the_wavesinger | Darkest Night Letter (Reply)

Hello and welcome, dearest author!

I am so, so happy we've matched and overjoyed that you're writing for me! This letter is a strange combination of different kind of dark things, but please be assured that I love everything I've requested, from noncon to existential musings.

I know that some of my prompts are longer than others, but that's mostly because for some prompts, I know exactly what I want to say, but for others, I ramble a lot—it's a problem with wording! I would love fic for any of the additional tags/characters/relationships I've requested equally. Also, the prompts I've given for specific dark tags are by no means the only things I'd like to see! You can follow them or not as you wish; hopefully, I've given enough general prompts, too. In addition, I've grouped some tags together for prompt-giving purposes, but I don't mind whether you use multiple tags or a single tag to base your fic on. (For fandoms where I've made multiple requests, I've given guidelines on whether or not I'd mind requests being combined in that specific fandom section.)

If you want to know more about me , I’m

The_Wavesinger,

the-wavesinger and The Wavesinger (Silmarillion Writers’ Guild) on my fannish haunts. You can also find me here on DW, and as

the_wavesinger on LJ, but I don’t frequent those places often. If you want more on my fic preferences (however unlikely that is, after this very long letter!), my fic rec tag on Tumblr and my AO3 bookmarks may be of some use, and for art, my art and fan art tags on Tumblr may be of some use. You may also want to poke through my previous exchange letters, for both fic and art. And, of course, you can comment anonymously on this post or leave an anonymous ask on my Tumblr if you want to know more.

DNWs:

Gore/guro/vore.
Necrophilia.
Torture of animals. (Humans/humanoids/other sapients being tortured is more than fine!)
Graphic descriptions of nausea/vomiting.
(Fic) Reader inserts.
Mundane AUs.
Crossovers/fusions between fandoms I haven't asked for. (Crossover within any fandom in my letter or previous exchange letters, along with mythology and folklore, are more than fine!)
(Fic) AUs with modern settings are no-no’s unless there’s a reasonable canon explanation (eg-: Tolkien, people cursed to be reborn again and again into mortal forms) and that only in Tolkien. Even then, please no high school or coffee shop AUs.
Please no age regression, de-ageing, or AUs in which one character is suddenly older than a previously older-than-them character (ageswap?).
For smut, I'd prefer not to see bloodplay, scat, watersports, and age play, and any sort of permanent marking/scarring (scarring and permanent markings outside smut is perfectly fine) unless I've prompted these things for the specific pairing.
F/M smut unless specifically requested.
Parent/child incest and other intergenereational incest, unless specifically requested.
(Fic) H/C fics centering on characters with depression and/or anxiety, and/or characters who self-harm or have eating disorders are not my favourite thing. (All of these things are more than fine in art and non-H/C fic, but not as things which can be hugged/cuddled better, please.)
Genderswap which makes F/F or M/M canon pairings or F/F or M/M pairings I've requested F/M.

General Likes:

Angst. Drama. Politics. Tragedy.
Philosophical ponderings!
I love canon divergence AUs, and other ‘what-if’ scenarios.
All the hard questions with no answers, characters trapped in unsolvable dilemmas, loss and grief and moving on.
Soulmates! Not necessarily soulmate AUs (although that'd be more than fine), but soulmates as in 'I knew you the moment I saw you', or 'I felt you in my soul' or any other version of that—the electric connection is something I adore. Soulmate things I love include in every version of every reality, in another life, fated to be separated again and again.
Stoic and/or emotionally incompetent characters
Fake dating within the canon setting.
In-world mythology.
I have A Thing for sister/sister, and focusing on the sister aspects of the relationship—how they're alike and how they're different, and just how they're sisters.
Gallows humour, and humour in otherwise dark situations generally.
Battle couples!
Lovers to enemies
Cultural differences and clashes that occur due to cultural differences.
I adore OFCs and textual ghosts, for many, many reasons.
I'm more than fine with most side relationships, unless stated otherwise.
Genderbending! I always love Rule 63'd characters.
Open relationships! Threesomes! Moresomes! (Non-explicit) orgies!
Transgender characters would be amazing, as would non-binary characters and just fucking with and/or ignoring traditional gender roles in general.
I like relationships that are fated to end in tragedy, but I also like a pinch of humor with my angst.
All the things that could've happened, but didn't.
Characters who and relationships which fall just short of the mark, the almost-most-not-quite. I think the closest word to this would be hamartia in its original sense?
Again, canon divergence AUs, and For Want Of A Nail and what-if scenarios. I'd love both longer fic and snapshots of what could have been, all the things that could've happened, but didn't.
Hurt, and not necessarily comfort.
Fucked-up families and messy friendships which really, really aren't good for the characters, but they love each other very much anyway. I don't mind either characters finding ways to move past the fucked-upness and the relationships end up flourishing, or moving past fucked-up-ness and leaving what they don't want behind, but I also don't mind a constant cycle of messing up.
Found families!
Intense friendships which play a central role in the characters' lives.
For longer works, plotty fics are always welcome!
Characters finding ways to come to terms with themselves, with their pasts, and with their loved ones and/or finding their place in the world (think Circle of Life).
Characters who're broken, characters who're tired, characters who're lost, characters who refuse to be found, characters who're hurt over and over again, characters who never ever win, characters who've given up. And characters who love, characters who give, characters who're selfless and kind even after everything they've been through, characters who give their all and then some more to people they love, characters who never give up, characters who keep on hoping and keep on fighting even beyond the bitter end. And characters who're a mixture of both types.
I like all kinds of fic, so go wild—linear narrative, flashbacks, epistolary…whatever you think of is lovely, the more daring the better. I especially adore faux-historical documents.
I love characters with flaws and unpleasant qualities! Awesome ladies can be awesome and flawed :).
Characters teasing and bantering with each other.
I don’t mind any type of POV (including second person!). In fact, POV switches and outside POVs on relationships would be lovely.
Time travel and time loops, especially timefuckery where everything is fucked up!
Competence porn!
I also adore people being messes and general failboats, because, uh, contradictions?
I have zero problems with fics dealing with misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, racism etc. I like realism, but not overly-depressing fics or fics centered on issues at the expense of characterization. (I define 'overly-depressing' as continuous angst focusing on Issues and Only Issues.)
Bittersweetness.
Characters dancing and spending time outdoors.
Characters in situations that shouldn't be funny, but are.
Characters who're comfortable around each other, and who tease and laugh with each other.
Slice-of-life fics and, for relationships, a look at all the quirks/annoyances of cohabitation.
Banter! I feel like I've repeated this a million times in this letter, but I adore banter!
Casual situations and everyday annoyances
Characters playing pranks on each other.
Generally over-the-top things played straight.
Drama interspersed with humor.
Characters sleeping on each other, making out for hours, drinking from the same cup, and generally being adorable!
Characters solving mysteries and going on journeys together!

Smut Likes

I will always want F/F or M/M smut, even if I haven't explicitly requested it!
I prefer a balance between sensuality, emotions, and physical sensations. Anything from playful to creepy is more than fine (although there are a few things I'd prefer not to see, as outlined in the kink DNWs).
Helplessness and humiliation. These are the two main things I love in kinky smut, and everything else derives from there.
Bantering and laughing during sex is lovely, as is gentleness.
And banter between the dom and the sub in D/s scenes (which can edge towards slightly cruel on the dom's part!).
Angry sex, smut that gives off vibes of slightly creepy but in a way that can't be pinpointed
Dubcon and emotional manipulation!
Explorations of power dynamics. I especially like service submission, and power dynamics based on the characters' titles/positions! (I do confess to having a kink for honorifics and titles!)
Doms having control over the sub's everyday minutiae (although for short periods of time—24/7/365 high-protocol D/s is a turn-off)
Punishment play, especially unusual forms of discipline! (I don't like erotic spanking in and of itself, but spanking as punishment is great!)
Tickling! Both playful tickling and tickle torture (bondage + tickling = yessss).
Gags and other ways to prevent speech. And weirdly specific, but fingers of one character in the other's mouth.
Groping, especially pulling breasts out of tops (and sometimes letting them just hang there, if you're into humiliation).
Orgasm denial, especially chastity devices.
Fuck-or-die scenarios, especially for Star Wars.
Creative bondage (including predicament bondage. No, strike that, especially predicament bondage, and especially if the predicament is partly psychological).
Similarly, ordering a partner to stay still/hold a certain pose.
(Not really a like, but I'm afraid my AO3 bookmarks won't say much about my smut likes, because I have a separate account for smutty bookmarks. Sorry.)

Darkfic Likes

Dark places and enchantments which entrap people without their knowledge
Getting lost in creepy surroundings
Corruption and decay
Explorations of the darker side of magic (or its equivalent), especially magic that's considered 'good'.
Exploration of the supernatural aspects of the canons.
Nature being eerily alive and dangerous.
Child soldiers, trauma, and really ugly, messy wars.
Characters trapped in vicious cycles.
Characters who think they're 'not good enough' for their partner(s).
Situations where characters are blackmailed/coerced into doing things they don't want to do.
Fucked-up families and friendships and relationships; people codependent to the point of almost-insanity, and far beyond anything healthy.
Looking into messed-up characters' thought processes.
Terrible things being done in the name of good by characters who see themselves as good.
Perversion of the 'good' side of magic to do evil things.
Mindfucks and powerplay.
Torture for the sake of torture, and characters being stoic through torture.
Noncon. I like both works focused on noncon and whumpu noncon aftermath.
Badtouch that doesn't lead to noncon, it's just there and creepy. (Especially when coupled with emotional fuckery and mindgames.)
Relationships where one characters is in love, but the other isn't.
Partners doing terrible things to each other.
Characters who hate themselves and lash out at the world and do fucked-up things as a result.
Really, really dark stories which end in the 'everyone dying' sort of tragedy.
AUs where everything goes wrong.
For darkfic especially, I love outsider PoVs—it makes everything 100% more terrible for me.

Avatar: Legend of Korra

I love the mix of darkness and humor in LoK—it's one of my favourite things about it. Also how deeply fucked up it is. Give me all the fucked-up childhoods and dictators and governments who don't know how to govern and backstabbing and betrayal! Fucked-up childhoods especially are a Thing for me.
Spirits and the supernatural and all the otherwordly aspects of the A:TLA/LoK world! I especially love the spirits' inability to distinguish between different humans, and Raava and the Spirit World as seen in LoK are v. interesting to me.
Worldbuilding—the past of the A:TLA/LoK world and the politics of said world are things I always love to see being explored.
I love the character arcs for basically all the characters, and I'd adore something set in the future, because I want to see what happens to them! Bridging the gap between A:TLA and LoK would be particularly lovely.
And LoK and A:TLA sometimes have wildly different interpretations of events (lion-turtles and the origin of the Avatar comes to mind), so something about that, maybe?
LoK is more explicit about the darker underbelly of the A:TLA/LoK world and I love that, but I'm still disappointed by how little the motives of the villains other than Kuvira were explored and, in Season 1 especially, the lack of consideration as to whether they may have had a valid point, so something about that, maybe?

Request 1
Characters/Groups:

group:Asami/Korra

Additional Tags:

Forced Betrayal
Homophobia
Internalized Homophobia
Secrets/Silence Are Tearing Us Apart
Self-Loathing due to Forbidden Attraction
Soulmates in Doomed Reincarnation Cycle
Things Beyond Human Comprehension
Trapped in otherworld
Turn-coats/snitches
Underworld Rescue Missions

I loved how fluffy and happy Korrasami was in canon, and I do love all the fluffiness for them, but I confess that I also love torturing both of them (because I love them and because both of them suffer so prettily) and I love seeing darker versions of Korrasami.

So, remember how there was speculation for a while in Season One that Asami would turn out to be an Equalist? I'd love to see that explored (especially if you also explore the idea that the Equalists did, in fact, have a valid point). Maybe Korra falling for Asami, and Asami betraying her? Or Asami choosing her father's side, at the last moment, but she and Korra still love each other? Or Asami being a spy who manipulates Korra into having sex with her and maybe even falling for her? Or maybe Korra poses as an Equalist for Reasons and then betrays Asami? Or, in Season Three, Korra betraying Asami? Or maybe Asami's forced to betray Korra and join the Equaists because her father is being hostage? Or maybe someone threatens Korra's life unless Asami betrays her, or vice versa? If you go with the forced betrayal option, all the angst on the side of the betrayer as well as the betrayee, please!

And, for the secrets/silences are tearing us apart tag, maybe something to do with any of the above things (preferably with the betrayer being conflicted because she's fallen for the betrayee and she does want to keep their relationship intact)? Or maybe one of them is being blackmailed to do [nefarious thing] and they have to keep silent to protect the other? Or maybe Asami is undertaking a project that she thinks Korra would disapprove of, or Korra has to undertake a mission that she can't talk to Asami about (or maybe both)?

And for forbidden attraction, again, any of the scenarios in the second paragraph would also work for this. Or maybe it's taboo for a Water Tribe chieftain's daughter, specifically, to be in love with Asami for [Water-Tribe customs related reasons]? I just want all the angsty self-loathing because one or both of them are attracted to the other but they know it's wrong, they just can't stop.

And speaking (writing?) of angsty self-loathing because of forbidden attraction, the new comics have the A:TLA/LoK universe being canonically self-loathing (and also Kya and Kyoshi <3), and I'd love to see anything about that. Do Korra and/or Asami internalize the homophobia so much that they're unable to be with each other/are extremely uncomfortable with the other? Or maybe all the little ways in which homophobia fucks you up and the unconscious ways you change your behaviour to protect yourself without even realizing it? Korra and/or Asami unable to visualize being with the other until it actually happens (perhaps because they think it's intrusive or predatory)? Hiding their relationship from the public, or if they choose not to, what is public opinion like on their relationship? Unconsciously keeping their distance from each other even when they've gone public? Just all the angst, again, please!

And the soulmates and reincarnation cycle pretty much speaks for itself, but I'd especially love to see how it coincides with the Avatar cycle. Raava/whoever the Avatar is is already pretty much a soulmates in doomed reincarnation cycle story—what about if a bit of Raava's spirit, not in all lives but sometimes, gets deposited in another body? Or maybe Korra isn't Wan's spirit/soul, and she and Asami are caught up in an entirely different doomed cycle, which maybe ends with her becoming the Avatar? Or maybe the events of Season Two are what start the cycle?

We already have underworld rescue missions and characters being trapped in the Spirit World in canon! Perhaps Korra or Asami is trapped in the Spirit World (possibly being held hostage/part of a trap?) and the other has to go and rescue her? Or perhaps they're both trapped, and Korra, despite her Avatar-ly powers, can't get them out? And maybe they're trapped in one of the more dangerous parts of the Spirit World by a villain who can control the Spirit World? Maybe one of them is trapped in the Realm of Koh? And the Spirit World does seem to be the closest thing to the underworld in LoK, so maybe one of them is trapped in the Fog of Lost Souls after they 'die'? Or maybe Korra 'dies' but is actually in that cosmic space-type thing?

And Korra being the Avatar gives plenty of room for things beyond human comprehension!Anything Avatar-ly that Korra can't explain to Asami? Perhaps a dark spirit puts Asami in danger, or, unknowingly, Korra herself? Again, I feel like this tag is pretty much self-explanatory.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

I love the mix of darkness and humor in A:TLA—it's one of my favourite things about it. Also how deeply fucked up it is. Give me all the fucked-up childhoods and child soldiers and dictators! Fucked-up childhoods especially are a Thing for me.
Spirits and the supernatural and all the otherwordly aspects of the A:TLA world! I especially love the spirits' inability to distinguish between different humans.
Worldbuilding—the past of the A:TLA world and the politics of said world are things I always love to see being explored.
I love the character arcs for basically all the characters, and I'd adore something set in the future, because I want to see what happens to them! Bridging the gap between A:TLA and LoK would be particularly lovely.
Speaking of LoK, LoK and A:TLA sometimes have wildly different interpretations of events (lion-turtles and the origin of the Avatar comes to mind), so something about that, maybe?

Request 1
Characters/Groups:

group:Azula/Ty Lee
group: Azula & Zuko

Additional Tags:

Circle of Abuse
Controlling/Possesive Relationship
Dysfunctional Relationship
Emotional Abuse
Emotional Manipulation
Mind Games

I love how fucked up Azula is and how fucked up her relationships with everybody around her are, and I'd enjoy anything to do with that. (And if you're going for Azula/Ty Lee, as consensual or as dubcon-y or noncon-y as you like is fine, as long as it's fucked up in some way!) For these groups, I would love to see literal or non-literal playing with fire. Pre-, during, or post-canon would all be fine.

For Azula & Zuko, I love how they're twisted mirrors of each other, and I'd love to see something on how fucked-up they are, and yet how, ultimately, they love each other (even if that love doesn't stop them from destroying each other). I love the loyalty and power aspects of Azula/Ty Lee, and I love Ty Lee's eventual betrayal and all the angst because of that, but I love that Ty Lee and Azula both care for each other very much despite the betrayal.

Azula obviously didn't have a childhood filled with rainbows and ponies, but I do think that Ozai's terrible parenting methods were more...subtle with Azula than with Zuko—while there's a lot of straightforward neglect (and obviously at least one occasion of physical abuse), Ozai does appear to care somewhat about Azula, albeit in the most fucked-up manner possible, leading to Ursa having less influence over Azula. This, I think, influenced her interactions with other people in canon, and significantly affected her relationships because she's playing out the only dynamic she knows; maybe something about this?

Azula is very possessive of people she cares about, and demands absolute loyalty, but at the same time I also think she's very protective of those people. And I know I said this before, but it bears repeating: her way of relating to people is utterly, utterly fucked up. She's not at all a sociopath (she obviously does care) but she's also very, very messed up. How does this play out in her relationships with people? I imagine that she's utterly controlling sometimes (most of the time). Ty Lee seems okay with this right up until she isn't, and I'd be interested in seeing how far Azula experiments with pushing her. And also, the first time we see them together in canon is ridiculously fucked up and Azula being terribly manipulative, so. Zuko, though, sees himself in a more protective role, and Azula is more straightforwardly cruel to him (possible because of that, and because his first loyalty and love isn't to her), and I'd enjoy seeing Azula being straight-out cruel but I'd also enjoy seeing Azula being protective in her own fucked-up way.

And I do think the dysfunctionality goes both ways, and neither Ty Lee nor Zuko are exactly the models of people who can form healthy human relationships either. I'd also enjoy either of them being terrible at interacting with Azula (and maybe Azula thinks they're intentionally mocking her/being cruel to her?), which spirals into a cycle of terribleness. Or, for Zuko especially, Zuko fighting back and Azula taking this as a rejection of her affection? I don't enjoy completely loveless relationships, though (whether the romantic/sexual with Ty Lee or the gen sibling relationship with Zuko); I'd prefer it if both parties care for each other.

And Azula is, canonically, a master manipulator, and she's very good at pulling both Ty Lee's and Zuko's strings, so maybe something about that? I love how terrifying she can be, and how she finds your weaknesses and your most vulnerable points and ruthlessly exploiting them, but also how she's very vulnerable herself, sometimes, despite all her efforts to prevent that. I'd also very much enjoy Azula using the fact that Ty Lee or Zuko care for her to manipulate them (or vice-versa, post-canon!).

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Important: for the MCU, I don't mind at all if you combine tags from different requests, since the main reason I separated requests is because I ran out of room. I don't mind the Steve & Natasha group or the villains and Hydra agents groups for other prompts, but if I haven't requested a thing specifically for Natasha as a character (i.e. request 3), I ask that the focus of the fic isn't [thing] happening to her. [Things] could have happened to her at some point/in the background, but not as the main focus of the fic, please.
Shipping: I ship Natasha with basically any female character in the MCU (or any Agent Carter female character, or any female character I've talked about in my previous exchange letters), and I also like Steve/Natasha. I ship Steve with Sam, Peggy, Natasha, and Howard, and, to a lesser extent, with Bucky, and noncon/dubcon with any of the villains. I would enjoy gen for both of them with any character other than the ones I've specified as disliking near the end of my general MCU likes list, to be honest, but I especially love Wanda and Maria Hill and Fury.
There's such a vast world to play in in the MCU, and so much of the characters' lives we don't know about because of the way time works in the movies! There's a lot of room for exploration and worldbuilding. My favourite MCU movies are the Cap movies, and I'd love to see what happens between them (and the Avengers movies)! Between Avengers & TWS, between TWS & AoU, between AoU & CW—I'm really curious as to what happens in the in-between years where obviously important stuff has happened.
I'm very interested in politics for this fandom, because so much of the storyline is influenced by in-world politics which we don't get to see. For example, HYDRA's ideology, the politics behind the US supersoldier program, Project Insight being authorized, the Accords—there's so much to explore.
CW brought up some interesting questions about the fact that the majority of the problems the Avengers deal with are things they've caused, albeit sometimes necessarily, so maybe something about that. (Although, I mean, Cap crashing helicarriers into the Potomac was a prime example of things which did have to be done and weren't the Avengers' fault, and, well, I fail to see how the Accords would have prevented another Ultron because Tony and Bruce were acting as scientists not Avengers, and Ross conveniently forgot the Hulk project which he was involved in—Ross did have a point, but his point was obscured by a thick layer of terrible motives IMO.)
For this fandom especially I'd love to see outsider POVs, whether that be people who are working closely with the characters or people who only see the characters on TV.
I love the sheer scale of the events of the movies, so maybe something about that?
There's a common thread of the end not justifying the means across the Cap movies, so something about that, maybe?
With so many supervillains floating around, there's plenty of room for lots of H/C (or H without C) with characters being captured and tortured and injured.
I love fun and asskicking and just superheroes being superheroes too.
I adore the fact that the characters have very individual senses of humour!
I am very much meh on Tony, Bucky, Vision, Peter Parker, Loki, and Scott Lang, so I'd prefer it if they weren't the focus of your work, please. I don't mind them appearing in the work or even playing large-ish roles as long as the focus is on characters I do adore. And please no Darcy Lewis at all.
Other things I'm not fond of include AoS in general, the way AoS handled S.H.I.E.L.D. in particular, all the Avengers living at the Avengers tower (especially post-Avengers but pre-TWS; I don't really mind pre-AoU since there's some element of canon to it).

Request 1
Characters/Groups:

Steve Rogers

Additional Tags:

came back wrong
Character's Body Is Considered Government Property
Character Isn't Sure Whether They've Been Raped
Experimentation
Experimented On While Experimenters Think Character Is Unconcious
Frozen Alive
Medical Experimentation
Not Seen as a Person
Pimped Out By The Government
rape as part of hero training

I'm very very fascinated by Steve's time encased in ice. I know he's supposed to be unconscious during, but perhaps an AU where he's not? Perhaps he's awake for the majority of the freezing process and only blacks out after he's mostly become encased in ice? Perhaps he drifts in and out of unconsciousness? Or perhaps he's awake the entire time? The idea of being trapped in ice, freezing cold and immobilized and probably in darkness, is extremely terrifying for me. The sensory deprivation combined with the lack of human interaction and complete immobilization is both fascinating and horrifying to me.

I can't imagine that any human being, even a supersoldier with enhanced physical and mental capabilities, would survive being frozen alive completely intact mentally and physically—seventy years encased in ice would certainly not be conducive to mental stability. I imagine that Steve would experience something like the aftereffects of solitary confinement, only worse (and that's after using superhero logic to handwave away the majority of the consequences). How would SHIELD react to this, when the Cap they face is not the Cap they know? What about during the Chiaturi invasion, where he's needed? How does Steve react to being unfrozen? Or maybe the ice twisted something in him, possibly took away his morality/skewed it a little/made him unable to understand other human beings properly? Or something where Steve is captured by [insert villain here], with the same results?

Honestly, for the Pimped Out By The Government, this HTP kinkmeme prompt and the subsequent comments expanding upon it is everything I want and need (and you can use this for other tags, too, I definitely don't mind!). Basically: Steve is pimped out by the US government to get money for the war effort (whether HYDRA has a hand in it or not isn't really an issue for me), and comes to think of sex as his patriotic duty.

The shield is property of the US government, we know that, but, well, Cap's enhancements were due to the serum which was due to the US government, right? So maybe Steve is considered property of the US government too? And I'm also very interested in the soldier part of supersoldier, and how Steve is basically considered a weapon by a lot of people (both Pierce, and, to an extent, Fury in TWS, and well CW is obvious). And also the symbolism of Captain America and what he represents to different people and how a lot of people make Cap into what he represents to them—the Captain America/Steve Rogers divide is also very interesting to me, and I'd be interested in seeing how that plays out in the context of either tag.

And experimentation, again, is for me playing on the idea of dehumanization and loss of control. Does Steve volunteer for experimentation, or is it unwilling? Perhaps he's forced/coerced into it by SHIELD/SHIELDRA/the UN/the US government (I mean, how exactly do they know that Steve's metabolism runs 4x that of a normal human? And is there maybe pre- and post-serum testing?)? Or maybe he's captured by a group interested in reproducing the serum? Either way, lots of detached medical language and testing for capabilities, please. I'd like both more medical experimentation (blood samples, introducing poisons/viruses, exploring the structure of Steve's body, probes and intrusive testing, perhaps shaving), and testing physical capabilities (pain threshold, stamina, ability to endure different climates and temperatures, sleep and sensory deprivation, starvation, loss of human contact etc.). And for me there's a special horror if the experimenters think the character's unconscious, because of the extra layer of detachment (and perhaps not giving sedatives/pain dampeners because they think he's unconscious, even the experimenters aren't actively malicious).

And I think the rape as part of hero training tag basically speaks for itself—any era, any agency. Perhaps as part of torture resistance training, or to 'increase mental endurace'? Or maybe a canon divergence AU where Steve signs the Accords, perhaps is forced to sign the Accords? (Either way, maybe Nat and Steve being raped side-by-side?)

And I'd love dubcon for Steve not sure whether he's being raped, perhaps as part of any of the above scenarios if he agrees to the scenarios because he agrees and he thinks that because he agrees it's not rape, or maybe him volunteering to be raped to save someone else, or rape as a part of an undercover mission, or maybe something where Bucky's been triggered into WS mode/is somehow not aware of who he is. Or maybe Steve is drugged/captured/spends some time with some SHIELD agents, and next thing you know, he wakes up sore (and/or with dried blood around his hole)?

Request 2
Characters/Groups:

group: Steve Rogers/Hydra Agents
group: Steve Rogers/villains
Steve Rogers

Additional Tags:

Being Tortured Triggers Past Memories
Enduring Rape to Protect Another
Enduring Torture to Protect Another
Pregnant Through Rape
Raped On Many Different Occasions
Sleep Deprivation As A Form Of Torture
Solitary Confinement
Waterboarding
Water Torture

So, Steve being stoic through rape and/or torture, and out-stubborning his rapist(s)/torturer(s) and annoying them with his defiance and snark and the fact that that he fights back given an inch is very much a thing for me.

Steve is very, very good at self-sacrifice, and I imagine this would extend up to volunteering to be raped/tortured to protect other people. Maybe the Avengers are captured (whether new or old, all of them or some of them, and it'd be interesting to see if Steve's reaction if he was captured along with, say, Wanda was different than if he was captured with Nat or Sam), or maybe the baddie threatens a villain? Or maybe Steve volunteers to protect the STRIKE team if they're captured, which would make it even more horrifying. Or maybe Steve submits to the Accords/General Ross in exchange for the others' freedom?

I also love the idea of Steve being raped so many times by villains who all think they're being original and finding a unique way to soil Captain America, but in truth he's had sex (read: been raped) so many times that he doesn't really give a fuck any more (pun unintended, but hey). And maybe Steve not really being able to associate sex with pleasure because all/most of his experiences of sex were of rape?

And this is the trashiest of trash, but what if the serum has unintended side effects and Steve can get pregnant, which he didn't know until he was raped? Or maybe bonus experimentation and then rape specifically to make him pregnant (maybe even by his own government)? Either way, allll the horror involved in carrying your rapist's child (and maybe because of his uniqueness the doctors aren't sure that abortion won't kill him and the baby has to be carried to term).

Solitary confinement is another thing that I, personally, find extremely horrifying, especially if it's under standard prison conditions (small cell, constant lighting, little to no stimulation, minimal human contact), or worse. Maybe Steve is captured by Ross either in a canon divergence AU or post-CW somehow? Or maybe he's accused of (and maybe falsely convicted of) a crime? Or maybe some government drums up a charge because they want Cap out of the public eye but don't want to turn him into a martyr? Or maybe it's a form of torture? Either way, he needs to be kept isolated and away from humans because of his super strength? And the aftermath of solitary confinement sounds pretty horrifying, too.

Sensory deprivation and overload used alternately would be a great, low-effort form of torture, maybe? Or maybe some villain who's able to cause alternately blocked-off senses and senses upped to the amp, even more so than Cap's unusually vivid senses? Human beings can't stand sensory deprivation for long periods of time, and although Steve is enhanced by the serum, even a few days of total sensory deprivation would fuck him up very much. Or, maybe how a lot of or even a little brightness/noise after extended periods of sensory deprivation would be extremely painful? This and sleep deprivation are, again, things I find extremely terrifying. Sleep deprivation would be interesting, too—it'd take a longer time for it to work on Steve than a normal human, again, but it's a pretty horrific form of torture. And Steve losing control of his emotions and his brain and body which would be the result of extended sleep deprivation would work well with his past of being tiny and weak (and perhaps body image issues?). And sleep deprivation would cause other tortures to be x1000 times more awful, too.

Also water torture. Water torture sounds extremely, extremely unbearable to me for more than very short periods of time, and I'd love to see it used in either an erotic way or as a form of torture. This obviously works best if Steve is alone and can't hear anything else other than the water, and is preferably immobilized too, of course. And I imagine that it's more effective than most forms of torture on supersoldiers—perhaps especially so because of the enhanced hearing. (And if you're going with kinky instead of torture, maybe watersports?)

And waterboarding—again, this is one of the things which I think most villains would imagine wouldn't completely tire out the torturer before Steve reaches the edges of his endurance. And I can imagine a sadistic torturer deciding to waterboard Steve specifically because of the Valkyrie, thinking that memories of drowning will make it even more awful. Or maybe he's faced with a different kind of torture that triggers memories, not of torture itself, but of his life pre-ice and maybe the happier things, again, just make it worse?

Request 3
Characters/Groups:

group: Natasha Romanov & Steve Rogers
Natasha Romanoff
Steve Rogers

Additional Tags:

Aftermath of Torture
Body Image Issues
Character Is Haunted By Bad Things They Had To Do For A Good Cause
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – PTSD
Rape Recovery
Recovery Process after Torture
Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Sacrifice for the Good of the Many
Videos Or Photos Of Rape Uploaded Online

Both Natasha and Steve are canonically haunted by their past actions, and I do imagine that Nat is sometimes haunted by things she did for SHIELD/the Avengers as well as for the KGB etc. This tag is pretty much self-explanatory, but just all the angst about the things they had to do (torture, killing, civilians becoming collateral damage or being killed because of them etc.), and if you go Steve & Natasha, maybe the two of them being angst-y together. And maybe something about how this ties in with Steve's ethic of personal responsibility? Or maybe Natasha being surprised that she's equally haunted by the things she did for SHIELD/Avengers as well as the things she did for the KGB?

I can't imagine that both Steve and Natasha haven't been tortured and/or raped at least once or twice in their line of work. How does their torture resistance training hold up? Also, I think both of them are the kind of people who would be utterly resistant to the idea that the torture and/or rape would actually affect them mentally, so how does that impede their healing process? How do they deal with the violation of their bodies (maybe combined with the body image issues tag)? Both of them would be stoic throughout (well, Steve would be, Natasha would probably not be if she thought not being stoic would be an advantage), but would they continue being stoic and pretending it's nothing right until they can't? Steve has a healing factor which will make the physical effects of torture disappear quicker than for normal people, but there's not much evidence that Natasha does as per current MCU canon, so maybe something about that? Or maybe the two of them casually swapping rape/torture stories and everyone around them going 'holy fuck you guys are messed up'?

And speaking of healing, body image issues! Steve probably can't scar at all, and Natasha definitely can, so maybe something about either/both of these things? I imagine both of them treat their bodies as tools/weapons, and neither of them are exactly careful with their bodies, which goes along with their line of work obviously but is also a little fucked-up given their respective pasts. And how does Steve view his pre- and post-serum bodies? Also, if you're up for going there, I'd be interested in how the infertility thing could be played without being massively misogynistic as it was in AoU—perhaps Natasha has mixed feelings about it, because it's not like she actually wants kids right now, and periods and other uterus-related things are extremely inconvenient on the field, but it's still her body and a choice that was taken away from her? And if you want to go even trashier, maybe the serum/his sicknesses making Steve infertile too?

Also, if videos or photos of them being raped were uploaded online, what would Steve's and Natasha's reactions be? Would they brush them off, or would they put on a stoic face but become more and more despairing? What would public opinion be (the great superheroes brought down, how on earth is that possible? Can Cap or Black Widow even be raped, or were they actually willing? Victim-blaming either way?), and would who the rapist is affect the public's views? If the photos/videos were released by Natasha in her data dump, what would Steve's and/or Nat's reaction be? Or maybe General Ross releases the photos/videos in an attempt to get Steve to sign the Accords?

We know Steve is ridiculously self-sacrificing, and I think the WSC scene in TWS proved that Natasha is, too, and the 'we won't get off this rock until every civilian has left' scene in AoU between Steve and Natasha is catnip to me. I'd love to see Steve and/or Natasha sacrificing themselves for the good of many, whether that's by giving themselves up to the enemy, by showing the world the bad things they've done (and the consequential tide of public opinion?), by sacrificing their lives, etc.

And Steve and Natasha are the youngest of the Avengers by a wide margin pre-AoU, but they're as good as (and better than) the people much older them at dealing with the situations they're faced with, especially in The Avengers, which speaks for the shitload of terrible things they've gone through. And maybe they don't have full-blown PTSD, but I'm sure they have at least some of the symptoms (Steve at least does canonically, and I'm sure Natasha does, too). And, well, I imagine neither of them deal with it, and just ignore it or punch things until it goes away (honestly the two of them are ridiculously dysfunctional even though they try really, really hard not to be, and I love them for it and it breaks my heart). And they probably cope with stuff that happens to them/stuff they've done very badly or not at all, and I'd love to see unhealthy coping mechanisms, and wallowing and being stoic and punching stuff. Maybe post-TWS, or post-AoU, or post-CW on the run together, the two of them avoiding dealing with their shit together?

The Lord of the Rings (book)

There aren't enough fics based on the Myths Transformed version of Middle-earth, and if that's something you'd like to explore, I'd love that, especially a more scientifically accurate (and sometimes, to my mind, a more tragic-and-dark-but-beautiful) vision of Middle-earth. (Other versions would also be wonderful, of course! This is just a specific thing I don't see much of.)
I love the fact that Tolkien's canon is a patchwork of different stories and mythologies, both in the Doylist and Watsonian sense, and fic exploring that would be wonderful.
Linked with the points above, I'm interested in lived vs. written stories, and Those Pesky Historians, and how unseen forces affect history.
Nature that comes alive.
The mortals and Elves/free will and destiny debate and the role of the Valar would be a wonderful thing to read about—I'd love exploration of any of the philosophical questions of Tolkien's world, really, but especially this, as detailed in the Athrabeth and writings about the role of the Valar.
All things Darkness and Light, really—I'm very fascinated by how these polar opposites work in Tolkien's world (and you can go back right to the beginning, to the Music, if you like), and how Arda is both grim and uplifting at the same time.
I love the way magic and power operate in Tolkien's world—the work he's done to make it believable is wonderful. Writing a green sun, indeed! Anything you can write about this would be welcome and much-adored.
I especially love the Ñoldor and Númenor, although every Age of Middle-earth holds my heart.
For interspecies relationships, I'd love to see an emphasis on otherness and trying to understand each other.

Request 1
Characters/Groups:

Finduilas of Dol Amroth
Goldberry
Group: Goldberry/Lady of the Blue Brooch
The dead of the Dead Marshes

Additional Tags:

Beneath the Hill (Fairies)
Dark Fairy Tale Elements
Mind Games
Nature Which Tries To Eat You
Things Beyond Human Comprehension
Trapped in otherworld

Quick note that if you're writing shipfic (I ship Goldberry/basically any female character, and Finduilas/Uinen but also any other female character you can think of, and any pairing would be welcome for the dead of the Dead Marshes, whether that's OCs or canon characters), I don't mind whatever level of consensuality, whether noncon, dubcon, or completely consensual.

So, most of these prompts, as you may have guessed, are for otherworldly shenanigans. I love the sinister edges of Tolkien's world and how the magic of Middle-earth is very wild and untamed and incomprehensible, and I love that there's both the sinister kind of incomprehensible brought on by the Marring of Arda and the kind of incomprehensibleness that just is. Goldberry falls into the latter category, I think, and the dead of the Dead Marshes fall into the former category. And for the purposes of fic-writing I would love what happens to Finduilas, her fading away, falling into either category. And I also love what happens to human beings when they try to approach/understand things beyond their comprehension, whether that's just disappearing, losing their memory, or awful, unnameable tortures.

My first association with 'Beneath The Hill' is with the story of Thomas the Rhymer (quick version: he was carried of by the Queen of Faerie, and came back with the gift of prophecy and, IIRC, the inability to lie), but further googling has revealed to me that it could also refer to a king under the mountain-type thing. I would adore either interpretation (or anything else you choose/think of, because I'm pretty sure I've missed multiple interpretations) for any of the characters/groups I have requested—maybe Finduilas of Dol Amroth is whisked away by Uinen and comes back in the Fourth Age, maybe the dead of the Dead Marshes rise again, maybe the Lady of the Blue Brooch lies in her barrow and will wake again, maybe Goldberry is guarding an ancient ruler in his/her barrow.

That kind of fairy-tale-like trapped in the otherworld by wild forces is also the association I have with 'trapped in the otherworld'. This one is pretty much self-explanatory for the dead of the Dead Marshes. For the others, maybe Finduilas was fading away because parts of her were slowly being taken to the other world, possible due to an ancient Dúnedain artefact/her Silvan blood/both? And maybe, for Goldberry, either something to do with Old Man Willow and the River-woman, or maybe Goldberry is the one keeping her lover(s), or just passersby, trapped in the otherworld?

The Thomas the Rhymer thing is basically an example of what I'd love being played with for the dark fairy tale elements tag. There are, well, a lot of fairy tales I like, and even if I don't know the fairy tale you're drawing elements from, I will be guaranteed to enjoy it (and maybe linking/naming the fairy tale(s) you're taking elements from if you're taking from a specific story?).

Any of the characters playing mind games/being played with—the dead of the Dead Marshes canonically play mind games with the people passing through them, if not of their own volition, and I imagine they have experienced a few mindfucks themselves if they're sentient and trapped in the Marshes. And Goldberry, I imagine, wouldn't be playing mind games out of active maliciousness, but because she just can't comprehend how mortals work—and this could devolve into utter fucked-upness! And maybe Finduilas wasting away in Gondor was because someone was fucking with her mind and keeping her on edge and jittery?

Nature Which Tries To Eat You is pretty much self-explanatory for Goldberry given her canon appearances, I think, and for the dead of the Dead Marshes too. And probably for Finduilas as well (although, for her, is it the sea which is draining her life force? The withered White Tree of Gondor? Something else altogether?)!

The Silmarillion

Important: if you're mixing and matching tags/characters/groups between requests, I'd like it if at least one of the tags from the original request the character/group is in is present in the fic.
Also, the groupings here are very specific and the tags are very much self-explanatory, so prompts are likely to be shorter for the Silm than for other fandoms, sorry!
There aren't enough fics based on the Myths Transformed version of Middle-earth, and if that's something you'd like to explore, I'd love that, especially a more scientifically accurate (and sometimes, to my mind, a more tragic-and-dark-but-beautiful) vision of Middle-earth. (Other versions would also be wonderful, of course! This is just a specific thing I don't see much of.)
I love the fact that Tolkien's canon is a patchwork of different stories and mythologies, both in the Doylist and Watsonian sense, and fic exploring that would be wonderful.
Linked with the points above, I'm interested in lived vs. written stories, and Those Pesky Historians, and how unseen forces affect history.
Nature that comes alive.
The mortals and Elves/free will and destiny debate and the role of the Valar would be a wonderful thing to read about—I'd love exploration of any of the philosophical questions of Tolkien's world, really, but especially this, as detailed in the Athrabeth and writings about the role of the Valar.
All things Darkness and Light, really—I'm very fascinated by how these polar opposites work in Tolkien's world (and you can go back right to the beginning, to the Music, if you like), and how Arda is both grim and uplifting at the same time.
I love the way magic and power operate in Tolkien's world—the work he's done to make it believable is wonderful. Writing a green sun, indeed! Anything you can write about this would be welcome and much-adored.
I especially love the Ñoldor and Númenor, although every Age of Middle-earth holds my heart.
For interspecies relationships, I'd love to see an emphasis on otherness and trying to understand each other.

Request 1
Characters/Groups:

Aredhel
Finduilas
group: Aredhel/Elenwë
group: Finduilas/Nienor
group: Lalaith/Nienor

Additional Tags:

Character Lives But Things Still Go Wrong
Character who dies in canon lives making everything worse
Time Travel Fix-It Gone Wrong
Time Travel - Making The Same Mistakes
Time loop

My non-requested Aredhel ships basically boil down to Aredhel/any female character. I'm a little more picky about who I ship with Finduilas—my primary ships are Finduilas/Nellas/Nienor (or any subship of these), Finduilas/Aredhel, Finduilas/Idril, Finduilas/Galadriel, Finduilas/Lúthien, Finduilas/any OFC, and Finduilas/Curufin's wife. Any gen is also great for either of them!

This section basically boils down to the women who died in canon living, but things still going up shit creek, or becoming even worse and/or timefuckery. I just want all the angst and doom and gloom of the Silm, only amped up and even more Extra^TM. The tags are pretty much self-explanatory here, so I'm only going to be prompting to make connections with canon where they aren't obvious.

I'm pretty sure that the Doom of the Ñoldor makes it so that, even if Finduilas or Aredhel hadn't died, everything would have gone terribly, possibly the same as they did in canon, possibly in a different, even worse, way. Gondolin would still fall, probably, and so would Nargothrond, and the children of Húrin would still have had a pretty miserable life (and Finduilas/Nienor would end unhappily even if Finduilas didn't die, because Finduilas is immortal and Niënor is going to die one day, so maybe something in the style of Andreth/Aegnor?). Or maybe Elenwë living (and Turgon dying)? I'm pretty sure that the Fall of Gondolin would eventually have happened no matter who built it. Or would Gondolin not exist at all, and thus make everything worse because Eärendil would either not exist or not meet Elwing? Or for any other reason? And Lalaith not dying would probably not have changed anything at all, and possibly would have made things worse (but my kingdom for Blacksword!Lalaith).

The Ñoldor were pretty much fated to fail no matter what the moment the Doom of Mandos was uttered, and so were the children of Húrin, because of Morgoth's influence, so the doom and gloom and destruction characteristic of the Silm would be very much appreciated, but I wouldn't mind the characters finding light within the darkness and finding comfort in each other (no matter how bleak the ending, or a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel would be as appreciated as bleakness), again as is characteristic of the Silm.

And time travel and time loops! I love characters travelling back in time to fix something but not being able to fix it/fixing it making things worse. The Silm is a good candidate for these tropes because of aforesaid dooms and curses, and I'm disappointed that there's so few fic based on these. Making it worse than the current Silm world would require quite a bit of ingenuity, I imagine! (Although, darkest timeline would be Morgoth winning completely and utterly annihilating the people of Arda?) Or maybe there was a timeline which was better/in which more people lived, but the current Silm timeline is because of meddling from the past? (Perhaps the characters who died were killed by their future selves/by their lovers, for the extra angst factor?)

And, in time loops specifically, I love the torture of reliving the same thing again and again and your lover not knowing each time (maybe the character's own death? Maybe her lover's?). Or if you want to go even darker, I would love to see any of the characters I requested being stuck in a time loop where the only possible way to break the loop is to act in such a way as to create the darkest possible timeline. Or being stuck in a time loop that can't be broken, and they have to relive the same day/moment/week/month/etc. again and again.

Request 2
Characters/Groups:

Tar-Anárion's daughters

Additional Tags:

Character's Body Is Considered Government Property
Controlling/Possesive Relationship
Incest
Person Thinks They Can't Say No To Sex
Pimped Out By The Government
Political backstabbing

I'm just going to start this off by saying that if you're going in the shippy direction, I ship Tar-Anárion's daughters with pretty much everyone (and everyone at once is even better). I have prompted specific scenarios for Tar-Ancalimë/Tar-Anárion's daughters and Tar-Anárion's daughter/Tar-Anárion's daughter as well as Tar-Anárion's daughters/everybody, but any pairing you choose will be fine!

And I feel like the above paragraph is basically enough for the incest tag! Specific things I like about incest include the taboo aspect of incest as well as kinking on the fact that it's incest (although if you dislike either/both of them, I don't mind at all that they're not in the fic, as long as there's incest).

We know that Tar-Anárion's daughters both refused the queenship, most likely because they were pressured to, but there's not much to go on beyond that, so I would like it very much if political backstabbing was involved. Did they try to betray their father/aunt and were caught? Or was it the people around them who were doing the backstabbing, because of [insert reason you want here]? Just all the Númenorean politics, please! (Which we know are not very nice at all, even if they have a polite veneer.)

I'm also very interested in Tar-Ancalimë's relationship with her granddaughters, since it's implied that she's the reason they gave up the throne. Did she regret not really caring about Tar-Anárion, and go too far in the other direction? Is she just extremely protective to the point of being unhealthily controlling for different reasons? Or maybe she sees them as her heirs, and is very possessive because of that? Or if you want to go really dark, Tar-Ancalimë marrying both of them off to husband she knows won't let them become queen? Or the last three applied to Tar-Anárion, perhaps, or Tar-Anárion being extremely controlling of his daughters because of his less-than-ideal childhood?

Or maybe the reason Tar-Anárion's daughters gave up the throne is because, while they're heirs, their bodies belong to the throne, and thus to Tar-Ancalimë/the Council? Maybe the way they dress, how and what they eat, even how they perform their ablutions are all controlled by external forces? Maybe they're forced to undergo gruelling 'training' or be experimented upon? Or maybe they're forced to provide sex?

Maybe the people they're forced to provide sex to are visiting nobles whose favour needs to be curried? Or maybe they're pimped out to fill the government's coffers? Or maybe it's just sadistic for-the-fun-of-it pimping out, to humiliate them? Again, this tag is pretty much self-explanatory.

I think the not being able to say not sex tag is also pretty much self-explanatory, and draws on all the ideas in the paragraphs above (and any prompts I provide will just be me repeating myself, to be honest). I don't mind who the person they're having sex with is (or it could be each other)!

Request 3
Characters/Groups:

group: Haleth/spider of Nan Dungortheb

Additional Tags:

Sacrifice for the Good of the Many
Enduring Rape to Protect Another

This is probably going to be the shortest of my requests, because the tags basically speak for themselves here. (I am very, very obvious about what I want in this request :D.)

So basically, Haleth has sex with a spider in order to secure safe passage through Nan Dungortheb/protect her people by providing a distraction etc. (Maybe that spider is Ungoliant herself, and/or maybe Haleth manages to kill the spider after the sex?)

I'd like it to be a voluntary sacrifice, please, even if it's one born of desperation (but the sex is very much noncon still). I'd also love it if there were some ritualistic elements to emphasize the sacrificial nature of the sex—perhaps ritualistic elements Haleth introduces/forces to keep in control of the situation?

I would love to see Haleth being stoic through the sex, and not allowing her disgust to show at all. Or, if you want to, her being surprised (and kind of annoyed at herself?) by the fact that she is, in fact, not at all repulsed by the sex/spider, and in face likes it, and this surprise furthering her feelings of humiliation (and, again, Haleth trying to remain stoic through this cycle of emotion).

Extra things you could add, but are not at all requirements or things that'd be necessary for me to love your fic: oviposition, multiple spiders, her people watching (or maybe just her warriors, voyeurism is great either way), spider legs inside Haleth's holes, spiderwebs, spider fluid, the spider being surprisingly gentle (although this doesn't help at all) gags/Haleth screaming herself hoarse/trying to talk to the spiders but none of them understand what is being said.

Request 4
Characters/Groups:

group: Tar-Míriel/Female Character(s)

Additional Tags:

betrayal
Betrayed by Lover
Controlling/Possessive Relationship
Dysfunctional Relationships
Political backstabbing
Politics
Sacrifice for the Good of the Many
Sexual Relationship as Unhealthy Coping Mechanism

I want Tar-Míriel to have a slice of happiness before—or after—everything goes wrong, even as the world collapses on her head (or, alternately I'd love to see the horror of her situation magnified as well, because I'm evil like that and I love seeing my faves suffer!). Make the setting (and plot, if you're planning in the fic and plott-y direction) as dark as you like—the darker the better!

Maybe Tar-Míriel finding comfort in one of her handmaidens (or one of the palace staff)? Is the handmaiden of the Faithful (perhaps planted there by Elendil to help Tar-Míriel pass messages out of the palace?), is she a spy for Pharazôn who manipulates Míriel (and maybe perhaps eventually falls for her—or not, there's lots of room for fucked-up-ness either way), or is she indifferent to the current political situation? Or maybe the OFC is a noble, either one of the Faithful (either in Exile, or someone who's secretly Faithful), or loyal to Pharazôn?

I would love all the betrayal for this request, in whatever shape or form you choose! Maybe Míriel's lover is one of the King's Men, who is sent specifically to spy on her (and perhaps even seduce her)? Or maybe she's bribed/betrayed/flattered/cajoled into betraying Míriel after they fall for each other and become lovers? Or maybe it's Míriel who betrays her lover, maybe accidentally, maybe on purpose (and if on purpose, is it as a part of a larger political plot or is it just because she isn't of the Faithful and supports Pharazôn's ideas and beliefs?), to Pharazôn, revealing her as one of the Faithful? Either way, all the angst and hurt and the betrayer being conflicted about the betrayal, but betraying her lover anyway, please! Or, alternately, the betrayer being completely unfeeling and manipulative about the betrayal would also be great! Or maybe Míriel is betrayed by someone else close to her, and her lover has to comfort her? (And maybe even just after she's taken as Pharazôn's wife, because she had trusted Pharazôn and didn't think he'd do this to her?)

And maybe the betrayer betrays her lover because she believes what she's doing is for the good of many? Or maybe Tar-Míriel/the female character has to give up her lover to try to save the people of Númenor, maybe even leave her lover to die or suffer? Or maybe Míriel's lover becomes a literal sacrifice at the temple for Melkor? Or maybe Míriel chooses to send her lover with Elendil and stay behind on Númenor? I don't mind any spin you put on the Sacrifice For The Good of Many Tag, whether that's my interpretation or a different idea, because there's just so much potential for this tag with Tar-Míriel/female character.

I'm pretty sure Númenorean politics around the time of the Fall of the Númenor is a dark enough tag standing by itself! Because there's really no possible way for this not to be dark unless you go very AU (and for this tag, I ask that you don't go AU unless it's to make things even worse), given the political atmosphere of that era. All the dark, desperate politics, please, with cloak-and-dagger manoeuvring and secret messages and desperate plotting and questionable deals, and ll the dirty parts of politics upped to the amp, bribery and palm-greasing and nepotism and violence and just making the people who don't agree with you just disappear. I'm sure that the Faithful (and/or Míriel) must have done some not-so-savoury things in the service of a good cause, not only Pharazôn—maybe something about that? Or maybe all the people the staunchest of the Faithful thought were their allies suddenly aren't any more? Or Pharazôn suddenly cracks down on minor corruptions of politicians, but only among the Faithful? And I think that the political backstabbing tag is pretty much self-explanatory, and a lot of the stuff I want for that tag I've described in this paragraph, because my wants for both politics and political backstabbing are very similar.

Again, I feel like the 'sexual relationship as an unhealthy coping mechanism' tag speaks for itself. Míriel finding comfort in a lover with a dark twist! Ignoring all her problems through her relationship with her lover! Perhaps rough, wild sex that leaves marks that last for ages, if that's your thing?

And maybe Míriel is very controlling and possessive of her lover because that's one of the few areas of her life she does have control over? Maybe it starts out as D/s which is pretty much safe and normal, and spirals from there? Maybe it's a mutually controlling and possessive relationship between Míriel and her lover because of the world they live in, which is extremely dangerous for both of them and where they can't be open about their relationship, and they are terrified for their lives and for the people of Númenor? And I could see Míriel/her female lover getting dysfunctional very, very fast under these circumstances. Or maybe the relationship is dysfunctional because Míriel's lover is actually Pharazôn's spy and/or a manipulative gold-digger and toying with Míriel?

Darkest Night Letter

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