Trick or Treat 2019

[tailcoat]

Happy Halloween and thank you!

This is the Trick of Treat Letter for Labocat on AO3 - thank you so much for signing up and I hope we matched on something you're excited about!

General things! This is just broad-view stuff; I'll note where applicable in specific sections if canons/ships can ignore something.

In General: I’m really happy with anything! And by anything, I really do mean just about anything; it’s hard to find something that I absolutely don’t like hard stop. I'm good with all ratings, and as this is a more lax exchange, please feel free to mix up styles or try something new! Changing PoV of the same situation? Snapshot scenes? Epistolary? Are all amazing, so please feel free to experiment if that's where the mood takes you!

I love the idea of tricks and treats: I really love hurt/comfort and have kind of selected fandoms that weave darker events or topics in with lighter moments and sweet character interactions but also have great hurt/comfort possibilities (or just hurt in some cases, which is absolutely fine!). Please feel free to go wherever your heart takes you on these; they're all fandoms I'd be absolutely great with either end of the spectrum.

Some tropes I adore that are relevant (non-comprehensive):
- hurt/comfort and whump
- alternate PoVs of scenes
- pre-canon backstory
- curtainfic/established relationship
- casefic
- fake relationship/arranged marriage/accidentally married/accidental confessions
- found family
- enemies/rivals to lovers (also friends to lovers)
- secret relationships/friendships
- reincarnation/fated/soulbonds
- trapped somewhere together
- loyalty
- magically bonded together (either physically or telepathically)
- redemption and corruption (obv doesn't have to be in the same story, but I am good with either route!)
- road trips
- the 90s anime onsen episode

General treat likes/ideas: anything autumn-flavored! walks in the woods, bonfires, apple picking, hot drinks on cold nights, costumes or costume parties, trick or treating or just a Halloween party, finding good ways to keep warm as the weather gets colder (whether this be sweaters, blankets, cuddling, or sex), treating a lover to a special dinner or night out, magic, supernatural AUs, running into supernatural beings that don't mean anyone harm (but maybe some tricks or pranks), running or visiting haunted haunted, telling scary stories,

General trick likes/ideas: supernatural beings that do mean harm, dark woods with no way out, blood magic, vore, psychological horror, being brainwashed or gaslit into an disadvantageous situation, mad scientists - especially with unwilling test subjects, haunted items, body horror, non-con body modification, apocalyptic situations (either zombie, nuclear, or otherwise), eldritch horrors, actually haunted houses, being possessed/dealing with someone possessed

My DNWs are very few and are unlikely to come up in these canons, but just in case: kidfic, Gift of the Magi-esque miscommunication, non-canonical pronouns, and suicidal thoughts/actions from characters further than canon would go.

Really Optional Details That Are Entirely Optional (okay let’s just call them kinks): If you wanted to go a M/E route, and are comfortable writing any of the following, I really enjoy size difference, blindfolds, orgasm denial, sex pollen, messy/sloppy sex, intercrual, oral, semi-public sex (like in a closet or alley), sensory deprivation, breathplay, toys (especially hidden plugs/vibes), marking/possessiveness, overstimulation, body worship, slow, drawn-out sex that can really tie in with the aforementioned body worship, or awkward first times. I also like a lot of things that generally have to be requested and that most people aren’t comfortable with so they are Extra Optional: dubcon, vore/gore, tentacles and xenophilia, oviposition, come inflation, a/b/o, bloodplay, threesomes/moresomes, double penetration, degradation, non-con body mods, and collars.


In general, I am not an artist, so I can't promise my art prompts are all that great, so please feel free to ask for more information! I mostly requested fic on the basis of my inability to give good art prompts, but if anything grabs your attention from a fic prompt, please feel free to draw it! Or ask for more explanation!

Also, past letters are fair game to check if I've requested a fandom before if you want more guidance, since I tend to skip around on what details I give where.

Charm of Magpies
Ned, Crispin
Historical fantasy is such a weakness of mine and I just absolutely fell in love with this spin-off. I love the concept of graphomancy, and I love characters who have a type of magic that falls outside of the standard rules and methods and so have to create their own path, so I was doomed from the start.

I’ll admit, after finishing Rag and Bone, I have been thinking about if Ned and Crispin have to, as part of a case as judiciary, go to Cornwall, with Crispin starting to slipping back into Cornish and childhood habits and alternately more comfortable and more awkward with his magic surrounded by familiar things and trying to prove that he’s succeeded to people who have known him as a child (while having to hide his magic and his job and his boyfriend). Bonus points if at some point along the way they run into Ben and Jonah (because I would put good odds on the part of Cornwall Crispin is from being close to where Ben and Jonah ended up because their lives have already mingled and why not) and they bond over being on slightly the wrong side of the law and finding refuge in Cornwall and in general seeing each other again and realizing how their timelines overlapped.

But that’s my super weirdly specific request! Otherwise I think that Ned and Crispin’s relationship is wonderful and adorable. Nicknames! Each thinking the other is wildly successful and amazing (despite not thinking they themselves are all that)! Ned being grumpy about suddenly being magical! Graphomancy! Being recruited precisely because they’re oddities (which fits so nicely into my love of what a character thinks of as a weakness others see as their strength)! I think it’s really charming that Ned’s talent was one for hearing to begin with when Crispin absolutely lacks it - they complement each other so well and I loved seeing them play off of that to solve problems. I think Ned would still take a lot of time to get used to have more than a flit’s talent, so maybe Crispin helping him deal with it or finding a way to use his hearing in a way that is actually nice and pleasing rather than stressful from all the noise of London. Their first run (or few runs as they fumble through!) as justiciary would be so neat to see as well!

Shades of Magic
Any
Even though I requested characters, I love the worldbuilding potential of this book and would be more than happy to receive something just related to it - there’s so much to be explored in both the magic and the politics the occur from both inter and intra-world dynamics! I love how each character (and each London) has been shaped by their distance from the magic center and what London they occupy and the sort of shifts we get to see when they’re faced with new elements. Each of the Londons has a different relationship with magic due to their distance from the center, but what could have happened if any of the characters were from a different London, or the Londons were in a different order radiating outward? What if Kell and Holland were Antari of other Londons? Have they ever been trapped in a different London during their early days learning their Antari powers? The Antari are a dying breed and Kell was brought quickly to the court - did the royals have people out searching for Antari to bind them to the crown even before they started dying out? Were they in the monasteries instead? Under a guise of "education"? How did the magic system evolve so differently in some of the cities other than London? From what we see in Red London and the cast’s expedition in Gathering, the Antari aren't well understood by any of the other countries, so what happened to cause a split? There's so much to explore!

I do ship Kell and Holland, so I would love anything with the two of them, especially a fix-it where they get to keep their Antari powers or continue living as the opposite sides of Antari coins in different Londons. Any sort of missing scene between them at any point during the books would be welcome, or any time they ran into each other beforehand! Beforehand is especially alluring because I love the idea of all the different ways their interactions could have gone under the power shift from Vortalis to the Danes, and how much was apparent even in just Holland's interactions with Kell. (I also love the loyalty between Holland and Vortalis, so if you want to play with that, please feel free!) I love Holland teaching Kell spells he hadn't known before, and the difference in how they both interact with and treat Osaron. As much as I can get behind the “who you were in the past doesn’t matter, it’s who you are now” mentality, I am still deeply curious as to Kell’s origins and how the magic chooses an Antari and how it could parallel - even from the very beginning, be the polar opposite of - Holland’s magical growth.

I’ll also admit to being really into the bloodplay possibilities of Antari magic - the Danes drinking Holland’s blood in front of Kell was what catapulted me to Twitter to start to recruit friends to read the book. What if Kell had accepted the glass? Or if Athos hadn’t offered him anything else? What if they’d forced Holland to stay and watch while Kell drank it? Does Antari blood have a certain allure/affect on other Antari? The compulsive brand on Holland is also really alluring and I am very okay with him being coerced into doing things he normally wouldn’t do in regards to Kell.

Magnus Archives
Basically any
Everything, featuring anyone would be fantastic. I asked for so many people because I have little preference as to who I would like to see or what, but anything revolving around statements we’ve already heard, either in terms of the information in the statement or what may have cropped up in investigating, maybe a new statement or encounter, would be fantastic! What I love most about the general tone of the series is that we don’t always know what’s going on or see all parts of what’s happening, and that that adds to the suspense of an encounter. Additionally, power disparities or people playing mind games or manipulating others (I have little preference what direction or whom is involved, I honestly am here for everything). People in over their heads or seeking comfort in ill-advised people or ways or poor coping mechanisms would also be fantastic.

Rusty Quill Gaming
Any

I love this group because it has all the elements of being close to found family but everyone’s all still on edge and time has been short. I would love to see bonding moments between any of the characters, or even goofy ones (I don’t know that I’ve ever laughed harder than when Azu jumped out of the carriage). Everyone is still reeling from Rome, but at any point in the campaign would also be a great time to see. Any time before they joined up with LOLOMG would also be lovely to see, or Wilde or Zolf in the inbetween years between season 3 and 4.

Original Work
In general, I love requesting Original because there are always such creative archetypes nominated, and as usual, I love the aforementioned requests for their base archetype or concept, so literally anything you do with them will make me happy. I love tropes played straight, subverted, crack treated seriously, or the lighthearted side of something usually serious. Please feel free to mix and match, or completely disregard the prompts below!

In general, I tend to like f/f or m/m, and for an exchange like this, fucked-up or complicated relationships (either for mundane or supernatural reasons) would be amazing, but as I said, I enjoy these requests for the tropes/archetypes themselves, so whatever you think fits is good in my book!

Person With Sexually-Transmitted Monsterism: Are they still together with the person who turned them? Did they want this all along? Are they going around passing it on? Is there a condition that has to be met before they can first turn?

Ghost Jellyfish : I LOVE JELLYFISH. Literally nothing you do here will make me disappointed - if it is about a jellyfish, I will be delighted. I'm pretty sure even my DNWs can be disregarded for this request. That said, similar to ghost cat, but for jellyfish. Are there blooms of jellyfish that wash up on the shore sometimes and disappear without a trace by the morning? Does a diver or someone swimming encounter one or an entire bloom? Are they lucky or cursed? Are there stories of how the ghost jellyfish came to be? I admit I have moon jellies mostly in mind for this due to their coloring and stomach position, but I also particularly love blubber, spotted, flower-hat, and upside-down jellies. Maybe the bloom of ghost jellyfish is particularly noteworthy because it includes a lot of different types of jellyfish all at once!

Witch's Cat/Cat Who Sees Ghosts: I’m combining prompts for these two as they both involve cats, but is there anything else particular about this cat? Does their human know? Can they communicate with their human, or are they content to just let weird things happen and observe?

Ghost of a Dried Up River: Does the ghost only hang around its old river or can it travel? Is it malicious over its river being gone or just sad?

Xenoarchaeologist Investigating a Dead Civilization: How long dead has this civilization been? Are they on their own or part of an expedition? Was there a lot of bureaucracy to get here or are they a grave digger? Are they trying to prove something? How many stories about this civilization has the xenoarchaeologist heard and how many are true? Do they discover anything down there that is...unexpected? It seems like a decent time to bring back that I love xenophilia!

Eldritch Abomination In A Human Skin-Suit: What is it using the human skin suit to do? Watch humans or try and integrate with them for its own grand plans? Does it just really like humans and want to try and be one? Is it seducing another human? Does it really like pumpkin spice lattes and this is the best way it knows to get one without suspicion or hassle?

Demon Who Has Accidentally Locked Himself Out Of Hell And Just Wants To Go Home: What is on the docket for exactly how he gets back to hell? What does he have to do, and how long has he been outside? Are there things on our plane that substitute, or is everything just a poor shadow?

House In The Space Between Realities: Is the house sentient? Does it have a preference for who enters it or does it have control over who can access its space? Does it appear only under certain conditions? Is it a safe space or a spooky one? Does time pass the same way in it?

Slowly Dying GPS System on a Rural Road at Midnight: How intentional/malicious was the GPS in getting the car onto the rural road at midnight? Is there something about the road that is of interest?

Tarot Card Artist: Does the artist have any powers or are they just an artist? Are they guided at all in what or how they choose to illustrate the cards? Are any of the cards their particular favorite and why?

Very Opinionated Magic Item: Is the item opinionated because it’s only been owned by idiots and had to watch them fail? Or is it personality bleed from whoever created it or a personality all its own? Are its opinions good ones or bad ones?

Mermaid Who Lures Sailors by Song
Human Woman Who Accidentally Summons A Tea-Drinking Eldritch Abomination (Original Work)
Xenoanthropoligist Who Accidentally Triggers A Cursed Artifact On a Distant Planet (Original Work)
Prudish Plant Embarrassed That It Emits Sex Pollen (Original Work)