Dear AU Exchange Writer

Hello, dear writer!
First of all, let me emphasize I have total trust in you and I want you to feel free to go ODAO, combine different prompts and free forms as you wish and in general go wild. I'm easy to please. How much I elaborate on a given fandom prompt absolutely doesn't indicate how much I'd love to receive it - if it's longer, it just means that I had already planned to request it, as opposed to seeing in the tagset and thinking I'd really love to read it. This said, onwards to the lists

Likes

Here is the stuff that REALLY drives me crazy and is 100% guaranteed to enhance my fic if included.

- Hurt /comfort, in any combination of physical and emotional as long as it's intense and touchy. I especially love mental breakdowns, exhaustion due to overwork, battle wounds, subdrop/domdrop
- Mental illness headcanons, especially in settings where the characters don't have the words to explain what is going on
- Banter, humor, ironic narration, dialogue-heavy fic
- Self discovery journeys
- Character studies, relationship studies, introspection, worldbuilding, backstory. I love to see how dynamics work and what people like about each other in relationships
- Getting together and especially getting BACK together
- Kidfic, both in the raising kids sense and in the characters as children sense
- Angst with an happy ending
- Dysfunctional yet loving relationships, especially with ships from which you really don't expect that
- Dysfunctional families and family dynamics in general
- Cute shenanigans, adventures, mysteries rescue missions
- Characters being overprotective of each other, whether as gen or ship
- Found family, characters recovering from past abuse and bad experiences with each other's help
- Physical affection, fluff, people having fun together and finding things they share
- Past relationships, exes, background ships, background characters: this was meant to be an opt in, but honestly I just really love to see a nicely fleshed out world if the plot of the fic allows it


Opt ins:

This is not to be interpreted as "tropes I'm meh about'" but rather commonly DNWd stuff I like and doesn't bother me if included in fic, but I'm not asking you to go out of your way to include (nor that you should go out of your way to include likes either, again totally fine with ODAO, but you get me). Feel free to also ask the mods for anything not included here

- Gender/sexuality headcanons. Honestly literally any headcanon you have
- Pretty much anything stylistically (person, tense, 5 +1 fix, song fic for all i know… Just feel free)
- Underage as long as it's over 13 and without like… 10+ age gaps or manipulation
- Torture and violence, though I prefer it not be excessively graphic
- Suicide/self harm
- Abuse, as long as it isn't a requested character being the abuser


DNWs
- Rape/noncon (unless said otherwise or canon backstory
- Cheating
- Unrequited love that doesn’t end either with getting together or with the pining character meeting someone else
- Sex scenes (most sexual elements are perfectly fine. Mentions, jokes, quick descriptions even if graphic or kinky are fine. I just don't want lengthy porn)
- Eating disorders/body shaming and insecurity
- A/b/o
- Mpreg
- Soulmates AU

Now, getting more specific about the fandoms

Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare

So, first a couple fandom-specific things: I don’t particularly love when AUs completely erase the canon feud and the violence, but I make an exception for the writing group AU where you can choose whether to keep it or not. I prefer Juliet to be left her canon age, Romeo to be 15-16 and for the other boys to not be aged up past their teens. I also, as I think you can see, read Romeo and Juliet as sympathetic and genuinely in love.

Juliet Capulet/Romeo Montague
Mercutio/Benvolio Montague
Benvolio Montague/Tybalt
Mercutio/Tybalt
Benvolio Montague & Romeo Montague & Mercutio

All: gang war AU, All: criminals AU

I think the canon conflicts modernized translate very well into this kind of AU, and I would love to see something about the kids’ involvement in it. Set in Italy or americanized is fine. Conflicted loyalties, fights and subsequent hurt/comfort, kidnappings and subsequent hurt/comfort, “casefic” (mission fic? Heist fic?), angst of having your life chosen for you and the adults’ expectations etc. I generally imagine Tybalt and Benvolio (and Mercutio as an ally on the Montague side, or even better being torn between two sides, if you write Tycutio/set up a love triangle) to be more involved, while the main characters have been kept more sheltered as heirs/younger/Juliet being a girl.

ALL: Writing critique group

You can use any ship or all five kids as a group here, maybe in a school club. I’m really curious of what kind of genre each of them would have. I’d love to see some Heated Debates.

ALL: More people live/fewer people die AU
You can take this several directions, tragically.
- Romeo is somehow stopped before getting to the grave, causing Juliet to wake up alone and them having to find a way back together
- Tybalt or Mercutio or both survive the duel, possibly after hurting each other. How does their relationship change? This is also nice for some sweet hurt/comfort for Bencutio or Montacrew gen - whether Mercutio is badly hurt, or Romeo realizes he has murdered Tybalt for no reason
- Romeo and Juliet manage to leave for Mantua together and go on a fun self discovery journey around Italy and idk relax for once
- Romeo and Juliet somehow announce their marriage without their parents murdering them. Shenanigans happen at the subsequent family events as disgruntled Montagues and Capulets are forced together (good for Tycutio or Tyvolio)

ALL: Batfamily AU, ALL: Costumed vigilante AU

So… I kind of like the idea of someone, Escalus or Friar Lawrence or Nurse or some generic adult, I’m not picky, deciding to Do Something about the disaster in Verona and creating some kind of vigilante identity, gathering whatever orphaned/unwanted/just really eager to throw hands kids they can find in a cute little sidekick family. This idea was originally born as Tybalt/Benvolio, with two orphaned/unwanted nephews from both families being chosen as an attempt of reconciliation, only for them to have a bitter rivalry and completely different attitudes to it. But it would also be nice to see how Romeo and Juliet, extremely soft as they are, would deal with this, or the Montacrew as a crime fighting trio!

ALL: Canon couple are just friends

I’ve read a headcanon somewhere that suggested an AU where Romeo and Juliet simply make friends (maybe they’re gay, your choice, you can pair them with whomever, requests don’t really apply to this one) and try to do something against the hate between their houses. How does the story evolve in this case? What do they bond about? How does their conversation at the ball go?

ALL: Character gets another character’s help they didn’t get in canon

This is a bit vague, but you can have it as one character saving another, for example during the duels or suicides, or as offering mental health help/emotional support. Especially Tybalt seems to have a lot of shit going on, with his anger issues and weird family dynamics and whatnot, I’d like Benvolio (condescendingly) or Mercutio (pretty ineffectually) to try to help him. For the Montacrew, one specific idea I have is Romeo and Benvolio calming down Mercutio during the queen Mab speech (following the interpretation of it being some kind of delirious breakdown) and trying to figure out what’s going on and helping him. You have total carte blanche on what that is.

Inheritance Cycle

Murtagh/Nasuada

Murtagh and baby Thorn are rescued before Galbatorix can find their true names

Pretty self explanatory but with lots of potential. The hurt comfort of Murtagh's recovery from torture and trauma, the utter iddy fluff of them trying to figure how to raise a baby dragon - any direction is good. I headcanon that Galbatorix and Murtagh's father were a Thing and I like the idea of Galbatorix causing him some sexual trauma, either by directly raping him or by showing him some "distressing" memories of his heydey, so if you want to take a particularly angsty direction there's that, but if and only if it inspires you. . I love some competence porn from Nasuada, and I love the idea of a strong woman like her being able to rely on genuine support and love. Murtagh could probably have lots of insights for her as someone experienced with Galbatorix's court,and there would be a minefield of issues to navigate due to whether people would trust Murtagh, leading to a stracrossed romance situation. Would be nice to see how they play out.

Canonically dead parent survives to raise their children

I can see this two ways: Murtagh having to Prove Himself A Good Match to Ajihad (feel free to apply any canon divergence here, the aforementioned au, au where Murtagh is never captured etc)
OR we see more of Selena and her relationship with Murtagh. She's a very intriguing character and very morally gray, so what would her reaction to this relationship and her son being a rider be? Is she happy for him? Is she proud of how he changed his true name, like she did? Is she conflicted about the path he has chosen in tying himself to the queen of Alagaesia?

Hogwarts AU, Shadowhunters AU

Feel totally free. I imagine Nasuada and Murtagh as Slytherin prefects in the Hogwarts au, and for Shadowhunters maybe something between Young Institute Leader/Antihero in a Jace-like situation?

ALL: surprise pregnancy reveals AU detail during past canon captivity

The detail being that they banged in captivity (yea, not very realistic i know) and how the hell does the queen of Alagaesia deal with that? How does Murtagh react, coming back to Alagaesia to find he has a baby /toddler/smol child

All: modern setting but still canon universe

This is purely an excuse to read modern AU dragon riding. You can do either of the other prompts in this setting, or you can take it in a more college/high school AU setting but with dragons

A song of ice and fire

Sansa Stark/Willas Tyrell
Elia Martell/Ned Stark
Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister/Ned Stark
Cersei Lannister/Ned Stark
Jaime Lannister/Ned Stark

ASOIAF: No Tully/Stark and Tully/Arryn double wedding; everyone involved married different people

So… I owe several favors to whoever came up with this prompt bc 'older generation arranged marriage crackship ficlet' is one of my favorite asoiaf fic genres. I wasn't able to submit Jaime/Catelyn/(Cersei) and Stannis/Catelyn, but those are options as well. I'm really interested in the personality/culture clash aspect of these, plus kid fic and how different their children would be from the canon ones, and what their family dynamics would be. Does culture clash impact how they raise said children? I'd also be curious to see who married whom, beyond the ship that is in focus, so even a passing mention of that would be great.

Ned and Elia would likely get along like a house on fire, but have a hell of an acclimation process in front of them, whether they live in Winterfell or in Dorne, so for them I'm mostly imagining fluff and cute adventures.

Ned marrying Cersei (and potentially falling in love with Jaime too along the way) would be an absolute hot mess. I'd love poor Ned being surrounded by dysfunction on all sides but trying valiantly to set things right in his new home - for one thing, poly would REALLY benefit the twins, and having a kind husband with a good definition of consent would benefit Cersei. Also having a little direwolf might benefit Cersei.
Same dynamic with Catelyn marrying a young Jaims, depressed and disaffected after being dishonorably discharged from the kingsguard.

ALL: Future Arranged Spouses are Forbidden To Meet But Able To Study One Another's Hobbies

This isn't too far from canon in asoiaf, especially with these characters that live in different kingdoms and don't really have a reason to meet before. It would be especially lovely with Sansa/Willas, either in the canon situation (but then I'd prefer them to wait a few years for romance and sex, as Sansa is 12 at the time) or in more relaxed circumstances, in a no-plot AU or in the end after Sansa is back in winterfell as queen in the north or adviser to her brother or whatever. They all have such adorable interests, it would be so cute to see a older, hardened Sansa wrangling a mountain of puppies or a serious, studious Willas attentively studying some teen girl's favorite ballads or trying embroidery.

With the other ships, I love the idea of people getting a completely different idea of each other than the reality. Jaime/Cersei expecting God knows what because Ned's interests are mostly martial then getting a sweet dork etc. In this situation, I allow you to do a 'homophobia doesn't exist and Ned and Jaime can marry' AU if needed.

ALL: Writing Critique Group AU

Especially nice for Sansa and Willas, who I both totally imagine would be writers and very nice about it (I would prefer a slightly aged up Sansa here). For the others… Well, first of all I'm, again, very interested in what genres they would write. Does Jaime write thinly veiled twin erotica/soulmate romance and does it completely go over Ned's head? Do Cersei and Ned/Jaime and Catelyn have Heated Debates about themes interpretation and symbolism? Lots of potential.

ALL: Murderer/Criminal Psychologist

This is so badwrong and fitting. So, the combinations I'd prefer are
- Sansa as the murderer, either of Joffrey or something tied with her family tragedy, Willas as the psychologist
- I can see either Elia or Ned as either. There would be a lot of tragedy in either, as I love the contrast between their sweetness and the reality of the murder. Maybe a gang war AU where one of them was pressured by their family, or Ned killed Rhaegar after the Lyanna Situation, or Elia was forced to kill to defend their children but was denied self defence bc circumstances aren't clear
- Ned as Jaime's psychologist: I'd prefer this one set with a teenage Jaime and young adult intern/assistant/PhD student Ned, so it can be set newly after Jaime's murder of Aerys. What changes in a timeline where Ned stops judging Jaime eventually? Again, I think I would also love Catelyn in this role.
- Ned as Cersei's psychologist: oh boy what a cluster fuck. I have no idea who Cersei might have murdered. Robert? Her father after he found the incest out? This would especially destroy her. But it would be cool.

Six of Crows

PS:
You have my warmest permission to ignore that one death at the end of Crooked Kingdom

Group: The Crows
Matthias Helvar/Nina Zenik (I'm… Really sorry I managed to misspell both names in the nomination and didn't notice until now)
Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Jesper Fahey & Nina Zenik
Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck
Jesper Fahey/Nina Zenik
Jesper Fahey

Six of Crows: Jesper is able to go study in Ravka and develop his powers

Self explanatory: his dad/parents decide it would be good for him to learn using his powers (Colm I love you but COME ON) and he grows up in the Little Palace in Ravka. You can have it as pure character study, him meeting Nina and having either a teenage puppy love or a really chaotic friendship, him having an AU meeting with Wylan. How does his ADHD still impact him with much lower stress tied to his powers but now with the added pressure of a structured school environment? If his mom still dies, how does that change his attitude? Does he ever meet the Crows? Does he fight in the war? Etc etc. Alternatively, just school shenanigans are lovely.

ALL: Writing Critique Group AU

I LOVE this free-form. Especially good for group dynamics. I can see every single couple launching into heated debates, a lot of competition going on. Also I'm very curious to see what genres they'd write.

ALL: Umbrella Academy Fusion ALL: Shadowhunters AU

Just unleash your imagination! I'd love them as a demon-fighting team, and I'd love to see what their superpowers would be

ALL: Winter Soldier storyline

Someone being psychologically conditioned and set against their group… I'd especially love it with Nina or Inej. Nina being conditioned by her Grisha teachers to remember her duty and betray her friends, Inej being reminded (maybe during her torture by Van Eck) that she's an honest girl, a wholesome, decent girl, that if she goes against the criminals maybe she'll have her real family again etc etc. Of course the angst would still be high with any of the boys, if you have ideas for them!

ALL: Murderer/Criminal Psychologist

For this one, I'm ok with literally every combination, and it's especially fun when the criminal psychologist isn't really all that more morally upright.
Obviously does require some aging up.

ALL: Character meets the parallel universe counterpart of their dead SO

Not necessarily dead, but I'm in love with any combination of this. Especially, for this situation, a character meeting the version of their SO that never had the starting point they get in canon and is a fairly commonplace, innocent person: Inej meeting young farmer Kaz Brekker and trying to rope him into joining her circus, Matthias meeting a non-Grisha Nina or Nina meeting a Matthias whose family survived the attack and never became a Druskelle but also is scared of her rather than hating her, Jesper meeting a Wylan that managed to deceive his father regarding his dyslexia and so is still accepted into his home, but a nervous wreck about being found out.