double feature to the fourth power

[daken]

let's all go to the lobby & grab ourselves a snacc—

Thank you for offering any of these films ♥

I fully admit I've had a little too much fun getting into the spirit of the exchange with this letter and have based all my prompts around TVTropes that the films exhibit.

That said, I tried to make this as skim-friendly as possible. The tl;dr of it all is that if you touch on anything I mention liking even slightly — and as I'm sure you'll realize, I have a lot of things that I like — I'll be elated. Please take my note at the top seriously, pick whatever you like, and burn the rest of it!

GENERAL LIKES | DISLIKES
THE ACCOUNTANT (2016) | BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018) | THE FALL (2006) | FOUR BROTHERS (2005) | MATTHIAS ET MAXIME (2019)
MAURICE (1987) | MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE (1985) | PILGRIMAGE (2017) | ROCKETMAN (2019) | TORCH SONG TRILOGY (1988)

( quick note )

⟡ Prompts are formatted to (hopefully!) work for the less-is-more & more-is-more creator alike. The top level prompt are tropes (sourced from TVTropes) that describe aspects of the film that I would love to see the fic based about.

The comments, ideas, questions and specific references following the top-level trope exist just in case you want more to work with. If you come up with an idea that’s similar to a prompt, go for it! If ¾ of a prompt works for you, but the final ¼ doesn’t, only work with the bit that does. I’d also love to see prompts mixed.

likes!

⟡ Strong relationships! I'm super into reading about how relationships work: their unique dynamics, how they support one another, how they relate to each other, how they interact [pre-, post-, and during-canon when “offscreen”], where their wants and needs mesh up, as well as where they differ.

Established relationships are kind of my jam because I love seeing how people get along after they've gotten together; that's where the really interesting stuff shows up for me. The day to day of their lives and intricacies therein fascinate me endlessly — this is also why I'm into so many soap fandoms, haha. How do they fit one another into their routine? What things do they do (or don't do) because they've got that other person in their lives?

That said, get-togethers are also my bread and butter and I've yet to meet one I didn't like.

⟡ Fucked-up, unhealthy relationships! Codependent relationships, obsessive relationships, and so on: you can be giving it all to me. I love when a character is willing to let the world burn should the world try to come between them and the person they love.

Them doing questionable things or neglecting themselves to make their partner happy. I love it when they put themselves or the other person in precarious situations just so they can have their desired outcome; letting the ends justify the means. My favorites are when the characters know — be it fully or a suspicion — that what they're feeling, and the degree to which they're feeling it, isn't healthy, but they enjoy it so much they can't bring themselves to care. Them being equally, fuck-up-ed-ly invested in their relationship is what I live for.

⟡ I love codas, alternate canons, semi-alternate universes, and canon divergences, &/or slight changes to canon. My prompts typically range from plotty monstrosities to domestic slice-of-life that details and I'd adore receiving either.

⟡ Rather than miscommunication causing drama, I love it when bluntness and frankness cause that tension instead. Characters saying what they want or confessing they've done, point-blank, and then leaving it to the other character to decide if they can handle that; quiet characters taking their time and mulling over their choices before telling the other person what they want; different cultures and discovering unique ways to overcome them; as well as any other communication-based drama that you can think of that doesn't hinge on not having the full story or hearing the wrong thing at the worst time are always stories that engage me.

⟡ Stories that starts in the "middle"/in medias res of the overarching plot. I don't need a lot of world-building setups, especially if that's not something you're really into doing. If you've decided to take up one of my AU or divergent ideas, rest assured that I already know the basic background of what's going and you are welcome to go right on ahead with the action of the story if that's what you want.

However, if half the fun of AUs & divergences involves delving deep into the universe and making yourself at home there, go wild!

⟡ When it comes to art, I like genre scenes, still life, &/or things that look like they could be proudly displayed in the middle of a chapter, or even as the 'cover' of a comic book, novel, or DVD box.

In terms of color palettes & style/mood/composition, I'm into Renaissance art, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Luminism, Surrealism, & Baroque Art. Extrapolating from that, I guess I like the interplay of dark/light & shadows with a close focus on the subject involved where the background can vary from nothingness to a whole piece in itself.

From a design perspective, sketch-like and rough-edged pieces, as well as watercolors that go "outside" the lines are deeply entrenched into my aesthetic. As are all the Realistic, comic-book, and similar styles!

⟡ Anything from G-rated schmoop to NC-17 sex is alright in my book.

Should you include a sex scene, here’s a general list of kinks/scenarios that I'm cool with:

age regression, age differences, underage, made-them-do-it, a/b/o, water sports (for marking/scenting and/or intimacy; less about being super into pee or humiliation), conditioning, frottage, gentleness, identity porn/anonymous sex, rough sex, marking, switching/no set sexual “roles”, possessiveness, power issues, abuse of power, dubcon, semi-public sex, sensory overload, sex addiction/compulsion, silence, d/S that’s focused on taking care/being cared for more than pain/humiliation, size differences and power dynamics — feel free to have the "smaller”/younger/more docile dude be more "dominant”/aggressive member of the relationship —, touching, slavefic, delayed emotional intimacy paired with very quick physical intimacy, captivity.

⟡ Tropes that I never fail to love:

forced closeness, amnesia, viking au, gladiator/greek/roman au, tribe/barbarian/pre-history au, android aus, western/rancher/farmer aus, power differentials, trope inversions & subversions, d/s that’s focused on taking care/being cared for more than pain/humiliation, soul mates/soul bonds, fake relationships, sugar daddy/transactional relationships, forced/arranged marriages, woke up married, bodyswaps, bodyswaps with themselves in a different multiverse, gentleness, stuck in isolation together, sex before feelings, bodyswaps, exploring physical disabilities (losing sight/hearing/the ability to a speak).

dislikes!

⟡ Deathfic as an ending. If they’re brought back to life via the supernatural, reincarnation, turned into a cyborg, etc — or the story continues in the afterlife, I'm good. As long as the story doesn't end with "[…] and they died, the end", you're fine.

⟡ Whump/excessive angst wherein the majority of the fic is self-pity/sadness or miscommunications, and a tiny section at the end is happy/resolution; if from the outside, or as an observer, the events are sad but the character(s) experiencing them as their everyday life are happy, content, and/or blind to it, then that's fine! I dislike when half or more of the fic focused on someone's sadness/angst and how they react or wallow in said angst.

⟡ Embarrassment/humiliation (kink or otherwise), painplay/torture kink, cheating/infidelity, high school/university au, yentas/matchmaking/meddling friends, unrequested polyamory, epistolary, crossdressing, noncon (wherein one half completely hates the sex; if they come to like it, a convenient mind break occurs, or anything similar — we're good!), genderswap/always-a-[opposite gender].

⟡ No preference between past and present tense, although I only prefer 3^rd-Person Narration.

⟡ Not a fan of crossovers, but fusions are my lifeblood.

Four Brothers fused with The Accountant, wherein Bobby & Jack are estranged badasses going through the motions until fate reunites them? Here for it. Very excited for the prospect of Matthias et Mazime & Torch Song Triology giving Matt & Max a chance to meet without their baggage of friendship while still having that instant connection drawing them together and shaking their world to the core. Rocketman meeting The Fall, wherein John hits a low point in his career and fantasizes about a someone like Elton so throughout that he wills him into existence. Or something particularly inspired, like Blackkklansman taking a page from My Beautiful Laundrette with Ron & Flip starting a business and rekindling their romance gone awry, or Pilgrimage fused with Maurice & middle-class Diarmuid going against a social system that doesn't understand his love for the Mute.



THE ACCOUNTANT (2016)
Christian Wolff/Braxton
Catch it here.

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department's Crime Enforcement Division starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company with a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise as a mercenary with morals (Jon Bernthal) begins to close in on his trail.

TVTropes | Trailer | Trakt

Pretty much every single aspect of this film worked for me. I really enjoyed how Christian's autism was handled in a way that made it work both for and against him, rather than being a superpower or his one flaw; I love their creepily codependent childhood & how their dad groomed them to be the most important people in one another's lives; I love that they both have such a strong moral code & are talented enough to be able to follow it while not ending up dead or broke; I love that Braxton has a decent amount of gay coding, and how utterly soft he is for Christian.

⟡ Abusive Parents

During their time as children overseas, it seemed like they were likely the only Americans in the area, perhaps the only children. What was that like? How did it shape their relationship? Their dad already made them do everything together — how was that heightened by them literally only having one another to play with and talk to? To what degree were their lives entwined, and for how long?

I’ve always felt like Braxton being gay explains why his dad was just as hard as with him as he was with Christian & instil their need to watch one another’s backs, and it would explain why he would leave his father to do his own thing once he grew up. If you’d like to play around with the both of them “not being normal” and “having the world hate them because they fear them”, and how Christian reacted by pretending to be the most beige thing ever while Braxton became flashy, outspoken, & abrasive I’d eat it up!

⟡ Actor Allusion

Less merc-for-hire, more vigilante. The movie was billed as "Batman with Autism" so give me Batman with Autism. (Although, isn't Christian more like Clark? Superman: Always feeling like an alien no matter how hard he tries to fit in!)

Does Braxton become his Robin, or is it more of a World's Finest team-up where they're equally heroic? Does Braxton still like living more on the edge than Christian? Is he a Lex Luthor-esque anti-hero who looks to make good ends despite what questionable means get him there, and his relationship with Christian prevents the hero from ever taking him down for good?

⟡ Affably Evil

“I missed you, Braxton. ‘I missed you too, because I love you. You're my brother.’” is worthy of its own prompt! Give me Braxton voicing all the things Christian has a hard time saying, and Christian being all shy and happy every single time Braxton does it. Give me Braxton jumping into fights & beating the shit out anyone who so much as looks at his brother funny or calls him a freak.

Braxton killing one of the henchmen who refuses to stand down after Braxton orders him to. Christian killing Blackburn without blinking and then getting back to his heart to heart with his brother. Both of them looking proud yet unshocked (and, in Braxton's case, impressed/turned on?!) when they do both of these things within minutes of being reunited.

⟡ Badass Adorable

"[…] What, I think you're gonna be happy to see me, I guess?" "I am happy."

“I just wanted you to be safe. Some of my clients are — quite dangerous.”

I love that Christian clearly sees Braxton as his little brother who can do no wrong and who needs looking after even though Braxton is so much more criminal than him. And Braxton, used to being framed as Christian caretaker being hurt when Christian doesn’t turn to him for aid.

Give me the two of them burning down everything to protect one another when the other doesn’t need protecting, and the other being pleased that his brother cares so much. Them being in disbelief that the other thinks they need backup, being accepting it anyway because they find it adorable.

⟡ Big, screwed up family.

“If you had to see her —if that was something you had to do? You call to me. I’m your brother. I’ve always had your back. You don’t call him, you call me.”

Fill in the years before their estrangement! Braxton clearly saw Christian going with/asking their dad to come with him to go to their mom’s funeral as a betrayal of their relationship, so what exactly was that relationship like? We saw their grade school years — what were their teen years like?

What about Christian’s time in the military? Were they more than brothers then? Was it a long-distance relationship? Was it platonic? When did their relationship change? Was Braxton also in the military? If not, what was he doing while Christian was off doing his thing? When did Braxton lose contact, and how did Christian always keep tabs on him?

What happens post-film? Please please feel free to have them use the flimsiest excuse to get married under their latest fake identities (can’t be forced to testify against one another in case they get caught? people underestimate gay dudes?) and then suffer over being so close to having what they want and yet being too afraid to ask for more than scraps.

⟡ Cain & Able: Subverted.

"You don't give a shit about me? You don't give a shit about me?!" And the way Christian just takes those punches and Braxton’s face when Christian pins him, god.

Also, Christian cutting off a villain speech with a kill shot and Braxton looking both turned on and shocked. They’re pretty much one another’s pet psychopaths. Let them enable each other until the cows come home!

⟡ Crazy-Prepared

Anything exploring how they had completely different reactions to the environments they grew up in (neurotypical-ness aside) and yet both ended up in the same ‘field’. How do their different-yet-the-same styles carry into their lives post-film?

Was it Braxton who helped Christian learn his coping tactics (collecting art instead of hoarding money, classical music to relax, breakfast for dinner, etc)?

⟡ Does Not Understand Sarcasm: Double Subverted

Living or working (or both!) together post-film.

Setting aside their jobs (i.e. if you aren’t looking to write some kind of action-thriller alongside the romance, please feel no obligation to do so), their little reunion scene made it pretty obvious that Braxton knows how to handle Christian like a pro. I love how Braxton gets Christian’s humor and finds him hilarious when nobody else does. How will things be now that they’re back in one another’s lives?

Is what we saw during their reunion — Braxton ‘helping’ Christian by voicing the things he forgets to do/doesn’t know how to say (“I missed you, Braxton. ‘I missed you too because I love you. You're my brother.’ ”); Christian being awkward, but not in his usual way where he wants to get the fuck out of dodge — their usual dynamic? Is Christian awkward due to him being unused to being around someone who knows and accepts him?

⟡ Easily Forgiven

"I've been looking for you for ten years and you’re gonna come at me like we just saw one another yesterday."

“Did you even wonder where I was?” “I knew where you were.”

It took hearing Solomon Grundy for Braxton to accept it was his brother, but one look at Braxton and Christian knew. How long has he been keeping tabs on his brother? Have they met before but Braxton didn’t know? Feel free to play around with the fact that Christian clearly has known about Braxton while Braxton‘s been in the dark & hopelessly searching.

After they reunite at the end of the film, could they team up together? How would that work: is Braxton doing more of the physical aspect while Christian handles the ‘books’ of their operation? Is Christian equally involved in the neck-breaking? Do they work separately and then come home at night/on the weekends?

⟡ Even Evil Has Loved Ones

“...I missed you.”

How they got together.

Did Braxton have boyfriends before he and Christian got together? How did Christian take that? How did their dad take it? Did Braxton see it as a bonus act of rebellion against their father, or did he keep it secret and only tell Christian? Or has Braxton only ever been with Christian?

Has Christian ever had a boyfriend before? Dating doesn’t really seem to be his forte, but anonymous sex? The Batfleck connection is right there — maybe Christian isn’t the best at face to face, but he can pull a Bruce Wayne and do anonymous sex like a pro. How does Braxton feel about that? Is their first time because Braxton can’t stand the thought of someone only caring about his brother for his body? Does one of them (both of them?) realize that one of their anonymous hookups with a stranger didn’t happen to be with a stranger after all?

⟡ Reality Ensues

I'm a sucker for Prison AUs and Christian canonically was on prison! Give me a divergence where their reunion is behind bars. Does Braxton get word that his big brother has been locked up and gets himself thrown in there to protect them? Is it just luck that they end up in the same unit?

⬑

BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)
Ron Stallworth/Flip Zimmerman
Catch it here.

The story of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), the first black member of the Colorado Springs police department who took it upon himself to infiltrate and disrupt a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. Teaming up with a Jewish officer named Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), who serves as Stallworth's "face", the two of them eventually uncover a plot to attack a local gathering of black activists who Stallworth has previously been assigned to work with as an undercover officer.

TVTropes | Trailer | Trakt

Been thinking about this movie a lot lately, for all the obvious reasons. I like the grounded idealism; it hurts that shit doesn't change, but the growth you see in Flip gives you hope that one day the Liberation of Black People™ will become the intersectional cause it is. I love that Ron is invested in Flip realizing that just because he can pass in some circles doesn't mean that he is a part of the white crowd and that the solution to that isn't burying down his ethnicity to fit into the WASP mould; I'm here for the ways that Flip utilizes his privilege in ways to benefit Ron, and thus them both. And finally, I just love Spike Lee joints. It's messy, but I love the worlds he builds and the complicated good guys he populates them with.

⟡ Actor Allusion + Artistic License

The majority of this movie diverged from what actually happened, so please don't feel like you need to be constrained. Feel free to go full the main characters do everything & have them play a part in other heroic operations.

Want to up the stakes even further and pull from JDW's latest film Tenet? I'd love to see Ron & Flip getting pulled into a secret & complicated society to stop the world's greatest ongoing threat (most likely candidate to kick off WWIII): White supremacy.

⟡ Becoming the Mask + The Infiltration

Give me all the messy identity issues that would come with what they're doing.

Flip getting his sense of self all tied up in being Ron since their identity swap happens at the same time that Flip's learning just who the hell he is, and how he feels about that. Does it create a weird situation where Flip's idea of himself is tied up with Ron? Or does the intenseness of how he feels about his own identity bleed into Ron?

Is it less fraught? Do they have fun with it? Phone calls where they're both Ron? Flip anticipating Ron's every move (what he'd order when the squad is out getting lunch, what movie Ron would like to see, dressing in a way that ends up being exactly what Ron's wearing that day just to fuck with him, etc) in a way that delights/amuses Ron but possibly creeps everyone out?

Does Ron ever turn the tables by trying to learn and be like Flip too, or is it a one-way street? Do either of them mind that?

⟡ Category Traitor

Neither of them fit in boxes. While I don't really care for internalized homophobia navel-gazing or wangst over sexualities in general, the two of them dealing with the intersectionality of their various identities as well as how their profession doesn't really serve any of their 'categories' would be really interesting. You don't have to go full ACAB (I know that wasn't Spike's intention!), but if they do end up at an ACAB decision & decide to go now a different career path then [steeples fingers] yes, good.

⟡ Fire-Forged Friends + Angry Black Man

Ron (& Flip, to a far lesser degree) had to deal with constantly subverting & denying the Angry Black Man Trope to prove that he 'wasn't too close to the case' and was even put in situations (undercover at the Black Power activist rally) where he had to work against his own interests to prove he was "objective" & would prioritize the CPD's interests above his own while not expecting the same in return from his employer.

What kind of bond does that forge between Flip & he? Do they become their own little vigilante duo that handles things the greater CPD doesn't give a fuck about? Do they just meet up to vent & keep one another sane while toeing the line of what they can do as cops? They faced a lot of trauma in the film that never really gets dissected; do they have some amount of PTSD over it? Is Ron desensitized, but Flip gets hit harder than even he realizes? Does Ron teach him coping techniques for how to live after your 'third eye' has been opened and you realize just how much the world is actively out to get you and power structures exist to keep you trapped?!?

⟡ The Main Characters Do Everything

Give me more cases where it's only the two of them. Stakeouts, undercover - you name it.

Also, I'd love some alternate canons where they aren't cops. How else do they meet? Does Flip get into his Jewishness earlier and realize the power of the coalition, leading them to meet at a Black Panther meeting or some other intersectional, radical group?<

This is a total reach, but I'd also love a Call Me By Your name fusion, although I completely admit I have no idea what that would mean. Mostly I'm just thinking of it as an excuse for them to say one another's names as they fuck, but go as faithful or unique as you like. Does Flip's family host grad student Ron overseas? Do they meet at some summer camp in the bumfuck south where they're the only two non-WASP kids?

⟡ Odd Couple

Fake dating; Don't care why; my suspension of belief has no bounds.

Maybe the department is trying to catch the Klan or another hate group, this time by having Flip as part of a couple? Maybe we see the start of what will later be firmed up in the Clinton/Bush-era DADT witch hunt, Flip and Ron are forced to go undercover into a burgeoning gay scene to make sure that they aren't planning to overthrow the heterosexual establishment?

Give them some forced closeness. Maybe the threats at their lives mean they have to stay in the same apartment to make them easier to protect? Or is it more serious? Does being Black & Jewish guys that took down a klan chapter puts a mark on their back and they have to go into witness protection together?

If you want to play around with "The Stallworth Brothers" then please do so. I've always loved the trope of historical gay & lesbian couples pretending to be blood or widow(er) in-law relatives as an excuse for why they live & do everything together without a love interest in the picture. Flip & Ron don't have the luxury of being the same ethnicity to pass without drama, but being interracial (step-? adopted-?)siblings still puts less of a target on their backs than being a couple would. I'd love to see them having a family business/company — solving crimes/injustices the police won't, providing bodyguard or security services, running a general store idk — and having fun pretending to be brothers with some weird backstory all while sneaking off into the backroom to make out whenever they feel a need. (As an aside, incest isn't an issue for me so if you wanted to make them actual blood/adopted brothers or have them kink of pretending to do so, go for it. It would be interesting to see them grow up in a blended family; would Flip have gotten a lot more into his Jewish ethnicity & identity sooner if he hadn't been semi-forced into blending in with white Christians? Would Ron being Jewish too may have radicalized him in different ways?)

⟡ Refuge in Audacity

They're already outcasts. Do Ron & Flip decide to just lean into their uniqueness and have it allow them to buck other social trends that they don't fit into?

⟡ Stunned Silence.

Flip has a bit of a crush on Ron, alright. He's just - amazing. And completely opened Flip's eyes to the world. And the dude has no chill, which Flip can respect.

⬑

THE FALL (2006)
Roy Walker/Original Male Character
Catch it here.

Los Angeles, circa 1920s, a little immigrant girl finds herself in a hospital recovering from a fall. She strikes up a friendship with a bedridden man (Lee Pace) who captivates her with a whimsical story that removes her far from the hospital doldrums into the exotic landscapes of her imagination. Making sure he keeps the girl interested in the story he interweaves her family and people she likes from the hospital into his tale

TVTropes | Trailer | Trakt

This movie is gorgeous & so creative; it's still one of my favorites even after all these years. Lee Pace's face is at the top of its game & I've always felt as if the innate queerness that he brings to the role bleeds into Roy in such a perfect way that explains his actions more than the actual script bothers to. He's a broken man obsessed with movies — with stories — & it's nearly cost him his life. The found family that he makes for himself finally frees him from his destructive tendencies & all the lies that he tells himself to make himself feel normal, yet have only ever brought miserable. Plus, his whole squad is literally nothing but hot dudes from every continent.

Although I've requested Roy with an OMC, I give you full permission to write him with the Doctor | Alexander, Sinclair, or any of the male members of the bandit squad/their hospital counterparts (including his twin).

⟡ And There You Were

Who does Roy become close too once the fog of his despair is gone? The orderly (Darwin)? His doctor (Alexander)? The ice man (Otta Benga)? It's obvious they made an impression on him; but what are the real men like?

Does Roy go out into the world and run into the Indian or Mystic? He is shocked to find they're real people?

Does he realize that Luigi coming to visit him, and being the only one to do so, means something?

Was the Indian actually a Native American rather than an Indian like Alexandria imagined? Was there someone in mind from his acting days that Roy had in mind, and is now eager to return to? Is Roy's obsession with Sinclair a fit of misplaced jealousy & desire to be with the man himself?

⟡ Bittersweet ending.

What if Roy is in love with one of the men from his story, who don't exist. Does he find ways to be with them in his imagination? Is there some kind of spell or magic he can do to make them real? Does it cost him another aspect of his mobility? Do they come back...wrong? Does Roy mind?

⟡ Five Man Band

If you want to write the alternate canon where the band of heroes are real and Roy finds love along the way, please! I will take it!

⟡ For the Evulz

I'm kind of here for the idea of Odious/Sinclair as having a mission to break Roy down? Does he succeeded and get to keep Roy for himself? Or does another hero/actor/agent/stuntman save him?

⟡ Hypochondria

Roy's rich roommate is annoying, but kind of cute. If you want to make them an odd couple, I wouldn't mind. Does he become Roy's sugar daddy? Does Roy somehow bully his way into being his bodyguard? He may be disabled, but a 6'5 dude is still a 6'5 dude.

⟡ Rage Against the Author

Honestly, go full Outlander and have Roy get sucked into his little historical story & meet the love of his life.

⟡ Walking Shirtless Scene

The band is just...so good looking. All these men work around Roy on the daily. If you want to have him lusting after their bodies and being slow on the uptake to realize that one of them is very interested in Roy's fine specimen himself, let's go!

⬑

FOUR BROTHERS (2005)
Bobby Mercer/Jack Mercer
Catch it here.

Short-tempered Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), struggling musician Jack (Garrett Hedlund), streetwise Angel (Tyrese Gibson), and hard-working Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) begin looking into the crime of their adoptive mother's death when the facts that the police give them don't add up. The deeper they dig into the case, the more the brothers begin to suspect that the shooting wasn't an accident and that powerful and unexpected forces were involved.

TVTropes | Trailer | Trakt

Or, Brother Complex: The Feature Film. I can only assume that anyone that has watched this film and knows the ship knows what I'm here for and why I like it, so all I can say is: yes, please, give it all to me. The sinister implications of their pre-placement childhood and the relationships it seems to have fostered in them once they found some semblance of security. How much their family knows about their relationship. Go wild with all that this movie set up for us.

⟡ Abusive Parents

Bobby & Jack's main bond are just how fucked their biological parents were before Evelyn saved them. What does that kind of a shared bond breed in two angry boys who want nothing more than to have just one guarantee in their lives, especially since they were always testing their mom? What kind of games and tests did they play with each-other?

⟡ Aloof Big Brother + Annoying Younger Sibling

Jack is the only one with sense. Bobby seems to get off on doing the wrong thing. What were their teenage years like? Did Bobby ever drop his aloof facade for Jack, or was it a defence from showing Jack how he really felt?

⟡ Big Brother Bully

Nobody else exists for Bobby when Jack is around. Is this on purpose or can he just not help himself? Does it drive Jack insane or does he secretly love it?

⟡ Big Little Brother

Please do anything with how the whole dynamic of that house must have flipped upside down the moment Jack finally grew taller than Bobby, let alone when he ended up at his final height. Does it do things to Bobby? does it just make him want to remind Jack that no matter how big he gets, he'll always be little to Bobby?

⟡ Cosmic Plaything

Life always finds ways to hurt Jack. Does Bobby make it his life's mission to make it better?

⟡ The Cutie

Bobby is always talking about how good looking Jack is, and insinuating that he fucks dudes. Play it straight - does Jack make a point of flaunting the men that he attracts in Bobby's face? What types are they anyway? Far to close to Bobby for Bobby's comfort, or so different that Bobby's always felt like he's never stood a chance?

⟡ Embarrassing Nickname

Does Jack love it or hate it? Are there less public moments where Bobby will break out a pet name?

⟡ Fanservice

The brother's have no sense of personal space. What is it like to have your brother(s) be an extension of yourself? What kind of ownership or entitlement comes into play? Why are Jack & Bobby like an old married couple even after they haven't seen one another since forever?

Were they always in one another's pockets, so being in the bathroom at the same time was always second nature? Did it creep out their brothers/mother, but they didn't want to rock the one good thing the two of them seemed to have? Was it long earned to get to that point of being comfortable and secure together? At what point of their lives did this happen? Did one of them welcome it sooner than the other, and forced it to happen?

⟡ Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling

Anything to do with them being bickering old marrieds more than brothers.

⟡ Happily Adopted

They've never settled down like their brothers because their found family quiet literally gave them all they needed, platonic and romantic.

⟡ Jerk with a Heart of Gold

Bobby is a sociopath, but he's Jack's sociopath.

⟡ Knight's Templar Big Brother

Bobby sticks up for all his brothers, but holy shit when it comes to his berserker mode for Jack. Give me the fix-it for Jack's death and show how Bobby's rough instincts translate into comforting & helping his brother to heal.

⬑

MATTHIAS ET MAXIME (2019)
Matthias/Maxime
Catch it here.

While working on a short film for a student project, two friends (Xavier Dolan & Gabriel D'Almeida Freitas) engage in a kiss as part of the script. The intimate moment sets off a chain reaction of events, from lingering questions about their sexuality to altering the nature of their friendship and their relationship to their wider social circle.

Trailer | Trakt

As with much of Dolan's later films, the concept was a bit stronger than the execution. I adored the depth of feeling between them and felt that for all the meandering and unneeded opaqueness of the plot, the emotions Matt & Max managed to convey are what make the film work. I have so many questions about why it's taken them so long to act out on their passion; why Matt seemed on the precipice of an affair with another man, and if that's happened before; and just what the future holds for them going forward.

⟡ All Love Is Unrequited: Subverted

That ending though! What happens next?

Do they go on that weekend trip to figure things out?

⟡ Anguished Declaration of Love

The makeout scene as it rains. Max begging for Matt to spend the weekend with him before he leaves so they can figure shit out. Pick whatever point you like and diverge, please!

⟡ Bitch in Sheep's Clothing

When it turned out that Matt had the recommendation the entire time and was purposefully not giving it to Max!

Did Matt do it consciously? Was he trying to sabotage Max to keep him there? If so, why? What was his plan? Max's home life was awful; was Matt trying to get him to hit rock bottom so that he'd move in with Matt, or take a job, or something else? Had he tried giving Max a choice, which Max turned down, so now he wanted to force the issue by sabotaging the Australia move?

Was it something he did subconsciously? Did he give himself excuses for why he was waiting? Was he working up to going with Max himself, or asking him to stay, or trying to set up an opportunity that might make Max decide to stay himself? Is this typical of Matt; fucking Max over because it's what'll make Matt happy?

⟡ Childhood Home Rediscovery + Once Done, Never Forgotten

Everyone but Matt & Max remembered that they actually kissed in high school. I'd be interested in seeing what would happen if that time shook them as hard as their late-20s kiss? What would their lives been like if they'd been high school sweethearts?

⟡ Closet Key

What does it mean for them to realize their best friend (that you've kissed before) is the love of their life. How does that recalibrate what they planned for themselves and each other? Max remembered that they'd kissed — is the reason his life is as stunted as it is because he's been waiting for Matt to finally get with the program?

Matt's clearly dealing with internalized homophobia, but his dynamic with McAfee made it seem like he's come close to going for it before. Has he always held himself back, but the thought of being with Max & that kiss what actually broke down his resolve to just ignore his bi/homosexuality?

⟡ Manchild

This film does the whole "life-long friends at different points of their lives, but still figuring shit out in their own way" perfectly, and I love that they're edging towards thirtysomething rather than in their early twenties. I love that Matt's pretty much got his career sorted, but his being a manchild & repressing his sexuality/love towards Matt has kept him stunted emotionally & his personal life (even though it takes until the kiss to realize that's the reason why he self-sabotages). Matt secretly refusing to give Max the reference so that he can leave? Bro...

Max (and the rest of their friends) meanwhile doesn't seem an issue with his feelings in particular or homosexuality in general, but he still needs to work out his career & general life direction as he resignedly accepts that Matt won't let the two of them happen. I would love something that deals with them growing together; Matt being a decent (boy)friend to Max & everyone else in his life, Max actually getting his feet under him and developing a passion.

⟡ Not so Stoic

More scenes of them completely falling apart into one another. (And heated makeouts, thanks!)

⟡ Deus Sex Machina

They're both gorgeous and this is a Dolan film. Go ahead and Alternate Canon them as Indie Darlings — childhood friends! — who are paired for New Queer Cinema hit only to catch the ultimate case of feelings now that they've been given a chance to see what it could be like between them?

⟡ Pretty Boy

The looks that Matt gives Max, whew. For how long has Matt thought that Max was the most beautiful person in the world without connecting the dots for what that implies.

⟡ The "Fun" in "Funeral"

Matt seems to specialize in ruining the mood and being an asshole, with Max as the only person who never seems to mind or calls him on it. What does Max see that everyone else misses? Why is it that Max quite literally only tolerable — and even borders on sweet! — when it's just him & Max. Is it a defense mechanism? Does he just not give a fuck about anyone else's feelings but Max's?

⟡ There's No Place Like Home

Subverted, maybe? I'd love for Matt to follow Max to Australia. Does starting anew away from everyone they know & that baggage allow them to explore their feelings? What if it takes Matt a little while to get up the nerve to be with Max in Australia? Has Max moved on? How does Matt win him back - is he willing to wait, or does he finally make a move?

Do they stay and make a go of it home, navigating their family and friend's expectations?

Or are these two going to live up to their slow past? Do they only get together after Max returns to Canada? Is he single? Has Matt finally figured things out and gotten himself a boyfriend? Is he like Max, or does Matt have a thing for rich douchebags?

Their friends (especially Frank) all seem weary of how Matt treats Max, and that's just when they're in a platonic relationship. Will Matt have to prove himself to the guys once they figure out what's going on?

⬑

MAURICE (1987)
Maurice Hall/(Clive Durham | Alec Scudder)
Catch it here + Scudder-cut with deleted scenes.

Set against the stifling conformity of pre-World War I English society, Maurice Hall (James Wilby) and Clive Durham (Hugh Grant) find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. In a time when homosexuality is punishable by imprisonment, the two must keep their feelings for one another a complete secret. After a friend is arrested and disgraced for "the unspeakable vice of the Greeks," Clive abandons his forbidden love and marries a young woman. Maurice, however, struggles with his identity and self-confidence, seeking the help of a hypnotist to rid himself of his undeniable urges. But while staying with Clive and his shallow wife, Anne, Maurice is seduced by the affectionate and yearning servant Alec Scudder (Rupert Graves), an event that brings about profound changes in Maurice's life and outlook.

TVTropes | Trailer | Trakt

Going for broke here! A part of me has always wished for the life that Clive could have had if only he hadn't resigned himself to his lot in life, and I'd love to see him get a shot of it in fic even if it didn't play out that way in canon. On the flip side, Maurice & Alec are everything I just want them to be old marrieds like they deserve.

⟡ Closet Key

Clive & Maurice unlocked the world of same-sex love for one another; please get Clive to a place where he is willing to break the chastity seal he's imposed on the both of them.

Alec takes Maurice's virginity and then they're...together forever? What are all the ways that they learn one another's body and teach the other things about themselves they hadn't even thought to consider?

⟡ Earn Your Happy Ending

That Maurice & Alec were inspired by Edward Carpenter & George Merrill never fails to give me joy. Please write them as early era, socialist gay lib patrons who spent the rest of their days in a cottage writing poetry at one another and taking the occasional guest, whom they helped shepherd into gayness. (A part of me has always loved the idea of Clive's even son being gay; disowning his father as much as Clive might try to cast him aside once he finds out his son is gay; then Maurice & Alec adopt the lad and raise him to be a hedonist or something.)

⟡ Enter Stage Window

All the times Maurice has snuck into his boy's window, or they've snuck into his.

Related, it's so clear that Maurice is a sensualist. If you gave me nothing but Maurice blissed out while kissing, petting, lighting cigarettes, cuddling, stroking fingers, laying on, and so forth with his boy? I'd die happy.

⟡ Green-Eyed Monster

Maurice turning on his sister when he thinks she has a crush on Clive; Alec turning vicious when he suspects Maurice has gone off him; the cutting glee in Clive's voice when he tries to rub it in Maurice's face that Alec has already left for Argentina!

All three of them are awful when it comes to jealousy and possessiveness — which you know I live for. Indulge in their darker sides and tell me about all the times they ruined a potential friendship, business partnership, and so forth for their partner because they couldn't stand the thought of them having any semblance of a relationship with another. They live in awful times without guarantees, and I would love to see a darker take on what a lack of societal pressures and rights would have them doing to keep their relationship secure.

⟡ Happy Ending

By whatever means necessary! What do you think it would take to get Clive to get with the program?

Bringing them more into modern times, either post-WWII or even now, where there was far more hope that two men could make a go of things than there was during the early 20th Century? Going further back, perhaps indeed even to the time of the Greeks? Something else? Please help this miserable bastard get it together and be happy.

Hugh & Rupert both have really fun filmographies, so if you would like to come up with a fusion to get either ship a happy ending, I'd be overjoyed. Sherlock, Paddington, A Very British Scandal, Clapham Junction(!!!!!!!!), The Gentlemen — so much to pull from.

⟡ Honey Trap + Poor Communication Kills

What if Scudder was trying to get Maurice to owe him? I really do love that in the film they couldn't keep being mean to one another & Maurice, clever lad that he is, realized that society had set everything up so they were inclined to try to "down one another" and stop trust from forming — but I also think that their brief moments of trying to stress one another out & get the other hand was great. They're both sort of dicks & I think they like that about one another; if you wanted to draw out the period of them both being awful in different ways and yet never actually getting anyone else involved because they are in love & aren't out to ruin one another, I'd be in heaven.

How does Maurice find ways to exert power over Alec without being too obvious? Does he make minor complaints to get him in trouble or make outrageous work-related demands that Alec can't turn down without risking his job? Does Alec succeed in getting random bits of money from Maurice? How does he feel about that? Does it turn into a prostitute/sugar daddy relationship? In what ways does power shift between them? How often do they come close to sharing that they aren't doing this for power/easy access?

While Maurice might be middle-class, Clive is something else. What if instead of feeling a need to keep things chaste as Plato advocated, Clive followed a more representative Greek model & believed that love & sexual retaliations between men are kosher as long as they're transactional. Maurice has that lovely body of his, and Clive has...means. How would Maurice take Clive paying him so that they could be together? Would Clive be subtle & it would take a while for Maurice to realize it wasn't Clive being gentlemanly, or would Clive be obvious about it to assuage his guilt? Would Maurice getting sent down from school make things better or worse? Does Clive try to move to Maurice? How does Maurice feel about everything? Is he resentful but loves Clive too much to let it go; is he sad but accepting that this is the only way Clive will allow them to be together? Does he ever try to change this status quo?

⟡ Last-Name Basis

What it means for — and in what situations — Maurice to call his lover by his first name, and vice versa. Is it a game they play right under polite society's nose, or are some moments so emotional they forget themselves?

⟡ "The Reason You Suck" Speech

What if Alec did go off to Argentina (don't mind me, I'm just #cryingintheclub)? Does coming so close to losing Maurice forgive, and yet having a fate give him one final chance to do what's right, make Clive realize he's made a mistake in ever turning Maurice away?

I'm fine with some historical accuracy hand-waving to get Clive to become a radical again and potentially ruin himself with divorce. If you want to write some period-accurate life-ruining, though, have at it!

⟡ Train Station Goodbye

What if Clive had left Cambridge to be with Maurice?

⟡ Uptown Girl

I would love anything that delves into their class difference, especially if it plays into whatever your headcanon is for how their lives go after the film.

Does Clive get brought up in to a higher level of society? Does Maurice have to become accustomed to a lower station? What if Scudder got into Cambridge on a scholarship, or worked there as staff? If you're an Alternate Canon-type, I do love athlete aus, and they both are quite good at cricket!

⬑

MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE (1985)
Omar Ali/Johnny Burfoot
Catch it here.

In a seedy corner of London, Omar (Gordon Warnecke), a young Pakistani, is given a run-down laundromat by his uncle (Saeed Jaffrey), who hopes to turn it into a successful business. Soon after, Omar hires his past lover Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) to assist in his career aspirations. The men resume their relationship and rehabilitate the laundromat together, but various social forces threaten to compromise their success.

Trailer | Trakt

First of all, the personal strain this put on how long it took me to do this section thanks to MBL somehow not having a TVTropes page (which — how?!); file it all under my one regret going with the whole tropes theme. I adore so much about this movie; they put the exact right amount of everything on the screen, yet I'm eternally yearning for everything we didn't get. Anything that shines a light on the depths of this layered couple would make me insanely happy. I worry that having to pick the tropes myself may have every prompt a bit samesy since this is always my touchstone for MBL — my one brain cell, to put it in modern terms, haha.

Also, this has nothing to do with the film but nevertheless colors what I enjoy about the performances, choices, & implied backstories that have always made it be one of my top ten: '“[Daniel Day Lewis] had come to see me about another project and was talking with a south London accent. I said: ‘You’re the son of a poet laureate, why are you speaking like that?’ He said he’d been to a comprehensive,” said Frears, referring to England’s free public schools, “and had adopted it as a defence. Then he wrote me a letter saying he’d kill me if he wasn’t cast.” So much of their personalities bled into the characters & it just makes Johnny and Omar seems so real and, well, perfectly imperfect.

⟡ Adorkable

Omar is very cute & Johnny is obviously obsessed with him. Give me all the moments where Johnny is consumed with how much he adores Omar. Why is Omo', in Johnny's experience, always worth waiting for?

⟡ The Bully

So Johnny & Omar were best friends, became boyfriends, Johnny then discovered or got led into fascism, they drifted apart but Omar didn't see it as bridges burning, and the minute Omar comes back into Johnny's life he's willing to drop his friends & pick up where they left off. Just — explain any of it, please! How strong/genuine must their relationship have been for Omar not to have dropped Johnny completely? Why did Johnny go back to him so easily? Did they ever reconnect at any time before the film? Was this the first time Omar has tried to drag Johnny into one of his schemes?

⟡ Book Dumb + Odd Friendship(s)

Johnny has his uses! How does he feel about the class differences between he & Omar? Omar has a chip on his shoulder that pops up whenever he seems to remember that Johnny played around with being a racist for a bit & feels an urge to put him in his place, but he does genuinely also seem to think that Johnny is only good for manual labor, even as he loves him? How does he get over that knee-jerk reaction to not only put Johnny in his place but also to think of him as his equal? Does Johnny mind or is he genuinely at peace that he isn't as creative or savvy as Omar & his family?

Plus, it isn't like Omar only puts him down! Tell me about all the times Omar lets his pride in his "bloke of astounding competence and strength of body & mind". Is their relationship as such that only Omar is allowed to give Johnny a hard time & put him in his place? Does everyone else need to show respect?

⟡ Earn Your Happy Ending

And how. They've been through it, now please show me how they rise from the bottom.

Are they able to open a chain of launderettes? Does Omar go to college? Does Johnny? Are they one of those couples who take turns working to support the other one's goals? What does the future have in store for them?

⟡ First Boy Wins + Bookends

Omar seemed to be looking for any excuse to get Johnny back into his life, and knew exactly where to find him. Johnny put up zero fight & dropped everything to get back with Omar. They started by fixing their broken launderette & that's also how they end. Play around with the how they are always active participants in the inevitability of their romance & the work they put in to control their fates!

⟡ Hidden Depths + Jerk with a Heart of Gold

Johnny, for all of his tough lad exterior, seems a million times more romantic and soft than Omar is. Why did he get on so well with Omar's dad? Why was he so disappointed & surprised when Johnny slipped into anti-immigrant fascism? Paint me a picture of who Johnny as & will end up being, this boy that doesn't seem to care that hit bigoted friends know he's gay (& still actually managed to command their respect when they do find out), will lick his boyfriend's face on the street in broad daylight, always seems frisky & ready to make out or cuddle, & regularly hypes up Omar and generally thinks the world of him.


Also, it makes no sense (feel free to write it as crack taken seriously or put in way more thought than I have an give it some canon compliance) but every since Phantom Thread came out, a part of me has thought that Johnny becoming a bespoke trailor/designer would be kind of amazing? It would work well with the laundrette business & he could keep his prickly nature without it ruining his career. Feel free to do nothing with this, but if you need something for him to do in a future fic...please.

⟡ Like Father, Like Son

For better & worse? Omar pulls a lot of the same tricks on Johnny that his father does with him. Does Omar have to actively try not to be like his dad? Is he fearful about driving away the love of his life & ending up alone? Does Johnny have to call him out on things or does he not mind, since he loved Omar's father as well?

⟡ Make-Out Kids

Discussing his own experience with the then-unknown Day-Lewis, Warnecke noted that “Daniel and I were called the Listerine Kids—since our characters seemed to be forever kissing people, we were constantly tipping it back before takes.

They are the archetype! Anything and everything about how frisky they are & how Johnny specifically seems to have no shame.

⟡ Red Oni, Blue Oni

I love how different they both are. They fall into the technical dynamic for this trope, but they also blur the lines a lot. Please give me all their multitudes.

Soft lad Omar who is passionate & defiant about his life. Snarky & in control. Wild boy Johnny who is incredibly soft & is happy to follow Omar's lead.

⟡ Stepford Smiler

Omar smiles through so much of his pain. The only time he breaks or shows the darker parts of himself is to Johnny. Why is he always so real to Johnny, despite being betrayed by him when they were kids? Were they always this open with one another, or is it a product of the betrayal that Omar isn't willing to fake it with Johnny anymore? Does Johnny like being the one person that knows all of Omar? Does he try to force Omar to break because he doesn't like it when Omar plays the Stepford smiler game with him?

⟡ The Chew Toy

Omar & Johnny get together — what does that mean for Johnny assimilating into Omar's family? Omar's uncle & father take turns during the film between liking him & treating him like dirt; what happens after they learn that he & Omar are together? Are they ex-communicated? Does Johnny have to eat crow & deal with it whenever there's a family event? Is Johnny even invited to them?

How about Omar? Johnny seems homeless; has he cut off all contact with his family? Why? Were they full-blown bigots who on top of racist fascism also couldn't handle having a gay son? Were they welcoming and kicked their son out when they realized he was a bigot? Would he be able to reconcile with them now? Does Omar encourage him to reconnect?

I love a good 'us against the world', so if you wanted to play with their interracial, class-difference relationship in Thatcher's UK as the source of their chew toy drama? A thousand times yes.

⟡ Uptown Girl

One of the most fascinating & interesting things about this film has always been that the 'immigrants' are the higher class, more well-to-do characters & the disenfranchised ones are lower-class white people. There is a lot going on with various other identities & social factors (success & higher class as POC is not the same as what white upper-class people are allowed to have), but I would love anything that deals with their class differences.

Was Omar technically Johnny's sugar daddy when they were in school? Was he able to buy Johnny things or treat their dates to the movies while Johnny was perennially broke? Was one of the reasons he turned to the implied drug-dealing past of his to be able to be on equal footing with Omar & pay his way/be able to treat Omar once in a while?

What are things like when they go into higher class white spaces now? Do people assume that Johnny is the one running things? How does this make Omar feel? Does Omar have to learn to grow from his knee-jerk reaction to put Johnny down to build himself up in those circumstances? How does Johnny feel? Does he start to remember all the things Omar's father taught him about justice & turn to a more anti-fascist position than his fascist roots? Does it mess with his self worth to be assumed to be & have the pressure of needing to be the more successful party when he isn't? Do they ever have to play games & say that Johnny's in charge to get whatever they want from white spaces?

What about when they go into high-class POC spaces? Does Omar ever feel guilty for enjoying that people are impressed that he has a white man as his gopher? Does he ever stop enjoying it? Johnny seems fairly comfortable as being second in command/the odd man out in all-POC spaces. Why is that? Does he mind it when he & Omar have to go into these situations, or does he prefer it to the similar-but-different experience of when they're in all-white spaces?

⟡ "Well Done, Son!" Guy + Immigrant Parents

Both Johnny & Omar want this from members of Omar's family, yet they aren't willing to completely fit the molds set for them. In what ways do they want approval and how are they willing to go about getting it? What things aren't they willing to compromise on?

⬑

PILGRIMAGE (2017)
Brother Diarmuid/The Mute
Catch it here.

Ireland, 1209. French Cistercian monk Frère Geraldus arrives at a remote monastery with a charter from Pope Innocent III. A handful of monks set out, including multilingual Brother Ciarán and novice Brother Diarmuid (Tom Holland), accompanied by a mute laborer (Jon Bernthal), on a reluctant pilgrimage to Rome. The true value of their bejeweled relic becomes dangerously apparent and their path becomes increasingly fraught with danger.

TVTropes | Trailer | Trakt

The reasons why this movie is eternally relevant to my interests are pretty apparent. The age difference, the size difference, communication barriers, power differentials, loyalty kink, some identity kink, a hot interloper that menacingly flirts with one half of the ship, faith being more mystical & God being more vengeful storm-and-warrior YHWH than kind Jesus-y — the only thing missing is that they aren't a canon ship that was established pre-film; had those boxes been ticked, it would have been something I wrote myself! For the Mute's name & how he is referred, I'm fine with anything. Give him a Jewish/Christian name, have his name always be a mystery & Diarmuid refers to him by a nick/pet name, whatever you like. I defer to the easy choice of having unnamed characters share a name with their actor, so if you don't want to be forced to make a choice, call him Jon!

⟡ Ambiguously Human + Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane

What's this? You want to make the Mute a fallen angel or Irish mythological creature that's tied itself to Diarmuid? Amazing!

Is the Mute an angel we know — Lucifer? Michael? Gabriel? — and if so, what happened to get them cast down? Was it a choice on his part or a punishment? Is it a mission to keep Dairmuid safe; does the boy play some unknowing piece if God's master plan? Can he not speak because of the whole 'if you witnessed the glory of God you would go insane'-type trope, or is it a choice? If it's an original Angel: what's his backstory?

What kind of spirit/creature is he? Did Diarmuid unknowingly summon the Mute? Did the Mute choose him? Does Diarmuid ever find out that he isn't one of 'God's creatures'? How does that make him feel about religion?

Is the Mute... a demon? Is he trying to make up for misdeeds to return to being an angel/getting back in God's good favor? Are there any complicated feelings once he realizes that he does not want to return to God & would rather stay by Diarmuid's side instead?

⟡ Bilingual Dialogue + The Voiceless

I love this trope so much. Give me all the ways that Diarmuid & the Mute communicate without words. Does the Mute know some other language and that's why he never speaks? Does he teach it to Diarmuid? If the Mute is genuinely mute, do they develop their own early form of sign language?

⟡ Bolivian Army Ending

Tell me what happens! Does God step in to save the Mute? Does Diarmuid go back to save & nurse him to health a second time? Does he die & yet fate reunites them? Is their age difference reversed as a young Mute finds the older Diarmuid and forces his way back into his life & heart? Do they meet in the next life; what are their jobs? Are they still monks? Only one of them?

⟡ Covered with Scars + Good Scars, Evil Scars

How did Diarmuid first react when he saw the Mute? Their monastery is so isolated & the older monks he serves with don't seem as if they've lived a hard life. What was it like for him to see so much man, so brutally scared? What feelings did it bring up in him? Sadness, a need to protect, lust?

⟡ Misery Builds Character

What if Diarmuid decides that a pilgrimage is not actually what God wants, and takes the Mute somewhere to heal up? What if Diarmuid decides that he doesn't care what God wants at all after all the suffering he's seen, and goes to start a new life with the Mute?

What would either look like? What would they do?

Want to give Diarmuid some misery? Go ahead! What if he was a young crusader — or abandoned baby?! — at a monastery where the Mute had taken his vow of silence and pledged to serve his life to God? What if Diarmuid survived all of this without having known the Mute? What if he ended up on the Mute's door looking for help after the events of the film? What is the Mute's life like? Is he still Mute? Is it a case of one (semi?-)together broken man fixing another, or are both of them on the brink of just giving up & their having met one another saves both their lives?

Also, yes this film does kind of feel like it's a spiritual cousin to The Eagle. Diarmuid as a Roman gentleman who purchases the Mute to save his life in the arena & isn't sure what to do with a slave? The Mute as a Roman soldier looking for redemption & finding it in the cagey form of native slave Diarmuid? So many options, so many good fics.

⟡ No-Holds-Barred Beatdown

The Mute's berserker button is a lot and I love how he turns off his default mode of quiet menacing when it comes to Diarmuid. Anything that plays with the juxtaposition of the man being a literal weapon & how soft he is for Diarmuid alone is my bread & butter. Diarmuid kind of takes it as his due, but how does he feel about the Mute being willing to risk poisoning, death, and general peril for him? In what ways does he return the favor? How do they care for one another in their own ways?

⟡ Riddle for the Ages

Not a fan of mysterious backstories? Fill in the Mute's past! Was he a crusader? Is he a Jewish person abused by Christians or forcefully converted? Is his background a mix of the mythical & historically-accurate? Why wasn’t Diarmuid afraid of him? Why was he the only one the Mute bonded with? What was their time like pre-film? How did their trust & relationship build? Are they outsiders amongst the other brothers or do they see nothing wrong with their bond? What would a normal year have looked like for them?

⬑

ROCKETMAN (2019)
Elton John/John Reid
Catch it here.

A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's (Taron Egerton) breakthrough years.


TVTropes | Trailer | Trakt


This film was a gift. I'm very much here for you making this as dark as the movie gave us hints at, or putting in the work to get them back into a place where they aren't miserable together (whatever that looks like)! While this is a ship based on a real-life couple with public and documented history, I'd prefer that you not draw too much on that (specifically in John's case) and instead work within the versions of them both that the film gave us. For John's (and Elton's, kinda) cheating, you don't need to pretend it didn't happen if it matters to your plot. I just ask that it not be a huge part of the story and it doesn't happen in graphic detail on-screen. Canon is a great baseline for what won't hit my DNW.

⟡ Arson, Murder, & Jaywalking

Elson gives as good as he gets. Take it any way you please. We know that he wasn't the nicest person during the period that the film encompassed. Do he and John bring out the worst in one another — and do they both kind of love it?

⟡ Artistic License

Going back to my plough! I loved ranch/farm/old west AUs and Elton loves country. Give me a good ol' fashioned farmer au. Make up or your own or go full Brokeback or Gods Own Country, I'll love 'em all.

Listen... What if John was actually a trick that Bernie hired to help Elton (a) enjoy California and (b) finally squash his crush on Bernie? Do things still end up the same way and Bernie has Big Regrets, or does John genuinely being dependent on Elton tilt their power dynamic enough that they don't self-destruct?

Rocketman! It's lonely out in space! Is Elton a The Martian-type(stranded?) astronaut or is this a future where it is a manual-labor-ish job as the song suggests? Is John up there with him, or waiting for him back on Earth...or is he a figment of Elton's contact-starved imagination? Is he an alien life-form? Are we talking Vulcans here or something more terrifying? Pick the space au/fusion of your heart and run with it.

I'm a big fan of both their filmographies, so please have fun with fusions if you like! John as an asshole EMT who hitches his wagon to a cute boy? John as an evil lord that sees the vaguely-global-warning themed writing on the wall and makes sure to secure himself a marriage to one of the most eligible bachelors in the realm, said bachelors consent to such a thing entirely optional? John as a bodyguard with issues & who's assignment may need saving from John more than anything else?

Elton as a spy that can't stop hooking up with an agent from a rival branch that just isn't good for him? Elton finding true love in the trenches of WWII? Elton as the sucky athlete the entire nation can't help but cheer on? Elton as the boyfriend of a very fucked up crime boss? (Something something that flop of a Robin Hood film?)

⟡ Bait the Dog

Un 👏 health 👏 y 👏 Re 👏 la 👏 tion 👏 ships 👏 As seen in canon or as dreamt up in your most dastardly of minds.

Elton tells himself that all he does is give and give to the man in his life, but he's exceptionally good at taking!

Things can't be bad with John all the time?! What sorts of things does he pull out (and when? why?) to make sure there's still enough good feelings between them that Elton just can't bring himself to leave. (Gaslighting to make Elton think there are good times counts too if that's your thing.)

⟡ But Not Too Gay: Averted

They're both so very touchy-feely. Tell me all about it.

⟡ Earn Your Happy Ending

Groundhog Day? John reliving one of the days where he's at his most vile. What breaks the loop — finally being compassionate, or shifting the bar even lower for himself?

⟡ Good-Times Montage

Honky Cat-era living it large and Elton being John's sugar daddy.

As much as I love fucked up stuff, I'm a sucker for schmoop too. Give me the domesticity of the honeymoon period between Elton and John, where they were free to be kind with one another and it was non-stop learning what their bodies were good at with one another.

Are there ever periods where they ran into one another and that spark came right back? Do they give their relationship another go (or a third, or a fourth)? Do they ever get it right?

⟡ The One That Got Away

Elton manages to quit a lot of his bad habits, but John (...and shopping #canoncompliant) is one that he can't quite manage to kick

They meet up at events, parties, through mutual friends. Elton always tells himself that he won't...but then he and John always end up fucking. Is it just that, a one-off that doesn't last the night? Do they last longer, until they remember all the reasons it never works out?

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TORCH SONG TRILOGY (1988)
Alan/Arnold Beckoff
Catch it here.

Arnold Beckoff (Harvey Fierstein) is looking for love and acceptance, but as a gay man working as a female impersonator in 1970s New York City, neither come easily. After a series of heartaches, Arnold believes he has found the love of his life in Alan (Matthew Broderick), and the couple make plans to adopt. But when tragedy strikes, Arnold's life is shaken to its very core, leading to a confrontation with his overbearing mother, who has never approved of her son's lifestyle.

TVTropes | Trailer | Trakt

I love this film so much, even though it breaks my heart. Whenever I rewatch I always stop right as they're moving into the apartment and just pretend nothing else happens. Please, author, fix it. Also, I'm not really into drag performances, so I would prefer you keep Arnold's job to its canon-levels of prevalence, especially since his work is much more in the background by the time he meets Alan (as opposed to his time with Ed). I love how in love they are, and would very much like to see the future they deserved!

⟡ Age is Relative

Anything that deals with their age gap and Alan's lucrative modelling career technically making Arnold his kept boy rather than the other way around.

⟡ Brainless Beauty

Alan & David are both so cute but also so, so dumb. I would love for David to meet his other father in a universe where tragedy doesn't strike, and Arnold has to pretend he isn't totally in love with the two beautiful dolts he's somehow turned into his family.

⟡ The Casanova + Good Adultery, Bad Adultery

I would love for David to find out about the time Alan fucked Ed just to see if he was any good/to make sure that there was no reason for Arnold to pine after him or have regrets.

Actually, anything to do with Alan raising David to be a fuckboy with a heart of gold while Arnold claws at his face in the background.

⟡ Dance of Romance + Hidden Depths

Alan is so romantic. Give me all the little gestures he does every day to show Arnold how much he loves him.

⟡ Happily Adopted

Tell me about David's first day, week, month, year with them. Him settling in and feeling them out. What it's like for either of them to be/have role models when it comes to their sexuality & how there is no limits for the types of love and bonds within The Community.

⟡ Intimate Healing

Lets say Alan does get roughed up that night. Give me h/c with Arnold taking care of Alan with a new "baby" (read: a fifteen year old pain in the ass) underfoot.

⟡ Make-Out Kids

Alan is so into Arnold and I love it. Let them be their frisky selves for the whole thing for all I care!

⬑

thanks for reading!
spock