Dear Trick or Treat Author,

Thank you for writing something for me! I hope you enjoy this season of spooky things and comforting things. I do not mind whether the fics here have anything to do with Halloween or their universes' equivalent, but if you want to focus on that kind of thing, feel free, even if a particular prompt doesn't mention it.

I like to divide my letters into two sections: preferences and prompts. Preferences apply to all the prompts unless otherwise stated and cover my DNWs and the things I like. Prompts are just some ideas to help you, but if you have your own, then feel free to follow whatever floats your ghost.

This journal is a repository of Dear Author Letters. I also have a regular DW account at

prixmium. On AO3, I am

Prix. If you would like to find me elsewhere or learn more about me, you can check out my carrd.

Preferences

Medium

For this exchange, I have only requested fic, but I am completely open to receiving fic or art as additional gifts. I like any art styles or color palettes, but my favorite colors tend to be red, dark jewel tones and natural colors, and neutral tones. If you are doing anything for a video game where the player character is involved, here is my Cousland Warden (DAO) and here is my Hawke and Carver to the left (DA2).

Ratings

Any rating is fine! I love gen fics that focus on friendship, familial relationships, or the early development of romantic relationships. Even in ship fic, I enjoy the characters just enjoying each other's company. I love T-rated fics that do not delve into the dark or lewd very deeply but which traffic in the tension between people. And I am more than happy to receive M or E-rated fic which involves the grime and grit of canon-appropriate horror or the full description of sexuality in a story.

DNWs

General/Non-sexual

- graphic torture or gore (you may use brief depictions to further a story in this exchange, if you wish)
- graphic depictions of extreme bodily injury (unless magically mostly fixed)
- unrequested AUs except canon divergence
- character or ship bashing
- unrequested ships (references to explicitly canon ships ok)
- unrequested permanent character death of any main character
- hopeless ending (scary, sad, or uncertain okay)

Sexuality-Related

- permanent injury related to sexual activity (unintentional or markings such as brands, scars, etc.)
- breathplay
- hardcore or lifestyle BDSM / D/s (lighter and spontaneous forays into BDSM or D/s that do not define characters' whole relationships are fine!)
- noncon (dubcon ok)
- sexual contact with wounds
- spitting as an act of sexual dominance (typical uses of saliva otherwise are whatever)
- semen or anything similar in eyes
- A/B/O
- m!preg (unless transman pregnant for whatever reason; basically no biologically-impossible pregnancies)

Trick-or-Treat Related

Community Challenge

I opt in to the Battle of the Bands challenge, if you want. I have no particular song preferences, and I don't even know all of the songs! I would prefer that you use songs or lyrics that inspire you for one of my prompts. As far as listening to music, I like all kinds of genres except things where music with lyrics has lyrics that are inaudible (like really intense metal), but if you are inspired by a song that doesn't work for me, that's okay!

ToT Prompts

A lot of my general likes may be appropriate for 'trick' or 'treat' prompts, but here are a few additional things for this exchange.

Trick Ideas

- a monster which either seemed like a run-of-the-mill enemy that could be easily dispatched or which initially seemed like an innocent survivor turning on the character(s)
- everybody | a loved one dies (except I would prefer that this be either a dream, a prophecy which can be avoided, or something which can be fixed, even if it is not completely resolved by the end of the story)
- tempted by a demon | fairy | monkey's paw
- a story that focuses almost entirely on a traumatic event but which ends with a dramatic rescue or finding oneself in a safe place to recover
- awakened in an alternate timeline | bizarro/mirror-verse and must fix it or get back home

Treat Ideas

- huddling for warmth (anywhere from gen fluff to explicit)
- learning about an unfamiliar tradition from a loved one
- monsters but they turn out to be cute, innocent, nice, helpful, or ordinary denizens of their realm
- creature comforts (food, tactile stuff, physical touch of any rating, etc.)
- a story that focuses almost entirely on the getting-better from a traumatic ordeal

Likes

Gen

- found family
- monster of the week/casefic
- slice of life (especially dealing with canon-appropriate twists on mundane existence or minor inconveniences)
- character study
- canon-typical violence/aftermath (hurt/comfort)
- canon-divergent AUs
- missing scenes
- survival (zombie, wilderness, apocalypse, etc.)
- political intrigue and machinations
- morality exploration
- world-building with character involvement
- redemption/atonement
- forgiveness
- earn your happy ending
- defeating/killing oppressors and abusers
- rebuilding from the ashes
- hurt/comfort

Shippy up to T/PG-13

- unresolved sexual tension
- "I had no one else to ____"
- trust and loyalty
- power imbalance (addressing, not addressing, overcoming, confronting, etc.)
- accidental marriage
- arranged/political marriage
- competence affected by relationship (for better or worse)
- compromising mission/duty for love
- choosing love over mission/duty
- us against the world
- awkward flirting
- accidental/impulsive love confession
- non-sexual physical intimacy
- sexually-charged physical intimacy that (for [x] reason) does not reach full realization

NSFW

First and foremost, I want something that feels in-character! Apart from my DNWs and anything that you would consider very opt-in, I am pretty open-minded about how characters have sex and any kinks they may have.

Vanilla sex is fine! Kinky sex is fine. Kinks can be straightforward and healthy, or they can be poorly-veiled coping mechanisms. The amount of negotiation and explicit consent can vary depending on who the characters are and where they are in their relationship. It could be their first time, together or at all. It can be established-relationship sex. It can be planned or spontaneous. It can be smooth or awkward or sensual or weird. Let the characters and relationship rather than my personal preferences guide you.

Even if your fic focuses primarily on a sexy scene, I would like a smattering of context. More than anything, I want to feel like it happens between people, not just ad-lib erotica. For my prompts, I may not always explicitly prompt smut, but please know that you can include it for any ship I have requested unless I expressly ask you not to.

Special note for this exchange: I actually really like the Aliens | An Ancient Ritual | Sex Pollen | Something Made Them Do It trope if it includes characters who do not completely hate the idea and whose relationship can recover and even grow stronger from it. I love it when it's kind of awkward or even scary but also kind of enjoyable in spite of all good sense. I also like characters dealing with their mutual feelings of being exposed, vulnerable, or even violated by not having the full ability to consent in the circumstance, even though it was not an issue with the other party. I think that could work well for a trick fic, so I am making special note of it here.

Prompts

Dragon Age

Dragon Age is my newest fandom. I am currently playing DA2 for the first time, but through my best friend, the wiki, and other fandom resources, I know the general outline of stuff I have not yet completed. I don't mind spoilers!

One of my favorite things about Dragon Age is that the world-building is really accessible and familiar. There is a sense in which one might call it lazy, even, but it comes in bite-sized chunks that don't feel like one needs to get a doctorate in Dragon Age lore before one can participate. I like how it includes a lot of dark, edgy stuff but still manages to be a story that has room for humor, love, and friendship to matter and even sometimes win.

Ships, if you want to include any: Alistair/Female Warden, Alistair/Morrigan, Alistair/Female Warden/Morrigan

I am so very interested in any non-romantic relationship you wish to explore for any of my requested characters. I am especially interested in Morrigan & Kieran and Alistair & Kieran if the Dark Ritual occurred between Alistair and Morrigan.

Alistair

- Alistair is interested in the occult. He was trained as a templar, though he did not wish to become one in practice. He mentions still being able to do some of his templar abilities in spite of the fact that he was never dosed on lyrium. Now, due to retcon, this should be impossible, but I read a fan-theory that maybe people with magic in their blood, such as Alistair (from Fiona) or Carver (from his Amell blood) could be able to do templar-abilities without lyrium. I'm really interested in that! What is the line between "templar abilities" and magic. Does Alistair have very low, latent magical abilities? What does this mean for him if he never really becomes a mage but ends up helping the mages in the future, either as a king or a Grey Warden?

- Alistair is interested in the occult. See my above prompt, but this one is about what happens if he accidentally treads where mortals should not. What if he attracts the attention of a demon or another otherworldly being? What if he activates an ancient magical artifact? What if he becomes lost in a labyrinth? Who will help him? What happens to him while he is there? I would be happy if this were a trick fic where it's really dark and spooky or a treat fic where it's more lighthearted and funny.

- Alistair learns that he is Fiona's son, and he learns to relate to the elf side of his heritage. (One specific request is that if this is art, I prefer it when Alistair continues to look human for the lore reasons given.)

Morrigan

- Morrigan is a shapechanger and has learned to interact with a lot of the creatures in the Korcari Wilds on their level. I am fascinated with this and how it shapes her understanding of her own human nature. She is such an introvert, and she has been taught some really terrible things about being open, honest, and vulnerable with people by her mother. I would love a fic that explored this in some way, and if she gets to use her shapechanging ability around someone she has come to care about, that's a bonus!

- The role of mages in most of Thedas is surely going to face a lot of changes after the Blight is over, regardless of the way in which the player characters and others shape the world. I would love to know more about Morrigan's role as an arcane advisor to the Empress of Orlais, or I would like to see her return to Ferelden. If Alistair is king, regardless of how you choose to interpret their relationship, I would like to see how she might interact with him about the future of mages in Ferelden after she has some life experience and possibly a son to think about.

- Flemeth is possessed-or-something by Mythal, an ancient Elvhen goddess. Kieran is potentially fused with the soul of an old dragon God of Beauty. Morrigan is, as far as we know, a regular human being with magic in her blood. I would love to know something or anything about how she interacts with these great, larger-than-mortal-life forces, particularly where it comes to her choice to try her best to be a good mother.

Fallout: New Vegas

This is the only Fallout game I've ever played, and I'm really attached to it. I wish we knew more about what happened after the end of the game. I would also love missing scenes or canon-divergence. I would also like to know more about the Legion and what it's like inside their borders. However, I would not like any fic that glorifies the Legion or which "sides" with them. I still view them and their ideology as antagonistic and evil, and I would prefer that they be the opponent or conflict rather than the sympathetic focus.

Ships, if you want to include any: (weird/creepy but redeemable)!Female Courier/Benny, Female Courier/Boone, Arcade/Boone, Arcade/Male Courier, Arcade/Original Male Character

I am so very interested in any non-romantic relationship you wish to explore for any of my requested characters.

Arcade Gannon

- I love Arcade's sense of humor in the face of a fairly tough life. I would like to see an episode from his life before he crosses paths with the Courier. I love that he is an academic researcher, and I am intrigued by the way he says that they get a lot of their medical resources and equipment by pillaging hospitals from the world before. That would be fascinating to read about, as would anything he does that is scientific/medical/humanitarian/anthropological research.

- I would like to have any fic about what he does post-canon except the end where he ends up with the Legion and commits suicide. That one is just too much for me. Alternatively, you could put him with the Legion but have him escape/be rescued. Arcade is not incapable of fighting and action, even if he is a brainy sort of person who prefers to avoid unnecessary violence, and I would like to see him having agency in his future.

- He is an academic, skeptical sort of person who comes from a tradition of some kind of secular humanism, as I understand it. It would be interesting to see him faced with something which is apparently supernatural. Some kind of vaguely religious or cult-themed horror would be fun! (However, it is important to me that no real-world religion be 'debunked' or overall disparaged. If it's a destructive cult or sect, though, it's fine for that to be presented as dangerous and antagonistic.) Something that makes him question his worldview!

Benny

- I would love to have a fic which explores what Benny goes through as a captive of the Legion which inspires him to actually change his life. I love atonement/redemption stories, and I don't like death-equals-redemption lazy cop-outs. I would like any fic in which Benny's experiences make him have a broader view of the whole of New Vegas rather than just his people. He seems like a ruthless person, but he doesn't care to be sadistic for no real reason if he is viewed generously. I would like to see him gathering some courage and making up for his past transgressions and apathy.

- If Benny is not inclined to be inspired to stepping up to the plate easily, I would like a sort of dark comedy story about him facing a series of increasingly unfortunate events. I wouldn't really like something that is even lighthearted torture porn, but I would like it if life and the universe just wouldn't stop treating him as a punching bag until he straightens up.

- If he has chosen to get involved, I would love any story about his cooperation with any Courier, regardless of how you interpret their relationship. I have that mod where he can become a companion, and I am fascinated by what that could be if it were canonically included in the story.

Female Courier

- I feel like the genre FNV is riffing on and emulating is a very male-dominated genre. I would love any fic that explored what the Courier being a woman means she has gone through. It could include the unfortunately-gendered violence women tend to face in the world we know, but if it does, I would like her to be able to subvert expectations, escape, survive, or harm her would-be assailants.

- I would love any back-story for a Female Courier prior to canon! Where did she come from? Did she have any family or friends she meant to go back to? Does she experience amnesia after her near-death experience?

- I have seen it suggested that there is no realistic way the Courier could have survived her injuries. I do not like the theory that the Courier is a robot or something, but I like most of the other what-if's. An occult or weird-science means of bringing the Courier back to life? Why? What does it mean for the Courier if she or any of her companions ever find out why and how she is alive?

Agents of SHIELD

I am interested primarily in the earlier seasons of Agents of SHIELD, capping off around S4 at the latest. I do not mind if you reference later canon, but I'm not very familiar with it. I would love "fix-it" fics utilizing time travel, alternate timelines, or basic canon-divergence. I like when it overlaps with the MCU, but I do not mind whether or not it features heavily in the story or not. Basically, I just want a story that does not fall into the cynicism I think this show and many other mainstream stories took on through its runtime.

Ship, if you want to include it: Grant Ward/Skye|Daisy Johnson*

I know a lot of Skyeward fans honestly resent everything that happened once Skye became "Daisy." However, I don't really mind that particular storyline about her parentage and her choosing to honor her father's complicated love for her. I would like it if this were more positively echoed in the ship, if it is to be echoed at all. I also don't mind if you want to do an "Always only Skye" story! I just want you to know that I'm okay with either direction if you want to include her as a romantic interest or as just a real friend to Ward.

I am interested in any non-romantic relationships you wish to include for my requested character.

Grant Ward

- A canon-divergent fic from the very end of S1 where he finds the strength to pull himself away from Garrett's influence. What would that look like? Hope punk! But a healthy amount of revenge against abusers is also welcome.

- On a more realistic note to the previous one, I would love any canon divergence prior to Ward's canonical death. I feel like it would be great to have a story where it's never too late for him to turn around, just like it was never too late for any of the other characters who betrayed each other. I would be interested to see a story where the "twists" with Ward did not go so far as to make his motives be virtually unrecognizable by the very end of S2.

- A story in which Ward is also an Inhuman or is an Inhuman instead of Skye | Daisy. My immediate thought is that he might have fire-based powers, but any idea you might have would be great!

Doctor Who

Doctor Who is the fandom that taught me how to participate in fandom, the good and the bad, in my late teens. It also gave me hope when I had been through something very bad and had very little. I love how it toys with horror themes but comes back around to a theme of love, hope, and perseverance winning.

Ships, if you want to include any: Clara/Danny Pink, Clara/Twelve (romantic or some kind of queer platonic thing), Clara/Ashildr|Lady Me, Rose Tyler/Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler/Ten-II, Martha Jones/Jack Harkness

I am also interested in any non-romantic relationships you want to explore for any of my requested characters.

Clara Oswald

- For a trick-based fic especially, I would love any fic that explores the creepy aspects of her unnaturally extended lifespan. It is another one of those opportunities where a former companion gets to be similar to the Doctor in being this ageless, time-traveling being who gets involved in other people's business, but it is even stranger than usual. I would love a sort of goth-spooky-vibes story about Clara establishing her own involvement in her pre-afterlife excursion.

- For a more positive death-based-fic, which is itself a strange term, I would like some reassurance that there is a happy afterlife and not just the creepy facsimile of one Missy created. Perhaps when Clara finally does decide enough is enough and returns to Gallifrey to move on, she could be reunited with people she has lost, such as Danny. I would also like a lighthearted thing about her being a proper ghost and the Doctor remembering her (a bit more of a satisfying take on what we got in Twelve's last special).

- Any fic about Clara and/or one of her Echoes and what they got up to in the history of the universe.

Rose Tyler

- If you are going with canon, I would like a fic about the sort of reverse culture-shock and trauma of Rose and Ten's human-like clone facing a more ordinary life with each other. I would like to believe that there still are fantastical things they get up to and that Torchwood may still be an influence in their lives. However, I am fascinated by the sort of horror and dread of a "normal" life. I would like an ultimately positive ending, but I think Billie Piper once did joke about how they might both be a bit miserable and irresponsible on "the Slow Path." Bittersweet is what I am hoping for here.

- I would love a fic where Rose was not conveniently shuffled back to Pete's World because Ten hates himself and Billie Piper wasn't planning to return to the show. While I understand canon's direction on both an in-universe and meta level, I would love a slice of self-indulgent, Rose gets to come back for real fic.

- Rose is another one of those companions who sort of acts like the Doctor when the Doctor isn't around. I would love to see a story from before Rose got to see the Doctor again when she was working for Torchwood supposedly. I would like to see her face something creepy and grimdark the way Torchwood employees tend to but finding a renewed sense of herself and the hope she once had through dealing with it. Go as dark and horrific as you want as long as there's a hopeful ending.

Martha Jones

- I feel so cheated that we did not get a more upward-trajectory S3 of Torchwood starring Martha and Mickey, though I don't really care to ship them. (If you want to include background Martha/Mickey instead of my requested ship, that's okay, though.) I would love to see a moment of what that would have been like. When Martha goes off with Jack and Mickey follows, it was clear that was what they were setting up, but real-life actor and network stuff got in the way.

- I like how Martha seems to be looking for a healthy love life but seems to struggle to find one. It's interesting. Whether you include my requested ship or not, I would enjoy a fic that explores that so long as it respects Martha as an individual who does want a partner. I don't want any "Independent Doesn't Need a Man" ending, please.

- A slice of life while Martha is working for UNIT. What kinds of weird things do they deal with in the Doctor's absence? She claims that she tries to be a good influence on a problematic organization, and I would like to see what that means in action.

Carmilla (Web Series)

I have never gotten around to watching the movie, but I love the series. I think it has an interesting format to present a serious story with a lot of love and humor. I like how it has a sort of everything-weird-is-normal atmosphere.

Ship, if you want to include it: Kirsch/Danny (I headcanon that Danny is bi, and as far as I know this was never refuted.)

Wilson Kirsch

- Danny put Kirsch through hell in the final season of the show. She was bitter about what had become of both her life and her death, and her new vampiric nature drove her to become someone else. And yet, their ending lines to each other absolutely broke my heart and put it back together again. He still loved her, and she cared about him. Whether you interpret his feelings as unrequited or returned, I would love anything that reunites them in a meaningful way, post-canon.

- I love how Kirsch is a clueless, good-boy, token-straight-friend. I also like how he seems to become more competent in S2. If I have a criticism about what the chose to do with him in S3, it is that it sort of seemed to take some of his character development away, but it makes sense when he has been being used as a blood and punching bag for ages. I would like any AU that allowed him to escape the fate he had in S3 and to be more active in his own life and in the lives of his friends.

- I would love anything pre- or post-canon about how Kirsch relates to what he has learned about how freaking weird the world he lives in is.