Dear AUex 2021 Writer Letter
Jul. 11th, 2021 01:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doranwenAUex is an exchange that seems to be tailor-made to me. I love what-ifs, canon divergence, and a variety of excellent tropes, and with this exchange, I can indulge that love to my heart's content. I hope you have just as much fun writing for me as I will have reading what you write!
Besides those tropes, here are my general likes:
- deep platonic friendship / romantic friendship / nonsexual romance
- found families / teamfic
- apocalyptic / survival fic
- hurt/comfort / characters dealing with trauma / nonsexual physical touch (including cuddling)
- characters being vulnerable / character redemption
- positive treatment of religion
- trust building / friendship
- missing scenes
- canon divergence AU (especially fix-it fic)
- soulmates (as long as requested pairing are soulmates with each other)
- crossovers with fandoms I know (see list further down in this letter)
- any trope on this list: https://doranwen.dreamwidth.org/240453.html
DNWs:
- modern politics
- COVID-19 or pandemics
- onscreen sex or making out (a light kiss is fine, allusions are fine)
- supernatural/fantasy beings (elves outside of LOTR, vampires, werewolves, gnomes, zombies, etc.)
- AUs other than canon divergence or alt beginnings (i.e. no coffee shop AUs)
- gore / graphic violence (mild/medium violence is OK, just not as graphic as a surgery documentary)
- noncanonical death of canon characters or horror
- dark endings (happy or bittersweet endings only, please!)
- unrequested identity headcanons (gender/sexuality/etc.)
- calling an adult "baby" or "darling" ("sweetheart" works if you need a substitute)
- mpreg, A/B/O, genderswap, ageplay or BDSM of any kind
- anything dealing with the anus or feces
- feeding/inflation or eating disorders (characters eating a meal together is fine)
- crack (nothing deliberately wacky)
- uncensored profanity
- 1st/2nd person
- unprompted relationships between canonical characters
- crossovers with fandoms I don't know
Opt-ins I'm OK with, if they should arise as part of the story you are writing:
- noncon & aftermath (this overrides the onscreen sex DNW)
- underage (please keep them teens at minimum, and observe the no onscreen sex DNW)
- het pregnancy
- characters being parents
- child abuse of any kind (as long as it's not the requested characters doing the abusing)
If writing a romantic friendship, I'd prefer the line be drawn at forehead/cheek kisses and cuddles; please reserve lip kisses for sexual relationships.
If a prompt requires something that's listed as a DNW, please follow the prompt rather than the DNW. :)
Also, if choosing between writing the characters as true to themselves as you can, vs. writing a particular trope or prompt, I'd prefer you to keep the characters true to themselves.
Don't worry if someone's written that particular idea before. My first real fandom was one where people used to write a dozen versions of the same TV ep, and I loved reading them all. There are never too many versions of the same story, in my opinion. Too few of these AUs have been written, and I want to see more of even the ones that have!
I don't go into a lot of my thoughts on most of these fandoms and characters (and please do not read anything into which sections are longer or not, I honestly love ALL of these), but I've requested all of them in other exchanges unless otherwise stated below, so if you want more info on the way I look at them, just filter my posts by the "fanfic exchange letter" tag to see other letters that have the same fandoms.
I've requested Crossover AU for a few fandoms (as well as the tag Worldweavers fusion). For any crossover AU, you are totally welcome to cross any of my requested fandoms with any of the others, or with the following:
1-800-Missing (S1 only, not the S2-S3 of Missing) - I prefer non-shippy here
C-16: FBI - I *maybe* ship Amanda/Jack
Cybergeddon (web series) - I don't ship Chloe/Frank, ambivalent about Chloe/Rabbit
Leverage (but please stick with the original show and pretend the new series hasn't happened) - I ship Nate/Sophie and Eliot/Parker, do *not* ship the OT3 or Hardison/Parker, but all gen for the younger three is perfectly fine
Push (2009) - I ship Nick/Cassie
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye - I ship Jack/Sue and Myles/Tara
Worldweavers - Alma Alexander - I prefer non-shippy here
And now to the requests (in the order of which I found them in the tagset):
X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Requested chars/ships:
Ororo Munroe & Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
Ororo Munroe/Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
Rogue & Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
Rogue/Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
Solo: Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
I absolutely love Scott, and this request shows it. I think he works well with either Rogue or Ororo, though I enjoy him alone also! He and Rogue have in common that they both have visible aspects to their mutations that they can never shake - and cannot control. He and Ororo have a bond borne out of knowing each other for years - and even possibly having similar backgrounds. Since I've never seen any films other than X1, X2, and X3, you can make up their backstories all you like. (Just keep the alien Shi'ar stuff out of it - I like my X-Men as realistic as possible beyond the powers bit.)
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Apocalypse AU
I love apocalyptic/survival AUs so much - and the idea of Scott with Ororo or Rogue or just being Xavier's right-hand man in helping protect the children in a world that's fallen apart, it just melts my heart. :)
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
XM (OTM): Jean stays dead after X2 and the Phoenix never appears
What would X3 have looked like without the Phoenix interfering? Scott and Professor X would be alive, for one…
X-Men (OTM): Professor X and Scott survive X3
These two dying are the biggest reason I don't care for X3. Find a way for them not to die, and I'll enjoy the story a ton!
X-Men (OTM): Scott was never involved with Jean romantically
Set this anywhere in the first three films (as long as Scott doesn't die in X3), and I'd love to see what would have happened. Is Logan in a relationship with Jean, then? Is Scott in love with Ororo? Or do you fast forward a few years and show a relationship developing between him and Rogue? However you do it, changing this one thing would change dynamics a whole lot!
X-Men (OTM): X3 Never Happened
Oh, I would love to see the aftermath of X2 with Scott - all the angst. Does Ororo's friendship with him help him find solace after Jean's death, or is it in a friendship with a fellow "outcast" named Rogue, who perhaps even feels guilty for Jean's death because she tried to fly the plane and crashed it? So many possibilities here…
Alphas (TV)
Requested chars/ships:
Rachel Pirzad & Nina Theroux (Alphas TV)
Rachel Pirzad & Nina Theroux & Lee Rosen (Alphas TV)
Solo: Nina Theroux (Alphas TV)
Solo: Rachel Pirzad (Alphas TV)
This show was so awesome (and so short!) and has so much potential for taking the storyline different directions, so it's perfect for this exchange! I fell in love with Rachel as soon as I saw her reaction to her dad's comments in the pilot, and I fell in love with Nina at the end of Anger Management. Lee grew on me over the course of the show, and I just love seeing the whole team interact, how supportive they are of each other, and their different talents and contributions to everything. I didn't nominate or request the whole team as a tag, but if you find yourself wanting to work everyone in, I'd love that too. I nominated and requested Nina, Rachel, and Lee because they're the characters that call most to me, but I really do love everyone in this show, which is unusual for me.
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Apocalypse AU
Parish's plan isn't the only way the world could end for them all. I love apocalyptic AUs, so have fun with it!
ALL: Canon Divergence AU
Canon divergence is my thing - and while I give some specific canon divergence AU ideas below, I'd happily read anything for this fandom that alters the way things went. Want to rewrite the club scene a little differently? (Feel free to bend my DNW about sex a bit - it would be hard to do much with that scene otherwise.) Want to send Dani to Building Seven instead of undercover? Or something else I haven't thought of? Go for it! Or write a "for want of a nail" AU - another kind of canon divergence. You could use this with Parish's plan - either another way it unravels, or how it succeeds - or maybe you can think of something else! This show has long arcs and complicated things happening, and a simple change here and there would make big differences down the road.
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Crossover AU
Read the crossover section just before my requests for possibilities there. Whether they're dropped into the other canon's world or both worlds exist simultaneously, it would be neat to read!
ALL: On the run from the law
This would be fascinating with the team - or just a few of them (not as much with a single person). I always loved them fleeing from Binghamton in S1.
All: Post-Apocalypse
I love post-apocalyptic fic with my favorite characters. :D
Alphas: Alphaville never happened
Alphaville really set the stage for a lot of things. For one, Stanton Parish might not've found Skylar otherwise. Also, it really changed Rachel's powers for the better. So, what if Rachel's still stuck with being overwhelmed by her senses (particularly with regards to physical affection), and Parish doesn't have Skylar to make mini-photostims for him? What might the rest of the show have looked like? Keep in mind that that was where Rosen had the first inkling that someone close to them was feeding Parish info - would it have taken them longer to put the pieces together regarding Dani? Would Parish have succeeded with the voltaic bomb plan?
Alphas: Dani survives the bomb
Injuries I'm fine with - I'd just like to see what it would look like to have her alive, either in terms of how they go after Parish, and/or in terms of the internal bonds of the team.
Alphas: Rachel doesn't call Bill during Scipio's torture
Go with either a plotty "this is what happens differently" or deal with the emotional fallout of a Rachel who's thrown herself completely behind Rosen (or both!). I'm guessing it might be harder to make up with John…
Alphas: Rachel never dates John
For some reason, Rachel's relationship with John has always grated on me just a little. Maybe it's that it feels a little artificial, too contrived? Or maybe it's that I liked the S1 backstory better where Rachel's never had a real boyfriend or even really dated. (As one writer put it for another show, they gave us "multiple choice options" for her backstory.) In some ways it feels like they took S1 Rachel and made her a bit OOC for S2. The jump is just too extreme, too much too soon to feel right, and her relationship with John is a major part of that. Given that the show does a good deal with her and him in various episodes, I'd love to see those scenes the way they would've been without him as her SO. Who's there instead? Do we get to see more team bonding with her and other team members? (And John is not one of the team members, I feel like. He's a liaison of sorts, but he's not one of the Alphas.)
Alphas: Stanton Parish's photostim plan succeeds
OK, so I've been writing a series of this very AU, pretty much. But I would very much love to read someone else's take on this! The "end of the world" is really what it would be, but I want to see it with my beloved Alphas. Apocalyptic fic with Alphas, what can be better?
FBI (TV 2018)
I watched this show for Missy Peregrym, but I've fallen in love with quite a few other characters, some of which I've specifically requested below. In general, however I really love the entire team - the requested characters are just the ones I'd like to see a fic focused on, but you're more than welcome to include anyone else you want to.
Also, since FBI: Most Wanted is in the same universe canonically, feel free to cross those two fandoms in particular.
Requested chars/ships:
Solo: Elise Taylor (FBI 2018)
Solo: Kristen Chazal (FBI 2018)
Solo: Maggie Bell (FBI 2018)
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Accidental Marriage AU
I ship Elise with Stuart Scola, Kristen with Jubal, and Maggie with OA, when I go there romantically with them. I'd love to see this trope with them somehow!
ALL: Character's sexual abusive childhood is revealed
Plausible with any of the three, I think - though possibly less so with Maggie (but feel free to convince me otherwise!).
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Platonic Soulmate AU
I love the idea that some of them might be platonic soulmates with the others. I read one fic with that idea (from Stuart's POV) and it's made me curious to see more of that. For this I'd prefer Elise *not* be matched with Stuart as I see them more romantic than platonic, anyone else is fair game though.
ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it even worse
I like angst, as long as there's some comfort or emotional support or something. I'm curious to see what you might come up with here!
ALL: Telepathic Soulbond AU
Would be interesting to see who people get bonded with!
ALL: Worldweavers fusion
Would love to see them use magic as in Worldweavers to solve crimes!
FBI: Most Wanted (TV 2020)
I watched this because of the backdoor pilot in FBI, but it's grown on me over time. In particular, Sarah's storyline in S2 has gotten to me (hence requesting her by herself as well as with Jess), and I really also love Clinton (who's sadly been absent most of this season, likely due to the traveling restrictions between Canada and the US). I requested Kenny & Hana because their friendly sniping and snarking is hilarious (but I love how they're there for each other when they need to be). Of the characters I didn't request, I'm most interested in Clinton and less interested in Sheryll and Ortiz.
Also, since the main FBI show is in the same universe canonically, feel free to cross those two fandoms in particular.
I haven't requested this in any other *exchanges*, but here is what I put for it for Fandom Giftbox, if that helps you at all.
.
Requested chars/ships:
Kenny Crosby & Hana Gibson (FBI: Most Wanted)
Sarah Allen/Jess LaCroix (FBI: Most Wanted)
Solo: Sarah Allen (FBI: Most Wanted)
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Apocalypse AU
I know I'm writing one, but I love this trope too much, lol. I'd love to see your take on this! Natural disasters, for instance, never grow old…
ALL: Character's sexual abusive childhood is revealed
I could see this with Sarah.
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Platonic Soulmate AU
This is mainly for Kenny and Hana, who I think would be perfect for this. Since I wouldn't want Jess and Sarah matched platonically, feel free to pick someone else for each of them if you choose to write them with this AU. The only specific pairing I can think of for one of them would be Sarah with Clinton, otherwise have fun deciding.
All: Post-Apocalypse
This AU never gets old. :D
ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it even worse
I like angst, as long as there's some comfort or emotional support or something. I'm curious to see what you might come up with here!
ALL: Telepathic Soulbond AU
Would be interesting to see who people get bonded with! (Obviously Kenny with Hana, lol.)
ALL: Worldweavers fusion
Would love to see them use magic as in Worldweavers to solve crimes!
Rizzoli & Isles
Requested chars/ships:
Maura Isles & Jane Rizzoli (Rizzoli & Isles TV)
Solo: Jane Rizzoli (Rizzoli & Isles TV)
I really love Jane's character, and I love the bond these two have. Both of them learn so much from each other over the course of the show, and support each other through so many things. While I can see why most fans ship Jane and Maura as a couple, I headcanon Jane as asexual (she just hasn't figured it out yet), though the bond between them does verge on a romantic friendship and I love seeing fics that take it there. They're fairly comfortable with casual physical contact, and I love seeing fics where that's part of supporting each other.
One big area the show was noticeably lacking in was actually dealing with all the trauma the characters suffered. The most they would show (even after escaping from being kidnapped) was a little joking around on the couch, and the next episode they were back to normal. It was absolutely ridiculous! If an actual human being had went through all of what they went through, there would be some major PTSD going on there! I really wish they'd dealt with that more. Feel free to throw appropriate amounts of that into one of these AUs if it works for you.
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Characters get actually helpful therapy
Here's your chance to deal with all that PTSD, lol.
R&I TV: Frost doesn't die
Whether you want to have him surviving the car crash or just rewrite some of the later non-homicide bits with Frost included without even explaining why he's alive, I'd love to see more of him. I enjoyed Lee Thompson Young's acting so much and it was such a tragedy…
R&I TV: Jane and Maura have their first meeting when younger
I love alt-beginnings AUs so much, and these two are no exception. Were they children? teens? Did they immediately hit it off, or was there friction at first?
R&I TV: Jane's miscarriage never happens
I'd like Tasha to make it, but there were several other ways you could alter the story to make it so Jane didn't have to lose the baby. I loved the implications of her pregnancy and how it would change the dynamics of things.
R&I TV: Lydia abandons her baby completely
What if Lydia really was such a flake that she dumped the baby on the Rizzolis and took off without another look back? Who would adopt TJ? How would his presence affect things?
R&I TV: Not everyone lives through the parking garage collapse
Whether Frost dies earlier than he does on the show, or Tommy doesn't make it (please don't kill off baby TJ, that's just too much for me here), there's lots of room for tragedy and angst with this one.
R&I TV: The post-Hoyt birthday party never happens
Show me a more realistic end to that day, please! When you've just been held hostage by your worst nightmare, seen your best friend tasered and threatened (and who knows what else, you're welcome to play with how far he got)… are you really going to come home and be all "sure, I want my My Pretty Pony birthday party now, thanks Mom"? Yeah, right!
ALL: Apocalypse/Survival
I love apocalyptic AUs, and seeing Jane and Maura trying to survive in a world that's collapsed around them sounds like a fantastic story to me!
All: Post-Apocalypse
Of course, the survival after the apocalypse has happened is just as interesting. :D
ALL: Canon Divergence AU
There are so many places in this show to make things turn out differently. As long as Jane and Maura live and don't hate each other, I'm OK with killing off some other characters (with appropriate levels of grieving), giving them more trauma, hurting them physically, etc., or just changing the direction the show took in some area.
Rookie Blue
Requested chars/ships:
Andy McNally/Sam Swarek (Rookie Blue TV)
Solo: Andy McNally (Rookie Blue TV)
This show is really awesome—particularly during the first few seasons. They made quite a few errors but the characters are so good that I love it anyway.
Sam and Andy are my OTP here, but if I have to focus on just one, I'd go with Andy. Missy Peregrym just made me fall in love with her character.
I had to split my AUs for this char/ship across two separate requests because there are just too many that work for these two (all the tropey AUs, lol). :D Below is the set of prompts for both requests, combined because the only difference between the two is which AUs were requested. (The Dov/Gail AUs are in a separate section of my letter.)
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Alternate First Meetings
I'd love to see Sam and Andy meet another way - and how that would have changed things.
ALL: Alternate First Meeting--Woke Up Married
This whole idea just makes me grin. Would be soooooo interesting to read. Would prefer they not immediately go to "how quickly can I divorce the other person".
ALL: Amnesia in Main Character Changes Canon
Oh, how easy that would be to do with either Andy OR Sam in a few places, but particularly Andy. I think if she didn't have her memory to make her stick with Luke, she might start questioning her relationship with him sooner…
ALL: Canonically Dead Character Survives
You know you wanted Jerry to live, right? :)
ALL: Canon Divergence AU
This show desperately needs some more canon divergence AUs (fanfic writers wrote some, but one can never have enough), given the bad choices the writers made at some points. While I have quite a few specific ones listed above, there are lots more places that things could change. If you're curious, I have a whole essay about the plot over the course of the show, with lots of discussion as to what I thought were bad plot points. Feel free to fix any of them that appeal to you.
All: Character deals with a canonical difficult situation better than in canon
Take your pick which character and which situation. Both of them botched the post-blackout thing in their own way. Sam in particular botched the conversation when Andy returned to work, the whole "Andy's mom shows up", and dealing with Jerry's death. I'm sure there's more you can think of…
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Secret Marriage
I think them getting married secretly would be way too much fun!
ALL: Soulbond Requires Physical Proximity
However they end up soulbonded (is it a variation of a soulmates AU where everyone is, or is it just an accident, or did someone see their chemistry and trigger it somehow?), I think Sam and Andy discovering their connection that way would be hilarious - particularly if Andy happened to be dating Luke at the time.
ALL: Soulmate AU
Because I think these two would be soulmates and I'd love to see that. :D You're welcome to include the telepathic or pain bond variation if you want or not. I honestly don't care about there being a mark, but I'm not ruling it out hence not specifying the one with no mark. (But please make it something besides words spoken.) Also an interesting variation - the one where they're considered married as soon as soulmarks appear.
Rookie Blue: Andy finds out she's pregnant after relationship is over
This could go three ways: a) she finds out she's pregnant with Luke's baby in the middle of S2, b) she finds out she's pregnant with Sam's baby at the end of S3 (or even during the undercover! it's possible for women to not have a lot of the typical pregnancy symptoms and Andy might not have known she was pregnant when accepting if so), or c) she finds out she's pregnant with Nick's baby at the beginning of S5. I've seen at least a couple versions of these, but I will always be excited to see another, and at least one of these possibilities has never ever been written, if you want to be the first. If you really want to go to the extreme with this, you could write a fanfic equivalent of the show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant!" with Andy discovering she's pregnant when she goes into labor. It's totally plausible!
Rookie Blue: Brennan never makes Sam
Let's pretend Boyd never gave him bad intel - and you can play with whether the car accident was truly an accident or not - would they keep sneaking around during his undercover time? Would Brennan mention Candace on the surveillance video and have Boyd's people be all wondering who Candace is? You can have Andy end up pregnant by accident if you want to complicate matters even more.
Rookie Blue: Luke dies in 2x03
If you look at the light in the sky, and the blood spilling from his mouth when they find him, no way does he survive that! (At least, that's my idea on it.) Sadly, no one has yet written a complete fic where he actually dies and Andy has to deal with that - with Sam by her side. (I tried but I only got a few thousand words into it and lost any sense of where to take it next.) Maybe you'll be the first? :)
Rookie Blue: Nick doesn't exist
Take some part of the show - Andy post-breakup with Sam, or UC with someone else (who?) - and rewrite it without Nick existing. I'd love to see how that would change.
Rookie Blue: Sam doesn't abandon Andy in 2x07
Let's pretend that Sam has actually learned from his mistake of reacting emotionally in 1x08 and gave Andy the benefit of the doubt - I'd love to see how that would go.
Rookie Blue: Sam doesn't leave Andy alone the night of the blackout
You know he could see that she isn't dealing, and I don't think it would take much for him to figure out that Luke's not going to stay with her because he's married to his work. Someone has to be there for Andy and it might as well be Sam…
Rookie Blue: Sam finds Andy in 2x06 before she leaves the division
You know he'd figure out right away that something's wrong, and work to get it out of her. I'd love to see that - or what would happen next! :D
Rookie Blue: Sam/Andy don't 'disregard' in 1x02
How would this change S1? How much sneaking around would they have to do? Would Sam end up opening up more at all, like about his sister?
Rookie Blue: The matchbox never falls out of Jo's purse
Without this clue, how does Andy figure out that Luke cheated on her? Or does she? Would she end up married and then find out - and get a divorce? So many ways for this to go…
Rookie Blue: Traci does Project Dakota not Andy
Let's pretend that they actually let Traci say goodbye (because that was so contrived), and that they actually required Andy to have therapy before going back to work (because please, holding a bomb is totally as bad as having a gun pointed at one's head!). Now Andy doesn't have Traci to lean on (and if you add in the "Nick doesn't exist" AU, nor Nick), and Sam's trying to mend things…
Rookie Blue
Requested chars/ships:
Dov Epstein/Gail Peck (Rookie Blue TV)
Love love this show - and Gail is so snarky but awesome, truly. (I can see why Dov had to say that.) I like her with Dov or Luke - but there's less written about her with Dov hence requesting that.
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Apocalypse AU
Dov and Gail (or just Gail) dealing with the apocalypse? Way too much fun - just imagine the level of snark. :D
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
All: Everyone Suddenly Gains Superpowers
This would be great fun with these characters!
All: Post-Apocalypse
I love post-apocalyptic fic with my favorite characters. :D
Rookie Blue: Chris doesn't get angry at Dov about Gail
I've read all of one fic where Chris figures out that Dov's in love with Gail and he just sort of shrugs with "It's Gail". While I think that's probably about as unlikely as his seriously angry "how could you!" reaction, I'd like to see more where he truly understands. I can't buy the two boys in love with each other, but if you want to write this as a poly vee ship with Gail as the pivot, I would definitely read it and enjoy. :)
Rookie Blue: Dov chooses Gail over Chris
In the show, Dov's all "sticking with my bro" and gives Gail the cold shoulder, which, ouch! Considering it was his fault in the first place with the meds and grabbing her hand to kiss, he should man up a bit and tell Chris to back off - and let Gail know that even if Chris won't take her back, he still loves her! I know one writer has done a great job in writing that, but I want more! Dov and Gail are just awesome together. Feel free to add in the "Rookie Blue: Nick doesn't exist" AU if you like.
Rookie Blue: Perik rapes Gail
I wrote a double drabble with this premise but I've never seen anything else. I know that wasn't really his MO on the show, but it wouldn't be hard to tweak that - and Gail seems like the sort that would try to hide it from everyone. Would she be successful? Who would figure it out? (My money's on Dov.) Also feel free to combine this with Nick not existing if you want.
Smallville
Requested chars/ships:
Clark Kent & Chloe Sullivan (Smallville)
Clark Kent/Chloe Sullivan (Smallville)
These are an OTP for me, I think. I've only seen up to partway into the 4th season and was so disgusted with the way the show was going (and I could not stand Erica Durance's character for anything!) that I quit watching and had to quit really being involved in the fandom. This is the only exchange I dare ask for just plain Smallville, because I honestly don't want to see anything from past S3. (I have read very little about the rest of the show that I actually liked.) I chose the AUs I did for that purpose. :)
As far as other characters go, as long as they appeared in the first three seasons, great! I prefer Clark to be the only alien around (no holdovers from his planet or weird stuff like that), and the magic stuff that appeared in S4 was not my cup of tea. Feel free to "fix" the cave Jor-El to explain/make him more reasonable, since clearly the programming has gotten a little confused…
Prompts by tag:
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of Clark and Chloe trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Crossover AU
Feel free to drop Clark and Chloe into either any of the requested fandoms or use any of the crossover possibilities listed in the section at the top (just before each fandom).
ALL: Main character goes back in time to the body of their younger self and changes what happened
I think this might be more interesting with Clark than with Chloe - mostly because of how slow Clark is to mature - and of course you'd have to find a way out of using the canonical events in S4 onwards, but just make up something! Or throw both Clark and Chloe back in their old bodies. They'd fix a lot of the major mistakes that happened in the first three seasons, and oh boy, were there a few mistakes…
ALL: On the run from the law
This would be interesting with both Clark and Chloe, specifically - Clark would probably have to reveal his powers to her, and to see them figuring out how to survive… :D
SV: Body swap without black kryptonite
This is just sheer fun. I've read all of one story where Clark and Chloe end up swapping bodies (and Chloe discovers Clark's secret in the process because when you can get from point A to point B in milliseconds and crumble a sink by just holding onto it, you know something's up). It was hilarious and I wish there were more takes on a situation like that. So I'd love to see what you come up with! Would prefer Clark not end up switching bodies with someone else, especially someone like Lionel.
SV: Chloe and Pete remember what happened during Rush
That memory blank was the biggest copout ever. Chloe learned Clark's secret (and thought it was "so cool") and he clearly wanted to make out with Chloe when under the influence of Red K, so that's going to raise a bunch of things that need to be dealt with. Tons of potential for Chlarkiness (and some interesting convos along the way). I'd love it if she didn't lie to Clark and tell him she didn't remember anything, too.
SV: Chloe becomes Lois and Lois never comes to Smallville
This is the Chlois theory, as it used to be called. Basically, find a way for Chloe to become the Lois that she always was meant to be - really, all she needs to do is change her hair color and name. Why does she have to do this? Does she tell Clark about it, or does he figure out? Future fic is great here as long as you ignore the canonical events of later seasons.
SV: Chloe brings Clark home at the beginning of S3
What would Chloe say or do that would get Clark to come home with her? Get the ring off him in a moment of weakness? Does she discover his secret? I am uncommonly fond of Exile AUs.
SV: Clark & Chloe don't quit dating after S1
Did anyone else want to scream ARGH! when she played the friends card? Here's your chance to remedy that. Let's see what 2x01 would've looked like with a Clark who was still dating Chloe. Would he eventually learn to trust her enough to tell her his secret?
SV: Clark does not mumble Lana's name during Fever
What he actually does is up to you, though I'd love it if he actually remembered something of what Chloe was saying. Or maybe he stumbles across the paper she read it from later?
SV: Clark is too late to save Lana from the tornado
Here's my angsty AU. Whether he recovers her body or not, I'd love to see a fic where Lana doesn't make it, and Clark's despondency about that. Chloe, of course, will be at his side trying to comfort him (and bonus points if you throw in the "Clark & Chloe don't quit dating after S1" AU as well). Maybe his secret comes out in Clark's frustration of why he feels he should've been able to, or maybe he just wakes up to the fact that he's got Chloe there for him.
SV: Clark tells Chloe his secret before S4
I've already thrown this one as an optional prompt for a few of the other AUs, but I'd love to see how it might work! If Chloe could show Clark that he wouldn't end up on the Wall of Weird, you'd think that Clark would eventually realize that Chloe would react totally different to how Pete did, and be ready and willing to protect his secret.
SV: Clark's mom doesn't lose the baby in S2
I'd love to see Clark with a baby sister. I thought that explosion-killed-the-baby thing was the worst thing, because that would've added such interesting dynamics to things. What do you wanna bet that Chloe actually melts a bit getting to interact with a baby - and it totally surprises Clark?
SV: Gabe doesn't survive the explosion at the end of S3
Another angsty one! If Gabe doesn't survive the explosion, what happens to Chloe? I'd love to see her end up with the Kents somehow.
SV: Lana moves with her aunt to Metropolis
Hee, this would be such the best thing - get Lana out of there and let it just be Clark and Chloe from there on out. No more Lana distraction!
SV: Lionel dies sometime during the first three seasons
How does it happen? Does Clark somehow break and realize he's got to get rid of Lionel or everyone will not be safe? Does Lionel die at the end of S1? Either way, I'd love to see how that makes things safer for the people Clark loves.
SV: Ryan doesn't have a brain tumor so he lives
I hated that tumor plotline. They create this awesome little brother-type character—and then they get rid of him because he figures out Clark's secret. I'd love to see him be perfectly healthy and come to live with the Kents. Having someone around who knows Clark's secret - and can read minds - can only be a good thing. Does he figure out what Lionel or Lex are up to? Or does he figure out that Chloe's in love with Clark and be the catalyst to get the two of them together? (Or if you're combining with the "they never quit dating" one, does he help Clark realize that she's safe to tell his secret to?)
SV: S4 onward never happened
This is sort of my perennial AU of all AUs. Throw out the whole show after the end of S3 and rewrite it your way! Whether you stick with a short "this is the way things are" or get more involved, I'd love to see a Smallville without Lois, magic, aliens that aren't Clark, relationship between Clark and Lana, etc. Give me a deepening relationship between Clark and Chloe and you've made my day, whether they are just stronger friends or more.
Women's Murder Club (TV)
Requested chars/ships:
Lindsay Boxer & Cindy Thomas (Women's Murder Club TV)
Solo: Lindsay Boxer (Women's Murder Club TV)
I love tough characters with soft centers, and Lindsay is a classic example. I also love the interactions between these two. I see a bit of hero worship—and maybe a crush of sorts—on Cindy's side, and annoyance that turns to fondness and respect on Lindsay's. What you do with that is up to you. I requested the friendship tag but I'm OK with making it deeper. It's hard to know where that line is sometimes, especially when you're just focusing on the connection between them.
I love Claire's motherliness, particularly with Lindsay, and I can see her totally mothering Cindy. Jill is less of an interest for me so you need not include her, or can just keep her focused on case stuff or being general friends. As for the guys in the women's lives, unless necessary for the specific AU you're writing, I'd prefer they have minor or no roles in the fic, with the exception of Ed and Jacobi.
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Canon Divergence AU
Diverge the show in some direction I haven't thought of! :D
All: Post-Apocalypse
I love post-apocalyptic fic with my favorite characters. :D
WMC TV: Cindy is injured while being a decoy
I loved Cindy's role in the decoy bit, and would love to see Lindsay's reaction to her being injured as one (not killed, please!).
WMC TV: Lindsay stays with Cindy in the hospital instead of Jill
This is a great opportunity to deepen the friendship between the two of them…
WMC TV: Lindsay's pregnancy test is positive
I'd love to see what happens here. Does she tell Tom or does he find out on his own? What does Cindy do?
Happy writing! :D
Besides those tropes, here are my general likes:
- deep platonic friendship / romantic friendship / nonsexual romance
- found families / teamfic
- apocalyptic / survival fic
- hurt/comfort / characters dealing with trauma / nonsexual physical touch (including cuddling)
- characters being vulnerable / character redemption
- positive treatment of religion
- trust building / friendship
- missing scenes
- canon divergence AU (especially fix-it fic)
- soulmates (as long as requested pairing are soulmates with each other)
- crossovers with fandoms I know (see list further down in this letter)
- any trope on this list: https://doranwen.dreamwidth.org/240453.html
DNWs:
- modern politics
- COVID-19 or pandemics
- onscreen sex or making out (a light kiss is fine, allusions are fine)
- supernatural/fantasy beings (elves outside of LOTR, vampires, werewolves, gnomes, zombies, etc.)
- AUs other than canon divergence or alt beginnings (i.e. no coffee shop AUs)
- gore / graphic violence (mild/medium violence is OK, just not as graphic as a surgery documentary)
- noncanonical death of canon characters or horror
- dark endings (happy or bittersweet endings only, please!)
- unrequested identity headcanons (gender/sexuality/etc.)
- calling an adult "baby" or "darling" ("sweetheart" works if you need a substitute)
- mpreg, A/B/O, genderswap, ageplay or BDSM of any kind
- anything dealing with the anus or feces
- feeding/inflation or eating disorders (characters eating a meal together is fine)
- crack (nothing deliberately wacky)
- uncensored profanity
- 1st/2nd person
- unprompted relationships between canonical characters
- crossovers with fandoms I don't know
Opt-ins I'm OK with, if they should arise as part of the story you are writing:
- noncon & aftermath (this overrides the onscreen sex DNW)
- underage (please keep them teens at minimum, and observe the no onscreen sex DNW)
- het pregnancy
- characters being parents
- child abuse of any kind (as long as it's not the requested characters doing the abusing)
If writing a romantic friendship, I'd prefer the line be drawn at forehead/cheek kisses and cuddles; please reserve lip kisses for sexual relationships.
If a prompt requires something that's listed as a DNW, please follow the prompt rather than the DNW. :)
Also, if choosing between writing the characters as true to themselves as you can, vs. writing a particular trope or prompt, I'd prefer you to keep the characters true to themselves.
Don't worry if someone's written that particular idea before. My first real fandom was one where people used to write a dozen versions of the same TV ep, and I loved reading them all. There are never too many versions of the same story, in my opinion. Too few of these AUs have been written, and I want to see more of even the ones that have!
I don't go into a lot of my thoughts on most of these fandoms and characters (and please do not read anything into which sections are longer or not, I honestly love ALL of these), but I've requested all of them in other exchanges unless otherwise stated below, so if you want more info on the way I look at them, just filter my posts by the "fanfic exchange letter" tag to see other letters that have the same fandoms.
I've requested Crossover AU for a few fandoms (as well as the tag Worldweavers fusion). For any crossover AU, you are totally welcome to cross any of my requested fandoms with any of the others, or with the following:
1-800-Missing (S1 only, not the S2-S3 of Missing) - I prefer non-shippy here
C-16: FBI - I *maybe* ship Amanda/Jack
Cybergeddon (web series) - I don't ship Chloe/Frank, ambivalent about Chloe/Rabbit
Leverage (but please stick with the original show and pretend the new series hasn't happened) - I ship Nate/Sophie and Eliot/Parker, do *not* ship the OT3 or Hardison/Parker, but all gen for the younger three is perfectly fine
Push (2009) - I ship Nick/Cassie
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye - I ship Jack/Sue and Myles/Tara
Worldweavers - Alma Alexander - I prefer non-shippy here
And now to the requests (in the order of which I found them in the tagset):
X-Men (Original Timeline Movies)
Requested chars/ships:
Ororo Munroe & Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
Ororo Munroe/Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
Rogue & Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
Rogue/Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
Solo: Scott Summers (X-Men OTM)
I absolutely love Scott, and this request shows it. I think he works well with either Rogue or Ororo, though I enjoy him alone also! He and Rogue have in common that they both have visible aspects to their mutations that they can never shake - and cannot control. He and Ororo have a bond borne out of knowing each other for years - and even possibly having similar backgrounds. Since I've never seen any films other than X1, X2, and X3, you can make up their backstories all you like. (Just keep the alien Shi'ar stuff out of it - I like my X-Men as realistic as possible beyond the powers bit.)
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Apocalypse AU
I love apocalyptic/survival AUs so much - and the idea of Scott with Ororo or Rogue or just being Xavier's right-hand man in helping protect the children in a world that's fallen apart, it just melts my heart. :)
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
XM (OTM): Jean stays dead after X2 and the Phoenix never appears
What would X3 have looked like without the Phoenix interfering? Scott and Professor X would be alive, for one…
X-Men (OTM): Professor X and Scott survive X3
These two dying are the biggest reason I don't care for X3. Find a way for them not to die, and I'll enjoy the story a ton!
X-Men (OTM): Scott was never involved with Jean romantically
Set this anywhere in the first three films (as long as Scott doesn't die in X3), and I'd love to see what would have happened. Is Logan in a relationship with Jean, then? Is Scott in love with Ororo? Or do you fast forward a few years and show a relationship developing between him and Rogue? However you do it, changing this one thing would change dynamics a whole lot!
X-Men (OTM): X3 Never Happened
Oh, I would love to see the aftermath of X2 with Scott - all the angst. Does Ororo's friendship with him help him find solace after Jean's death, or is it in a friendship with a fellow "outcast" named Rogue, who perhaps even feels guilty for Jean's death because she tried to fly the plane and crashed it? So many possibilities here…
Alphas (TV)
Requested chars/ships:
Rachel Pirzad & Nina Theroux (Alphas TV)
Rachel Pirzad & Nina Theroux & Lee Rosen (Alphas TV)
Solo: Nina Theroux (Alphas TV)
Solo: Rachel Pirzad (Alphas TV)
This show was so awesome (and so short!) and has so much potential for taking the storyline different directions, so it's perfect for this exchange! I fell in love with Rachel as soon as I saw her reaction to her dad's comments in the pilot, and I fell in love with Nina at the end of Anger Management. Lee grew on me over the course of the show, and I just love seeing the whole team interact, how supportive they are of each other, and their different talents and contributions to everything. I didn't nominate or request the whole team as a tag, but if you find yourself wanting to work everyone in, I'd love that too. I nominated and requested Nina, Rachel, and Lee because they're the characters that call most to me, but I really do love everyone in this show, which is unusual for me.
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Apocalypse AU
Parish's plan isn't the only way the world could end for them all. I love apocalyptic AUs, so have fun with it!
ALL: Canon Divergence AU
Canon divergence is my thing - and while I give some specific canon divergence AU ideas below, I'd happily read anything for this fandom that alters the way things went. Want to rewrite the club scene a little differently? (Feel free to bend my DNW about sex a bit - it would be hard to do much with that scene otherwise.) Want to send Dani to Building Seven instead of undercover? Or something else I haven't thought of? Go for it! Or write a "for want of a nail" AU - another kind of canon divergence. You could use this with Parish's plan - either another way it unravels, or how it succeeds - or maybe you can think of something else! This show has long arcs and complicated things happening, and a simple change here and there would make big differences down the road.
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Crossover AU
Read the crossover section just before my requests for possibilities there. Whether they're dropped into the other canon's world or both worlds exist simultaneously, it would be neat to read!
ALL: On the run from the law
This would be fascinating with the team - or just a few of them (not as much with a single person). I always loved them fleeing from Binghamton in S1.
All: Post-Apocalypse
I love post-apocalyptic fic with my favorite characters. :D
Alphas: Alphaville never happened
Alphaville really set the stage for a lot of things. For one, Stanton Parish might not've found Skylar otherwise. Also, it really changed Rachel's powers for the better. So, what if Rachel's still stuck with being overwhelmed by her senses (particularly with regards to physical affection), and Parish doesn't have Skylar to make mini-photostims for him? What might the rest of the show have looked like? Keep in mind that that was where Rosen had the first inkling that someone close to them was feeding Parish info - would it have taken them longer to put the pieces together regarding Dani? Would Parish have succeeded with the voltaic bomb plan?
Alphas: Dani survives the bomb
Injuries I'm fine with - I'd just like to see what it would look like to have her alive, either in terms of how they go after Parish, and/or in terms of the internal bonds of the team.
Alphas: Rachel doesn't call Bill during Scipio's torture
Go with either a plotty "this is what happens differently" or deal with the emotional fallout of a Rachel who's thrown herself completely behind Rosen (or both!). I'm guessing it might be harder to make up with John…
Alphas: Rachel never dates John
For some reason, Rachel's relationship with John has always grated on me just a little. Maybe it's that it feels a little artificial, too contrived? Or maybe it's that I liked the S1 backstory better where Rachel's never had a real boyfriend or even really dated. (As one writer put it for another show, they gave us "multiple choice options" for her backstory.) In some ways it feels like they took S1 Rachel and made her a bit OOC for S2. The jump is just too extreme, too much too soon to feel right, and her relationship with John is a major part of that. Given that the show does a good deal with her and him in various episodes, I'd love to see those scenes the way they would've been without him as her SO. Who's there instead? Do we get to see more team bonding with her and other team members? (And John is not one of the team members, I feel like. He's a liaison of sorts, but he's not one of the Alphas.)
Alphas: Stanton Parish's photostim plan succeeds
OK, so I've been writing a series of this very AU, pretty much. But I would very much love to read someone else's take on this! The "end of the world" is really what it would be, but I want to see it with my beloved Alphas. Apocalyptic fic with Alphas, what can be better?
FBI (TV 2018)
I watched this show for Missy Peregrym, but I've fallen in love with quite a few other characters, some of which I've specifically requested below. In general, however I really love the entire team - the requested characters are just the ones I'd like to see a fic focused on, but you're more than welcome to include anyone else you want to.
Also, since FBI: Most Wanted is in the same universe canonically, feel free to cross those two fandoms in particular.
Requested chars/ships:
Solo: Elise Taylor (FBI 2018)
Solo: Kristen Chazal (FBI 2018)
Solo: Maggie Bell (FBI 2018)
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Accidental Marriage AU
I ship Elise with Stuart Scola, Kristen with Jubal, and Maggie with OA, when I go there romantically with them. I'd love to see this trope with them somehow!
ALL: Character's sexual abusive childhood is revealed
Plausible with any of the three, I think - though possibly less so with Maggie (but feel free to convince me otherwise!).
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Platonic Soulmate AU
I love the idea that some of them might be platonic soulmates with the others. I read one fic with that idea (from Stuart's POV) and it's made me curious to see more of that. For this I'd prefer Elise *not* be matched with Stuart as I see them more romantic than platonic, anyone else is fair game though.
ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it even worse
I like angst, as long as there's some comfort or emotional support or something. I'm curious to see what you might come up with here!
ALL: Telepathic Soulbond AU
Would be interesting to see who people get bonded with!
ALL: Worldweavers fusion
Would love to see them use magic as in Worldweavers to solve crimes!
FBI: Most Wanted (TV 2020)
I watched this because of the backdoor pilot in FBI, but it's grown on me over time. In particular, Sarah's storyline in S2 has gotten to me (hence requesting her by herself as well as with Jess), and I really also love Clinton (who's sadly been absent most of this season, likely due to the traveling restrictions between Canada and the US). I requested Kenny & Hana because their friendly sniping and snarking is hilarious (but I love how they're there for each other when they need to be). Of the characters I didn't request, I'm most interested in Clinton and less interested in Sheryll and Ortiz.
Also, since the main FBI show is in the same universe canonically, feel free to cross those two fandoms in particular.
I haven't requested this in any other *exchanges*, but here is what I put for it for Fandom Giftbox, if that helps you at all.
.
Requested chars/ships:
Kenny Crosby & Hana Gibson (FBI: Most Wanted)
Sarah Allen/Jess LaCroix (FBI: Most Wanted)
Solo: Sarah Allen (FBI: Most Wanted)
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Apocalypse AU
I know I'm writing one, but I love this trope too much, lol. I'd love to see your take on this! Natural disasters, for instance, never grow old…
ALL: Character's sexual abusive childhood is revealed
I could see this with Sarah.
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Platonic Soulmate AU
This is mainly for Kenny and Hana, who I think would be perfect for this. Since I wouldn't want Jess and Sarah matched platonically, feel free to pick someone else for each of them if you choose to write them with this AU. The only specific pairing I can think of for one of them would be Sarah with Clinton, otherwise have fun deciding.
All: Post-Apocalypse
This AU never gets old. :D
ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it even worse
I like angst, as long as there's some comfort or emotional support or something. I'm curious to see what you might come up with here!
ALL: Telepathic Soulbond AU
Would be interesting to see who people get bonded with! (Obviously Kenny with Hana, lol.)
ALL: Worldweavers fusion
Would love to see them use magic as in Worldweavers to solve crimes!
Rizzoli & Isles
Requested chars/ships:
Maura Isles & Jane Rizzoli (Rizzoli & Isles TV)
Solo: Jane Rizzoli (Rizzoli & Isles TV)
I really love Jane's character, and I love the bond these two have. Both of them learn so much from each other over the course of the show, and support each other through so many things. While I can see why most fans ship Jane and Maura as a couple, I headcanon Jane as asexual (she just hasn't figured it out yet), though the bond between them does verge on a romantic friendship and I love seeing fics that take it there. They're fairly comfortable with casual physical contact, and I love seeing fics where that's part of supporting each other.
One big area the show was noticeably lacking in was actually dealing with all the trauma the characters suffered. The most they would show (even after escaping from being kidnapped) was a little joking around on the couch, and the next episode they were back to normal. It was absolutely ridiculous! If an actual human being had went through all of what they went through, there would be some major PTSD going on there! I really wish they'd dealt with that more. Feel free to throw appropriate amounts of that into one of these AUs if it works for you.
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Characters get actually helpful therapy
Here's your chance to deal with all that PTSD, lol.
R&I TV: Frost doesn't die
Whether you want to have him surviving the car crash or just rewrite some of the later non-homicide bits with Frost included without even explaining why he's alive, I'd love to see more of him. I enjoyed Lee Thompson Young's acting so much and it was such a tragedy…
R&I TV: Jane and Maura have their first meeting when younger
I love alt-beginnings AUs so much, and these two are no exception. Were they children? teens? Did they immediately hit it off, or was there friction at first?
R&I TV: Jane's miscarriage never happens
I'd like Tasha to make it, but there were several other ways you could alter the story to make it so Jane didn't have to lose the baby. I loved the implications of her pregnancy and how it would change the dynamics of things.
R&I TV: Lydia abandons her baby completely
What if Lydia really was such a flake that she dumped the baby on the Rizzolis and took off without another look back? Who would adopt TJ? How would his presence affect things?
R&I TV: Not everyone lives through the parking garage collapse
Whether Frost dies earlier than he does on the show, or Tommy doesn't make it (please don't kill off baby TJ, that's just too much for me here), there's lots of room for tragedy and angst with this one.
R&I TV: The post-Hoyt birthday party never happens
Show me a more realistic end to that day, please! When you've just been held hostage by your worst nightmare, seen your best friend tasered and threatened (and who knows what else, you're welcome to play with how far he got)… are you really going to come home and be all "sure, I want my My Pretty Pony birthday party now, thanks Mom"? Yeah, right!
ALL: Apocalypse/Survival
I love apocalyptic AUs, and seeing Jane and Maura trying to survive in a world that's collapsed around them sounds like a fantastic story to me!
All: Post-Apocalypse
Of course, the survival after the apocalypse has happened is just as interesting. :D
ALL: Canon Divergence AU
There are so many places in this show to make things turn out differently. As long as Jane and Maura live and don't hate each other, I'm OK with killing off some other characters (with appropriate levels of grieving), giving them more trauma, hurting them physically, etc., or just changing the direction the show took in some area.
Rookie Blue
Requested chars/ships:
Andy McNally/Sam Swarek (Rookie Blue TV)
Solo: Andy McNally (Rookie Blue TV)
This show is really awesome—particularly during the first few seasons. They made quite a few errors but the characters are so good that I love it anyway.
Sam and Andy are my OTP here, but if I have to focus on just one, I'd go with Andy. Missy Peregrym just made me fall in love with her character.
I had to split my AUs for this char/ship across two separate requests because there are just too many that work for these two (all the tropey AUs, lol). :D Below is the set of prompts for both requests, combined because the only difference between the two is which AUs were requested. (The Dov/Gail AUs are in a separate section of my letter.)
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Alternate First Meetings
I'd love to see Sam and Andy meet another way - and how that would have changed things.
ALL: Alternate First Meeting--Woke Up Married
This whole idea just makes me grin. Would be soooooo interesting to read. Would prefer they not immediately go to "how quickly can I divorce the other person".
ALL: Amnesia in Main Character Changes Canon
Oh, how easy that would be to do with either Andy OR Sam in a few places, but particularly Andy. I think if she didn't have her memory to make her stick with Luke, she might start questioning her relationship with him sooner…
ALL: Canonically Dead Character Survives
You know you wanted Jerry to live, right? :)
ALL: Canon Divergence AU
This show desperately needs some more canon divergence AUs (fanfic writers wrote some, but one can never have enough), given the bad choices the writers made at some points. While I have quite a few specific ones listed above, there are lots more places that things could change. If you're curious, I have a whole essay about the plot over the course of the show, with lots of discussion as to what I thought were bad plot points. Feel free to fix any of them that appeal to you.
All: Character deals with a canonical difficult situation better than in canon
Take your pick which character and which situation. Both of them botched the post-blackout thing in their own way. Sam in particular botched the conversation when Andy returned to work, the whole "Andy's mom shows up", and dealing with Jerry's death. I'm sure there's more you can think of…
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Secret Marriage
I think them getting married secretly would be way too much fun!
ALL: Soulbond Requires Physical Proximity
However they end up soulbonded (is it a variation of a soulmates AU where everyone is, or is it just an accident, or did someone see their chemistry and trigger it somehow?), I think Sam and Andy discovering their connection that way would be hilarious - particularly if Andy happened to be dating Luke at the time.
ALL: Soulmate AU
Because I think these two would be soulmates and I'd love to see that. :D You're welcome to include the telepathic or pain bond variation if you want or not. I honestly don't care about there being a mark, but I'm not ruling it out hence not specifying the one with no mark. (But please make it something besides words spoken.) Also an interesting variation - the one where they're considered married as soon as soulmarks appear.
Rookie Blue: Andy finds out she's pregnant after relationship is over
This could go three ways: a) she finds out she's pregnant with Luke's baby in the middle of S2, b) she finds out she's pregnant with Sam's baby at the end of S3 (or even during the undercover! it's possible for women to not have a lot of the typical pregnancy symptoms and Andy might not have known she was pregnant when accepting if so), or c) she finds out she's pregnant with Nick's baby at the beginning of S5. I've seen at least a couple versions of these, but I will always be excited to see another, and at least one of these possibilities has never ever been written, if you want to be the first. If you really want to go to the extreme with this, you could write a fanfic equivalent of the show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant!" with Andy discovering she's pregnant when she goes into labor. It's totally plausible!
Rookie Blue: Brennan never makes Sam
Let's pretend Boyd never gave him bad intel - and you can play with whether the car accident was truly an accident or not - would they keep sneaking around during his undercover time? Would Brennan mention Candace on the surveillance video and have Boyd's people be all wondering who Candace is? You can have Andy end up pregnant by accident if you want to complicate matters even more.
Rookie Blue: Luke dies in 2x03
If you look at the light in the sky, and the blood spilling from his mouth when they find him, no way does he survive that! (At least, that's my idea on it.) Sadly, no one has yet written a complete fic where he actually dies and Andy has to deal with that - with Sam by her side. (I tried but I only got a few thousand words into it and lost any sense of where to take it next.) Maybe you'll be the first? :)
Rookie Blue: Nick doesn't exist
Take some part of the show - Andy post-breakup with Sam, or UC with someone else (who?) - and rewrite it without Nick existing. I'd love to see how that would change.
Rookie Blue: Sam doesn't abandon Andy in 2x07
Let's pretend that Sam has actually learned from his mistake of reacting emotionally in 1x08 and gave Andy the benefit of the doubt - I'd love to see how that would go.
Rookie Blue: Sam doesn't leave Andy alone the night of the blackout
You know he could see that she isn't dealing, and I don't think it would take much for him to figure out that Luke's not going to stay with her because he's married to his work. Someone has to be there for Andy and it might as well be Sam…
Rookie Blue: Sam finds Andy in 2x06 before she leaves the division
You know he'd figure out right away that something's wrong, and work to get it out of her. I'd love to see that - or what would happen next! :D
Rookie Blue: Sam/Andy don't 'disregard' in 1x02
How would this change S1? How much sneaking around would they have to do? Would Sam end up opening up more at all, like about his sister?
Rookie Blue: The matchbox never falls out of Jo's purse
Without this clue, how does Andy figure out that Luke cheated on her? Or does she? Would she end up married and then find out - and get a divorce? So many ways for this to go…
Rookie Blue: Traci does Project Dakota not Andy
Let's pretend that they actually let Traci say goodbye (because that was so contrived), and that they actually required Andy to have therapy before going back to work (because please, holding a bomb is totally as bad as having a gun pointed at one's head!). Now Andy doesn't have Traci to lean on (and if you add in the "Nick doesn't exist" AU, nor Nick), and Sam's trying to mend things…
Rookie Blue
Requested chars/ships:
Dov Epstein/Gail Peck (Rookie Blue TV)
Love love this show - and Gail is so snarky but awesome, truly. (I can see why Dov had to say that.) I like her with Dov or Luke - but there's less written about her with Dov hence requesting that.
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Apocalypse AU
Dov and Gail (or just Gail) dealing with the apocalypse? Way too much fun - just imagine the level of snark. :D
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of characters trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
All: Everyone Suddenly Gains Superpowers
This would be great fun with these characters!
All: Post-Apocalypse
I love post-apocalyptic fic with my favorite characters. :D
Rookie Blue: Chris doesn't get angry at Dov about Gail
I've read all of one fic where Chris figures out that Dov's in love with Gail and he just sort of shrugs with "It's Gail". While I think that's probably about as unlikely as his seriously angry "how could you!" reaction, I'd like to see more where he truly understands. I can't buy the two boys in love with each other, but if you want to write this as a poly vee ship with Gail as the pivot, I would definitely read it and enjoy. :)
Rookie Blue: Dov chooses Gail over Chris
In the show, Dov's all "sticking with my bro" and gives Gail the cold shoulder, which, ouch! Considering it was his fault in the first place with the meds and grabbing her hand to kiss, he should man up a bit and tell Chris to back off - and let Gail know that even if Chris won't take her back, he still loves her! I know one writer has done a great job in writing that, but I want more! Dov and Gail are just awesome together. Feel free to add in the "Rookie Blue: Nick doesn't exist" AU if you like.
Rookie Blue: Perik rapes Gail
I wrote a double drabble with this premise but I've never seen anything else. I know that wasn't really his MO on the show, but it wouldn't be hard to tweak that - and Gail seems like the sort that would try to hide it from everyone. Would she be successful? Who would figure it out? (My money's on Dov.) Also feel free to combine this with Nick not existing if you want.
Smallville
Requested chars/ships:
Clark Kent & Chloe Sullivan (Smallville)
Clark Kent/Chloe Sullivan (Smallville)
These are an OTP for me, I think. I've only seen up to partway into the 4th season and was so disgusted with the way the show was going (and I could not stand Erica Durance's character for anything!) that I quit watching and had to quit really being involved in the fandom. This is the only exchange I dare ask for just plain Smallville, because I honestly don't want to see anything from past S3. (I have read very little about the rest of the show that I actually liked.) I chose the AUs I did for that purpose. :)
As far as other characters go, as long as they appeared in the first three seasons, great! I prefer Clark to be the only alien around (no holdovers from his planet or weird stuff like that), and the magic stuff that appeared in S4 was not my cup of tea. Feel free to "fix" the cave Jor-El to explain/make him more reasonable, since clearly the programming has gotten a little confused…
Prompts by tag:
All: Characters transported into another canon’s setting
Take your pick from the list of crossovers above the requests! I love the idea of Clark and Chloe trying to deal with suddenly being transported to a world they don't know and having to rely on each other for emotional and other support.
ALL: Crossover AU
Feel free to drop Clark and Chloe into either any of the requested fandoms or use any of the crossover possibilities listed in the section at the top (just before each fandom).
ALL: Main character goes back in time to the body of their younger self and changes what happened
I think this might be more interesting with Clark than with Chloe - mostly because of how slow Clark is to mature - and of course you'd have to find a way out of using the canonical events in S4 onwards, but just make up something! Or throw both Clark and Chloe back in their old bodies. They'd fix a lot of the major mistakes that happened in the first three seasons, and oh boy, were there a few mistakes…
ALL: On the run from the law
This would be interesting with both Clark and Chloe, specifically - Clark would probably have to reveal his powers to her, and to see them figuring out how to survive… :D
SV: Body swap without black kryptonite
This is just sheer fun. I've read all of one story where Clark and Chloe end up swapping bodies (and Chloe discovers Clark's secret in the process because when you can get from point A to point B in milliseconds and crumble a sink by just holding onto it, you know something's up). It was hilarious and I wish there were more takes on a situation like that. So I'd love to see what you come up with! Would prefer Clark not end up switching bodies with someone else, especially someone like Lionel.
SV: Chloe and Pete remember what happened during Rush
That memory blank was the biggest copout ever. Chloe learned Clark's secret (and thought it was "so cool") and he clearly wanted to make out with Chloe when under the influence of Red K, so that's going to raise a bunch of things that need to be dealt with. Tons of potential for Chlarkiness (and some interesting convos along the way). I'd love it if she didn't lie to Clark and tell him she didn't remember anything, too.
SV: Chloe becomes Lois and Lois never comes to Smallville
This is the Chlois theory, as it used to be called. Basically, find a way for Chloe to become the Lois that she always was meant to be - really, all she needs to do is change her hair color and name. Why does she have to do this? Does she tell Clark about it, or does he figure out? Future fic is great here as long as you ignore the canonical events of later seasons.
SV: Chloe brings Clark home at the beginning of S3
What would Chloe say or do that would get Clark to come home with her? Get the ring off him in a moment of weakness? Does she discover his secret? I am uncommonly fond of Exile AUs.
SV: Clark & Chloe don't quit dating after S1
Did anyone else want to scream ARGH! when she played the friends card? Here's your chance to remedy that. Let's see what 2x01 would've looked like with a Clark who was still dating Chloe. Would he eventually learn to trust her enough to tell her his secret?
SV: Clark does not mumble Lana's name during Fever
What he actually does is up to you, though I'd love it if he actually remembered something of what Chloe was saying. Or maybe he stumbles across the paper she read it from later?
SV: Clark is too late to save Lana from the tornado
Here's my angsty AU. Whether he recovers her body or not, I'd love to see a fic where Lana doesn't make it, and Clark's despondency about that. Chloe, of course, will be at his side trying to comfort him (and bonus points if you throw in the "Clark & Chloe don't quit dating after S1" AU as well). Maybe his secret comes out in Clark's frustration of why he feels he should've been able to, or maybe he just wakes up to the fact that he's got Chloe there for him.
SV: Clark tells Chloe his secret before S4
I've already thrown this one as an optional prompt for a few of the other AUs, but I'd love to see how it might work! If Chloe could show Clark that he wouldn't end up on the Wall of Weird, you'd think that Clark would eventually realize that Chloe would react totally different to how Pete did, and be ready and willing to protect his secret.
SV: Clark's mom doesn't lose the baby in S2
I'd love to see Clark with a baby sister. I thought that explosion-killed-the-baby thing was the worst thing, because that would've added such interesting dynamics to things. What do you wanna bet that Chloe actually melts a bit getting to interact with a baby - and it totally surprises Clark?
SV: Gabe doesn't survive the explosion at the end of S3
Another angsty one! If Gabe doesn't survive the explosion, what happens to Chloe? I'd love to see her end up with the Kents somehow.
SV: Lana moves with her aunt to Metropolis
Hee, this would be such the best thing - get Lana out of there and let it just be Clark and Chloe from there on out. No more Lana distraction!
SV: Lionel dies sometime during the first three seasons
How does it happen? Does Clark somehow break and realize he's got to get rid of Lionel or everyone will not be safe? Does Lionel die at the end of S1? Either way, I'd love to see how that makes things safer for the people Clark loves.
SV: Ryan doesn't have a brain tumor so he lives
I hated that tumor plotline. They create this awesome little brother-type character—and then they get rid of him because he figures out Clark's secret. I'd love to see him be perfectly healthy and come to live with the Kents. Having someone around who knows Clark's secret - and can read minds - can only be a good thing. Does he figure out what Lionel or Lex are up to? Or does he figure out that Chloe's in love with Clark and be the catalyst to get the two of them together? (Or if you're combining with the "they never quit dating" one, does he help Clark realize that she's safe to tell his secret to?)
SV: S4 onward never happened
This is sort of my perennial AU of all AUs. Throw out the whole show after the end of S3 and rewrite it your way! Whether you stick with a short "this is the way things are" or get more involved, I'd love to see a Smallville without Lois, magic, aliens that aren't Clark, relationship between Clark and Lana, etc. Give me a deepening relationship between Clark and Chloe and you've made my day, whether they are just stronger friends or more.
Women's Murder Club (TV)
Requested chars/ships:
Lindsay Boxer & Cindy Thomas (Women's Murder Club TV)
Solo: Lindsay Boxer (Women's Murder Club TV)
I love tough characters with soft centers, and Lindsay is a classic example. I also love the interactions between these two. I see a bit of hero worship—and maybe a crush of sorts—on Cindy's side, and annoyance that turns to fondness and respect on Lindsay's. What you do with that is up to you. I requested the friendship tag but I'm OK with making it deeper. It's hard to know where that line is sometimes, especially when you're just focusing on the connection between them.
I love Claire's motherliness, particularly with Lindsay, and I can see her totally mothering Cindy. Jill is less of an interest for me so you need not include her, or can just keep her focused on case stuff or being general friends. As for the guys in the women's lives, unless necessary for the specific AU you're writing, I'd prefer they have minor or no roles in the fic, with the exception of Ed and Jacobi.
Prompts by tag:
ALL: Canon Divergence AU
Diverge the show in some direction I haven't thought of! :D
All: Post-Apocalypse
I love post-apocalyptic fic with my favorite characters. :D
WMC TV: Cindy is injured while being a decoy
I loved Cindy's role in the decoy bit, and would love to see Lindsay's reaction to her being injured as one (not killed, please!).
WMC TV: Lindsay stays with Cindy in the hospital instead of Jill
This is a great opportunity to deepen the friendship between the two of them…
WMC TV: Lindsay's pregnancy test is positive
I'd love to see what happens here. Does she tell Tom or does he find out on his own? What does Cindy do?
Happy writing! :D
