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Rare Mare Slash 2022 Letter
May. 25th, 2022 11:42 amDear Rare Male Slash Author,
Crossover Fandom
DCU (Comics)
The Sinking City
Sinking City likes: eldritch critters, Graham Carpenter, King in Yellow references
Johannes van der Berg/Charles Reed
So Malevolent had me primed to like a King in Yellow/detective relationship...and then I played The Sinking City and van der Berg was a charming thorn in Reed's side and I was hooked. I love van der Berg's friendly manipulation of Reed (especially framing him for his own murder) and Reed's increasingly sarcastic reactions to this suspiciously knowledgeable man. And the way van der Berg wears his true identity on his sleeve, if you know where to look... I just want more of van der Berg annoying the shit out of Reed.
Prompts
Stargirl
Stargirl likes: Beth and Chuck being BFFs, the Crocks, the Shade and the Crocks annoying each other, Barbara & Shade's friendship
Hearing that the Shade was in Stargirl and subsequently bingeing it got me back into DC Comics, which is both a blessing and a curse! I love the earnest fun of Stargirl, and I love this version of the Shade in all his overdramatic, benevolently sinister glory. And McNider!! The Doctors Mid-Nite are both incredibly adorable, and the Shade’s friendship with Chuck is so sweet. I love that “deciding a superhero is my best friend and manifesting in their house” is the Shade’s modus operandi in TV as well as the comics, and McNider’s fondness for him is delightful. As for Chuck’s wife, I prefer her remarried, decided just to be friends with Chuck, or not mentioned.
Prompts:
Tales of Vesperia
Vesperia likes: the whole party, Schwann brigade, Duke, Raven & Repede's friendship, Ristelle, Leblanc/Kaufman
Vesperia DNWs: Raven/Judy (mild flirting's okay), Karol/Nan, Zagi
Yuri/Raven
These two!!! Raven is my favorite Tales character overall, and I absolutely adore his changing relationship with Yuri. The snark and Yuri taking none of Raven's shit from the beginning is amazing, and then Raven opening up about his past just a little...as he's increasingly tormented about his double life and who is he really? And then Yuri accepts him even after everything he's done and is furious that another friend thinks his life is worth nothing and Raven gives his life tohim Brave Vesperia. And oh man The Empty Mask is absurdly shippy for them, with all the blatant comparisons between Casey and Yuri and how much Yuri is a light for him to follow. You don't have to read it for my sake but 100% look if up if you're a Raven fan who hasn't!
As for Flynn/Yuri, I prefer it as unrequited Yuri pining after straight Flynn (unless OT3, see below); I kind of love the idea of Yuri being into knights in uniform, to his annoyance, and then whoops turns out Raven's one of them too! Just not bringing up Flynn is fine too. Raven flirting with all the ladies is good, just please not too much Raven/Judy. I love past Raven/Casey (unrequited) and Raven/Don (requited or not).
Prompts:
Yuri/Raven/Flynn
Because lbr Flynn is 100% into Captain Schwann, whether he's otherwise straight or not. I'd like the focus to be mostly on Raven/Yuri and/or Raven/Flynn for this. Feel free to add Flynn into any of the Yuri/Raven prompts or:
Thank you so much for writing for me! If you're here for treats, I'd be thrilled to get fic or art treats.
Stuff I love:
- Shipping! I am a ridiculous shipper at heart, so my favorite thing would be ship fic for the pairings I request; I love sexual tension, slow burn, pining, and lots of other stuff. Porn or no porn are both great--it's the ship more than the smut I'm into. I also love characters falling for others that they never would have expected, as is probably obvious from my ships. I love pining and hurt/comfort and cuddling to avoid hypothermia and all those wonderful fanfic tropes. Shippy pre-relationship stuff is also great!
- Identity porn! As defined by Fanlore, it's focusing on people who have secret identities which focus on the consequences of using multiple personas". So Character A is in disguise, interacting with Character B, who may or may not know who Character A really is, and there may be kissing. This has obvious implications for secret identities (bonus points if it's hero/villain), but anywhere you can fit it in I will love it. Relatedly, I'm always up for mask kink and identity reveals.
- Bad guys turning good! I love villains who discover that their worldview is wrong, especially by getting to know one of the good guys. I also love villains who aren't entirely bad, and good guys who can learn from them too.
- Dramatic reunions! I love seeing characters brought back from the dead (or not actually dead, or whatever plot device works) reunited with someone who's been mourning them. I really love if the living person had feelings for the other and regrets never confessing them.
- Lots of story types--adventure, what-ifs, canon continuations, everyone is mysteriously alive somehow, etc. Both happy and bittersweet/sad fics are great, as long as the angst isn't from the pairing's relationship not working out. Snippets from any of these are also great.
- Your own prompts! I throw out a few specific story prompts for each pairing, but I will be thrilled to read any ideas you have! My prompts tend to lean towards longer stories, but please don't feel like you have to follow them.
- Interactive fiction! I like choice, parser, or any combination; my secret wish is dating sims for every canon. Character death, AU, and other pairings are fine for different endings in IF.
DNWs:
- Non-con. Dub-con is great.
- Character bashing, including canon love interests.
- Non-canon permanent major character death (except that Jack/Shade prompt).
- AUs of the setting instead of plot (mundane AUs, everyone is ponies, etc.)
- Unrequited love (one or both parties incorrectly thinking it's unrequited is great) & shooting down pairings I requested.
- Outsider POV.
- Non-requested crossovers. Comics and Arrowverse characters in the DC requests are fine.
Don't Like but not DNW-level:
- Established relationship fic. This isn't as set in stone as the others, but I love seeing my OTPs get together and/or have UST.
- Pure PWP--porn along with other stuff is great, but I'm more interested in the character interactions. (For treats, go wild!)
Crossover Fandom
Crossover likes: the Legends breaking time, Firestorm, Mick, whatever combination of Legends you want, Leonard and Shade crushing on superheroes, Sara banging her way through history, John banging his way through history
I love Legends of Tomorrow in all its ridiculousness, and I think the Shade should be subjected to it and the Legends' most eligible bi/pansexual bachelors. Feel free to pull from comics or TV canon for any of the characters; I know less about comics Cold but comics Shade and Constantine are delightful. A threesome is also good!
Prompts:
I love Legends of Tomorrow in all its ridiculousness, and I think the Shade should be subjected to it and the Legends' most eligible bi/pansexual bachelors. Feel free to pull from comics or TV canon for any of the characters; I know less about comics Cold but comics Shade and Constantine are delightful. A threesome is also good!
Prompts:
- Leonard and the Shade bond over their not-so-adversarial relationships with superheroes and their not-so-villainous lives. For comics!Shade, they have a shared history as Flash rogues; for Stargirl!Shade, his friendship with McNider. Also Leonard or other Flash characters bringing up whatever the hell the Arrowverse Shade was, much to Richard's displeasure.
- Constantine runs into Eclipso or some other magic he can't control, and he happens to have a business card from a friend of a friend who just might be able to help.
- The Legends have to foil an especially ridiculous villainous plan of the Shade's, which was not what it seemed and now time is broken again. At least this gives the Shade and Snart and/or Constantine a chance to take a liking to each other. I don't know which Legend calls him Dickie but someone has to.
DCU (Comics)
DC Comics likes: Opal City, Shade being in love with Jay Garrick, Shade being horny for superheroes, Starman supporting cast, the Shade's painted nails, the Shade's sexy shadow powers, Justice League International, JLI-typical ridiculousness, Booster/Beetle, Fire/Ice(/Guy), L-Ron, Jaime Reyes the Questions, Secret Six (all flavors)
DC Comics DNWs: Shade/Hope, evil Max (see exception in prompts), dead Ted, JLI never being Max's friend
Jack Knight/Richard Swift
From the first time the Shade showed up at Jack's place to annoy him, I was hooked. I love these two and how their roles as protectors of Opal grew into a real friendship. I adore how the Shade just decides Jack is going to be his mentee and friend, and that he accomplishes it by dumping his life story onto Jack. The Shade is one of my favorite DC characters, and I love how much he professes to be uncaring and heartless while he very clearly holds his friendships dear. And the way he talks about Jack versus the other Starmen, like he's been waiting for someone who loves Opal like him all his life...and then how he tells Jack "a rose is a rose is a rose" when he leaves the city and doesn't hold it against him. I love their shared love for old things and Opal and being pretentious, and how Jack has no time for the Shade's bullshit (but secretly he does) and how the Shade just throws more bullshit at him in response. For Jack/Sadie, I prefer it having not worked out or it just didn't happen. Their daughter can be with Sadie or not exist, whatever works.
Prompts:
Jack Knight/Richard Swift
From the first time the Shade showed up at Jack's place to annoy him, I was hooked. I love these two and how their roles as protectors of Opal grew into a real friendship. I adore how the Shade just decides Jack is going to be his mentee and friend, and that he accomplishes it by dumping his life story onto Jack. The Shade is one of my favorite DC characters, and I love how much he professes to be uncaring and heartless while he very clearly holds his friendships dear. And the way he talks about Jack versus the other Starmen, like he's been waiting for someone who loves Opal like him all his life...and then how he tells Jack "a rose is a rose is a rose" when he leaves the city and doesn't hold it against him. I love their shared love for old things and Opal and being pretentious, and how Jack has no time for the Shade's bullshit (but secretly he does) and how the Shade just throws more bullshit at him in response. For Jack/Sadie, I prefer it having not worked out or it just didn't happen. Their daughter can be with Sadie or not exist, whatever works.
Prompts:
- Jack and Shade stay in touch after Jack leaves for San Francisco through writing letters and Shade occasionally stopping by. Jack and Sadie don't work out, and then the Shade keeps dropping hints that Jack could return to Opal City and still stay retired. It takes a while for Jack to realize that the Shade just likes his company, and even longer to realize how much he likes the Shade's.
- After reading enough of the Shade's journals, Jack starts to suspect he had a Thing for Jay Garrick. Does he ask the Shade about it, and does the Shade admit it? Does Mikaal have to teach Jack what bisexuality is? Does Jack subsequently realize some things about himself?
- The Shade is good with kids and dotes on Teddy and, well, Jack isn't made of stone.
- Jack has to pretend to stop the Shade's villainy for whatever reason and the Shade is really into that.
- After Jack's death (at the end of a long and happy life), the Shade meets him on Jack's birthday, Talking With David style. The Shade didn't realize how much the loss would affect him, and he can finally tell him some things he never did in life. Or, long after Jack's death, he meets his reincarnation and old feelings/attraction that he never acted on flare up.
Maxwell Lord/J'onn J'onnz
I adore Justice League International, and I love Max's original characterization: a sleazy, sometimes sinister businessman who, in the end, chose to be good. And J'onn was proud of him for that! They worked wonderfully as the reasonable parental figures of this band of jokers (who, deep down, were just as ridiculous as the rest of them). I love their friendship, and how J'onn believes that he can be a good person even with sketchy powers and his questionable morals and a mind-controlling computer. Please no post-Infinite Crisis Max or the retcons that came along with it (like the JLI never really liking him) except if it's explicitly an alternate universe.
Prompts:
Prompts:
- Identity porn! Max meets a charming detective and finds himself treating him like an old friend from the beginning. And maybe he's flirting with him a little, it's just a bit of fun. Meanwhile, J'onn, in human disguise for whatever reason, is oddly flattered and it's not like he's flirting back, right?
- Sex pollen chocos. Don't worry about this being too PWP, just...sex pollen chocos. Max trying to be a gentleman (maybe) (a little) (not really) while J'onn is extremely interested in stripping Max. Well, it's practically his job as manager of the JLI to take one for the team!
- Max meets J'onn from another universe who seems to think he's a supervillain who killed Ted Kord. Which is ridiculous, obviously, but Max finds himself more unsettled than he's like to admit. How can he save this other Ted and prove to J'onn that he's not that person?
- Any and JLI-typical hijinks. Do Max and J'onn need to get married for tax purposes? Is there only one bed in the hotel because J'onn's choco rampage destroyed the others? Do they have to hold a sexy carwash for fundraising?
Sinking City likes: eldritch critters, Graham Carpenter, King in Yellow references
Johannes van der Berg/Charles Reed
So Malevolent had me primed to like a King in Yellow/detective relationship...and then I played The Sinking City and van der Berg was a charming thorn in Reed's side and I was hooked. I love van der Berg's friendly manipulation of Reed (especially framing him for his own murder) and Reed's increasingly sarcastic reactions to this suspiciously knowledgeable man. And the way van der Berg wears his true identity on his sleeve, if you know where to look... I just want more of van der Berg annoying the shit out of Reed.
Prompts
- Post-escape ending, van der Berg shows up with a friendly greeting and a tsunami. Is this the first time he's come to visit Reed since he escaped Oakmont? Has he come just to rub it in that Reed didn't truly escape, or has he come to enjoy the company of someone who won't take his shit?
- Reed figures out who van der Berg really is. Does something about this god in human form draw him in, despite everything? Does he have a newfound interest in the arts? Any crossover with the King in Yellow (or Malevolent) is great.
- Why did van der Berg choose Reed in the first place? Is that one person who looks exactly like Reed a coincidence? (I initially thought that meant Reed was a creation of van der Berg/Oakmont with false memories--something playing with that would be fun.) Does he like him beyond what he can do for him?
- Are the King's Robes canon? How exactly did van der Berg gift him his suit, and what makes Reed wear it?
Stargirl
Stargirl likes: Beth and Chuck being BFFs, the Crocks, the Shade and the Crocks annoying each other, Barbara & Shade's friendship
Hearing that the Shade was in Stargirl and subsequently bingeing it got me back into DC Comics, which is both a blessing and a curse! I love the earnest fun of Stargirl, and I love this version of the Shade in all his overdramatic, benevolently sinister glory. And McNider!! The Doctors Mid-Nite are both incredibly adorable, and the Shade’s friendship with Chuck is so sweet. I love that “deciding a superhero is my best friend and manifesting in their house” is the Shade’s modus operandi in TV as well as the comics, and McNider’s fondness for him is delightful. As for Chuck’s wife, I prefer her remarried, decided just to be friends with Chuck, or not mentioned.
Prompts:
- Back in the old days, the Shade plays cat-and-mouse with McNider and flirts profusely, which Chuck does not notice. Sexy shadow powers!
- After some years have passed, the Shade realizes that McNider is alive in the Shadowlands and goes to rescue him (looking as cool and heroic as he can, of course). What would their reunion be like if the Shade wasn’t dramatically dying while surrounded by people? Bonus if Shade had been the one feeding his owl.
- McNider comes to visit Beth at the Whitmore-Dugan house and finds Shade and the Crocks there (to everyone’s dismay). Does the Shade plot a way to make his intentions known to Chuck even in all the chaos? Does Barbara end up counseling the Shade’s relationship woes?
- Stargirl Shade and comics Shade meet and get along fabulously while everyone else is slightly horrified at the idea of two of them. Well, Chuck and/or Jack may be secretly intrigued…
Tales of Vesperia
Vesperia likes: the whole party, Schwann brigade, Duke, Raven & Repede's friendship, Ristelle, Leblanc/Kaufman
Vesperia DNWs: Raven/Judy (mild flirting's okay), Karol/Nan, Zagi
Yuri/Raven
These two!!! Raven is my favorite Tales character overall, and I absolutely adore his changing relationship with Yuri. The snark and Yuri taking none of Raven's shit from the beginning is amazing, and then Raven opening up about his past just a little...as he's increasingly tormented about his double life and who is he really? And then Yuri accepts him even after everything he's done and is furious that another friend thinks his life is worth nothing and Raven gives his life to
As for Flynn/Yuri, I prefer it as unrequited Yuri pining after straight Flynn (unless OT3, see below); I kind of love the idea of Yuri being into knights in uniform, to his annoyance, and then whoops turns out Raven's one of them too! Just not bringing up Flynn is fine too. Raven flirting with all the ladies is good, just please not too much Raven/Judy. I love past Raven/Casey (unrequited) and Raven/Don (requited or not).
Prompts:
- Yuri being protective of Raven after he returns to Brave Vesperia, especially about his blastia. This would be great for hurt/comfort--Raven gets a hit to the blastia, or he hasn't gotten a checkup like Yuri suggested, or he Blast Hearts and it takes a lot out of him. I love Yuri being absolutely furious with him for not taking his life seriously, and Raven suddenly realizing it's because Yuri cares a lot more than Raven thought. Also great: Yuri kissing him in (angry) relief, especially if it's during a battle and Raven has no idea what just happened.
- Captain Schwann. Identity porn. This ship is made for it. Identity porn (not actually porn) is the consequences of having secret identities and/or multiple personas; I would absolutely love the tension if Yuri meets Schwann, who's trying to hide his identity, and he's not sure if the belligerent flirting means Yuri's figured out his secret or not… Or after the reveal, Raven has to dress up as Schwann for Reasons and Yuri flirts with the Captain (maybe because he's not ready to admit he cares for Raven, but Schwann's totally a different guy?).
- Raven knows how to flirt with girls, even if he's playing it up a lot as Raven. But when he starts flirting with Yuri (maybe because Yuri starts flirting with him), it's...different. Maybe Raven thought he wasn't into guys (Don was definitely just hero worship, right?), or maybe because Yuri just reminds him of Casey more and more and the idea that it means so much is frightening. Does Yuri realize Raven's flirting, or does he think his growing feelings for Raven are unrequited?
- Yuri starts to get a thing for Raven before he disappears with Estelle, and then all that happens and his feelings are a lot more complicated. Bonus if Raven stays "dead" for longer than he did in canon.
- Raven and Yuri are becoming closer post-game (you know, when Raven comes over to lose to Repede at chess), and Raven tells Yuri his original name. And then Yuri calls him Damuron and huh Raven feels like his heart's shattered again, why is that? Also good is Yuri liking his hair down, Schwann-style, which gives Raven confused feelings because Schwann and Damuron are dead anyway, what does any of this matter?
Yuri/Raven/Flynn
Because lbr Flynn is 100% into Captain Schwann, whether he's otherwise straight or not. I'd like the focus to be mostly on Raven/Yuri and/or Raven/Flynn for this. Feel free to add Flynn into any of the Yuri/Raven prompts or:
- Yuri and Flynn are together, and Raven is (to his dismay) starting to catch feelings for Yuri or both of them. He accepts he has no chance, and he's used to just loving people from afar anyway...and then Flynn sweetly kisses him while his hair is down, or Yuri tells him to stop pining, old man, and get in here already.
- Identity porn! An AU from before the reveal: Flynn had a thing for Schwann in the knights, and there's something about this Raven guy... Yuri absolutely is not attracted to Raven (untrue), he's definitely not into people who annoy him (extremely untrue), but he keeps running into Captain Schwann and there's something about him…
