would the Curneisei have done instead? Or what if her child had been a daughter for her to cherish? Would he still have relegated her, or would they have tried to make the best of it? How would he have treated her and their daughter? What would her daughter’s fate have been, and how would the succession of the Drazhada line be secured?
Or, if you want to write shipfic, I have prompts for Arbelan with Maru, Berenar or an OC in my Fic in a Box letter, here: https://chronicbookworm.dreamwidth.org/16295.html#GoblinEmperor – but I would also be happy for you to pair her with any character you think fits (outside my DNWs)!

Chenelo Drazharan
I would love to see an AU where Chenelo came to court with Maia, and helped him settle in, could give him the guidance and support he needed when he was floundering in the beginning! What would Maia be like raised by his mother? Would his resentment of his father be as deep, given they were still relegated, or would he be more understanding given he hadn’t spent eight years being abused by a bitter relative who cared nothing for him, but instead with his mother? What would Chenelo’s feelings about her ex-husband and her relegation be? How would she cope with being back at court? Would she feel out of place, due to the changes or due to being a goblin in an elf court, or would she find that without Varenechibel there, she was free to make court her own and set up her own power faction at court? She would be in a completely different position, as the Emperor’s beloved mother, as opposed to the unwanted fourth wife in a political marriage that the Emperor didn’t want and had in fact been manipulated into! How would that influence how she dealt with the court when she came back—those who had shunned her before who now want to be in her good graces (or would they still shun her due to being a goblin?)—did she have any allies then, and would they still be around to welcome her back, or would they have run afoul of Varenechibels’ temper and court politics? What would she have made of Sheveän—would she have handled the situation differently? Perhaps Stano would have joined her household instead, or she might have nurtured that contact in a way Maia couldn’t and found out about Sheveän’s plans that way?
What would the relationship between Chenelo and Maia as an adult be like? What sort of difficulties would they face? Would they have arguments, what about, and how would they play out and be resolved?
What would her relationship with Vedero be like? Would they be cordial allies, or friends? They’re basically the same age (I think Chenelo is six years older than Vedero, if I’ve got my maths right?), but their positions would be very different, with Chenelo counted to the matrons, the widowed Empress, and Vedero an unmarried lady: how would that play into their dynamics? Presumably their interests would align, in giving women more freedom to determine their own lives, but they might have different ways of going about it, different networks they are tied to: it might even benefit them to not to be seen to be too close to each other? Or maybe they want to present a united front? Whatever their relationship is, both of them would probably be savvy enough to know that they would have to consider the political implications and how to present it to the public! And they would have very different experiences of Varenechibel, as well as very different experiences of the court and court politics.
Or what about her relationship with Csethiro? I think the relationship between Chenelo and Csethiro would be really fascinating to explore—how each of them relate to their role in court, the different ways they take to fulfil it, and how they work together to further their agenda and Maia’s agenda! Csethiro as someone who is unconventional but still knows and is comfortable in court settings would be very interesting to contrast with Chenelo, who is marked as an outsider by her appearance, and whose previous time at court, one can infer, was miserable. How active would Chenelo be in Maia’s choice of wife, and what would her take on Csethiro be (whether or not she was actively involved)? What does Csethiro think of her mother-in-law? How do they balance their own agendas, their shared agendas, and what Maia wants? Do they move in different circles, and how do they combine their social lives, and how much do they keep them separate? What kinds of causes do they champion, either together or apart?
Or what about an AU where Chenelo reconciles with her father, and he names Maia his heir? How would she fit in back in Barizhan? How would Maia adapt? How would she get on with her sisters? Would the Great Avar recognize them in these circumstances? How would her relationship with her father be—would all be forgiven, or would she still feel some resentment over being traded away to Varenechibel and left in relegation for however many years?
Or, if you want to write shipfic, I have prompts for Chenelo with Lord Deshehar or and OC or a lavender marriage with Thara in my Fic in a Box letter, here: https://chronicbookworm.dreamwidth.org/16295.html#GoblinEmperor – but I would also be happy for you to pair her with any character you think fits (outside my DNWs)!

return to top


House of the Dragon
Characters/ships
• Addam of Hull
• Alicent Hightower
• Criston Cole
• Alicent Hightower/Viserys I Targaryen
• Baela Targaryen & Rhaena Targaryen & Jacaerys Velaryon & Lucerys Velaryon
• Rhaena Targaryen
• Rhaenys Targaryen/Corlys Velaryon
• Rhaenys Targaryen/Viserys Targaryen
• Tyland Lannister/Rhaenyra Targaryen
• Viserys Targaryen

General thoughts
I love the complicated and messy politics and family relations, the betrayals and loyalty, how there are multiple points where the characters can choose to be better people and don’t, how both the Greens and the Blacks have legitimate reasons to be upset with each other and how there are no easy answers! I would love to see an exploration of the dynamics, or an alternate universe where things end up better for the characters and they make better choices, or an alternate universe where they make different choices and everything still ends on literal or metaphorical fire! Maybe one in which the coalitions are different (what would it take for the Velaryons to support Aegon at the outbreak of the war? Or for the Lannisters to support Rhaenyra? Or what if the Greens and the Blacks came to an arrangement, and instead the Velaryons rebelled against the Crown? Or some other shift in circumstances that leads the alliances to turn out differently?) or one in which different characters die or survive, and how would that change either the lead-up to or the outcome of the Dance?
I have read Fire and Blood, and would be happy to see something drawing from that canon rather than the show canon, or that mixes both.

Addam
I have quickly grown very fond of Addam—his steadfastness, his want to be recognised and ambition, and his loyalty! (Particularly his loyalty: I love how it’s his defining trait in the book, and would love to see that aspect part of his character brought out in the story.)
I would love to read more about him finding his feet as a dragon rider, his fealty to Rhaenyra, and finding a place for himself in her court and among her forces, thrust into a position where he can make a difference to the large-scale events of Westeros in a way most (individual) smallfolk can’t! Does he find that having servants and riches and moving among the nobility is everything he wanted, or does he find that the stares, sneers, and judgement outweighs the positives?
How does his relationship with Alyn change when he becomes a dragonrider? What was it like growing up? Did Addam ever resent that Alyn got to join Corlys at sea and got to work close to him (even though Alyn didn’t appreciate it), while he was landbound as a shipwright?
It would also be very fascinating to explore his relationship with Corlys—so awkward, and so full of things unsaid, Addam’s longing to be recognised and acknowledged by Corlys, the power differential and Addam’s birth acting as barriers between them. We saw Alyn’s bitterness at not being recognised as a boy, how did Addam feel? What are his thoughts on Corlys, Rhaenys, Laenor and Laena? It would be very fun to see him interacting with Laenor, Corlys’ trueborn son and heir—perhaps before Laenor’s purported death, perhaps in an AU where Laenor stayed in Westeros?
Or what about his relationship with Jacaerys? Both bastards, but in very different positions. Jace clearly feels threatened by the dragonseed claiming dragons, how does Addam navigate that? Do they reach an equilibrium and understanding, or are they always a little bit at odds, never quite managing to get over the differences of birth and fortunes, and the threat they pose to each other (inadvertently or not)?
Or maybe interacting with Baela and Rhaena, or with Luke, in an AU where Luke does inherit the Driftwood Throne? Does he ever resent that the inheritance goes to Corlys’ purported grandson, just as much a bastard as he, even though nobody admits it, or does he accept it as the way of the world?

Alicent
I love Alicent – how she tries her best to work within the roles that she’s been thrust into, and her complicated relationship with her gilded cage and the ways she manages to still wield her power. I love how she does her duty and sacrifices and follows the rules set forth for her by Westeros society, and it still doesn’t bring her happiness and fulfilment, and her resentment of those who she perceives as flaunting their disrespect for the rules she follows so ardently. I think she’s a really complicated and fun character to explore, with her relationship to her father, her husband, her children—how she tries to be a good mother but fails on several occasions, and her fear for their lives, fanned by Otto, drive her to inflame the conflict with Rhaenyra. She was clearly not ready for children at the point when she had them, and her mix love and resentment for them is very interesting. I also like how she can clearly manage a court, and how she uses her soft power in the court—but also how she chafes when that soft power isn’t enough. It would be very fun to see who she could be if she had a better husband, one who listened to her and valued her, or if she managed to maintain a good relationship with Rhaenyra. I would also be very interested in something exploring her faith, since I find that a fascinating aspect of her character, and it’s treated as something bad in the show (the characters remark derisively about how many stars there are around the Red Keep now), but I’d be very interested in a more nuanced take—and how she balances her own faith with the Targaryens apparently still keeping to the Valyrian gods (some of them, at least—it’s not clear what Viserys believes).
I’d also be interested in something that explores her relationship with Rhaenyra, and I’d be open to (even welcome) them shipped with each other! I love how complicated they both are, and how complicated their relationship is. One of the main tragedies of the show to me is how their friendship fell apart and all the moments they had to mend it but didn’t. I’m really interested in how they relate to each other, and that they’re both complicated women constrained by their stations and the circumstances around them, and how they react and act differently to exercise their agency within those structures.
How did they get together? As teenagers, when they were still friends, and if so, how did that change how they reacted to future events? Or as adults, when they have to get over all the betrayals and bitterness that sprung up between them? How do they handle that they’re both highborn women with obligations to marry and bear children? For Rhaenyra, that might be easier, given her personality and her arrangement with Laenor, but how does Alicent reconcile her sense of duty and sacrifice with her love for Rhaenyra?
What if Alicent hadn’t heard and misunderstood Viserys last words? Would she have acted differently in the coup? Tried to send a message to Rhaenyra or even go with Rhaenys herself? Or would she still have fallen into line with her father, and what would she have thought and felt about that, torn between all her various loyalties and duties?
Or what if they had betrothed Jaecerys and Helaena, as per Rhaenyra’s suggestion? Could the two branches of the family have reconciled that way, or would Alicent and Rhaenyra still have clashed, given their different attitudes and ways of approaching the world? How would they have handled their sons, who at that point had a very inflamed relation?
What if Alicent hadn’t found out that Rhaenyra lied about the night with Daemon and Ser Criston? Would she still have been so averse to Rhaenyra’s sons with Harwin Strong, because it means she was unfaithful to her husband and exposed the crown to gossip, or was it the fact that Rhaenyra lied that really hurt her?
Or what if the point of divergence was earlier? What if Rhaenyra married Gwayne Hightower, and the way for Otto to get his grandchild on the Iron Throne went through Rhaenyra? Would the Dance of the Dragons be averted if he didn’t push for Aegon over Rhaenyra and her children, or would there have been a different Dance with whichever family Viserys’ second wife was from (would he have married Laena if Otto wasn’t pushing Alicent at him, or would he still have balked at marrying a twelve-year-old and married someone else?)? Or would Otto still have hedged his bets and pushed for Alicent as Viserys’ second wife as well, and would Rhaenyra’s marriage to Gwayne change anything about how she reacted to that?
What about a time travel fix-it? I’d be interested in either Rhaenyra or Alicent as the time traveller. What can they change, and what happens without them being able to avert it? Or what unexpected consequences are there of their actions? Or what about both? How do they react to each other back in their early days with all the weight of their history behind them? Do they work together to ensure a better future, or do their future conflicts spill over into their old relationship? Do they even know the other also has travelled in time, or do the ascribe all changes to their own actions? How long does it take them to realise, who realises first, and how does she act in response to that?

Criston Cole
Like Alicent, Criston is a really interesting and flawed character. I love his dedication to his duty, and how torn up he is about failing it – his loyalty first to Rhaenyra and then, when she rejects his offer to be more than just a secret affair, to Alicent. I think how his pride in his position that turns into resentment, and how he manages to regain some pride through dedicating herself to Alicent and her children really fascinating. He’s also a very complex character who has internalised a lot of toxic masculinity and externalises his own failings (blaming Rhaenyra for breaking his vows, for instance) and is prone to see violence as a legitimate way to respond to situations where it’s really not (killing Joffrey for the temerity of teasing him/trying to forge an alliance, for instance)!
What did he do on the borders of Dorne before coming to court? How was he treated? What is his relationship to Dorne—sometimes he’s referred to as Dornish, but he was also in a war against the Dornish? Did that ever lead to mixed feelings?
I’d also be interested in something exploring his and Rhaenyra’s relationship: the power dynamics are so messed up in all different directions! She seduced him, but he was very easily seduced—did he feel he couldn’t say no? Did he relish the opportunity to do it and be able to blame her for initiating? Had he desired her before this, or did it come out of nowhere? He’s a grown man, she’s underage/barely of age, depending on whose definition of “of age” is used. She’s a princess, heir to the throne, and he is sworn to obey her commands—but he is also sworn to not misuse the trust that’s been given in being allowed to be alone with her. Socially, they’re both ruined if this comes out, and if she were involved with any other man, she would be the one with the most to lose (her reputation, her chances of a good marriage and a good life, her acceptability as the heir to the Iron Throne, as tenuous as it is), but in this one particular instance, he has as much or more to lose (up to and including his life) if it gets out. How does all of that impact the dynamics between them? And they both seem to consider it only from their own perspectives and not really consider what the other might be going through and the other’s wishes, desires and beliefs about what is happening.
Or, what might have happened if his relationship with Rhaenyra didn’t turn sour – would he have fathered her children instead of Harwin Strong when it turned out Laenor really couldn’t? Or what if she hadn’t tried to seduce him or he hadn’t given in and he still remained her loyal knight, and nothing more – would he still have feelings for her, or would they pass into a different kind of loyalty and devotion, without the desire to be her partner? Would he have resented Laenor, who didn’t (couldn’t) treasure Rhaenyra, but still got to have her? How would he have approached the Laenor/Harwin/Rhaenyra situation, being in the know about everything, but on the outskirts of it? Would it have changed anything about how Rhaenyra approached Alicent and the Greens—would it even have led to tensions spilling over before the point we saw in canon (Criston isn’t exactly restrained)? How might the Dance have changed if Criston Kingmaker was on the side of the Blacks? What position would he have in Rhaenyra’s council (presumably Lord Commander of her Queensguard, but would he have any additional honours and posts)? What kinds of tactics would Rhaenyra have used with him advising her, and what would the Greens do in response?
I would also be just as happy with something canon-compliant, that investigates him being torn between his duty to Aegon, his feelings for Alicent, and his loyalty to Aemond, or something exploring his relationship with Otto, these two men who both wield such power in the kingdom, but in different ways, and with different ideas on how to win the war. What if Otto had remained Aegon’s hand—would Criston have chafed, and would he ever have gone against Otto’s order to engage in battle before Otto decided it was time?
Or something exploring his suicidality that run through both seasons, how he got to that point, trapped by his duty, the choices he made, and war, and does he ever find a way out?

Viserys
Oh, what a complicated character! Arguably the cause of the Dance in many ways (naming Rhaenyra as his heir despite himself only winning the crown by virtue of being male, remarrying while keeping Rhaenyra as his heir, refusing to act decisively to heal the rift in his family, etc., although of course the decisions made by other characters also certainly contributed), I would love to see more about what makes him tick! He has a very twisted view of himself, I think: so keen to be liked, but also so blinkered to anyone’s wants, needs and feelings other than his own! Vacillating and easily led, except when he decides not to be, wanting peace to the extent that his legacy is the worst civil war in Westerosi history (up to that point), and yet he manages to keep everything together well enough while he’s alive, only for it all to go up in flames (sometimes literally) as soon as he dies!
I’d be interested in pretty much any exploration of what his childhood was like, his early marriage with Aemma, losing all the children and what that did to him, his intense desire for a (male) heir, and his relationship with his wife and daughter, his (non-)relationship with Alicent’s children, dealing with other political crises than we saw in canon, and how he handled those, or his relationship to the history of Old Valyria, his dreams and his strong belief in prophecy, and how that influences his relationship with the Faith of the Seven, which he at least publicly professes to follow?
Or what about a canon divergence: what would Viserys’ life have been like if Rhaenys had been Queen? Would he still have fallen prey to the same self-centredness that leads his family to ruin? Would he have been bitter and jealous, coveting the throne? Would he find himself targeted by manipulators who wish to place him on the throne instead? Or would he have been content as a Prince with a keep of his own, but not the responsibility of managing the entire realm? His choices wouldn’t have as monumental consequences in that AU (unless they would?), and he might be happier being able to devote himself to his study of Valyria without neglecting other duties?
What if he had married Laena instead of Alicent? Would he still have mismanaged his family (probably, yes, I think, although I’m happy to be convinced otherwise), and what would that have done to relations between him and the Velaryons? Would it have led to a different Dance, or some other outcome? What would the Hightowers be up to in this AU, who would they side with, where would they see their influence gaining them the most power?
What would it have taken for him to clear up the mess he made of politics and his family (and when you’re King, they’re often one and the same) – not keeping his consideration of Alicent as a bride secret from Rhaenyra, so it’s not seen as quite as much a betrayal? Not neglecting his children by Alicent, making her fear for their future? Shoring up Rhaenyra’s power base before he died? Not playing exile yo-yo with Daemon? Or something else?

Alicent/Viserys
This was such a complex, compelling relationship, with power dynamics and uneven feelings galore! I am really compelled by Alicent’s reticence and her powerlessness compared to her husband, yet she does grow fond of him in her own way (as a coping strategy? Genuine fondness? Up to you!), and as he grows weaker, the power dynamics start shifting in the other way, and she takes the position she has and makes something more of it (but still, she’s the one looking after him, not the other way round; his needs and wants are centred, not hers; her value lies in what she can provide for him, never the other way round). I would love something that explores the dynamics between them, perhaps early in their marriage, when they’re still unsure of each other, or perhaps later, when they’re more settled into the dynamics. There is plenty of opportunity to explore what a messy relationship this is, with Alicent’s resentment of her powerlessness, and Viserys’ resentment that she isn’t Aemma—but I would also be interested in a fix-it! Perhaps something where Viserys supports Alicent more unequivocally in her new role as Queen, and she grows to not just tolerate but love him? Perhaps Viserys takes a more active role in mending the fences between Rhaenyra and Alicent, and finds a compromise? Perhaps he doesn’t neglect his children by Alicent to such a degree that she fears for their lives when he dies, but instead ensures that their futures are safe even when Rhaenyra inherits?

Rhaenys/Viserys
What if the succession crisis and Great Council was solved with marriage instead? What if Jahaerys (or let’s be honest, Alysanne) saw the potential crisis looming and arranged a marriage between Viserys and Rhaenys to unite the two main branches of the Targaryen family (and to prevent Rhaenys being set aside by the misogynist men in their family and the country). How would that go—would it solve anything, or would it just move the power struggle that lead to the Great Council into the domestic sphere? What would Rhaenys be like as Viserys’ Queen? Or what would Viserys be like as Rhaenys’ King-Consort? Who would be in charge? Would that be a point of contention? Would they manage to find an equilibrium that suited both of them?
Is Rhaenys still in love with Corlys, and Viserys with Aemma, in this AU? How would that go? Would they resent each other for not being the one they loved, or would they accept that their life is what it is and buckle down and get on with it? Would they cheat on each other if their marriage was truly unhappy (or even if they mostly got on but were madly in love with someone else)—I can more easily see Viserys cheating than Rhaenys, but maybe they both do, or neither? Rhaenys strikes me as the type who would buckle down and get on with it, Viserys as the type who would moan incessantly about the unfairness and unhappiness of his life—and might even cheat? How would Rhaenys react to that—and what would the political fallout be?
How would the Velaryons react? Who would Corlys marry? And who would Aemma marry? (Her life would probably be better—and longer—if she wasn’t Viserys’ wife and Queen…) What would the political landscape of Westeros look like in this AU? Who would the political powerhouses be, and would it be different than canon? Would Otto Hightower still have as much influence? Would the Baratheons be more present in King’s Landing, as they were Rhaenys’ mother’s family?
How would the pressures to beget an heir affect Rhaenys? Or would it be less of an issue, since she would be older than Aemma was, and doesn’t seem to have had fertility problems in canon? What would their inheritance issues be like? Absolute primogeniture, male-preference primogeniture, ruler’s choice, or something else? I’m guessing that would depend on who actually sits on the Iron Throne out of the two of them, and who is Consort. I’m quite happy for you to keep Laenor, Laena and Rhaneyra and just handwave them as their joint kids, split the kids between the canonical parents in whatever way you like, keep the kids as products of their canonical biological parents via infidelity, make up your own kids for them to have, or have them struggle to conceive or keep their children like Aemma and Viserys did—or not have it come up at all in the work.
I would very happily read about how this pairing would be toxic for all involved and make them miserable, and perhaps even lead to an even worse outcome for the Seven Kingdoms than the canonical Dance (if such a thing is even possible), but I would also be quite happy to read about Rhaenys compensating for Viserys’ uselessness to steer the realm towards a better future—and perhaps also personal contentment or happiness within the marriage!

Rhaenys/Corlys
I love Rhaenys! I would love to see a story in which she got to shine! What would things have been like if she got to be Queen, and Viserys was passed over at the Great Council? How would she have dealt with the issues we saw Viserys fumble (the succession, the Stepstones, etc.)? How would her relationship with Corlys have been affected? How would she have managed the scheming nobles in King’s Landing, and the demands of her various bannermen? Would she have been able to navigate court life and keep balance between the various factions in a way Viserys utterly failed to do, or would she have to compromise and found she compromised too much one way? Would there still have been a Dance—Laenor’s inability to father children might have been more or an issue when he was the Crown Prince, rather than just the Crown Princess’ consort: we saw how much of an issue their potential bastardy was when Rhaenyra’s children’s claim to the throne went through her, not through Laenor, how much worse would it be when their claim (whoever his wife is) runs through him? Who would the challengers be? Laena’s in-laws/children? Daemon’s? Rhaenyra’s? Viserys’ surviving sons, assuming he has any in this AU? Someone else?
I also love the relationship between Corlys and Rhaenys, and would love to see more of it! Was it love, was it an arranged marriage, or somewhere in between? How did they navigate the early years of their marriage? How did she cope with Corlys’ long absences and ruling Driftmark in his place? Was she ever challenged due to her sex, and how did she deal with that?
Or maybe a story in which she survives, or at least survives longer—how would that have changed the events of the war? What would she have counselled Rhaenyra to do, and how would she have dealt with Rhaenyra’s Council?
Alternatively, I would love to see something with her relationship and interactions with any of her grandchildren (trueborn or claimed bastards)—what was she like as a grandmother? How much influence did she have over their rearing? What was her relationship like with her grown-up children?
Or something with her and Corlys’ bastards—how did she find out about them? How did she react? How did it affect her relationship with Corlys? Does she ever warm up to them (perhaps in an AU where Corlys dies), or does she always view them as a threat to her grandchildren, which isn’t entirely unfair, given Corlys in the books at least ended up naming Alyn his heir rather than Baela or Rhaena. In the show, we see Baela reject the Driftmark Throne, but maybe Rhaenys thinks it ought to go to Rhaena instead? Does that cause friction in their relationship in an AU where Rhaenys survives?

Baela & Rhaena & Jacaerys & Lucerys
I really like the strong friendship between these four stepsiblings/first cousins (kind of)/first cousins once removed/second cousins once removed/double third cousins (and probably many more relationships, let’s be honest: the family tree is more of a series of very complicated circles, here)! I would love to read something about them growing up, preparing to take on the responsibilities they are due to inherit. Do Baela and Rhaena ever resent Jace and Luke for taking what otherwise would be theirs? Or are they always as accepting as they seem to be in the show?
I would also be really interested in the future in a canon divergence where they all survive and win the war! How do they relate to each other as King and Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and Lord and Lady of Driftmark? Does Luke take to the sea in the same way Corlys did? Is it a case where Luke is Lord in name, but Rhaena is the power behind the throne, or are they more equal?
What if Jace survives—either in an AU where the Blacks win the war, or even as political prisoners to the Greens (although I doubt the war would end until all the heirs of one side were dead)? What would they be like as King and Queen, how would they rebuild the realm, how would they deal with all the challenges the book describes coming after the Dance? How would they manage those who fought for the Greens—would they seek to reconcile or to punish (or a mix)? How do they navigate politics in King’s Landing? How do they deal with the surviving Greens and their supporters?
What would Baela’s ladies have been like, what sort of tone would she have set at court? How would she have coped with the intrigue and politics the role entails, or would she have cut a straight path through all that and just got on with what she wanted to do?
Or what about an AU where they are betrothed to different people (maybe Jace was betrothed to Helaena, and Luke was free to accept one of the Baratheon daughters: maybe either Baela or Rhaena is betrothed to Oscar Tully or Cregan Stark—just throwing ideas out there, feel free to pick any character, show or book-verse, to pair any of them with instead)? How do their bonds grow and change as they move to different positions and different keeps? Does that change the alliances, course, and outcome of the war? Do any of them fight for the Greens in this AU, and do they overcome being on different sides of the war once it’s over? Or do their different alliances put Rhaenyra in a better position, allowing the war to end with all of them surviving?

Rhaena
I felt really bad for Rhaena, ignored by her father for not being a dragonrider, sent off to look after the children—an important job, which she realizes, but it’s not what she wants! I would love to read about her dealing with the disappointment of not being a dragonrider in a family of dragonriders, or about what she does when she eventually gets a dragon as the show seemed to suggest she will at the end of Season 2—does she join the war for Rhaenyra? Does she take the dragon to Pentos? Does she join the other dragonriders in being more proactive in the war? Does she stay and guard the Vale? I was really intrigued by her relationship with Lady Arryn—so tense, with disappointment on both sides, yet so polite and cordial. How does Rhaenyra react to her basically abandoning her duty to her Princes?
Alternatively, I would be just as interested in a story where Rhaena doesn’t tame the Vale dragon (maybe something more along the book plot, where she’s the last person to hatch a dragon before Daenerys—how does she do it? What repercussions does that have, on her relationship with her father, Rhaenyra, her siblings and cousins? How is her plotline changed by having a hatchling rather than a full-grown dragon), and her gaining skill and experience at politics rather than battles!

Tyland/Rhaenyra
I’m perfectly happy for this to be written as a platonic relationship instead of shippy!
Tyland is quite serious and awkward, both sexist but surprisingly open-minded when it comes to Sharako Lohar – what would convince him to support Rhaneyra’s claim instead of Aegon’s, and how would having him on her side change things? He’s very clever and strategic, so having him on her side might lead to her bolstering her political strength more? Or perhaps he can even bring about a reconciliation between Alicent and Rhaneyra, and find a solution that makes everyone, if not happy, then at least not openly declaring war?
Perhaps they were allies on some matter on the Small Council, and that lead to them working more closely together and becoming friends—perhaps Tyland even mentored her in politics? Perhaps Aegon takes his humiliation of Tyland one step too far, and makes him switch allegiances—or perhaps some incident before Viserys’ death makes Tyland question his suitability as King?
Or perhaps it’s Tyland, not Jason, who’s the candidate for Rhaenyra’s hand during Aegon’s nameday hunt? How would she react to that proposal—would his overtures be better received than Jason’s assumption that she would be grateful to marry into the Lannister family? Or maybe Rhaenyra picks him herself on her marriage tour—as a second son, he would be better placed to support her a consort without a seat of his own? How would they negotiate their marriage, either arranged or chosen, and what would that mean for the future of House Targaryen—and for House Velaryon, twice overlooked in a short period of time?

return to top


Leverage
Characters/Ships
• Maggie Collins
• Jim Sterling
• Todd McSweeten

General thoughts
I love this show so much – the competence kink, the found family aspects, the trust and loyalty between the characters, the character growth, the in-jokes/catchphrases (“let’s go steal a …”, “it’s a very distinctive …”, “age of the geek, baby”, and more), the general optimism and light-heartedness even as they’re dealing with some complex and terrible people. This canon lends itself especially well to case-fic, and I’d love to read about some kind of heist or con, but if you want to go in a more slice of life or friendship/romantic direction, that would also make me happy.

Maggie
I love Maggie – how quick she is on the uptake, how she can outsmart Nate, but how she generally keeps it under wraps. I love how she’s not jealous of Sophie, but friends with her, and how she genuinely cares for Nate and worries about him even though they’re separated and takes true joy in his moving on.
I would be really interested to see Maggie working with the Leverage team more. Maybe she is their Mastermind approached by Dubenich instead of Nate? She found out that IYS had denied Sam’s treatment and wanted revenge, gathering famous criminals around her? Or maybe Sophie is her way in, since they both move in the fine art circles, and they start with maybe a case like the Two Live Crew Job, helping steal art back for the original owners, and decide to branch out into helping people generally?
Or maybe she works with Parker, Hardison and Eliot after the end of the series when they need an extra person on the con? Maggie is very charming and unassuming, and we’ve seen that she has the makings of a fine grifter – and they all love her and work well with her, so I’m sure they’d be delighted to have her!
I’d also love to see her with the new team, meeting Harry and Breanna, supporting Sophie after Nate’s death. Maybe she’s even on one of the teams that make up Leverage International?

Sterling
What if it was Sterling in Nate’s place as the Leverage team Mastermind? How different would things be? What if Sterling was the one who lost a child (Olivia? An OC?) and blames IYS? Or maybe he has some other reason for wanting to double cross his employers? He’s equally clever and ruthless as Nate, if not more so, but he’s also less prone to grandstanding. And his moral compass is slightly askew compared to Nate’s (not that Nate’s is entirely straight). Would the team be more prone to go for vengeance on their marks rather than justice for the victims? Or would their goals be the same, just their methods different? Sneakier?
And where is Nate in this? Is he the IYS agent chasing them? Or perhaps they lead Leverage together, like they worked together for IYS? How would their dynamic be as co-criminal masterminds? Would they still have the push and pull that they had in canon, or would they be more egalitarian?
Another thing that might be fun is a fic set pre-series of Sterling chasing members of the Leverage team? Or him and Nate working together at IYS? We saw a glimpse of how they might have worked together in the Zanzibar Marketplace Job, and it might be fun to explore that further. What did they talk about on the rooftop when they were best friends?
Or, for a canon-compliant fic, I love the way Sterling and the team occasionally team up against a bigger threat, but there’s a deep personal dislike there based on their history and always a sense that he will double cross the team at the first opportunity so they can’t trust him. Does there ever come a point where he doesn’t double cross them? Do they reach the point where the antagonism between them is mostly toothless and they mostly get on, or does he remain a slimy bastard?
How does Sterling feel about Nate’s death? Does he ever run across Leverage International and feel like it has Parker, Eliot and Hardison’s finger prints all over it, even if they’re nowhere to be seen (and then it turns out that they are involved)? Or does he come across the new team, and how quickly do they learn to hate him as much as the original team members do?

McSweeten
McSweeten is such a sweetheart! I love his optimism, his faith in people, his kindness! I would love to spend more time with him – as an FBI agent, as a son, as a person. I’d also love more interactions between him and the team. Does the team run across the FBI on another job and have to slip into pretending to be Hagen and Thomas again? Does he ask for their help on another case in the guises they adopted for the D.B. Cooper job? Does he find out who they actually are, and how does he react to that? Does he become someone like Bonnano, a law enforcement officer they can trust to look the other way as long as they’re doing good, and what does it take to get him to that point? Do McSweeten and Bonnano ever work together? Or McSweeten and Sterling? Maybe that’s how he finds out? Or does the team have to tell him for some reason? Or does he find out on his own during an investigation?
I also really like how gone he is on Parker as Hagen and how he sweet is about trying to woo her, even when she’s oblivious. I’d love to see something that brings them together – her being on the other side of the law might be even more of a problem in this case than in the gen version of this request, since it’s more personal when it’s someone he’s romantically interested in or involved with. How do they bridge that difference? Does he end up as an associate member of Leverage International, or even an actual member? Or does he stick with the FBI, and they have to navigate the conflict of interest between his career and hers? Or does he act as their inside man in the FBI?

return to top


Mansfield Park
Characters/Ships:
• Fanny Price/Original Male Character
• Fanny Price/Original Female Character
• Tom Bertram/Fanny Price

General Thoughts
Fanny is probably Austen’s most divisive heroines, but I love her! I like that she’s quiet, and unassuming, and self-sacrificing to a flaw, how she’s always ready to be helpful and looks out for the needs of others, but she still won’t budge when everyone around her is trying to persuade her into something she thinks is wrong. I like that inner strength she has, that allows her to endure both Mansfield and Portsmouth, but also that she does sometimes struggle with jealousy and when her own desires conflict with what she thinks is right and proper – and how she chooses what is right when she’s forced to choose. I also like her Romanticism, her genuine delight in nature, and her love of poetry!
I’d really like a story that highlights those qualities – and I’d also really like her to be happy and valued, and to escape the confines of her socially prescribed role as a nobody in Mansfield – and to find an identity of her own and place that she can make hers. Maybe she becomes a Lady of a grand estate (either Mansfield through Tom, or some other estate)? Maybe she becomes an author and writes improving tracts for young ladies? Maybe she becomes a social reformer? Maybe she becomes part of the Clapham sect, somehow? Or maybe you have another idea in mind for what happens to her – I’m open to anything, as long as she’s happy! Feel free to make this a crossover with any other Jane Austen canon – I’m happy see her shipped with any “good” character in place of the Original Character, male or female (defined as character the Austen narrative sympathises with, i.e. no Willoughbys or Elizabeth Elliots, but Darcys or Mariannes are welcome!), or for you to create your own OCs to pair her with (and they don’t have to follow the prompts below).

Fanny Price/OMC
Who is the man who can be worthy of Fanny? Is he a sailor, known to her through William? Is he another vicar, a friend of Edmund’s, who is more able to listen to her and not impose his own will over hers? Is he a barrister, solicitor, or clerk? Is he a gentleman? Given her background, she could probably adapt to both marrying someone of the gentry or someone who had a more “middle-class” occupation (to use an ahistorical term), as long as she felt he was a good man! Perhaps he’s an artist—a writer, poet or painter and speaks to her love of beauty and the natural world? Maybe he’s as serious as she is, to add weight to her strengths. Maybe he’s also a Romantic? Or maybe he’s more outgoing or down-to-earth, complementing with what she might need more of? I think, whatever he’s like, he would have a strong sense of morality and honour, and would take his duties seriously, and behave with proper decorum and follow the societal rules, since that is very important to Fanny!
How do they meet? What does Sir Thomas think of him? What is their courtship like, and what does their married life look like?

Fanny Price/OFC
With a female character, it’s more difficult, since the society around them is so homophobic, but people have found ways to live and love outside the constraints of what society permits all throughout history! How does Fanny react to falling in love with a woman? How does she reconcile her love for another woman with the morals she’s been taught and clung to since childhood?
Maybe Fanny becomes the companion to another rich lady, one who values her and enjoys her company, and doesn’t see her as a general dogsbody? Maybe they even fall in love? Who is this lady? How does Fanny come to leave Mansfield to live with her instead? Does she see how Fanny is mistreated and want to offer her something better—and how does she entice dutiful Fanny to abandon the Bertrams? How does she approach Fanny about becoming more than friends—or maybe Fanny is the one to take the first step, and what brings her to that point?
Or maybe Fanny’s lady love is not a lady at all, but an artist? How respectable are they—politely maintaining the fiction that Fanny is a paid companion, or living in Bohemian Edinburgh or London with open-minded (most likely artist or writer) friends in a Regency version of the Bloomsbury group? Maybe If so, how do they live? How does Fanny fit in with said open-minded friends?
Or maybe they’re both married—lavender marriages, perhaps, or some other arrangement? Are these arrangements with their husbands mutual? Or just on one side? And how do their respective husbands react to their wives’ loving each other? Or is it a happy polycule where the husbands have their own affair(s) and Fanny and her love interest have theirs? How did they come to that point? What struggles, misunderstandings, and arguments did they have on the way?

Tom Bertram/Fanny Price
What if Fanny falls in love, not with Edmund, but with Tom? By the end of the book, we’re shown he’s quite reformed—what does this reformation look like? How hard is it for him? What is a reformed Tom Bertram like as a character/person? Does he fall in love with Fanny before or after or during the reformation? And what qualities of Tom’s draws Fanny to him? His openness, his playfulness (tempered by responsibility now), and his friendliness, in contrast to her own reserve? When does she fall in love with him—before or after his reformation?
Does Tom realise just how terribly his family have treated Fanny, and how does he react to that? What conflict does that cause within the family? Is Edmund spared, or does that cause conflict between the brothers? And how does Fanny react to all this? Or doe Tom instead not make a fuss (which Fanny probably doesn’t want anyway) but quietly resolve to do better—and how does the family react to that? How does Fanny react to Tom’s change—and what form does it take? How can Tom improve Fanny’s position and treatment in the family without making the rest of the family angry (and perhaps a little defensive)?
How does Sir Thomas react to finding out that Tom is in love with Fanny, or Fanny in love with Tom, or their mutual love, whichever is brought into the open first? Even though he comes to love Fanny as another daughter and is happy to see her marry Edmund, does he have any reservations about Fanny being in line to become the next Lady Bertram? And how does Mrs Norris react, if she’s around to see it?
How does Fanny deal with the difficulties the estate is facing? Does she and Tom manage to turn them around, and, if so, how?
What if his change came earlier in the novel—if his repentance was genuine? Would Sir Thomas still take him to Antigua? Or what if his experiences in Antigua were what triggered his reform? How would that affect his relationship with Fanny—and how would that affect the rest of the group and the plot of the novel, if he doesn’t go to Weymouth and meet Yates, meaning that there is no Lover’s Vows play? Would Mary Crawford still set her cap on Edmund, and would he still fall? Would Henry still try to seduce Fanny (regardless of whether or not she and Tom had realised their feelings for each other at that point, since we know that Crawford doesn’t pay much heed to prior attachments), and how would Tom react to that? Would that be how he discovered his feelings for Fanny? Would he support her rejection of Crawford? And how would Sir Thomas act, if he thought Tom and Fanny had feelings for each other before he was ready to accept her as a daughter?

return to top


Orphan Black
Characters/Ships
• Scott Smith
• Art Bell
• Art Bell & Sarah Manning
• Art Bell/Beth Childs

General Thoughts
I really love this show! There is something incredibly satisfying about a group of competent people working together to take down corrupt corporations and organisations! Shady science, evil corporations, competent protagonists, loyalty, trust issues, and found family—it’s like catnip to me! I’m also really interested in the people around the Clones who get drawn into their web, and decide to help them and throw their weight behind them in every way they can, even when they have an opportunity to back away.

Scott
Scott is a sweetheart! I love his enthusiasm for science, his nerdery that he wholly embraces, and how ride-or-die he is for Cosima and her sestra. I also love his obvious respect for Cosima, how kind he is with Kendall and Kira, how sympathetic and compassionate he is. I’d love to read more about him, a story where he gets to show of his skills and be part of the adventure!

Art, Art & Sarah
Art is such an amazing character! I love his determination to get to the truth, and his compassion that leads him to be the only person Sarah trusts to do the right thing in the police force. I love how he just blinks and accepts the whole improbable tale when Sarah lays it all out for him, and how ride-or-die he is for the Clones, even when they disagree, even when they’re doing really stupid stuff, he’ll be there to help and bail them out, sometimes risking his own career and life. I would love to see more of Art helping out with the fight against Neolution/DYAD etc., looking after Kira, being one of the few people Sarah trusts when shit hits the fan, and generally being his awesome self!

Art/Beth
I was really intrigued by the relationship between Art and Beth, the loyalty to your partner, the camaraderie and banter leading to forbidden feelings, Art watching Beth unravel before his eyes an unable to do anything about it!
I would love to see something where Beth survives and Art is roped into the whole mess through Beth, instead of Sarah. How do events in the first season change, when Beth, who by that point is much more looped into things, is there as well? Does Sarah still get roped into it, or is she still one of the Clones they decide to leave be? I would really like something where the struggle to get better is long, and arduous, and there are still people after them, and it is still dangerous, but Art is there to help Beth through it, and deal with her slow improvement!
Alternatively, a story set before canon exploring their working relationship and how that’s affected by Art’s feelings and Beth’s secrets?
Or a time travel story, with Art going back in time determined to save Beth? How would that change things, when Art’s the one with more knowledge about the whole conspiracy? Does it take him time to convince her to trust him? How does he approach having to do everything all over again?

return to top


Sunrise on the Reaping
Characters/ships
• Wellie
• Haymitch & Wellie

General thoughts
I really enjoy the Hunger Games universe, and I loved seeing this look at how previous attempts at rebellion and sabotage have failed (making me wonder about the earthquake and flooding during Annie’s year, but that’s beside the point), and the tension between the Capitol, with force on their side, versus the Districts, with numbers, and how hard the Capitol has to work to keep the Districts from uniting and overthrowing them: frankly, I’m amazed they lasted 75 years. I’m also really intrigued by the use of propaganda, and how the Games are used for spin and to sell a specific narrative, and how any sedition is edited out. I’m happy to see characters or events from any book in the series (the main trilogy, TBoSaS, or SotR) included or referred to.

Wellie, Haymitch & Wellie
What if the final moments of the 50th Hunger Games went differently? What if Wellie did manage to land the poison dart, or what if Haymitch returned earlier? How would the Capitol react to Wellie as Victor, who hadn’t made much of herself during the Games? What spin would they put on her Games? What would Snow ask of her, and how would she react? How would she settle into District 6? Feel free to include as much worldbuilding about District 6 into this request as you’d like: I eat that kind of thing up with a spoon!
I’d be especially interested in an outcome where Haymitch killed himself in a way that couldn’t be easily edited out or made out to be a mistake – what would they have done with an act of compassion from someone who should have no logical reason to show Wellie compassion? How would they have spun that: how could they have spun that? And how would she react to Haymitch’s sacrifice? What would her feelings and thoughts about Haymitch be, after the Games? How would the Districts react? Would it have ripples that the Capitol had to use all their energy to stay? Would it perhaps even spark more overt rebellion earlier than the 75th? Would Wellie and Haymitch’s sacrifice be able to unite the Districts (my instincts say no, but it would definitely be interesting exploring a world where the answer was yes!)?

return to top


Tortall
Characters/Ships
• Maura of Dunlath
• Keladry of Mindelan
• Maura of Dunlath & Keladry of Mindelan
• Saraiyu Balitang

General Thoughts
The Tortall books are an old childhood favourite of mine, and I really like the worldbuilding, the strong heroines, and the politics (that Pierce often glosses over as her stories are more focused on protagonists who aren’t very interested in politics, but the bits we do get fascinate me). I like how the universe gets more and more complex as the series go on, how what starts as fairly straightforward good vs. evil becomes more complicated, and the characters become more complex in later stories, but they don’t lose their hope and their belief in the goodness of humankind! While some parts of it haven’t quite stood the test of time (I cringe at the portrayal of the Bazhir, amongst others), they still have a special place in my heart!

Maura
I would love to read more about Maura and what happens to her: how does she restore Dunlath, and heal the land? What sort of trouble does she face with the wolves, ogres, and people? How does she get along with her guardians? How much power does she actually have, as Lady of the Fief—perhaps more than average, given how she came to be Lady of Dunlath and her determination to do what’s right for her fief, but perhaps not as much as she’d like, given she’s still not of age?
What does she do during the Immortals War? How does she lead her fief through war with mythical creatures? What sort of defences does she put up? Does she ever fight herself, or does she take a commanding and leading role instead?
What does she do when she comes of age? How does that change things? According to Pierce, Maura goes to Corus: how does that work out for her? How does she fit in? What sort of challenges does she face there? What is life like for the noblewomen who aren’t fighters? How does Thayet organise her ladies-in-waiting, and what is Maura’s role? Perhaps she stumbles across some kind or conspiracy at court, and has to deal with that?
There are some references to her in the Protector of the Small--
Maura is the only remaining person of her family—what sort of contingencies are there in place for the inheritance of Dunlath? Who is Maura’s heir until she has children of her own? Is there an arranged marriage for her, and how does she feel about that? How involved is she in arranging it?

Kel
Kel is such a great character! I love her determination, her stubbornness, her care for those weaker than her! I love how she doesn’t accept things as they are, but fights against every injustice she sees, even if the beneficiaries aren’t grateful, and how she sticks to her principles. I love how she tries to see the best in people, and how she admired Wyldon even when he was being terribly unfair to her. I would love to see more about where she goes from here, managing New Hope, working with the Own, being a representative of Lady Knights and a good example for other girls with similar dreams to follow! Does she take a squire? What is she like as a mentor and teacher? Does she start being a good marriage prospect for progressive families, famous hero as she is? With regards to her romantic prospects, I’m perfectly happy going with Word of God and having her as ace, or if you want to pair her with someone, ignoring Word of God (or pairing her with someone even if she’s ace). I have prompts for Kalasin/Kel in previous letters at my dreamwidth, but I’m happy for you to pair her with pretty much anyone you feel like – convince me to ship your ship as well!
I’d also be interested in seeing her relationships with her family, especially her brothers and sisters. How do her brothers deal with her ambitions to become a knight, and the fact that she eclipses them in fame, prestige, and powerful connections—or do they not care about such things?
And what is her relationship with her sisters? They obviously like and love each other, even with as different as they are, but Kel going for knighthood does affect Adalia’s and Oranie’s chances, as with Adalia having to pretend that there is a greater emotional distance than there is between them Florzile of Nond: does that ever wear on their relationship? Do they ever resent Kel? How does Kel’s knighthood influence the matches they make—with Adalia marrying into the conservative Nond family and Oranie marrying the progressive Hannalof, do their in-laws treat them differently based on that?

Maura & Kel
I like both of these very stubborn, very determined young women, and would love to read about a friendship between them!
What if Haven or New Hope was on Dunlath lands, given how close fief Dunlath is to the border? Maybe Maura and Kel would work together to ensure the safety of the refugees? Maybe Kel is stationed on or near Dunlath after the events of Lady Knight—what is their working relationship like? What conflicts do they have (if any, but I imagine they must have different opinions occasionally, when the priorities of their various duties clash), and how do they resolve them?
There are some references to her in the Protector of the Small—what does she think of the pages trampling all over her lands? Is she drawn to Kel because of her bond with the animals? Do Maura’s wolves approve of her?
Or what if Maura tried for knighthood after the events of Wolf Speaker, and was the oldest lady page, and acted as Kel’s sponsor and/or mentor? How would she deal with the bullying that Kel faced? Would she have put Joren in his place by the time Kel started, or would it still be an ongoing problem?

Sarai
Sarai was done dirty! I would love to see a work in which the conspirators actually let her in on their plans, giving her a goal and an outlet for her frustrations and a way to feel like she’s contributing to changing the fate not only of herself but of her people as well: I largely blame them keeping her in the dark for her elopement with Zaimid! I found the conspirators weirdly dismissive of her for the “crimes” of not dealing perfectly with her father’s death, being upset at the Rittevons’ cruelty, and not wanting to marry a 4-year-old, all very legitimate reactions and concerns, so I’d love to see her taken seriously and having her concerns addressed rather than dismissed.
What would Sarai be like as a Queen? She’s stubborn and headstrong, but she’s also charming and compassionate—would she be able to balance her traits and leverage her skills to find an acceptable balance between the Raka and the Luarin? What would her policies be, how would she approach the Raka rebellion? What choices would she make differently than Dove? And what would Dove’s role be, if Sarai was Queen? How would she and Aly relate to each other? What conflicts would they have, how would they work together?
What about Sarai’s marriage? She’s older, so she’s not able to put if off as long as Dove. Would she pick a Raka husband, or someone from outside the Copper Isles, and how would her choice be taken by her people?

return to top
This account has disabled anonymous posting.
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting

Profile

chronicbookworm: (Default)
chronicbookworm

December 2025

S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
14151617 181920
21222324252627
28293031   

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Mar. 17th, 2026 10:14 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios