killclaudio

Please don't include any of the following:

• Focus on grief and mourning


• Permanent death of requested characters – temporary deaths are completely fine


• Pregnancy


• Kidfic – the characters can have kids, I just prefer it not to be the focus of the story


• Real life current events – for example, you can write about the Black Plague or an imaginary space pandemic, but please don't write about Covid-19.


• Love confessions with an audience - I don't enjoy it when the big dramatic declarations of love happen with all their friends watching, or a group of strangers. It's fine for declarations of love to happen in public (e.g. on the street, at a party), provided people aren't explicitly watching the couple.


• Coffee Shop AUs


• Modern AUs


• Royalty AUs


• Second Person POV


• Bloodplay


• Facials/Comeplay


• Spit as lube


• Snowballing


• Stuffing


• Scat


• Watersports - the kink, not the sport. It's fine for the characters to go waterskiing. Please don't have them pee on each other.

I like so many things that I never know where to start (or when to stop!). Here's a random list.

• Accidental Dog Acquisition


• Aeroplanes and Flying


• Bachelor Auctions


• Betrayal, especially if it's a double bluff or not as black-and-white as it seems


• Bets and Wagers


• Cabin Fic/Snowed In


• Carnivals and Fairgrounds


• Case Fic


• Chess and Card Games


• Codes and Ciphers


• Con Artists


• Dancing Together


• Dramatic love confessions in the rain


• Dreamsharing


• Drunken confessions


• Falling in love with the mission target


• Friends with Benefits with Pining


• Identity Porn (no, seriously, IDENTITY PORN, it's the best)


• In Vino Veritas


• Intense mutual loyalty


• Kisses of every description. Cuddles. Physical affection.


• Love Potions and Spells


• Magical or alien artefacts, and the shenanigans they cause


• Masquerade Balls


• Mutual Pining


• Mutual Manipulation


• One character teaching another a physical skill – magic, lock picking, fencing, etc


• Passing the Broccoli Test


• Previous history, whether that's a new colleague who's also the one night stand they never forgot, or a high school sweetheart standing on the other side of the enemy lines.


• Spies. All the spy tropes. Black tie infiltration. Cool gadgets. Rogue agents.


• Stargazing


• Telepathy


• Truth Serum

• Accidental Stimulation


• Bathing/Washing


• BDSM


• Begging


• Clothed Sex


• Clothing Kink


• Coming Untouched


• Crossdressing


• Cuddlefucking


• Dirty Talk


• Face-Fucking


• Femdom


• Forced Orgasm


• Glove Kink


• Intercrural Sex


• Kissing Kink


• Lap Sex


• Lazy Morning Sex


• Multiple Orgasms


• Orgasm Delay/Denial


• Over The Knee


• Pegging


• Sex Toys Under Clothes


• Spanking


• Under-negotiated Kink

Worldbuilding

DNW: Marisa Coulter (mentions are fine)

I love the sense these books have of a huge, sprawling universe with its own strange magic and rules and politics and history. Pullman is great at dropping in random details or backstory for minor characters and then leaving the reader to fill in the rest, and I just want more of whatever parts most interest you.

I'm happy to read about any named characters, or about original characters, and I also love worldbuilding stories told in documents and extracts from in-universe books. Fictional travel guides are one of my favourite things.

(I've also read His Dark Materials, which is obviously set in the same fictional universe, and I'm happy for you to pull in details from those books if it makes sense for whatever you want to write.)

• Tell me more about Oakley Street! How was it established? What happened during the Swiss War to change its mission? Does it have members all over the country, and if so who are they and what do they do? Tell me about all the secret wars that have been waged and all the exciting spy stuff they do.


• The Trout! I love the Trout, it feels so cosy and safe. Tell me more about all the people who come in through its doors; the local characters, the weary travellers, the suspicious strangers. Tell me about previous landlords, about history and ghost stories, about all the delicious food they serve.


• Tell me more about the Priory of Godstow! In a series that's fairly anti-religion, the nuns are enormously sympathetic and I'm fascinated by them. I especially love the scene where Sister Benedicta throws out the Magisterium's goons; The sisters have been giving care and hospitality here for eight hundred years. Who else have they sheltered over the centuries? What other conflicts have they had with the Magisterium?


• Experimental theology! I know literally nothing about physics, but feel free to blind me with science. How does it work in Lyra's world? What are the properties of Dust? What kind of experiments was Gerard Bonneville conducting? Or tell me all about the university he was working in (Paris? I don't think it's specified), or about the University of Uppsala and its academic research and its internal politics.


• The Magisterium! Tell me about all the political wrangling Marcel Delamare had to do to get himself in power. Who did he come into conflict with? How are internal conflicts handled in the Magisterium anyway? (Murder? I think probably murder.) How do the different branches around the world work together?


• Tell me more about the history of alchemy and magic in Lyra's world. That interlude in Prague with the fire guy and his water dæmon was deeply disturbing. What other bizarre experiments has Johannes Agrippa performed over the years? What kind of things did Sebastian Makepeace research in his long career at Merton, or as an independent scholar? What adventures did he and Mary have? Tell me about Randolph Lucy and all the historical alchemists that have worked in Oxford and around the world.


• The dæmon trade is absolutely fascinating to me, even if it's also repulsive. I would love to hear about people who have had their dæmons sold or bought dæmons themselves. The idea that people sell their children's dæmons out of poverty is tragic, but maybe there are hopeful stories of human and dæmon being reunited? How do the police in these countries cope with the trade? Is there a big Interpol-esque organisation fighing them? What kind of person needs to buy a dæmon? How do they lose their own dæmons? How does the relationship between a person and their fake dæmon work out?


• Smyrna! I love a big port city. Tell me all about its long history, its vast international trade network, its bazaars and cafes and churches and mosques, its museums and ancient ruins, its sprawling waterfront, its multicultural population. How does it compare to İzmir in our world? Tell me about the Cantacuzino family, their history, their politics, their relationship with other royal families across southeast Europe.


• I would be interested in a travel guide to literally anywhere; London, the Fens, Paris, Geneva, Prague, Constantinople, Smyrna, Seleukeia, Aleppo, the Karamakan Desert, Lop Nor.

John Cavendish, Alfie Donwell

DNW: permanent break-up of John and Alfie's romantic relationship.

This is one of my all-time favourite books. I love Age of Sail, and I love epic romance, and I love Beecroft's lush prose. I love Alfie's competence, and his stoic woobie-ness in the face of everything, and I love John's competence, and his inner conflict, and his determination to do the right thing.

It would be fun to see the continuation of John and Alfie's adventures, more of their shipboard life (I know nothing about Georgian ships, no need for historical accuracy), or of what it's like moving in polite society again. More sailing! More schmoop!

• Where are John and Alfie assigned next? Are they sent to fight the Spanish? Do they get the chance to tangle with the Algerians again? I'd love to see more of them winning battles with cunning and strategy, and admiring each other's skill and brilliance, and swapping kisses between fights.


• On which note, this pairing was made for hurt/comfort. There are so many ways either of them could be wounded, and then naturally they would need the other to help bathe them, and dress them, and read to them at their bedside, and hold their hand, and so on.


• What is John and Alfie's ordinary life on board ship like? Are they on different watches? How do they spend time together? Do they play/sing together again, maybe get the rest of the crew involved? Play cards?


• Are they given shore leave somewhere far-flung and exciting? Do they spend their time exploring? Or do they spend three straight days in bed?


• What if there was some kind of accident at sea, and John and Alfie were marooned on a desert island? How do they deal with the isolation? Do they try to build a boat and get back to civilization? Or do they enjoy being able to love each other without hiding it?


• I would be fascinated to see Alfie try to repair his relationship with his parents, with John tagging along for moral support. Or John taking Alfie to meet his own parents, with all the ensuing chaos.


• Or maybe they go back to London and bump into Mrs Deane at the opera? She was my favourite minor character and I feel certain she and Alfie would get on like a house on fire.

Matthew Murdoch, Natasha Romanova, Captain Nelson

Natasha, Matt and Foggy are three of my favourite Marvel characters, and I love their 1602 counterparts. I love Natasha being 'the most dangerous woman in Europe' (the world, surely?), I love Matthew and Natasha's spy shenanigans, I love Captain Nelson's ship and his fine range of suspicious looks, I love Matt being over-the-top melodramatic—his meeting with Fury and Peter was a delight.

You don't need to use all three of them in your fic; you can pick any two or write about them as individuals. I am very much a Matt/Foggy and Matt/Natasha shipper, if you're into either of those things. And while I'd never considered the OT3 before, hell yeah, why not?

If you happen to be interested in the 17th century and want to include historical details, I would enjoy that, but historical accuracy is in no way necessary.

• Foggy has apparently been ferrying Matt back and forth for five years — how has that gone? What was their first meeting like? When did Foggy first start to get suspicious about Matt's real job? What made Matt choose Foggy as his unwitting getaway driver?


• What kind of adventures have they had together over the last five years? Any times Matt came back bruised and bloody and Foggy had to patch him up? (Of course there are, it's Matt.) Any times Foggy had to come to the rescue?


• Bad guys assume Foggy is working with Matt, and he gets accidentally dragged into the spy business.


• Foggy hears more rumours among the sailors about how dangerous the blind Irishman is, starts to investigate, and gets accidentally dragged into the spy business.


• Matt actually does go to Europe to see the sights for once, maybe as a cover, and he and Foggy spend an enjoyable day exploring Rouen or Rotterdam or a location of your choice.


• Matt starts doing some of his ballad-singing in the sailors' taverns near the docks, hoping to bump into Foggy again.


• Matt tries to court Foggy by serenading him with his lute*. Foggy is not as impressed as Matt hoped. (*Is it a lute? I know literally nothing about musical instruments. If you don't know either, let's just agree it's a lute.)

• Please tell me all about Matt and Natasha's previous spy shenanigans. What other weird artefacts have they retrieved on Fury's behalf? Who have they maimed, threatened or killed on his orders? What other bizarre missions have they been given?


• Matt and Natasha must surely have gone undercover as a couple a few times, which would probably lead to sexy fighting, or fight-y sexing, or something explosive.


• A masquerade ball! I don't even care what they're doing there or how historically accurate it probably isn't, I just want lush costumes and hidden identities, possibly with Matt and Natasha competing to be first to discover the other's identity.


• What happens when Matt and Natasha finally see each other again, post-canon? Does Natasha regret pushing Matt off a cliff? Is Matt holding a grudge?

• I'm used to 616!Natasha, who has strong morals and meticulously plans her every move, so seeing her being more reckless and unscrupulous was a lot of fun, even if it comes back to bite her in the end. What made her this way? What's happened in her past?


• I'd love to see this Natasha becoming in some small way more honourable and more interested in the consequences of her actions. Maybe she takes time during her spying to help or defend someone who needs it, or maybe she betrays a bad guy to help Fury, even though she knows it's dangerous.


• Tell more about Natasha's epic spy adventures around Europe—all the politicians she's assassinated and kingdoms she's toppled and fun she's had. How did she start working for Fury in the first place?

• Tell me more about this weird green cave stuff that caused Matt to lose his sight. What was it? Did he ever go back to the cave and look for it? Did he ever try to find out what it was, perhaps with Fury and Natasha's help, or Stephen Strange or Reed Richards?


• How did Matt get involved with the spy business? Was he originally working as a balladeer, or did he take that up later as a cover? How did he and Fury first meet? What kind of jobs has Matt done for him?


• What does Matt do when he's not spying? How does he spend his days in London? Are there enemies closer to home that he spends his time fighting? Does he hang around the taverns singing ballads and getting drunk? Does he go to the theatre?


• The cover art for issue #4 has Matt with a bow and arrow, but I don't remember this ever coming up in the comics, and I would love him to get the chance to shoot things!

• How did young Foggy end up with a career as a seaman? What were his early experiences on a ship like? Boys could be quite young when they were sent off to sea, it must have been pretty strange and overwhelming.


• What exciting places around the world has Foggy seen? Or, more realistically, what exciting port cities of northern and western Europe has Foggy seen? What kind of adventures has he had with smugglers or pirates?


• I'm assuming Foggy's name is 'Foggy' in this universe, even though it's never explicitly stated, because it's just such a great name for a sailor. How did he get his nickname? Some infamous incident involving foggy weather?

You don't need to use all the characters I've requested for this one, but if you focus on either Tristan or Yvaine then please include them both. If you focus on worldbuilding you can use any characters you like.

DNW: permanent break-up of Tristan and Yvaine's romantic relationship.

Tristan Thorn, Yvaine

I love a good old-fashioned romp, and I love romance, and this film has both in spades. I like that it doesn't take itself too seriously and just goes all-out on the fun and adventure. Tristan and Yvaine seem well-suited, both pretty hot-tempered and strong-willed, with a keen curiosity and a desire to explore. I really love the scene where Yvaine pours out her heart to Tristan when she thinks he's a mouse!

• They're both so young to become monarchs, I can't help but picture them sneaking around the castle at night behaving more like university students than the rulers of a country. Maybe they play pranks on some of the courtiers? Or on each other? Maybe they discover all kinds of hidden rooms around the castle?


• What kind of political problems will they have to tackle as king and queen? Diplomacy with adjoining countries? Rumours of rebellion? Ordinary problems of crop irrigation and mending buildings? Dangerous magical creatures appearing from the forests?


• What is Tristan and Yvaine's wedding night like? Tristan doesn't seem to have had the chance to get much experience with girls, if any, and Yvaine has probably seen a lot but has no personal experience. I'm thinking a lot of awkwardness and laughter and figuring things out together, and maybe Yvaine instructing Tristan in the things she's learned second-hand.


• In the book, Tristan and Yvaine leave Una to rule for a bit while they go off and have adventures. I would love to see this done in the film setting, with Una and Dunstan running things while Tristan and Yvaine travel around Stormhold getting into scrapes, possibly with some good natured bickering and make-up kisses afterwards.


• I'm imagining them travelling incognito in order to learn more about Stormhold, and then promptly getting kidnapped. Or witnessing a crime and accidentally getting embroiled in the underworld. Or pissing off another witch and getting cursed. You just know they're going to get into trouble somehow.


• I love the idea that when Yvaine was a star she might have been watching Tristan some nights, and was too embarrassed to tell him. Maybe she finally gets up the courage to tell him about it after they're married? What did she think of him, and his doomed pursuit of Victoria?


• I would love to see them dancing together again, the way they do on Captain Shakespeare's ship! Maybe they both take lessons in secret to surprise each other? Or maybe there's a big official function and they dance together after everyone has gone home?


• Tristan and Yvaine have an explosive argument and Una locks them together in a cupboard until they sort themselves out and make up.

• Tell me about the Guardians of the Wall! How are they chosen? Is there training involved? Magical powers? (That old guy was pretty fast!) How did this guardianship get established in the first place?


• I am completely in love with the magical bazaar where Dunstan and Una meet. Is it a permanent fixture or does it move around through the year? What kind of weird and wonderful things are sold there? What kind of people are the stallholders? What kind of mishaps have happened when people bought things they maybe shouldn't?


• Tell me all about the Caspartine! How do they catch lightning, and what is it used for? What else does Ferdy the Fence trade in? What was Captain Shakespeare's father like? How did all the other pirates get recruited? What are other flying ships like, if they exist? Do they also catch lightning or make money some other way? Are they in competition with Captain Shakespeare? What are their crew like?


• Tell me about politics in Stormhold! Getting all the brothers to kill each other is a pretty extreme strategy – I'm betting they've had a lot of tyrannical kings. What weird and wild things happened in the history of the royal family? How is the palace run day-to-day? Do things calm down between successions or is it always crazy? Have they ever had a queen?


• Tell me about Stormhold-ish (is that a word?) culture! What's their food like? Their architecture? Their sports? Their religion? What kind of entertainment is on offer of an evening in Stormhold, and is it dangerous?


• What's it like to be a star in this universe? What is star culture like? What do they do all day? What are the other members of Yvaine's family like?