partypaprika | Dear Rare Male Slash Exchange Writer (Reply)

Dear Rare Male Slash Exchange writer,

I’ve included some thoughts below on my preferences and fandoms. Please don’t stress too much if you’re inspired to write something else (although I’d prefer if you didn’t delve into my DNWs). I’ve given some specific prompts, but feel to take a general theme from my general likes if that’s more inspiring!

I'm not active on LJ/Dreamwidth anymore, although you're welcome to poke around here. I'm slightly active on tumblr and you can also check out my pinboard. I'm on ao3 as partypaprika.

General likes:

-Hurt/comfort
-Conflict
-Slow burn
-Pining and UST
-Sacrifices, especially if characters are making big sacrifices on behalf of someone that they care deeply about
-Angst (ideally ending in a HEA)
-Having dysfunctional relationships
-Enemies being forced (either directly or by circumstances) to work together
-Enemies to lovers
-Opposites attracting or coming to understand each other
-Marriages of convenience, fake dating, etc.
-People being thrown together in wildly unexpected situations
-Magical realism and magical powers
-Time travel, time loops, time do-overs etc.
-Modern royalty AUs
-Secret identities and identity porn
-Settings that have a sense of mystery: cemeteries, forests, abandoned temples etc.
-Epistolary and non-linear storytelling
-Canon divergence
-Mythology
-Hidden displays of affection

General dislikes:

-Major character death
-Noncon
-Incest
-Painplay
-Torture
-Humiliation kink
-A/b/o
-Dom/sub
-Mpreg
-Knotting
-Coffee shop AUs
-High school AUs

Kate Daniels Series

Ascanio Ferara/Derek Gaunt - I love their incredibly acerbic and antagonist relationship. They’re both always trying to rile each other up. Everyone notices. At one point, Kate says when they’re being out of the norm: “Neither of them had belittled the other’s wit, fighting ability, or sexual prowess in the last half hour. If I were less badass, I’d be worried.”

I would love to see the banter hiding something deeper between the two of them. They always know how to get under each other’s skin—is that because they’re trying to make the other notice them more?

I would absolutely love to see them go from enemies to lovers or have their feelings erupt during saving one another or helping after an injury. Pining? These guys are ripe for it—Derek keeps all of his feelings locked up and Ascanio can be so flippant, although he’s quickly learning how serious things can be. I love their antagonism because they also have so much in common, although they refuse to acknowledge it.

I love the idea of them hooking up and one of them thinking that the other either doesn’t have feelings or is hooking up just for revenge. I am here for the angsty hook-ups, the misinterpretations of feelings, the catching of feelings at the most inconvenient times. Does one of them sacrifice themselves or put themselves in danger for the sake of the other and only then does the other person realize their feelings?

I also would totally be down for case fic where they’re forced to work together or maybe they’re both dealing with the aftereffects of a spell gone wrong. Maybe one of them has to do undercover (or they both have to) and feelings come to light there.

The Expanse

Amos Burton/Praxidike Meng – I love the strong and intense bond that the two of them form with each other. I feel like Amos is someone who is constantly searching for someone to be his moral compass, whose judgment he can rely upon and Prax really becomes that person for him. I also love how much Amos wants to protect Prax, to spare him from the bad things of the universe. I love the big and powerful protector falling for someone that he really respects and will protect at all costs.

I would love to see Amos and Prax reunited, be it Amos realizing that he misses Prax and seeking him out or maybe Prax coming to Amos and the two of them settling on a new world. I feel like a marriage of convenience (or assumed convenience) where the two of them justify it outwardly as being for entirely practical purposes, but both of them have already fallen or are in the process of falling for each other.

I’d also love to see a protector situation, maybe Prax and Meng get into real trouble and they’re kidnapped or held hostage and Amos comes to rescue them with vengeance. Or maybe it’s the other way around—Amos gets into trouble and Prax puts everything on the line to come find him and save him.

I would be into seeing them in the future—maybe they lose touch and reconnect down the line, realizing that they’ve both missed each other. Or Mei has further side effects from the experimentation conducted on her and Prax realizes that they need to disappear before someone tries to take her, so he reaches out to Amos in the process.

I really just love their opposite personalities and differing abilities to empathize but how they still connected, anything that explores that would be great!

Luther (TV)

John Luther/Justin Ripley—Ugh, Justin’s loyalty to Luther gets me every time. I love just how much respect Justin has for Luther and how devoted he is to Luther, despite not agreeing with Luther’s methods. I feel like the interrogation of Justin in season 3 explicitly touched on if Justin does have feelings for Luther with Justin refusing to answer if he was gay.

I’d love to see Luther finally catching on that Justin has feelings for him. Luther is so smart, but he can be very blind to how the people around him—what makes him finally see Justin’s feelings? Does Justin sacrifice himself again to protect Luther? Or has maybe Luther known it all along, but only realizes his feelings for Justin only after Justin is hurt, or they try to move him into another department again, or maybe it’s just a lightbulb moment when they’re on a case together.

I would totally be down for case fic—maybe one that involves going undercover or the two of them being forced to confront their feelings. For all of their work together, they really don’t often discuss their personal lives or feelings. Maybe they’re trapped together and forced to be vulnerable or share about themselves. Maybe Justin is taken hostage and Luther realizes just what he would give up for Justin.

For this pairing, I ask (if possible), to ignore Justin’s death. If you’d like to incorporate the shooting, I would absolutely be into an almost-fatal bullet wound that Justin recovers from (and maybe pushes Luther into realizing his feelings for Justin). Or a groundhog day or similar type of issue arises where Luther has the opportunity to save Justin (and perhaps learn some truths about himself along the way).

Burnt (2015)

Tony Balerdi/Adam Jones – I just want Tony to be happy! I love Tony so much—he’s been pining after Adam for such a long time, even knowing that it’s hopeless and watching Adam pursue Helene.

I would love to see Adam realize just how much he’s taken Tony for granted. Maybe Tony heads off to run another restaurant in a hotel that his family owns and without Tony there to steady him, Adam realizes just how much he’s come to rely and care for Tony.

I would also be into Tony going away for a while or Adam going out to open a second restaurant for six months and when he gets back and sees Tony, he has a blinding moment of clarity and realizes that not only is Tony hot, but that Adam is totally into him.

I am also here for the angsty feelings if they hookup while drunk and both of them trying to come to terms with what’s happened as well as their feelings for one another.

I am also totally into a canon-divergent AU—maybe Adam realizes that he’s into Tony while they’re re-doing the restaurant. If you want to skip to them being in an established relationship, I’d love a look at the two of them during a quiet moment, either at the restaurant or after they get home for the night.

Thank you!