Dear Chocolatier 2019
Jan. 6th, 2019 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
platinum_firebirdLinks: I'm Burning_Nightingale on AO3
Likes
General
I’m a fan of romance, adventure (especially quests!), casefic, plotty fic, fluff, gen, world-building and character studies. I am happy with any rating and any tone, from fluffy curtain fic down to pretty dark stuff. I usually prefer at least a bittersweet ending, though (unless otherwise specified). I love fics that are realistic and I love stuff that’s tropey as all get out; go wild.
Some themes/tropes I really love include: characters fighting against/changing fate, everything about survival (what it means, how it changes you, the lengths you went to), the pressures and struggles of leadership, two people against the world together, found family anything, harsh/beautiful (or harshly beautiful) physical landscapes, gifts or gestures with intense or very personal meanings, anything where characters just get one another, characters who grapple with becoming evil or doing evil deeds, villains who believe they’re in the right, villains who just don’t care about morality, characters who are determined hope will prevail above all else, characters who really feel the weight of their heritage/someone's legacy and a pressure to live up to that.
I am also very into AUs and fusions, including: fantasy (urban, high, whatever), post-apocalypse, sci-fi/space, superpowers, Pacific Rim fusions, reincarnation, royal/arranged marriage
Relationship Themed Trope Likes
Seemingly Unrequited Pining, Friends to Lovers, Fake Dating/Fake Marriage Accidentally Turns Into Feelings, Battle Couple, Everyone Can See It, Like An Old Married Couple
Porn Likes
I really love porn that’s about the characters and centres their relationship. Emotionally charged, desperate, I-need-you-it-can’t-wait sex is fantastic! Sex that’s the culmination of a slow burn and/or a really intense bout of UST is my absolute jam. I’m pretty vanilla when it comes to things like BDSM, so anything beyond blindfolds and tying up wrists is a no-go for me. I’m not really into dom/sub dynamics, but a bit of dirty talk is great. A bit of rough sex – hair-pulling, pushing up against walls, scratching/biting, not being 100% gentle all the time is also very good ;) If I've requested noncon, I'm happy for you to go further with the roughness, e.g. violence to get the victim to comply, more general rough sex etc. I'm also always down with xeno and human/non-human sex!
DNWs
Scat + watersports, incest, underage, character-bashing, non-con (unless requested), strict BDSM relationships, de-aging, humiliation
Fandoms
The Hobbit - All Media Types
Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield - The movie sold me on these two SO HARD. A moment of them becoming important to each other over the Quest would be great. I love the idea of Thorin being confused as to why he likes a Hobbit, of all creatures; but when he thinks harder about it, it's clear that Bilbo has so many admirable qualities. I love them both being a little hesitant about it all - a hobbit? A dwarf? (A king of dwarves at that) - but ultimately seeing what's great in one another. Obviously after the dragon sickness things change a lot, and I'd love to see something that doesn't downplay that - Thorin did threaten Bilbo's life - but something about their healing would be fantastic.
Sigrid & Tauriel - I imagine these two might get to know each other after the Battle of Five Armies, once everything has calmed down. They have a lot to deal with – losing her home and position for Tauriel, and losing her home and gaining a new one and becoming a princess for Sigrid. Do they bond over their massive change in circumstances? Does Dale take Tauriel in, or does she just appear to live in the surrounding area, and no one knows what she’s doing, exactly? I would absolutely love them bonding over something, and Tauriel perhaps teaching her some sort of skills, or perhaps a look at how their relationship grows and changes as the years pass? Perhaps Tauriel stays in Dale and they become close friends, or she comes and goes and they only see each other rarely? I would also totally be up for an AU where something happens to Sigrid’s older brother and she has to become the Queen, and Tauriel helps her with that.
The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Bilbo Baggins & Fíli & Kíli - I’d love to see how they become friends/important to each other! Fíli and Kíli clearly think it’s funny to tease Bilbo at the beginning of their journey – but when do they come to care about him? I’d love literally anything about their friendship. If you want to do something heartbreaking about Bilbo mourning them both that is also a-okay. Equally, I am totally up for some fix-it fic where they get to deal with everything that’s happened.
Bilbo Baggins & Thorin's Company - I love how Bilbo goes from ‘ugh dwarves’ to ‘they’re my friends and I would die for them’. Literally anything about him bonding with literally any member of the Company would be fantastic. Maybe he offers his cooking/sewing/whatever skills and everyone quickly takes him up on it? He offers support to someone in a moment of need? A member of the Company teaches him a skill he’ll need on the road? Or perhaps something about them visiting him later on when he’s back in the Shire?
The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Barahir (First Age)/Finrod Felagund | Findaráto – I dearly love all elf/man pairings, and all the angst and tropes that come with them. I love how Finrod finds the Men and seems to become their champion, so anything about how Barahir relates to him because of that would be perfect. How do they meet, get together, deal with the angst about Barahir’s mortality? And the whole Barahir saving Finrod thing? Maybe some victorious/thank-god-we’re-alive sex after that?
Caranthir | Morifinwë/Original Male Character(s) – I would really love something set in Beleriand, when Caranthir is a lord in his own right with his own land. How does that land run, what’s his relationship like with the dwarven people? It says in the Silmarillion that he looked down on them – but did he really? And who is this person he falls for, and what position do they hold, what’s their relationship to him – do they work for him, or perhaps they’re a representative of another lord/kingdom? Caranthir falling for a visiting Avari from far over the mountains would be amazing, especially if there were some culture clash elements to the story. And we know he’s famous for being prickly – how does the guy he falls for get around that to see his somewhat softer personality underneath?
Celebrimbor | Telperinquar & Finduilas Faelivrin - I'd love to know what their relationship is like. Do they like each other? Hate each other? Ignore each other? What does Finduilias think of his decision to stay behind in Nargothrond and reject his father? What leads him to that decision, and how hard is it to make? What's life like for him in Nargothrond afterward? What does he think of Turin, as a leader and as the man Finduilias loves? I’d love to see the two of them talk about Turin and possibly about Gwindor, about Turin’s rise to power and what that means for them/Nargothrond/Orodreth. I'd love to know where Celebrimbor fits in the politics of Nargothrond - whether he opposes or supports Turin's rise to power, and whether he can do anything about it if he opposes Turin. Does he get heavily involved in Nargothrond’s politics, or perhaps after the fiasco his father got into, he swears off it entirely? I imagine he ends up the leader/figurehead for the Noldor who used to follow his father/uncle who’ve remained in Nargothrond, so how does he deal with that role? Or perhaps a fix-it where they both escape Nargothrond together?
Fingon | Findekáno/Maedhros | Maitimo - I mentioned I love characters who struggle with legacy, and that's something I think Maedhros struggles with in spades. And I love Fingon's bravery, and how he's prepared to forgive even after what happened between the two halves of his family. I think the moment that made me love him was when he set out on his quest after Maedhros, so I'd love to see his thought process as he gets ready for that, what makes him decide to do it, how he manages to sneak out of the camp and set off, all with a shippy slant (and the rescue, if you’d like to include that!) I mostly headcanon that they don’t get together until after all that has happened, so a get-together fic would be absolutely great. They must visit each other a lot in Himring/Barad Eithel, so I’d love to see what any of those visits were like. Maybe something about Maedhros comforting Fingon after his father’s death and becoming the High King, or the two of them planning the Union? Or if you want to go super angsty, Maedhros mourning Fingon’s death and the tragedy of the Nírnaeth would be amazing.
Maglor | Makalaurë/Ulmo – Maglor goes wandering off down the shore at the end of the Silmarillion – does he stay there? Does Ulmo watch him, and eventually go talk to him? What do they talk about? I would love anything that emphasises Ulmo’s strangeness, his non-humanness, and how very weird talking to a god can be. How weird is it to be communicating with something that’s alien, other, and so very strange? And how does that translate if these two eventually have a physical relationship? If you’re up for writing some very xeno/weird porn, I am very up for reading it. (Also, Ulmo is the god of the sea, so – tentacles. I would read it).
Celebrimbor/Narvi - I’m really into this pairing as ‘two grumpy smiths finally find someone they can relate to, accidentally fall in love’. I’d love anything about them getting to know each other, crafting together, and slowly and unexpectedly falling in love. How do they deal with it? Do they admit to it? Anything about culture clashes/differences between dwarves and elves would be amazing, as would Celebrimbor exploring Moria and finding out more about it from Narvi. Also maybe making things together, or for each other? I would absolutely love something in which they made jewelry for each other. Leaving each other presents of their work, secret admirer-style?
Original Work
NB: Except where specified I'd prefer M/M pairings for these. Also for all except the Big Bad/Chosen One and Avatar/Investigator ships, I'm leaning towards them being set in a high fantasy type setting.
Avatar of an eldritch god/Paranormal investigator in over their head – I’d love a cocky paranormal investigator who thinks they’re totally fooling the avatar into believing that they’re an innocent bystander/citizen/potential recruit for the cult, while the avatar knows they’re anything but. I would love the avatar playing games with the paranormal investigator, drawing them in deeper without them even realizing, and then the moment of realization for the investigator when they know they’re in over their head but can’t see a way out. If you want to include noncon or dubcon in this I would definitely be down for it, or if you want to have the avatar be angling to turn the investigator into a human sacrifice or another avatar for the god, that would be amazing. If the investigator ends up coming into contact with some aspect of the god and going mad because of it, that would be cool – I definitely don’t mind unhappy endings for this pair. I’m thinking a sort of Lovecraftian and/or small town horror vibe for this request.
Baker/Captain of the Guard - Who is the baker, and how did they set up their shop – was it inherited, or is it their dream that they’ve finally achieved? Is the Captain a regular who drops into the baker’s shop every day on their way to work to pick up breakfast, and slowly falls for the baker’s sweet charms? If you want to lean into romcom tropes for this I would be so up for it. Or maybe the baker gets involved in something criminal (either as participant, victim or an innocent bystander) and the Captain comes to talk to them about it. Maybe the Captain and the Baker have to solve a crime together?
Big bad with the flu/hero hellbent on reform via TLC - ALL THE CUTENESS. I don't mind what kind of setting you want to make this - modern, sci-fi, fantasy - or if you want to make the big bad's illness a really serious case of flu or just a mancold, I'm just here for the relentlessly optimistic hero determinedly playing out all the 'caring for the sick' tropes and the big bad being won over despite himself. I'd love if at the beginning the big bad is like a grumpy cat refusing to be coddled, but he gets so miserable that he ends up being grateful for the hero's care, and then finds himself hopelessly in love despite himself.
Female magic user losing her grip on reality/female magical weapon who keeps her sane – Magical talking weapons is one of my favourite tropes, so anything you do with this will be golden. What’s the reason and how is the magic user losing her grip on reality, and how does the magical weapon keep pulling her back from the edge? What kind of magic does the magic user practise? What’s the story behind the magic weapon’s creation, how did it come to be in the magic user’s possession, and what type of weapon is it? Does the magic user combine her magic use with using the weapon in battle – or perhaps the magic user doesn’t even see much fighting, but keeps the weapon around just because she’s so good at helping her keep hold of her sanity?
Forty-Year-Old Virgin King/His Male Knight Who Wants to Gently Deflower Him - I think this tag is incredibly sweet and I super want fluffy hurt/comforty stuff for it. Why is the king a virgin - by accident or by choice? Maybe he's been waiting for The One, and he never came along? And the knight - older or younger? I'd love for him to be helplessly in love with the king and willing to do anything for him. Maybe the king is insecure about love/having never experienced sex, and somehow admits it to the knight, who is 100% here for helping him with this particular problem. Then they have passionate, gentle, loving sex?
Male Fire God/New King Who Marries Him In What He Assumed To Be A Symbolic Ceremony – I’d love to know why this ceremony comes about, and why the new king assumed it was only symbolic? Is it something done for every monarch, but the fire god has never actually claimed any of them as his spouse before? Or has the King somehow become the monarch of a country/people whose culture he doesn’t know well, and that’s why he assumed this was only symbolic? What happens to show him that this is very much not a symbolic ceremony? What does being a fire god’s husband entail? Wedding night consummation would be amazing, especially if the fire god has some very non-human traits and the king is very much out of his depth but kinda into it. (Also, he’s a fire god, so – temperature play? I would be into it)
The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Peter Lukas & Evan Lukas – I don’t think we know how exactly Evan and Peter were related, so – are they closely related (e.g. Evan is Peter’s nephew) or are they distant relations from the presumably extensive Lukas family? When have they met? Evan seems like the black sheep of the family while Peter seems to have followed in their footsteps, so how do they relate to each other? Maybe Evan has cut all ties with the family and Peter is sent to try and bring him back into the fold? Or Evan is still sort of on speaking terms with people, and comes back to the family house for some reason (maybe he’s dragged back for the holidays) and winds up encountering Peter and having a conversation? Or having an experience with the Lonely?
Elias Bouchard/Jonathan Sims – Elias enticing Jon down the path to getting in deep with Beholding is my favourite part of the series and anything that plays on that will be perfect for me. Anything that includes Elias leading Jon into developing his powers and/or developing his bond with Beholding would be amazing. Or maybe Elias somehow convinces Jon to break him out of prison? (I realise this will be probably be jossed by the new season but prison break fics are always my jam) I would love love something that includes Elias convincing Jon to help him perform the Watcher’s Crown, and how that goes down, and what implications it has if they succeed (or if they don’t). Also totally up for PWP for this pair, especially if Elias manages to tempt Jon into it even when Jon knows it’s a bad idea. Given how Jon reacts whenever Elias compliments him, maybe he’d be into praise kink? Or if you wanted to have Elias be a little more than human, I would be totally into that.
Martin Blackwood/Peter Lukas – Anything and everything that includes Peter creeping on Martin and being cheerily creepy would be amazing. Why has he taken a special interest in Martin, and how does it develop? If you want to write some dubcon/noncon porn for this pairing I would be super into it – Peter claiming Martin for his power rather than Beholding, maybe? Or even something consensual with Martin being self-destructive/making bad decisions and/or being weirdly into Peter despite everything. Perhaps something where Martin has to get on Peter’s good side for some reason and gets in deeper than he planned?
Mass Effect Trilogy
Female Shepard/Ashley Williams - I really want something about Ashley’s changing feelings through the series. How does she feel about the Commander who scooped her up and took her on this huge, galaxy-changing adventure? Assuming she survives Virmire, how does Shepard’s death and subsequent revival affect her? We know she can’t trust Shepard after she joins Cerberus – but that trust is restored in the third game. What does that look like from Ashley’s point of view? I’m really interested in how Ashley goes from forming a bond of trust in the first game, having it broken in the second, being wary but coming to trust Shepard again in the third. I just love these two together for what they’ve shared, what they’ve been through, and would love an exploration of that.
Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian - Oh boy, these two. I have laughed. I have cried. I don’t think I will ever stop loving this ship. I love how it goes from Shepard being the more experienced soldier who has a lot to teach in the first game, to their more equal partnership in the second after Garrus has had some bad experiences of his own. I love Garrus’ loyalty mission, and how he and Shepard are a real duo and badass team together on that mission. (If you wanted to write an AU where Shepard and Garrus were a two-man team of some kind, for any reason, whether they were both Spectres or both criminals or something else, that would be amazing! (Especially if they’re both Spectres, and meet as Spectres. I think that AU could be so cool)). And then they get separated by Shepard getting incarcerated back on Earth. What kinds of conversations do they have after the events of the Arrival DLC, and leading up to Shepard deciding to turn herself in? Do they have any contact at all during the six months Shepard’s under house arrest? Do either of them tell their families about their relationship? And what are they both feeling when they hook up again back on Menae? I’d also love to see them supporting each other through the horrors of ME3, as things escalate almost beyond Shepard’s ability to cope, and how their relationship deepens. One of my favourite tropes is when characters go from being mavericks/rebels/hotshots/relatively inexperienced and slowly develop into very experienced people who are trusted and unexpectedly given a lot of responsibility by the world at large/the people in charge, and Garrus and Shepard fit that to a T (Garrus even comments on it at one point in ME3). I would love something that explores that progression, from the mavericks in ME1 who hijacked their ship to chase aliens no one believed in, to the leaders of the charge against those aliens who’re trusted by their respective political/military leaders in the third. Alternatively, just something fun with them taking a break, maybe a dinner date, maybe some time in the Armax Arena?
Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya - I've heavily shipped Shakarian pretty much since I started their playthrough, and after Tali's loyalty mission I was shipping her and Shep really hard as well, so threesome seems like the next logical step! (Basically picture me screaming for eternity when Tali muttered that thing about a Garrus/Shep/her threesome xD) I'd love some in-depth character study of how Garrus and Tali each deal with their changing feelings for Shepard. I see both their relationships with Shepard to be more teacher/student and big sister/little sister in the first game, so how do they deal with, apart from the fact that she died and came back, the fact that they now see her in a completely different light? And you could also turn it around for Shepard; these two have matured and grown so much in the last two years - how strange is it for her to see them like this, when for her it seems as if no time has passed? How does she feel running into Tali on Freedom's Progress, right off the bat? How does she feel learning what Garrus has been up to - and in those awful moments when she thinks he's going to die? And anything from ME3 - that moment when Shep and Garrus reunite on Menae, when Tali walks into the war room - how do they fit back together again after their time apart?
Female Shepard/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya - WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL. Like literally I will never stop being gutted that this isn't a romance option for FemShep. The delivery of Tali's dialogue just after you get her cleared of treason was one of the moments that sealed it for me; her "I got better, I got you", is so sincere and sweet, while "It's fun watching you shout" definitely sounds suggestive. Tali is such a good soul and she goes through so much by Shepard's side, they go through so much together, they have such a special bond and I can't stop raving about it. All their conversations together on Rannoch make me want to cry. When Tali says "The living room window will be right here" and Shepard replies "Something you wanna tell me?" I just cannot help but think that yes, Tali wants to tell you she wants to build a house with you and settle down, but she's too shy to say it/not gonna talk about that right now because it's too distracting from the mission. What I really love about Tali is that she repeatedly comes along and supports Shepard when it would be completely understandable for her not to. In the first game there's no guarantee she'll finish her pilgrimage on Shepard's mission, but she comes anyway. In 2 Cerberus has proved itself hostile to her people, but she still comes. In 3 she's just got her entire freakin' planet back, but she still comes. For this pairing, oh man, write me anything. Write me Tali having a schoolgirl-like crush on Shep in 1, write her feelings during the two year gap when Shep is "dead" and how she deals with seeing Shep alive again, write how her loyalty mission maybe sparks deeper feelings, write about Tali going back to her people and fighting against the geth war and trying to channel Shep when acting as an admiral, write her and Shep on Rannoch during 3 or after the Reaper War if you wanna handwave the ending, write them hanging out on the Citadel or the Normandy or literally freakin' anywhere.
