AU Exchange Letter (2020)

[tentacledicks]

Hey there! I'm tentacledicks over on AO3 as well, and have fanfic requested for all of my fandoms (with Watch Dogs, and Transformers fanart likes listed at the bottom of this.)

DNWs -
- Major Character Death in main pairings
- Unrequited feelings
- On-screen rape/noncon
- Memory loss/memory wipes
- Suicide
- Incest

Index

General Likes/Smut Likes
Black Jewels
Dragon Age
Watch Dogs (Jaiden)
Watch Dogs (Wrencus)
Watch Dogs (Canon AU)
Mass Effect: Andromeda (Angara)
Mass Effect: Andromeda (Ryder Family)
Transformers G1
Art Likes

Likes-
- Anything that involves kink, especially kink as a way to process trauma and other strong emotions (exceptions: no caregiver/little, daddy anything is an instant nope for me)
- Chronic conditions (mental or physical) focused on as a grind that wears people down until they can't go it alone anymore, hurt/comfort
- Politics, especially the sort of politics that show up in small, tight-knit organizations with all the jockeying for position and careful diplomacy that entails
- Action! Danger! Fighting!
- Worldbuilding, especially worldbuilding focused on cultural notes like fashion, food, and architecture
- Complex etiquette and rules for social interaction, D/s-adjacent interpersonal expectations, outlandish concepts taken seriously when it comes to how people would create rules to handle them (i.e., "murder is legal" in BJT-verse not meaning that you're free of social consequences for murdering someone, just that legal recourse is limited)

Smut likes
- D/s dynamics, kinking on D/s dynamics in a nonformalized setting, undernegotiated D/s
- Oral of any type (rimming, blowjobs, cunnilingus) especially as a precursor to penetrative sex
- Multiple orgasms leaving characters as absolute wrecks
- Body worship
- Rough sex, violent sex, unsafe and dangerous sex with knives and guns in the bedroom, bloodplay, biting, choking, the whole lot
- Xeno for aliens, especially in the form of Bad Dragon dicks
- No strong opinions on top/bottom roles for anyone; switching is fine, strict top/bottom roles are fine, just mash them together in whatever configuration you like because I enjoy them all!



Black Jewels


Fanfiction

Characters:
Daemon Sadi
Jaenelle Angelline
Lucivar Yaslana
Marian Yaslana
Surreal SaDiablo
Karla
Rainier

AU tags:
ALL: Pern AU - Oh, my other strangely gender-essentialist with complicated social norms canon, how I do adore you. I think there's some fascinating ways to map caste to the color of dragon impressed, and other ways to tweak instead; Lucivar could be either a brown rider or a bronze rider with no issue, Surreal and Rainier both imprinting on greens could be a lot of fun to work with, Karla as a gold rider with absolutely no interest in any of the bronze riders set on gaining her attention... I am such a fan of the dragonriders and all the strange ways Weyr politics play out, I would love anything that works with that.

ALL: the canon setting is a MMORPG the characters play - MMO AUs are my catnip. Daemon as an infamous PvPer who is always on the cutting edge of gear scaling, Jaenelle as the leader of the biggest RP guild on the server, Lucivar and Marian meeting in game and getting married irl... there's a million ways to play it, and all of them are hilarious.

Are all classes gender-locked? Would caste = class at all, or do they have different skilltrees that just happen to correspond to caste? Would jewel strength = levels or something? I don't know! I just think it would be fun to try and figure out how to map a lot of the world concepts onto a game instead.

All: Werewolf Pack, ALL: Werewolves, ALL: Shapeshifter AU - I WANT TO SEE THEM. AS WOLVES. BECAUSE WEREWOLVES ARE GREAT. In canon-verse, where it's just a quirk of the Dark Court that all of them can shapeshift, or maybe it's a particular aspect of Saetan's influence that makes it happen, would be a lot of fun—all of those Blood instincts and drives mixed with all the drives of the wolf instincts, and the ways that might affect how the human Blood interact with the Kindred Blood, would be so fun.

Alternatively, a total setting swap where they're only shifters would be a lot of fun too. How would those relationships and interactions change if they were just a wolfpack that kept collecting strays? Or if Daemon really was some big cat under his skin, just waiting to move into the predator's shape he's always kept secret?

ALL: Modern Urban Fantasy AU - Not unlike the above, because I love to see werewolves in anything and vampires basically exist in canon already, but I'd be really interested in takes on the characters that aren't linked to being Blood specifically. Like, if Karla and Jaenelle were classic UF witches but Daemon was an old-blooded Fae prince, or Surreal as a snarky private investigator and secret psychic, Lucivar as a genuine fallen angel, all sorts of possible directions to go with it.

Part of the fun is not just the potential list of fantasy archetypes they could be but also the sorts of jobs they'd have to fit into those kinds of archetypes. Outside of the structure of Blood society, where would they fit? Who owns a bar but keeps getting dragged into murder mysteries, who happens to work for the government on hunting their own kind, who turned their back on the supernatural community and is just trying to live a quiet life? (That last is probably Jaenelle, tbh.)

ALL: Modern setting but it’s still the canon universe - Given that the world of Black Jewels hovers around gaslamp fantasy aspects, I'd like to see some of that pushed further. Not just lights and carriages that can be run by craft, but phones for Blood that can't otherwise extend their psychic reach that far; webs like the one Daemon used to record the play being commonplace, even expected for audiences that can't see the play themselves; mass transport along the lines of craft-powered carriages and urban landscapes built around them.

Now, whether or not that extends to landen settlements is up to you! On one hand, it feels fitting that even well-meaning Blood wouldn't think of ways to extend modern advances to their landen counterparts. On the other hand, there could be a really interesting dichotomy between modern electricity and craft-powered technology, especially since landens outnumber the Blood by so much; what if the major cities start becoming mostly landen? What happens when the use of craft alone isn't really enough to give the Blood a foot up?


Dragon Age


Fanfiction

Pairings:
Dorian Pavus/Cullen Rutherford

AU tags:
Dragon Age: Cullen is sent to Tevinter as Inquisition ambassador - A canon-divergence AU where Dorian never makes his way south, maybe? Either because Halward never tries the blood magic ritual or because Dorain's been so focused on getting Alexius to not fall into the culty Venatori that neither of them end up in Redcliffe. Cullen being sent north specifically because he's a former templar and familiar with magical combat (but still former and therefore not an overt threat) while Dorian is his contact to try and navigate the stormy waters of Tevinter politics.

Or! Post-Trespasser where instead of retiring to his templar sanctuary or maintaining his position in the Chantry, Cullen is the only one both visible enough and trustworthy enough to be sent north. Maybe meeting up with Dorian again is fraught, or maybe it's the only thing that makes sense to Cullen in the mire that is Tevene politics—and maybe Dorian's secretly missed the south, just a little, and Cullen is a taste of nostalgia.

Dragon Age: veteran Templars and Seekers are capable of magic - I could see this going one of two ways: either it's a closely guarded secret and part of the reason older Templars get gently retired to the White Spire (where their magic can be kept as tightly controlled as any mage might be) or it's one of those things that most Templars and Seekers are unaware of⁠—until the Breach makes lyrium supply lines iffy, and some people in the Inquisition start picking up on the fact that mages aren't the only ones making things move...

Since Cullen's coming off the lyrium, maybe Dorian elects to be the one to teach him some control. Or maybe Cullen's worried that Cassandra won't keep her end of the deal, so he tries to make an alternate one with the mage who's lived without Templar control over his life, who might be the only one Cullen can trust to keep him in check without another Templar or Seeker around.

Dragon Age: Dorian has to use blood magic to save his lover's life - What a miserable experience for both of them! Take all of Cullen's PTSD from Kinloch, wrap it up in Dorian's PTSD from his father and his self-loathing for falling into what he perceives as a betrayal of his ideals, and you have a very tasty hurt/comfort scenario that I am 100% behind.

I'd love to see how it affects not just their relationship but their core perceptions of themselves. If Cullen told himself he'd never let blood magic affect him again, how does this warp that? If Dorian's built some of his moral code on the concept that there are certain lines he won't cross, what does it mean for him that he had to, to save Cullen's life? Make it hurt!

ALL: A/B/O - Worldbuilding, ALL: Alpha/Beta/Omega - I don't have strong feelings how this dynamic plays out! A/B/O is one of my favorite trope sets, but I can see both Dorian and Cullen ranging from alpha to beta to omega without much difficulty. Each variation changes a little of how their interactions hit, and all of them interest me.

If you do decide to do an alpha/omega matchup with them, I'd be interested in seeing how that ties into Dorian's difficulties with Tevinter and his sexuality. Whether it's more acceptable for him now or less, I can't see him sitting easily with the idea of potential children, not after his childhood and the things done to him to make him conform.

All: Arranged Marriage AU - I have no idea how I'd like to see this play out! In canon 'verse, in a historical fantasy AU, I just want to see Dorian and Cullen meeting for the first time on their wedding day, and both of them having to work their way into a romance from there.

ALL: Black Jewels AU - I would be lying if I didn't say that half my interest in this is in the two of them being Warlord Princes with rut cycles that happen to sync up. Especially if Cullen's never considered a man before Dorian, so this is a very alarming thing for him to be doing while his memories of the events are fuzzy.

Apart from that, Cullen being burned hardcore by his position in Meredith's court, or Dorian having to flee Terrielle despite being from one of Hayll's Hundred Families because of his interest in men, could both be interesting scenarios to explore.

ALL: Cyberpunk AU - Considering how Cullen's been used his whole life as a Templar, and considering Dorian's fall from grace as an altus, both of them could end up in really interesting places in a cyberpunk AU. If Cullen was an ex-corporate soldier, modified against his will, he could have a lot of the same problems that he has in canon just shifted slightly to the left.

Meanwhile, Dorian could be the heir to one of the biggest conglomerates, or maybe as a hacker fighting his own heritage specifically because he can't stand to see what they've made of the world. He's got a rigid moral core and a desire to see that through; combined with Cullen's past as one of those people doing evil in the name of corporate power, they'd make a powerful team.

ALL: the canon setting is a MMORPG the characters play - Absolutely my catnip, all the time, forever. Considering how easily the DA classes and specialities map onto MMO equivalents (albeit a fairly limited MMO, but ESO is a fun game so it's not out of the realm of possibility) it's not even a difficult jump to make. The interesting part is how they met!

Rival guilds? Dorian as a newbie and Cullen as one of the mods of the guild Inquisition? Cullen as a newbie and Dorian as the infinitely charming high-level player showing him the ropes? How do they meet in meatspace, if they meet in meatspace? I don't know! I'd love to find out!


Watch Dogs (Jaiden)


Fanfiction, Fanart

Characters:
Aiden Pearce
Jordi Chin
Pairings:
Jordi Chin/Aiden Pearce

AU tags:
ALL: A/B/O - BAMF Power Couple Alpha/Alpha, ALL: Alpha/Beta/Omega - I FUCKING LOVE ALPHA/ALPHA SHIPS. And frankly, if there was ever a pair that fit those kinds of dominance plays and fights to be on top, it would be these two. Whether it's something that happens over the course of the first game, or whether it's something that happens post-canon, I'd love to see how these two end up together with that in mind.

ALL: 20th Century Gangster AU - I really love Mob AUs, especially Mob AUs that deal with all the seedy, fucked up criminal activities that gangsters actually get up to. Considering the setup of WD1, there's plenty from canon to work with too, and I'd like something with a similar level of focus on the violence and crime as the game; they're total lack of real moral code is part of what I love about these two, so taking that a step further is always fun.

An Aiden who joined the Club and never left, or a Jordi who became a made man instead of a freelancer, or maybe both⁠—canon's already pretty dark, but I feel like we can go just a bit darker. Anywhere up and down the range of the 1900s is good too—turn of the century rumrunners, the heights of gangster control in the 50s and 60s, in the spiralling downfall of the 80s and 90s... I'll take it in all flavors!

ALL: Modern Urban Fantasy AU - Jordi as a fae! Jordi as a vampire! Jordi as a werewolf! Jordi as a dragon! Jordi as some unknowable but fundementally terrifying creature of magic that is equally alarming to the magical community as he is to the regular human community that knows not what he is! Especially if one of the people who Knows Not What He Is is Aiden 'terminal dumbass' Pearce.

I'd really love to see Aiden stumbling through the veil that separates the magical community from the human one, with his particular brand of determination and violence, and Jordi as the thing that decides to protect him. Bonus points for Aiden getting turned into something magical himself, or awakening to magical heritage he didn't know about, and having to deal with the consequences of that.

ALL: Disabled Canon Characters - Mental or physical (Jordi has a therapist! Let's explore that.) Though I strongly prefer something that ends up looking at physical disability, either through an inflicted injury (neither of them lives a gentle life, after all) or as a canon divergence AU where that underlying physical ailment changes how things go.

Maybe Aiden got more fucked up from the car crash than he did in canon. Maybe Jordi flies a little too high and gets struck down in the middle of a job. Either way one (or both!) of them gets fucked up and has to deal with the repercussions of that.

ALL: Selkie AU - Aiden! As! A! Selkie! Maybe the Pearce family are some of the only selkies in Chicago, maybe his ugly jacket has his sealskin hidden in it, or maybe it's a full setting change AU where Jordi's the forlorn fisherman and Aiden's the handsome stranger that keeps showing up when Jordi least expects it.

I think this would be a lot of fun as a slight tweak on canon itself, especially if things like Nicky getting kidnapped was compounded by Damien stealing Aiden's skin. I could see there being a lot of tension with that, especially if Aiden's not sure where Damien hid the skin in the first place and ends up reluctantly teaming up with Jordi again after the lighthouse to find it.

ALL: Characters Have Children Together - So, "we accidentally stole a baby" is a fucking hilarious take on this, especially if the accidentally stolen baby can't be given back for whatever reason. Jordi and Aiden stuck with a kid, stuck raising a kid despite neither of them being prepared for it, and figuring their way forward from that... good shit, the goodest shit.

But I also really like mpreg (cis or trans, I'm happy with either) and think it could be fun to see them shift into something semi-domestic intentionally or accidentally; Aiden's such a hyperprotective mess over his family already, I can't imagine him being willing to give that up, but Jordi might take longer to convince.


Watch Dogs (Wrencus)


Fanfiction, Fanart

Characters:
Marcus Holloway
Wrench
Pairings:
Marcus Holloway/Wrench

AU tags:
ALL: Dragon Age AU - DedSec as an apostate group working to smuggle mage kids out of villages and towns before the Circle can seize them, or DedSec as a group of antislavery mercenaries that help escapees over the border from Tevinter, or DedSec as a group of fucked up people doing their best while on the streets of Val Royeaux... There's so many ways to shift their message, and so many causes they could believably fight for.

Wrench and Marcus as mages would be a really fun direction to take things in. Or maybe Wrench as a previously Tranquil mage that had his connection to the Fade restored? Marcus as a Dalish scout who runs across this fucked up mask-wearing, fireball-chucking hooligan who won't hesitate to help him out? I don't know! Take them places, I think it would be fun to do a lot of things with them.

ALL: Fantasy/Magic Royalty and Palace Intrigue AU - Put Marcus in a crown and slap a whole host of extra responsibilities on him, I'm sure he'll thank you for it. Maybe he wasn't originally supposed to inherit but the line of succession got fucked somehow, or maybe he's constantly at war with his own aristocracy to try and push reform through to the people—I can't see any Marcus who takes the trappings of royalty and then does nothing to change the world for the better. And Wrench is an explosive menace upon society who may or may not be helping him to those ends.

How the magic gets tied in is up to you. As fantasy races? I'd be keen on seeing elf!Marcus or dragon!Wrench tied into all this courtly intrigue. Or maybe magic is just a fundamental part of society, and being royalty means being one of the strongest mages around. I love seeing how magic systems are built, so if you want to go hogwild with that, feel free!

ALL: Mass Effect setting - Wrench was basically made to be an unstable, hyperaggressive biotic on the run. As a human, he could be a lot like Jack, an escapee from a facility designed to break kids into shape; as a turian, he could be a lot like Saren, always looking in from the outside because biotic units are considered untrustworthy and turians have a healthy amount of concern about biotics in general. Either way, he'd be a loose cannon, and not a little bit dangerous.

Marcus, on the other hand, could be anything, but I really enjoy the idea of him as a quarian, probably even a genius one that has his reasons for not returning back to the Fleet. Maybe one of those reasons ends up being Wrench because fuck, that dude needs a keeper, and Marcus holds to a lot of the same ideas about freedom that Wrench does. (Also: Jimmy Siska as Blasto. You're welcome.)

ALL: Some people are telepathic, ALL: Telepathic Soulbond AU - So picture this with me: the W4TCHED mission, but so much worse, because Marcus can hear how miserable and scared and furious Wrench is in the back of his head at all times. Just imagine how upset he would be. As if the FBI hadn't pissed him off enough already!

Marcus is so naturally good with people that I feel like telepathy is a fun thing to give him, especially since he cares so much about everyone that tacking on another layer of forced intimacy is fun to do. Maybe his telepathy is broad-spectrum and he can't turn it off, maybe it's limited to touch or certain people he's focused on, or maybe it's confined to the person he's bonded to however that bond came to be. Any way you swing it, he'd be the one to really have some opinions about someone else's thoughts in his head at all times.

ALL: Urban Fantasy AU, ALL: Modern Urban Fantasy AU, ALL: Vampires & Werewolves - Vampires and werewolves! Vampires fucking werewolves and vice versa! Vampires and werewolves as bitter enemies on two sides of a conflict, except for these two having a Romeo & Juliet relationship across that divide! Vampire influence affect werewolf control over their inner wolf, and werewolf blood being borderline addictive to any vampire who drinks it!

And in general, I think a lot of the stuff DedSec does could be really fun to explore in an urban fantasy setting. How magic might tie into ctOS, whether or not fae are hiding behind the masks of DedSec, the tightly knight social relationships in various hackerspaces that might resemble wolf packs... there's a lot of color there to work with, and I think it could be fun to see how things shift slightly once magic is added in.

ALL: Cyberpunk AU - Basically just Watch Dogs Legion but starring these two. Wrench is halfway to cyberpunk on his own, and DedSec's mission in WD2 is fundamentally an anti-corporate one; it would be easy to bump the tech level up, give Blume a little more reach, and see what type of dystopia you end up with. Probably a really bright one, maybe even one where Blume isn't stopping at ctOS when it comes to controlling people.

I think it would be a lot of fun to tie stuff like androids and cybernetic implants into this. I'd love to see a Marcus who maybe doesn't own his own limbs (or didn't, before he hacked into the system and stole the access to them) and a version of DedSec that has to be a little more vicious, a little more pragmatic when it comes to running and fighting back against their oppressors. And I love the vibrancy of San Fran, so seeing that translated to the vibrancy of a cyberpunk setting would be really cool too.

ALL: Pern AU - DRAGONRIDERS. But also, Marcus and Wrench being some of the people who worked with AIVAS, learning old craft and discovering how to do better and better advances in engineering. Maybe Wrench lost his dragon to thread and has thread scarring on his face, or maybe he was a smith that ended up particularly adept at figuring out the new technical stuff.

And Marcus as a rider who's always on hand to help them move around, or maybe as a harper who got tapped to work there, or potentially just a holder who was particularly adept at what he does; either way, both of them are on the cutting edge of this rediscovered technology, and they can't help but influence it and each other the more they work together.

ALL: Some characters are catboys/catgirls but nothing else changes - Just give Wrench some cat ears, it's adorable and he'd hate it and I think it's great.

ALL: Superheroes/Superpowers - This is one of my secret much-beloved AU types, because there's such a wealth of ideas to run with in superhero 'verses. Hero/villain shipping, unconventional heroes, unconventional powers, DedSec as a superpowered team or DedSec as the mundane identity hidden by the mask... I think it's even more interesting if Wrench isn't able to separate his "mundane" life from his superhero life, and that ties into the use of his mask—it's not that he's hiding his face because he's hiding a second life that can't be found out, it's that there isn't a second life, he doesn't know who he's supposed to be when he's not The Wrench.

There's a whole host of powers you could give either of them that would be fun to work with too. Empathy/telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, the standard super strength/speed/invulnerability combo, some of the quirkier ones like invisibility or controlling animals or certain types of elemental control... I'm up for basically anything and just really excited to see it in action.

ALL: Characters are rival social media influencers - Please god, just picture the Twitter wars. Give Marcus an Instagram and a TikTok account, let Wrench's claim to fame be mostly Youtube and Twitch until he rolls up to social media and starts swinging, and then let them make out after fighting about EVERYTHING first. It would be really fucking funny, and I am all about the funny.

(Seriously, pro-gamer Wrench vs TikTok legend Marcus. Imagine it. It's beautiful.)

All: dating a single parent AU - I could take this in both flavors. Wrench as a single parent would be a unique sort of mess; was he trans and had the kid himself, or was he dating a girl who left a baby on his doorstep for reasons? Either way, he's a fucking disaster on his own and as much as he might try to be a good parent, he'd keep being a fucking disaster until someone (Marcus) came along to give him a helping hand.

On the other hand, Marcus as a single dad for similar reasons has a lot of poignancy to it. He's a nurturer at heart, and I can see him doing everything for his kid—but maybe not thinking to do anything for himself in the meantime. So having this terrible goddamn influence blow into his life, especially if that terrible influence turns out to be alarmingly good with his kid, would be a gift that Marcus didn't know how to accept. It could be a lot of fun to see how that worked out.


Watch Dogs (Canon AU)


Fanfiction, Fanart

Characters:
Aiden Pearce
Clara Lille
Jordi Chin
Marcus Holloway
Wrench
Sitara Dhawan
Josh Sauchak
Pairings:
Jordi Chin/Aiden Pearce
Marcus Holloway/Wrench

AU tags:
Watch Dogs: Aiden joins up with SF Dedsec - Ohhh, this could be a lot of fun, depending on when it happened. You can pick up the side mission that leads to his cameo prior to Swelter Skelter, so that could potentially lead to a series of events where Aiden's access to ctOS is what helps DedSec bounce back. He's got even better access than T-Bone does, after all. On the other hand, a version of Aiden that came to SF with Ray could be a lot of fun too, whether or not he actually approves of joining up initially. The Council of Daves and Chicago DedSec are very, very different from the in-your-face group in SF, so it would be a pretty big culture shock for him, and a big ol' pedestal to knock over for Marcus & co.

(And I certainly won't object to Jordi showing up for the ride either, but this can be taken in a totally gen direction if you prefer; Aiden as Team Dad with Ray is a lot of fun to consider.)

Watch Dogs: Clara Lives - We were robbed. Clara shouldn't have died at the end of WD1, and I'm here for the universe where she doesn't. How would that change Aiden's actions in the pursuit of Damien? How does that change the events of Bad Blood, or even further beyond? Clara had so many secrets that she took to the grave with her, and I would love to see her getting a chance to tell them on her own terms.

Either Aiden is able to reach her, maybe get in contact with her, prior to the Merlaut—so the hit can't be called out on her in the first place—or she survives the bullet. In the event of the latter, I'd be interested in both group fic or a Clara-centric solo fic, exploring how she moves on living after setting herself up to die.

Watch Dogs: Jordi and Marcus run into Aiden during Bad Medicine - Aiden, still hunting down Bratva and Auntie Shu members for revenge, to find the human traffickers, or both. Jordi and Marcus, currently hunting down a specific Bratva hacker, who is on a yacht with a suspicious extra boat. All three of them meeting in the worst place possible, because it's also the funniest way for them to meet at all.

They'd have every reason to team up but honestly, I could see Aiden and Jordi going for each other initially, considering how they left off last time. Marcus as the unwilling voice of reason is absolutely hilarious, and also absolutely in character because he's the only one with common sense out of the three. Anton is right there, guys. Can we finish this before we try to kill each other, maybe??

Watch Dogs: WD2 but they have a dog in the hackerspace - This is just a fun, fluffy idea, and I'd love to see just a collection of snippets about DedSec getting this dog, all taking care of it, Wrench having to get over his fear of animals, and all of them bonding over their furry companion.

ALL: Characters play Dungeons & Dragons - Jordi has clearly played D&D before, you cannot convince me that Josh isn't a D&D nerd (he wanted Marcus to sing in elvish, the Hackerspace is below a games shop, they're all nerds) so clearly the only thing to do is let all of them play D&D together. Because holy shit, what a campaign that would be.

For maximum hilarity, consider the concept of Jordi as a DM. This is how he enacts his revenge: by taking everyone in DedSec through a brutal series of modules designed to chew them up and then spit them out again. It's the perfect crime, no one will ever catch him for the emotional murder he's about to commit.


Mass Effect: Andromeda (Angara)


Fanfiction

Pairings:
Jaal Ama Darav/Evfra de Tershaav
Akksul/Evfra de Tershaav

AU tags:
ALL: A/B/O - BAMF Power Couple Alpha/Alpha, ALL: A/B/O - Worldbuilding, ALL: Alpha/Beta/Omega - I love alpha/alpha couples. I'm really interested in how A/B/O dynamics would play out in broader angara society⁠—given the unique structure of their families, and the effect that the kett might have had on those existing social expectations around being an alpha. I think there's a lot of interesting directions you can take it, and I'm keen on all of them.

I'm especially interested in how being an alpha might influence the positions that Evfra, Akksul, and Jaal end up taking, and how it might influence their relationships with each other. In a way, all three of them have strong protective instincts; if that's an alpha thing, how do those instincts play out around other alphas? Or would dominance fights be more likely?

ALL: Character finds out they have a child they didn't know about - This one, especially with how much emphasis the angara put on family, has a lot of potential to hurt. Whether it's from an unnamed OC whose death ends up with the child being sent to the father, or whether it's an mpreg situation where male angara can have children too, I just love the idea of any of these men being faced with the realization that a) he has a child and b) he wasn't there for them until now.

All: Hanahaki Disease AU - HAHAHA ALL THREE OF THEM ARE PERFECT FOR THIS. Evfra especially, because he's emotionally reserved and incredibly tight-lipped about himself at the best of times, considering his position in canon and his refusal to let himself show weakness. So an Evfra who quietly suffers, because he can't admit to having feelings but he also can't afford to stop and deal with them properly, grimly carrying on in the face of his potential looming death is lovely.

Or! Akksul or Jaal, deeply emotional men who have no problems showing (and using) that emotion, but also have absolutely no indication that Evfra would return it. Which might hurt worse, because it's not that they're refusing for their own sakes, but instead refusing to confess because it's one more thing on Evfra's plate and the Resistance can't afford to lose him to distraction. Just give me all the whump, all of it.

ALL: Some people are telepathic - Oh boy, there's some ways this could really go screwy, and I like all of them. Akksul as a telepath that can't block out the rage and pain of all his peers, and that's part of what drives him so hard. If he can't hear the thoughts of aliens, even better; how can he be sure they're so friendly when the scavengers aren't and their minds are as blank as the kett are? (Worse, he can sometimes catch glimpses of kett thoughts, and the implications there haunt him.)

Or Jaal, who can hear aliens and can't admit to that fact when it's an untestable hypothesis. He doesn't trust them, no, but he does know that not all of them are totally untrustworthy⁠—and he's trying, so hard, to get that through to Evfra, seeing his influence sway people bit by bit while still doing his best not to influence them unduly.

Or Evfra, being the focus of the Resistance, and completely unable to show his emotions because he never knows what might be bleeding through. His rigid control is in part a way to keep himself himself, and an ability like that would only breed fear in his soldiers so he can't tell anyone. But he can pick up on the hero worship, and never quite knows when that tips over into genuine affection...

ALL: Star Trek Alternate Original Series Fusion - I just think it would be really, really interesting to see the angara's struggle with the kett set in the AOS 'verse, especially if the possible arrival of Starfleet to Andromeda complicates things further.

All: Arranged Marriage AU, All: Arranged marriage to prevent extradition or incarceration - The 'extradition' option is almost perfectly designed for Akksul; after all, the Initiative has a very good reason to want Akksul to pay for his crimes, and Evfra has a very good reason to refuse that. At the same time, I can't see him inflicting a marriage of political convenience on anyone but himself, so the two of them having to work through it together could be a lot of fun.

Or! An arranged marriage for some other purposes? A lost angara home planet that's been found and they have specific customs that Aya was unaware of? Maybe a canon divergence AU where the kett never attacked, so Evfra has to marry someone for [train noises] purposes? I'd be delighted to see how marriage customs might work with the way angara family units are set up, or if marriage as a concept is even common⁠—maybe it's an archaic custom being rekindled as a way of preserving their culture!


Mass Effect: Andromeda (Ryder Family)


Fanfiction

Pairings:
Alec Ryder & Ellen Ryder & Sara Ryder & Scott Ryder

AU tags:
ALL: A/B/O - Worldbuilding, ALL: Alpha/Beta/Omega - Personally, I see Alec as the most alpha alpha that ever alpha'd, and that casts a slightly different light on his interactions with his kids. Whether Ellen is an omega or a beta, she's the center of his world and the thing his protective instincts are going haywire over, and some of that bleeds into neglecting his kids even if he's trying his hardest not to.

Even better if the Ryder twins aren't alphas at all; considering their father's sterling record prior to his fall from grace, and considering potential ways the Alliance might shuffle certain dynamics around in its ranks, it could be another thing that got in the way of their relationship.

ALL: Pern AU - Dragonriders. Whether Ellen is a gold rider or just ("just") a weyrwoman, I'd love to see the family dynamic play out in the context of weyr politics. Especially considering the anxiety about whether the twins will impress, and if one impresses and the other doesn't, how that will affect them. (Bonus points for extant telepathy between the two of them, dragons or no dragons.)

Or! Seeing all those family dynamics play out in one of the Crafthalls instead! Ellen and Alec as masters, Scott and Sara as journeymen who might not ever make it that far, and all the complicated concerns about nepotism that entails.

ALL: Black Jewels AU - SPEAKING OF COMPLICATED FAMILY DYNAMICS. Somehow I can't picture Ellen as a Queen with a court⁠—Queen, maybe, court, almost certainly not. Black Widow, possibly? And her relationship with Alec would reflect some of that, whether or not he's a Warlord Prince. Especially if he serves in a court that she serves in, maybe? His loyalty would always be to his wife first, but that doesn't stop him from having court obligations.

Considering how touch and go Blood fertility is, I do wonder how common twins are. Scott and Sara might be something of a rarity, and it could be really interesting to explore that, especially if they're almost perfectly equal in jewel strength and caste too.

ALL: Modern Urban Fantasy AU, All: Werewolf Pack, ALL: Werewolves - You might be able to guess a theme here. :P The Ryders being a family unit gives them room to fit into a more natural wolfpack dynamic, rather than the forced proximity wolfpacks that early terminology was based on. Is that common for werewolves? Rare? Are they considered odd ones out for that, or is it par for the course?

Despite the Modern AU tag grouped in with this, I'm also interested in canon 'verse fic exploring the idea of wolves in the Alliance. I think it could have some serious implications, especially considering Alec's N7 work; maybe all N7s are werewolves? Maybe the twins being wolves too was a fluke?

ALL: Cyberpunk AU - SAM's not a requested character, but this is a place that's perfect for him to make an appearance. Considering Alec's quest for cybernetic implants to keep Ellen's disease at bay, he'd end up in the shit (maybe even super deep in debt?) pretty quickly; maybe even the two of them going missing and their kids having to hunt them down?

Scott and Sara carving their own paths, as hackers or bounty hunters or freedom fighters against the corporations, but still coming home, still reaching back to connect with family... And if they get a couple really sick implants and tattoos, even better.

ALL: Star Trek Alternate Original Series Fusion - RYDER FAMILY AS STARFLEET. Alec being a Captain, maybe even an Admiral, and his kids never feeling like they're able to match up, never feeling like they can quite meet his standards... And when everything goes to shit, maybe Alec's fall from grace follows?

I just want to see the whole Ryder family in the AOS 'verse, especially dealing with the more militarized version of Starfleet and all that entails. I love the way their military experience in canon can map onto Starfleet and also the little ways it's totally different, and I think it would be cool to explore.

All: Zombie Apocalypse - Modern AU/no relay AU where Earth never hit space and then the zombies hit Earth would be one way to do it. There's something about the unending misery, the toil for survival, and the bonds that builds that I think would be really interesting to explore from the perspective of the Ryder family. Especially when that means that maybe Ellen or Alec were on the front lines for the initial outbreak, depending on how this zombie plague started.

Alternatively, canon divergence where instead of joining the Initiative, the Ryders happened to be on a planet targeted by Reapers and the husk apocalypse is currently underway. If Ellen is still sick and there's no way to reach for help unless they all survive, all the better⁠—now Alec and his kids have more than one reason to fight, even if Ellen's already given up.


Transformers G1


Fanfiction, Fanart

Pairings:
Optimus Prime/Starscream

AU tags:
All: Arranged Marriage AU, All: Arranged marriage to prevent extradition or incarceration, All: Arranged marriage to resolve enmity/rivalry actually works leading to understanding/feelings - There's some really, really fun about Optimus and Starscream together, especially considering all the ways they are just two totally different people. I could easily see a match being arranged specifically to get Starscream onto the Autobots side (for whatever reason, be it tactical knowledge, getting the Seekers with him, or simply keeping him after yet another attempt on Megatron's life) and Optimus being the only one they're willing to set up with him⁠—whether it's because Optimus himself volunteered, or whether it's decided that he's the only one who will be able to stand being around Starscream for long enough.

Tying in a refusal to extradite would sweeten the pot for Starscream (and maybe keep him from trying his particular brand of loyalty with Optimus) and keep them both on their toes. I just think it would be really fun to play with.

ALL: Being in a time loop together leads to getting together, ALL: Time Loop - Time loops are interesting, but time loops where it's two people trapped in it together are even more interesting—both because of how it affects them, but also because of how they perceive those effects. Give the litany of mistakes the war has encompassed, there's a lot of room to be stuck in a redo loop.

Specific things I'd be really keen on are loops where they defect to either side: Optimus tries to see if becoming a Decepticon will break it, Starscream tries to go good for a while, both of them get worn down by the fact that nothing changes. Repeated deaths of their friends adding onto the misery would be interesting too (maybe including Skyfire? Certainly including most of the Autobot command.) Whether getting together is the thing that breaks it or getting together is incidental to snapping the loop is up to you, I'm happy with either variation.

ALL: Character Is a Secretly a Spy for the Other Side - Starscream was made for this. Especially since he's so OTT and traitorous anyways, it would seem silly if he were actually a spy. The perfect cover is being so overt that everyone thinks you're more of a joke than a real threat, after all.

Staging fights so no one guesses that Starscream is one of their own⁠, or maybe even Starscream's spy status being need-to-know information that most Autobots don't know, while Starscream can't let up for even a second without risking both himself and Optimus, and the two of them patching each other up after fights in secret, trying not to admit how worried they are... that's the GOOD SHIT.

All: Character Tries to Woo and Honorably Marry Their Fellow Sex Pollen Victim - Listen. Listen. There's a few different ways you can handle the sex pollen aspects (malicious code? nanomachines? a weapon of war?) but the important thing is Optimus taking it upon himself to fall on the sword of Marrying Starscream Voluntarily and Starscream straight up NOT HAVING IT (until he is having it, at least.)

If you want to do smut, considering the nature of the tag, I'm happy with basically every variation the fandom has come up with⁠—sticky sex, valveplug, sparkmerging, plug n play, wireplay⁠, the whole lot. I don't have a top or bottom preference either!

ALL: Forced Marriage AU, All: Forced marriage to resolve enmity/rivalry actually works leading to understanding/feelings - Like the Arranged Marriage AU, but with even less consent this time! I wouldn't mind seeing this particular one in Decepticon flavor too⁠—maybe Optimus gets handed off to Starscream as a loyalty test? Both of them being unwilling but having to work together to survive their own wedding could be really interesting.



Art Likes


Watch Dogs - Dress people up in different clothes! I like seeing Marcus and Aiden running around in whatever the player put them in, and I like seeing Jordi and Wrench's fashion reflected in different things. Especially in total setting swap AUs, I love to see how everyone's personal senses of style get translated. I also like group pictures, anything where people from the game are hanging out or doing things together.

Transformers G1 - Focus on the robot bits! I love how mechanical the cybertronians are, and I adore OP and Starscream's G1 designs, so anything that really focuses on things like wings or servo joints or something is great. I'm also super into interpretations of various forms of fashion, in Iacon or Vos or elsewhere; anything that uses special paint, or draped metal, or piercings through the plating as a status symbol is fun to see. (Especially in the event of a wedding.)