Dear Chocolatier 2017

Dear Chocolatier:

Thank you so much for signing up to write or draw me a thing about a fictional relationship I love! I am ridiculously easy to please when it comes to people writing or drawing me things. Seriously, just make me something based on any of my requests and I’m sure I’ll love it. So--aside from the Do Not Wants--please feel free to ignore the rest of this letter. It’s really only here to give you inspiration if you don’t know what to write or draw, but if you have your own ideas already, please go wild with them. One of the fun parts about somebody making things for my prompts is when they come up with things I would never have thought of myself.

So, about those Do Not Wants:

DNW (general):

-Long fic. Anything more than about 5000 words or so and I start getting anxious about reading and commenting in a timely fashion while still giving the story the attention it deserves, so I’d just rather you didn’t.
-AUs. Exceptions: Canon-divergence AUs, or crossovers/fusions with other fandoms I’m into. Those are great.
-Purely introspective stories with no action or character interaction.
-Choose-Your-Own-Adventure/interactive/game-style fic

DNW (smut):

-Sounding
-Infantilization
-That thing where one or more of the people involved doesn’t know what sex is or realize they’re having it
-Religion kink--like, naughty nuns and priests and what have you

General likes: I really like all kinds of fic, from silly fluff, action and adventures and worldbuilding to smut and hurt/comfort. Feel free to take it darker, too: violence, character death, betrayal, consent issues sexual and otherwise, bad things happening to characters I like AND characters I like doing bad things. I’m open to different POVs and tenses, and unusual fic formats like poetry and epistolary/documentary fic. For art, the kind of character portrait where a lot of thought has gone into details of clothing, hairstyle, etc even if nothing in particular is happening, loose sketchy comick-y things that illustrate a character moment or interaction. I also like things that incorporate text and images in various ways, like calligraphy, comics, maps and diagrams. For this exchange, in-character Valentines from one character to another (even if it would make no actual sense in universe) would be super cute.

A brief and really not exhaustive list of story elements I especially like: Comfort after a nightmare, self-sacrifice, loyalty and trust issues, elections, platonic bed-sharing, hugs, language geekery, communication issues, breakups (either the kind where the original relationship is eventually patched up, or where the people involved manage to forge a different but still mutually satisfactory type of relationship afterward, or where nothing is okay again and everything hurts), ethical dilemmas, food porn and food preparation, parenting/childcare, exploration of canon-appropriate religious themes. For art, in addition to any of these things, I’m really fond of watercolors and Art Nouveau-inspired stylings. Also, for the book fandoms I’m requesting, illustrations of any scenes with these pairings/relationships would be awesome.

Okay, and now for the prompts:

Fandom: Stand Still Stay Silent

Note: So, Chapter 13 was a hell of a thing, huh? We’ll know more after the chapter break, but at this point it seems most likely that in any scenario set more than two weeks into the future of the comic, either Tuuri will be dead or the Known World will be irrevocably changed. I am fine with you making a thing with either option in mind, or with other, less likely options, if you can think of them. Similarly, I am equally okay with you incorporating new bits of canon as they come in, or choosing a jumping-off point from canon and going from there. Things set in the past or canon-divergent AUs are great too.

Michael Madsen/Signe Sørensen

These jerks! They’re my favorite prologue characters, and I’d love to see anything with them falling in love and/or getting married as the world they know falls apart around them. Hurt/comfort would be very welcome, especially Michael finding ways to comfort Signe as she tries to stay in contact with/get news of her friends and family. I imagine phones and the internet would have been a lifeline that didn’t fail all at once, and she might have been able to get some horrific news before the final horrific lack of news. Signe is tough and funny and a jerk, but of the prologue characters, she’s the one who’s going into the new world pretty much bereft of everyone she ever might have cared about, so--yeah, get her some hugs, please.

Alternatively, something set further in their future, with their son they named after their cat? The day-to-day domestic work of running a farm in a post-apocalyptic world? Clashes between the old world they grew up in and the new world of the next generation? How Iceland re-opening its borders might have affected their lives?

Sigrun Eide/Agneta

I love the contrasts between these two--Sigrun’s relentless, somewhat chaotic cheerfulness vs. Agneta’s air of being Done With Your Nonsense--as well as their similarities as two fierce, competent warrior women. I’d love to see them as a battle couple, fighting side-by-side and watching each other’s backs, or see how their fierceness and contrasts played out in bed (or wherever.) Could they ever have a relationship that was anything other than casual? What would happen if Agneta ever visited Dalsnes?

Michael Madsen II & Mikkel Madsen

Anything from light-hearted childhood shenanigans to grownup angst--I’m definitely interested in the possibility that Michael died in Kastrup, and how it happened and how Mikkel deals and doesn’t deal with it. I’d also love to see how the constant presence of a more exuberant twin help shaped Mikkel’s personality as we know and love it today. Identity hijinks of any sort would be very welcome. I have a pet theory--not that I necessarily expect to become canon, but that I think is a distinct and interesting possibility--that the person we know as Mikkel is actually Michael, who is impersonating his twin for (possibly grief-related) reasons. Something incorporating this premise would be awesome as well.

Fandom: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner

Nahuseresh/Kamet

I would love to see anything with Medean world-conquering road trips while complaining about the conditions in barbaric countries! On a more serious note, I am fascinated by their character dynamic where Kamet has a certain amount of loyalty to and affection for Nahuseresh, but he also has a certain amount of resentment about his position which Nahuseresh has no clue about, while Nahusresh cares about and values Kamet, and makes some effort to shield him from his (Nahuseresh's) worst impulses, but again, has no clue about what Kamet actually thinks and feels much of the time. I would love to see this explored in any way.

As long as Kamet is Nahuseresh's slave, any consent he gives to sexual activities is going to be dubious at best, and I'd be interested in seeing all the different ways that could go (Kamet is totally into it but also very much aware that if he wanted to say no he couldn't; Kamet is manipulating Nahuseresh; Kamet wants to say no but can't in any way that Nahuseresh would understand and/or accept). The one thing I don't want is Nahuseresh knowingly raping Kamet; that's just not how I see this relationship.

Fandom: Crossover Fandom

Elsa (Frozen)/Charlotte La Bouff (The Princess and the Frog)

Lottie has her heart set on a prince, but I bet she'd be willing to go for a queen instead. She's got the diplomatic and social skills Elsa could use in a consort, and some experience in the care and feeding of driven types who sometimes go too far into self-denial in their quest to succeed. And Elsa might simultaneously find herself drawn to and exasperated by Lottie’s friendliness and apparent flightiness, and, eventually, by the core of steely ambition underneath.

I’d love to see them meeting at a diplomatic function of some kind, or thrown together on a magical adventure. If you're thinking of taking it in a smutty direction, I love sex magic and like temperature play too, so creative uses of Elsa’s powers could be fun.

Fandom: Chanur Series - C. J. Cherryh

Py/Khym:

Anything with Py and Khym on the Pride, trying to figure out how things are supposed to work now. Khym bringing out his legal skills, or his being fucking huge skills, or working on his culinary skills, and Pyanfar being all captainly and trusting him to get stuff done, them saving each other in exciting adventures or chilling together in more domestic moments. Or if you want to write backstory about their earlier married life, how they balanced Khym’s role as Lord Mahn and Pyanfar’s career in space, whether they found ways to work together even then. Something with their kids before that went to hell, or showing how that all went to hell?

Alternatively, I would love to get something smuttier for them as well! Canon is pretty quiet on how exactly hani sex works (although they are sort of roughly based on lions) so feel free to throw in whatever wild ideas you might have. And--okay. So you know that bit where Pyanfar and Khym are snuggling in bed and Pyanfar is like, “Hey, how would you feel about fucking the whole crew?” Make that happen for me and I will love you forever. (Please include Tully if you’re so inclined! But not Hilfy, because Khym feels weird about that.)

Py & Skkukuk

I’d love to see Skkukuk’s take on any of the events of the books, his initial reaction to being foisted on Pyanfar and how his feelings towards her change and his loyalty develops. I just want aaaaall the platonic loyalty kink for them. I’d love to see them trying to understand each other's culture and biology in order to better fulfill the obligations they feel they have towards each other--I’d particularly like to see Pyanfar sacrificing her own best interests for Skkukuk’s sake, or publicly claiming him when it would be more convenient not to. Or else Skkukuk accomplishing something beyond all reason and expectation for Py.

Fandom: Lively St. Lemeston series - Rose Lerner

Ash Cohen & Rafe Cohen

I would love to see anything from Ash and Rafe’s younger days, from when they were wee baby conmen up until right before the start of the book. Anything where they are looking after each other or being stupidly self-sacrificing for each other would be great. Caper fic would be awesome too. From the little we saw of her in the book and in the Purim ficlet from Rose Lerner’s website (scroll down the comments here to find it) Faige seemed pretty cool, so feel free to include her.

Alternatively, if you’d rather write something post-canon, how do the brothers maintain their relationship with Ash’s new identity and life? How does Rafe get along with his in-laws? (I would be quite happy with background Rafe/Jamie, and of course Ash/Lydia is lovely.) I am especially intrigued by the idea of Ash and Lydia occasionally going on holiday as a different, Jewish couple, and would love to see Ash and Rafe coaching Lydia on Jewish things.

Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold

Kareen Koudelka/Mark Vorkosigan/Raven Durona

Kareen and Mark have a mutual option, but no one ever said it was an exclusive option, did they? I’d love to see them take their business association with Raven in a more intimate direction. Raven’s combination of curiosity, cynicism, and chill would probably equip him to deal with Mark’s issues and also what’s left of Kareen’s Barrayaran upbringing without too many problems. They could have a lot of fun together, and Mark and Kareen deserve all the pretty boys.

Raven Durona/Armsman Roic

THESE DORKS OK. I really loved their sections in Cryoburn, and would love to see more banter, spy shenanigans, and makeouts between them. Roic needs to expand his horizons! Roic's earnest grumpiness and Raven's cheerful cynicism are like chocolate and peanut butter.

Terrence Cee/Ethan Urquhart

I’d love to read about their Betan adventures before they get back to Athos, or about Terrence adjusting to life on Athos. If you’d like to go the farther-future route, write me a story about what happens when Ethan and Terrence are grandfathers and their crimes come to light when the first telepaths start cropping up, or about Galactic telepaths coming to seek asylum on Athos? Or if you want to write something sexier, I’d love something about their first time, or telepathic sex, or hurt/comfort either of the angsty, dealing-with-Terrence’s-traumatic-past variety, or the fluffy, Terrence-takes-care-of-Ethan-when-he-has-a-cold variety.

Things I’d like to see illustrated: Ethan pictured himself taking Cee sailing on the South Province coast, checking the underwater fences of his father’s fish farm--did Cetaganda have oceans?--salt sweat and salt water, hot hard work and cold beer and blue shrimp afterwards. Yes, draw me this please. Or anything sweet and shippy with them. The kids can come too, especially if any of them bear a distinct resemblance to the magnificent Admiral Quinn.

Lilly Durona & Georish Stauber

Something from their youth together, escaping from Baron Ryoval, and the origins of their Deal? Or maybe being long-distance frenemies in their old age.


Lilly Durona & Lotus Durona

Okay, something happened during Lotus' youth that made her decide to take that particularly baroque revenge on Lilly, and I would love to know what it was.

If for some reason you want to stalk me , I am dead easy to stalk; I'm minutia_r (or occasionally minutia-r) all over the internet: LJ/DW, AO3, tumblr, deviantart, ff.net, 8tracks, and probably one or two other places I don't recall off-hand.

Thank you! You are awesome, I am really looking forward to seeing what you make for me, and I hope you get great stories and/or art out of this exchange, too!