Chocolate Box '20

[dust_motes]

General Stuff | DNWs & Clarifications | Deus Ex | King Arthur: Legend of the Sword | The Witcher (TV)

Dear ChoclateBox Writer!

I'm so happy we're meeting here! Thank you for offering my fandoms, having a look at this letter, and, most importantly, writing for me. I included some general likes and fandom-specific thoughts and prompts should you find reading about them useful. And in case you'd like to write me smut, there's also a list of kinks. I’m dust_motes on AO3 and here's my exchange letters tag, if you want to poke around and see what else I may like, but don't stress too much over it; I love all my fandoms and chosen ships so ridiculously much I'm sure that as long as you avoid my DNWs and maybe include one or two of my likes, you'll make me happy.

Some of the sections of this letter are longer than the others; it isn't an indication of how much I want to receive any given fandom, just a failure of imagination to come up with inspiring prompts on my part.

GENERAL STUFF

General likes:

• people breaking social norms to be with the other person because they want them so much
• people doing terrible things for love and having to live with the consequences of their actions
• violence. Not necessarily for violence's sake, but the characters I tend to care the most about usually have some baggage: they either were a victim of violence or their job requires they inflict it upon others or they simply are a shitty, violent person—I like it when fic about them acknowledges those things
• complicated relationships (between the characters; between a character and their past; between a character and what they choose to do for their loved ones)
• unhealthy coping mechanisms (sex, cigarettes, and seeking out dangerous situations to get into a fight and release some steam are my top three, but alcohol and reacreational drug use work perfectly fine, too. And if you have some other ideas, I'm dying to hear about them!)
• bonding in extreme circumstances
• getting together and getting back together after a temporary break-up
• codependency and us-against-the-world dynamic
• sex first, feelings later; mutual pining while having what they think of as casual sex; mutual pining in general, especially if there really exist outside circumstances that make entering the relationship A Terrible Idea
• love confessions at the worst possible time or, on the contrary, quietly acknowledging in a completely mundane situation they've been in love for a long-ass time
• almost dying, injuries, wound-dressing, desperately trying to stem haemorrhage, stuff like this. I have a massive blood kink so even mentions of things like split lips while kissing, bloodied knuckles after a fight, nosebleeds from exertion will make me extremely happy
• infidelity of the "cheating to be together" variety
• killing for each other
• compromising one's values for the other person
• battle couples fighting together

Narrative likes:

Feel free to ignore them if you'd rather write a story with a classic narrator and a linear plot—I love those too, I just wanted to state it clearly I'm down with some commonly-DNW'ed things.

• non-linear narratives
• 2nd person POV
• outsider POV
• interactive fiction

Smut likes:

• switching
• desperate sex
• non-penetrative sex
• biting
• rough sex (especially if counterpointed by unexpected moments of tenderness)
• barebacking
• rimming, felching, truly excessive amounts of come
• size kink (and hole training. Not fisting, though. No, I don't understand either how my mind works)
• face-fucking
• toys. Character A sucking off Character B while fucking themselves open on a Very Big Dildo or being fucked by a fucking machine
• knife-play and blood-play (see above wrt to my massive blood kink)
• post-battle/post-mission sex while they're covered in the blood of their enemies
• sparring leading to fucking
• arguing leading to fucking
• clothed sex, frotting
• wall sex & desk sex
• sex in semi-public spaces (but please, no getting caught. I'm historically not great with secondhand embarrassment)

DNWs & CLARIFICATIONS

DNWs:

• 100% bleak and unhappy ending. Mostly, I want my ship to be alive and unambiguously together by the end of the fic. It's fine if they had to make sacrifices and suffered losses to get there; it's fine if the world is burning around them and the future is uncertain, I just want them to face it together
• non-con and non-canon rape in backstories of requested characters. Something-made-them-do-it falls more on a dub-con side for me and is fine as long as the couple in question were attracted to each other before and get together after
• unrequited feelings
• poly and/or open relationships
• 24/7 D/s relationships
• praise kink
• A/B/O
• AUs changing the canon setting
• identity headcanons other than writing presumably straight characters as gay or bi
• underage relationships
• 1st person narration

Note on dealing with canon relationships: if my requested ship breaks up a canon couple, I'm fine with there being no mention of the canon LI without any explanation. AUs where the canon couple broke up or never got together are also great. And, as mentioned above, I do like infidelity of the "cheating to be together" variety, so requested character A cheating on their canon partner with requested character B and getting together with them after is fine as well

MY FANDOMS

Deus Ex

Oh god, there's so much I find frustrating about the worldbuilding in Deus Ex, especially post-the Incident, but I love these games and these characters so ridiculously much. I love the neo-noir feel HR and MD have. The Prague setting is amazing, both the city itself and Adam's fucking miserable life in it. (If you wanted to explore this aspect more, I'd be overjoyed.) Adam, in general, is a great protagonist—with the angst-fodder, yes, but also the loyalty and sarcasm and inherent goodness, and Jim's short-temper and dry wit (Plan A wasn't working is such a great line!) and being So Done have quickly made him my fave; I like David Sarif on the sharper, the-morals-and-ethic-dillemas-don't-apply-to-me-I-am-the-best side—he's such a fascinating, morally grey character who genuinely likes Adam and wants the best for him... as long as it's the best David's chosen; Jarreau is another painfully decent dude working for a corrupt organization and trying to make the best out of a shitty situation and I love how he fanboys Adam. I adore them all.

Adam Jensen/Jim Miller

Ill-advised boss/subordinate relationships are my number one drug of choice when it comes to office romance—for a given value of romance, of course. I can hardly imagine either of them in a rom-com ;)—so feel free to lean on as heavily as you want to on the unethicalness of fucking your direct supervisor/subordinate, especially on the force, where Jim sometimes really has his team's lives in his hands. If you want to throw in even more obstacles that I will eat up with a spoon:

• maybe Jim was still trying to patch things up with Neil when he met Adam? Cue inconvenient attraction and mountains of guilt and disappointment in himself, and if they were too fuck while Jim was still married, all the better for me
• one of them is presumed dead and the other has to pretend not to care except only in a socially acceptable manner of mourning for a boss/subordinate while DYING inside
• Adam's attraction to Jim making Alex worried. Jim Miller may not be a trustworthy man, Adam! You need to stay objective! You don't know him at all! (And Adam agrees, of course he does. And yet...)
• being on a mission together. Undercover is always fun for this pairing, but any mission will do as long as they have to work together—maybe especially if they don't trust each other very much at this point yet
• time travel fix it: Adam saves Allison and therefore doesn't obtain the antidote; after London he knows exactly what he'd need to do to save Jim
• assassination attempts wreaking havoc in their lives. Maybe one of them has to be put in a safe house or smuggled out of the country for some time, maybe they need to go on the run together, maybe one of them simply saves the other's life—I just love assassination attempts storylines very much

Jim Miller/David Sarif

Look, I'm well aware they never met in canon and their only point of connection is Adam, but what a good point of connection he is! I don't think they'd like each other very much, at all or just at the beginning, but when has it ever stopped me from shipping anything, right? (You may disregard my no break-ups DNW for this one, though; they'd get on each other's nerves like fire. I'd also be very interested in Miller/Sarif turning into Miller/Jensen after the break up if that's up your alley!)

Prompts:

• David doesn't skip Brown's convention and it's he who finds Jim first in that kitchen
• David is slightly jealous mildly irritated that Adam went and found himself a new attractive older boss. He's sure the guy's a hack but better check, right?
• Jim learns the exact circumstances of Adam gettin his extensive augmentations while dating Sarif

Christian Jarreau/Jim Miller

They, at least, have met, if only via the NSN. But I like the fact that they're both decent men working for a corrupt organization. I like the fact that Adam trusts both of them. I'm willing to bet they equally hate Manderley's guts. I do think they'd actually get along well if they met in person.

Prompts:

• after London, Jim needs to hide before the Illuminati try to kill him again. Adam suggests he can trust Jarreau and facilitates a meeting
• they've been hooking up during TF29's conferences and such-a-likes ever since Jim's divorce, with no strings attached, of course. When Jarreau learns Miller almost died, he's surprised to learn how invested he is in Jim, well, not dying
• the Prague and North American branches need to cooperate on a mission. Sparks fly? One of them saves the other's life? Possibilities are endless!

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Oh man, this canon! It's a glorious mess and Vortigern is a glorious mess of a character, too! Obsessive, jealous, convinced of his own greatness, extremely compelling. I love him to bits. I love that he almost wins in the movie (and would love an AU where he wins for real. Sorry, Arthur), I love that he sacrifices those he loves without hesitation, even though he does truly love them, I love that if he changes, it's only for worse. Feel free to ignore my unrequited feelings DNW and my desire to see my ship together at the end of the fic in this case, canon really lends itself to darker takes here.

Uther/Vortigern

That hug at the beginning of the movie spoke beautifully to my id and I was doomed. I ship them so hard, oh my god. Any backstory exploration for them would be amazing (what was their father like? Did he favor Uther? What made them forget the taboo if they acted on their attraction?), and I have some AUs ideas as well:

• unrequited Vortigern -> Uther situation where it's exactly Vortigern's incestuous desire and jealousy that push him to act against Uther would be terribly sad and fitting. I'm here for it
• I can easily imagine that they were very codependent as children, but grew apart as Uther started taking on more and more of kingly duties. I can't imagine Vortigern liked that very much. Rough, angry, claiming sex following would be a perfect bonus
• thwarted assassination attempts! I have a thing for assassinations in general, but it would particularly amazing for these two. Does Uther save Vortigern's life while knowing full well that his brother is a dangerous, evil man who may bring downfall on them all? Does Vortigern save Uther's life because he can't 't let anyone else touch his brother? Do they fight back to back, sword and magic? Tell me everything!
• seduction to the dark side! Over time, Vortigern manages to chip away at Uther's moral values and when the time comes and their father dies (or maybe they kill him together? That would be terrible and great, too!), they both ascend to the throne to rule together. Maybe they change the laws so that they can legally marry? Is Vortigern as terrible a king in this scenario as he's in canon, or does Uther's influence make him a bit more mellow?

Earl of Mercia/Vortigern

This one was unexpected, I gotta admit. But Mercia is just so unwaveringly loyal to Vortigern, so damn devoted, that I couldn't help but start shipping them.

Prompts:

• I would love a fic where Vortigern grows to truly care for Mercia over the time of his reign. It doesn't mean much, obviously he'd sacrifice him in an instant if that's what it took, but on his not-so-great days Vortigern can admit, if only to himself, that he really rather hopes he won't have to
• or maybe Mercia knows he doesn't mean anything to Vortigern and he never will, but Vortigern sometimes lets him suck him off in the throne room and seriously, this is enough. (This is not enough at all)
• this is rare—and obviously exempt from my 'please no setting-changing AUs' DNW—but I would also love a modern low stakes, high drama AU for them. Vortigern is so petty that his character would be phenomenal in this kind of scenario. Maybe he really, really wants to run the family's bakery after his and Uther's father retires and he won't hesitate to sabotage Uther's chances at every turn, but in the end what matters most is the he wins the heart of a lowly employee? But anything works, really!

The Witcher (TV)

I'm here mostly for the fun sword-fighting, a loner asshole protagonist with a surprisingly sharp tongue for someone who doesn't like speaking to people much, and a plethora of other asshole characters. I like Geralt very much and I like how Done he's with all the shit that happens to him. And OK, I do like the worldbuilding as well, even though I can't shake the impression it's only because I know the books and could fill in the gaps. (So if you wanted to draw from there, go for it. Games, not so much, I played only the first one and don't remember much.)

Geralt of Rivia/Mousesack

They clearly have a history, oh my god! There's so much friendly ribbing at the wedding in Cintra, but they also trust each other and have each other's backs. Geralt puts a hand on Mousesack's shoulder and tells him to be careful. I came out of this show sipping them so much it hurts.

Prompts:

• first meeting! I'm so curious, mostly because I'm almost sure they'd hate each other at the beginning, and not only because Geralt in general is not a particularly friendly person
• monster-hunting together! Mousesack has some neat tricks up his sleeve, I'm sure he wouldn't be a liability. Or, better yet, Geralt had to go and ask him for help
• I'd also love something set in the canon-era. Maybe Mousesack somehow survived and they look for Ciri together? Or just have a thank-the-gods-you're-alive sex, that works great, too!

And that's it. I hope my ramblings were helpful to you, dear writer, and that you will have fun in this exchange, both as a recip and as an author. If any clarification is needed, I'll happily answer any question you send through the mods!