Dear AU5K Creator

[alley_skywalker]

AO3 name: Alley_Skywalker

Dear AU5K Creator,

First, thank you for creating for me! Length of fandom sections or the order the fandoms are in no way indication of how much I want fic for any given fandom; I would be absolutely delighted to receive a gift in any of the fandoms and for any of the relationships I asked for. I've tried to provide some details on the sorts of things I like (and don't) and give prompts for each of my fandoms/ships!

GENERAL STUFF

Likes

• A focus on the romantic/emotional aspect of a relationship and some semblance of a plot/point rather than just sex.
• Mutual pining, especially if it's secretly requited pining and the parties think it's unrequited. (Unrequited pining can be nice too.)
• Complicated relationship dynamics, love triangles, relationships that take some effort/time to work, loving each other but because [insert reasons here] not always being able to be together/communicate those feelings, etc in this vain.
• UST. Eventually resolved is probably better than not, however, not a must-have (and I'm more interested in the romantic tension getting resolved, than the sexual tension anyway).
• Conversely from the above – romantic partners who just can’t help but adore each other.
• Kissing, hugging, holding hands, cuddling/snuggling, non-sexual physical contact and intimacy in general. (Special shout out to face touching, forehead kisses and hand kisses!)
• Physical affection in non-romantic relationships.
• Praise kink (in the sense that there’s a lot of emotional investment in and getting-off on getting praised or otherwise acknowledged as worthwhile. Works especially well with characters who are deeply insecure. I’m generally fond of other related things, such as body worship, partners being encouraging during sex in a very sweet, reassuring way, etc).
• Hurt/comfort!!! (Both physical and emotional. With physical hurt/comfort I love a lot of touching and tenderness and stuff like that.)
• LOYALTY KINK! Themes of loyalty and devotion in general. Protectiveness.
• Related to the above, I enjoy explorations of divided/conflicted loyalties in various contexts.
• Friendship, family (dynamics), platonic love.
• Backstories, especially childhood fics.
• Fluff, banter, flirting.
• Well-rounded characters, characters with emotions/sympathetic motives; the “other side of the story.”
• Politics, intrigue; plot (if you already happen to be that way inclined).
• Worldbuilding, especially in fantasy and historical settings.
• Angst, drama. (Please don’t try to use this as a challenge to see how many angst/dark tropes you can fit into a single fic. I have no issue with dark themes and things like character death don’t bother me much in most cases, but if it feels like it’s just a marathon of horrible things happening…that’s a little too intense for me. Exceptions apply if a specific prompt calls for dark!fic or similar endless angst.)
• Humor is fun too, but I like it more as an element in the story rather than a story that sets out to be funny first and foremost.
• Romantic asexual characters and asexual romances

Art Likes

• Bright colors and/or well-lit scenes.
• Nature settings.
• Water imagery and settings (oceans, rivers, rain).
• Tenderness and physical affection – kissing, holding hand, cuddling, etc.
• Re above, special shout-outs to forehead kisses, face touching, hand kissing, rubbing noses.
• Caretaking and hurt/comfort – everything from bandaging wounds to spoon feeding a sick/injured. character to holding someone as they cry to fixing someone’s tie or helping them put on cufflinks/armor/other item of clothing.
• Fancy clothes (and armor); heraldry; culture-specific costumes/clothes.
• Balls, festivals, scenes of dancing generally.
• For my het ships: weddings; family portraits; scenes with their children.
• For requests involving Theon: love that boy with a bow!
• (Please don't feel limited by this list! I'm sure I'll love whatever you draw! These are just some things that came to my mind, but I'm not that great at describing art/what exactly I like in it, so don't take this as any kind of comprehensive list.)

Dp Not Wants

• Threesomes/moresomes and polyamory (unless requested/prompted or canon).
• Incest (unless requested or explicitly canon; this DNW does not include cousins).
• Pairings with age gaps over 10 years (unless canon for a requested ship; does not apply to vampire years in the IWTV/TVC fandom).
• Minors under 16 in sexual/romantic relationships with adults (one-sided teenage crushes on adults are fine).
• On-screen sex with characters under 16 (mentions/reference to teenage sexual experimentation is ok; kissing/low rating romance-y stuff also ok).
• Explicit rating and PWPs; above T/PG-13 rating in art.
• Healing cock.
• BDSM, D/s, omegaverse, and most kink. (NOT included in this: foreplay; bantery/lighthearted roleplay for the purposes of foreplay; preferences for a certain sexual position, fascination with a partner’s physical trait, such as, e.g., preferring redheads or virgins or younger partners or being fascinated by someone’s shoulders; rough/aggressive/desperate sex or outside-of-bedroom inequalities that transfer into the bedroom, even though there may be pining down of wrists or some other element that could be considered a kink or part of BDSM; anything specifically listed as a “like”).
• Foot fetishes (I know I said liking specific body parts is fine, but this is an exception).
• Humiliation (both sexual and not); glorification of bullying.
• Non-con/rape (dub-con that leans toward/ends up as consensual is ok).
• Mpreg.
• Crack!fic, parody.
• AUs that subvert the universe or drastically change the setting  (e.g.: setting change AUs like Coffee Shop, Modern, In Space, non-magic for canons with magical settings (e.g. Harry Potter), etc. This includes stuff like A/B/O and inserting (non-canon) magic/supernatural elements into a universe where those things don't canonically exist).
• Crossovers.
• Time travel.
• Apocalypse/post-apocalypse scenarios, regardless of whether done as an AU or some kind of post-canon possibility thing. (Exception for when this setting is explicitly canon.)
• Horror; gore, very graphic violence (including graphic depictions of infected/open wounds)
• Anything to do with urine/feces; depictions/descriptions of vomit(ing) beyond a cursory mention
  
• Non-canon permanent injuries/disabilities
  
• Torture. (Mentions of canon events that involve torture is ok; waived for GoT/ASOIAF but all other DNWs still apply and please no deaths/executions via torture beyond mentions of canon events.)
• Parental favoritism presented in a positive/non-negative light by the narrative.
• Ccross-dressing; genderbending/genderswap; non-canonical genders and gender headcanons in general.
• Narrative implications that “sex = love” or that romantic partners HAVE to have sex to have a “valid” relationship or to be “really” in love with each other.

FANDOMS

Interview With the Vampire

Fandom-specific DNWs

• Armand/Daniel Molloy
• Abuse between requested pairing. (Canon-typical toxicity and baggage is fine obviously, but where there is some room for interpretation for certain canon moments, I lean away from an abuse interpretation. Certainly not anything intentional. So, like, I don't think Armand was mind controlling Louis or re-writing his memories or being intentionally controlling or actively manipulating him. But like...saying insensitive things sometimes? Enabling? Being overly clingy? Yea. I make an exception for interpreting the SF mindwipe as non-consensual - although I'm not personally convinced that it was but I'm open to interpreting it as something Armand did with good intentions but...yk, without asking. )
• interpretations of Armand/Louis as never being in love/no longer in love in Dubai or only with each other post-Paris “out of spite” or their relationship as being primarily about Lestat.

To clarify some general DNWs:

• I don't mind mentions/discussions of Marius/Armand or Armand's CSA backstory, just no graphic scenes, please.
• Don't mind/ignore the "horror" DNW to the extent that this canon and its tropes can be said to be part of that genre. However, I don't want anything intentionally more horror than what is canon-typical.
• To the extent Armand and Louis engage in D/s kinks in canon, its fine to mention it, but I don’t want a 24/7 dynamic interpretation or for this to be depicted as more than a “sometimes they do this” type of brief mention. I would rather explore/read about their relationship outside of that part of their sex life.

Armand/Louis de Pointe du Lac

Requested Tags:

• ALL: canon divergence - character death averted
  
• All: Character deals with a canonical difficult situation better than in canon
  
• ALL: Character Who Betrays Another Character in Canon Doesn't AU
  
• ALL: No Betrayal AU
  
• ALL: Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies
  
• IWTV: Armand tells Louis about the coup/planned trial before the kidnapping
  
• ALL: Fix-it
  
• ALL: Canonical break-up doesn’t happen
  
• IWTV: Armand/Louis break up after trial but get back together later
  
• ALL: characters meet earlier than in canon
  
• ALL: Different First Meeting - Characters Meet at a Different Point in Their Canon
  
• IWTV: Louis meets Armand before Lestat
  

I just love them so much!! The high romance of like every scene they have in Paris, but then the tragedy of them loving each other and that not being enough (for Armand to trust it; for them to not end up splitting up even if they did almost make it, etc…) So much of their tragedy is that they keep miscommunicating/talking past each other in Paris and that their hang-ups get in the way – Louis can’t/won’t commit for too long and refuses to acknowledge the danger the coven presents and by the time he does, Armand is too insecure and the moment it seems like Louis is back to disregarding his fears/feelings/boundaries (Mad’s turning) he lets that fear be a deciding force when he’s put before an ultimatum. Aghhh. But I do think they stay in love, even post-trial. Like, clearly, from the SF flashback, they go through a looooot but by Dubai? I think they reach a place where their relationship is settled and comfortable and maybe stagnating/troubled, given Louis’ continued depression and various trauma neither of them has dealt with but. I don’t think it’s all an act for Daniel? Like, ok, the holding hands like teenagers and sitting in each other’s laps is a bit of overkill performance, but everything about the way look at each other and touch each other, just screams love and intimacy to me….

So, with all that said, I would absolutely love a canon divergence fix it where things just. Work out in the end for them? I’m actually surprised there aren’t more of these, especially of the “no betrayal variety.” So some ramblings on the AUs:

• AU where the trial is averted in one way or another, most likely by Armand telling Louis about the coven’s plans. How exactly this works depends on when Armand tells him. Does he tell Louis right away? Does he waffle for a while, but then warns him before Claudia comes to visit? Is it a last minute change of heart after he hears from Maddeline the confirmation that Louis does love him deeply. (Maybe they have to fight their way out?!) And what is the fallout then? What do they do after? Are there complications or difficult conversation? But would love to see the happy ending too!

• Related to the above, but a somewhat different flavor, maybe Armand just tells the coven no when they confront him? How does that go?? Armand is powerful, but would he be able to fight of 13 other vampires when they’re possibly prepared for a possible fight? Would def love some whumpy situation where Armand is held prisoner by the coven and Louis has to save him. (Fanfic is for tropey wish fulfillment, ok? Lol)

• What if Louis and Armand do break up after the confrontation with Lestat (ala the 1990s film) but are then brought together again later? I do kind of feel like maybe if they had taken some time apart at the very start it…could have been a disaster for sure, but could have also maybe helped them (re)start rom a healthier place later, where Louis had worked through some of his grief and feelings for Armand and Lestat and decide that he would be willing to actually work on/try to forgive Armand. (So…a bit like book!verse and Trinity Gate…) I’m open to various scenarios of them meeting up again: willingly coming back together because they miss each other, accidentally meeting again because they both have something to do in the same area/social circle, getting thrown back together by dramatic circumstance… Wherever you’d like to go with it!

• AU where they don’t break up in the 2x8 Finale. Maybe Daniel doesn’t get the script from the Telemasca (I know, I know, Louis deserves to know all of it, etc) or maybe all the stuff comes out but…they end up figuring it out somehow…

• AU where Louis meets Armand earlier – specifically I’d love a scenario where Louis meets Armand before he meets Lestat. (Maybe the TVD go on tour in the States or something?) Still crazy chemistry, still falling in love – but now Louis is human. Does he find out about Armand’s vampiric nature? How does he feel about that? Armand is very against making new vampires and/but then he’s also got the coven laws to deal with, so how does he navigate that? If he’s not pushed into it, would Louis end up wanting to be turned (so he can be with Armand)? It would be a somewhat different dynamic from canon, and I’d be interested to see how that would play out!

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin

Fandom-specific DNWs

• Fics set during Theon’s canonical captivity by Ramsay and AU situations where Theon is still captured by Ramsay, unless it’s a “captured together” scenario with Tris.


• Ramsay/Theon; Jaime/Brienne.


• Stories where the narrative implications/main theme/point is that Theon should have chosen the Starks over his own family and/or that they were the best thing to happen to him, etc along those lines – this can be a point of contention/conflict between characters but not a narrative posture or widely accepted POV outside Northern characters.


• Theon begging Robb to take him back/get back together/be friends again after a breakup/fight (normal apologizing for past hurtful actions is fine, though also, whatever mess they’re in I’d rather it not be/not be presented as all Theon’s fault).


• Theon thinking Robb is "too good" for him or having similar insecurities.

To clarify my general DNWs, I realize that there is a lot of torture/violence/gore in this fandom, and it’s fine to mention anything that happens in canon (e.g. Boltons flaying people, Stannis burning people) and non-graphic descriptions of canon-typical violence. I just don’t want graphic/prolonged descriptions/scenes. If it’s a fic that’s set post-Ramsay, I realize that Theon’s trauma from that experience may feature in some way, but I’d rather not have very graphic flashbacks, etc, or for it to be the entire/overwhelming focus, and if that means setting the fic further in the future, that’s totally fine by me.

Not sure if this will come up with these specific requests, but minors-under-16/adults DNW is waived for Robb/Theon, although I'd very much prefer that Robb is at least 15 when anything reciprocated happens/Theon develops romantic feelings for him. Robb can have a crush as early as seems reasonable, though :).


Tristifer Botley/Theon Greyjoy

Requested Tags:

• All: Character deals with a canonical difficult situation better than in canon
  
• ALL: Character makes politically smarter choices than in canon
  
• ALL: Fix-it
  
• ASOIAF: Theon takes Bran and Rickon to the Iron Islands as hostages instead of staying in Winterfell
  
• ASOIAF: Tristifer Botley is with Theon at Winterfell in ACOK

The ship that seems to have come out of nowhere, but wouldn’t it be nice for Theon to have a happy ending with a nice ironborn boy? And you can't tell me Tris wasn't just mad Se for some delicious pining and loyalty kink! (But...he really does need to get over Asha for his own good, so here's his chance lol.) Some more thoughts on possible AUs:

• Theon makes somewhat better decisions after defecting from Robb to his family (a choice which, in and of itself I completely understand and support, let’s just say straight up) and either never takes Winterfell or takes Winterfell but leaves shortly after with Bran and Rickon as hostages… And then he has to deal with his internal conflicts and also earning his people’s/family’s trust even though he kind of resents having to, but Dagmer’s right that like…his ability to bond with them was disrupted by the time he was away. (Not that Balon is right or not a complete asshole. But also maybe if Theon brings some Stark kids as hostages, things will go at least a tiny bit better there – although, maybe on the other hand he kinda hates the idea of having to take these kids as hostages just to impress his dad, because he knows how much the hostage thing sucks). What does this have to do with Tris? I mean basically, whatever the plot backdrop is, part of Theon finding his place on the Iron Islands and in the ironborn war efforts would, in this case, also involve him and Tris falling in love. (Bonus points if they at some point bond over their first loves (Robb and Asha, respectively) being people who don’t love them back.)


• AU where Tris is one of the men of Theon’s crew when he goes raiding and takes Winterfell. (Do things still happen as in canon and they're doomed or is Tris able to counteract Ramsay's bad influence/keep Theon from spiraling so completely?) And relatedly -- if they're still doomed and get captured together, I love the scenario of The Ship having to provide comfort/care for each other while being held cpative together, maybe their captors using them against each other (or trying to). Especially sweet if they're secretly pining for one another during all this or have a Feelings Reailzation moment! And really, the captured together scenario doesn't have to be via Ramsay - could be any other AU set-up.


• Balon dies unexpectedly just prior to Theon’s arrival on Pyke and either Theon takes his place as heir (and does the alliance with Robb) or, hell, maybe Asha beats him in a Kingsmoot or whatever (although, I’m not sure how the kingsmoot would happen with a clear line of succession but whatever), but once she’s won, she’s less intent on alienating him than her father was, and decides to go along with the proposed alliance. Or! Maybe they don’t do the alliance and go to war with the North anyway but things pan our differently with Theon’s decision-making. So, Theon and Tris go to war together…and fall in love.

Renly Baratheon & Theon Greyjoy
Theon Greyjoy & Tyrion Lannister
Theon Greyjoy & Jaime Lannister
Theon Gryjoys/Jaime Lannister
Theon Greyjoy & Edmure Tully

Requested Tags:

• ALL: Different First Meeting AU
  
• ASOIAF: Theon is hostage at Casterly Rock instead of Winterfell
  
• ASOIAF: Theon is hostage in Riverrun instead of Winterfell
  
• ASOIAF: Theon is hostage of a Southern House instead of in Winterfell
  
• ASOIAF: Balon wins the Greyjoy Rebellion
  
• ASOIAF: Greyjoy Rebellion doesn’t happen
  

I've always kinda loved the idea of Renly and Theon bonding. It is, to an extent, more of a lighthearted fantasy - them hanging out in King's Landing, being hyper fashionable, gossiping about everyone else who's not up to par. Maybe this happens because Theon's a hostage in KL, maybe he's technically still a Stark hostage but Ned gets appointed Hand of the King early on. But I'd also love an AU where Theon and Renly grow up together if Theon is a hostage at Storm's End (with Stannis as the responsible party?? I'm not sure who would be in this case.) It's interesting to me how this situation would likely be in some parts similar to his situation with the Starks and yet in other parts very different. The relationship with Renly would certainly have echoes of Theon's relationship with Robb - Renly also being the very amiable, loved-by-everyone, easy-lordship type of companion, but he'd be closer to Theon in age (in fact only a couple of years older) and maybe even a little closer in personality and certain interests. (They could terrorize Stannis together as teenagers lol.) And then how do these differences change things during the WOT5K? Theon would still have most of his issues probably, but then maybe he's in a less difficult situation choice-wise? Balon isn't looking to attack the Reach after all. What kind of relationship does Theon end up having with Loras and Margaery? Just so many possibilities!

Then there's the "hostage at Casterly Rock" AU. In some ways this is clearly worse for Theon. Tywin is much more of an asshole than Ned, but how much Tywin actually cares to make Theon's life shitty is questionable - he's already got Tyrion for that. Theon would certainly be in a bit of a hard spot for friends. Jaime by age would be closer to a father figure than a brother, though someone who'd have no interest in being a father figure to anyone and also always in KL. Tyrion, while only...five? years older would be a non-ideal playmate for Theon, first because of personality differences, and second because Theon might feel that above the overall cultural prejudice he'd also feel, he might be disadvantaged by showing too much favor to the son Tywin clearly hates. On the other hand, if Tywin is away at King’s Landing a lot and Tyrion and Theon are left more to themselves, plus child!Theon clearly not having built up a lot of his defense mechanisms and being a kid in much need of love and compassion…I’d be really interested in seeing them somehow make something out of this?

With Jaime, I’m fascinated by some of the parallels they have going on like 1) the inevitability of being stuck between two or more loyalties and having no choice but to betray someone/something (“so many vows, they make you swear and swear”), 2) both being Robb’s prisoner/hostage/etc in one form or another at one time or another, 3) the angst of being accused of things you didn’t do or were actually in your right to do (Jaime with Aerys; the Bolton’s blaming Theon for burning Winterfell, but also the “he betrayed the Starks” when he was the Starks’ hostage and didn’t owe them loyalty to begin with). So I’d love some interactions between them.

With Edmure, well, similar theme: what if Theon is hostage at Riverrun (for whatever hand-wavy reason). Like the other AUs along this premise, I'd love to see how his relationships develop there. The Riverlands surely have no love for the ironborn, likely even more than the North. But then Patrek seems to not care about these old feuds. Is that just because he's Patrek or is this a generational split? I think Edmure and Theon would have a mostly positive relationship - Edmure is a kind and open-hearted person generally, even if he can be brash/stand-offish sometimes. Like I can't see him not exhibiting compassion toward a child, even if he's not excited about this whole thing at first. What is it like/how does or doesn't it change things for Theon to have this more older-brother figure instead of a younger brother one as he had in Robb? What does this mean for Edmure? Does he get encouraged by Theon to stand up for himself more against Robb and co. in the WOT5K?





Fire & Blood - George R. R. Martin

Fandom-specific DNWs

• Team Green characters switching sides to Team Black (unless canon)
• HOTD canon that clearly contradicts book canon (including the Dragonstone Alicent/Rhaenyra scene in the S2 finale)
• Narrative gloating over/positive framing of child murder
• Mushroom’s accounts that involve sexual violence (e.g. Brothel Queens, Aegon visiting a tween brothel, etc.)

Requested Tags:

• F&B: Greens win the Dance of the Dragons
• F&B: Daeron survives the Second Tumbleton
• ALL: Characters in arranged marriage AU catch feelings

I’d like to say that first, I’m aware of the show canon but this is very genuinely a book canon request, although obviously the show has fleshed out a lot of the characters who feel flat in the books so I’m not going to mind if some of those characterizations bleed through/are borrowed at times, but I was really dissapointed in a lot of S2 so I'd rather it be ignored as much as possible here.

Second, I’m not about bashing any of the characters, but I have always been a Team Green person. Not out of any love for Aegon as a character necessarily, but more because Visery’s blatant parental favoritism seriously bothered me, and it was clear that he just wanted his favorite child to be the heir and not that he wanted to change the system or anything (and instead only destabilized it, traumatized his other children, and was a big, if not main, cause of the Dance, imo). For that matter, Rhaenyra showed multiple times that she had no such interest either. If anything, I think the Dance is fun and fascinating because everyone is kind of selfish and maybe a little power-hungry, everyone is various shades of grey, no one is completely right. There aren’t any obvious heroes or modern-day progressives/liberals – these are all characters that are very much working within their culture and system and playing the game of thrones.

Daeron is probably my fave book Dance-era character. He’s one of the very few characters that gets even close to the heroic-and-honorable side of the spectrum, though the war finally gets even to him (e.g. Bitterbridge). He’s someone who’s fundamentally an upstanding person, loyal and brave, values honor, but like everyone else is thrown into this devastating civil war and has to deal with all the suffering and moral ambiguity and tragedy that it brings.

Daeron Targaryen/Addam Velaryon

I have a special fondness for a Daeron/Addam idea: after Addam escapes KL to avoid arrest, he also hears about his grandfather’s imprisonment. Instead of deciding to try to prove himself to a queen who has so mistreated him and his family despite their loyalty and sacrifices, Addam goes to Tumbleton to find Prince Daeron. He means to secure his family’s safety, even if it means switching sides… Which then leads to Daeron and Addam working together and falling in love. Ideally :D

But I would also be interested in other explorations of what happens to them if they both survive the war and the Greens win? (Or perhaps they survive, but everything goes as in canon, what then?) What if they never become allies during the war but then are arranged to marry (let's handwave and say this is also a Gay Marriage Is Allowed AU too lol) as one of the marriages meant to bring peace between the factions in a post-war era.


Daeron Targaryen/Jacaerys Velaryon

Viserys made Daeron and Jace milk brothers in the hope this would make them closer. This doesn’t seem to have worked much, but what if Viserys had gone further (had had the option to go further) and arranged/forced them to marry (I forgot to request the "forced marriage" tag but I definitely see this as a situation where no one gets asked their opinion lol). How do they deal with suddenly having obligations/duties to someone who is on the other side of an intense political conflict from the rest of their family/people they care about? Do they come into the marriage/engagement biased against each other? How do they learn to/end up falling for each other? And what does this mean for them once the war starts?

 I love the idea/exploration of two people who care about each other ending up in different sides of a war, either as enemies-to-lovers or as starcrossed lovers. With these two, I especially would love the idea of them having had the chance to get closer as children/preteens and maybe Jace having a crush that is/he thinks is one-sided. Then the war happens and everything goes to shit but then SUDDENLY they're brought together again - during a battle, one getting captured by the other, whatever. And suddenly having to deal with the old (and new) feelings and what they could have been and what they'd like to be vs what they're being forced to be. And what happens then once the war is over and they survive? (I know I only have the Daeron survives tag, but feel free to have them both survive...or not, if you want to go for the hardcore angst, I suppose.). Is the end of the war a relief to them, or are they only further driven apart by the losses they've sustained/the bitterness of one side winning. What if instead of Jaehera and Aegon being forced to marry to end the war, it is now Jace and Daeron?