"From the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story..." - Innumerable Stars 2022

[narya_flame]

Dear creator,

Hello, and thank you so much for making a gift for me! This is one of my favourite fandom events; I'm so pleased we're a match, and I can't wait to see what you're inspired to make.

A word of apology first. I usually try to give my creator a few ideas that they can take or leave as it suits them, but it has been a rough few months – the thought of writing a carefully crafted prompt for each tag (or even each fandom) that I've picked is overwhelming. Instead I've added in a list of general likes, which I hope is helpful, and a few squicks – I don't have many! – and personal preferences. I have requested a number of these characters and canons before, for this event and others; you are welcome to browse my Dear Creator tag and use any of those prompts, if you are so inclined, but you're under absolutely no obligation to do so.

As usual my requests are a bit of a grab bag – everything from vast mythic texts and off-the-wall crossover concepts to fun fairy-tales about dogs.  For the first time I haven't picked any "core" Middle-earth canons, not because I don't want to see those settings or characters, but the tags for the smaller canons were simply too delightful to resist!

I've made my choices with escapism in mind, so please make me something beautiful, magical, fantastical, sweet, bittersweet, mildly creepy, scary-but-hopeful, dark-but-cosy, happy-for-now, tragic-but-cathartic, fluffy, funny, uplifting or comforting. Any rating is fine. Don't feel you have to go out of your way to use my list of likes if they aren't your style or if they don't speak to you (I'm really not picky, they're only there for ideas), and feel free to combine requested fandoms and characters if you're so inspired. Just have fun, and thank you for making me a gift <3

(NB – all of the requests are for art or fic. If you are kind enough to be contemplating a treat, then any medium is welcome, including podfic, vids, fanmixes, etc..)

 

Art Likes

 

 

• Abstract art (could maybe work for the Ainur?)
• Action shots
• Art as character study, or illustrating the dynamics of a relationship
• Basically anything that plays with colour, light, shadow, space and movement
• Beams of light; strangely shaped shadows
• Calligraphy/illumination/runework
• Close ups of tiny details like stitching, beading, engraving, etc.
• Clothing, jewellery and hair
• Comic panels; sets of linked drawings that tell a story
• Craft and sculpture
• Depictions of the natural world; tiny characters in vast landscapes
• Facial expressions conveying more than one emotion at once
• Fashion design
• Focus on a part of the body that isn't the face, e.g. a character's fingertips lightly brushing their lover's ear
• Group shots
• Intricate detailing on weaponry, armour, buildings, engravings, musical instruments...
• Limited colour palette; jewel tones; monochrome
• Maps, architectural drawings, floor plans, designs for a toy or new invention, etc.
• Portraits
• Unusual perspectives – through a window, over a gate, down a tunnel, from a distance...

 

Fic Likes

 

 

• Adventure and peril
• Anything to do with languages, linguistics and alphabets
• Canon divergence AUs
• Capable/competent characters being casually excellent
• Complex character dynamics
• Conflicting motivations
• Curious characters who just want to <i>know things</i>
• Fairy tale motifs
• Found families/families of choice
• Grief and tragedy
• Hope and reconciliation
• In-world myths and legends
• In-world meta (see section below)
• Mercy/pity/kindness
• Mysteries and investigations
• Philosophical musings; academic discussions and debates
• Politics, on any scale
• Solace
• Unexpected friends/allies/relationships
• Unreliable narrators and quirky narrative structures – for example, epistolary, fragmented narratives, stories told through found documents, framing devices, stories told out of chronological order; playing with canon narrative bias/intent
• Unusual perspectives, minor characters and textual ghosts
• Wry humour; finding something to smile over when times are bleak

 

In-Universe Meta

 

 

• “Filling in the gaps” e.g. fragments of documents complete with in-world commentary
• Bestiaries and spellbooks
• Catalogues
• Contracts and agreements
• Diary entries; project journals
• Essays
• Etymology
• History
• In-world scholarship
• Instructions and recipes
• Laws and proclamations
• Letters
• Literary criticism and analysis
• Marginalia
• Working papers and project notes

 

General Likes

 

 

• A sense of history and wonder
• Animals
• Battle plans, battle scenes and/or aftermath
• Candlelight
• Castles, fortresses, palaces and grand houses
• Communication and travel between worlds and across time
• Cosy cottages (or hobbit holes!)
• Dragons!
• Elves/Ainur in history
• Fic, art etc. inspired by my own fanworks: remixes, based on, set in the same 'verse, using the same plotline, borrowing an OC, podfic recording, etc.
• Fog and mist
• Food, drink and celebration
• Forests; rivers; the sea
• Fusions of science and magic
• Ghosts, hauntings (literal and metaphorical)
• Learning a craft or skill
• Libraries, archives and other knowledge repositories
• Liminal places; the borders of the numinous
• Loyalty and sacrifice; carrying on against impossible odds
• Magic
• Music and musical instruments
• Myth, folklore and fairy-tale
• Objects and places with special significance
• Original characters
• Quiet moments
• Roaring fires
• Setting as character - feel free to take this literally, I love sentient nature and architectural horror
• Shining a light into places canon doesn't show us, or barely touches on – going off the edge of the map
• Starlight
• Storytelling, riddles and poetry
• Suggestion and implication, whether this is hints of backstory, a figure hiding in the shadows, or a slightly ambiguous ending – I love it when my imagination can get to work filling in the gaps
• The supernatural and the uncanny
• Unprompted appearances from characters in canons that aren't strictly their own (Silm characters rocking up in the Third Age; Middle-earth characters turning up in non-ME canons; characters from the other canons travelling to Middle-earth; characters from multiple small canons meeting up somehow...)
• Unprompted crossovers between requests
• Villages, towns and cities, especially their unusual defining features, like Esgaroth being constructed on wooden piles in the middle of a lake
• Witchy, fey and eldritch beings

 

 

Relationship Likes

 

(A lot of my requests are for single characters but I am open to unrequested ships.)

 

General/SFW

 

 

• Ambiguous relationships
• Banter and teasing
• Bedsharing; huddling for warmth
• Characters being utterly fascinated by one another (doesn't have to be romantic; could be admiration of craft/skill, or being impressed by someone's intellect, or something else altogether)
• Developing friendships – especially unlikely friendships
• Emotional reunions after long separations
• Enemies/rivals to lovers/friends
• Fierce loyalty and devotion, to the point of one character doing something incredibly stupid to help or save somebody they love
• Fighting back-to-back
• Forehead kisses
• Grey relationships that don't sit neatly in a box
• Hurt/comfort
• Quiet moments between people who care about each other, especially during or after huge events shaking their world
• Situational relationships – enemies having to work together, or people who wouldn't normally be drawn to each other forming a bond through circumstance
• “The little things” - light brushes with fingertips, smiles across a room...
• Tempestuous, complex or unhealthy relationships (see section on darker stuff)

 

 

Smut Likes

 

• Aftercare
• Banter in bed
• Bathing
• Biting and scratching
• Blood play
• Breath play
• Comfort sex; sex between friends who are just having fun
• Differing experience levels
• Drinking wine in bed together
• Enthusiastic consent
• Gags; blindfolds; light bondage
• Hair brushing/washing/braiding
• Helplessness
• Knifeplay
• Neck kissing; collarbone kissing
• Nipple play
• Orgasm delay/denial
• Piercings
• Pillow talk
• Porn as character study
• Reading erotic literature together
• Sensation play
• Sex exploring power dynamics and/or deeply informed by characters' history together
• Sex in or near water
• Swimming
• “Thank god you're alive” sex; sex after serious injury
•  

More ideas in my Smut4Smut letter if your muse bends that way!

 

 

Darker Stuff

 

 

• Abandoned places; ruins; haunted houses/objects
• Being trapped in a small dark space, possibly with something terrifying lurking nearby
• Body horror. Especially pretty body horror, like flowers growing out of bodies, or being consumed from the inside by starlight.
• Body modification
• Dark magic and curses
• Dreams bleeding into reality
• Dubious consent
• Incest
• Malevolent ghosts and hauntings
• Memory loss, or memories being fake/unreliable
• Possession
• Resurrection and necromancy
• Ritual and sacrifice
• Seances
• Sentient nature
• Torture
• Unhealthy relationships/relationships with troubling dynamics, including obsession, jealousy and co-dependency

 

Squicks

 

• Focus on bodily fluids and functions (exception: blood from injuries)
• Focus on pregnancy, childbirth or babies
• Totally hopeless/grimdark tone. I am definitely up for thorny material and I don't need a happy ending, but please let there be at least a sliver of light and beauty in there too.

 

A Word About My Personal Interpretations and Preferences

One of the greatest delights to me as a fan is stumbling across interpretations of characters and plots and motifs that I'd never considered; in an exchange, I am always keen to know how other creators see the stories I love. Please write or draw the occupants of Tolkien's worlds in any way that you wish. Diverse skin tones; disabilities; different body types; trans, intersex and genderqueer headcanons – go for it.

I am also open to unrequested relationships of all kinds, so if you have a precious rare pair/OT3+ that you never get to write and it's compatible with one of my requests, please include it if you wish.

If Maglor appears (particularly in crossover contexts or in later Ages of Middle-earth), I do have a preference for him being capable and compos mentis, rather than feral, broken, or weeping by the sea forever more.

 

 

Selected Fandoms and Tags

 

The Book of Lost Tales

Group: Beren & Miaulë & Tevildo (BoLT)

Group: Beren/Miaulë/Tevildo (BoLT)

Group: Nielíqui & Vána (BoLT)

Group: Ómar Amillo & Salmar Lirillo (BoLT)

Tevildo (BoLT)

The Sleeper in the Tower of Pearl (BoLT)
 

 

Worldbuilding: Alien or Ambiguous Morality Among the Ainur (BoLT)

Worldbuilding: Children & Child-Rearing Among the Ainur (BoLT)

Worldbuilding: Genderfluid and/or Nonbinary Ainur (BoLT) 

Worldbuilding: Non-Sexual and/or Non-Romantic Soulbonding (BoLT)

Worldbuilding: Tevildo's Kitchens

Worldbuilding: Who is the Sleeper and why are they sleeping? (BoLT)

 

The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún

 

Attila (LSG)

Any Character (LSG)

Fafnir (LSG)

Group: Sigmund/Signý (LSG)

Group: the Nibelungs (LSG)

Loki (LSG)

The Midgard Serpent (LSG)

Original Character(s) (LSG)

 

Worldbuilding: Curses (LSG)

Worldbuilding: Germanic Witches (LSG)

Worldbuilding: Prophecy (LSG)

Worldbuilding: Shapeshifting (LSG)

 

 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

 

Bertilak de Hautdesert (SGGK)

The Gawain Poet (SGGK)

Lady Bertilak (SGGK)

Morgan le Fay (SGGK)

Original Character (SGGK)

Sir Gawain (SGGK)

 

Worldbuilding: All Hallows (SGGK)

Worldbuilding: Chivalry (SGGK)

Worldbuilding: Heraldry (SGGK)

Worldbuilding: Stories and Storytelling

Worldbuilding: The Founding of Britain (SGGK)

Worldbuilding: The Green Riband

Worldbuilding: The Nature of Magic (SGGK)

Worldbuilding: The Plots and Schemes of Morgan le Fay (SGGK)

Worldbuilding: The Round Table (SGGK)

Worldbuilding: The Tapestries of Tharsia (SGGK)

 

 

Farmer Giles of Ham

 

Chrysophylax Dives

Farmer Giles

Garm (Giles)

Group: The Four Wise Clerks of Oxenford

Original Character (Giles)

Original Dragon (Giles)

Original Giant (Giles)

Original Knight (Giles)

The Stupid Giant

 

Worldbuilding: Different Types of Dragon

Worldbuilding: Dog-latin

Worldbuilding: Names and Naming (Giles)

Worldbuilding: Standing Stones (Giles)

Worldbuilding: The History of Caudimordax

Worldbuilding: The Middle Kingdom

Worldbuilding: The Wild Hills where the Giants Live

 

 

The Father Christmas Letters

 

Grandfather Yule (TFCL)

The Great Bear (TFCL)

The Great Seal (TFCL)

The Green Brother (TFCL)

The North Polar Bear (TFCL)

Group: The Great Bear & The Great Seal (TFCL)

Group: Cave Bear & The North Polar Bear (TFCL)
 

 

Worldbuilding: Embodiments of Belief (TFCL)

Worldbuilding: The History of Christmas (TFCL)

 

 

The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun

 

The Corrigan

Daughter of Aotrou and Itroun

Group: Aotrou/Itroun/the Corrigan

Group: Aotrou/the Corrigan

Group: Daughter of Aotrou and Itroun & the Corrigan

Group: Daughter of Aotrou and Itroun/the Corrigan

Group: Itroun/the Corrigan

Group: Son of Aotrou and Itroun & Daughter of Aotrou and Itroun

Group: Son of Aotrou and Itroun & the Corrigan

Group: Son of Aotrou and Itroun/Daughter of Aotrou and Itroun

Original Attendant of Itroun

Original Character (LAI)

 

Worldbuilding: Blood Bonds and Magic (LAI)

Worldbuilding: Daily Life in Aotrou and Itroun's Halls

Worldbuilding: Dark Rituals (LAI)

Worldbuilding: Magic and Religion – the Church's Relationship with Folk Beliefs (LAI)

Worldbuilding: Making Potions (LAI)

Worldbuilding: Rules Lawyering – Curses and Bargains (LAI)

Worldbuilding: Source and Nature of the Corrigan's Magic

Worldbuilding: The Effect of the Corrigan's Magic on Aotrou and Itroun's Children

Worldbuilding: Writing History – Who Told Aotrou and Itroun's Story?

 

 

Roverandom

 

Artaxerxes (Rover)

The Great White Dragon (Rover)

Group: Mew & Uin (Rover)

Group: Roverandom & The Moon Rover (Rover)

Group: Roverandom & The Moon Rover & The Sea Rover (Rover)

Group: Roverandom & The Sea Rover (Rover)

Group: The Dreaming Children on the Moon (Rover)

Group: The Moon Rover & The Sea Rover (Rover)

The Man in the Moon (Rover)

Mew (Rover)

The Sea Rover (Rover)

Original Character(s) (Rover)

Original Dog Character (Rover)

Original Merperson (Rover)

Psamathos (Rover)

Roverandom (Rover)

The Sea Rover (Rover)

The Sea Serpent (Rover)

Tinker the cat (Rover)

Uin (Rover)

 

Worldbuilding: Memories and half-forgotten things on the Dark Side of the Moon (Rover)

Worldbuilding: Multiple Childhoods of Wizards (Rover)

Worldbuilding: Roverandom's Further Adventures (Rover)

Worldbuilding: The Great White Caves (Rover)

Worldbuilding: The Isle of Lost Dogs (Rover)

Worldbuilding: The Monsters of the Black Abyss (Rover)

Worldbuilding: The Moon Path (Rover)

Worldbuilding: The Sea Kingdom (Rover)

Worldbuilding: The Sea Rover's History (Rover)

Worldbuilding: The Spiders on the Moon (Rover)

 

 

The Story of Kullervo

 

The Blue-Robed Lady of the Forest (Kullervo)

Group: Kullervo/Wanona (Kullervo)

Group: The Blue-Robed Lady of the Forest/Wanona (Kullervo)

Kullervo (Kullervo)

Musti (Kullervo)

Untamo (Kullervo)

Wanona (Kullervo)

 

Worldbuilding: Armies of Bears and Wolves (Kullervo)

Worldbuilding: Curses & Fate & Prophecy (Kullervo)

Worldbuilding: Ghosts and Spirits (Kullervo)

Worldbuilding: Musical Enchantments (Kullervo)

Worldbuilding: Runes and Carvings (Kullervo)

Worldbuilding: Swans and their broods (Kullervo)

Worldbuilding: The Great Knife Sikki (Kullervo)

Worldbuilding: The Halls of Untola (Kullervo)

Worldbuilding: The Men of Magic (Kullervo)

 

 

Tolkien (2019)

 

Group: The T.C.B.S. (Tolkien 2019)

J. R. R. Tolkien

Joseph Wright

Mabel Tolkien

Original Sikh Character (Tolkien 2019)

Robert Quilter Gilson (Tolkien 2019)

Ruth Smith

 

Worldbuilding: Creation as an Elegy (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: Dreaming the Legendarium (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: Lang. and Lit. (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: Oxford University (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: Poetry (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: Sound and Meaning (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: Survivor's Guilt (Tolkien 2019)

Worldbuilding: The Comfort of Ancient Things (Tolkien 2019)

 

 

Crossovers

 

Group: Argon (Silm) & Agravain (Gawain) & Gawain (Arthur)

Group: Ancalagon (Silm) & Scatha (LotR books) & Smaug (Hobbit book)

Group: Carnán (SoM) & Entwives (LotR books)

Group: Carnán (SoM) & the Withywindle (LotR books)

Group: Fëanor (Silm) & The Faery Queen (Smith)

Group: Fëanor (Silm) & The TCBS (Tolkien 2019)

Group: Fox on Business of His Own (LotR books) & Huan (Silm)

Group: Kalervo's Swan-mother (Kullervo) & Old Swan from Elvet-isle (ATB)

Group: Lalaith (Silm) & the Withywindle (LOTR Books)

Group: Maeglin (Silm) & Mordred (Arthur)

Group: Nienna (Silm)/Wanona (Kullervo)

Group: Original Lossoth Character (LOTR Books) & the Great Seal (TFCL)

Group: Original Noldorin Character (Silm) & Original Knight of the Round Table (Gawain &/or Arthur)

Group: Tevildo (BoLT) & the Ostler's Tipsy Cat (ATB)

Group: Tevildo (BoLT) & Tinker the Cat (Rover)

Group: The Prydwen (Arthur) & The Swan-ships of Alqualondë (Silm)

Group: The Queen of Faery (Smith) & the Shadow-Bride (ATB)

The Fat Cat on the Mat (ATB) in a crossover setting of your choice

The Shadow-Bride (ATB) in a crossover setting of your choice

The Sleeper in the Tower of Pearl (BoLT) in a crossover setting of your choice

 

Worldbuilding: Elves &/or Ainur in History (Crossover)

Worldbuilding: Gramarye (Crossover)

Worldbuilding: Hauntings (Crossover)

Worldbuilding: in-universe folk tales (Crossover)

Worldbuilding: Inns & Pubs & Taverns (Crossover)

Worldbuilding: Portals and Passageways (Crossover)

Worldbuilding: Seeing Stones (Crossover)

Worldbuilding: Stories and Storytelling (Crossover)

Worldbuilding: Swans (Crossover)