Darkest Night Letter

[linndechir]

Dear Darkest Night Writer,

thank you for writing for me and having a look at my letter. My letters always get very long, so I obviously don't expect you to include every single thing I mention in this letter. I've got some general likes and dislikes listed - those are the important bits, really. They're followed by a long list of tropes/kinks I like and some fandom-specific prompts, but if those don't work for you - as long as you include a thing or two that I like and don't include my DNWs, I'm sure I will love whatever you write for me. :D

I use the same name on AO3 and tumblr as here. I've requested fic for all my fandoms, and M/M for all of them (except for my very last request, which is gen) and I would very strongly prefer to receive shipfic to gen. Some of my fandom-specific sections are longer than others, but that's only because I had more prompt ideas for some of them. I would be equally excited to receive a fic in any of these fandoms.

I've tried to keep the fandom sections mostly focused on the tags I requested. In some cases I've linked to old exchange letters - just in case you're looking for more general prompts for inspiration. For every fandom I've listed the tags I've requested, sometimes with an additional explanation if I thought that was necessary, sometimes with similar tags grouped together. Feel free to combine several of my requested tags or to combine them with any of my general likes, if that's where your fic takes you.

Hard Do Not Wants:

• character death and permanent injuries for my favourite characters


• detailed gore, especially hand and eye injuries


• serious illnesses; descriptions of pus, rashes etc.


• genderbend, mpreg, oviposition, A/B/O, most kinds of body horror unless otherwise specified


• animal death/cruelty


• scat, watersports

Other things I don't want to read about:

• completely bleak/tragic endings for my favourite characters


• crossovers, fusions, complete AUs (canon divergence is fine, but no high school AUs, coffee shop AUs etc.)


• unrequested ships (including canon ships)


• non-con between my requested ships (non-con in general is perfectly fine; dub-con for my ships is fine, too)


• permanently unrequited love for my ships


• unnecessary epithets ("the taller man kissed the blue-eyed soldier"), 1st and 2nd person fic


• for porn: detailed kink negotiation – brief talking about what they like is fine if you think it's necessary, the emphasis being on 'brief'


• issue fic

Things I generally like:

• first time fics and getting (back) together (I also like established relationships, though), I like porn as much as I like more subtle sexual tension. I also adore plotty fics in which a bunch of other things happen to my ship as well, so it doesn't have to be all romance/porn, though I would like my ship to be the focus of the fic.


• I also like: background stories about a character's past, first meetings and impressions (especially if we didn't get to see that in canon), missing scenes from canon, plotty future/post-canon fics that explore where these characters are going, plotty what-if fics that explore what would have happened if a character had made a different choice, fics from a different POV than usual in canon, fics from an outside POV ...


• themes like loyalty, codependency, obsession, trust, and commitment issues


• complicated, codependent, unhealthy relationships


• characters dealing with moral dilemmas, having to question their principles, or simply wanting to do things they think they shouldn't be doing


• intimacy, familiarity, people knowing about each other's everyday habits/hang-ups (especially in contrast to how nobody else knows them that well)


• difficulties to express feelings verbally and non-verbal expressions of affection (including very fucked up ways of showing affection, "look, I murdered this person for you!")


• age differences


• protectiveness/going ballistic when the other one is threatened


• hurt/comfort, taking care of each other

Specific darkfic likes:

As a general rule, I am more interested in my requested characters doing awful/questionable/disturbing things (sometimes to each other, sometimes to third parties) or suffering psychologically than in my favourite characters just being the victims of awful things, although I do have a couple of prompts that fit the latter category. I'm mostly in this for fucked up relationships that work for the people involved than for completely tragic endings.

• codependency, obsessive relationships, us-against-the-world, people who would (and do) kill for each other


• possessiveness, jealousy, marking, branding, stalking, voyeurism


• power imbalances, emotional manipulation, corruption


• sociopaths/villains in love


• violence kink, post-battle sex


• shame, guilt, including things like internalised homophobia or people feeling guilty for their sadistic or masochistic tendencies


• underage characters seducing the adult of their choice; shame and guilt on the adult's side about being attracted to the underage character at all, or the adult character giving in because they love the underage character but aren't really attracted to them (yet)


• hate sex, arguments/fights leading to rough/angry/violent sex


• gunplay, knifeplay, bloodplay, breathplay


• people losing control in bed (and hurting their partner more than they intended)


• wounds and blood and scars (but no permanent injuries like amputated limbs or that sort of thing)


• nightmares, PTSD, depression, unhealthy coping mechanisms, self-destructive tendencies, alcohol/drug abuse (but please with a plot or something else going on as well; I don't want characters just sitting around feeling sad and thinking about how sad they are and telling other characters how sad they are)


• non-con/violence, people willingly suffering rape/torture to protect someone else, post-rape/torture recovery, hurt/comfort


• for supernatural canons: dark/blood magic, magic as something terrifying, ghosts, supernatural dreams ...

Kinks I like:

Should you choose to write porn and should any of these fit into your fic, here's an overly long list of kinks/tropes I love to read about (in no specific order).

• clothes fetishisation (sex between a dressed and an undressed person; one of them having a thing for the other's clothes (tailored suits, uniforms, leather gloves/boots/jackets, silk shirts etc.); people dressing/undressing each other; someone casual cleans up nicely, someone who's always prim and proper looks dishevelled for once)


• asphyxiation/breathplay/choking, touching/kissing/biting/petting the other's throat/neck, oversensitive necks, hickeys, marking


• characters losing control in bed (speechlessness, whimpering, moaning, shivering, begging)


• messiness (sweat, come play, dishevelled clothes, dishevelled hair, breathlessness etc.)


• first time sex (i.e. first time between the two characters; exploring each other's bodies, finding out slowly what the other one likes)


• rough/angry sex, fight sex, bruising


• small gestures of affection/casual touching/discreet PDA; accidental touching/stimulation


• seduction (sweet talking, dirty talk, teasing, eyefucking)


• sexual fantasies, daydreaming, masturbation, especially before the characters get together


• massages, backrubs, stroking the other's hair


• friction, frottage, intercrural (anal is fine, too, obviously)


• banter/teasing (during sex and otherwise)


• competence kink/admiration


• praise kink


• body worship, people being madly attracted to each other, getting distracted because they're staring at each other


• scars and their history


• hand fetish (strong/soft/rough/calloused/gentle hands, long fingers, handling guns/knives/cigarettes etc., kissing the other's wrists/fingers)


• beards and stubble, beard burn on the other person's cheek/neck/thighs ...


• voice/accent kink, dirty talk


• oral fixation (licking/biting one's lips, drinking from beer bottles, smoking)


• oral sex, rimming


• light bondage/restraints (pinning someone down, holding their wrists, holding their mouth shut with one hand, blindfolds, actually tying them up, collars), D/s overtones (ordering the other to undress, to kneel, to hold still etc.) - for my requested ships I'm more into casual D/s that develops over time than into very formalised, minutely negotiated BDSM


• gun/knife play


• sex on tables/sofas/against walls etc. (sex in beds is great, too)

About my fandoms:

Fast & Furious series
Deckard Shaw/Owen Shaw

I've requested this ship in exchanges before and received absolutely wonderful fics, but since I'm kind of obsessed with these guys, I still want more. :D I love that they're both ruthless bastards, I love all the loyalty kink and possessiveness between them, the whole us-against-the-world dynamics. I love that they'd both burn down the world for each other. They're basically my platonic ideal of the Villains In Love trope. And there are so many different directions you could take this ship in, from a fairly harmonious, close relationship to something very antagonistic and distant (up until someone opposes them and they're inseparable again), or anything in between. I'd love to read more takes on this ship, as long as it is clear that they do love each other deep down. Wouldn't want the fic to end with them actually betraying each other or something like that.

I rambled some more about the ship in my Yuletide letter and you can also find more prompts in my Rare Pairs letter.

- Alternate Universe - Villain Wins: because I want the two of them to go on a mad roaring rampage of revenge together, go as dark and bloody as you like.
- Arousal From Killing / Sex in the Blood of their Enemies
- Bloodplay
- Break Up: not permanently, but maybe Deckard deciding he's done with Owen's bullshit? Or younger Owen turning his back on him because he wants to be his own man? But I'd want them to get back together eventually because they're way too codependent and obsessed to live without each other.
- Breathplay
- Codependency / Obsession
- Emotional Manipulation / Manipulative Masochism: especially Owen being a manipulative shit and Deckard letting him even though he knows exactly what his brother is doing
- Jealousy Leading to Murder / Possessive Behaviour / Stalking / Voyeurism: both before and after they first get together, I just love them both being incredibly jealous and possessive and killing the people the other one slept with
- Knifeplay
- Marking
- Murder
- Scars
- Solitary Confinement: something dealing with Deckard getting locked up in a deep dark hole for who knows how long at the end of Furious 7
- Underage Seduction: teenage!Owen seducing/manipulating Deckard into giving him what he wants (and Deckard giving in even though he maybe isn't all that attracted yet to his little brother?)

DC Cinematic Universe
Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent

I've been so obsessed with this ship since Batman v Superman. I am in love with this version of Bruce - disillusioned, angry, bitter, broken, lonely as hell, and yet even he finds a sliver of hope at the end. And I also love Cavill's kind of introspective, quiet Clark who's still figuring things out, trying to find his place in the world, who's profoundly lonely and not really sure yet where he really fits in, both as Clark and as Superman. I have tons and tons of feelings about the way their relationship could develop after Clark inevitably comes back to life and I would love to see any fic exploring that, whether as a friendlier relationship or as something more tense and antagonistic even as they start working together until they finally realise they're both in love with each other. I also love both of them and especially Bruce being emotionally constipated as hell and just not very good at talking about their feelings, this ship is great for pining and misunderstandings and assuming the other one doesn't share their feelings. And, since this is BvS a.k.a. the kinkiest movie of the year, I am absolutely here for all the filthy porn. I love switching for these two: both masochistic Bruce getting taken apart by Clark who's a little freaked out by his dom tendencies, and dom!Bruce who loves to make Clark scream while Clark is just fascinated by feeling pain and helplessness. And I adore identity porn for these two, so feel free to pretend that the movie didn't just have them both know about the other's secret identity.

I also love Alfred, so if you want to include him, too, I'd definitely enjoy that. (I generally do ship Bruce/Alfred, but in this verse more as a past thing than an ongoing sexual relationship, but complicated feelings are always welcome.) And I loved Diana, too. However, I really don't ship Clark/Lois (though I don't mind them as friends), so it'd be great if we could just pretend that they broke up at some point post-Clark's resurrection. I'm fine with Clark angsting a bit about that and feeling lonely, but I'd rather the whole fic didn't focus on that.

Some general prompts can be found in my NPT letter. Also, I adore basically all of the Bruce/Clark prompts on the DCEU kinkmeme that don't hit one of my listed DNWs, so feel free to use that for inspiration as well. And I have a lot more "bad things happening to my faves" prompts for this ship than for most of my other fandoms, partly because torturing Bruce and Clark is just too much fun. ;)

- Branding / Marking: Bruce using a kryptonite Bat brand on Clark, or any other kind of marking tbh, in both directions.
- Buried Alive / Fear of the Dark / Immersion Therapy: Clark having issues with the dark after his return from the dead, because he was buried alive for weeks/months before getting strong enough again to crawl out of his grave. And maybe Bruce helping him with his fear via immersion therapy?
- Dubious Consent Due To Identity Issues / Secret Identity: all the identity porn! Especially Clark not knowing who Batman is, but the other way around or both of them not knowing works, too.
- Enduring Pain to Protect Another / Forced to Watch Rape / Rape and Recovery: don't care which one of them is the victim; any situation in which they've been taken prisoner by some bad guys (either as their civilian selves or as Batman and Superman) and one of them gets tortured and/or raped in front of the other. Maybe one of them "volunteering" so the other one is spared. I'd also love to see the whole aftermath of this. I would also be okay with the bad guys forcing them to fuck each other and both of them feeling guilty and awful about it.
- Forced Bonds: forced soulbonding (magic? some villain's plot? freaky Kryptonian soulbonds Clark has no control over?) freaking both of them out, especially Bruce. Especially while their relationship is still very antagonistic.
- Guilt: Bruce's guilt over trying to kill Superman, over Robin's death ...
- Hate Sex
- Internalised Homophobia:  especially on Clark's side
- Loss of Control: Clark losing control in bed and hurting Bruce, Bruce loving it, Clark being freaked out.
- Mating Cycles/In Heat: not something I'm usually into, but I am definitely here for some freaky Kryptonian heats, especially if Clark himself is completely freaked out by them because the idea of losing control over his body and his powers terrifies him. No actual mpreg/oviposition/non-human genitalia please, I'm boring like that. ;)
- Nightmares / Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms: on both sides, but Bruce especially is a mess, so I'd love to see something dealing with his PTSD, his nightmares, his self-destructive tendencies, his grief over losing his son ...
- Scars
- Sex Pollen: in a world where Poison Ivy exists ... ;)

For most of these prompts (identity porn, post-rape recovery, forced soulbonding, heats, sex pollen etc.) I would prefer first time fic, not established relationship. Also, feel free to combine any and all of these with D/s, chains, pain play, kryptonite pain play, violent sex of all kinds ... This ship was made for kink.

Gotham (TV)
Alfred Pennyworth/Bruce Wayne

My favourite thing about the show is the relationship between Alfred and Bruce. For one it's obvious how much they care about each other, how incredibly close they are and how lost they would be without the other. But I also find it interesting how the power dynamics play out between them, on the one hand Alfred being Bruce's legal guardian and occasionally putting his foot down (about Bruce going to school, for example), and on the other hand Bruce being technically Alfred's boss and ordering him around and (mostly) getting to do what he wants. I also love how ruthlessly protective Alfred is of Bruce, and how Bruce is just as worried about anything happening to Alfred.

I'm okay with Bruce still being under 18 for anything shippy, although maybe not quite as young as he is on the show. I'm fine with him pining and lusting for Alfred at just about any age, but I'd prefer if he was at least 15ish by the time anything overtly sexual happens between them. Something like Bruce realising over the years that he doesn't just love Alfred like family? Lots of pining because he thinks that Alfred could never feel the same way about him? Lots of angst and guilt on Alfred's side about falling for this boy he's supposed to raise and protect and whom he loves like his own son? Angsty, slow-burn getting together fic would be amazing. Or maybe something set after Bruce was gone for a few years travelling the world and he comes back and is suddenly a grown man rather than a boy? Or after one of them got hurt and they had another "I can't lose you" moment? Or teenage Bruce being all reasonable and mature and explaining to Alfred very seriously why there's no reason they shouldn't be together, because Bruce is very mature for his age and he finds all of Alfred's objections frankly rather ridiculous?

- Codependency
- Ethical Dilemmas / Guilt / Shame in Sexual Desires / Underage Seduction: I am so here for underage!Bruce systematically and insistently seducing Alfred, who tries his very best to resist him and is just horrified at himself once he starts being actually tempted to give in.
- Nightmares: because Bruce Wayne in any verse is messed up as hell.
- Power Imbalance: with their age difference on the one hand, and the fact that Bruce is Alfred's boss on the other
- Secret Relationship

The Hateful Eight (2015)
Marquis Warren/Chris Mannix

This ship has just about eaten my brain since I first saw the movie. I love their initial antagonism, I love that they have every reason to hate and despise each other, and yet they still end up working together and trusting each other. I love that for all his hatred, Mannix almost seems to admire Warren from the start and is surprisingly respectful towards him at times ('please, Major, let me shoot that ugly bastard' comes to mind). There is so much potential for their relationship if they survive, so I'd love to read any fic in which they do survive (somehow, I don't care how medically implausible it is) and maybe partner up as bounty hunters or see each other every time Warren shows up with new bounties (if we assume that Mannix actually is the new sheriff of Red Rock). And they're the weirdest, most mismatched pair of sort-of-friends ever and constantly confuse people around them, and they grow closer without ever entirely getting over their antagonism and their disagreements, probably switching between 'aw, I'm starting to like him' and 'I'm going to murder him if he doesn't shut his goddamn mouth' twice per conversation. And eventually they end up sleeping with each other. Maybe because they share a bed/blankets in the next cold winter and that leads to more? Maybe because they're angry at each other and fighting about something and that leads to more? Maybe one of them gets injured again and the other takes care of him and there's some gentler affection going on? (Please let's pretend Warren only got shot in the upper thigh or, idk, got one ball shot off and the rest is still intact.)

There's so much you could do with their issues and antagonism, and their shared bond after what they went through, and the loyalty between them – especially if you have Mannix saving Warren's life again post-movie because he was somewhat less badly injured and patched Warren up, and Warren is grateful, but also hates owing Mannix.

- Arousal From Killing / Murder / Sex in the Blood of their Enemies
- Dubious Consent / Emotional Manipulation: I am so here for Warren manipulating Mannix, who's so very eager to please and has such daddy issues.
- Humiliation / Internalised Homophobia / Period-Typical Homophobia / Shame in Sexual Desires: because I bet they both have hang-ups about being attracted not just to a man, but to a black/white man. And Mannix at least probably gets off on humiliating dirty talk.
- Knifeplay
- Scars: and what they say about their respective history (Mannix's scars from the war, Warren probably has scars from getting whipped)
- Secret Relationship




Blitz (2011)
Tom Brant/Porter Nash

I've been shipping this so hard since I first saw the movie - it's another one of those ships I just can't get enough of. It hits a lot of my buttons - assholes who care about each other (mostly one asshole, really), the banter and the dickishness, but also the growing respect between them, how they start to trust and rely on each other really fast. I'm good with fic set during the movie or something set afterwards, both would be great. I love that they're both profoundly fucked up people, and I love how quickly and easily they share their issues with each other, so anything expanding on that (and also on where their issues come from) would be great. I'd also love any kind of casefic about them, or any time of first time fic. Or just generally filthy kink (especially D/s, mostly with Nash topping from the bottom, Brant having a secret humiliation kink, dirty talk, bondage, collars, go wild). Some more detailed prompts in my M/M Rares letter here.

- Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism: since Brant canonically is an alcoholic, anything expanding on that
- Blackmail: maybe someone finds out about their relationship and Brant would do just about anything to make sure it doesn't come out?
- Breathplay
- Humiliation: idek why, but I am so into Brant getting off on Nash talking down to him while Brant fucks him, that he's just a useless brute who's good for nothing but fucking him etc.
- Internalised Homophobia: on Brant's side, considering his whole macho attitude (I'm fine with both him being repressed and never having slept with a man before, or with him regularly sleeping with men but being absolutely awful to the men he sleeps with)
- Murder: casefic solved with unconventional methods again?
- Possessive Behaviour: on both sides



The Coldfire Trilogy
Gerald Tarrant/Damien Vryce

I am fascinated by how incredibly intense their relationship becomes in canon: Damien's fascination with Tarrant, with how "seductive" he is, how both their moral compasses get realigned by working with each other, their canonical soulbond, how protective they both become of each other, how much they both compromise their principles for each other.  I don't care if the fic is set during the books or after the canon events. I do not like the ending of the trilogy, though, so if you write something set post-canon, I'd prefer an AU in which Tarrant survives as himself (either as a normal, mortal human or as the Hunter, but definitely still with his old looks and name and personality). If he survives as a human, I'd love to see Damien help him adjust to being mortal again. If he survives as the Hunter - or any other kind of undead, immortal being - I'd love to see how Damien deals with the fact that he truly cares about Tarrant by then, but that he has sworn to kill the Hunter after everything is over.

I'd generally love any fic that explores the darker magical possibilities of this canon. Tarrant's undead nature, various blood magic rituals, the way Tarrant feeds off fear (but could theoretically feed off other things as well), the two of them facing other kinds of magic together etc.

- Bloodplay / Blood Drinking
- Blood Magic / Dark Magic: maybe Tarrant needs Damien for some kind of ritual to keep himself alive (and undead ;))? Maybe Tarrant wants to make sure Damien is immortal, too?
- Corruption / Ethical Dilemmas: Damien did swear to kill the Hunter ... (I'd prefer if he didn't go through with it, obviously.) I'd also love to see some of Damien's darker sides.
- Knifeplay
- Obsession: on both sides
- Sex Pollen: some kind of magical sex pollen infecting either one or both of them; preferably before they get together.



The Raven Cycle

Only fandom I requested several ships for, but I'll list some ship-specific prompts below. I love both Ronan and Declan a lot, my endgame OTPs being Gansey/Ronan and Declan/Adam, but I also ship pretty much any combination of Niall/Ronan/Declan/Gansey (or rather any combination in which Ronan is present). Feel free to combine any of these ships if that works for you. I generally have the biggest soft spot for Lynch family stuff, even without any incest going on. Declan and Ronan's relationship, their relationship with their father, how everything changed when Niall died, if there's maybe some way Declan and Ronan might reconcile in the future. I find Ronan's dream magic incredibly interesting, so I'd love to see anything about that, and I love the Barns. I'm slightly less interested in the whole Glendower stuff, though I don't mind it being included as long as it's not the main focus.

I don't ship Ronan/Adam and Blue/Gansey, so I'd be very grateful if those ships could just not appear at all in my gift. I do love Ronan and Adam as friends, though. I haven't read the fourth book yet - I don't mind spoilers, but I'd prefer not to receive a fic that requires detailed knowledge of the last book to make sense. Niall is my one exception to the "please no character death for my faves" rule because Niall's death is just so central to who Ronan and Declan are. As for Gansey's death, I wouldn't mind a fic focusing on it, but I would like for Gansey to come back in the end because Ronan without Gansey fucks me up too much.

I have a lot of prompts in my Rare Pairs letter, if you need more inspiration beyond the tags.

Richard Gansey III/Ronan Lynch

- Came back wrong: Ronan doing everything in his power to bring Gansey back to life, and it doesn't work out immediately. My main idea would be Ronan trying to dream a new Gansey, but somehow that Gansey is never quite right, so he has to kill him and try again ... and it just fucks him up beyond belief. I'd prefer a not entirely sad ending for this, though (maybe he eventually manages to bring back real!Gansey).
- Codependency / Possessive Behaviour: anything focusing on how incredible obsessed these two are with each other, to the point of unhealthiness and literally being unable to be apart.
- Night Terrors / Nightmares: anything about Ronan's nightmares, his dream magic ... and how that affects Gansey.

Niall Lynch/Ronan Lynch

- Dream Invasion: anything about shared dreams and generally their creepy dream magic - whether it's before or after Niall's death
- Incest / Underage Seduction: whether it's Ronan seducing his father because he obsessively adores him, or Niall who can't keep his hands off his perfect, beloved, adored son who's just like him ... I also love the idea of incestuous, shared dreams bleeding over into the real world.
- Night Terrors / Nightmares
- Obsession: on both sides

Also, this doesn't really fit any of the tags, but what's up with the devil Ronan saw Niall shoot? I'd generally be interested in anything that explores how religious Ronan is (and I'm assuming Niall was just as religious) and how this affects and is affected by his dream abilities. So if you want to write about that, I would love that, even if it doesn't go with any of the tags I requested.

Niall Lynch & Adam Parrish

My one gen request! Though should you want to make this slashy, include some UST or dream sex or whatnot, that's totally fine by me. Again, I don't ship Ronan/Adam, so please don't include that in any way, but feel free to include Declan/Adam. Mostly I just want to see these two interact for some creepy magic shenanigans - either with Niall as a ghost, or with dead!Niall somehow invading Adam's dreams, or Adam running into a shadow of Niall in Cabeswater ... Maybe Niall helps Adam with something magic-related, maybe ghost!Niall needs Adam to do something for him and Adam is the only one who can hear him because of his relationship with Cabeswater? Maybe Niall knows something about Adam's powers and helps him out? Maybe Niall has some connection to Cabeswater himself, even after his death?

- Daddy Issues: Adam's father was the worst, Niall adored his kids and would probably get weirdly paternal (in bizarre ways because he's still Niall Lynch) around Adam.
- Dream Invasion: Adam dreaming about Niall, Niall forcing his way into Adam's dreams because he needs to tell him something or simply because he's bored
- Ghosts / Hearing Voices: Adam seeing/hearing ghost!Niall
- Vengeful Spirits: ghost!Niall helping Adam against some less friendly spirits?

Aaaaand that's it! We've reached the end of this disturbingly long letter. I think it got longer than even my previous letters, it's a bit embarrassing. I hope that somewhere in this endless rambling and long bullet point lists of stuff I like, you found something that you'd enjoy writing, some prompt that works for you or some tropes or kinks you love. I'm looking forward to whatever you come up with for any of this, and I hope that you receive a great gift yourself. :D

Thanks!
linndechir