Sufficiently Advanced Exchange Letter
Mar. 19th, 2023 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snowynightDear Creator,
Thank you so much for creating a fanwork for me! I'm sure I will love it anyways, but here are some details about what I like/dislike, in case you like to do your research. Although the fandom sections are of varying length, I love all my requested fandoms equally
First off, I would rather receive a work that the creator was enthusiastic about than one that fulfilled every detail of my request. Prompts can be altered, combined, twisted, and bent as you see fit.
I am happy to receive a fic of any rating, and fanart of G-R rating. I am welcome to both fic and art treats.
I love fanwork in canon setting, a missing moment, canon divergent AU, story set in the past or future of canon. I love gen just as much as romance. For romance, I love first time, established relationship, as well as a work that a couple goes on adventure/solve problems/enjoys themselves together.
General Fic like:
I like stories with: action/adventure, banter, capture and rescue, competence, the edge between civilization and the unknown, formation of friendship, history affecting the present, humour, hurt/comfort, longing, love or friendship expressed in atypical ways, moral ambiguity, attraction between opposites, outsider POV, people telling stories, people who have each other's backs, people who flat out like each other's company, people suffering stoically, power exchange, people being resolute, secret identity (or lack of it), strong and competent characters, sense memory, time travel, traveling, slow burn, missing scenes, friends to lovers, fixing failed relationships, changing fate, things going wrong and navigating the outcomes, intense long term patient genuinely selfless physical comfort
Though it seems unlikely, if you have not yet given up on my rambling and want to research me more, I've told more about what I like here.
General art like:
I don't know how to prompt for art well, so here are some suggestions for art I generally like. I hope they are useful.
Colours: I like black and white art, black and white with a splash of color as an accent, and colourful art. I like warm colors, cool colors, loud/clashing colors, earth tones, pastel colours, and bright colours
Elements: Fashion (Outfit redesigns, formalwear, uniforms, historical, lolita/ouji style, traditional clothing, fancy clothing, etc) • Floral themes, decorations, and flower crowns • Scenery, Symbolism (subtle or not)
Settings / backdrops: street view, building, garden, sea, cozy room, dungeon, sunset/sunrise, winter, spring, ruins, rain, mist, the sky, fields, doors, portals
Mood: Fluff, romantic, creepy horror, humour, melancholy, dreamy, calm, anxiety, isolation, sweet
Poses / scenarios: walking in the wilderness/gardens/nature in general, characters carrying, petting or hugging others, sparring, characters holding/wearing flowers, playing games, characters using magic or technology if appropriate, kneeling, romantic partners kissing/touching each other/cuddling
Literalness of depiction: if you're drawing characters, it's fine with straightforward depiction, or using art elements to convey things that can't literally be happening (for example, a character surrounded by panels that represent their character arc or a dilemma they're facing). For worldbuilding prompts, something more abstract is fine.
Art Style: I like a lot of styles: Impressionism, Pre-Raphaelite art, art deco, art nouveau, pop art, ukiyo-e, Edward Gorey style, symbolism, surrealism, etc. I like more realistic style as well as a more cartoonish/anime/chibi style. It's OK if you want to render the character in your own style or tweak the character's design/reinterpret the character. I like cutesy art too.
Art in other mediums: It's great if you're inspired to do art in a specific medium, including but not limited to Tarot or playing cards (e.g. requested character(s) matched to a card that suits them). Pin-up art, sexy calendars, or magazine spreads. Travel posters, ads, movie posters, etc. Postcards or greeting cards. Concept art. Book illumination. Fake stained glass windows. Fake selfie/polaroids.
Genre related like:
Sci-fi and fantasy tropes:
Time Travel, Body Transformation, Technology (Invention, application & controversy), First Contact, Memory control/Mind occupation & sharing, Cyberspace, non-human characters with very different cultures/biology from humans, Mythology, Polytheism, Multiple planes of reality, Magic (learning, theorizing, application), Supernatural creatures, Ghost, Dream realm
Horror Tropes:
Psychological horror, nightmare, the feeling of being stalked/watched, Cursed artifact, come back wrong, characters abducted to another realm, claustrophobia, unreliable narrator, hallucinations/nightmare, hidden horror in seemingly ordinary situation, folk horror/folklores/old wives' tales, existential horror, ghosts and what happens when people die, people who are dead don't realize they have and continue to go about as if they're alive, cosmic/eldritch horror, creepy locations, atmospheric descriptions, dark fairy tales, dark fantasy,
DNW:
Major character death, Rape/noncon, graphic violence/torture, Fixation on racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, or transphobia as the main theme of a fic, Severe homophobia or transphobia being portrayed as a cultural norm in fictional societies that aren't canonically shown to have it. Real life tragedy/serial killers/pandemic, Religion bashing, pregnancy/mpreg/kidfic, Infidelity, sexuality/gender/neurodivergence headcanons, poly conventions, Mundane AU, Heavy illness (e.g. Covid, cancer or AIDS), Self-harm
Art DNW: depiction of the excretory systems or vomit- blood and sweat are fine though, especially for battle/action depictions, Nazis imagery/symbolism, NC17 art, depiction of wounds (characters with blood on themselves is OK)
Fandom specific DNW and exceptions will be listed in fandom section
For this exchange, I have requested:
The Complete Pegana - Lord Dunsany
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
About the fandom:
I love how wonderfully inventive Lord Dunsany's Pegana mythos is. The gods are petty and fallible, while people struggle to make a living in a chaotic uncaring universe. Even the gods aren't immune to total destruction. The stories are quiet, thoughtful, and often reflect on frailties of the human condition.
The Complete Pegana includes The Gods of Pegāna (1905), Time and the Gods (1906) and "Beyond the Fields We Know" (the essay, "Idle Days" on the Yann, "A Shop in Go-by Street" & "The Avenger of Perdóndaris") in Tales of Three Hemispheres and . They are all in public domain and can be read in Project Gutenberg
For the nominated characters and places in the tagset:
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Mung (The Complete Pegana)
Sish & Time (The Complete Pegana)
Slid & Tintaggon (The Complete Pegana)
Solo: Khanazar
Solo: Skarl the Drummer
WB: Any (Pegana)
WB: Mythology [Pegana]
WB: Yann [Pegana]
Yūn-Ilāra (The Complete Pegana)
Zodrak (The Complete Pegana)
The Gods of Pegāna: Mung, Sish & Time, Slid & Tintaggon, Skarl the Drummer, Zodrak, Yūn-Ilāra
Time and the Gods: Mung, Time ("In the Land of Time"), Slid & Tintaggon,
Tales of Three Hemispheres: Khanazar, Yann
Prompts
Fic Prompts:
- I love slice-of-life fic about the gods. Some gods are really determined not to let out secrets. Why? I want to know more about their games, and their relationship with mortals. What kind of stories are told about them? What is Skarl's agenda?
- More about Sish and his hound Time. What does Sish think about his hound that's said will end gods one day? He brings ravage everywhere except his childhood home. Why? What's his relationship with Mung? Does Mung willingly stay away or is it the result of conflict?
- More snippets of Zodrak's life. I want to know more about what's happened when bad always come with the good he wants to give. I would like Imbaun meeting him again and sharing different perspectives about the world and gods. Maybe they can meet Yūn-Ilāra, or other characters.
- Does Yūn-Ilāra try anything else to die? What stories he will tell about his forced immortal life? Does Mung meet him again, or does he forget about him? What does Mung feel about prophets in general?
- more of Khanazar's adventure: missing scenes, exploration, fights, mystery, encounter with any other characters
- Yann: the land of myths and dream featured in Idle Days on the Yann and its sequels. I would like to know more about place and more adventures in the Yann
Please feel free to throw in characters from other stories.
Art Prompts:
Black Box - Jennifer Egan
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Alpha Beauty & Narrator (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
Solo: Narrator (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
WB: Any (Black Box)
WB: Chip (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
Alpha Beauty/Narrator (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
Husband/Narrator (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
About the fandom:
Black Box is a dystopian scifi spy thriller short story with brilliant use of second character narration as it's formatted as thought transcription of a lady spy. It makes good use of the unusual format to gradually reveal the psychological horror of your body being weaponized as a tool. Note for dissociation and mention of sexual assault.
Link to the story at The New Yorker
Link on Wayback Machine (if you have reach free article limit)
I really like the style the story is written in: second person narration, numbered section, narrative distance and short paragraph. However, please feel free to write in other styles.
Fandom specific DNW and exception:mention of rape/noncon/graphic violence/torture or reference in in back story in fics is OK. Please no onscreen depiction.
Prompts:
Fic Prompts:
- What's happened when the narrator returns home? Does she have therapy and debriefing, which she records a log? Does she train other spies? How does she and her husband deal with the toll of the mission?
- more exploration of the psychological horror of the long term undercover work: dehumanization as you're thought to be only a useless beauty, getting hurt or hurting others to avoid a worse fate/maintain cover, the risk of becoming the mask, etc
- I really like section 29, in which when the Alpha Beauty calls the Designated Mate a bastard for abandoning the narrator and shows unexpected mercy to the Narrator. I really want more exploration of their relationship. If you want to write the Alpha Beauty as another spy/ex-spy, it's good too.
- World building: how does this spy program work? What's the training like? Does the chip for memory transcription find other use? What's the implication that civilians are recruited to be long term undercover agents?
Art prompts:
recruitment posters, Narrator dancing, Alpha Beauty hugging Narrator, Narrator hugging, kissing, or touching hands with Husband, Narrator blocked from people (symbolic or not), Narrator in the sea
Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead - Carmen Maria Machado
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Olive Ruiz & Ursula Ruiz
WB: The land of the dead (Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead)
About the fandom:
Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead is a short story about a woman's travels to the afterlife in search of her sister's soul, as told by her GoFundMe campaign updates. This's a world where people can visit the land of the dead as tourists. Ursula and Ollie's implied dysfunctional and fraught relationship is fascinating. The implication of their wider history makes the twist powerful.
Link to the story
Fandom specific DNW and exception
canonical death is OK. Please don't give them a new death.
Prompts:
Fic Prompts:
- What's happened after Ursula finds out the truth? How will this change (or doesn't change) her ideas of Olive or their relationship? Do they argue? Will Ursula find closure? If she decides to stay with her sister, or becomes a regular visitor, how does their relationship change?
- What does Olive think of everything? I would like more glimpses of her thought. What's the partying she is thinking of?
- World building: I am intrigued by the Land of the Dead, which shows approximation of your life once you're there. The living people can go there at will, but the dead have to stay. What's its purpose: a permanent home of the dead? A place that enourage the dead to let go of their past or else, or else? Why do the living visit there and why is it allowed? Anything about it you can think of is good.
Art prompt:
- fake social media post
- Ursula surrounded by abstraction of her life
- Ursula and Ollie together with a sense of melancholy
- Ollie in her room in the Land of Death
-landscape of the Land of Death, dancing with skeletons or other figures in the death
The King in Yellow - Robert W. Chambers
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Hildred Castaigne & Mr. Wilde
In The Court of the Dragon Narrator & The King in Yellow
In The Court of the Dragon Narrator/The King in Yellow
WB: Any (The King in Yellow)
WB: The King in Yellow (The King of Yellow)
About the fandom:
The King in Yellow mythos is described as "a literary danse macabre across several shadow-laden locations and tragic characters". I like the surreal personal horror in the mythos. The cosmic horror aspect is unsettling and surprisingly modern. The first four stories in the book are loosely connected for the mythos. You can ignore the other stories, or feel free to mix and match anything in other stories that inspire you.
Link to the book on Project Gutenberg:
Fandom specific DNW and exception:It's OK to kill off any human characters, but please keep any non-canonical death off screen/implied. Don't kill the King in Yellow. Rape/noncon (Exception: It's OK if the King in Yellow noncons the “In The Court of the Dragon” Narrator)
Fic Prompts:
1. “In The Court of the Dragon.” is such a deeply creepy story. The King of Yellow seems to have enough special interest in the the narrator that he's haunted/hunted by the creepy organist. Then at the end, he's whisked off to Carcosa and told that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” How does our narrator fare in Carcosa? Is there a reason The King In Yellow whisked him off in particular? I do ship the narrator with the eldritch deity, so if you'd like to go literal what The King In Yellow exactly means about hands, I'll like it.
2. Who did write "The King in Yellow", and how did the author know the details of the coming of the Yellow King? I read a fascinating possibility that Hali did not exist until the unknown writer created it, making the city, the palace, and the lake into a sort of projected reality, brought into being by the madness of the play’s readers. I would like to explore how the line of fiction blurs with the reality.
3. I find the relationship between Hildred Castaigne and Mr. Wilde in "The Repairer of Reputations" fascinating. Does Mr. Wilde share the same belief with Hildred or is he manipulating Hildred for his own agenda? Why does Mr. Wilde choose Hildred? I would like to explore more of their relationship as one that they strengthen each other's belief/delusion in them or that Mr. Wilde is over his head with his manipulation. What causes Mr. Wilde's death?
Art Prompt:
I want something scary, unsettling and surreal like the canon. Here are some suggestions:
Depiction of the gloomy and alien Carcosa, "where black stars hang in the heavens; where the shadows of men's thoughts lengthen in the afternoon, when the twin suns sink into the lake of Hali"
Manifestation of part of Carcosa on Earth.
Scenes in the play: The disrupted royal ball, the stranger in a pallid mask
Theatre posters or book covers of the play
The King in Yellow in its any unsettling manifestation
Characters holding or reading the play with a sense of impending doom
Hildred Castaigne & Mr. Wilde looking devious/scheming something
In The Court of the Dragon Narrator kneeling, bounded up, being helpless and scared in general, with bonus religious imagery
The King in Yellow using its hands on the In The Court of the Dragon Narrator
Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake - Mel Kassel
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Narrator & Drymarchon (Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake)
Narrator/Drymarchon (Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake)
Solo: Drymarchon
WB: Any (Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake)
WB: Snakes (Ten Deals with the Indigo Snakes)
About the fandom:
Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake - Mel Kassel is a short story set in a world similar to ours, but with magical snakes that regularly grant wish at a price. The narrator makes a series of deals for success, for love, for escaping from the gambling debt at increasing stake. The implied influence of magical snakes on history of this world is intriguing. The Indigo Snake in the story is benevolent, but also think like a non-human and can be dangerous. I really like the tension in their relationship.
Link to the story
Fandom specific DNW: Please don't pair the Narrator with a man
Prompts:
Fic Prompts
- I really like the inherent power difference in Drymarchon and the Narrator's relationship. Drymarchon is dangerous and they both know it, but it's fond of the Narrator and has been there through the lowest point of the Narrator's life. You can pair the Narrator with any woman or let her remain single, but I'll be intrigued if their hard to define relationship grows romantic.
- I would like to know more about the Indigo Snakes. What's their role in in the world? How do they shape the history? What's their view of humans and the deals? Do they have other stories and myths of their own? How do they interact with each other? Do they have other rules (eg. what if one's wish is contradictory with another?) Stories in their PoV are great.,
Art Prompts
The narrator sleeping with the snake on the same bed
The narrator touching/hugging the snake; the snake has its body around the narrator
The narrator picks up the snake's name
The narrator and the snake have a peaceful moment together
The Moon Moth - Jack Vance
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Mathew Kershaul & Edwer Thissell
Mathew Kershaul/Edwer Thissell
Solo: Edwer Thissell (The Moon Moth)
Solo: Mathew Kershaul (The Moon Moth)
WB: Any (Moon Moth)
WB: Masks (Moon Moth)
WB: Music (Moon Moth)
About the fandom:
The Moon Moth is a mystery novella set on a planet Sirene, where everyone wears complete masks to indicate their social status and communicates via musical instruments (different ones depending on politeness level, context, etc.) and singing. The Earth born hero Thissell has to learn the culture the hard way to even survive. Perfect for identity and politics shenanigans
Link on the Internet archive
Prompts:
Fic Prompts:
- Future fic: Thissell learns more about Sirene culture from Kershaul and navigates the society now that he has higher status.
- Thissell investigates more mystery/identity/politics shenanigans now that he has a reputation of willing to do everything (getting his mask removed in public) to get thing done.
- Set any time during canon or future: Thissell and Kershaul hanging out and enjoy thing together, which may develop into something more romantic.
- Worldbuilding: More exploration of the masks as social status markers in Sirene. More identity and politics shenanigans. More on music as part of communication. I am really fascinated with languages with different register in general.
Art Prompts:
- Masks: I want to see different design of mask, characters wearing, holding, making, giving or putting off Masks, or anything to do with masks.
- Thissell, Kershaul or both playing/holding musical instruments
- Thissell and Kershaul touching each other, holding hands, kissing, with masks on or off.
The Sword-Witch’s Heart - Tavia Lark
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Evain/Leth (The Sword-Witch’s Heart by Tavia Lark)
About the fandom:
The Sword-Witch’s Heart is a fun m/m romance novel with fantasy adventure plot. Leth is forsaken by his family and his god. Evain's secret doesn't allow him to stay anywhere for long. Both find the other annoying, but when they work together to save a territory with magic, they start to see beyond their perception. Their banter and sex are hot too. It's part of a series, but it can be read on its own and you can safely ignore the other books.
Link to the book on the Storygraph
Prompts:
Fic Prompts:
What I want most is future fic set after the canon:
- Leth and Evain's grand wedding and their wedding night
- Leth and Evain helping with sealing rifts in Lyrisenia. I want to see more of using and studying magic and Evain teaching witches how to seal the rifts.
- Travelling: a vacation in the pleasure boats, Evain distracting Leth from books in the magic library or other vacation spots. More lighthearted adventures and having fun together
- Leth and Evain having fun with magic and their new bond.
- PWP is great too: maybe we can finally know what Evain imagines that they haven't done before.
Art Prompts:
Levi and Evain hugging, touching, kissing each other
Wedding
Fancy/sexy outfits
Hair (Braiding, letting loose, holding, kissing, etc) and fancy hairstyles
Sparring
Riding horse
Characters using magic
Levi and Evain having a romantic moment together/enjoying themselves
Evain trying to distract Levi from books
Levi and Evain in pleasure boats
Thank you so much for creating a fanwork for me! I'm sure I will love it anyways, but here are some details about what I like/dislike, in case you like to do your research. Although the fandom sections are of varying length, I love all my requested fandoms equally
First off, I would rather receive a work that the creator was enthusiastic about than one that fulfilled every detail of my request. Prompts can be altered, combined, twisted, and bent as you see fit.
I am happy to receive a fic of any rating, and fanart of G-R rating. I am welcome to both fic and art treats.
I love fanwork in canon setting, a missing moment, canon divergent AU, story set in the past or future of canon. I love gen just as much as romance. For romance, I love first time, established relationship, as well as a work that a couple goes on adventure/solve problems/enjoys themselves together.
General Fic like:
I like stories with: action/adventure, banter, capture and rescue, competence, the edge between civilization and the unknown, formation of friendship, history affecting the present, humour, hurt/comfort, longing, love or friendship expressed in atypical ways, moral ambiguity, attraction between opposites, outsider POV, people telling stories, people who have each other's backs, people who flat out like each other's company, people suffering stoically, power exchange, people being resolute, secret identity (or lack of it), strong and competent characters, sense memory, time travel, traveling, slow burn, missing scenes, friends to lovers, fixing failed relationships, changing fate, things going wrong and navigating the outcomes, intense long term patient genuinely selfless physical comfort
Though it seems unlikely, if you have not yet given up on my rambling and want to research me more, I've told more about what I like here.
General art like:
I don't know how to prompt for art well, so here are some suggestions for art I generally like. I hope they are useful.
Colours: I like black and white art, black and white with a splash of color as an accent, and colourful art. I like warm colors, cool colors, loud/clashing colors, earth tones, pastel colours, and bright colours
Elements: Fashion (Outfit redesigns, formalwear, uniforms, historical, lolita/ouji style, traditional clothing, fancy clothing, etc) • Floral themes, decorations, and flower crowns • Scenery, Symbolism (subtle or not)
Settings / backdrops: street view, building, garden, sea, cozy room, dungeon, sunset/sunrise, winter, spring, ruins, rain, mist, the sky, fields, doors, portals
Mood: Fluff, romantic, creepy horror, humour, melancholy, dreamy, calm, anxiety, isolation, sweet
Poses / scenarios: walking in the wilderness/gardens/nature in general, characters carrying, petting or hugging others, sparring, characters holding/wearing flowers, playing games, characters using magic or technology if appropriate, kneeling, romantic partners kissing/touching each other/cuddling
Literalness of depiction: if you're drawing characters, it's fine with straightforward depiction, or using art elements to convey things that can't literally be happening (for example, a character surrounded by panels that represent their character arc or a dilemma they're facing). For worldbuilding prompts, something more abstract is fine.
Art Style: I like a lot of styles: Impressionism, Pre-Raphaelite art, art deco, art nouveau, pop art, ukiyo-e, Edward Gorey style, symbolism, surrealism, etc. I like more realistic style as well as a more cartoonish/anime/chibi style. It's OK if you want to render the character in your own style or tweak the character's design/reinterpret the character. I like cutesy art too.
Art in other mediums: It's great if you're inspired to do art in a specific medium, including but not limited to Tarot or playing cards (e.g. requested character(s) matched to a card that suits them). Pin-up art, sexy calendars, or magazine spreads. Travel posters, ads, movie posters, etc. Postcards or greeting cards. Concept art. Book illumination. Fake stained glass windows. Fake selfie/polaroids.
Genre related like:
Sci-fi and fantasy tropes:
Time Travel, Body Transformation, Technology (Invention, application & controversy), First Contact, Memory control/Mind occupation & sharing, Cyberspace, non-human characters with very different cultures/biology from humans, Mythology, Polytheism, Multiple planes of reality, Magic (learning, theorizing, application), Supernatural creatures, Ghost, Dream realm
Horror Tropes:
Psychological horror, nightmare, the feeling of being stalked/watched, Cursed artifact, come back wrong, characters abducted to another realm, claustrophobia, unreliable narrator, hallucinations/nightmare, hidden horror in seemingly ordinary situation, folk horror/folklores/old wives' tales, existential horror, ghosts and what happens when people die, people who are dead don't realize they have and continue to go about as if they're alive, cosmic/eldritch horror, creepy locations, atmospheric descriptions, dark fairy tales, dark fantasy,
DNW:
Major character death, Rape/noncon, graphic violence/torture, Fixation on racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, or transphobia as the main theme of a fic, Severe homophobia or transphobia being portrayed as a cultural norm in fictional societies that aren't canonically shown to have it. Real life tragedy/serial killers/pandemic, Religion bashing, pregnancy/mpreg/kidfic, Infidelity, sexuality/gender/neurodivergence headcanons, poly conventions, Mundane AU, Heavy illness (e.g. Covid, cancer or AIDS), Self-harm
Art DNW: depiction of the excretory systems or vomit- blood and sweat are fine though, especially for battle/action depictions, Nazis imagery/symbolism, NC17 art, depiction of wounds (characters with blood on themselves is OK)
Fandom specific DNW and exceptions will be listed in fandom section
For this exchange, I have requested:
- The Complete Pegana - Lord Dunsany,
- Black Box - Jennifer Egan,
- Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead - Carmen Maria Machado,
- The King in Yellow - Robert W. Chambers,
- Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake - Mel Kassel,
- The Moon Moth - Jack Vance & The Sword-Witch’s Heart - Tavia Lark
The Complete Pegana - Lord Dunsany
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
About the fandom:
I love how wonderfully inventive Lord Dunsany's Pegana mythos is. The gods are petty and fallible, while people struggle to make a living in a chaotic uncaring universe. Even the gods aren't immune to total destruction. The stories are quiet, thoughtful, and often reflect on frailties of the human condition.
The Complete Pegana includes The Gods of Pegāna (1905), Time and the Gods (1906) and "Beyond the Fields We Know" (the essay, "Idle Days" on the Yann, "A Shop in Go-by Street" & "The Avenger of Perdóndaris") in Tales of Three Hemispheres and . They are all in public domain and can be read in Project Gutenberg
For the nominated characters and places in the tagset:
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Mung (The Complete Pegana)
Sish & Time (The Complete Pegana)
Slid & Tintaggon (The Complete Pegana)
Solo: Khanazar
Solo: Skarl the Drummer
WB: Any (Pegana)
WB: Mythology [Pegana]
WB: Yann [Pegana]
Yūn-Ilāra (The Complete Pegana)
Zodrak (The Complete Pegana)
The Gods of Pegāna: Mung, Sish & Time, Slid & Tintaggon, Skarl the Drummer, Zodrak, Yūn-Ilāra
Time and the Gods: Mung, Time ("In the Land of Time"), Slid & Tintaggon,
Tales of Three Hemispheres: Khanazar, Yann
Prompts
Fic Prompts:
- I love slice-of-life fic about the gods. Some gods are really determined not to let out secrets. Why? I want to know more about their games, and their relationship with mortals. What kind of stories are told about them? What is Skarl's agenda?
- More about Sish and his hound Time. What does Sish think about his hound that's said will end gods one day? He brings ravage everywhere except his childhood home. Why? What's his relationship with Mung? Does Mung willingly stay away or is it the result of conflict?
- More snippets of Zodrak's life. I want to know more about what's happened when bad always come with the good he wants to give. I would like Imbaun meeting him again and sharing different perspectives about the world and gods. Maybe they can meet Yūn-Ilāra, or other characters.
- Does Yūn-Ilāra try anything else to die? What stories he will tell about his forced immortal life? Does Mung meet him again, or does he forget about him? What does Mung feel about prophets in general?
- more of Khanazar's adventure: missing scenes, exploration, fights, mystery, encounter with any other characters
- Yann: the land of myths and dream featured in Idle Days on the Yann and its sequels. I would like to know more about place and more adventures in the Yann
Please feel free to throw in characters from other stories.
Art Prompts:
- Skarl the Drummer beating the drum upon the mist, the gods playing with worlds,
- Sish walking with his hound Time running before him,
- Sish sending up the ivy and fostered weeds, and dust fell from the hand of Sish and covered stately things.
- Imbaun the prophet talking to Zodrak by the stream
- Yūn-Ilāra at the ruin of his tower, in human form or as a skeleton
- Slid being happy and relaxed in the sea
- Mung making the sign of Mung
- Khanazar riding an elephant, or any scene in his adventure
- Depiction of Yann: A corner of the streets, buildings, people's fashion, rivers, valley, etc
Black Box - Jennifer Egan
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Alpha Beauty & Narrator (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
Solo: Narrator (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
WB: Any (Black Box)
WB: Chip (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
Alpha Beauty/Narrator (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
Husband/Narrator (Black Box - Jennifer Egan)
About the fandom:
Black Box is a dystopian scifi spy thriller short story with brilliant use of second character narration as it's formatted as thought transcription of a lady spy. It makes good use of the unusual format to gradually reveal the psychological horror of your body being weaponized as a tool. Note for dissociation and mention of sexual assault.
Link to the story at The New Yorker
Link on Wayback Machine (if you have reach free article limit)
I really like the style the story is written in: second person narration, numbered section, narrative distance and short paragraph. However, please feel free to write in other styles.
Fandom specific DNW and exception:mention of rape/noncon/graphic violence/torture or reference in in back story in fics is OK. Please no onscreen depiction.
Prompts:
Fic Prompts:
- What's happened when the narrator returns home? Does she have therapy and debriefing, which she records a log? Does she train other spies? How does she and her husband deal with the toll of the mission?
- more exploration of the psychological horror of the long term undercover work: dehumanization as you're thought to be only a useless beauty, getting hurt or hurting others to avoid a worse fate/maintain cover, the risk of becoming the mask, etc
- I really like section 29, in which when the Alpha Beauty calls the Designated Mate a bastard for abandoning the narrator and shows unexpected mercy to the Narrator. I really want more exploration of their relationship. If you want to write the Alpha Beauty as another spy/ex-spy, it's good too.
- World building: how does this spy program work? What's the training like? Does the chip for memory transcription find other use? What's the implication that civilians are recruited to be long term undercover agents?
Art prompts:
recruitment posters, Narrator dancing, Alpha Beauty hugging Narrator, Narrator hugging, kissing, or touching hands with Husband, Narrator blocked from people (symbolic or not), Narrator in the sea
Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead - Carmen Maria Machado
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Olive Ruiz & Ursula Ruiz
WB: The land of the dead (Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead)
About the fandom:
Help Me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead is a short story about a woman's travels to the afterlife in search of her sister's soul, as told by her GoFundMe campaign updates. This's a world where people can visit the land of the dead as tourists. Ursula and Ollie's implied dysfunctional and fraught relationship is fascinating. The implication of their wider history makes the twist powerful.
Link to the story
Fandom specific DNW and exception
canonical death is OK. Please don't give them a new death.
Prompts:
Fic Prompts:
- What's happened after Ursula finds out the truth? How will this change (or doesn't change) her ideas of Olive or their relationship? Do they argue? Will Ursula find closure? If she decides to stay with her sister, or becomes a regular visitor, how does their relationship change?
- What does Olive think of everything? I would like more glimpses of her thought. What's the partying she is thinking of?
- World building: I am intrigued by the Land of the Dead, which shows approximation of your life once you're there. The living people can go there at will, but the dead have to stay. What's its purpose: a permanent home of the dead? A place that enourage the dead to let go of their past or else, or else? Why do the living visit there and why is it allowed? Anything about it you can think of is good.
Art prompt:
- fake social media post
- Ursula surrounded by abstraction of her life
- Ursula and Ollie together with a sense of melancholy
- Ollie in her room in the Land of Death
-landscape of the Land of Death, dancing with skeletons or other figures in the death
The King in Yellow - Robert W. Chambers
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Hildred Castaigne & Mr. Wilde
In The Court of the Dragon Narrator & The King in Yellow
In The Court of the Dragon Narrator/The King in Yellow
WB: Any (The King in Yellow)
WB: The King in Yellow (The King of Yellow)
About the fandom:
The King in Yellow mythos is described as "a literary danse macabre across several shadow-laden locations and tragic characters". I like the surreal personal horror in the mythos. The cosmic horror aspect is unsettling and surprisingly modern. The first four stories in the book are loosely connected for the mythos. You can ignore the other stories, or feel free to mix and match anything in other stories that inspire you.
Link to the book on Project Gutenberg:
Fandom specific DNW and exception:It's OK to kill off any human characters, but please keep any non-canonical death off screen/implied. Don't kill the King in Yellow. Rape/noncon (Exception: It's OK if the King in Yellow noncons the “In The Court of the Dragon” Narrator)
Fic Prompts:
1. “In The Court of the Dragon.” is such a deeply creepy story. The King of Yellow seems to have enough special interest in the the narrator that he's haunted/hunted by the creepy organist. Then at the end, he's whisked off to Carcosa and told that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” How does our narrator fare in Carcosa? Is there a reason The King In Yellow whisked him off in particular? I do ship the narrator with the eldritch deity, so if you'd like to go literal what The King In Yellow exactly means about hands, I'll like it.
2. Who did write "The King in Yellow", and how did the author know the details of the coming of the Yellow King? I read a fascinating possibility that Hali did not exist until the unknown writer created it, making the city, the palace, and the lake into a sort of projected reality, brought into being by the madness of the play’s readers. I would like to explore how the line of fiction blurs with the reality.
3. I find the relationship between Hildred Castaigne and Mr. Wilde in "The Repairer of Reputations" fascinating. Does Mr. Wilde share the same belief with Hildred or is he manipulating Hildred for his own agenda? Why does Mr. Wilde choose Hildred? I would like to explore more of their relationship as one that they strengthen each other's belief/delusion in them or that Mr. Wilde is over his head with his manipulation. What causes Mr. Wilde's death?
Art Prompt:
I want something scary, unsettling and surreal like the canon. Here are some suggestions:
Depiction of the gloomy and alien Carcosa, "where black stars hang in the heavens; where the shadows of men's thoughts lengthen in the afternoon, when the twin suns sink into the lake of Hali"
Manifestation of part of Carcosa on Earth.
Scenes in the play: The disrupted royal ball, the stranger in a pallid mask
Theatre posters or book covers of the play
The King in Yellow in its any unsettling manifestation
Characters holding or reading the play with a sense of impending doom
Hildred Castaigne & Mr. Wilde looking devious/scheming something
In The Court of the Dragon Narrator kneeling, bounded up, being helpless and scared in general, with bonus religious imagery
The King in Yellow using its hands on the In The Court of the Dragon Narrator
Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake - Mel Kassel
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Narrator & Drymarchon (Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake)
Narrator/Drymarchon (Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake)
Solo: Drymarchon
WB: Any (Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake)
WB: Snakes (Ten Deals with the Indigo Snakes)
About the fandom:
Ten Deals with the Indigo Snake - Mel Kassel is a short story set in a world similar to ours, but with magical snakes that regularly grant wish at a price. The narrator makes a series of deals for success, for love, for escaping from the gambling debt at increasing stake. The implied influence of magical snakes on history of this world is intriguing. The Indigo Snake in the story is benevolent, but also think like a non-human and can be dangerous. I really like the tension in their relationship.
Link to the story
Fandom specific DNW: Please don't pair the Narrator with a man
Prompts:
Fic Prompts
- I really like the inherent power difference in Drymarchon and the Narrator's relationship. Drymarchon is dangerous and they both know it, but it's fond of the Narrator and has been there through the lowest point of the Narrator's life. You can pair the Narrator with any woman or let her remain single, but I'll be intrigued if their hard to define relationship grows romantic.
- I would like to know more about the Indigo Snakes. What's their role in in the world? How do they shape the history? What's their view of humans and the deals? Do they have other stories and myths of their own? How do they interact with each other? Do they have other rules (eg. what if one's wish is contradictory with another?) Stories in their PoV are great.,
Art Prompts
The narrator sleeping with the snake on the same bed
The narrator touching/hugging the snake; the snake has its body around the narrator
The narrator picks up the snake's name
The narrator and the snake have a peaceful moment together
The Moon Moth - Jack Vance
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Mathew Kershaul & Edwer Thissell
Mathew Kershaul/Edwer Thissell
Solo: Edwer Thissell (The Moon Moth)
Solo: Mathew Kershaul (The Moon Moth)
WB: Any (Moon Moth)
WB: Masks (Moon Moth)
WB: Music (Moon Moth)
About the fandom:
The Moon Moth is a mystery novella set on a planet Sirene, where everyone wears complete masks to indicate their social status and communicates via musical instruments (different ones depending on politeness level, context, etc.) and singing. The Earth born hero Thissell has to learn the culture the hard way to even survive. Perfect for identity and politics shenanigans
Link on the Internet archive
Prompts:
Fic Prompts:
- Future fic: Thissell learns more about Sirene culture from Kershaul and navigates the society now that he has higher status.
- Thissell investigates more mystery/identity/politics shenanigans now that he has a reputation of willing to do everything (getting his mask removed in public) to get thing done.
- Set any time during canon or future: Thissell and Kershaul hanging out and enjoy thing together, which may develop into something more romantic.
- Worldbuilding: More exploration of the masks as social status markers in Sirene. More identity and politics shenanigans. More on music as part of communication. I am really fascinated with languages with different register in general.
Art Prompts:
- Masks: I want to see different design of mask, characters wearing, holding, making, giving or putting off Masks, or anything to do with masks.
- Thissell, Kershaul or both playing/holding musical instruments
- Thissell and Kershaul touching each other, holding hands, kissing, with masks on or off.
The Sword-Witch’s Heart - Tavia Lark
Request: Art & Fic
Any Relationship
Nominated tags in the tagset:
Evain/Leth (The Sword-Witch’s Heart by Tavia Lark)
About the fandom:
The Sword-Witch’s Heart is a fun m/m romance novel with fantasy adventure plot. Leth is forsaken by his family and his god. Evain's secret doesn't allow him to stay anywhere for long. Both find the other annoying, but when they work together to save a territory with magic, they start to see beyond their perception. Their banter and sex are hot too. It's part of a series, but it can be read on its own and you can safely ignore the other books.
Link to the book on the Storygraph
Prompts:
Fic Prompts:
What I want most is future fic set after the canon:
- Leth and Evain's grand wedding and their wedding night
- Leth and Evain helping with sealing rifts in Lyrisenia. I want to see more of using and studying magic and Evain teaching witches how to seal the rifts.
- Travelling: a vacation in the pleasure boats, Evain distracting Leth from books in the magic library or other vacation spots. More lighthearted adventures and having fun together
- Leth and Evain having fun with magic and their new bond.
- PWP is great too: maybe we can finally know what Evain imagines that they haven't done before.
Art Prompts:
Levi and Evain hugging, touching, kissing each other
Wedding
Fancy/sexy outfits
Hair (Braiding, letting loose, holding, kissing, etc) and fancy hairstyles
Sparring
Riding horse
Characters using magic
Levi and Evain having a romantic moment together/enjoying themselves
Evain trying to distract Levi from books
Levi and Evain in pleasure boats
