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back at it again
Thank you for offering any of these fandoms ♡ The tl;dr 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.
In the spirit of this exchange, after this preface I am going to be talking about my recursive canons as if they were the real thing, even if it makes me seem a bit mad, ahaha.
For everyone into the original versions of the canon: you're fine to let that influence how you play around in these recursive canons if that's what's the most fun for you; I certainly know that the reason I'm so into them is because of how cleverly they interact with the source material. However! I would be absolutely thrilled for you to only take what is presented in the recursive versions as gospel & do whatever you want with canon as we know it! Retconning, ignoring, inverting, subverting — don't feel like you have to be precious with any of it since this is the canon.
Along that same line, if your only or most recent experience with the source canon is the recursive work (or some combination of the work, osmosis, having consumed it a long time ago but not recently, or only seeing bits of it here and there, et cetera) then you're an expert in my mind. I'm here for the recursive canons, full-stop, so don't worry if that's the only point of reference you have ♥
Far From the Maddening Crowd | John Wick | Justified
Original Work | Pilgrimage | Trust | The Witcher
- The comments, ideas, questions & specific references exist 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 combined or to have some of my general likes used to shape their direction.
⟡ Prompts are formatted to (hopefully!) work for the less-is-more & more-is-more creator. Top-level prompts like this are are generalized, complete ideas &/or references. Know what you want to make by this point? Go for it.
- ⟡ The main thing I'm looking for in all my fannish pursuits is a focus on relationships!
What are their unique dynamics? How do they support or challenge one another? How do they interact pre-, post-, & in the off-screen canon moments? Where do their needs match up, where do they differ, and how do they resolve that? I'm not much for found-families or ensembles, & generally prefer good ol' fashioned us versus the world dynamics for the character(s) I request.
Established relationships are near & dear to my heart for this reason — after they've (at least somewhat) gotten together all the fascinating ...and then? aspects become possible. Regardless of the plot or tone of canon, I am always hungry to see what the day-to-day is like for them, and the intricacies therein. How do their priorities shift now that they have someone they care about & who relies on them? How does the relationship muddy or strengthen their existing priorities or moral compass? How does the world or their general social sphere treat them, and how do they react to that treatment? (That said, I enjoy get-togethers as much as the next person, especially if it has them dealing with these considerations outright prior to being an item.)Codependent relationships, obsessive relationships, & so on: you can be giving it all to me. Doing questionable things or neglecting themselves to make their partner happy? Putting themselves or the other person in precarious situations just so they can have their desired outcome? Letting the ends justify the means? All amazing.
I love digging into the realities of what that kind of life & dynamic would look like. What does it mean when characters know — be it a growing suspicion or outright surety — that what they're feeling, the degree to which they're feeling it, isn't healthy, but they enjoy it so much they can't bring themselves to care or change? Them being equally, fuck-up-ed-ly invested in their relationship is what I live for. Character(s) willing to let the world very literally burn if it keeps the world from coming between them & the person they love — or perhaps better yet, being willing to set the world on fire if it ensures that person remains theirs alone.
⟡ Rather than miscommunication causing drama, I love it when bluntness & frankness cause tension instead.Characters saying what they want or confessing what they've done, point-blank, & leaving it for the other to decide if they can handle that; quiet characters taking their time & mulling over their choices before telling the other person what they want; different cultures or moral constructs & the unique ways needed to bridge/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 timeless sources of conflict that engage me.
⟡ Codas, alternate canons, canon divergences, &/or slight changes to canon that don't end up changing much at all because fate always finds a way are all my bread & butter. My prompts typically range from potential plotty monstrosities to short, domestic slice-of-life details & I'd adore receiving either, or seeing you depict a prompt that might fall into the former camp into something that fits the latter. 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 alternate canon, AU, or divergent ideas, please rest assured that I already know the basic background of what's going on & you are welcome to go right ahead with the action of the story, if that's what you want. (However, if half the fun in creating involves delving deep into the universe & making yourself at home there, go wild!)
⟡ I love, love, love genre mashups.Slice of Life Action, Noir SciFi, Heist High Fantasy, Historical Dynamics Set in the Modern Era, Vampire Westerns, Werewolf RomComs, Social Commentary Horror — many of the, uh, out-there prompts below probably get this across, but I'm the person who you can create weird, off-the-wall works for any day of the week.
⟡ Art is absolutely witchcraft to me and I'm impressed by many of the forms it takes. All of my prompts and general likes (and dislikes) absolutely pertain to what I like to see in art; that includes always being excited for explicit artwork if that's what you wanna make!The most important thing for me in art is the comoposition/subject matter. I enjoy looking at things, finding little details, decoding symbolism — and because of that, I typically enjoy a wide range of styles. For composition or subject matter I've given specific ideas (as well as the prompts) for each character, but in general you can't go wrong with genre scenes or an emotional or pivotal moment that looks like it could be proudly displayed in the middle of a chapter — or even as the 'cover' of a comic book, novel, or DVD box. I adore a focus on details (hands, eyes, body postures, et cetera), in case you'd like to zero in on that rather than do anything full-bodied. For styles, I enjoy Realistic, comic-book or anime & similar styles, and especially abstract & stylized takes! From a design perspective, I adore sketch-like and rough-edged pieces, as well as any sort of coloring that is "messy"/goes "outside" the lines.
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 pastels or really strong colors, 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.I always end up feeling charmed/moved by anything with a strong sense of aesthetic or personality, as annoyingly vague as that probably is. I'm not sure if this is helpful & please do not take this as a reason to change your style (since that's the opposite of what I'm asking for, ha — & obviously these are finished pieces for the most part, which I do not expect at all; I would absolutely die of joy to receive the initial conception or any in-stage process version of whatever you're inspired to create), but in the interest of concrete examples, here is a random pull of what comes to mind when I say that I like "personality" in art: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
⟡ As a sub-category to the above, I never tire of fucked-up, unhealthy relationships!
⟡ Stories that start in the "middle"/in medias res of the overarching prompted plot.
⟡ 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 gap ∿ underage ∿ made-them-do-it ∿ water sports for marking/scenting &/or intimacy (rather than humiliation) ∿ conditioning ∿ frottage ∿ gentleness ∿ identity porn/anonymous sex ∿ rough sex ∿ marking ∿ switching/no set sexual “roles” ∿ possessiveness ∿ power dynamics ∿ abuse of power ∿ dubcon ∿ semi-public sex (e.g sex in places where they could be caught, but aren't) ∿ sensory overload ∿ sex addiction/compulsion ∿ silence ∿ d/s that’s focused on taking care/being cared for (rather than for wont of pain/humiliation) ∿ size differences and power dynamics (feel free to have the "smaller”/younger/more docile be more "dominant”/aggressive member of the relationship) ∿ touching ∿ slavefic ∿ delayed emotional intimacy paired with very quick physical intimacy⟡ And finally, tropes that I never fail to eat up:
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 ∿ soul mates/soul bonds ∿ fake relationships ∿ sugar daddy/transactional relationships ∿ forced/arranged marriages ∿ woke up married ∿ bodyswap with themselves from a different universe (both or one party) ∿ mirrorverse-type alternate universes in general (bonus points for a version of someone from universe!A being transported into the mirrorverse) ∿ stuck in isolation together ∿ sex before feelings ∿ exploring physical disabilities (e.g. losing sight/hearing/the ability to a speak) temporarily or permanentlydislikes!
If they’re brought back to life via the supernatural, reincarnation, consciousness uploaded into an android, et cetera — 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. The death of non-requested characters or original characters are all fine, although a focus on that as a driving plot point may hit my next item.
⟡ 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 the events are sad but the character(s) experiencing them believe their lives to be normal, content, &/or are generally blind to the awfulness of their situation, then that's fine! I dislike when half or more of the work focuses on a character's sadness/angst and how they react or wallow in said angst.
⟡ Plots driven by embarrassment &/or humiliation (as a kink or situationally) that rely on actions that focus on humiliating them (e.g. A and B are forced to have sex in front of an audience; A verbally humiliates B in a sexual context or just to be cruel and B is thoroughly humiliated) make my second-hand embarrassment kick in hard, especially if they are shown or described in detail with particular focus on the embarrassment the character feels.However, if the character doesn't think they did anything embarrassing &/or it doesn't phase them that something embarrassing occurred (e.g. A walks in on B masturbating. B keeps going while A enjoys the show or joins in; or, A says "sorry", leaves, and then obsesses over hot B is, rather than being mortified), you're fine. Characters briefly doing something embarrassing (e.g. tripping while walking), or a character being 'weird' (e.g. a spy making a scene as cover for their mission; an alien making a cultural error due to not being of that culture), do not come close to hitting my second-hand embarrassment. The line is crossed when embarrassment or humiliation is the whole point/allure of the scene/plot.
⟡ Deathfic as an ending.
⟡ Painplay/torture kink ∿ cheating/infidelity (if one or both persons in a ship are in a canon relationship, I'm happy for it to be set pre-that relationship, in a divergence or alternate canon where everything is the same except that relationship never happened, or that relationship ended via break-up or divorce pre-your work) ∿ manips ∿ high school/university au ∿ yentas, matchmaking or meddling friends/family ∿ unrequested polyamory or open relationships ∿ epistolary ∿ crossdressing ∿ noncon wherein one or both halves completely hates the sex (if they come to like it, Stockholm Syndrome kicks in, a convenient mindbreak occurs, or anything similar — we're good!) ∿ genderswap/always-a-[opposite gender]/changes to canon gender
⟡ No preference between past and present tense, but I only prefer 3rd-Person Narration.
— far from the maddening crowd
william boldwood/gabriel oak
gabriel oak/francis troy
Sheepherder Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) begins an unsatisfactory affair with his employer Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge). After resigning himself to the fate of a paramour, hope returns to Gabriel's life as he discovers that a neighboring gentleman, William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), 'understands' him. Just as their burgeoning romance turns serious, Francis' increasing jealously catches the attention of his wife, who slowly begins to put the pieces together.(I've never seen the original version of this canon but more power to you if you have!) They literally had me at a Victorian gay romance. I'm usually not one for love triangles (if this can be called one, really) but this is exactly the kind I go in for: blatant sexual attraction that cools off when one party realizes the other is a dick; a wonderful man swooping in to save the day; said dick not being willing to give up what's his, even though he never took care of it to begin with? Sign! me! up!
I'm so here for a man-from-the-city being shipped off to the countryside (and that we never know why?! I'm sure Francis copped off with one too many boys & they had to marry him off to some far-off well-to-do woman who didn't know about the rumors before they reached even the far-corners of society) & shacking up with the only other hot gay boy in town.
I adore the way class differences are explored in this and would kill for more. How Francis saw Gabriel as a side piece & how clear it is that William would marry him if he could. I love that William doesn't look down on Gabriel, wants to get to know him, & promises him the world — & delivers.
When I say I gasped! I wave my usual secondhand embarrassment woes if you'd like to explore the early stages of Gabriel & Fracis' relationship from William's eyes. What was it that he saw? The passion, the brief moments of affection? Did he see as it soured? Were the two of them playing with fire in being so blatant, or did William only notice because he knew what to look for? Was it less of a peeping tom situation & one of near-stalking? How did he feel about watching Gabriel, who he seems to've instantly be attracted to, being treated as a mistress? Was it titillating & then the feelings crept in, or was he torn from the start?
If you're a Francis/Gabriel shipping (hello, #same), feel free to remove William from the plot & tell me about the good times (was it ever good?) before Gabriel realized things wouldn't ever be what he wanted & William moved in.
🎨 Fantasies. Voyeurism. Sensualism.
More occasions for William to enter Gabriel's circle, please. Him coming to buy wool; excuses for why he's trying to help out on the property; getting the Troy's to loan Gabriel to him for made-up work on his property. William learning about Gabriel in ways that Francis never pretended to be interested in, asking about his childhood and interests.
🎨 William making a pest of himself trying to spend time with Gabriel. Gabriel being fond as William makes mistakes. Fish out of water. Eyes for nothing but Gabriel, as Gabriel tries to remain stoic.
Gabriel sticking up for William! Gabriel being so headstrong & goodnatured that all the warnings he gets about William only leads him to publicly insisting they spend time together. Tell me about their walks in the evening, their conversations outside the church hall. How Francis' threats only make him more sure that he's doing the right thing. (I'm not even a dog person, but William tracking down the dog that Francis pettily sold away?! Get you a man!)
🎨 Walks. Dinners. Softness & shared glances. Gifts & pampering.
I'd actually love an inversion of the usual here, where Gabriel accepts William's offer of employment?! William, scrambling to find actual work for Gabriel to do; Gabriel learning what a partnership means — so many married couples share their resources & help one another find a career, so why not them — and setting up his own proper operation with William's emotional & financial assistance; the two of them building a life together now that Gabriel is no longer under Francis' thumb. (And does Francis leave them be, or is he an obstacle still? Does he attempt to be a business rival if he no longer is in the running romantically?)
This degree of loyalty gets me every time. If you wanted to give me random domestic moments of William being his intense, romantic self and Gabriel not knowing what to do with himself, I'd love it.
The film kind of rushes over this point & I really wish they didn't! What happened? Did the estranged father that they hinted at throughout finally kick it, leaving William with a title and his full inheritance? Had William always been slumming it like some of the rumors implied, & Gabriel finally found out?
The movie's open ending drives me insane, and a big part of why is that I wouldn't actually terribly mind if Gabriel went back to Francis?! I know, I'm the worst but — well! If you came out of this shipping the two of them in a messy, lopsided, 'Francis is who he is & that means he'll hurt Gabriel & Gabriel will hurt him', then I'm the person you can gift that to.
How do you imagine Francis losing the life to which he's accustomed for love? Does he help Gabriel out with the work, wherever they end up, or does he tend to the home? Speaking of, are they able to settle in one place or do they have to keep moving once the neighbors catch on? Does Francis convince Gabriel to move into the city — it would certainly be easier for Francis to find work, but where does that leave Gabriel?
🎨 Fish out of water. Growing pains. Fighting & making up. Supporting one another. Class differences.
I'd sort of really love if Francis' family didn't manage to marry him off. Would he have still made his way out to the countryside? Would his pride let him be supported by Gabriel? And what about William — what if all those rumors led to him losing his station in society? How would things play out if it was Gabriel who had to go to him to offer support, rather than the other way around?
I'm a simple Vulcan with simple needs. Give me Booker before Andy & company find him, wandering around England as an immortal as the Victorian era dawns upon the world. Are Gabriel or Francis immortal too? Does Booker!Gabriel stay with William/Francis until they pass on, & that's where Andy finds him. Is it why he's so bitter towards Nicky & Joe? And if you're one for reincarnation, I'd be equally open to a modern story where Gabriel!Booker sees a man who looks just like Francis/William & perhaps stalks them until they catch on, and then he has to explain himself (or not).
✨ :10 — GABRIEL, I BELIEVE I KNOW YOUR SECRET. I'VE SEEN YOU TOGETHER
✨ :44 — MR BOLDWOOD WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE! WOULD YOU JOIN US?
✨ :57 — I DARE SAY I'M SOMETHING OF A JOKE ABOUT THE PARISH
✨ 1:3033 — PLEASE LEAVE THE FARM BY THE END OF THE WEEK
✨ 1:45 — I'M WILLING TO PROTECT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE
✨ 1:49 — I'M NOT SUCH A FOOL TO IMAGINE THAT I MIGHT STAND A CHANCE NOW THAT YOU ARE SO LOVELY
✨ 2:00 — WHAT IF I TOLD YOU I'D MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE
✨ CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE
✨ OLD GUARD CROSSOVER
— john wick
santino d'antonio/john wick
Viggo has two sons. His legitimate heir Iosef is an idiot. His illegitimate son Santino (Riccardo Scamarcio), much more suited to assuming his father's role, turns out to be gay. And in love. With his associate. The Baba Yaga (Keanu Reeves). Needless to say, Viggo is not happy.I'm such a sucker for the mob romances & this has everything I like: son's digging in to piss off their overbearing fathers; overbearing father's having to toe the line & not actually doing much even though they're constantly complaining; age gaps; so many crack-played-straight elements; relationships that everybody knows about but dare not speak of; pet psychopaths; murder attempts as loyalty as shovel talks; Keanu being happy. What more do you need!?Or: where Viggo just wish his son would choose any other person to fuck than the Boogeyman.
If action or violence isn't your thing, I'd love to see Viggo having to grin & bear the relationship John has with his son. John becoming a defacto-bodyguard & attending meetings with everyone losing their minds in paranoia. John at family vacations! Give me Santino being his insane, no-chill self & John just going with it, all as Viggo steams.
🎨 Power couple. Family portrait. Bodyguard.
I so endlessly love that neither John nor Santino are overly bothered by what exactly they're doing. All of their respective crews knowing these hookups are happening! Them just standing outside awkwardly! Tell me about all the times the two of them went out or met up when they shouldn't have. Is it about the fuck-you that it conveys? Does that not even factor into it at all, and they just enjoy the time they spend together? How much of it is about making Viggo angry versus making the two of them happy, and when does one start to take over from the other?
🎨 Dates between two very dangerous men.
I love that Santino is off enough that John's exploits are fascinating to him rather than being scary — they're such a good match in that regard. Has John tried to dial back his exploits at this stage in his life? Or is he still going strong? Does Santino goad him on?
🎨 Violence begetting arousal.
Please give me them still hooking up during the period where Viggo is just nonstop trying to kill John. Be as ridiculous as you like! Quiet dinners ruined by gunfire, sex interrupted by ninjas sneaking in, whatever.
Violence doesn't bother Santino at all, even against himself, except for when John is hurt. I'd love to see that explored or unpacked. Once all is said and done, is Santino ridiculous whenever John gets a papercut? What about when it's much worse than that?
🎨 Hurt & comfort. Tending to wounds.
What happens after it all? Is there still animosity between John and his father-in-law? Does Viggo start to thaw or outright like John? A part of me would love to see John becoming the "favorite" son after all of this, but I'm open to whatever you have in mind, author!
While the modern weapons sure makes this canon flashy, if you wanted to go old school and set it all during the age of myth & legends, so that John really is the origin of the Slavic boogeyman, I'd love it. What is Santino's role? Is he a prince that ventures off too far, or one that is out looking for trouble? Does he know right away that John is the sort of trouble he wouldn't mind getting into? Does John takes some convincing, or is he right there with him?
I love sugar daddies, I love younger sugar daddies — please give me Santino treating John to the life of an entitled mob bosses son. Does John like it? Does it creep him out?
I'd love to see Santino meeting John when he was younger & even more impressionable, and when John was at the height of his career.
✨ :05 — HELLO JOHN, I HEARD YOU FUCKED MY SON
✨ :22 — VIGGO IS NOT GONNA LIKE THIS
✨ :38 — HOW EXCITING
✨ 1:01 — KILL JOHN WICK FOR TWO MILLION DOLLARS
✨ :1:08 — WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN
✨ 1:15 — I LOST EVERYTHING UNTIL YOUR SON ARRIVED ON MY DOORSTEP
✨ SETTING SWAP
✨ SUGAR DADDY
✨ TIME WARP
— justified
raylan givens/tim gutterson
Tim (Jacob Pitts) is sent to Kentucky after one too many of his arrest attempts ends in murder. There he's paired with Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) - a narcissistic local-boy marshal with serious daddy issues. Problem is, this isn't exactly the first time the two have met. Raylan decides that this is a perfect opportunity to get serious about one another. Tim, happy with his place in the closet, would sooner shoot Raylan than tell his boss that he is gay.Their chemistry is everything. I love the humor, the glibness, the mix of action & interpersonal development, the small office politics! It's refreshing to have a (modern) lawman western that leans into all that makes it cool and updates what needs updating. I love that the will-they in this isn't about them getting together at all, but if they can make a life with what they've got.
I love this show for how it implies more than it tells, especially about the events that made these characters who they are. But seriously, please tell me exactly what happened the first time Tim & Raylan were together! Was it a one-night stand? Fuckbuddies? An actual relationship? There's always so much going on there and we have no idea, except that it clearly left an impression.
🎨 Shared space. Learning one another. Routine & habit development. Domesticity.
Them getting right back together after Tim's killed again. Please tell me the hows and whys! Was it Raylan who invited Tim over, or did Tim invite himself? Who needed it more? I think that sometimes Raylan makes Tim more complicated than he is, telling himself that Tim is secretly calling out for help when he really isn't. Did Tim need him that night, or did Raylan want Tim & was just looking for an excuse? Was Raylan shaken — or turned on!? — by Tim's display of deadly competence, or was that an excuse too & Raylan wasn't even phased, he was just looking for an opening to get back together?
🎨 Roughhousing/playfulness. Secret hookups. Sneaking around the office. Intimacy in the car or elevator.
Knowing these two idiots, they easily could have gone the opposite way & insisted their relationship meant far more than it did at this part of the series. If you wanted to invert the trope & have them act like they're in love when really it was just lust. Give me them having to go to events together, suffer through marriage talk, whatever, all because they didn't want to give up fucking, and so now they have to sell that it's true love so they aren't written up.
🎨 Teasing. Aggressive or exaggerated displays of romanticism.
Raylan is so quick & smart & clever and I love that not only is Tim the one person who isn't impressed by his bullshit, but that he's the only one able to throw Raylan off his game when he's usually so goddamn cool. Give me a million times Raylan drives himself crazy trying to figure out what Tim wants or is gonna do, and Tim throwing him for a change-up every time Raylan thinks he has him nailed down.
🎨 Shy Raylan. Raylan trying to show off for Tim. Tim clearly waffling over giving Raylan the time of day.
We Are Not Telling Art is such a great modern western but the only thing better than a modern western is an actual western. Please give me Tim & Art as old first-generation marshal boyfriends who drift into the same town.
✨ :30 — OUR PATHS HAVE CROSSED
✨ 1:15 — RAYLAN, TELL ME THAT WASN'T TIM IN THERE
✨ 1:30 — WE LIE TO EVERYONE WE KNOW
✨ 1:50 — ...WHAT
✨ OLD WEST
— original work (art)
monk/enchantingly beautiful novice who is secretly the devil
Corruption. Blasphemy. Altar Sex. Hair-pulling.This isn't a gift for me, but it's a gift for me. I love monks, I love the devil leading monks astray. I love playing with the idea that perhaps demons aren't the ones in the wrong, and freeing someone from a cultish existence can be a good thing. I love rough sex. I love the implied betrayal. I want more!
When it comes to me, you can never go wrong with a hot young stranger comes to town & completely throws a chaste older man's life for a loop. Please, run with it.
🎨 Courtship. Sweet moments made sinister.
What's the deal with the monk? What if he was also a demon?
What if he is an angel or some sort of prophet meant to bring the devil back to the light? Was this an instance of willingly losing a battle so that you have better odds of winning the war?
🎨 Wolf in sheep's clothing.
Do they continue on within the church? Are they found out? As I mentioned up top, I love a good genre mashup. Feel free to take this as a horror romance — in the great tradition of the Church, the monk is sent to a smaller parish where he's all alone. Temptation finds him anyway, because you can't hide from the devil. If you want to go full Invisible Man (2020), do it!
If you found a way to make the bare-bones Satan's Ally somehow mesh with the story of this work, I would worship you forever.
⬑
the pilgrimage
I can't be the only one who suspected the whole time that the rock was worthless & Diarmuid is actually the real holy item of the hermitage, right? Please give me this & explain why. Is it just that he's pure of heart? Is he a fallen angel? A marked saint in the making? Another prophet?
🎨 Religious imagery &/or worship.
I am happy to go either way for this one. The low hanging (but delicious) fruit would be for Diarmuid to be tempted by Raymond, an agent of Lucifer if not the fallen angel himself. Please, go for it!
On that flip side, a part of me would love for Diarmuid to be an agent of the devil (or the devil himself!)? Please feel free to have his innocence be an act, or to play around with the idea of what good and evil truly are. Lucifer had very noble intentions, after all, and many an atrocity has been committed in the eyes of God. Is Dairmuid's goal perhaps to stop the next crusade & save Raymond's life?
🎨 Satanic or demonic imagery. Things lurking in the shadows. More than meets the eye.
I will never get over them just having sex in the forest. If you want to play around with the pacing so they have more opportunities to wander away from camp & get busy, please have at it.
🎨 Sensualism or eroticism in the outdoors.
Raymond having absolutely no chill about his obsession over Diarmuid is so great. I'd love to see him just start plastering Dairmuid with gifts. Jewels, fine clothes, insisting Diarmuid stay with him in his princely lodgings each night — a million things that have the rest of the convoy looking on in horror, but they're all too terrified to actually say anything.
🎨 Pampering. Spoiling.
Give me reverse corruption, please. Raymond being so sure that he's right, but knowing that Diarmuid wouldn't ever be with him if he spits on god's name, and so he starts being more pious & biting back his darker urges to get Diarmuid to open up to him! Does it work? Is it a real change, or does he drop it the minute Diarmuid is his? Does Diarmuid know and appreciate the effort, or is he fooled?
Please for the love of God, give me Raymond going off on another crusade and bringing Diarmuid with him. Clearly, he is not set to war, he can barely seem to hold himself together with all the stimulation of the camps and cities they pass through, so everyone (correctly) deduces Raymond's new "squire" is actually his paramour!?
If they journey part of the canon isn't your thing, I would adore something where Diarmuid is the only monk in a small hermitage or for a small town, and in rolls Raymond on a crusade. Does he try to convince Diarmuid to leave with him, or is Raymond so taken with Diarmuid that he relocates?
Something that's interesting to me is that for all that Diarmuid is young & naive, he is pretty down to get with Raymond. If you'd want to make things a bit muddier, I'd be happy to see a take where are a bit more dubconny. What if Dairmuid stuck to his morals or actually listened to Brother Ciarán's warnings? What if Raymond wasn't about to let that stop him?
I'd love Raymond being physically cruel or apathetic towards Raymond while simultaneously being absolutely rapturous or sickeningly sweet in his praise and lamentations of desire, keeping up a running commentary in French. Diarmuid has no idea but everyone else is just 👀
Primo is so insane and it's such a perfect match for how willing Paul is to just go with things. Their meeting is the sort of fate that happens when two perfectly suited weirdos happen upon one another. Please give me the good of their time together. Was it nonstop fucking? Does Primo's propensity for romance mean they went on a lot of dates? We know that Paul is always one to take things for his due or as they come to him, so was he just in bliss while this hot Italian psychopath pampered him?
🎨 Obsessed &/or fascinated with one another's bodies. Lazy time spent in bed or on a couch. Shared expressions while laid out on the floor out in the field.
Give me Paul constantly trying to excuse or twist Primo's homicidal tendencies and everyone giving him the side-eye once they actually have a chance to meet Primo for more than a second.
Paul kind of sucks in the way third-generation uber-rich children are wont to do! Please give me Paul sort of encouraging or goading on Primo's more psychopathic tendencies.
On the flip side, I'd also love Primo knowing that sometimes he freaks Paul out, and so him doing his best to dial that back. Does it work? Does Paul appreciate the effort even though Primo can't ever turn off that intense side of himself?
What's that? You wanna make Primo archiving his dream by either scamming or tricking or outright genuinely getting Paul to marry him & all the insane "oh my god, what do you mean you didn't have him sign a prenup?!" hijinks that would ensue? Go for it!
🎨 Family portraits. Heirlooms. Honeymoons.
Sometimes John gets himself in trouble just because he likes how he feels when Primo gets him out of it! Please feel free to play around with the morality of that; is the one willing to commit violence the worst, or is it the one who encourages &/or "forces" them to?
After the dust has settled, I think that Primo would be a great addition to the family. Please give me J. Paul Getty warming up to Primo & grooming him to take over, or having John take up that spot like intended but having Primo as a shadow enforcer or whatever else you can come up with. He's such a great addition to such an evil family & I'd love to see him flex that!
Geralt's utter disdain each & every time someone wants to bed Jaskier is my everything. I cannot believe there wasn't ever an attempt at fake dating as an excuse to deescalate a proposal or to provide cover, but if you wanna make that, author, I wanna consume it!
🎨 Jealousy &/or possessiveness. Annoyance.
I will never get over Jaskier making a b-line for Geralt. So here's my question: is Geralt the Djinn? Did Geralt take a different form the first time around after he was summoned and that's why Jaskier doesn't know him? Did Jaskier think it was a dream? And what about Geralt — was he following after Jaskier because he was worried about him? Is he meant to be the one-and-done sort of demon, or is it a well that runs for a while?
If you envision this as their first meeting & for Geralt not to be the Djinn, was Geralt waiting for Jaskier to notice him? Was he purposefully looking enticing as he waited for his owner to catch up?
Please give me all the inane, stupid things Geralt does for Jaskier. If Geralt is the Djinn, does Jaskier ever actually have to waste wishes on them? Does he start off that way, but eventually Geralt does things without him needing to?
🎨 Indulgence. Domesticity. Geralt doing ridiculous things for Jaskier.
Does Jaskier ever want to take them up on an offer? How does Geralt feel about that? I can't imagine that he isn't the world's most effective cockblock. Maybe he thinks that bedding Jaskier will free him from being impacted by the wish — how does he feel when that isn't the case?
If you do want to have Geralt impacted by the spell (and it's something he's battling with!?) but his genuine affection is starting to supersede the magical influence, I am here for it!
Give me Geralt questing everything about his taste as he realizes that he can't blame his obsession & fondness towards Jaskier on the wish like literally everyone else in the world. Embarrassing!
This is my kryptonite until the day I die. Please, tell me about all the times they had to share a room so Geralt could make sure no one snuck in and accosted Jaskier in his sleep, or they had to bunk out in the woods due to the whole town being mad at Geralt's cockblocking, or whatever else you can think of, and Jaskier manages to dig himself under that prickly shell to get Geralt talking, and how it's somehow more intimate than if they'd gone to town on one another.
🎨 Late nights by a fire. One of them in bed or the tub while the other sits on the floor. Jaskier fidgeting with &/or manipulating Geralt's hands or feet while Geralt pretends to mind.
Is there one? Does Geralt 'belong' to Jaskier forever, or until he gets tired of them? Please play around with the mythology of the djinn & wish-granting all you like.
What if Jaskier messed up on that initial summoning spell? I'd love Geralt as a succubus that blissfully feeds off of Jaskier's pent up energy &/or lust for Gerlat, or whatever other creature you can think of!
✨ BEAUTIFUL NOVICE
✨ SUBVERSION
✨ WHAT COMES AFTER
✨ SATAN'S ALLEY FUSION —
— pilgrimage
raymond de merville/brother diarmuid
Raymond De Merville (Richard Armitage) is sent to escort a most holy of relics to the Pope. Brother Diarmuid (Tom Holland), a young monk, is the only one with pure enough heart to safely see its passage. As they journey toward the Holy See, Diarmuid finds himself drawn to his protector, although the question on if it's Raymond that he needs protecting from becomes a major worry for the rest of the escort.Alright, the #aesthetics play a large part in this one for me. I love this sort of time period, where the whole world seems so small & contained. The brutal nature of the countryside, the idea that even if you survive the mad men traveling with you, nature just might take out out as well. I love the sinister, obsessive dynamic between the two of them & how you can never quite peg Raymond down, compared to how literally pure Diarmuid is.
✨ :10 — YOU WILL SEE THE SAFE DELIVERY OF OUR HOLIEST RELIC TO ROME
✨ :34 — THE DEVIL WAITS A LIFETIME FOR A SINGLE MOMENT OF WEAKNESS
✨ :46 — PRETTY LITTLE MONK
✨ 1:02 — MY LORD, WAS THERE TURTH TO WHAT HE SAID
✨ 1:14 — ANYONE CAN WEAR THE ROBES OF A MONK
✨ 1:20 — IF I WAIT THERE WILL BE ANOTHER CRUSADE! ANOTHER CHANCE AT ABSOLUTION
✨ SMALL TOWN MONK
✨ MAKE IT DARK
✨ LANGUAGE BARRIER
— trust
john paul getty iii/primo nizzuto
Primo (Luca Marinelli) and Paul (Harris Dickinson) meet at a different points in their lives. Paul's on the run from some very bad men; the issue of bad men has never been a problem that Primo's had trouble solving.Oh gosh, where do I even start! One of my favorite things are well-off heirs being gay & ending up with the last person their family could stand — but something that I actually find fascinating about the Getty's is that they do value ruthlessness, so Primo sorta fits in more than any of the actual (grand)children do!
✨ :03 — I GOT IN TROUBLE IN ROME; ME AND SOME OTHER GUY
✨ :27 — HE'S ALRIGHT, NO?
✨ :52 — HEY, LITTLE MOUSE!
✨ 1:07 — I DON'T WANT A TINY PERCENTAGE OF WHAT THE GETTY HAVE, I WANNA BE THE FUCKING GETTY'S
✨ PET PSYCHOPATH
✨ BEING A GETTY
— the witcher
geralt of rivia/jaskier
Jaskier (Joey Batey) lucks into the possession of a Djinn. Tired of a life of poverty & anonymity, he wishes for a way to touch into the hearts of his audience. It isn't long before it becomes apparent that hearts are by-far the only thing Jaskier's wish as impacted as the wealthy patrons throughout the realm seem to want nothing less than for Jaskier to join them in their beds. The upside is that his new "friend" (emphasis-quotes very much needed) Geralt (Henry Cavill) makes for a great bodyguard. At least until he falls for Jaskier as well.Geralt liking Jaskier before the love spell went into effect, not knowing it, & then being terrified that he's as bad as any one of the many people throwing themselves at Jaskier is one of my evergreen tropes & my favorite version of any kind of love potion plot.
✨ :25 — DROP YOUR TROUSERS
✨ :30 — WHO ARE YOU
✨ :49 — AND YET, HERE WE ARE
✨ 1:00 — HOW MANY OF THESE LORDS WANT TO FUCK YOU
✨ 1:20 — YOU MUST WANT SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF ONCE ALL THIS NONSENSE IS OVER WITH
✨ 1:35 — YOU'RE IMMUNE
✨ 1:46 — EVERY TIME I'M NEAR YOU, I SAY MORE IN FIVE MINUTES THAN I'VE SAID IN WEEKS
✨ THIRD WISH
✨ SUMMONING SOMETHING ELSE