[comm] dear chocolatebox author:

[we_protect_each_other]

Dear Chocolatier,

I am failsafe on AO3.

Thank you so much for writing something for me! Each time I write one of these letters, I try to consolidate my common preferences, including likes and dislikes. Forgive me if it seems redundant at all. Please remember that this letter is for your convenience and guidance. If you have an idea you'd like to write that doesn't particularly fit one of my prompts or likes, go for it! My dislikes/do-not-wants list is pretty short, so please don't feel in any way intimidated by this letter.

In this letter, I'll provide you with dislikes, likes, and some fandom-specific prompts. In fandoms where I have requested "any" relationship, more concise prompts are for your sake and not intended to indicate lesser interest.

Dislikes: character bashing towards anybody, noncon, explicit gore, breathplay, serious or permanent injury related to sexuality, nihilism, hopeless endings (but sad is okay)

Likes: canon-typical violence, missing scenes, UST, emotional ambiguity, found families, developing or established relationships, time travel, pre-canon, post-canon, bedsharing, loyalty, worldbuilding, epistolary/journal/log fiction, monster-of-the-week / slice of ordinary life adventures, earned second chances, dealing with consequences, "what if" / canon divergent AUs, earned happy endings, holidays, casefic, groundhog day trope, mysteries, healing, survival (wilderness, zombie apocalypse, etc.), last stands, trying against impossible odds, succeeding against impossible odds, heartfelt goodbyes, unexpected reunions

Sexual content between consenting adults is fine if you'd like to write it, but I would prefer no PWP.



White Collar

This show is pretty new to me. I love all of the characters' dynamics, and Neal Caffrey is the most-common denominator among my requests; he appears in all but one. I did this because I am fascinated with the fact that he is a criminal but also a generally good person. I love his compassion for people, and how he is a genuinely sensitive and artistic person. His trust issues and feeling torn in multiple directions between his own way of life and the good he can do by being involved in Peter's. If you would like to include any relationship from the show as a story element, unnominated or unrequested from the tag set, feel free to. I love everything; I just wanted to narrow it down to the things I loved the most as possible focal-points.

Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke/Neal Caffrey (or Elizabeth Burke & Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey)

I love how Neal gets folded so easily into the domesticity at the Burkes' house. I also love how Elizabeth accepts how important Neal is to Peter and actively encourages them to have a healthy, trusting relationship. Peter seems to have a type of person that he likes, and this type certainly seems to include both Neal and Elizabeth.

You can also see Peter & Neal and Elizabeth & Neal prompts for more ideas if you'd like to write shippy fic focusing more in one direction or the other.

Prompts:

- A holiday, date night, or family gathering at the Burkes' house which Neal crashes, deliberately or unintentionally.
- Elizabeth getting caught up in a case and showing off her devious side to Neal's admiration and Peter's admiration/horror.
- Elizabeth and Neal teach Peter appreciation for some finer thing/cultural experience/cuisine/etc. that he very much is intimidated by/hates/doesn't get.

Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke

They have the healthiest heterosexual marriage I have ever seen on TV. I love their dynamic when they're alone with each other. They seem playful and well-suited to each other, but they are supportive and serious in the ways they need each other to be.

Prompts:

- A story about when Peter had El under surveillance when he was trying to decide whether or not to ask her out.
- Something from when they were dating or engaged. Possibly Elizabeth getting accustomed to being with an FBI agent and the risks inherent to his career?
- A productive argument from which they eventually kiss and make up.

Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey

Their dynamic is what makes this show worthwhile. I really can't say enough about how much I love it, so I won't gush.

Prompts:

- Role reversal of any kind. Peter finding a little bit of exhilaration flirting with the 'dark' side is fantastic. Neal realizing how much good he can do on the 'right' side of the law is also really satisfying.
- Trapped together in a remote location / trying to contact the cavalry.
- Teaching one another a skill.

Elizabeth Burke & Neal Caffrey

I love how they have unlikely things in common. I think that they immediately sense that they can trust one another, and given the circumstances under which they met, that is really interesting.

Prompts:

- Did Neal ever happen to communicate with or speak to Elizabeth before his release from prison at the start of the show? How did that happen? A phone call? A letter? A gift?
- A story about Elizabeth "borrowing" Neal to help her with something with her job/company.
- Neal making Elizabeth "an accomplice" in a scheme that she finds she is actually really good at.

Neal Caffrey & June Ellington

One of the many moments that made me love this show was how Neal immediately found June within the first few hours he was within his radius. He conned his way into her good graces, but she definitely knew what he was doing. I think the fact that he maintains a friendly, familial relationship with her in the background is great and would like to see more.

Prompts:

- Neal learning more about June's past and her relationship with her husband.
- Neal escorting June to something nice for a special occasion.
- June noticing that something is going on with Neal and taking it upon herself to talk to him or do something to help him.

Diana Berrigan & Neal Caffrey

Their friendship is really well-executed when Diana returns to the show. I love that while the guys have become accustomed to Neal's fidgeting that Diana will put a stop to it when it gets on her nerves. I like how she makes an effort to connect with Neal on a genuine level while also being adequately cautious about him.

- Diana calling Neal on something dangerous or stupid and saving his neck. Tough love in general.
- Neal coming through to help Diana when it's against any selfish impulse that might get in the way.
- Stakeout or mission banter.

Neal Caffrey & Satchmo

I would love to see a look into Neal's relationship with Peter and Elizabeth's domestic life through this lens. It would just be a really cute opportunity to use the gen category here.

Prompts:

- An unusual or interesting occasion of Neal walking Satchmo.
- Neal must learn from Peter or Elizabeth something very basic and fundamental about pet care.
- Satchmo gets lost in the city somehow and finds Neal because he recognizes him so is able to return home safely.

The West Wing

This show has been in my life since it was first-airing, and it's the only thing my dad ever binge-watches. I really think that it is interesting with how it informed my understanding of politics and issues before I even knew what it was doing. Also, in the political climate of today, needless to say this is something of an escapist fantasy.

Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn

This is something that was one of the first things I ever shipped, but I didn't realize that I shipped it until rewatching as an adult. Ainsley is something of a magical unicorn figure in which her conservatism and ideological arguments are not completely loathsome to me on a philosophical level, even if I disagree and tend to lean hard to the left with everyone else on the show. Nevertheless, I really appreciated that they gave her a platform that didn't always prove her wrong and occasionally let her viewpoints sway Sam's without undermining his core beliefs. I felt like she and Sam were good for each other, and that Sam's insistence on viewing her with respect and trying to make her see that he just wants good things for her was really sweet.

Prompts:

- Canon divergent AU where meta things didn't sort of fizzle their relationship development of any kind you want.
- Post-canon reunion during the Santos administration in which they find that their tension and dynamic is still there.
- A mundane opportunity in which one of them helped the other and it led to feelings/compassion/happy things.

C.J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler

I always felt so bad for Toby that he and Andrea simply wanted different things, though I appreciated their canon dynamic a lot. Then, you have C.J. with whom he has an excellent rapport. Occasionally, their banter even acknowledges that there may be some thread of attraction between them that they just kind of platonically accept as a non-starter-thing. I would like any fic that let them find a little bit of happiness and acknowledgment in each other.

Prompts:

- C.J. and Toby knew one another before and Toby recruited C.J., basically. A scene from their previous acquaintance?
- When things go badly for Toby at the end of the Bartlet Administration, do he and C.J have any missing scenes?
- Does C.J. ever show up in Toby's office at the university where he works after leaving public service with any kind of interesting proposition? (Parallels!)

Josh Lyman/Donna Moss

I actually knew I shipped them when I was watching this as a kid. How could you not? However, I find the actual resolution of their coming together in the last season a little underwhelming and meh, so any canon divergence on that part is welcome.

Prompts:

- "If you were in an accident, I wouldn't stop for red lights." That, as a theme, since it's already true but never stops being good. Pre-, post-, or during canon.
- In an established relationship, a funny thing happened on the way to an opportunity for intimacy. Intimacy may or may not ensue, but tell me about the complications and funny.
- Being at political odds or helping each other out during the Santos Administration.

Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young

I just always wanted a happy ending for them, even though I understood the reasons their initial relationship didn't really stick on Zoey's part.

Prompts:

- Responsible dealing with post-traumatic stress following Zoey's kidnapping when she and Charlie see each other again.
- They seem to canonically come back together but then their relationship isn't really elaborated upon toward the end of the series. Some missing scenes?
- What are they like in 5-8 years of the end of the show? What do they do now and how do they interact? Bartlets as in-laws?

Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry

I love how they all have relationships where they sometimes escalate to shouting at each other but know that, in the end, everyone is still loved. I realize that any romantic or polyamorous aspect toward Leo would either be a late development or something to be retconned in, and either way would be good! Please no character death within the fic itself, though post-Leo's canonical death would be okay if you wanted a melancholy fic.

Prompts:

- Leo is sick or hurt (but not dying) and Abbey is the person upon whom he has to rely.
- Jed and Leo and Abbey on a roadtrip of some description, presidential or otherwise.
- Something from their younger years and the development of the ties they have in the show.

Carmilla

I requested any nominated relationship from the tagset for this one. Rather than itemizing each relationship, I will give some general prompts that you can apply to whomever you like as you find appropriate. I am satisfied with the &'s and /'s where they are, but if you want to have wiggle room to do more gen stuff where there's a / I don't mind. I love how this series both acknowledges and reinterprets that "canonical" Carmilla's past and Carmilla's back story. I feel that S3 focused a little on Carmilla and Laura so much that seeing the others elaborated upon during that time would be cool. If you choose to focus on Laura and Carmilla, I would love more of their time together when they were on the run or immediately following Carmilla's rescue in S1. Fix-fic wherever you deem appropriate would also be welcome.

Prompts:

- AU where classes continue as normal, a day in the life
- time travel back to Carmilla's time period
- reincarnation exploration/AU
- how does Carmilla feel about the similarities between her experiences in the series and those in what the series adheres to in the novella?
- how does Laura try to bring the unusual aspects of her life in line with her dad on a more permanent basis?
- does Laura's dad ever get to get more friendly with any of the others with Laura's supervision?
- how does Kirsch cope with what happened to him in S3, or really, what happened to him throughout the series?
- how does Danny deal with "what if's" and "might have beens"?
- how does Perry readjust to her own life? Does she develop better or worse coping mechanisms?
- how does LaFontaine cope with how they felt betrayed or let down in S3?
- a scene from Mattie and Carmilla's history together?

Crossover Fandom

Neal Caffrey & Peter Burke & Parker & Eliot Spencer & Alec Hardison

Leverage and White Collar seem like they would mesh so well together into the same universe. I would love to see an opportunity for Parker, Hardison, and Eliot to team up or, in some other way, work alongside Neal and Peter. The overlap of their work and ideologies would be so much fun to see.

Prompts:

- Peter as the odd man out in an operation that is definitely outside the realm of the law but which he can find no moral objection to.
- Parker and Hardison use their FBI covers and get in over their heads and somehow White Collar gets involved.
- Neal is wary of the Leverage team or (a) member(s) of it and is nervous about Peter voluntarily cooperating with such (a) competent, dangerous person(s).

Neal Caffrey & Parker

Since they are both thieves but of quite different stripes when it comes to their philosophies, it would be interesting to see if they admire one another, are wary of one another, disapprove of the other's ways, or some combination of any of these.

Prompts:

- Neal makes the mistake of doing his Neal-flirting routine with Parker with no ill or serious intent and consequences ensue.
- Parker recognizes Neal because he has a much more visible M.O. Perhaps she tries to recruit him when she takes Nate's place or wants pointers about his willingness to do his work while being the center of attention?
- Neal and Parker must escape from somewhere together.