Chocolate Box 2021 - Dear Author

AO3: Panny

Hello, dear author, and thank you so much for writing for me! I have tried to leave you at least a general idea of what I like about each canon and what I might be interested in reading for them. Some canons may have more written than others depending on how much I had to say and how many specific ideas I had (and how much I had to copy over from previous letters), but rest assured that I want all of them desperately and look forward to whatever you create!

If I've left prompts that don't speak to you, don't worry about it! There are plenty of things that I enjoy that I haven't specifically prompted for (and there's a reason that I leave a list of general likes) and I want you to write something that you enjoy and find exciting. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me through the mods. I try to be speedy about replying and never mind clarifying.

As a general note, I'm not especially interested in porn for porn's sake for my M/M ships, but I'm down for sex scenes as a part of character building or for the purposes of relationship development. I'm a lot more keen on something that focuses on the emotions/internal thoughts during the moment than the physical descriptions of the smut in general.


Clickable Table of Contents
➳General Likes
➳General DNWs
➳The Affair of the Mysterious Letter: Gabriel Lawson/John Wyndham
➳Burning Roses: Hou Yi/Rosa
➳DC Extended Universe: Helena Bertinelli/Renee Montoya
➳DCU (Comics):

• Renee Montoya & Vic Sage
• Renee Montoya/Elicia Sanchez
• Jason Todd/Vic Sage

➳The Extraordinaries: Nick Bell/Seth Gray
➳Pretty Deadly: Big Alice/Deathface Ginny
➳Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower: Cobweb/Floralinda
➳The Space Between Worlds: Caralee/Dell
➳The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde (Comics): Thomas Adye/Edward Hyde | Henry Jekyll

➳Crossover:

• Bruce Wayne (DCEU)/Vic Sage (DCU)
• Clark Kent (DCEU)/Vic Sage (DCU)

General Likes:

♥ Tropey goodness, taken as seriously or as silly as you like.

♥ Protectiveness.

♥ Loyalty.

♥ Conflict.

♥ Hurt/comfort.

♥ Messy, complicated relationships where no one person is necessarily "better" than the other.

♥ Characters who are normally in control very much not being that.

♥ Canon divergence/for want of a nail AUs.

♥ Self-destructive tendencies.

♥ Mind games and mutually dangerous people engaging in cat-and-mouse scenarios.

♥ Badass in distress.

♥ Competency and cleverness

♥ Identity porn and related scenarios.

♥ "Good guys" being driven to do shady, questionable things in the pursuit of their goals/righteous ideals.

♥ Morally bankrupt bad guys falling in love and doing things that screw over their agenda or leave them vulnerable because they care about one particular person.

♥ Emotion-driven desperation.

♥ When two people rest their foreheads together and it's super intimate

♥ Women pinning other women against walls.

♥ Role swaps.

♥ Time loops.

♥ Superheroes.

♥ Fairy tales.

♥ Dragons and/or robots.

♥ Hair ruffling.

General DNWs:

✘ Non-canonical (permanent) major character death; character death as part of a Groundhog Day scenario or where the other half of the ship goes on a quest to revive them or etc. is totally fine.

✘ Torture.

✘ Mutilation. Description of/reference to existing canon injuries would be fine. New injuries resulting in a new scar or something would also be fine, particularly considering the type of characters we're dealing with in some of these canons. Canon-typical levels of violence are fine as a general rule.

✘ Issue fic (e.g. fic centered around delivering a moral lesson or having a character learn the error of their ways by being educated about social issues; fic set around commenting on/paralleling real world social issues, power structures, or concepts of identity that don't exist natively in the canon's worldbuilding--"canon typical" is fine, as a rule).

✘ "Ripped from the headlines" plots/stories about contemporary real world events (e.g. COVID).

✘ Terminal illness.

✘ Mundane AUs (e.g. coffee shop, high school, no powers, etc.).

✘ Non-con.

✘ Age play.



The Affair of the Mysterious Letter
Gabriel Lawson/John Wyndham

I am kind of devastated that Alexis Hall intended this novel as a standalone and that he (at this point) has no intentions of giving us a follow up because as soon as I finished it all I wanted was a follow up. I wanted more mysteries, more literally out of this world adventures, more Shaharazad Haas, and more of John Wyndham coming out his shell and getting sucked into hijinks (and very lowjinks) in the name of the case and his best friend's whims. And I also really wanted to see John and Lawson get together.

While romance wasn't really the point of The Affair of the Mysterious Letter (or, well, not for our heroes anyways), I have to admit that my mind snagged on author!John's reference to his long suffering husband at the start of the book and I was waiting with desperate interest to find out who it was. Imagine my delight as it became increasingly apparent that the narrative was pointing towards a budding mutual interest with Lawson! While Lawson's appearances are relatively brief, he's so immensely likeable throughout them as the only sane man who is ever in the room (as opposed to John who only thinks he is and gets more and more honest about not being that as the novel goes on) and the dynamic he develops with John, despite the circumstances of their encounters, is completely adorable.

I really, really want post- canon fic showing more of how this dynamic develops, how they encounter each other in the future, how their interests turn from subtly to blatantly romantic, who makes the first move, how do things develop once they're in an established relationship, how does John make the change from the man in the book to the man who wrote the book, and what shenanigans Lawson has to put up with over the years.

Some Potential Prompts:
✎5 times John was arrested + 1 time the shoe was on the other foot and John had to bail Lawson out.

✎More wild case shenanigans during which John bends and breaks the rules of law (and decency) with increasingly less reluctance and Lawson gets dragged in to truly earn that description of "long-suffering".

✎Post-canon romantic moments. Who finally asks who out? What are their dates like? How crazy is the wedding?

✎Shaharazad is asked to consult on a case for the Myrmidons and declines. John, having gained some more detective experience, shows up to help anyway.

✎Lawson wasn't kidding when he said he'd be upset with Shaharazad if she got John killed. When John gets in over his head in another dangerous situation, Lawson decides to intervene to ensure that does not happen in a way that has nothing to do with duty and everything to do with not wanting to lose the nice guy he rather fancies.

✎Despite his distaste for Shaharazad and the way she operates, Lawson gets drawn into helping out one of their cases. Maybe either she or John are involved in the meat of the case themselves--in some way incapacitated, framed for or implicated in something, threatened/blackmailed, etc. and Lawson is moved to help out.

✎Hurt/comfort. Cases gone wrong, patching up injuries, kidnappings and hostage situations, time loops of trauma, the after affects of encounters with eldritch horrors, near misses and close calls, etc.



Burning Roses
Hou Yi/Rosa

Note: While not present for most of the novella, these characters' canon wives and adopted children are obviously very important to who they are and what motivates them. While I'd prefer the focus be on my requested pairing, I have no problem with their feelings for/pining towards/grief over their canonical partners being portrayed as well.

 
I absolutely adored this novella--it's like someone reached into my soul, took a grab bag of things that appeal to me without fail, and then made something beautiful out of it. Hou Yi and Rosa are both wonderfully complicated characters with troubled relationships with their pasts. I love that they found each other and the ways in which they've bonded over the similar shames of their pasts, but I also very deeply love the friction and conflict that results from them realizing how different the choices they've made are. And I love that this conflict, as painful and bitter and compelling as it is, isn't enough to break them because Rosa is with Hou Yi until the end.

While I was happy for them each to have resolutions with their wives and adopted children one way or another in the end and achieve some kind of peace...I have to admit that the longer the story went on, the more I shipped them with each other instead. I'd really love more pre-canon adventures or AUs that get to play in that space where they both feel that they've lost everything (and they both feel that they've earned that loss, whatever form it takes) and all they have is this new bond they've created with each other.

I also really love the fairy tale mashup world that Huang created and would love more exploration of it and more monster hunting (and more complicated moral quandaries around the very concept of "monster").

Some Potential Prompts:

✎More monster hunting! These two work so well together and clearly the fight against the Sunbirds wasn't their first time working as a team--I'd love to see what other challenges they've taken on since they started traveling together. Bonus points for Rosa's conflicted feelings about what it means to be a "monster".

✎Pre-canon. First meetings, traveling together, living together, learning how to work together, telling each other stories, all of the missing scenes!

✎Hurt/comfort, both physical and emotional! Hunts gone wrong, tending to wounds during and after hunts, taking the hit to protect your partner or a bystander, cave-ins, cuddling for warmth when adequate shelter isn't available, pining for your lost wife and taking comfort in your partner instead, dealing with feelings of trauma and guilt, fairy tale curses and their solutions--I want it all!

✎What if Hou Yi had survived the final confrontation with Feng Meng without needing to eat the peach of immortality? What happens next? How does she deal with her survivor's guilt? Does Rosa still reunite with her wife and daughter? If so, what place is there for Hou Yi in her life now?

✎I really want to see more of the world that these characters exist in in general, so I'd love something really worldbuildy that digs into the cultures or mythology or the way magic operates, etc.

DC Extended Universe
Helena Bertinelli/Renee Montoya

The DCEU is a constant gift of surprising new dynamics for my long-cherished comics ships. Now, I love Renee and Helena's partnership whenever they team up in the comics (that moment in Pipeline where Helena chokes Renee out because Renee can't sacrifice herself if Helena does it first? That's my whole #aesthetic), but I am also absolutely stoked by how different their partnership is set up to be in the DCEU! Renee meets Helena when she's still a young, relatively unestablished vigilante, who will have to figure what that means for her now that she's finally satisfied her revenge. Renee is older and only just leaving the force, not because she's reached the breaking point after a pile up of horrific events culminating in one of the defining tragedies of her life and leaving her in a position where she neither trusts the Gotham PD to be able to achieve justice nor does she trust herself to know what justice should look anymore, but because she's decided the Gotham PD is bullshit and she's much happier teaming up with Helena and Dinah to take a different path with the Birds of Prey. I'm so fascinated by the idea of what their new dynamic is going to look like and where their paths might lead them now, you really can't go wrong.

Prompts:

✎Helena trains Renee

So, in the comics, both of these characters are mentored by Vic and get combat training with Richard Dragon as a result (who is the guy for vigilantes to go to when they want to take their ass kicking to the next level, but the important part is that there's a precedent for commonalities in their fighting styles). DCEU!Helena still gets a backstory badass training montage, but while DCEU!Renee is a capable combatant, Helena is clearly on another level. So, Renee gets Helena to help her up her game. If it leads to sexual tension filled sparring, all the better.


✎Forming the Birds of Prey

I'd love to pick up from their character arcs in canon. At what point do they decide to form the team--whose idea is it, does anyone have any reservations, how do they decide on the name? How does Helena's persona as Huntress develop now that her focus has shifted? How does Renee perceive her own career change? How do they function as a team and is there ever any conflict over how they carry out their brand of justice (up to and including the "do heroes kill" debate)? What are the early days of their team dynamics like? How does the relationship between these two develop first to friends and then to more than friends?


✎Renee investigating the Crossbow Killer

I was super delighted by the realization that Renee was investigating Helena's kill and I would be totally down for a canon divergence scenario where she wasn't immediately sidetracked by Harley's explosive relationship status update. Helena has a specific idea of who she wants Huntress to be and how she wants people to see her. Renee sees her far more clearly than anyone else before they even meet. I'd love to see Renee working to track her down and Helena working to stay one step ahead. Is it enemies (to tentative allies if they both realize that their best chance of taking down Roman is together?) to lovers? Is it identity porn? Is it slow seduction and increasing steps over the line as Renee, potentially keeping her comic counterpart's fascination with/admiration for vigilantes and predictable reaction to hot ass-kicking women, finds herself increasingly frustrated with her place in the force and agreeing with Helena's idea of justice more than she thought she would?

✎Hurt/Comfort

I love so many flavours of both emotional and physical hurt/comfort. Give me combat injuries that need to be dealt with in ongoing high stakes situations. Give me tender post-mission wound care. Give me hiding injuries from your partner so they don't worry about you or because you're not used to having someone to take care of you (and then that inevitably blowing up in everyone's faces). Give me characters trying to make the sacrifice play, surviving, and then having to deal with the emotional fallout. Give me characters who won't stay down, no matter how many hits they take. Give me characters getting hurt to protect their partner and the partner being absolutely devastated. Give me forced to hurt someone else to rescue your partner and dealing with the guilt and trauma. Give me being forced to leave your injured partner behind and desperately searching for them later. Give me hostage situations, cave-ins, time loops of trauma, mind controlling supervillains, magical artifacts and associated curses, getting captured by the enemy, etc., etc.



DCU Comics

Note: Since Vic’s cancer is a major plot point during his time with Renee in 52 and subsequent death, I’m waiving my Terminal Illness DNW here. I don’t expect anyone to have to overlook or handwave that part of canon. However, I’d prefer the fic not center entirely around that element.

I enjoy most Renee/women ships and would be fine with one popping up as a side/background element, even for a competing requested ship. I specifically enjoy Renee/Daria Hernandez, Renee/Kate Kane, Renee/Helena Bertinelli, Renee/Elicia Sanchez  and recent canon has piqued my interest in Renee/Lois Lane, but I'm very open to other possibilities.

__________________________________________

Renee & Vic



I love the dynamic between these two so much (have I mentioned that 52 was great? Because it was great!). I have a lot of affection for both of these characters individually, but together *chef's kiss*. As someone who was a big fan of the character arc Renee started in Gotham Central, I also love how much Vic was exactly what she needed exactly when she needed it and how rewarding it was to see her continue out that arc as Vic’s chosen successor to the Question mantle. I love every phase of their partnership and seeing Renee’s actually totally justified annoyance at this weirdo invading her personal life developing to genuine mutual respect and affection. I love Renee coming to see Vic as her best friend and Vic’s total faith in Renee as a person.

These two each have a complicated, equally fascinating relationship with vigilantism and canon treats the choice to put on the Question mask as a type of honesty - for both of them. The question (heh) of morality and how far is too far and trying to figure out where the line lies was a significant part of both of their characters, even if the perspectives and experiences they used to navigate that problem are unique to each of them and their role as the Question means something different as a result. Vic meeting Renee fresh off the whole Corrigan mess was always a fascinating point for their characters to form a connection around considering Vic's own musings on "justifiable homicide" (his words). Similarly, it added a lot of depth to Vic helping Renee cope with finally having to take the shot in a situation where she really didn't want to.

They both have a lot of anger at the world and neither one is a stranger to brutal necessity. They're both stubborn, naturally curious, and have a tendency to get in over their heads very quickly. They're also both characters who are always in need of more good friends. As competent as she is on her own, I always feel like Renee is at her best when working with a partner and having someone who can balance her out and Vic absolutely brought out the best in her at a time when Renee had convinced herself that there was nothing good left to find - even if it took a lot of time and effort and sleeping with rats to get there.

On a less serious note, both characters' senses of humour really work for me and their banter was a serious highlight in 52 - they're hilarious! They're also each exceptionally talented detectives in their own right and it's a lot of fun to see either of them work through a case, but seeing where their strengths complement each other as they puzzle through problems together was a real treat.

I’m totally down for stories set during their time together in 52, Convergence stuff where Renee meets an alt version of Vic, AUs where Vic survives and they continue working together, AUs where they meet under different circumstances, AUs where Vic gets resurrected somehow after his death in 52, Blackest Night fic where (somehow, through shenanigans) Vic actually does come back like Tot was hoping instead of being a murder zombie (or in addition to being a murder zombie), fic jumping off of their reunion in Lois Lane, alternate Rebirth fic where the Question harasses an angry Gotham cop into working with him, whatever!

Case fic's an obvious choice for this match up and I would absolutely be down for them investigating anything as mundane or as bizarre as you'd like. Organized (or disorganized) crime in Hub City? Gotham-level supervillainy? Religion of Crime up to the usual? Caught in a time loop together? People spontaneously rising from the grave and newly rezzed Vic helping Renee figure out why? Monkey's paw style wish granting causing trouble?

Some Potential Prompts:

✎ Canon divergence where Vic not only survives 52 - he's somehow miraculously cured (because comics). Given that his entire game plan was to have Renee succeed him as the Question, they both have to deal with what it means that he's still around.

✎ Given Blackest Night, Tot was clearly ready to go to some extremes for the slim chance of reviving Vic. One such extreme actually works. Renee and Vic have to deal with the fallout of Vic being dragged from the claws of death.

✎ Vic's around to help Renee deal with the whole Faceless One prophecy. How are things different when there are two faceless people on Gotham's streets?

✎ Rebirth canon divergence where the Question harasses an angry Gotham cop into working with him.

✎ People start spontaneously rising from the grave. A newly resurrected Vic works to help Renee figure out why.

✎ Renee meets an AU version of Vic during Convergence.

✎ AU where Renee is never driven to leave the force (maybe Crispus even survives this one!) and still meets Vic at some point during 52.

✎ Renee gets a hold of a monkey's paw style artifact and her tendency toward self-destructive ends justify the means behaviour leads to trouble. Vic has to help her sort it out.

✎ Vic and Renee confront the kind of supernatural threats that Gotham had to deal with in Batwoman's urban legends arc.

✎ Groundhog Day time loop shenanigans. I'm totally willing to break my character death DNW for this, provided the final loop comes out with everyone alive.

✎ Renee time travels and/or universe jumps in an attempt to save Vic's life (or vice versa). There may be Consequences. She may not care.

✎ Give me those difficult choices leading to hurt/comfort. Hostage situations, forced to shoot the bad guy to save your partner, near death experiences, being forced to hurt someone to achieve a necessary goal, not staying down after being hit a lot, pushing through injuries in a dangerous situation, trapped together, etc.



Renee Montoya/Elicia Sanchez



I'll admit that in her early appearances, Elicia made more of an impression on me for her impact on Renee's arc than anything to do with herself as a character. And then Greg Rucka dropped his Lois Lane series and it changed everything. I was not expecting Elicia to appear again at all, but I certainly wasn't expecting the execution which involved so many of my diehard shipping weaknesses in one pairing. In her first appearances, Elicia was part of the Religion of Crime's efforts to mold Renee into their new leader by tempting her into "sin" and arguably one of their more successful endeavours--while they were certainly interpreting Renee's actions and motivations pretty liberally, her attraction to and empathy for Elicia definitely made Renee make some heat of the moment choices that she regretted, even if it did not actually convince her that it was a swell idea to become the next leader of their cult. That Elicia genuinely falling in love with Renee was also her own downfall and resulted in her being cursed and turned into the Kiss of Death is a beautiful revelation that really sold me on their dynamic.

Everything to do with the Kiss of Death plot line instantly became my retroactive favourite in light of this reveal. That it was secretly a former lovers turned enemies story all along? That Renee and Elicia were fighting against each other without realizing who it was they were hurting (and trading flirty banter while doing it because Renee can't help herself)? That Elicia took Renee down and only regained her memories and realized what exactly it was that she stood to lose after it was already slipping through her fingers almost past the point of too late? That Elicia, having realized what's happened, commits to an act of dangerous self-sacrifice because after all this time she still loves Renee just as much? That despite all odds, everything works out and the day is saved by the power of love and the two of them now work missions together? It's all so fantastic!

I would super love post-Lois Lane follow up or canon divergence AUs that play in that identity porn-y lovers to enemies to lovers space a little more.


Some Potential Prompts:

✎ Go full revival quest! What if the transference hadn't worked (or hadn't been an option) and Elicia had been left finally remembering who Renee was and how much she meant to her only after she'd killed her? What would she do to get her back? Or go the other way--what if the transference worked as originally described without Elicia's anti-life powers changing the game and Elicia straightforwardly traded her life for Renee's? Renee hasn't historically dealt well with losing the people she cares about, especially not when she can blame herself for it.

✎ Identity porn! In canon, the reader learning the Kiss of Death's identity, Elicia regaining her memories and realizing who Renee is to her, and Renee finding out that Elicia was the Kiss of Death and is also in love with her all happen in pretty rapid succession. But for me, the most delicious thing about this kind of scenario is really reveling in the painful dramatic irony and letting the conflict continue to play out even as certain revelations come to light. So, what if Renee had realized who Elicia was before that final conflict or Lois had filled her in on her suspicions? What if Elicia had remembered Renee before the act of transference she conveniently had to use to save Renee's life also conveniently broke her curse? What if Renee had learned about what had happened to Elicia at some point before Lois Lane (and also, potentially, the reason that the Religion of Crime had punished her)? I want all the emotional fallout!

✎The Religion of Crime is not best known for letting go of their grudges and some members decide that they're not done with one or both of them yet. Maybe this even turns into a Betray Her to Save Her situation where one of them (seemingly) switches sides?

✎More post-canon team ups! Back to back badasses, protectiveness, and ripping off the Spider-Man kiss abound!

✎I love so many flavours of both emotional and physical hurt/comfort. Give me combat injuries that need to be dealt with in ongoing high stakes situations. Give me tender post-mission wound care. Give me hiding injuries from your partner so they don't worry about you or because you're not used to having someone to take care of you (and then that inevitably blowing up in everyone's faces). Give me characters trying to make the sacrifice play, surviving, and then having to deal with the emotional fallout. Give me characters who won't stay down, no matter how many hits they take. Give me characters getting hurt to protect their partner and the partner being absolutely devastated. Give me forced to hurt someone else to rescue your partner and dealing with the guilt and trauma. Give me being forced to leave your injured partner behind and desperately searching for them later. Give me hostage situations, cave-ins, time loops of trauma, mind controlling supervillains, magical artifacts and associated curses, getting captured by the enemy, etc., etc.



Vic Sage/Jason Todd
Okay, so the first time I ever mentioned this pairing to anyone it started out as a joke, but now it’s…it’s not. It’s not a joke. I am super here for it. You see, under Rucka, Vic developed this apparent habit of showing up in Gotham to mentor troubled young vigilantes and while he and Renee were total bros, mentoring Helena came with a side of sexual tension. So, the joke was: haha, what if Vic tried to romantically life coach Jason the way he did Helena, haha. But, like, what if Vic tried to romantically life coach Jason the way he did Helena? They could bond over “I totally died once and then Batman yelled at me for being a bad vigilante” stories! Hell, as of Lois Lane, Vic's actually come back from the dead for real (rather than just apparently Rasputin-ing his way out of a situation that really should have killed him).

I just think that they could be fascinating together and would love to see what sort of dynamic they might have – the places where they actually understand each other, the places where they absolutely don’t, how well they do or do not work together. I think there’s a part of Vic that would totally go “yeah, I was that angry kid once” and even understand and sympathize with some of Jason’s more violent methodologies – Vic’s very aware that his own hands aren’t clean on that front, that choosing to no longer be the guy who picks fights just because he knows he can win them is an active choice, and the struggle with the desire to commit “justifiable homicide” (out of curiosity, out of vengeance, out of sheer horror at the things people do to each other, even out of just desire) is very personal for him. At the same time, I think there are things that Jason has done or would be willing to do that Vic would flinch away from (especially in the Rucka “where does it end?” era). I also think that there are lines that Vic has toed that Jason would be pretty outraged by – like, there was a hot second where Vic started to buy into a villain speech about why chemically lobotomizing the entire world to end human suffering was a good thing actually (he got over it and was clearly dealing with some trauma because Hub City is the literal worst, but still) and I don’t see Jason not being appalled by that idea. But even beyond philosophizing on the subject of violence, I think there's a lot to play off of for them - a lot of room to either gel or clash on the basis of mutual cleverness, stubborn tendencies, and smartassery.

Do they get along? Do they hate each other? Does Bruce show up to disapprove of them both? I don’t know, but I want to find out!

Canon Knowledge Note:

I've read a fair smattering of different writers' takes on Vic Sage since his integration into the DC Universe - O'Neil, Veitch, Rucka. I'm partial to O'Neil or Rucka characterization, but I do have a soft spot for Veitch's weird run with the nice art (as much as canon understandably just ignores it). I'm passingly familiar with the way Ditko wrote him originally, but never read much in depth for the Charlton Comics version of the character. I basically skipped over everything surrounding the Question mantle in general and Vic Sage specifically during the New 52 era (sans Convergence for the sake of New Earth!Renee) until Vic was returned to the role with Rebirth. At this point, I still don't have any plans to go back and read either Trinity of Sin!Question (who does not seem to be related to Vic or Renee anyway) or Suicide Squad!Vic (corrupt bureaucrat doesn't really jive with how I personally see Vic at all, but I'm genuinely glad if that version of the character prompted any new fans to get into him). I have been very, very thorough with my Renee Montoya reading from Gotham Central until Flashpoint and have generally caught up on her and Kate's story lines in Rebirth. I read (and loved) Rucka's Lois Lane run and am hyped to see both characters once again take up the mantle.

All that being said, I'm generally willing to be flexible when it comes to comics canons because that is the nature of the beast.



The Extraordinaries
Nick Bell/Seth Gray

Canon-Specific DNW: Explicit sexual content. Alluding to the fact that the teenage characters may think about and/or have sex is chill though.

I know that The Extraordinaries is getting a sequel later this year, but I really want more for it now (for the record, I don't care about stuff potentially being jossed in an ongoing canon, so don't even worry about that). These two are so painfully cute and they only just finally got the secrets out and got together and I cannot possibly be expected to wait months to see their relationship develop.

While both the loving fandom homages and the more slice of life-ish elements of the book were really cute (and I do really, really love Nick's relationship with his dad), I am by far more interested in more superhero-leaning shenanigans and associated worldbuilding. The book did a fantastic job of catering to a lot of my beloved tropes (the identity porn was wonderful) and the entire final confrontation was so up my alley! Everything from Owen going after Nick to get to Seth and oops catching feelings (and if you want to throw some Owen/Nick in there, go right on ahead), to Seth's desperation to shelter and protect Nick being used against him, to the desperate showdown with a former friend, to near misses and close calls and finding a moment for a gentle forehead touch in the middle of a chaotic situation, to Nick's nerd knowledge being the thing that saves the day. It's so good and I am absolutely here for repeat performances of any of those elements or any other similarly tropey fun that is aware of and reveling in all of the cliches because I unironically love them.

Some Potential Prompts:
✎ Post-canon fic. Now that Nick has the superhero boyfriend of his dreams, what happens next? How do things change for Pyro Storm and the way that the city treats him after the big confrontation with Shadow Star? How does Nick, unlikely to sit idly by on any occasion and much less so when both superheros and Seth are involved, get tangled up in Pyro Storm's work?

✎As much as I love the place they're in at the end of the novel, I'd also be totally up for canon divergence and reveling in the potential for identity porn a little more. What if Nick hadn't gone along with Owen's plan? What if Nick had figured out that Owen was Shadow Star earlier? What if Seth had arrived a little later when he came to stop Owen? What if Nick had fallen for the misdirect that the novel was trying to push the reader toward and incorrectly suspected that Seth was Shadow Star? What if Nick had figured out that Pyro Storm was Seth (or Seth had finally told him as he'd clearly considered doing) before Owen could get Nick to Burke Tower and reveal his own identity? What if, spurred on by Gibby's insistence that the situation is more complicated, the meeting in the alley, and that he had evidently been admiring Pyro Storm's bod despite thinking he was a villain for a while anyway, Nick developed a little crush on Pyro Storm...while still not realizing that he's Seth? What if Pyro Storm had been the one to rescue Gibby and Nick at the beginning of the novel?

✎Again, I super loved the whole framing of the final confrontation and I'd love more scenes like that. Give me all of the superhero-flavoured hurt/comfort. I want the "love interest" getting kidnapped (after all, Shadow Star was pretty public about the whole thing and revealing that Nick was great bait for Pyro Storm), sweet moments of love and relief after close calls, post-mission patch ups, Seth having to deal with the terrible contradiction between becoming Pyro Storm for Nick and being Pyro Storm putting Nick in danger, etc.

✎While the next novel will presumably deal with this, I would absolutely be up for something exploring what happens if either Seth or Nick or both figure out that Nick clearly has repressed super powers.

✎Again, Owen was really public about the whole final confrontation and involving Nick in it...but what if someone got their wires crossed and walked away with a different conclusion? Between speaking to Nick on the news and Shadow Star's big showdown with Pyro Storm, someone with a grudge against Shadow Star (and there have to be a few now) believes that Nick is the best way to get to Owen. Pyro Storm has to intervene.

✎Powerswaps as a result of accidents/magical mishaps on missions are classics in the superhero fanfiction world and the trope wouldn't be at all out of place in The Extraordinaries...but imagine the fallout. Especially if it happened while Seth and Nick still didn't know about Nick's powers.



Pretty Deadly
Big Alice/Deathface Ginny

Note: I am 100% okay with violence being included as not just an element, but as a feature. Especially for these two. The fight scene between them in volume 1 is what made the transition from "okay, I'm decently interested" to "I love this comic" for me. Getting to see two women fight as viciously as these two was a treat. And I am not above some scrapping between two halves of a ship, especially for femslash. Love me some (fr)enemy ships. Love me some sexual tension in fighting.
__________________________________________



I'm super fascinated by this series and these two characters in particular. For everything we learn about them, I feel like I have a million more questions and a million things still left unanswered. I'd love to know more about them on a general level (their histories, their roles as reapers, the world they live in) and a personal level (motivations, inner thoughts, desires, personal relationships). Violence is welcome, not just as an element, but as a feature when it comes to these two.

Pretty Deadly is a super fascinating comic, aesthetically and conceptually. I love every part of it and I would be over the moon to see someone take the worldbuilding and characters and play with them or flesh them out a little. Everything about how reapers work has been really neat and the whole detail about reapers with complementary aspects working in pairs from volume 2 is definitely something that you can play with for these two (Vengeance and Cruelty is such an interesting combo).

I was already down for this ship from Alice's introduction--my femslash goggles are strapped tight enough that two women viciously fighting + a degree of implied history is a foolproof recipe. But I was not prepared for Pretty Deadly: The Rat and I still don't know what I did to deserve it. I would have been thrilled enough at learning that Ginny was searching for Alice after her death/losing her physical form in Volume 2. But Alice as Ginny's obsession? Finding Alice as the leverage that the Reaper of Obsession uses to bait and try to trap Ginny? "You're not her. You're not Alice"? Holy smokes that was some good ship fodder!

Potential Prompts:
✎Pick up right where The Rat left off with Ginny trapped in Obsession's realm. How does she get out (if she gets out)? Does she agree to something Obsession wants to get more information about Alice? Does Obsession continue to use Alice's likeness to torment her?

✎What happens when Ginny finally finds Alice? What happens to a reaper after they die? How does Ginny get her back? How does Alice feel about Ginny coming after her--particularly given the grudge that Alice herself is carrying over Ginny's past rejection?

✎More exploration of their partnership as reapers. They were always meant to be a pair, but we only saw them actually working together for a brief time before Alice's death. I would love to see more of the two of them going on reaper missions.

✎Pre-canon, especially with the new clues we've got about their history thanks to The Rat. How did that rejection go down? How has Alice's grudge manifested over the years? Did they ever try to make it work before canon or was Ginny riding solo from the get go? Did they have many run ins like the one in Volume 1?

✎Canon divergence AU around Alice's death in Volume 2. What if she'd survived? What if Ginny had been a position to notice what was happening between her and Johnny Coyote?

✎More worldbuilding, more reapers! Bringing reapers back to the Garden after Sissy takes over, running into reapers (and conflict with reapers) during their travels. What other aspects might there be for reapers and what might they be like (beyond all the very interesting ones we've already seen)? What sort of aspect pairs do these other reapers form when they do? How do these reapers interact with the mortal world?

✎The comic is progressing forward in time through different eras with each volume--what about the eras that came before the start of volume 1? What about the time periods in between the volumes? What about eras that come later than what we've seen?

✎What if Ginny had been the one to "die" in volume 2? Would Alice be as motivated to find her? What lengths would she go to? How would she feel about what happened?

✎I'm totally down for outsider POV! I love the canonical framing of the story told between Butterfly and Bunny (and would definitely be into other animal POV relating their impressions of the characters), but I'd also be really interested in seeing what some mortal characters make of Ginny and Alice? I'm super fascinated by the relationship between the reapers and the mortal world and their impact on it, so anything tapping into that would be baller!



Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower
Cobweb/Floralinda

This relationship is the codependent mess between two truly awful people that dreams are made of. I loved Floralinda's journey throughout the book and watching her increasingly revel in the violence that started out as merely a necessity. The unicorn just about made me gasp--it was such a needlessly horrific moment brought on by pettiness and cruelty that we had known that Floralinda possessed by that point, but the way it was thrown in our faces! And her entire relationship with Cobweb and how need turns into love and how love and loneliness makes her crueler than anything. The fact that she knows what she's doing is wrong and is very sorry about it and keeps doing it anyway is so delicious.

And Cobweb! What a delightfully mean personality she has! I loved watching her go from pushing Floralinda onward to becoming increasingly unsettled as Floralinda grows more and more willing to indulge in violence. I love the fundamental culture clash between humans and fairies and I love Cobweb giving in to her own indulgences as Floralinda made her way down the tower. I love how razor thin the line between hating Floralinda and loving her ultimately is for Cobweb and that she is dragged back from her long sought after freedom by a truly unfortunate love epiphany and could not do anything but come back to her.

Some Potential Prompts:

✎ That whole back-poking scene made me super crave all of the touch starvation for Floralinda. I want Floralinda finding more excuses and/or opportunities to touch Cobweb or to make Cobweb touch her. Or maybe Cobweb notices that Floralinda has specific responses to being touched kindly and she doesn't really get it, but if it will make her compliant then it might be worth running some...experiments to get the results she wants. I'm fine if you choose to escalate this in a dubcon-y direction, but in that case I prefer that the characters ultimately be very into what's happening even if they don't want to want the things they want or know that it's bad for them.

✎ I'd love some missing scenes for this novella! What happened on the floors that the book skips/skims over where we get the monster's name and little else? What happens in between Cobweb's return and Floralinda arming the princess at the end? I would love to see them strategizing to take down some princes (how does Floralinda try to make it more fun/challenging? What kinds of experiments does Cobweb want to run?) and/or how their relationship develops now that they've both acknowledged that they love each other and taken on their new complementary gigs!

✎Floralinda grows bored of the lack of challenge and finally leaves the tower. What happens next? Where do she and Cobweb go? What do they do with themselves if they're not waiting for princes to come and fight Floralinda? What role does a rare and powerful monster like Floralinda have now?

✎Throw these characters into a different kind of fairy tale! What if the witch hadn't been so dedicated to the classics and thought that towers were passe? What other tropey, leaning-on-the-fourth-wall adventures could Floralinda and Cobweb have had instead?




The Space Between Worlds
Caralee/Dell

I absolutely loved this novel and all of its worldbuilding and I just really want more of it. Caralee was such a fantastically compelling, morally complicated protagonist and I adore her. But the fantastic thing was that while she was definitely my runaway fave, there wasn't one character in the novel who I wasn't interested in or didn't like, regardless of how much page time they actually got, and that absolutely includes Dell. Especially since we spent so much of the novel not getting what she's about because Cara didn't understand her (though I will cop to calling that she'd at least made a move on Caramenta and had it go sideways long before that reveal) and then she gets to spend the rest of the plot as a constant surprise.

I love that even though so much of their relationship is defined by a place of fundamental and mutual misunderstanding, they genuinely fall in love anyway. I love Cara's determination to keep Dell out of everything that's going on because of a mix of a desire to protect her and an inability to fully trust her even though she wants to take comfort from her so bad. I love that Dell keeps coming through in the clutch anyway and rescuing Cara over and over because she just can't stay away. I love that Cara risks compromising herself over small moments of happiness and opportunities to be really seen by Dell. I love that despite all the hurt she's carrying over Caramenta, Dell is so unwavering and so unable to pull herself away and never misses a single day as Cara's handler (until the reveal at least).

While I've prompted for specific versions of these characters because their dynamic is what I fell in love with, I am absolutely down with other versions also showing up and seeing how different they are and how differently they treat each other given a few degrees of dimensional separation.
 
Some Potential Prompts:

✎Dell's POV from any point during the novel's events. So much of what we get is coloured by Cara's perspective and the information that we have access to. But we know that she got a lot of her assumptions about Dell wrong and I'd be interested in seeing how Dell interprets events based on the information that she has.

✎All the canon divergence! What if Dell has figured out that Caralee was not Caramenta at some earlier point? What if Caralee had learned (or guessed) about what happened between Caramenta and Dell earlier? What if Caralee had given in to one of her impulses to confide in Dell or ask for her help? What if Caralee hadn't been given a choice in the matter and Dell had found out more about what was going on on her own? What if Adam had targeted Dell as the the traitor instead of Jean given that she was the handler for all of Caralee's missions? What if Nelline had somehow also survived the trip back to Earth-0? What if Adranik's body hadn't returned to his original world and had come through with Caralee? What if Caralee had ended up in Maintenance--maybe even at some point before the novel's events and all the personal revelations she had thanks to meeting Adranik?

✎Role reversal AU. So much of these characters' dynamic is defined by their respective roles and circumstances, I'd love to see how things would change with some things flipped around. I'd be particularly interested in handler!Caralee and traverser!Dell, whether or not any of their other circumstances change.

✎If there's one thing that I wanted that I didn't get from canon, it's more of the typical handler/asset dynamic since Caralee's first impulse is to hide what's going on and she's so prone to cutting contact with Dell. I want more situations of forced trust through dependency on the one person who holds your life/ability to return home in their hands. I want more of knowing that you hold someone's life in your hands and having to safely work them through what's happening without the ability to directly interfere. I want more of having a single point of contact to connect you to the world you came from while going into dangerous, unpredictable situations.

✎Post-canon fic and the happiness they carve out for themselves after everything they've been through.

✎5 interactions Cara had with alternate versions of Dell +1 with the real thing.

✎Hurt/comfort. Post-mission wound-tending, comforting through grief or trauma, missions gone wrong in more mundane ways than what Caralee experiences in canon...honestly, I love a lot of both physical and emotional hurt/comfort tropes, so go wild.
 

The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde
Tom/Hyde

Note: If you write in a new villain/encounter for our "heroes" to deal with like, say, Dorian Gray as canon had initially intended, I have no problem with there being some attraction or there being something of a M/M/M love triangle (the volume 2 blurb had me hooked with Tom being ~seduced by Dorian's philosophy~, let me tell you). I'm also fine with general characteristic flirtation and lecherous behaviour from Hyde. However, I would prefer just Tom/Hyde endgame.

I would be fine with mentioning Hyde's engagement to Millicent or Tom's relationship with Mary Jane with regard to character background, but I wouldn't want them to be the focus of the fic. If you choose to just gloss over them or they don't come up, I'm fine with that too.

Also, while I know the original comic has a lot of violence against women because, well, Jack the Ripper and I'm fine with there being some female murder victims in fic for it, I'd also prefer that the fic not dwell exclusively on that aspect if it can be avoided.
__________________________________________

Ruthless serial killers developing a soft spot for the naive, stick-in-the-mud detectives they're manipulating! Goody-goodies making increasingly dangerous moral compromises! "But, Tom, we're mates"! Rooftop/air balloon battles! Mind games and pretentious quote matches and disillusionment in idealistic notions about the upper class! What's not to like!

The dynamic between these two pretty much made the comic for me. It's so good. The general back and forth and learning to work together and Tom discovering things about himself that maybe he would have preferred not to. And then that genuine moment of returned friendship (Hyde's goddamn smile when Tom finally agrees that they're mates) just before Tom shoots Hyde in the chest followed by Tom tearing up in relief over having confirmation that Hyde's still alive and then using his serial killer best buddy to threaten people. Right up my alley.

I really like all the development and internal conflict that Tom went through over the course of the comic and would be totally stoked to see further development and potential fallout related to that. Whatever reason you can cook up for Hyde making a return and the two of them having to team up again is totally fine with me. (Has someone come after Hyde? Is Hyde keeping tabs on his good mate Tom? Did Tom finally decide to track Hyde down himself? Does the newest villain have something Hyde's interested in?)
 

Things I love: Tom finding himself in positions to take shadier options and dealing with balancing those impulses with his righteous ideals is always great. Hyde, as smart and powerful as he is, potentially compromising his goals because he's become genuinely fond of Tom is great. Tom getting damsel-in-distressed as per issue 4 and Hyde swooping in to rescue him is great. Hyde calculating and machinating while Tom pieces things together is great. Tom finding ways to surprise Hyde as much as he did when he shot him is great. Tom realizing how deep he's slipping and being discomfited by how easy it is for Hyde to get under his skin is great. Swapping barbs and quotes while no one else around them understands them half as well as they understand each other is great.

I would be totally head over heels for something set after the original comic dealing with some other famous literary monsters/villains, especially those drawn from Gothic horror. The sequel hook at the end of the comic teased the Invisible Man as Tom's next case and the cover for the planned sequel comic (which sadly never materialized) confirmed that Dorian Gray exists in this universe and would come into contact with Tom (I was so looking forward to Tom being "seduced by his philosophy"). Either of those options would be fabulous, but don't feel restricted by them - bring in whoever you want.

Potential Prompts:
✎ Tom meets one Dorian Gray, who "seduces him with his philosophy". Hyde hears through the rumour mill that Mr. Gray might know the secret to eternal life (and anyway, a man has to look out for his mates).

✎ Picking up right where canon left off, Tom pursues the case of the mysterious Invisible Man, still dealing with the aftermath of his time with Hyde and the Jack the Ripper case. Hyde, as it turns out, hasn't gone as far as he'd assumed.

✎ In the wake of a series of grave robberies, Tom hears rumours of a monster sighted on city streets. It turns out that Utterson isn't the only ambitious man with an interest in Hyde's formula. (Frankenstein fusion?)

✎ A mysterious murder leads Tom to meet a wealthy man who's recently acquired property in the area and who only ventures out at night. (He may or may not be a Transylvanian vampire.) Tom quickly figures out he's in over his head and reaches out to Hyde for help.

✎ In a canon where there are already themes of duality and transformation...what if werewolves? Tom has earned some grudging respect from his colleagues, but they still think he's mad when he insists there's a definitive human element behind a series of apparent animal attacks. When he finds the culprit, even Hyde's serum might have met its match.

✎ Tom, realizing his dreams and ideals were never what he thought they were, makes a different decision at the end of canon and he and Hyde wind up on the run together.

✎ It's been years, but the time has finally arrived when Tom feels he must hunt Hyde down (though maybe he still doesn't know what he'll do when he finds him).

✎ Tom has some interesting thoughts on Hyde's last string of murders in Whitechapel - rationalizing them in a way that borders on admiration on the basis of who the victims are and that they deserve some kind of comeuppance. In trying to force Tom's hand in Utterson's death, Hyde also refers to having had "high hopes" for him and having "brought [Tom] this far". What would it take to push Tom to murder himself? At what point would he be able to rationalize it as righteous violence and make it mesh with his idea of justice? How would Hyde feel once it finally happened? Would he feel proud, amused, relieved to have a kindred spirit? Would he regret it - seeing the last of Tom's idealism snuffed out and perhaps reminding him a little too keenly of Jekyll's own descent to darker urges and what he had to give up to become Hyde?

✎ Groundhog Day time loop shenanigans. I'm totally willing to break my character death DNW for this, provided the final loop comes out with everyone alive.




Crossover
Note: I tend to lean towards O’Neil or Rucka characterization for Vic, but I am generally open to whatever you’re most familiar/comfortable with or interested in writing.

I have not watched Wonder Woman 1984 at the point of writing this letter. I may have seen it via streaming before fic reveal, but I can't promise that. I don't mind spoilers per se, but anything that requires knowledge of that specific movie might leave me lost. I have seen all other movies in the DCEU.


Vic Sage (DCU Comics)/Bruce Wayne (DCEU)
Here’s a case where the comics versions don’t get to spend a whole lot of time together. At least part of that is for reasons that the comics directly address – while they’re very different characters, there is enough overlap in their skill sets and character archetypes that if Batman’s there and playing both brains and brawn, Vic starts to feel…redundant. That being said, I always thought that they had an interesting dynamic, even if it was mostly defined by grudging respect. Very grudging in Bruce’s case (I think the nicest thing he ever said about Vic was “one of these days, he might actually be competent” – “Mr. Warmth”, indeed). I’d be very interested in seeing how a version of Vic that might theoretically exist in the DCEU would interact with DCEU!Bruce.

Potential Prompts:
✎Vic Sage investigates the Gotham Bat:

TV reporter Vic Sage puts himself on the tail of Gotham’s most famous cryptid, perhaps spurred on by the Bat’s recent habit of branding criminals. His investigative strategy mostly consists of being places he really shouldn’t be. Occasionally, he might either punch someone in the face or get punched in the face. Bruce is Not Impressed.

✎Vic Sage investigates Wayne Enterprises:

Vic is assigned to do a report on WE and then he digs because he can’t not. He develops a sudden interest in the company’s CEO, who may have more going on than it first appears.

✎ Vic Sage investigates Amanda Waller:

So, I never read New 52 Suicide Squad and am only familiar with Vic’s role in the book through osmosis, but I actually do love the idea of Vic going up against Amanda Waller and trying to expose the Squad – just, perhaps, executed a little differently. Maybe after the events of Suicide Squad, reporter!Vic starts digging into what happened in Midway City. I mean, Vic is clever, persistent, and is all about targeting corrupt people in power. I can also see him having a very strong negative reaction to the very concept of what Waller is doing, never mind the actual fallout of putting it into practise in the DCEU. Meanwhile, Waller makes use of every resource at her disposal in an attempt to shake off suspicion – including pressing Bruce to follow through on the promise of “protection” she extracted from him at the end of Suicide Squad.



Vic Sage (DCU Comics)/Clark Kent (DCEU)
Unfortunately, their comic counterparts get precious little interaction. There is the Veitch mini series – and I’ll talk about that in one of my prompts – but that features a fairly unusual interpretation of Vic and the Question, though I did enjoy it as an out of continuity story line (and the art was super great). Even despite the lack of canon support, I’ve always felt that this could be a fun pairing. The DCEU, where Superman is a fairly new part of the popular consciousness, provides a perfect avenue for Vic's driving curiosity to lead them together, resulting in a lot of opportunity for stellar interactions.

Potential Prompts:
✎Vic Sage and Clark Kent investigate Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad:

So, I never read New 52 Suicide Squad and am only familiar with Vic’s role in the book through osmosis, but I actually do love the idea of Vic going up against Amanda Waller and trying to expose the Squad – just, perhaps, executed a little differently. Maybe after the events of Suicide Squad, reporter!Vic starts digging into what happened in Midway City. I mean, Vic is clever, persistent, and is all about targeting corrupt people in power. I can also see him having a very strong negative reaction to the very concept of what Waller is doing, never mind the actual fallout of putting it into practice in the DCEU. Batman v Superman has proven well enough that Clark is equally incapable of not chasing a story when he feels a wrong is being committed, even if he’s facing push back for his interest. I would love to see these two meet while looking into things and find themselves as unlikely allies against The Wall.

✎Vic Sage crushes on Clark Kent:

Identity porn! I’m stealing some concepts from Veitch here. TV reporter Vic Sage comes to Metropolis to cover a story and the Daily Planet graciously sends someone to meet him. Oh no, it’s Lois Lane Clark Kent – the colleague that Vic has been nursing a long-time, awkward crush on. Or maybe they really are meeting for the first time and Vic falls for Clark’s Smallville charm. Meanwhile, the Question has suspicions that someone’s got it out for Superman and does some investigating of his own. Superman does not particularly like the way the Question does things and would like him to get out of his city, thank you very much.

✎Vic Sage investigates Superman:

Aliens destroy half of Metropolis and then one of them flies around in a cape saving cats from trees and you’re telling me Vic Sage’s not curious as hell about that? Superman suddenly finds himself followed around by a particularly insistent reporter. Meanwhile, Vic’s still very good at getting himself into trouble.