Yuletude 2022

[ekevka]

Hello! This account is for letters for various exchanges (although I haven't participated in this one before), so feel free to browse, some fandoms are repeated.

In any case, I would love anything from my prompts, and neither order, nor amount of prompts is indicative as to which one I'd like best.

Same goes for art/fic: while I will try to think up likes/prompts for both, I don’t draw myself, so some of those might be more geared up towards writing. It doesn’t mean art isn’t very welcome!

DISCLAIMER: size of fandom section doesn’t equal my desire to receive works based on those prompts - don’t think that I won’t love your work just because I haven’t written much about a fandom or character! :)

So, general section:
General DNW:

- out of setting AU/modern AU/generic AU (coffeeshop AU, high-schools AU and the like)

- hopeless endings (open endings are fine)

- non-canonical character death: canonical is fine, death while timeloops are going on are also fine.

- eye trauma described in any kind of detail

- mind-control

- character bashing (as in unreasonable hating without any reason spelled out - if you see a character able to bash another, warn for it and keep it as out of the author's speech as possible)

- non-con

- unconsentual infidelity in any poly ships — if two ends of the triangle are not into each other, I’d prefer a line about them being alright with the situation rather than the middle intentionally keeping them in the dark and/or angst about it

General likes (in addition to specific prompts):

- hurt/comfort (preferably in balance, or with more focus on comfort),

- there was only one _insert object here_ plots

- characters expressing their feelings by actions instead of words

- calm before the storm moments (especially if there's a foreshadowing of canonical battles or such)

- soulmate AUs (but not any kind that impedes one's vision before meeting a soulmate - like, see only the colour of their eyes/no colours other than black and white until you've met, that kind of thing) - I especially like some twist of the theme. For example, if a soulmark is the last words you hear from your soulmate, it changes, or if a character changes their name the soulmark changes as well (valid both for trans reasons and for converting ones), or it being so generic it might not be there at all until it clicks.

- daemon AU

- bodyswap

- timetravel in all shapes and forms (inc. groundhog-day AUs)

- pining

- mpreg (complete with abortion or miscarriage, although I’d rather you not dwell on actual childbirth)

- magical realism - be it just domovois running about and Lykho being something you can physically scare away, or more mainstream fire/water/air/earth powers, or anything else you can think up!

19th Century CE RPF  (that's the longest one of them, and the only one I managed to gush about in detail - feel free to skip and don't worry if you are writing about anyone else)

 

19th Century CE RPF  

Nicholas I is my favourite tsar, although a lot of this is romantic fleur - for everything major he did right (law codex, railways, attempts at peasant reforms, relying on bureaucracy and not on nobility) there is something that went wrong (general antisemitism, lack of progress, Crimean war). Still, a man who can calm down a revolt by sheer presence (not the Decembrists, the cholera one in Saint Petersburg) or who’d ensure people aren’t harmed by the fire even when they are trying to save his property (the fire of the Winter Palace, where depending on what you read either no one was harmed or nothing got stolen - reportedly, the tsar even broke a huge-ass mirror because two firemen tried to take it out and wouldn’t listen to him), is fairly impressive.

So, like, I don’t subscribe to all his policies, but there is something about a man who wants to make things right (even if in retrospect it didn’t work or was a completely wrong response).

He was also overly fond of micromanaging, which involved travelling around Russia - only the European part, not Siberia though, - again, better than not bothering at all, but probably not the thing you’d expect from a tsar of all Russias! (good for roadtrips though)

Alexandra Feodorovna is generally described as beautiful, kind and not overly energetic, even in those matters usually left to tsarinas (charity, mostly, and overseeing of hospitals) - but given that she inherited, or tried to, all the duties of Maria Feodorovna (wife of Paul I, Nicholas got her height, if you want a image), I don’t think anyone would have qualified. Like, Maria actually tried to be regent over Alexander I (but he was too old), and later on advised him a lot, while also governing all the charity state programmes, was involved in hospitals, kept an eye on all her children and their spouses, so that feels like a person with a lot of energy - not something anyone can match. (also, Alexander I delegated more easier than his brother)

So, Alexandra was more of a mistress of the house - pretty, caring, not involving herself much in her husband’s business. Still, they loved each other and that’s why she is involved in three of four requests - one day I might go for Alexandra/Varvara Nelidova, and I do encourage it, but this is not today.

Alexander von Benckendorff is mostly known for being the first head of the Third Department (secret police - again, thanks, Nicholas, even though having an attempted revolt almost before you even were finally proclaimed the tsar must have been horrid + there were other such institutions before, this one got finer uniforms and got into foolish stuff further into 19th/20th century, but not exactly when it was founded), BUT Benckendorff was also a famous general and fought bravely in the wars with Napoleon. He was involved in several secret operations and even employed partisan tactics in later wars (along with more famous Davydov and actual peasants), was decorated and that presumably was what got him Nicholas’ attention and ear afterwards - Benckendorff supported Nicholas through the Decembrist revolt, Nicholas trusted him explicitly.

So this one is more about trust and loyalty (also, road trips - one of the prompts is about their trip where the carriage crashed, driver got killed and Nicholas was injured, although there were others less dramatic), and how much this changes over time. For example, there’s a theory that Benckendorff could have prevented the death of Pushkin - the Russian poet of XIX century if not ever, - who while being not always in favour of any given tsar (Alexander I, Nicholas I) up to being exiled to either his estate or Crimea, was always a darling - Nicholas, for example, was his personal censor, allowing his works to be published almost unchecked, allowed Pushkin into Imperial archives for research and paid his debts after Pushkin’s untimely death. So, the theory: Benckendorff knew about Pushkin’s final duel and instead of preventing it as ordered, send his men to the wrong address (there were multiple rivers with the same name, and there’s a bit of argument where exactly the duel was, so as you can guess, I’m firmly in the ‘human error’ camp here). Still, would Benckendorff practically go against his tsar’s wishes? (Nicholas certainly never wanted Pushkin dead)

Varvara Arkadyevna Nelidova is Alexandra Feodorovna’s lady-in-waiting and after a while Nicholas’s mistress. She was also a niece of his father’s mistress, Yekaterina Nelidova, - which also allowed her to attract Nicholas’ attention because Varvara knew some stories of his childhood from her aunt. Still, she was a favourite of Alexandra as well, up to Alexandra personally asking Varvara to stay on after Nicholas’ death.

Now, this bit would require a little background: after the birth of her last child, Michail, Alexandra was forbidden to have marital relations with her husband - the childbirth was almost deadly, she lost a lot of blood, and no sex is the one sure method to not have further children. She and Nicholas were in their 30es, so as you can imagine, chastity was fairly chafing for him, so Alexandra agreed to allow him to have relations with others (or, he never fucked again, depending on how patriotically foolish a particular source is - the whole thing was as secret as possible, which does imply to me that Alexandra knew, and that Nicholas loved her, because otherwise there would be no reason to be secret). So, here comes Nelidova - charming enough to become a constant presence both for Nicholas and for Alexandra, loyal enough to stay (some mistresses found themselves good enough husbands, and the tsar was usually on their side in any marital disputes). Again, this is more or less conjecture - my personal take of polyamory is more or less a rarity, and the other prompt hints at some initial disagreement between the royal couple (you husband fucks your lady-in-waiting, if you take the lady to Italy of all places, I suspect something sapphric is going on!)

Prompts (or very abbreviated historical anecdotes) as mentioned above, just for inspiration:
1) Nicholas Pavlovich was courting Varvara Nelidova (who was his wife’s maid-in-waiting) and apparently it was the final straw for Alexandra Feodorovna herself – she took Nelidova and went to travel along Italy. Nicholas followed suit, they talked things out and Nelidova was presumably the ‘head’ mistress as well as Alexandra’s friend – close enough to Nicholas that after his death Nelidova wanted to become a nun, close enough to Alexandra that she managed to talk Nelidova out of it.

2) Once Nicholas Pavlovich was travelling along with Benckendorff. Given how bad Russian roads can be, the carriage overturned, and Nicholas had his collarbone broken. Benckendorff went for help (although likely bruised himself) and later on was the liason between Nicholas and the rest of the country while the tsar was being treated in a nearby village (for a couple of weeks, since it’s first half of XIX century!)

 

80 Days (Video game) 

This game is a new fancy and I’m very much in love with the characters and the feel of it - the various steampunk ways of travel, the way cities feel alive even though there’s so many of them, the NPCs, etc. I almost wish I added worldbulding, but all the characters are just so good.

Re: the characters - I’d love something that showcases either the subtleness of feelings involved or the unreliability of the narrator. We are getting all the information from Passepartout, after all, and while I’m romantic at heart, something could be interpreted differently
I'm also open to pairings: obviously Passepartout with everyone else, or possibly Fogg himself - we honestly do not know what Fogg does while Passepartout is away?

 

Around the World in 80 Days (TV 2021)

This one is a sudden favourite, because while it has a lot of things I like (XIX century, Tennant with great chemistry with TWO people, one of whom is a ginger! Trains (a bit, yes)!) it sure could do better in the scenario department, just very much not what I'd expected, tbh.
(too much second-hand embarrassment, no matter how good the people involved are in acting!)
Still, it would be a welcome gift!
Also, anything that tells how the characters came to be where they were at the beginning: how Passepartout learned Russian? Why Fix with her talent of writing just then finally was published (is it despite or because of her father)? How Fogg came to own all that stuff in the sitting room (globes and such): was it a memory, something he forgot to take down for all those 20 years or does he just not use rooms in his mansion?

Around the World in 80 Days (TV 2021)

This one is a sudden favourite, because while it has a lot of things I like (XIX century, Tennant with great chemistry with TWO people, one of whom is a ginger! Trains (a bit, yes)!) it sure could do better in the scenario department, just very much not what I'd expected, tbh.
(too much second-hand embarrassment, no matter how good the people involved are in acting!)
Still, it would be a welcome gift!
Also, anything that tells how the characters came to be where they were at the beginning: how Passepartout learned Russian? Why Fix with her talent of writing just then finally was published (is it despite or because of her father)? How Fogg came to own all that stuff in the sitting room (globes and such): was it a memory, something he forgot to take down for all those 20 years or does he just not use rooms in his mansion?

Yudah Cohen Series - Rebecca Fraimow

I’m very thankful to whoever nommed this one, even without characters – feel free to write anything based on those delightful stories!
(Jews! Trans Jews! Ghosts! The way of dealing with them! Charming characters! The list goes on, certainly!)

A Study in Emerald - Neil Gaiman

Eldritch horrors in Victorian England (or is it?) Moriarty and Holmes! The way Gaiman subverts character expectations! Moran and his suffering! Victoria and her relatives!
Watson, who is still a doctor and who’s still writing – how he came to know Holmes in this reality?
Also, a crossover of that horror filled reality with the other fandoms in my sign-up would be great!

Star Wars: Leia Princess of Alderaan - Claudia Gray

This one is a YA Star Wars novel and Breha Organa is a very underrated character, a blorbo of a friend if you will.

As for worldbuilding potential – anything from the exact layout of Organa’s castle to just how exactly Breha manages to hide the costs of the Rebellion would be welcome!