AU Ex Letter 2021

[learnedfoot]

Dear AUEx Creator,

Hello! I’m LearnedFoot on A03! You’ve matched (or, if you’re a pinch hitter, chosen) on one of these pairs and freeforms, which already means we have thing sin 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 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, but I didn’t request anything I wouldn’t be over the moon to receive.

I have requested all fic in my requests, but I would be delighted to get art treats in any.

Here is what this letter contains:

General Likes
Art Likes
DNWs
BoJack Horseman: BoJack/Mr. PB; Sarah Lynn-Related
MCU: Peter Parker & Others
Suits: Mike Ross/Harvey Specter
Superstore: Garrett McNeill/Jonah Simms
The Great: Lots of Ships

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 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 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.

Remember: this is all just meant to be helpful. Do not feel obligated to use any of my prompts if you have your own idea of where to go with the freeforms (a lot of them really do stand on their own!), and definitely do not take any singling out of specific freeforms as a suggestion I want those more. This letter is meant to be helpful, not burdensome or stressful!

General Likes

Banter

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

Bonding over shared or similar trauma

Characters having conversations we don’t get to see in canon

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

Characters who keep getting back up no matter how many times they’re down

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)

Time travel and time loops

Trapped in an isolated or otherwise dangerous location

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

• Accidental soulbonds:
  
  • I like the idea of some combo of: they have a sense of each others’ emotions and/or physical sensations, it hurts or is otherwise uncomfortable to be too far apart, that kind of thing
    
  • I’m not so interested in actually being about to read each others’ thoughts
    
  • I esp. like the idea of this being super uncommon/caused by some weird sort of spell or sci-fi whatever, so they have no idea what’s going on at first
• Fake dating, 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

Using (or even just mentioning) the fact that Peter Parker is suuuper strong.

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 (and at least one of the relevant requested characters can REALLY take it ;) )
  
• 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.

[back]

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)
  
• Rich colors, colors that glow
  
• Blue is my single favorite color, generally

Styles

• Some styles I’ve noticed I like: pop, graffiti, realism, cute & cartoon-y.
  
• For BoJack, I love things in the style of canon, though other styles are also great!
  
• 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
  
  • Historical clothing porn for The Great = yes, please!
    
  • Superhero suit porn = great. As is superhero in normal-people clothing. Or a combo!
    
  • I love Peter Parker wearing the spider-suit under street clothing
    
  • Normal suit porn, especially for Suits. Or the half-undressed look. Like, 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
    
  • The whumping part goes double for Peter Parker, Tony Stark, Diarmuid, or Robby
• Incorporation of dialogue (even if it’s just one line)
  
• Funny/cute reactions and scenes
  
• Incorporation of cute animals/creatures/robots or kids (except in the non-con contexts). E.g.:
  
  • Morgan, Goose or baby Groot or Tony's bots for MCU
    
  • Any cute alien creatures, canon or otherwise, for canons with aliens
• 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

[back]

DNWs
General DNWs

Completely hopeless endings

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)

Kidfic involving non-canon children (unless explicitly requested)

Permanent, non-canon death of the requested characters

Poly or otherwise open relationships involving the requested characters (unless explicitly requested)

Focus on pregnancy

For any MCU-related request, Peter referring to Tony as like a father, or Tony referring to Peter as like a son. (Discussion of their mentor/mentee bond is fine, it's just those words or the concept of being like family I want avoided)

There are also some fandom specific DNWs 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

Extended, on-screen consent negotiations

Feeding, weight gain, inflation, anything in that realm

Formalized BDSM

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 pass-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 requestedf

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

An older character kinking on a younger one's youthful looks to the point where they are described as childlike.

• In consensual ships, the older person can — and preferable should — find the younger person hot, and, IDK, marveling at their smooth skin or general young person energy is fine, and for dub-con/non-con ships, I’m fine with the aggressor liking/getting off on the fact that the younger character is naive or easy to manipulate. I just want to avoid emphasis on "they look childlike" or "it's hot that they're not fully matured physically" or the like.

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 requested freeform. But I DNW the following types of AUs unless specifically requested:

• 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 it’s a result of diverging canon before they get together, etc.)

[back]

BoJack Horseman
BoJack Horseman /& Mr. Peanutbutter
BoJack Horseman /& Sarah Lynn
Princess Caroline & Sarah Lynn
Solo: Sarah Lynn
• BoJack Horseman: Sarah Lynn Doesn't Die
• BoJack Horseman: Mr. Peanutbutter Becomes the Mayor
• ALL: Canon Divergence AU
• ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it even worse
• ALL: Take a good thing that happened to a character in canon and make it bad
• ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it better
• ALL: Character finds out they have a child they didn't know about
• ALL: Fake marriage to solve a canon problem
• ALL: Las Vegas marriage
• ALL: Marriage of Convenience AU
• ALL: On the run from the law
• ALL: The Characters Go on a Reality Show
• ALL: Russian Doll Time Loop

Why I requested it: As far as I’m concerned this show is one of the best of all time, and I always want more. I’m constantly astonished by its ability to blend wacky humor with soul crushingly poignant character moments. It has amazingly creative world building and some of the most realistically crafted characters I’ve ever seen, under all the animal puns and slapstick adventures. It’s depressing as fuck, and yet the way the characters keep fumbling on, attempting to connect to each other and often support each other, even when maybe that’s ill advised, actually leaves me oddly hopeful and uplifted.

Prompts and thoughts that can be combined with various freeforms:

Sarah Lynn Related: Sarah Lynn is my very favorite character on a show full of characters I adore. Her story is so predictably tragic (she literally jokes about how she’s going to die young in the first episode she appears in), and yet despite the predictability, the tragedy hits home because while in many ways she’s a cliche, she is also a distinct character. She’s smart and kind of weird and wanted to be an architect, and she breaks my heart.

I’m not super interested in Sarah Lynn as a child/on Horsing Around (I don’t mind that backstory being included, but I would prefer it’s not the entire fic), but beyond that, I’m open to anything my selected tags inspire you to write. Feel free to pair her with any other character(s), platonically or otherwise, or with OCs or BoJack-esque takes on celebs, whatever you want.

• Sarah Lynn ends up spending time with any of the other characters. Like, how would it go if she ended up on a road trip with Dianne? Did she hear Sextina Aquafina call her a has-been on TV and have a reaction the next time they crossed paths? What if she winds up on a reality show with Mr. PB? Anything you can think of!
  
  
• AU where she lives and gets sober. Can she stay sober? Does she take her Oscar win an run with it to revitalize her career? Does she ditch the entertainment biz and become an architect? What would future interactions with BoJack be like? Does she speak up during his big takedown? Does she stay on his side, turn on him, something else? Feel free to go happy or sad here.
  
  
• AU where she lives and doesn’t get sober. How does that impact the other events of the show going forward? Was she at the campaign event where Mr. PB’s house sunk into the ground? Did she meet Hollyhock? Did she and BoJack go on more ill-advised binges? Does she wind up on reality TV, home of many a former major star?
  
  
• AU where PC ends up as her agent in Season 1, or at any other point. Does PC manage to save her career? Does she keep her away from the path that eventually kills her?
  
  
• Outsider POVs on Sarah Lynn (fans, co-stars, family, other characters, the media, etc.). I’m really interested in the tension between her image as a celebrity and the reality of her life, and this would be a cool way to explore that.
  
  
• For Sarah Lynn/BoJack: I like it fucked up and unhealthy but also with a sense that they do get it each in a way no one else can, like we see on the show. If you want to explore this relationship more, they for sure do not have to have a happy ending.

BoJack Horseman/&Mr. Peanutbutter: When I first started watching this show, I never would have predicted finding this dynamic as interesting as I do. I love that BoJack sees Mr. Peanutbutter as a rival and an annoyance, and meanwhile Mr. Peanutbutter is all “this is my good friend BoJack, I love him so much.” It would have been so easy to have them just be rivals — especially because of the Diane of it all — and yet, the show refused to make it that simple, and I love that by the end Mr. PB is one of the few people from BoJack's old life who still wholeheartedly supports him. The way he stuck by him in the final season was really sweet.

I like this pair as ship and gen equally, so whichever you prefer! Even with my "fake relationship" type prompts, I am totally down for that to be legit gen, and just them dealing with the situation and getting closer as friends.

• The way that Mr. Peanutbutter’s happy-go-lucky attitude is clearly covering for his own pain is what makes him so interesting to me, and it was nice to see him get some self-awareness at the end there. BoJack getting to see more of that side of him, them dealing with their pain together, and/or trying to grow together would be great.
  
  
• BoJack and Mr. Peanutbutter play characters who are dating or married in a movie or play.
  
  
• In general, accidental or fake dating/marriage is great, as indicated by some of my selected freeforms. If you like that idea, I have a lot of prompts for it here
  
  
• They go on a reality TV show. Maybe a “celeb Big Brother” type thing? Or a celebrity dating show?
  
  
• On learns they had a kid they didn’t know about, and predictably freaks out. How does the other help (or make things worse)?
  
  
• Anything with the media: media reacting to their relationship, whether that be a growing friendships or a romantic relationship (fake or otherwise); a relationship/marriage (or fake one) in reaction to something in the media or as a PR stunt, etc. Maybe a fake or accidental marriage leaks, and it turns out they are very popular with the fans, so they just keep going with it...

Prompts for Any/All:

• Russian Doll Time Loop: I love these! For me, the key element of the time loop is: 1) two characters are stuck in it together, 2) the loops end in death (though done more in a darkly humorous rather than gruesome way). And for BoJack characters, I think the “facing trauma head-on” element is also important. Feel free to use any of my requested pairs, or Sarah Lynn &/ anyone else who interests you!
  
  
• Want to tell the story through an experimental format like social media posts, text chains, newspaper/gossip articles, etc? I’m all for it! I think this is a great canon for that.

A note on other characters: Any and all other characters are welcome. I’m fine with infidelity, open relationships/poly, etc. in this fandom. I also ship PC/BoJack, Diane/BoJack, and PC/Judah, and while I don’t exactly ship Diane/Mr. Peanutbutter, I find their relationship fascinating and like seeing it explored. And really, I’m good with backstory or background any character/any character, except for non-canon pairings with Todd or Hollyhock. This is Hollywoo(b), baby, I’d buy that they’ve all had sex.

Fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions: DNW detailed smut (don’t stress out about this, I basically just won’t get much out of smut-as-smut in this fandom, so I prefer the focus elsewhere, but I’m not going to freak out if you blur the line between T and M/E). My poly/open relationship DNWs are waived.

[back]

MCU
Peter Parker & Creator's Choice of Defenders Character
Peter Parker & Creator's Choice of Guardians of the Galaxy
Peter Parker & Creator's Choice of Avenger
Peter Parker & Helmut Zemo
Peter Parker & Nebula
Peter Parker & Nebula & Morgan Stark
Peter Parker & Stephen Strange
Peter Parker & Vision
• ALL: Canonically dead villain faked own death
• ALL: Character on Parole with Exploding Collar
• All: Character or characters lose their powers
• ALL: Characters Meet at a Different Point in Their Canon
• ALL: Interesting people you meet in prison
• ALL: one character is held captive by the other
• ALL: Russian Doll Time Loop
• ALL: Time loop where character makes things worse before making them better
• MCU: Different characters survive the Snap
• MCU: Infinity War gets stopped before it gets started
• MCU: Nebula Stays on Earth After Endgame
• MCU: Peter Parker Does Not Discover Quentin Beck's Secret So Early
• MCU: Peter Parker's Identity Is Not Revealed at the End of Far From Home
• MCU: Peter Parker's Identity Is Revealed Earlier
• MCU: Snapped character(s) come back without their powers
• MCU: The Vulture Recruits Peter Parker to His Team
• MCU: Tony Stark Does Not Recruit Peter Parker in Civil War
• MCU: Tony Stark Does Not Return to Mentoring Peter Parker After the Ferry Incident
• MCU: Zemo didn't go back to prison after TFATWS

NOTE: AO3 seems to have eaten a bunch of my freeforms when I edited my request for formatting reasons, and I failed to notice. Please consider any of the freeforms listed above as requested! They were supposed to be.

Why I Requested It: Peter is just so fucking endearing to me. I love how hard he tries to do good, I love that he has some bite, I love how whumpable he is. He is my gen LBD for this fandom. I want him to interact with everyone. I love all the relationships he already has in canon, and I want to see how characters he hasn’t met react to him. Also, please feel free to mix and match any of the below. Like, Peter + some Defenders + some Guardians? Yes, please! Peter + Avengers + Zemo? I’m there. Etc. etc. etc.

Peter Parker & Any Defenders Character: I always really want to see Peter interact with the Netflix Marvel characters (whether the Defenders or any of the other characters from the shows!). I think it would be so interesting. He, like them, focuses on street-level crime in New York. But unlike them, he’s also been brought into (and buys into) the Avengers “big leagues.” Plus, personality-wise he’s just so different: most of the Netflix characters are various degrees of cynical, hardened, and angry at the world, and even the most optimistic ones are a lot more adult. And then here we have this kid who by all rights should be those things, and yet somehow is a ball of enthusiasm and positivity. That contrast really fascinating to me.

Peter Parker & Any Guardian of the Galaxy Character: I loved Peter getting to interact with the Guardians in Infinity War and want more! Maybe he goes on a space adventure with them? Or shows any/all of them around Earth? I love them learning about each others’ cultures. I also really like the idea that the Guardians, not being from Earth, might be less likely to treat Peter as Just a Kid, if that’s something you want to play with.

Peter Parker & Any Avenger: Feel free to use any of the Avengers, and to interpret that broadly (by which I mean anyone who has ever been on the team, or fought with them in Endgame). Peter being mentored by another Avenger, teaming up, working to put together another Avengers team—I just want your take on how he would bounce off the rest of the cast.

Peter Parker & Nebula (& Morgan); Peter Parker & Vision: Obviously, these can also combine with Peter & Guardians and Peter & Avengers. But I just wanted to flag that if you’re interested, I am particularly interested in these combos dealing with Tony’s death, or bonding over their differing connections to Tony in an AU where Tony is alive. Peter & Rhodey, too! Oh, also Peter & Bucky, for more complicated reasons on Bucky’s part. (Bucky & Peter team up to rescue Morgan is something I always want to see.)

Peter Parker & Stephen Strange: Magic lessons. That is all, that’s my whole thought on this. Wait, I have another thought: Wong is very much invited, too!

Peter Parker & Helmut Zemo: I completely fell in love with Zemo over the course of Falcon and the Winter Solider, and I am really interested in how he would interact with Peter. In particular, I want to know how he would react to a super person who did not choose super powers. Also, he has a soft spot for children, and he might still see Peter as somewhat in that category. OTOH, Peter would probably be very skeptical of Zemo, at least at first, which is very interesting.

Past letters with more prompts/thoughts on specific combons:

• ChocoBox 2020 (Peter & Defenders, Bucky Barnes &/or Sam Wilson, Nebula, Stephen Strange)
  
• MCU Exchange (Peter & Bucky, Sam, Carol, Nebula, Rhodey)
  
• Hurt/Comfort (Peter & Defenders, Avengers)

Thoughts/Prompts that Can Combine With Various Freeforms:

• Tony is not Peter’s mentor: I am really interested in AUs where Tony doesn’t start mentoring Peter during CW, or drops mentoring him quickly (after the Ferry incident, or after Peter turns him down to join the Avengers). Who else might fill that gap? Does Peter fall in with one or more of the Defenders? Avengers? Is he stuck on his own? If so, how does he end up getting involved in the larger superhero world? Does he possibly fall in with a villain character? How does that go? Does he end up at odds with the heroes?
  
  
• IW/Snap Related AUs: Different characters get snapped. Maybe a total swap of who does/doesn’t get snapped. Or what if Peter and some of the Guardians stay, but Tony is snapped? Or Peter and Strange stay? Does Peter go on space adventures with the Guardians? Is he part of Nat’s Avengers team on Earth? Does he get involved with the Defenders? I also really like AUs where both Peter and Tony survive IW and end up on space adventures with the Nebula! Or what about an AU where IW doesn’t happen? How does Peter get involved with the Avengers in that situation? Or what if the team on Titan wins? How do they get back to Earth? Do they run into Carol?
  
  
• Losing Powers: I am very interested in AUs where Peter loses his powers, temporarily or permanently, for whatever reason. How does he react to that, once he’s built so much of his identity around being Spider-Man? Who does he turn to for help?
  
  
• Character on Parole with Exploding Collar, Interesting people you meet in prison: For these, I’m thinking fallout from the FFH murderer framing. Maybe Peter ends up in the same prison as Zemo? Or he ends up in prison with a Defender who has ended up on the wrong side of the law? And/or Matt is his lawyer? Or one or more characters try to help him when he’s on parole? Or maybe Wakanda takes him in?
  
  
• Russian Doll Time Loop: I love these! For me, the key element of the time loop is: 1) they are stuck in it together, 2) the loops end in death (though done more in a darkly humorous rather than gruesome way). I’m less attached to the “world dying around them” and “face trauma head-on to get out” elements—you can totally include those if you want, but you can also change them up. I think this would be particularly fun for characters Peter hasn’t met before, and this is how they get to know each other.
  
  
• Peter Parker Does Not Discover Quentin Beck's Secret So Early, Canonically dead villain faked own death: Beck was a great villain, so keeping him in the mix/bringing him back into the mix is always welcome. Or what about other fake-deaths? Killgrave is one of my all time favorite villains, period, and the idea of him mind-controlling Peter is horrifying for everyone involved, and therefore delicious. Or what about Obie? Or whoever is fun to you!

A note on other characters and ships: I am a huge Peter/Tony shipper, so if you want to work that into the fic, I am always down. (And you can find many more Peter/Tony thoughts in my past letters). But that is in no way something I expect—I requested these gen pairs because I really want to explore Peter and other characters! That said, I DNW Peter and Tony’s relationship explicitly referred to as father/son like.

I also DNW focus on romance for Peter other than with Tony. I am fine with mentions of his relationship with MJ, or other relationships with OCs, especially if it’s in conversations/struggles with balancing regular life and superheroing. But the only person I actively ship him with is Tony, so I won’t get anything out of a big romantic subplot with anyone else.

As for other characters, I DNW Tony shipped with anyone other than Peter or Pepper. I DNW Nebula shipped with any man other than Rhodey (but any woman is fair game, including Gamora and 2014!Nebula/2023!Nebula). Other than that, feel free to include whatever other characters you desire, and whatever ships between those other characters you may want.
.
Fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions: Smut (even if you include a ship, I want the focus to be on the gen pair please!). Focus on Peter shipped with anyone other than Tony. Nebula shipped with any man other than Rhodey.

[back]

Suits
Mike Ross/Harvey Specter
• ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it even worse
• ALL: Take a good thing that happened to a character in canon and make it bad
• Suits TV: Harvey does not hire Mike in the pilot
• Suits TV: Harvey takes longer to forgive Mike after Season 2 finale
• Suits TV: Mike Goes to Work for Forstman
• Suits: Daniel Hardman seeks revenge through less legal methods
• Suits TV: Harvey Goes to Prison Instead of Mike
• Suits TV: Mike serves his entire prison sentence
• Suits TV: Mike faces different consequences for his lie
• Suits: Mike Never Goes Back to Being a Lawyer After Getting Caught
• Suits TV: Harvey and Cameron Dennis Once Had a Fraught and Not Very Healthy Sexual Relationship
• ALL: On the run from the law
• ALL: Character finds out they have a child they didn't know about
• ALL: Different First Meeting
• ALL: Different First Meeting - Actually a Hooker
• ALL: Different First Meeting - Mistaken for a Hooker and Goes With It
• ALL: Different First Meeting - Reality Show (dating show)
• ALL: Different First Meeting - Reality Show (non-dating show)
• ALL: Different First Meeting - Won in a bet
• ALL: Fake marriage to solve a canon problem
• ALL: Las Vegas marriage
• ALL: Marriage of Convenience AU
• All: Mandatory marriage by a certain age
• ALL: Marrying To Keep Legal Custody Of Convict Out Of Hostile Hands
• ALL: Slavery AU - inheriting an abused sex slave
• ALL: Like canon but with slavery added
• ALL: Character on Parole with Exploding Collar
• ALL: Debt Slavery AU
• ALL: Russian Doll Time Loop

Why I Requested It: I recently re-fell in love with this ship. They 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 (for a rookie) 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 getting together fic for them. I love pining, and can see it easily on either/both sides. Harvey clearly is not very good at being in touch with his emotions and has strict moral codes around relationships that makes it easy for me to imagine him thinking he should not go there with a subordinate even if he does realize his own feelings. (Plus, Mike is caught up in other romantic relationships almost constantly, and we know how very strict Harvey is about not getting involved with people who are taken). 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, and also 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! am also down for developing feelings over the course of the fic, and/or either/both being oblivious dumbasses who don’t realize their own feelings at first.

In terms of sexual dynamics, I like them 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!). However, I am not into formalized BDSM unless it is in a prostitute AU where Harvey specifically hires Mike for that purpose.

General Thoughts on My Requests: I have requested some AUs that would have them meeting in different circumstances (whether full universe AUs, or different first meeting AUs). For me, the key to their dynamic whether in a canon setting or a different meeting is: a) they get along great; b) Mike starts out in a not-great situation/ wasting his potential due to past mistakes; c) Harvey quickly recognizing Mike is different (brilliant) and decides he wants to help him, preferable in a way that goes out on a limb; and c) resulting intense loyalty on both sides.

For the canon-based AUs, feel free to set the fic at any point in canon that makes sense to you. Their relationship goes through a lot of different stages, all of which I find interesting for shipping purposes. The early days when Mike seems genuinely unsure if Harvey cares about him; the big Season 2 finale fallout; Mike leaving and then coming back to the firm; the insane emotional intensity of the trial/prison arc; the pain of Mike up and ditching Harvey for Seattle—seriously, there is a lot of fun stuff to chew on throughout.

Thoughts/Prompts that Can Combine With Various Freeforms:

Canon Divergence

• Take canon and make it worse: This is what a lot of my canon-specific freeforms boil down to, and those freeforms were just the scenarios that jumped to mind for me, which is why I also requested the more general freeform, too! Feel free to run wild with whatever other canon divergences you can think of that will make things bad. Fights that last longer. A time where they saved the day at the last second in canon turns into defeat instead. A physical fight from canon is more violent. Make a vengeful character more vicious. Etc. etc. etc.
  
  
• Harvey does not hire Mike in the pilot: Harvey makes a slightly more sane decision in the pilot: as much as he wants to, he can’t actually hire a kid with no degree. But maybe they keep running into each other. Or he can’t get this brilliant kid out of his brain. Or he tries to think of other ways to help him. Or Mike gets into trouble with the law and out of desperation calls up that one lawyer he felt like he kind of hit it off with…
  
  
• Keep them apart!! Harvey takes longer to forgive Mike after Season 2 finale and Mike Goes to Work for Forstman were both nominated with this vibe in mind, but feel free to use other canon divergences to get at the same thing. (For example, Mike leaves the firm a number of times—any of those periods could be stretched). I love their loyalty, but I also love when it is tested, so feel free to put them through the wringer. I also love scenarios where one desperately needs help and turns to the other even though they are Not Supposed to Be Friends Like that Right Now, because in the end, who else would they turn to?
  
  
• Prison Related: I was so into this epic sacrifice, and honestly was a bit disappointed that the consequences were not more long lasting. What would happen if Mike served the full two years? How would that change him, how would that change Harvey, how would that change their relationship? What if Harvey went in instead? What if either or both wasn’t able to just go back into the law after? I’m interested in anything around this, from the time in prison to the aftermath once the one who went in gets out.
  
  
• Different Consequences for the Lie: What if Mike is fired at any of the various points he was almost fired (or any other time you want)? Or what if he gets away with it for a lot longer and the consequences don’t come back to bite him until years down the line? Or whatever else you can think of. Can he get back to being a lawyer? If not, what does he do instead? How does Harvey react to losing him from the firm?
  
  
• On the run from the law: Remember when Harvey made a joke about them fleeing the country when Mike thought he’d been caught? What if not a joke, though...
  
  
• Character finds out they have a child they didn't know about: Honestly, this could happen to either of them. And in either case, I think they would want to be part of the kid’s life and also have a lot of Feelings that obviously the other could help them navigate :D Do they suddenly find themselves raising the child because something happened to the mom? Or just navigating trying to co-parent? Run with it!

Different First Meetings. I’m very flexible here, but the one thing I’m not interested in is a first meeting where Mike is already a successful lawyer (or successful at any fulfilling job) or law student at a top school. A key part of their dynamic for me is Harvey being surprised by Mike’s brilliance and his unexpected willingness to give him an opportunity Mike is beyond grateful for. Some ideas:

• Mike in any sort of just-making-ends-meet job where Harvey (being a bit of a jerk, lets be real) would never expect to be impressed. Maybe they meet through Mike’s canonical job as a bike messenger. Or Mike is a barista/waiter/cashier/working in the mail room/bartender/etc. Or hell, Harvey smokes pot—maybe Mike ends up his dealer. Whatever you want!
  
  
• Harvey picks Mike up at a bar or from one of the aforementioned making-ends-meet jobs. He does not expect him to be more than a one-night stand, and yet…
  
  
• Mike has gone back to school, doing night classes at whatever cheapest local college (or, if you want, law school) he can find. They meet—maybe Harvey knows the dean and gives a talk, or is bullied into teaching a seminar by Jessica because it will look good, or whatever else you can think of. He’s the elitist dick he is and does not expect to be impressed by the students, but then Mike…
  
  
• One of the people Mike cheated on the LSATs for is the child of a Pearson Hardman client, and gets caught. Mike and Harvey meet through Harvey working the case.
  
  
• Sex work related: Mike was in desperate need for money for Grammy, maybe Trever knew a guy, and now here he is. Admittedly, I have a difficult time imagining Harvey routinely paying for sex in most circumstances, but a couple of ideas:
  
  • Mike is a paid sub. Harvey does not want to risk his interest in BDSM getting out to the wrong people, so he pays for this specific kind of sex.
    
    
  • Harvey has hang-ups about his attraction to men. He pays because somehow that makes it easier to him.
    
    
  • Mike runs into legal trouble. Harvey ends up his lawyer or meeting him through that. Maybe the legal trouble is related to a Pearson Hardman client, and the meeting is initially adversarial? Or a Pearson Hardman client is also one of Mike’s clients and likes him, so pays for Harvey to help him?
    
    
  • Mike is an escort. They meet when he accompanies someone else to an event Harvey is at.
    
    
  • Mike tries to pick Harvey up at a bar (accurately reading he is rich, inaccurately reading a willingness to pay for sex). Harvey figures out what’s going on eventually, but is already intrigued…
    
    
  • They meet when Mike is trying to get away from abusive client. Like maybe he literally runs into Harvey on the street, or Harvey notices something wrong in the bathroom at a bar, or, IDK, whatever you can think of
  
  
• Won in a bet: Harvey loves poker, so that’s what I’m imagining here. I could see a number of scenarios. Someone puts Mike in the pot in a slavery or sex worker AU. Or Mike is a player himself, runs out of money, and throws his “services” into the mix. Or whatever else you can think of…
  
  
• Reality Show: It’s easy to imagine Mike ending up on a reality show pre-meeting Harvey because hell, why not, what else does he have going on, right? Harvey, I’m less sure of, but I trust you to make it work, dear author. Anyway, I’m willing to be super flexible, I just think this sounds fun.

Consent Issues and Other Bad Guy Whump. I am very into a) bad guys made-them-do-it (ideally with mutually pining); b) bad guys assaulting (sexually or not) one character and the other rescuing them/finding them in the aftermath/helping them heal/etc.; c) dubcon due to financial or other pressure (not between Harvey and Mike, but between them and others); c) dubcon or sexual assault or other abuse as backstory. I think this combines well with both canon divergence and some of my universe AU freeforms. Some prompts:

• Daniel Hardman seeks revenge through less legal methods: Maybe he hires goons? Has mob connections? Etc.
  
  
• Gallo doing or having his goons do even worse to Mike (or Harvey in a role swap) in prison than what we get in canon. Or sending goons after Harvey outside of prison at any point. Or torturing an in-prison Harvey by sending goons after an out-of-prison Mike, when Harvey can’t do anything about it
  
  
• Mike Goes to Work for Forstman. Maybe Forstman himself turns out to be a creep of the sexual sort. Or maybe some of the unsavory characters he works with are creeps. Maybe he pressures Mike into doing anything to seal the deal…yes, anything…
  
  
• Remember those drug dealers who were after Mike because of Trevor in Season 1? Yeah, make that worse.
  
  
• A client pressures Mike into sexual favors. He’s in over his head and doesn’t want to let Harvey down. Or maybe the client gets him drunk or drugs him. Maybe this is set during the Season 2 finale fight, and Mike doesn’t think he can turn to Harvey for help. Etc. etc.
  
  
• Harvey and Cameron Dennis Once Had a Fraught and Not Very Healthy Sexual Relationship in which Cameron took advantage of his status as Harvey’s mentor. Harvey has never properly dealt with this (because lol, when has Harvey ever properly dealt with any emotional scars?). It makes his feelings for Mike even more complicated…
  
  
• For slavery, Mike-is-a-hooker etc. type AUs, Mike having bad experiences with others = great (sorry, Mike). Whether that’s pure backstory, or terrible present clients, it’s all good.
  
  
• While I have never requested Suits before, my Consent Issues and Id Pro Quo letters gives more details on my likes for these kinds of scenarios

Marriage Tropes: I nominated a bunch of marriage related freeforms, some of which would fit into canon divergence, some of which are more full universe AUs, all of which strike me as a very fun. Whatever the setup up, I am very down for either “mutually pining while each being convinced the other is only in it to solve a problem, out of convenience, etc.” or “feelings develop unexpectedly.”

• For fake marriages or marriages of convenience/to fix a problem, I am very willing to run with handwavey legal stuff for the fun of the plot. Marrying so they don’t have to testify against each other in court? Sure! Marrying as part of one of their power-play schemes within the firm? Why not. Someone has an eccentric great aunt who will only give them inheritance if they are married? Honestly, crazier things have happened on this show. Etc. etc.
  
  
• Mandatory marriage by a certain age: Make this a society wide AU! And either Harvey turns to Mike after they already know each other because he needs SOMEONE and he’s in love with Mike anyway who else is he going to ask; OR it’s a different first meeting AU where they meet through some sort of match-making service or whatnot.
  
  OR I am also 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 by X date. 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…
  
  
• Marrying To Keep Legal Custody Of Convict Out Of Hostile Hands: More fun, dystopian worldbuilding. This could mix well with slavery AUs in general. I’m thinking it could combine with Mike’s canonical conviction, but I’d also be very down with a different first meeting AU where Harvey happens to be in court one day and sees this kid in handcuffs who catches his attention or whatnot…

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 (that would also fit with the exploding collar AU!), but I am down for basically whatever worldbuilding you want here. Various things I like in this kind of AU and some prompts:

• It explicitly being sexual slavery, or instead more service in general with an understanding that SOME owners use their slaves in that particular way are both fine with me.
  
  
• Color me idealistic, but I prefer Harvey not be an enthusiastic participant in the whole system. Maybe he literally inherits Mike and then has to figure out what to do with him, or a client “gifts” him, or he initially belongs to a client but Harvey realizes he’s being mistreated, or he initially belongs to a client but is a bit to lippy for the client’s tastes and by that point Harvey is intrigued and offers to take him off the client’s hands, 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.
  
  
• I am down for a range of where Mike is, emotionally. Was he terribly abused by past client(s) and in need of a lot of hurt/comfort and resocialization? If so, how does Harvey handle that? Does Mike throw himself at Harvey sexually because that’s what he thinks is expected of him? Does he cower expecting reprimand whenever he does something wrong? How long does it take him to come out of his shell and Harvey to realize that wow, actually this kid is amazing? Or, on the flip side, is Mike his normal, quippy, motor-mouth self from the start? In that scenario, is Harvey initially annoyed but then reluctantly charmed, or is it that spark that made Harvey notice him in the first place?
  
  
• Is Mike’s slavery a recent thing—selling himself to pay for Grammy’s care, for instance, or a legal consequence for getting caught selling drugs? If so, how long does it last? What was he doing before? What does he hope to do after? Or if this is more of a lifetime thing, something he was born into or part of since he was relatively young, how has his incredible mind manifested? Has he had to keep it a secret? Have past owners wanted to use it, or did they hate it?
  
  
• I prefer no straight up noncon between Harvey and Mike, but obviously this kind of scenario could be fraught with consent issues if they sleep together, and I am fine with 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 more abused. Or Mike trying to seduce Harvey because fuck it, he likes the guy and no matter what the law says he still has autonomy, and Harvey being worried that really this is Mike just trying to do his best to survive. Or them falling into a sexual relationship but neither being sure if it’s real or will last once Mike is free. Etc. etc. etc.

Russian Doll Time Loop: I love these! For me, the key element of the time loop is: 1) they are stuck in it together, 2) the loops end in death (though done more in a darkly humorous rather than gruesome way). I’m less attached to the “world dying around them” and “face trauma head-on to get out” elements—you can totally include those if you want, but you can also change them up. I’m down for them to meet for the first time in the loop, or to have them wind up in the loop together at any point in canon.

A note on other characters and ships: Feel free to include whichever other characters!

In terms of the canon relationships—frankly, with this ship I am fine with them having what amounts to an emotional affair while in other relationships, but I 100% do not want them physical cheating because that is such a big moral code for Harvey.

In terms of dealing with the canon love interests, I’m fine with any solution you can think of other than poly or killing the canon LIs off. Setting the fic during a period where they are both single (as much as you can find one of those for Mike XD )? Totally! AU where the canon couples never got together, or broke up at some point prior to the fic? Yep. Breakup over the course of the fic? Yep. AU where the canon pairs never even had a romantic spark and really were always just friends? Totally. AU where Donna and/or Rachel are actually super gay and maybe into each other? All for it.

For the dating show AU, I am fine with them dating other people within the context of the rules of the show. And obviously for a sex work AU I am fine with Mike having other clients. As long as in the end they are commit to each other, I will be happy.

Fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions: Unhappy ending, killing off canon love interests so they can get together.

[back]

Superstore
Garrett McNeill/Jonah Simms
• ALL: Accidental Marriage AU
• ALL: Fake Marriage AU
• ALL: Fake marriage to solve a canon problem
• ALL: Marriage of Convenience AU
• ALL: Las Vegas marriage
• ALL: Alternate First Meeting--Woke Up Married
• All: Mandatory marriage by a certain age
• ALL: Different First Meeting - Reality Show (dating show)
• ALL: Different First Meeting - Reality Show (non-dating show)
• ALL: The Characters Go on a Reality Show
• All: Reality Show AU
• ALL: On the run from the law
• All: Canon's Plot Is Interrupted By An Alien Invasion
• ALL: Character finds out they have a child they didn't know about
• ALL: Russian Doll Time Loop
• ALL: Soulmates - one character rejects the idea of soulmates

Why I Requested It: I find this show endlessly charming and fun (and I also love how political it is, so feel free to incorporate that if you want). These two are my fave pair in the whole thing. I love how Jonah so earnest and just completely desperate for any sign of approval or affection from Garrett, and how much Garrett totally knows that, and messes with him all the time (I find Garrett’s dry humor hilarious. And everything about him. I adore Garrett). But I think it’s clear that under that all, Garrett really cares about Jonah too, it’s just hard for him to express that. Adding romance/getting together into the mix just takes that dynamic and amps it up in a fun way.

In general, I love the upbeat tone and humor of the show, and I’m looking for a fic that matches that general vibe. Feel free to let the fic get serious if/when it need to—the show does!—but I am hoping for an overall vibe that’s more fun and hijinks than dark and painful.

Thoughts/Prompts that Can Combine With Various Freeforms:

• Fake/accidental/of convenience marriage: I just think this is a super fun pair to shove into these tropes. Does one of both of them go into it pining? Or do they develop feelings over the course of the marriage (or “marriage” if it’s fake)? Do they confess once they realize? Or do they go through a divorce/annulment/revealing it was fake only to discover they both liked it better when they were together?
  
  I’m down for everything from waking up married in Vegas to deciding to get married for health insurance purposes to faking a marriage because they are in an AU universe where they need to be married by a certain age. Seriously, whatever scenario you can think of, I’m on board. If you need ideas, I have some more in my Just Married letter
  
  
• Reality-show related: Whether this is an AU where they meet on a reality show, or a canon divergence where they decide to go on one together (or ACCIDENTLY both end up on the same one…), I just think these are really fun characters to shove in this situation. Feel free to use real reality shows, or make one up.
  
  
  • If they meet on a reality show: Is this before or after Jonah dropped out of school? Maybe this is what Jonah did once he realized he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life? OR feel free to make it an AU where, e.g., one of them is a contestant and the other is a producer or tech person.
    
    
  • If they go on together: Maybe something like the Amazing Race or some other team-based show? Or maybe their friends submit them both for a dating show and surprisingly they both get on?
  
  
• Soulmates - one character rejects the idea of soulmates: I don’t normally ask for soulmate stuff, esp. in canons set in the real world, but I love this freeform for them. I feel like Garrett would be so hilariously cynical about the whole idea. Or maybe Jonah would have some very earnest political take about how the whole concept is Bad and Retrograde, Actually. Or whatever. I would just love to see your take on how these characters would react to a world with soulmates. I’m down for whatever kind of soulmate worldbuilding you want, including one where soulmates are rare. (And feel free to have it be that they BOTH reject the concept, if you want.)
  
  
• Canon's Plot Is Interrupted By An Alien Invasion, On the run from the law, Character finds out they have a child they didn't know about: IDK, these just sound like they could lead to fun/wacky adventures that also give them the opportunity to realize how much they mean to each other. Go wild!
  
  
• Russian Doll Time Loop: I love these! For me, the key element of the time loop is: 1) they are stuck in it together, 2) the loops end in death (though done more in a darkly humorous rather than gruesome way). I’m less attached to the “world dying around them” and “face trauma head-on to get out” elements—you can include those if you want, but you can also change them up. I’m down for them to meet for the first time in the loop, or to have them already be friends who just wind up in the loop together.

A note on timeline: I’m down for this to be set during/diverge from any point in canon that makes sense to you.

A note on other characters and ships: Any and all other characters are welcome. I definitely don’t want Jonah or Garrett cheating on other people, or their canon love interests dying. Solutions to canon love interests I’m good with: setting this during a period of canon where they are both single; or an AU where Jonah/Amy, Garrett/Dina, or any other of their shorter-term canon pairings never happened, didn’t get back together after the canon breakups, or broke up at a different time. For the dating show AUs, I’m fine for them to be dating other people (OCs or AU versions of the rest of the cast) in the context of the rules of the show, but would want them to be committed to each other by the end.

Fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions: Unhappy ending, killing off canon love interests just to allow them to get together.

[back]

The Great
Archbishop "Archie"/& Marial
Catherine/Peter III
Peter III/Leo Voronsky
Catherine/Peter III/Leo Voronsky
Peter III /Georgina Dymov/Grigor Dymov
Peter III/Grigor Dymov
Catherine/Georgina/Grigor
Catherine/Georgina
Catherine/Peter III/Georgina
Catherine/Grigor
• ALL: Canon Divergence AU
• ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it even worse
• ALL: Take a good thing that happened to a character in canon and make it bad
• The Great: Coup Does Not Happen (at least not at the same time as canon)
• The Great: Smallpox Outbreak Does Not Happen
• The Great: Grigor's Poisoning Attempt Succeeds
• The Great: Peter Finds Out Grigor Was the One Who Tried to Kill Him

Why I Requested It: This show appeals to me in the way few recent canons have. I’m here for the ahistorical fun and the messy as hell characters and relationships. Feel free to lean into the show’s dark humor, the scheming, the skewed power dynamics, the discussions of religion and philosophy that double as veiled (and not so veiled) threats and conversations about power. I’m not looking for heavy angst, but this show is not afraid show the seedy (and yet darkley hilarious) underbelly of Peter’s court as it envisions it, and you don’t have to be either.

Thoughts about my requests: Obviously for this canon I’m interested in canon divergence AUs. I have some specific ideas in the freeforms, but those are just the divergence points that came to mind when I was nominating. I requested the general canon divergence freeform as well, and I mean it. There are lots of interesting places you could branch from canon, and I welcome any of them!

Definitely feel free to combine these prompts/pairs, even where the ships might be in “conflict.” I love this entire mess of a cast and all the complicated ways they relate to each other, and it’s not like a damn one of them is faithful, anyway.

Prompts and thoughts that can be combined with various freeforms, by pair:

Archie &/ Marial: I only requested the “/” version, but only because I maxed out my requests; I am down for either ship or gen, or some blurry in-between. I’m fascinated by this relationship and their loyalty to each other. They are both people who don’t like (and certainly don’t trust) many other people, and who have managed to make a lot of people dislike them, but they seem to have so much genuine affection for each other, and that is so interesting to me. I am also really interested in Archie as a political figure—someone who both seems to actually be a believer, but also very much plays the earthly game. So anything where he gets more pulled into the schemes, or Marial goes to him for help, or anything along those lines would be great.

Catherine/Peter: I don’t ship these two as in want them to have a happy ending or think they are actually good for each other (Catherine deserves so much better), but I do find them utterly fascinating and love every moment they are on screen together. I really love the moments where they actually manage to get along at least somewhat, and the small glimpses of humanity we (and Catherine) get in Peter, even as she continues to hate him. I love how she uses his growing feelings for her to manipulate him, and also those brief periods where she seems to have some hope that maybe he really can get better. I love his stuttering attempts to maybe actually improve, but also the sheer narcissism and childishness that will never let any improvement stick.

• Small moments of surprising shared intimacy, amusement, even sexual pleasure are great. Catherine using those moments to manipulate Peter is great. Throw those into any fic and I will be delighted
  
  
• AU where the smallpox thing doesn’t happen, and she spends longer trying to mold him into the man she wants him to be.
  
  
• AU where the coup does not happen so quickly, and Catherine has to spend longer navigating a lovesick Peter while plotting his demise
  
  
• Post-coup she forces him to resign and keeps him as a (well-kept) prisoner so he can’t cause trouble, or goes to visit him wherever he “retires” so as to check up on him…How their relationship changes when she’s in charge. Does he hate her forever, or kind of still love and admire her? Do they ever have hate!sex? Does he attempt to give her (probably terrible) political advice? Does she feel sorry for him?

Leo/Peter: I love the idea of this ship. I’m envisioning a whole range of things here, from complicated but basically consensual to full on non-con:

• Maybe Peter decides to take Leo for a test run before he gifts him to Catherine, just to be sure (other members of the court who were there for the dick reveal can come too if you want!).
  
  
• Peter and Leo were both jealous of each other at points; maybe they get drunk and decide they want to see what exactly Catherine might see in the other one. How do they feel about that? How does it effect the plot going forward?
  
  
• Maybe they hook up to see if they can force themselves to get along for her sake.
  
  
• Peter was really jealous, and maybe he takes that out on Leo in ways that are highly dub-con (including purposefully plying with drinks, implied death threats) or straight-up non-con. (My Consent Issues letter has a lot more thoughts on my non-con/dub-con smut likes if that's helpful.)

Catherine/Leo/Peter: Kind of take any of the above and smush them together. I’m thinking that this could work especially well as an AU where Peter, after he falls for Catherine and in an attempt to deal with his jealousy and win her heart, decides that obviously the answer is a threesome. Catherine and Leo agree reluctantly due to pressure, or because Catherine sees it as an opportunity to either shape Peter or lure him into a false sense of security. And maybe the sex is surprisingly good even as Leo and Catherine dislike Peter. Maybe Peter and Leo get all competitive about it?

Peter/Georgina/Grigor: I just find this relationship in all its complexity glorious. George’s love for Grigor and apparent lust for Peter. Grigor’s utter devotion to his wife, and his simultaneous love for and deep resentment of Peter. Peter’s obliviousness to the fact that this is anything other than straightforward fun. All the ways Peter being emperor skews the power dynamics. Feel free to focus on any specific combo (Peter/George, George/Grigor, Grigor &/ Peter) and how it is influenced by the fact of this threesome.

• Feel free to stick with the canon dynamic where it seems that Peter and Grigor aren’t sexually involved, or add in an element of actual threesomes or Peter/Grigor having their own sexual relationship the way Georgina and Peter do. Or maybe they used to have one, but that changed at some point? Or maybe they don’t have one, but Grigor wants one?
  
  
• How do Georgina and Grigor navigate things after Peter is deposed? Do they stick with him? Drop him immediately? Does that depend on when or how it happens? Do they both feel the same way, or do they argue about it?
  
  
• Obviously the “Peter finds out that Grigor tried to poison him” divergence could be really interesting here. How does Peter react? What does George do? Or an AU where the murder attempt succeeds: how does that effect Grigor and Georgina’s relationship in the aftermath and with the shadow of what Peter was to both of them?
  
  
• Catherine’s perspective on any of this is also fascinating to me, as suggested by some of my other requests. Her getting involved in any way (giving genuine advice to one party, meddling to screw with Peter or Georgina or to gain political advantage, or even threesomes/moresomes) all welcome.

Catherine/Georgina: Their rivalry is great, and I’d love to see flirtation, sex, or even romance get involved.

• What if they became actual friends early on?
  
  
• What if Georgina decided that the best way to get in the new Empresses’ good graces is to seduce her?
  
  
• Does their rivalry ever spill into hate!sex? Hate!sex leads to more positive feelings? If this happened sometime during canon, how would that change what came after?
  
  
• Maybe they have to team up for some reason, whether it be political scheming or like, surviving a night in the woods after a carriage ride gone wrong or something
  
  
• How does Georgina try to carve out a place in Catherine’s court, after Peter? Is it by getting in Catherine’s bed? Being her friend? Proving herself indispensable in some other way?

Catherine/Georgina/Peter: Again, smashing together thoughts. Maybe Peter makes them both come to bed with him frequently. Do they ever get competitive in the sack? Or maybe Catherine/Georgina are secretly sleeping with each other, and then it gets weird when Peter makes them both sleep with him at the same time? How would he react if he found out? Pleased? Furious?

Catherine/Grigor: These two don’t have a ton of scenes together, but the ones they have are really interesting. She sees right through him. Anything that plays with that is fun.

• Post-Leo, Catherine needs another lover. Maybe Grigor is resentful of exactly HOW upset Georgina is about Peter losing his place as emperor, and gets with Catherine as revenge…
  
  
• Grigor tries to get with Catherine in a desperate bid to win favor for himself and Georgina.
  
  
• AU where Grigor gets in on the plot against Peter.
  
  
• This is another one where AUs around the poisoning might work particularly well

Catherine/Georgina/Grigor: Smashing together any of my thoughts from the separate Catherine/Georgina and Catherine/Grigor requests. Maybe she’s sleeping with half the couple, and the other half gets jealous and wants to join? Maybe she’s sleeping with both of them independently? (If so: are they both aware, or is it a secret on all sides?). Maybe they seduce her together in an attempt to gain favor.

A note on other characters and ships: I really like the entire cast, so feel free to get anyone else involved. Other characters I really like include: Archie, Orlo, Elisabeth, Marial.

Fandom specific DNWs and DNW exceptions: My poly/open relationship DNW is waived, as is my infidelity DNW.

My focus-on-pregnancy DNW is waived for Catherine’s canonical pregnancy. Obviously that could affect her a lot in any post-canon fic or AU where the coup doesn’t happen; feel free to deal with it, esp. re: the political consequences. However, I would prefer there not be a focus on the physicality of being pregnant (morning sickness, physical difficulty beyond the extent to which being less mobile could affect her plotting, etc.).

My requested character death DNW is waived for Peter III.

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