sassysnowperson | Five Figure Fic Exchange (Reply)

Hello creator,

Excited to have you writing for me, for some longfic too! Below I've talked about my general, "What I love about these relationships/characters" and some general prompts.

Please don't feel constrained by these thoughts. I'm flexible, and like a surprise. Feel free to just review the DNWs and go for it, or just write with . But if you, like me, enjoy a little more information, read on!

Some of this letter is pulled from previous exchanges, it's because my tastes haven't changed much, and I am still excited about the thing. If any of this is unclear, or if you just want more info, please feel free to ask for clarification through the mods! I welcome it.

For fic, any rating is fine, from the hand-holdingiest of G to some hot and heavy E. For art, I'd prefer no explicit genitalia, but aside from that go as explicit as you like (for example: hands under clothes or obviously naked people with Conveniently Placed Items/parts of other Naked People are fantastic).

Fandoms, Request Specific Opt-Ins and DNW, and Prompts

Witness for the Dead - Katherine Addison

White Collar

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Original Work

Do Not Wants

Sad/Unhappy ending (wistful or longing or ambiguous is fine)
Kidfic (presence of children is fine, children characters are fine, but the focus shouldn't be on parenting/childrearing)
Characters in ships being, looking like or acting like children: DNW under 18; 25+ preferred
Pregnancy/Mpreg in the main pairing (reference to the general pregnancy process or pregnant minor characters are fine)
Humiliation (in either a sexual or narrative context, my embarrassment squick is strong)
Noncon/Dubcon between requested pairing (explored character history of non/dubcon is okay, concerns that a situation is or could be non/dubcon is even a narrative beat I enjoy, but the actual relationship I would like to be consensual)
Cheating/adultery (Consensual polyamory - wonderful!)
Ageplay or infantilization
Incest

Fandom-Specific DNW - White Collar: Romantic/Sexual relationship between Neal and the Burkes while Neal is still under Peter's supervision

Writing/Story Likes

Competence Porn
Found Family
People being good to each other in hard or awkward situations
Banter, dialogue heavy stories
Food as Love and Connection and Care
Authorial Expertise and Interest - If you have personal expertise of a unique life experience, I welcome a fic that shows that off.
Alternative Texts and formats - epistolary, chatfic, interactive fiction, etc…
Older characters, or characters that age over the course of the story
Small gestures of intimacy - knowing a favorite food, the spot on their back that itches, putting on another person's cheer-me-up song…
Moments of rest and comfort in the middle of action and adventure
Pining/yearning - ideally mutual, and resolved by the end of the story.

Smut Likes

Penetrative sex
Non-pentrative sex
Toppy women
Switching
Explicit discussion of consent
Skin hunger and lots of touching
Hair brushing and pulling
Massages turning from platonic to sexual
Laughter
Things going not-quite-as-planned
Lingerie
Marking/Lovebites
Rope bondage
Honor bondange
Pinning people to things
Having sex in nontraditional (ie: not a bed) sorts of places (including semi-public sex, though I would prefer they not get caught)

Art Likes:

For art, I prefer no explicit genitalia, but everything from fully-clothed fluff right up to obvious sex with conveniently placed objects/sheets is welcomed and appreciated!
Whatever your style is, I'm excited to see it, black and white, funky colors, comic style, all welcome!
The characters in their own canon setting (a Jedi at the Jedi Temple, etc…)
The characters exploring a canon setting not their own
A quiet moment cuddling
A goofy "selfie" style
Symbolic Art - I'm not actually sure this is the right word for what I'm going for, but what I'm trying to get at is that I don't need a literal interpretation of the character. I welcome things like stylized pairs of Tarot cards, or strongly focused on objects that represent the characters
AU! - I'd love to see your take on a modern AU (what are the characters doing?), or a fantasy AU (gonna FIGHT A DRAGON?), cyberpunk, steampunk, 1920's-style Great Gatsby!verse, really, I'll probably enjoy it!

General Opt-Ins

These aren't things I definitely want, but they are things I am neutral towards, or even enjoy, that are often on other folks DNW list. If you enjoy them, here is your explicit permission to write the thing!

AUs, including Modern AUs - I am completely down for a setting change for any of these fandoms. So long as it avoids my no teenagers DNW, I welcome seeing them as pirate ship captains or greek gods or tenure-track college professors, or...go wild, really! I love it in particular when people write settings near and dear to their heart. I also adore the little nods back towards canon, or finding interesting ways to translate canon to the AU
Generation gaps in ships, provided both are adults. Particularly for the origfic prompts, feel free to play with significant age differences between the characters.

Fandoms, Request Specific Opt-Ins and DNW, and Prompts

Below are the requests, divided by fandom, and then by character/ship/worldbuilding.

Witness for the Dead

Below are general thoughts for all the tags. I tried to prompt things that could be both big-story, but also have moments that could be pulled out for comics. Please feel free to use as much or as little of this as inspires you!

Thara Celehar

I adore Thara, his firm devotion to duty, his wounded pain, his self-sacrificing loyalty, his slowly-growing ability to let that loyalty be returned. Feel free to include things from his backstory/The Goblin Emperor, but my preference is to explore this new space he finds himself in. I'm down for angst, he's an angsty character, but I would like the story to move through and leave him in a place where there is some softness/healing/growing closer with others.

Some ideas for stories:

Life in Amalo - either before or after the book. What's it like for Thara as he settles in? How did he become the patron of a cat colony? What's his experience of adjusting to the city after his life in court?
A Witnessing - casefic in a fantasy land! I'd love to see Thara do his thing, figure stuff out, and be generally dignified and honorable while doing it.
Politics and maneuvering - it was fascinating to me through the book all the different ways he interacted with the church politics. He struck me as someone who very much wanted to keep his head down and do his thing, and kept stuck having to manage just enough politics defend his position.
Trauma and Healing - Thara is a very traumatized character, and I'd love a story that focused on his interior healing. Maybe something he does to take care of himself or something about his slowly growing connections with the people and the city around him.

Thara Celehar/Iäna Pel-Thenhior

Oh man, I gotta say, I was pretty much completely on board with these two. Iäna is a sweetheart, (a ruthless director and a tempermental creative, but a sweetheart nonetheless!) and I love how absolutely relaxed he was around Thara's calling. I also adored how nonplussed but gradually relaxed Thara is around him, too.

Story ideas:

Witness, but from Iäna's point of view. There's this moment when they're both in the opera box, and Thara says something about his calling and Ulis being the god of dreams and Iäna calls Thara a poet and then flees. I'd love to see that moment, and many others, from the POV of Iäna who is becoming completely smitten by this raspy-voiced Witness for the Dead.
Get together fic - post-canon, I'd love the story of how they finally get together. How does Thara feel safe enough to take another lover? Does Iäna court him? Does Thara make the first move? Does Iäna's mother lock them in a closet out of frustration? Feel free to go full romance plot with this, or incorporate some casefic from Thara's job (or some opera from Iäna's!)
Established relationship fic - also very happy with something a ways down the road and they've figured stuff out. What does life look like now? What are they up to? Maybe helping each other through a major life transition. The one that comes to mind is Thara losing his ability to speak with the dead. I'd love to see that happening with Iäna there supporting and loving him.
Writing nerds - This one is a bit more obscure, but over on tumblr someone pointed out that Iäna is a writer of grim bloody operas, and at SOME point, he's probably going to let his true colors show and ask all sorts of grim bloody questions as writing research. I just really want Thara to get this totally different view of his job from the POV of a writer who loves him but is also very curious about how exactly ghosts can interact with the world of the living.

Worldbuilding

There is SO much! So much world! I'd love to get some more information about the world Thara finds himself in. Feel free to include as many or as few as the characters from the book as you wish. I'd welcome fics centered on a minor book character, or on no book character at all!

Story ideas:

The mapmakers and direction givers! We only saw them for a second, but I'd love to know more about their job and how they do it.
Tea. Houses. I love tea, this book was so good for my tea-loving soul. Something set in one of those tea houses, a competition between tea houses, a vignette of the different sorts of places one might go - I'm here for all of it.
The opera - we saw a lot of it in the book, but there's so much more. Costume design, the signers, the children's opera, I'd love to know more.
Social change - there's so many hints at social change happening. The rise of industrialization, worker exploitation, and women's rights. Pick one and give me a story based in it, I'd welcome it.

White Collar

Below are general thoughts. I tried to prompt things that could be both big-story, but also have moments that could be pulled out for comics. Please feel free to use as much or as little of this as inspires you!

Fandom-Specific DNW: Romantic/Sexual relationship between Neal and the Burkes while Neal is still under Peter's supervision - they can pine and long for each other, build a strong friendship with powerful undercurrents, even talk about it! But please, no romance/sex while Peter is in charge of Neal's parole. (I am okay with a relationship where Peter is the senior officer partnered with a freed!Neal, and delighted with AUs that have them relate to each other in completely different ways)

Peter Burke/Elizabeth Burke/Neal Caffrey

I love so many things about this trio. It was probably my first real OT3 - Peter and Neal had undeniable chemistry, Peter and El had one of my favorite TV marriages, and El was so fond and supportive of Neal.

I really only solidly remember how the seasons go through...2 ish? I'm fine with canon divergence at any point, though I'm also fine if you'd prefer to stick with canon and try something in the post-canon space. Though, I will say, from what I remember of it, the plot arc where Neal finds Nazi treasure and choses to keep it for his own benefit really rubs me the wrong way, and I would prefer avoiding or subverting that particular story line. Neal could be so good at subtle art reparation of art nobody is supposed to know he has! Missed opportunity.

Story ideas

Get together - how does it happen? Is there pining? Is there tension? What's the negotiation look like? Is it an uneven V at first? Okay with consensual uneven polyamory (V focused on Peter is the most obvious, but V focused on El could be fascinating) at the beginning, but I would prefer they settle on a balanced triad after some messiness in getting there.
Casefic - Peter and Neal working to solve something, and El's catering/party-planning knowledge is surprisingly useful, much opportunities for them all to show off with their competence.
Hurt/Comfort - Neal hurts very prettily, and Peter's got that great stoic thing going on. What if one of them was in trouble, and the other one had to drag them back to El, and then they worried together? Or maybe even kidnapped, and El/the non-kidnapped one work together to bring them home. I really like both versions, where Peter and El worriedly care for an injured Neal (and maybe discuss their feelings??), or Neal guiltily sticks around after Peter is hurt, trying to help however he can.
Smut - I make no excuses for this, but given their whole...thing…I just really think that Peter would enjoy tying Neal up. I could see a lot of emotions on both sides, it'd take a tremendous amount of trust, Neal working through his feelings of being trapped/choosing to stay, Peter feeling guilty that he wants this sexually after having it practically. It meaning something different now that Neal isn't under his power. Maybe El does the actual tying instead. Maybe they switch and tie Peter up, reverse the roles. This is just scratching the surface of character-building through smut, I welcome you add in any thoughts you have to the mix, as well!

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Sam Wilson

I love him, I love that in FATWS we got to see him connect with family and community. I love him flawed and always trying to be better, I love that he's funny and enjoys goofing off with folks.

Story ideas:

Domestic family time with his sister and nephews - helping rebuild the house, the boat, trying to make up for all the time he missed during the Blip.
Dealing with Heroism - him Being a Hero, the way that changes in his community, the way that changes with the larger world, his relationship to the other various Powered Folks around.
Action/Adventure - Feel free to have their be a problem, and Sam gets to be a hero and solve it!
Introspection - Sam strikes me as the sort of guy that has an easier time taking care of other people, as opposed to taking care of himself. Does he run himself ragged? Does he have to work hard to remember to not burn himself out? I welcome something more introspective/character focused.

James "Bucky"Barnes/Sam Wilson

These two! I really love the development of their relationship over the series, from sharp arguments but still fighting together, to the complicated legacies they're both dealing with, to their domesticity together, building things and being at home in each other's spaces. I love how by the end the relationship felt very grounded in mutual respect and affection.

Story ideas:

Missionfic - they're on the job together. Undercover as a couple is always fun, or just flirting while being competent and having feelings about the other person being competent. Are they already together, and they spend their time between this and hanging out on the couch watching shows? Or is this how they get together, something happens on the mission?
Get-together - I'd love something just entirely focused on their relationship and how it goes from friendship to romance. Feel free to dig in and give me the angsty/fluffy/smutty/comidic romance of your dreams.
Domesticity - the fixing the boat scene got me. I'd love something that continues that vibe, whether they're fixing up the family home, got their own place, figuring it out from there.

James "Bucky" Barnes/Joaquín Torres/Sam Wilson

I'm going to be honest, this is mostly me just going - I like everyone! I'd love seeing them together! I loved Torres's enthusiasm and optimism, he really was a welcome burst of joy. I think it'd be interesting to play that against Sam and Bucky's more jaded-ness. There's a lot of room for creativity, here.

Story ideas:

Pining for an established couple: Torres pining for Sam and Bucky feels obvious, but I could also be interested in a world where Sam and Torres get together and Bucky has feelings about the both of them.
Some sort of a mission requires a polyam relationship undercover - cue self-discovery time.
Torres rehabs Sam's wings and then starts working with Sam more closely. Bucky's already working with Sam, and figuring out how to be fighting team grows into figuring out how to be even more.

Original Work

Below, I've listed some general thoughts on OW Setting and then below I've listed out each of the pairings and given more general prompts than the above. The pairing itself is a prompt, so I've more provided some ways that I think about the folks, and some questions taht could be fun to answer in the story.

Setting

Take any of these pairings and put them in whatever world you wish. Admiral - Age of Sail? Steampunk? Modern Day? Fantasy? Space fleet? - translate it however you think would be the most fun. Feel free to change roles to fit the world, but try to keep the feel of the role the same - for example, "knight" can become samurai or paladin or Mech-trooper. Feel free to play it straight as well!

Some ideas for specific worlds I might enjoy (but again, feel free to go wild with the setting!)

Sci-Fi - put things in space and I love it. Feel free to add in or change characters to aliens, robots, etc… (I was eyeing a lot of the really great android/robot tags, but became very exhausted at the idea of writing more letter). Though, if you do take this opt-in, I would prefer humanoid/human-shaped characters as a part of any ship. Weird genitalia and wireplay is perfectly fine, please no big sexy blobs or mass of tentacles.
Fantasy - I also love a fantastical magic system. Down for many variations on this: classic LOTR-style grand fantasy, urban fantasy, historical but with more spells/fae/etc...
History (inaccurate) - I am fine with Wildly Inaccurate Vaguely Medieval/Regency/Age of Sail/Etc… Also excited about deliberately-anachronistic-history a la Series of Unfortunate Events
History (More Accurate) - that being said, I am also a nerd for learning about things that other people know about, so give me your 1950's Cuba during the Revolution or mid-6th century silkworm espionage settings.
Regency (accurate or inaccurate) - special shout out to the Jane Austin Vibes era
A Mix of the Above! Fantastical Regency in SPACE!!! Empires with laser guns and wizards! I am very very down.

Pairings

Victorious General/Respected Enemy General Who Is His Postwar Arranged Husband

Opt-IN: F/F, non-binary characters in addition to requested M/M version Why did they get married? A diplomatic marriage to cement the peace treaty? A way to deprive the losing country of their best tactical genius? A way to save the opposing general from a dire fate? Options! The respect is really key for me here - I'd like a story about two old enemies that have been reluctantly impressed by each other for years on the battlefield now in a domestic situation. Competence porn! I imagine these established rivals have a good read on each other's strengths and weaknesses from the battlefield, how does that translate to a domestic setting? I'm picturing these folks as middle-aged, but am down for reading them as either older or younger as your fancy strikes. Please do keep them adults, though.

Male General Who's Tired of War/Captured Male Soldier of Enemy Country

Opt-IN: F/F, non-binary characters in addition to requested M/M version Why are the general and soldier spending time together? Is the soldier tired of war as well? What does it take for them to get together? Is the soldier important or an everyman in the wrong place at the wrong time? Will one of them talk the other into defecting?

Many options.

I want the actual relationship to be consensual, but I am very okay with the general and/or the soldier worrying about what might happen with the power imbalance between them. I also have a soft spot for narratives where people Want but feel like for outside reasons (like, oh, for example, the other person is your prisoner) they can't act on it. I like the idea of captivity with honor, respect sort of leading the way through a dicey situation.

The 'tired of war' is interesting to me - I like the implication that the process of peace may be helped along by the relationship.

Captive Male Admiral of Enemy Country/Young Upstart Diplomat Brokering for Peace

Opt-IN: F/non-binary Admiral and any gender for the Diplomat. If you chose to go M/F, please know that I don't enjoy maledom/femsub. Femdom/malesub, wonderful, as is switching, or not playing with power dynamics at all in that way. How does the diplomat get themselves involved? Do they have a plan? Is seducing the Admiral a part of the plan, an unforeseen consequence, or a delightful benefit? Did they know each other before the Admiral was captured?

I like the idea of captivity with honor, enemies to lovers sort of dynamic. I also feel like this pairing implies an age gap - usually takes a fair bit of time to become an Admiral. Play into that as much or as little as you like, as long as everyone involved is an adult.

Virgin General Suspicious of Romantic Overtures/Playboy Foreign Ally Who's Very Into Him

Opt-IN: F/F, non-binary characters in addition to requested M/M version I love stories of serious, hard-working people being surprised into affection. I love the idea that this is a General so focused on duty he hasn't had time for anyone else. Or maybe someone who felt like there was no relationship possible during war.

How does the playboy foreign ally respond to the suspicion? Are they affectionately determined? Bemused? Pushing boundaries? Shy in return, despite their playboy nature?

I also love competence as a part of this relationship. Impressed by skill seems like it would go hand and hand with this prompt.

I also welcome Politics being brought into this. How does their role as allies impact the relationship? I love arranged marriage as a trope, too, so if that strikes your fancy feel free to bring in a political marriage element.

Young Hotshot Pilot/Veteran He Has a Crush On

Male Older Decorated Knight/Male Younger Knight He Trained Who Is Now a Hero Too

Opt-in: F/F, non-binary characters, and F!Veteran/M!Younger in addition to requested M/M version

I'm combining these two because I see very similar dynamics between them. We've got our experienced, decorated veteran, and our talented, younger up-and-comer.

What's the relationship like between them? With the Knight, the training is built into the prompt, could see it that way with the pilot, too. But in the years since they knew each other - did they stay in touch, are they reuniting? What does the veteran think about their younger peer? Respect for skill? Fondness but they need to be tempered?

I'm always a sucker for the dynamic of younger characters having a massive crush, and the older characters sort of being like ??? me??? before eventually giving into the adoration. Both of these pairings lend themselves really well to competence porn, too. The skill that comes with experience, raw new talent lighting things up. It's all so good!

One story I could see with these pairings is either them needing to work together - joint mission, stuck behind enemy lines together, that sort of thing. Or, a story where one needs to save the other is delicious too. The veteran figures their time is come, just for the younger one to swoop in and save them, or the younger one winds up in a pickle and is embarrassed/frustrated/relieved/extremely turned on when the veteran shows up to save them.

Alien Spaceship Crew Who Are Terrified of Humans & Human Stowaway on Their Ship

Ahhh, this one made me smile! I was just so charmed by this tag. I am here for some sci-fi worldbuilding! What are the aliens like? Why are they so scared of humans? Why'd the human stow aboard? Did the human know they were scared? I'd prefer a story where they bond and eventually get along, but I am on board for all the misunderstandings and cultural differences until they get there.

As for the plot, I'm fine with this being entirely about the human and the aliens learning how to work with each other, but I think this could be the backbone to some really interesting other stories. Maybe they're up against common enemy, maybe the human needs to help the aliens with whatever their mission is, maybe the human is lost and needs to get home.

If you want to go this way, this work is an exception to my kidfic DNW. I am intrigued by the idea of this one with an alien spaceship crew and a human child/preteen/teen. I do want the human old enough to talk and have agency. As for how they end up on this ship, the world is yours!

I'm so excited to see what you create! Again, these are just some thoughts, please take as much or as little as you wish and have fun! Many thanks and happy writing/drawing,

Sass

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