learnedfoot

Dear Just Married Creator,

Hello! I’m LearnedFoot on AO3! You’ve matched (or, if you’re a pinch hitter, chosen) on one of these pairs and freeforms, which already means we have things in comment. Excellent! I am very excited to see what you come up with!

To start, even though I’ve written a fair amount here, I want to say I’m actually very easy to please. As long as you stick in the general area of my likes and freeforms and respect my DNWs, I’m going to be delighted. Also, I’m equally excited about all of these options! Some sections are longer than others because I have more specific ideas about certain character combos or a broader range of desired freeforms, but I didn’t request anything I wouldn’t be over the moon to receive. Also, if you have any questions about where the line is for any of my DNWs, please feel free to ask through the mod.

I requested fic for all of these, but would also be thrilled to receive art or podfic as a treat!

Here is what this letter contains:

General Likes
Art Likes
DNWs
Hacks:Ava Daniels/Deborah Vance
Succession: Gerri Kellman/Roman Roy
Succession: Lukas Matsson/Shiv Roy
Suits: Harvey Specter/Mike Ross
Ted Lasso: Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt

General Likes
Big Picture Points

Characters are the most important thing for me in fic. I certainly appreciate a good plot, but seeing more of the characters I love is my number one priority.

I’m fairly open on tone and genre — fluff, angst, and basically everything in-between is generally good by me.

For requests where I’ve asked for ship fic, I define that broadly — everything from pining/flirting/other pre-relationship up through established relationship can make me happy. If you want to write smut I’ve included information on my likes, but I’d be just as happy with something lower rated.

A note about links to past letters: In some cases, I’ve included links to past letters where I have requested these ships before. I in no way expect you to go reading past letters—those are only there if you WANT extra inspiration.

A note about the structure of the fandom-specific sections: Since the freeforms work as prompts on their own, in the fandom-specific sections I mostly I focused on general thoughts about the relationships, with some prompts that can be mixed with a number of the freeforms, and expanded thoughts on certain freeforms. Please do not take the fact that I expanded on some freeforms and not others as suggestions those are the ones I want the most; those are just the ones that I thought it might be helpful to have some clarification or further thoughts on.

General Likes

Banter

Being taken off guard by small displays of affection, unexpected tenderness, etc. (platonic or otherwise)

Bonding over shared or similar trauma

Canadian shack, road trips, trapped in an isolated or otherwise dangerous location, anything where they are spending a lot of time alone together

Characters realizing what someone else means to them, especially when that realization comes as a surprise

Characters revealing what someone else means to them, especially if they are nervous about it but it turns out the feelings are reciprocated

Complex, long lasting relationships with a rich sense of history

Confessions of feelings when out of it (drunk, feverish, exhausted, etc.)

Hurt/comfort [if you want ridiculous amounts of specifics on my H/C likes, you can check out my H/C letter]

People who don’t like each other working together

Stoic and/or emotionally closed off character being forced to accept help (emotional or physical)

Strong character voices

Tentative beginnings (romantic or otherwise)

Romance tropes! Some things that never go wrong for me:

Fake dating/marriage, where the stakes are commensurate with medium-to-high stakes for the canon (so, for something like the MCU, probably something mission related; for a slice of life canon, needing a date to a wedding so people will stop asking about your ex is fine)
Forced to share a bed, huddle for warmth, hide in a tight space, anything along those lines

Small romantic gestures:

Carried to Bed
Character A drapes their jacket over B's shoulders
Finding Someone Sleeping and Putting a Blanket or Coat Over Them
Finger kisses in a scene that wasn't sexual up to that point
Forehead Kisses
Helping Someone Undress for Practicality's Sake (Mostly)
Holding Hands
Sharing clothing

Unlikely friendships

UST and mutual pining

Whump

Wounded people slowly opening up

Smut Likes: Consensual

Emphasis on what the sex means to the characters/the emotion of the moment

“Come,” not “cum”

Drunk/high sex

Dom/sub dynamics that develop without the characters talking about it (but not negotiated BDSM relationships unless requested), and with particular emphasis on:

the sub getting off on pleasing the dom
the dom praising the sub (and the sub getting off on that)
bondage and blindfolds
hair pulling, scratching, manhandling, and generally rough sex
choking (on cocks or otherwise)
Face fucking
pain, but nothing that would draw more than a little blood or lead to permanent damage (nipple clamps and spanking are great/the level I’m aiming at)

Sex in semi-public/public places

Generally prefer it without getting caught, but close calls, or trying to hide what's going on while one person fingers the other under a table or the like is great

Exploring new sex acts/kinks/etc.

I’m happy to see the exploration go really well, or for someone to discover nah, they don’t like the thing. Or for them to like it but not be good at it at first, etc.
In general, awkward, realistic sex is just as loved as perfect, mind-blowing sex

Tender sex, including:

Being generally amazed at the other person's everything
hand holding
hand/palm kissing
forehead kisses
neck kissing
thigh kissing
hair stroking
face touching
tender kissing
expressions of affection and love, etc.

If you want more information on my smut likes, you can check out my Smut Swap letter

Smut Likes: Non-con and Dub-Con

“Soft” dub-con likes (e.g., sex pollen and the like — though feel free to draw from the hard dubcon likes for that too, if you want):

Mutual pining
Guilt (because they think they are the only one who wants it)
Feelings reveals (during or after)
Oversensitivity, heightened pleasure
Having to go for a long time, or come multiple times, or etc. And if only one side is pollened, that being hard for the non-pollened party
Mix of pleasure and pain (pollen makes them go too hard/fast/long, etc.)
Pollen makes them do it at an inconvenient time or in an inconvenient place (including public)

”Hard” dub-con and non-con likes (e.g., for villain doing them or bad guy made them do it):

Manipulation and confused emotions on the victim’s part
Victim gets in over their head
Victim is drugged, drunk, or otherwise not all there
Forced pleasure (including multiple orgasms)
Forced to give blow jobs
Rough sex
Verbal humiliation (calling them a slut/whore, talking up how much they really wanted this, etc.)
Sex that keeps going until victim is too limp and tired to do anything but lie there and take it
Victim crying
Victim feelings shame (about the forced pleasure, about what they’ve agreed to do, etc.)
Use by multiple people
Public sex (including super public for non-con; pressure into going further in public than really wanted for dub con)

For more details on non-con and dub-con likes, check out my Consent Issues letter.

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Art Likes
I don’t really know much about how to describe art, and I will pretty much be guaranteed to love whatever you create because I am just amazed at anyone who can make art, but some specific patterns I’ve noticed in things I like:

Colors

Black and white + one color (esp. red, but really any)
Also just normal black and white/greyscale/etc.
Rich colors, colors that glow
Blue is my single favorite color, generally

Styles

Some styles I’ve noticed I like: pop, graffiti, realism, watercolor, cute & cartoon-y.
I don't like porny or super romantic chibis, but I like it for gen or shippy stuff that’s leaning into the cute
I’ve enjoyed both sketchier line art type things and more solid filled in things (<--I really don’t know how to use art terminology, sorry!)

Content

Emphasis on touch between two characters. E.g:
- hugging
- carrying
- hand-holding
- cuddling
- one arm thrown over the other
- Kissing for ships, whether that be on the mouth or hand/head/face, etc.
Emphasis on facial expressions
Emphasis on pretty/unusual clothing
For Suits there is a lot of opportunity to play with formalwear in particular. Or the half-undressed look. Is there anything hotter than a loose bowtie and sleeves rolled up at the end of the night?
For ships: one character wearing the other's clothing, esp. smaller character in bigger character's oversized t-shirt, hoodie, button up, etc.

H/C scenarios and/or characters be whumped. Some specific images I enjoy in this category:

Captivity: Chained up with arms above head
Character A drapes their jacket over B's shoulders
Draping a Blanket or Coat Over an exhausted, sleeping character
Injured character being bandaged up
Injured character being carried

Incorporation of dialogue (even if it’s just one line)

Funny/cute reactions and scenes

For smutty art: really anything from my general smut likes list applies, but if you want specific ideas:

clothing being ripped off or pushed aside or general clothed sex/partially clothed/clothing in disarray
biting/marks
tender touch
one hand around a neck (choking or simply resting there, depending on the vibe)
cocks being held
one character bent over and being fucked
Semi-public sex (hiding in a coat closet? Under the table? Etc.)
Victim looking really whumped in non-con scenarios

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DNWs
General DNWs

Unhappy endings

Things don't have to be perfect or anything, I just want at least a general sense that things are gonna work out for the characters (and for the ship if it’s a ship request, unless otherwise noted)

First or second person

Identity headcanons (trans, race, other) (However, I'm fine with assuming a character’s sexuality is more fluid than canon may let on)

Infidelity involving the requested characters (unless okayed in the fandom specific section)

Permanent, non-canon death of the requested characters

Poly or otherwise open relationship between the requested characters (unless okayed in the fandom specific section)

I'm fine with the characters seeing other people in the context of "we're just FWB/dating casually/no commitments" (particularly if that is used to cause pining or jealousy between the ship). But once the characters define the relationship/have the "we are committed to each other" talk/are in an established relationship/etc., I want the relationship structure to be monogamous unless otherwise requested

Focus on pregnancy

There are also some fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions noted in the relevant sections

Sex Related DNWs

Any character portrayed “on screen” in sexual situations under the age of 15 (backstory references okay)

Breeding kink, lactation kink

Body modifications, including forced feminization

Cross-dressing kink

Daddy/mommy kink (in particular, use of the word “daddy” or “mommy”)

Enemas

Feeding, weight gain, inflation, anything in that realm

Insertion of large objects, anal tearing, extreme stretching, sounding

Non-sexual body fluids in sex scenes (with the exception of a few drops of blood from scratching or because they were injured before sex)

Roleplay scenarios

Sex rough enough to permanently injure or leave severe scars

E.g., spanking someone until their skin feels raw = fine; literally skinning them = please no. Choking someone until near or even actually passing out = go for it; crushing windpipes = please no. If you’re not sure, feel free to ask through the mods!

Unrequested non-con

Non-con requests from any of the other letters I link for inspiration are considered requested

Unrequested dub-con

However, I am fine with drunk!sex, or sex on drugs, as long as the characters are subjectively aware of what they're doing while they are having sex. So, not when one half of the pair is passed out drunk. But, for example, I am totally fine with two characters getting high together and having sex (in fact, I love it!)
Dub-con requests from any of the other letters I link for inspiration are considered requested

Completely physically pleasureless sex for the victim even in a dubcon/noncon scenario

Forced orgasm, being ashamed of their body responding positively, etc. is all great

AU DNWs

I like canon divergence AUs where the fic is based in the canon setting but goes in a different direction after a certain installment, or changes the outcome of a certain event. So those are fine across the board, whether or not they relate to a specific prompt. But I DNW the following types of AUs unless specifically requested (including requested in my linked AUEx letter):

AUs that change the canon setting, era, or rules of the universe (e.g., mundane AUs, addition of fantastical elements in a non-fantastical canon, soul mark worlds, A/B/O, high school setting, etc.).
AUs that drastically change the structure of character relationships or fundamentals of their identity (making people related who are not, erasing characters from existence, making major friendships or relationships never have happened unless requested or it’s a result of diverging canon before they get together, etc.)

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Hacks
Ava Daniels/Deborah Vance

A Non-Exhaustive List of Other Freeforms I like for this pairing:

Accidental Marriage - Joke Marriage Ended Up Being Legally Binding
Accidental Marriage - Series Of Mishaps Prevent Annulment Of Accidental Marriage
Celebrity Marriage - Getting Fake Married to Piss Off the Press
Celebrity Marriage - Media Have Strong Reaction to Marriage
Divorce - Getting Back Together
Elopement - First Time in Public After Eloping
Elopement - Getting Married on a Whim
Marrying for Love - No One Believes They're Married
Proposal - Drunken Proposal
Secret Marriage - Becomes Public
Wedding - Drunken Marriage
Wedding - Drunken Marriage (Vegas Edition)

Fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions:

My poly/open relationship and infidelity DNWs are waived

General Thoughts: I love this relationship. It feeds both my love of mentor/mentee-ish relationships and my love of enemies (or at least annoyed-at-each-other-ies)-to-friends-to-lovers. I love how prickly and complicated their relationship is from the start, and that it continues to be that way even as they get to know/like/respect each other. I mean, is there anything more perfect than the fact that Deborah sued Ava while continuing to work with her? I love Ava slowly unpeeling the layers of *The* Deborah Vance and getting to really know her (and maybe helping Deborah know herself better); I love that ultimately Deborah respects Ava’s talent, even to the point of pushing her away for her own good. I also like the show’s reflections on fame—its benefits and its pitfalls, and what it takes to be a woman in comedy. And most of all, I love that Deborah and Ava are both deeply flawed and allowed to be that way, but we still root for them.

I love this ship in all forms, whether that’s them ending up together romantically, or it being a brief fling, ONS, friends-with-benefits, whatever. But even if they don’t end up together romantically, I’m hoping to see their relationship deepen in one way or another and for them to end up happy with each other, whatever form their relationship ultimately takes.

A note on timeline:

A note on other characters:

Prompts That Can Be Combined With Freeforms & Thoughts on Some Specific Freeforms:

They start casually or sporadically sleeping together. They don’t talk about what it means much, so it comes as a surprise when one of them drunkenly/impulsively/etc. proposes.
Deborah is in LA for an event after they haven't seen each other for a while. She and Ava spend a wild, nostalgic, complicated night together...and whoops, it ends in a proposal or marriage.
Ava got in Deborah’s head with her talk about queerness on the lesbian cruise. Now she can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to be with a woman. Maybe she tries it out with a different woman, and Ava has some surprising Feelings about that (especially if maybe she ends up hearing about it from the news or Deborah mentioning it in a standup routine or something). Or maybe she (drunkenly?) decides that the easiest and safest person to experiment with would be Ava…
Ava makes it big enough in her own right that people pay attention to her standup/Tik Toks/interviews/whatever. Which is why when she makes an offhand joke about the time she had a sex dream about her old boss, people put two and two together, and suddenly the story is viral
I always love seeing them work on jokes together. Maybe a that gets them talking about relationships and marriage and leads places they don’t expect?
Accidental or Impulsive Marriage: A drunk night in Vegas or out on the road is the first thing that comes to mind, but anything else you can think of here works for me! How do they react? Do they have to keep it hidden from the press? Are they reluctant to annul because that could draw press attention? (And if so…is that REALLY the only reason they’re reluctant?). Do they tell their friends, or keep it hidden from everyone? How does the rest of the cast react when they find out?
Media Related: Rumors that they’re in a relationship hit the presses (true or not). How do they react? Maybe it’s actually great for Deborah’s image so she insists they lean into it? Or maybe they fake a marriage as a fuck you over something in the press or weird speculation about their relationship being abusive or inappropriate? OR: How does the press react to them actually getting married (accidently, on purpose, whatever). The fans? How do they deal with the reaction? Or paparazzi pictures of them together start a buzz. Maybe some paparazzo got a picture of Ava crying while Deborah fired her and thinks it's a different kind of break up…
Wedding crashing: I could see either of them making Bad Marriage Choices, so this could go in either direction! Are they still in touch/friends when this happens? Or maybe they haven't seen each other in years when one crashes the other's wedding
Adultery - Cheating on their spouses with each other: Also fine for this to be a situation where only one of them is married (whether the other is single or in a relationship but not married). And also fine with them cheating with each other in general even if neither is married if it leads to some other marriage related plot!
Divorce Related: As much as I love these two together, you KNOW any relationship between them wouldn’t be easy, and if it went south enough for divorce to be in the picture it would be nasty and complicated and sad, but they also wouldn’t be able to entirely let go. So anything playing with that would be loved!

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Succession
Gerri Kellman/Roman Roy

A Non-Exhaustive List of Other Freeforms I like for this pairing:

Accidental Engagement - Joke Marriage Proposal on TV Mistaken As Real by the Press
Accidental Marriage - Woke Up Married After A Drunk Night
Accidental Marriage - Woke Up Married When Already Married to Someone Else
Bachelor(ette) Party – Hijinks & Shenanigans
Celebrity Marriage - Media Have Strong Reaction to Marriage
Marriage - Family is Disapproving of Marriage
Proposal - Joke proposal becomes mutual running joke until whoops - we mean it
Proposal - Mostly To Spite Everyone Who Said The Relationship Would Never Last
Proposal - Proposing After a Near-Death Experience
Wedding - Las Vegas Wedding

Request specific DNWs and DNW exceptions:

My poly/open relationship and infidelity DNWs are waived
I DNW an unhappy ending for Gerri, by which I mean I would like her to not have her career entirely fucked over (or if it is, that she gets her millions out of it), and for her to be more or less emotionally okay at the end of the fic. Roman on the other hand can come up a mess, that’s fine XD

General Thoughts: Gerri/Roman is my Succession OTP, and I loved everything about their story, from the way they came together (both the kinky sexual element AND the part where Gerri actually seemed invested in developing Roman’s business skills and Roman seemed to flourish under her tutelage) to the spectacular falling apart. I love that even after everything that went down in Season 4, you could see the briefest flickers of caring—Gerri not liking that people were laughing at the video of Roman crying; Roman drinking her drink in his last scene.

What I’m looking for here is just anything that explores that relationship—the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly. I’m here for any range of endings for them, from improbably happy to complete disaster, and I’d be just as happy with fic that’s simply pining or complicated but unconsummated lingering feelings as I would full blown sex and/or romance.

A note on timeline:

A note on other characters:

Prompts That Can Be Combined With Freeforms & Thoughts on Some Specific Freeforms:

Post-canon, Gerri and Roman reconnect. What could bring them back together after everything that happened? Does Roman call Gerri in a fit of moroseness? Do they somehow end up in a business entanglement again? Another scandal comes to light (maybe they get married for spousal immunity)?
Something about the dick pic or their relationship in general leaks to the press. Do they end up faking a marriage to try to make it less scandalous? Does dealing with the fallout push them back together?
Roman wants to start up his own business venture of some sort (maybe on his own post-canon, or an AU where the sibs just let the damn company go after Logan’s death and continue on the path of doing their own thing) and goes to Gerri for help. Things develop from there.
Season 2 finale AU: Logan decides he does want to try to use Gerri as a sacrificial lamb. She and Roman get married/pretend to be married/whatever as a way to try to force his hand. (Same kind of thing could also work as a Season 4 AU where Logan lives—like maybe instead of delivering the news about Gerri being fired for his dad, Roman offers to team up with her to try to turn it around…)
The family dynamics here are obviously going to be amazing, so I’m very into the idea of anything about the rest of the cast reacting to Roman/Gerri being married. In particular I feel like the Giving Gifts to Friends & Family, Host First Party Together, and Bachelor(ette) Party – Damage Control freeforms could yield hilarious results in the Succession world
Bachelor(ette) Party – Damage Control: For this, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the Bachelor(ette) party for a Gerri/Roman wedding. Like, maybe Roman is marrying someone else (Tabatha? I loved Tabatha! Or whoever) and his bachelor party spins out of control, and Gerri has to try to help him clean it up…
Wedding Ceremony - Watching The Person You Love Marry Some Else: For this, I was particularly thinking of Roman watching Gerri get married. And it definitely doesn’t have to be reciprocated love if you don’t want—could totally be him quietly (or not so quietly) pining while she has completely moved on. Though it could also pair well with adultery, or with them still having some mutual tension/affection if you prefer that!
Wedding Ceremony - Crashing the Wedding so They Can Marry Loved One Instead: This does not have to be successful, esp. if it is Roman crashing Gerri’s wedding!
Wedding Ceremony - Crashing the Wedding to Prevent Bad Marriage: I can’t really imagine Gerri getting herself into a BAD marriage, but maybe Roman thinks it is (or at least boring/beneath her). Or maybe it’s the other way around and Roman has impulsively thrown himself into a bad situation. If it’s Gerri crashing, is she doing it because she actually wants Roman for herself, or is she just trying to save him without meaning she wants to BE with him?
Anything involving media/social media reaction to any of this!

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Succession
Lukas Matsson/Shiv Roy

Request specific DNWs and DNW exceptions:

My poly/open relationship and infidelity DNWs are waived
My unhappy ending DNW is waived. I don’t want either of them to die, but things can end in a disaster
Given Shiv’s canonical situation, my “focus on pregnancy” DNW is waived. I would still rather not have a focus on the physical downsides of pregnancy (morning sickness, being physically uncomfortable because of it), and no pregnancy kink, please, but the fact that Shiv is pregnant or has a kid could obviously be very relevant and I am happy to have it be a part of the fic

General Thoughts: Oh my god was I obsessed with the Matsson/Shiv dynamic in Season 4. The push-pull. The attraction, but perhaps also repulsion. How they used that attraction to build some level of trust and establish their working relationship, but also how Matsson turned it around as a reason to dismiss Shiv as a CEO candidate. How fucking WEIRD Matsson is (Alexander Skarsgård was a revelation in this role). Shiv’s fury at his betrayal. I just want to see anything that explores their dynamic and power games more. This for sure does not have to have a happy ending.

A note on timeline:

A note on other characters:

Prompts That Can Be Combined With Freeforms & Thoughts on Some Specific Freeforms:

Listen, Shiv is down, but she’s never out. Once she brushes herself off from the betrayal, she decides it’s time to work her way back into Matsson’s good graces, and if she has to use sex to do it, well, that has some upsides, right?
Shiv decides to get revenge on Matsson in a way that involves getting close to him, first. Very close.
Post-canon, Shiv is still married to Tom in a complicated relationship, Tom is still working for Matsson, that means Matsson is still in Shiv’s orbit. She’s angry at Tom, she’s angry at Matsson, she’s angry at herself, and maybe that means she doesn’t always make the best choices. Choices like hooking up with Matsson, or getting drunk and somehow ending up married to him, etc…
AU where Matsson keeps Shiv as the American CEO. Maybe that means Shiv’s relationship with Tom is over, maybe not. Either way, it means she and Matsson are working closely together, and things develop…
Adultery - Discovery that Both Spouses are Cheating with the Same Extramarital Lover/ Adultery - Seducing Spouse's Extramarital Lover Leads To Poly Relationship/Marriage: this could either be a Matsson/Shiv marriage where they both take the same lover (Ebba? An OC?), OR it could be a Shiv/Tom marriage where they both end up hooking up with Matsson…
Second Marriage - About To Marry Someone Else But Previous Divorce Wasn't Finalized: I was thinking of a Shiv/Matsson second marriage where it turns out her divorce from Tom wasn’t finalized, but Matsson is also totally the type to have a surprise prior marriage that he never properly divorced from, so it could go either way!
For the Divorce freeforms I am happy to seem them interpreted as either about an established Shiv/Matsson marriage that has led to divorce OR about the Shiv/Tom divorce while Shiv is trying to start something with Matsson.
Newlyweds - Host First Party Together: Just…imagine what a disaster this party would be. Do the other sibs even show up? Does Tom? Just imagine! IMAGINE.
Wedding Reception - Someone Gives Worst Speech Ever: Is it Tom, invited because he has to be as the CEO of Matsson’s company, but bitter af about what happened between he and Shiv? Is it Kendall, still holding onto resentments for Shiv screwing him over (whether it’s canon compliant screwing him over, or screwing him over by becoming Matsson’s American CEO in an AU)? Roman continuing not to be able to hold it together in public speaking situation? Connor being all Connor about it? (Alternatively: I love the idea of everyone giving disaster speeches EXCEPT Connor, who really took it seriously…)
Anything involving media/social media reaction to any of this!

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SuitsHarvey Specter/Mike Ross
AUs Freeforms

General Marriage Freeforms

I’ve divided my freeforms up into different themes for organization’s/readability’s sake, but PLEASE feel free to mix and match as makes sense to you!!!

A Non-Exhaustive List of Other Freeforms I Like for this Pair:

Accidental Marriage - Drunk Characters Get Married and Decide to Stay Married After Sobering Up
Engagement - Comfort and Promising to Do Better Than Dysfunctional Birth Family of Spouse(s)
Fake Marriage - To Evoke Spousal Immunity In Court
Wedding - Drunken Marriage

Fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions:

DNW killing off canon love interests so Harvey and Mike can get together.
DNW use of “Alpha” and “Omega” honorifics in A/B/O AUs (ie. “Yes, Alpha!”)
DNW Mike or Harvey getting pregnant.

General Thoughts: Harvey/Mike have everything I love in a mentor/mentee ship. Being centrally important to each other! Enough of an age gap and experience differential to really have a mentorship! But the mentee character still being very brilliant at what they do and having their own POV about how to go about things! An easy banter and generally just very much enjoying each others’ company! Clear admiration for each other! But also emotional repression and difficulty expressing approval/affection on Harvey’s side! Intense, crazy, “I will risk destroying my own life for you” loyalty from the word go! Epically painful fights! But always, always forgiving each other in the end!

I am most interested in get together fic for them, and/or fic that focuses on how they deal with early, growing stages of their relationship. I love pining, and can see it easily on either/both sides. Harvey is clearly not very good at being in touch with his emotions in the first place, plus he has strict moral codes around relationships, which makes it easy for me to imagine him thinking he should not go there even if he does realize his own feelings. Mike, meanwhile, wears his heart on his sleeve, but also knows what an opportunity Harvey has given him and doesn’t want to risk messing it up. Plus, he could have the impression that Harvey doesn’t Do Relationships anyway. Plus, either of them could easily assume the other is straight.

But extended pining isn’t the only option for them! I am also down for either/both developing feelings over the course of the fic, and/or either/both being oblivious dumbasses who don’t realize their own feelings at first. Or if established relationship, I’m interested in communication issues, and how Harvey’s various relationship hang-ups might keep rearing their ugly head as the barrel towards commitment.

In terms of sexual dynamics, I like everything from vanilla through having D/s-y dynamics in bed, preferably with Mike in the sub role (though that does not have to mean physically bottoming!).

A note on timeline:

A note on other characters and ships:

~~and maybe into each other~~

Prompts That Can Be Combined With Freeforms & Thoughts on Some Specific Freeforms:

I love romantic tropes for them! Seriously, if there is a fan-ficcy romance trope that you can think of combining with this pairing and one of these freeforms, I want it. Accidental baby acquisition? Please. There’s only one bed? Duh! Stuck in an elevator? Maybe that’s where someone proposes! Canadian shack? Amazing. Pining while fucking? Always. Etc. etc. etc.
For any freeform that’s about being drunken (drunken marriage, drunken proposal, etc.): Feel free to substitute “high” instead if you want—I enjoy both for these two!
They keep joking about being married…and then escalating the jokes…and escalating… Or they make a single offhand joke about being married, are overheard, and suddenly it’s a rumor around the firm and it becomes this whole THING they have to deal with.
Fake or of Convenience Dating/Engagement/Marriage: Why? Go wild! I’m willing to accept a very loose understanding of the law for any excuse you want to come up with. But a few canon-based ideas, if you want them (I talk about AUs more later):
- Someone is sniffing out Mike’s secret, so he or Harvey impulsively comes up with this as a lie to distract them, only now they’re stuck with it.
- For spousal immunity, either because of Mike’s secret or because of some other wrongdoing that they don’t want to have to reveal.
- Grammy’s fading, and her dying wish is to see Mike happy with someone. This is what he comes up with (though he’s pretty surprised that Harvey’s willing to go along…)
- Listen, it’s not a FORMAL requirement that a named partner be married (Jessica sure as hell isn’t), but Harvey’s playboy reputation sometimes rubs clients the wrong way, and some of the other senior partners make it clear they aren’t ever going to support his promotion if he doesn’t settle down soon…So of course his move is to pick the (fake) spouse most targeted to piss them off!
Accidental/Impulsive Marriage: Happy for these kinds of freeforms to be applied to situations where they had absolutely no romantic relationship prior to getting married, or to where they had SOME romantic/sexual relationship, but they were in no way close to ready for marriage (for instance, if they’re “casual” fuckbuddies). How do they react? Do they immediately flip out? Realize that there was a reason they were drawn to do this? Both agree it should clearly be annulled, but then keep finding excuses to put that off? Whatever you want!
Proposal Related: Again, happy for these to come out of the blue when they aren’t together, or come in an established relationship, especially if it’s still unexpected (like maybe they’ve only been together a short time or haven’t talked about marriage at all). Between their constant jokey-ness, Harvey’s fear of abandonment and inability to say exactly what he means, and Mike’s overeagerness on one hand and perhaps insecurity (thinking Harvey won’t really want to stick with him for good) on the other, there’s all sort of potential for proposals coming at an unexpected time, or being misunderstood or not believed, or one needing to be convinced the other really means it, etc. etc. etc.
Wedding Ceremony - Crashing the Wedding so They Can Marry Loved One Instead, and other prompts related to one of them getting married:
- Maybe Harvey is trying his very best to be an amazing best man to Mike when he’s marrying Rachel (or someone else if you want to go more AU), but Mike realizes something’s wrong and gets a feelings confession out of him. Or Harvey doesn’t mean to do anything to interfere—he’d never plan this—but he can’t stop himself from objecting in the moment…
- AU after Mike leaves for Seattle. Maybe he realized his feelings from afar and comes flying home to interrupt Harvey’s marriage to Paula/Donna/someone else.
- Feel free to lean into the angst here, but I do want Mike and Harvey to end up together in the end. And please don’t bash their love interest if it’s Rachel or Donna (obviously this is a hard situation and it’s totally fair if Rachel or Donna was hurt/angry and it’s fine to show that, I just don’t want like, “oh they are totally awful, they deserve to have their wedding ruined anyway.”).
Different Universe and Different First Meeting AUs: Obviously I requested a whole bunch of different universes or different first meeting type AUs. Across the board, for me the key to their dynamic no matter how they first meet or what universe they’re in is: a) Mike starts out in a not-great situation/wasting his potential due to past mistakes; b) they get along great; c) Harvey quickly recognizing Mike is different (brilliant) and decides he wants to help him, preferable in a way that requires going out on a limb; and d) resulting intense loyalty on both sides.

Please feels free to mix and match within different kinds of AU freeforms if you so desire. Like, maybe arranged marriage is part of an A/B/O or BDSM world or Modern Royalty AU; sexual slavery is something that happens to subs or omegas; etc. etc.
- A/B/O: I prefer Harvey as an alpha and Mike as an omega, but very into them bucking against those roles and finding them confining. I enjoy Mike not wanting to be submissive, and Harvey finding the idea of having his biology control him in any way offensive. Either or both of them overly relying on suppressants is great, as is Mike pretending to be a beta or an alpha.
  - In general, things I enjoy about A/B/O are inequality, difficult or impossible to control mating urges, bonding, knotting/being stuck together for a while. Scenting is fine but not my kink. I’m not very interested in the breeding kink element, and DNW Mike or Harvey getting pregnant. DNW use of Alpha and Omega as titles, especially during sex scenes (ie., no “Oh yes, Alpha!”).
  - Down for a wide range of worldbuilding, from worlds where all “genders” are theoretically equal (even if there is social bias, etc.) to dystopian worlds where omegas have few to no rights (though if the latter, I prefer Harvey not really being comfortable with that, even if he pretends to go along with it for appearances’ sake).
  - Feel free to lean into the dubcon-ness of heat/rut if you want, but I would prefer that they both enjoy it physically (even if they are also like OMG what is happening???)
  - Love them meeting as in canon and then navigating A/B/O urges, social rules, etc. in a way that ends up with them married (or fake married that becomes real feelings…). But also down for different first meetings. Maybe Harvey has reached an age where as an alpha he must marry, and instead of interviewing for associates, he’s interviewing for omegas. Or there’s some sort of matchmaking database or service, etc…
- BDSM AUs I love these for Harvey/Mike a lot. I prefer Harvey as the dom and Mike as the sub, but as with A/B/O I like them bucking against those roles, particularly in a world where subs are legally inferior in some way to doms. Maybe Mike has no interest in giving away his autonomy at all. Maybe Harvey has no interest in having that kind of responsibility for someone else (commitment issues, much?). Do they suffer socially or physically for denying their roles? Maybe Pearson Hardman only hires doms and Mike has to fake it (with or without Harvey’s knowledge). Maybe Pearson Hardman requires partners to have subs and that’s how Mike and Harvey come in contact? Maybe marriage is required for subs or doms of a certain age, and that’s why they end up getting married. Or maybe just being an unclaimed sub puts Mike in a bad position, and Harvey refuses to let anything happen to him…
- Slavery AUs: I prefer Mike as the slave character here. Debt slavery seems particularly fitting given Mike’s money problems at the start of canon, or slavery as a consequence of crime (maybe he gets caught with those drugs?), but I am down for basically whatever worldbuilding you want here. Is it explicitly sexual slavery, or service in general, maybe with an understanding that SOME owners use their slaves in that particular way?
  - Color me idealistic, but I prefer Harvey not be an enthusiastic participant in the whole system. Maybe Mike initially belongs to a client but Harvey realizes he’s being mistreated and marries him to save him, or he unexpectedly wins him in a poker game, or it’s a required status symbol that Harvey is very reluctantly pressured into, or etc., etc., etc.
  - Alternatively, for slavery as a result of a crime, maybe it could be linked to Mike being caught as a fraud? Maybe it's between prison and married slavery and obviously he picks being Harvey's "slave." In that situation I would assume they'd go into it agreeing Mike would not actually be subserviently in that way, but maybe they have to pretend in public, or other people make assumptions, or they have to navigate Mike's loss of legal autonomy... Or maybe Harvey isn't able to be the one to own Mike right away, and he has to fight through hell and high water to get him back from someone else (perhaps someone abusive?). Maybe they marry because they realize that’s the only way Harvey can truly keep Mike safe?
- Courtship - Marriage Ball Held to Find a Spouse: I was thinking some sort of marriage royalty AU, though if you want to make it historical, feel free! My thought here: Harvey is a prince (or whatever). He needs to get married, much to his chagrin. He meets this charming totally not-acceptable-partner-for-a-prince young man who has snuck into his courtship ball, and decides fuck it: they’re going to lie and say Mike is somehow royalty/high enough class to be qualified as a spouse. Aaaaand, go!
- Marriage is a job requirement/by corporate overlords: Make this a society wide AU! And either Harvey turns to Mike after they already know each other because he needs SOMEONE; OR it’s a different first meeting AU where they meet through some sort of match-making service or whatnot. OR I am equally down for a version where this is just some weird Pearson Hardman bylaw. Like you can never be managing partner or a named partner or something else unless you’re married. Or hell, make it a different first meeting AU where you can’t make senior partner without being married. Maybe instead of interviewing for associates Harvey is interviewing for spouses…
- Other Worldbuilding AUs: Worlds where there are algorithmic matchmakers everyone uses whether or not they want to, arranged marriages that may or may not be somewhat coerced, etc. etc. Whatever my selected freeforms inspire, go for it! I particularly love somewhat dystopian flavored options, with the boys bucking against or finding ways around the system, or being surprised to find happiness with each other despite the badness of the system.
- Random Person or Escort Hired to Act as Spouse at Work or Family Gathering: I was thinking of Harvey hiring Mike, whether that be Mike as an escort, or, like, Mike as a random dude he met at a bar. Maybe this is otherwise our canon world, and he needs a “spouse” to woo a client or something. Or maybe it combines with one of these AU worlds, where marriage is more literally a job requirement, or there’s an A/B/O or D/s element or whatever else!
- Consent Issues: A number of these are potentially dark worlds. If you would like to include sexual trauma/rape/etc. either on screen or in backstory (especially for Mike if he was an abused sub, sex slave, etc.), please feel free. Not between Harvey and Mike, please, but between either of them and OCs or canon baddies = great. I have more thoughts about my likes in that direction here.
  - Relatedly, a number of these scenarios have the potential for dub-con power dynamics between Mike and Harvey, in situations where Mike's status as an omega/sub/slave means he has less legal autonomy, and especially for different-first-meeting AUs where they don't already know each other before they end up entangled. I prefer no straight up noncon between Harvey and Mike, but I'm fine with playing with the fraught consent issues that could come up in these scenarios, if you're interested in that.
    
    I really love them being attracted to each other and having really great sex that is nonetheless emotionally tangled, especially in situations where Mike comes into the whole situation abused. Or Mike trying to seduce Harvey even though originally the marriage was supposed to be platonic/just to save him, because fuck it, he likes the guy and no matter what the law says he still has autonomy, and Harvey being worried that this is just Mike trying to survive or is done out of guilt. Or them falling into a sexual relationship but neither being sure if it’s real love. Etc. etc. etc. I prefer a happy ending, but cool with lots of angst along the way!
- For more thoughts about AUs, check out my AUex and Id Pro Quo letters.
In general I really love hurt/comfort for them. If you're into the idea of combining that with some of these marriage freeforms, I have many more thoughts in my Hurt/Comfort letter!

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Ted Lasso
Roy Kent/Jamie Tartt

Fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions:

Permanent death of any canon characters except for Jamie’s dad or Rupert. (Or Edmund Akufo, which I forgot to put in my signup. Not sure why it would come up, but if it does fine with him dying!)
For my "any character portrayed 'on screen' in sexual situations under the age of 15" DNW, I just mean actual graphic description of sex with a character under 15. Jamie talking about what happened in Amsterdam when he was 14 or any other past sexual abuse when he was young = totally fine.

General Thoughts: I already enjoyed Roy/Jamie before Season 3 but WOW did Season 3 turn me absolutely obsessed. Jamie is the kind of character who goes straight to my id, with all that jackass arrogance hiding all the hurt inside, and how sweet he turns out to be once the defensive mechanisms are stripped away. And Roy! Roy, my beloved man of few words. I just ADORE their push-pull relationship in canon. Butting heads (sometimes literally!) but also learning to work together. I loved seeing them finally become (best) friends in Season 3. Now I want to see them get to a romantic happily ever after even if it has some bumps along the way!

Also, like, the D/s vibes of that Ugly, ugly boy with bad hair scene are very good and if you want to explore that further I am all for it.

A note on timeline:

A note on other characters:

Prompts That Can Be Combined With Freeforms & Thoughts on Some Specific Freeforms:

In general with these two, very happy to see a range of where they are in terms of accepting their attraction to a) men in general, or b) each other in particular. Does drunkenly getting married to Jamie out of nowhere cause Roy to have a mid-life sexuality crisis? Does Jamie blurt out a proposal when he realizes his hero-worship of Roy since he was a kid was so much more than just hero worship? Or has one or both been quietly pining for a while?
I love romantic tropes for them! Seriously, if there is a fan-ficcy romance trope that you can think of combining with this pairing and one of these freeforms, I want it. Accidental baby acquisition? Please. There’s only one bed? Duh! Stuck in an elevator? Maybe that’s where someone proposes! Canadian shack? Amazing. Pining while fucking? Always. Etc. etc. etc.
Fake or of Convenience Dating/Engagement/Marriage: Why? Go wild! Here are a few ideas, but really down for whatever you come up with:
- Some tabloid starts reporting that someone at Richmond is gay. Colin is freaking out and not ready to come out to the public, and somehow Jamie/Roy being married becomes the way to distract from it…
- Jamie is the hottest football star around, and he’s really sick of people constantly hitting on him, actually. Sure, it started off nice, but it’s getting absurd. He has a solution, if only Roy will agree… Or Roy volunteers/impulsively steps up to say they are married/engaged to get some super fan to back off, and suddenly the rumor is out there...
- It starts off as totally random or wires crossed tabloid speculation, and they kind of decide it would be funny to troll the press about it…
- It’s to distract from some other bad story. Maybe the press gets ahold of info about Jamie’s dad and their relationship. He’s so distraught, and Roy just wants him to feel better...
- Jamie's mum has made some wrong assumptions, but she's just so HAPPY about the idea of Jamie and Roy being together, and it would make her so happy if Roy came with Jamie for a holiday visit, and really, can't he just pretend for one weekend?
Fake Marriage - In Love with Someone Not Involved in Fake Marriage: I was particularly thinking Jamie was one who would get fake married. Like maybe it’s some for-the-presses celebrity marriage that he and his fake spouse are both happy to participate in for whatever reason. So why is Roy so damn upset about it?
Accidental/Impulsive Marriage: Happy for these kinds of freeforms to be applied to situations where they had absolutely no romantic relationship prior to getting married, or to where they had SOME romantic/sexual relationship, but they were in no way close to ready for marriage (for instance, if they’re “casual” fuckbuddies or just beginning to feel out a relationship). How do they react? Do they immediately flip out? Realize that there was a reason they were drawn to do this? Both agree it should clearly be annulled, but then keep finding excuses to put that off? Whatever you want!
Proposal Related: Again, happy for these to come out of the blue when they aren’t together, or come in an established relationship, especially if it’s still unexpected (like maybe they’ve only been together a short time or haven’t talked about marriage at all). Between their jokey-ness, Roy’s difficulty expressing his feeling, and Jamie’s impulsive enthusiasm, there’s all sort of potential for proposals coming at an unexpected time, or being misunderstood or not believed, or one needing to be convinced the other really means it, etc. etc. etc.
Celebrity Marriage freeforms: Obviously they are both super famous, and I’m interested to see how that plays into any marriage story. Press reactions to their marriage? Marriage (or fake marriage) in response to the press? Jamie somehow convinces Roy to go on a reality show with him, and things develop from there? Anything you want to play with here, I want to read!
Divorce - Getting Back Together/Divorce - Spouse Refuses to Sign Divorce Paperwork: I saw two potential routes for this, both equally appealing. One would be divorce (or annulment, that would also be fine!) after an impulse/accidental marriage—only they realize they don’t actually want to be divorced, that was dumb, let’s be married for real. The other would be a more serious divorce after an actual marriage. Because let’s be real, as much as I love them and think they’d be great together, they will also but heads a lot, and we know Roy has a tendency to run when he thinks things are going bad. So things fell apart or are falling apart—how do they fight their way back to a happy ending?
Bachelor(ette) Party - A ends up getting drunkenly married to B instead of fiancé(e)/Wedding Ceremony - Crashing the Wedding so They Can Marry Loved One Instead/Wedding Ceremony - Crashing the Wedding to Prevent Bad Marriage: Feel free to use Keeley as the other party if that makes sense for the story here (though again, I prefer no bashing, so to the extent Roy/Keeley or even Jamie/Keeley would be a “bad” marriage I would prefer the focus be on incompatibility as opposed to like, abusive bad). But also: OCs! Maybe one of them is going to get married to someone who is actually abusive or otherwise bad. Or I could also see Jamie, especially, kind of falling into a relationship of convenience (maybe with a model or someone else where they are both benefiting from it, fame wise) and thinking why not just get married, it’s not like Roy will ever want him anyway so what’s the point in not…
In general I really love hurt/comfort for them, esp. with a hurt Jamie. If you're into the idea of combining that with some of these marriage freeforms, I have many more thoughts in my Hurt/Comfort letter!

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Just Married 2023 Letter

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