Trick or Treat Letter

[seal_nonnie]

 

Hello, writer/artist! Two somewhat important things you should know: I go by Brachylagus_fandom over on AO3 and there is a high chance that reveals will occur when I am occupied by RL, so it might take several hours to a day for me to comment. I have a pretty wide range of likes, so just about anything not involving my DNWs would be fine.

For this exchange, I've divided prompts into tricks, treats, and either, with the last category being prompts that could go in either direction. If you feel you can make a good trick out of a treat prompt or vice versa, go ahead, and feel free to mix and match prompts as you wish.

DNWs:

• Porn Without Plot

• bdsm or d/s

• watersports

• issuefic

Likes:

• worldbuilding

• character studies

• fluff

• crack

• hurt/comfort

• mental/fridge horror

• mysteries/action stories

• backstories/future fic
  

• a plausible but dark interpretation of canon

• characters/settings turning out to be much darker than they appear

• awkward relationships and misunderstandings

• women kicking ass/being competent

• non-romantic relationships

• music
  

 

Steven Universe (Lapis, Pearl, Amethyst, Bismuth, Steven, Connie, Garnet, Peridot)

I like this show a little too much. The way it goes from happy kid's monster-fighting show to angst of the highest proportions with some really serious subject matter is one of my favorite elements, both in SU and in general. I think that it handles a lot of pretty dark issues and its characters and their issues (including some of the villains) very well, especially for media aimed at children. Also, I'm a sucker for good music.

Tricks:

• Nearly every character on this show has issues, and some (cougcoughPearlcoughough) have subscriptions. An exploration of these without a happy ending.

• Conflicts of interest in any era

• People they left behind

• The Crystal Gems in the war era, especially since it's implied that there were a lot more of them

• Steven learning the hard way that he can't save everyone.

Treats:

• Moments of peace during Rose's rebellion or the current escalating tensions

• Bonding

• Some good old-fashioned hurt/comfort over everything that these characters have been through

• A canon divergence where Bismuth either comes to her senses about becoming what she hates or the Breaking Point doesn't exist

Either:

• Origin stories

• Steven and Connie learning to fight/rescuing each other

• Exploration of motives (e.g., why Bismuth thought the Breaking Point was necessary)

Harry Potter (Hermione, Neville, Luna, Weasley Twins, Lee Jordan, Founders)

I grew up on Harry Potter, and a decent amount of my brain has been dedicated to magic and mayhem for a very long time. I love the actual magic as well as the characters, especially Neville's arc.

Tricks:

• Something set at Hogwarts during Deathly Hallows

• Fighting the Death Eaters

• Villains winning, at least for the moment

• Coping with death, loss, and/or being left behind

Treats:

• Hogwarts moments from before the Second War (e.g., Luna meeting some lonely person besides Harry, Neville and Herbology, the Twins and Lee)

• moments of normalcy in wartime

• hijinks and shenanigans, especially against Umbridge

Either:

• Founders-era, with optional historical accuracy

• Worldbuilding centered around interaction with the muggle world or magical history

• The Twins running their joke shop

• Something exploring Order of the Phoenix: Umbridge's thought process, defiance of the Decrees, a hypothetical situation where Harry was expelled from the magical world and how fifth year turns out then

• Post-canon era - where are the characters now? Epilogue optional.

• Exploration of character motivation, especially painting characters in shades of grey

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Suki, Ty Lee, Mai, Zuko, Iroh, Toph)

Again, I like this show's balance between humor, fluff, and dark introspection as well as its characters. I love how it handles changes of allegiance as well as motivations, especially how everything is painted in shades of gray rather than black and white.

Tricks:

• Ty Lee and Mai gradually realizing that Azula is completely nuts

• Azula's life in general

• Life under the Fire Nation

• Hakoda's or Suki's time as a prisoner of war

• Something showing the main cast as the children they are/recently were

• Dealing with loss, regularly ineffectively

Treats:

• Iroh and tea, either dispensing wisdom over it or running his shop

• Silly side stories like three-fourths of Tales of Ba Sing Se

• Sokka being his sarcastic, idiotic self

Either:

• Iroh's role as a surrogate father to Zuko and, as an extension of that one scene, Toph

• Ty Lee's relationship with the other Kyoshi Warriors

• Mai and Zuko's relationship

• Backstory

• Post-canon

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood/Manga (Izumi, Ed, Al, Hawkeye, Olivier, Hughes, Roy, Scar)

This show hits just the right spot for competency, badass powers, and interesting worldbuilding.

Tricks:

• Ishval and its aftereffects, from the perspective of those fighting (Hawkeye, Roy and Hughes on one side, Scar on the other), adults at the time (Olivier, who I'm 90% sure was stationed elsewhere, and Izumi, who isn't in the military), or children at the time (Ed and Al, especially with growing horror as they realize just what happened there)

• An expansion on the canonical human experimentation in the show (a la Tucker).

• I always thought that the time when Roy's team was split up was a perfect setup for abuse, especially of Riza. Roy panicking as he realizes every action he makes could end with his team dead would also be perfectly acceptable.

Treats:

• Roy and Riza falling in love with the worst timing possible

• Izumi teaching Ed and Al as kids

• The characters as children in general

• Casefic with Roy and his team

• Scar rebuilding Ishval

Either:

• Unknown backstories

• Life at Briggs

• Hughes watching canon as a ghost

Original Work (Gay Superhero, Gay Superfoe, Lesbian Superhero, Lesbian Superfoe, Assassin, Secret Agent, Librarian, Scientist, Female Secretary)

This is a glurge of action tropes. Unless specifically mentioned either way, the characters can be of any gender. Gay Superhero is merged with Lesbian Superhero into Superhero; the same thing happens with Superfoe. Also, Female Secretary regularly inhabits roles more typical of a research assistant, intern, or manager.

Tricks:

• Superfoe is crushing on Superhero, who is in a perfectly happy relationship with an innocent (gay/lesbian) bystander, leading to angsty dub/noncon over unrequited feelings.

• Scientist is kidnapped to work for Superfoe.

• Superhero is secretly Assassin.

• Everything is set up, and Superhero and Superfoe are trying to escape.

• Superfoe was right all along.

Treats:

• Librarian's job is very interesting (i.e., Secret Agent in the stacks, Dewey decimal classification of books concerning death rays, Superhero obsessively reading all books on superpowers and sexuality).

• Librarian is Secret Agent in deep cover.

• Superhero and Superfoe fall in love out of costume. (commence identity porn)

• Female Secretary has to deal with people being idiots, whether it is Superfoe ignoring the Evil Overlord List (and, if Lesbian Superfoe, maybe hitting on her), Scientist being Scientist, Superhero being not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, or Secret Agent having poor risk assessment skills.

• Superfoe tries to be good, with poor results.

• Awkward interactions due to being related/having known each other before they became action tropes.

Either:

• Superhero and Superfoe's relationship, especially with awkward protectiveness (Superfoe being unwilling to let Assassin kill Superhero), identity crises, and enemy mine situations

• Secret Agent is sent to gather evidence from/spy on Female Bodyguard's boss and runs into her.

• Scientist has a general lack of risk assessment and common sense, especially leading to them becoming Superhero/Superfoe or creating a monster (Plant Monster, Mutant Penguin, and Tentacle Monster are examples from the tagset).

• Female Secretary is Assassin or Secret Agent.

• Secret Agent missions in general