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Entry tags:
Dear AU Exchange Writer
Hi, thanks for writing for me! I hope this letter is helpful. I've put the various AUs into groups based on different scenarios, but feel free to mix and match as you want.
For reference, my AO3 username is lah_mrh, same as on here, and I welcome any and all treats for my requests!
Likes: Hurt/comfort (emotional and physical), sickfic (esp vomiting), humour, fluff, friendship, family relationships, romance, pre-relationship/preslash/UST, first time, established relationship, friends-to-lovers, happy endings, angst with a happy ending, gay/bi characters, friendships between gay/bi men and gay/bi women, reunions, mission/case fic, episode tags/missing scenes, worldbuilding, science, aliens, characters being smart and competent and/or showing off their skills, characters slowly learning to trust each other, characters who trust each other completely, loyalty, pining, mutual pining, fire-forged friendship, huddling for warmth, bed sharing, trapped in a lift or other small space together, recovery from injury/trauma, cuddling, kissing, forehead kisses, touching a character's forehead to check for a fever, handholding, hair brushing and stroking, characters lying with their head in the other's lap, characters cooking for each other and/or comforting each other with food, stargazing, shore leave, holiday fic, domestic fluff, post-canon fic, canon-divergent AUs and fix-it fic, telepathy/empathy, cultural differences, time travel and alternate universes, travelling through alternate universes
Dislikes/DNWs: Non con, character bashing, permanent major character death, focus on grief, poly/open relationships/infidelity, unrequested non-canon pairings (OC/OC relationships okay), break up of requested pairings, requested characters being written as asexual/aromantic/nonbinary, unrequested permanent injury, graphic violence and gore, homophobic violence or slurs, bleak/hopeless endings, real-world politics/current events, unrequested crossovers/setting AUs, first POV (letters/captain's log-style stuff okay), second POV, explicit sex (M-rated is fine), characters under 16 having sex
Fandoms:
The Simpsons (Lisa/Juliet)
Juliet only appears in one episode (Lisa the Drama Queen), but I loved the relationship between her and Lisa. They seemed to connect so well, in a way that's pretty rare for Lisa, and I like how smart and imaginative they both are. I'd love to see more of that relationship, and how it might have gone differently if they'd met later, or in different circumstances. For the non-age related tags I'm happy with them being aged up or kept at their canon ages.
ALL: Academic Rivals AU, ALL: Boarding School AU, ALL: Characters Are Chess Players, All: Characters went to college/university together, All: Characters went to high school together, ALL: College/University AU, ALL: High School AU, ALL: Liberal Arts College AU, ALL: Roommates AU, ALL: Summer Camp AU, ALL: University AU
There are a bunch of ways they could meet differently, or find each other again when they're older. They're both smart, and I'd love to see them working together or developing a rivalry that becomes friendship and then more.
ALL: classical musicians AU, All: Musicians AU, ALL: Orchestra
They both canonically like music, so I'd love to see them working together in some kind of musical job, or in a high school/university orchestra.
All: Horse-Riding
Maybe they meet at a stables, or Lisa teaches Juliet to ride (or vice versa)? I'd love to see them bonding over horses.
All: Literature Critic/Disgruntled Author AU
Either way round could be fun, but I especially like the idea of Lisa as the author and Juliet as the critic who actually does like her books deep down.
ALL: The Martian AU (someone left behind on Mars)
The Martian is one of my favourite movies (the book is good, but I prefer the movie) and I'd love to see how these characters would react in that situation. I'd prefer to see Lisa as the one accidently left behind, but seeing her working fiercely to find a way to get Juliet home could be fun too.
ALL: Pen Pals
I like the idea of them interacting through writing to each other before meeting in real life, or starting up a correspondence after they part ways and falling for each other without realising who they're talking to.
Fandom specific DNWs: Romance above a G-rating (i.e. no more than handholding, cheek kisses, etc) while they're at their canon ages (but aged up to teenagers is fine!), Lisa and/or Juliet thinking of each other as weird/crazy/etc.
*
Star Trek AOS (Kirk/Spock)
ALL: Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) AU
I really love this movie, how the characters are stuck together in a situation they don't understand and have to try and avoid the maze killing them as they try to find a way out. I think it'd be interesting to see how the Star Trek characters adapt to being thrown into the maze as strangers and having to work together to find a way out. I also really like all the weird time and space distortion effects of the hypercube, and I'd love to see something that plays with that.
Note: I'm okay with character death for this request, but if you kill off Kirk and Spock please have them die together.
ALL: Top Gun AU
I rewatched this movie a while ago, and it struck me that it would make a great Kirk/Spock AU with Kirk as Maverick, Spock as Iceman, McCoy as Goose, and Pike as Viper. But, as far as I can tell, no one's written it, so I'm asking for it here. Updating the setting/plot to the 23rd century could be cool, but I'd be fine with keeping it set in the 80s and making it an all-human AU.
Fandom specific DNWs: Winona Kirk being a bad mother, Sarek or Amanda in a major role, any mentions of John Harrison/"Khan", human Spock being named anything other than "Spock".
Canon-setting specific DNWs: References to STID (Beyond is fine), Vulcans having a lower body temperature than humans, the Star Trek future being sexist/homophobic/racist/ableist, Tarsus IV.
*
Star Trek Discovery (Pike/Ash, Pike&Ash)
I really like this pairing, and always want more fic for it. I love how Pike is such a genuinely good person, and how Ash is clearly damaged but still trying to do the right thing, even if he isn't always sure what that is. I also really love how the catalyst for them going from disliking and distrusting each other to basically friends is fighting a robotic squid from the future, and the potential bond formed by them being two of the only people left behind at the end. I really like the idea of them working together and becoming closer, and there's so many points where things could have gone differently for one/both of them that I'd love to see explored.
I'm equally happy with gen or slash for most of these requests, the few that I've requested purely as Pike/Ash are marked with an asterisk.
I'd especially love anything that fixes Pike's fate in TOS, even if it's not the focus of the fic - I'm more than fine with him still being injured/disabled/scarred, just as long as he can move and communicate and isn't stuck on Talos forever.
ALL: Building a settlement on a frontier planet
I like the idea of them settling down together and making a life on a Federation colony somewhere, I bet Pike would make a good settler, and Ash seems like all he wants is a place to belong. Feel free to include other Discovery/Enterprise crewmembers as well.
ALL: Canon Character can see ghosts
I'll be honest, this is just because it amuses me to imagine Pike's line about not liking the holograms because "they look too much like ghosts" is because he has some basis for comparison. I'd prefer it just be a rare thing - ghosts of people he knows or who need his help in some way - because with their jobs there's no way being able to see every ghost of someone who's died wouldn't be completely overwhelming.
ALL: Canon-Setting Spies AU
I feel like it would be fun to see Pike and Ash working together as spies, whether in Section 31 (I like to imagine Ash manages to make it somewhat less shady) or more general Starfleet Intelligence. I'd love to see this as a fix-it where Pike ends up working with Ash after recovering from his injuries, but a more standard AU would be great too.
ALL: Characters having to survive in the wilderness after catastrophe
A mission goes completely wrong, and the two of them have to work together to survive. Maybe Section 31 has to team up with the Enterprise for a mission? Or shore leave goes drastically awry? Or something set during the Discovery era could be fun too. Anything where Pike gets to show off his piloting/captaincy skills and/or Ash gets to be a great Section 31 leader would be especially loved.
ALL: Horse Ranch
You can't tell me this isn't the kind of job Pike would be doing if he didn't join Starfleet. Maybe he hires Ash to help with the horses/help run things? Or teaches him to ride? Whatever you come up with for this one, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
ALL: Characters become friends/allies earlier than canon
Star Trek DSC: Pike figures out Ash isn't the spy earlier
It's always bugged me that at the end of "If Memory Serves" Pike realises that Ash couldn't have been the one who told Section 31 where they are, but by the start of the next episode he's back to insisting Ash must be responsible as if there's no other possible conclusion. So I'd love an AU where he takes that realisation and actually does something with it. Maybe he and Ash decide to trust each other and work together? (And if this happens to lead to Airiam being found out early enough to be saved, all the better.)
ALL: Character is raising a baby during canon events
Star Trek DSC: Ash brings Voq and L'Rell's son with him to Discovery
Ash keeps Voq and L'Rell's son with him on Discovery instead of sending him to Boreth and has to muddle through being a single dad to a Klingon baby (possibly with Pike's help?) I just think this could be really cute.
Star Trek: Pike is less injured/recovers from his injuries
ALL: Fix-It AU
ALL: Near Fatal Injury Brings Characters Together*
ALL: Serious Injuries Healed By Soulbonding*
ALL: Soulbonding is the only way to save seriously injured character's life*
ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it better
ALL: Suburban domesticity*
So, fix-its. I don't care how you do it, but I want Pike's fate fixed. AU where he recovers/his injuries aren't quite as bad? Awesome 23rd century medicine/assistive devices? Section 31 stepping in to help? Secret mission to rescue him from Talos? Soulbounding ritual where Ash gives Pike some of his own energy/lifeforce? Weird alien technology? Time travel? Or if you want to just handwave the actual saving bit and focus on the aftermath that'd be fine too. I'd especially love a focus on his recovery (and Ash's role in it), and I'm more than fine with him still being injured/disabled/scarred, just as long as he can still move and communicate and have a relatively normal life.
I'd also love to see Pike grappling with no longer knowing his future - either because it already happened or Ash stopped it somehow - and trying to figure out what that means and/or how to deal with it. (And also realising that he has to stop throwing himself into danger because he no longer has the certainty of knowing he'll survive it.)
Post-recovery domestic fluff with the two of them living together would be great too - maybe Pike teaches at the academy while Ash does his Section 31 work? (I've always thought Pike would make a really good teacher). Or the two of them retire somewhere together? I'd love to see them supporting each other or Ash visiting Pike at the academy (maybe to the interest/surprise of his students) or one looking after the other when they're ill.
Feel free to include other characters like Number One or Spock (I'd love a fic where Ash teams up with them or others to help/save Pike). I'd also be okay with Ash being the one to be hurt instead of - or as well as - Pike (maybe as a result of saving him?), as long as it's still less horrific than canon.
ALL: Travelling through alternate universes to get home
ALL: Travelling through multiple alternate universes
Maybe the shuttle in "Light and Shadows" transports them through universes rather than time? Or a mission together goes wildly wrong? I'd prefer they end up back in their original universe by the end, but I really like the idea of characters travelling through a bunch of alternate universes and seeing what's the same and what's different.
ALL: Dimension travel to a universe where the characters are in a relationship*
ALL: Time travel to a future where the characters are in a relationship*
I'd love to see one or both of them (at the "friendship" stage or the "pining" stage or even the "never considered you like that before" stage) transported (physically or mentally) to a universe/future where they're in a relationship, and seeing how they deal with it and how it changes them. I'd especially love a fic where Pike is transported to a post-injury future where he's somewhat recovered and gets to see that, yeah, he's going to go through something terrible but it doesn't mean that's the end of his story, but any kind of dimension/time travel would be great.
Fandom specific DNWs: References to Pike's fate in TOS (or his knowledge of same) unless you're writing a fix-it, the Star Trek future being sexist/homophobic/racist/ableist, Pike/Vina as anything more than a brief mention.
Fandom specific note: I haven't had a chance to see Strange New Worlds yet (it only became available in my country a couple of weeks ago), and while I hope to have watched it by reveals (and don't mind references/spoilers/etc), I'd prefer nothing that focuses on events/characters from that series.
*
Star Trek Discovery (Gabrielle Burnham)
ALL: Dimension hopping to find a timeline that isn't doomed, ALL: Dimension travel, ALL: Dimension travel to a significantly diverged timeline, ALL: Going back in time to fix the future, ALL: Time-travel to fix an apocalyptic future, ALL: Travel between alternate timelines
We only see the final timeline where Control is defeated, so I'd love to see some of the other timelines where things don't go according to plan. What it was like for Gabrielle, doing the same thing over and over, interacting with different versions of the same people, and how she grows and learns and adjusts and keeps trying to get it right. I don't really have any specific prompts for this, I just like the idea of seeing all those alternate universes; what changes and what stays the same.
Thanks again!
For reference, my AO3 username is lah_mrh, same as on here, and I welcome any and all treats for my requests!
Likes: Hurt/comfort (emotional and physical), sickfic (esp vomiting), humour, fluff, friendship, family relationships, romance, pre-relationship/preslash/UST, first time, established relationship, friends-to-lovers, happy endings, angst with a happy ending, gay/bi characters, friendships between gay/bi men and gay/bi women, reunions, mission/case fic, episode tags/missing scenes, worldbuilding, science, aliens, characters being smart and competent and/or showing off their skills, characters slowly learning to trust each other, characters who trust each other completely, loyalty, pining, mutual pining, fire-forged friendship, huddling for warmth, bed sharing, trapped in a lift or other small space together, recovery from injury/trauma, cuddling, kissing, forehead kisses, touching a character's forehead to check for a fever, handholding, hair brushing and stroking, characters lying with their head in the other's lap, characters cooking for each other and/or comforting each other with food, stargazing, shore leave, holiday fic, domestic fluff, post-canon fic, canon-divergent AUs and fix-it fic, telepathy/empathy, cultural differences, time travel and alternate universes, travelling through alternate universes
Dislikes/DNWs: Non con, character bashing, permanent major character death, focus on grief, poly/open relationships/infidelity, unrequested non-canon pairings (OC/OC relationships okay), break up of requested pairings, requested characters being written as asexual/aromantic/nonbinary, unrequested permanent injury, graphic violence and gore, homophobic violence or slurs, bleak/hopeless endings, real-world politics/current events, unrequested crossovers/setting AUs, first POV (letters/captain's log-style stuff okay), second POV, explicit sex (M-rated is fine), characters under 16 having sex
Fandoms:
The Simpsons (Lisa/Juliet)
Juliet only appears in one episode (Lisa the Drama Queen), but I loved the relationship between her and Lisa. They seemed to connect so well, in a way that's pretty rare for Lisa, and I like how smart and imaginative they both are. I'd love to see more of that relationship, and how it might have gone differently if they'd met later, or in different circumstances. For the non-age related tags I'm happy with them being aged up or kept at their canon ages.
ALL: Academic Rivals AU, ALL: Boarding School AU, ALL: Characters Are Chess Players, All: Characters went to college/university together, All: Characters went to high school together, ALL: College/University AU, ALL: High School AU, ALL: Liberal Arts College AU, ALL: Roommates AU, ALL: Summer Camp AU, ALL: University AU
There are a bunch of ways they could meet differently, or find each other again when they're older. They're both smart, and I'd love to see them working together or developing a rivalry that becomes friendship and then more.
ALL: classical musicians AU, All: Musicians AU, ALL: Orchestra
They both canonically like music, so I'd love to see them working together in some kind of musical job, or in a high school/university orchestra.
All: Horse-Riding
Maybe they meet at a stables, or Lisa teaches Juliet to ride (or vice versa)? I'd love to see them bonding over horses.
All: Literature Critic/Disgruntled Author AU
Either way round could be fun, but I especially like the idea of Lisa as the author and Juliet as the critic who actually does like her books deep down.
ALL: The Martian AU (someone left behind on Mars)
The Martian is one of my favourite movies (the book is good, but I prefer the movie) and I'd love to see how these characters would react in that situation. I'd prefer to see Lisa as the one accidently left behind, but seeing her working fiercely to find a way to get Juliet home could be fun too.
ALL: Pen Pals
I like the idea of them interacting through writing to each other before meeting in real life, or starting up a correspondence after they part ways and falling for each other without realising who they're talking to.
Fandom specific DNWs: Romance above a G-rating (i.e. no more than handholding, cheek kisses, etc) while they're at their canon ages (but aged up to teenagers is fine!), Lisa and/or Juliet thinking of each other as weird/crazy/etc.
Star Trek AOS (Kirk/Spock)
ALL: Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) AU
I really love this movie, how the characters are stuck together in a situation they don't understand and have to try and avoid the maze killing them as they try to find a way out. I think it'd be interesting to see how the Star Trek characters adapt to being thrown into the maze as strangers and having to work together to find a way out. I also really like all the weird time and space distortion effects of the hypercube, and I'd love to see something that plays with that.
Note: I'm okay with character death for this request, but if you kill off Kirk and Spock please have them die together.
ALL: Top Gun AU
I rewatched this movie a while ago, and it struck me that it would make a great Kirk/Spock AU with Kirk as Maverick, Spock as Iceman, McCoy as Goose, and Pike as Viper. But, as far as I can tell, no one's written it, so I'm asking for it here. Updating the setting/plot to the 23rd century could be cool, but I'd be fine with keeping it set in the 80s and making it an all-human AU.
Fandom specific DNWs: Winona Kirk being a bad mother, Sarek or Amanda in a major role, any mentions of John Harrison/"Khan", human Spock being named anything other than "Spock".
Canon-setting specific DNWs: References to STID (Beyond is fine), Vulcans having a lower body temperature than humans, the Star Trek future being sexist/homophobic/racist/ableist, Tarsus IV.
Star Trek Discovery (Pike/Ash, Pike&Ash)
I really like this pairing, and always want more fic for it. I love how Pike is such a genuinely good person, and how Ash is clearly damaged but still trying to do the right thing, even if he isn't always sure what that is. I also really love how the catalyst for them going from disliking and distrusting each other to basically friends is fighting a robotic squid from the future, and the potential bond formed by them being two of the only people left behind at the end. I really like the idea of them working together and becoming closer, and there's so many points where things could have gone differently for one/both of them that I'd love to see explored.
I'm equally happy with gen or slash for most of these requests, the few that I've requested purely as Pike/Ash are marked with an asterisk.
I'd especially love anything that fixes Pike's fate in TOS, even if it's not the focus of the fic - I'm more than fine with him still being injured/disabled/scarred, just as long as he can move and communicate and isn't stuck on Talos forever.
ALL: Building a settlement on a frontier planet
I like the idea of them settling down together and making a life on a Federation colony somewhere, I bet Pike would make a good settler, and Ash seems like all he wants is a place to belong. Feel free to include other Discovery/Enterprise crewmembers as well.
ALL: Canon Character can see ghosts
I'll be honest, this is just because it amuses me to imagine Pike's line about not liking the holograms because "they look too much like ghosts" is because he has some basis for comparison. I'd prefer it just be a rare thing - ghosts of people he knows or who need his help in some way - because with their jobs there's no way being able to see every ghost of someone who's died wouldn't be completely overwhelming.
ALL: Canon-Setting Spies AU
I feel like it would be fun to see Pike and Ash working together as spies, whether in Section 31 (I like to imagine Ash manages to make it somewhat less shady) or more general Starfleet Intelligence. I'd love to see this as a fix-it where Pike ends up working with Ash after recovering from his injuries, but a more standard AU would be great too.
ALL: Characters having to survive in the wilderness after catastrophe
A mission goes completely wrong, and the two of them have to work together to survive. Maybe Section 31 has to team up with the Enterprise for a mission? Or shore leave goes drastically awry? Or something set during the Discovery era could be fun too. Anything where Pike gets to show off his piloting/captaincy skills and/or Ash gets to be a great Section 31 leader would be especially loved.
ALL: Horse Ranch
You can't tell me this isn't the kind of job Pike would be doing if he didn't join Starfleet. Maybe he hires Ash to help with the horses/help run things? Or teaches him to ride? Whatever you come up with for this one, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
ALL: Characters become friends/allies earlier than canon
Star Trek DSC: Pike figures out Ash isn't the spy earlier
It's always bugged me that at the end of "If Memory Serves" Pike realises that Ash couldn't have been the one who told Section 31 where they are, but by the start of the next episode he's back to insisting Ash must be responsible as if there's no other possible conclusion. So I'd love an AU where he takes that realisation and actually does something with it. Maybe he and Ash decide to trust each other and work together? (And if this happens to lead to Airiam being found out early enough to be saved, all the better.)
ALL: Character is raising a baby during canon events
Star Trek DSC: Ash brings Voq and L'Rell's son with him to Discovery
Ash keeps Voq and L'Rell's son with him on Discovery instead of sending him to Boreth and has to muddle through being a single dad to a Klingon baby (possibly with Pike's help?) I just think this could be really cute.
Star Trek: Pike is less injured/recovers from his injuries
ALL: Fix-It AU
ALL: Near Fatal Injury Brings Characters Together*
ALL: Serious Injuries Healed By Soulbonding*
ALL: Soulbonding is the only way to save seriously injured character's life*
ALL: Take a bad thing that happened to a character in canon and make it better
ALL: Suburban domesticity*
So, fix-its. I don't care how you do it, but I want Pike's fate fixed. AU where he recovers/his injuries aren't quite as bad? Awesome 23rd century medicine/assistive devices? Section 31 stepping in to help? Secret mission to rescue him from Talos? Soulbounding ritual where Ash gives Pike some of his own energy/lifeforce? Weird alien technology? Time travel? Or if you want to just handwave the actual saving bit and focus on the aftermath that'd be fine too. I'd especially love a focus on his recovery (and Ash's role in it), and I'm more than fine with him still being injured/disabled/scarred, just as long as he can still move and communicate and have a relatively normal life.
I'd also love to see Pike grappling with no longer knowing his future - either because it already happened or Ash stopped it somehow - and trying to figure out what that means and/or how to deal with it. (And also realising that he has to stop throwing himself into danger because he no longer has the certainty of knowing he'll survive it.)
Post-recovery domestic fluff with the two of them living together would be great too - maybe Pike teaches at the academy while Ash does his Section 31 work? (I've always thought Pike would make a really good teacher). Or the two of them retire somewhere together? I'd love to see them supporting each other or Ash visiting Pike at the academy (maybe to the interest/surprise of his students) or one looking after the other when they're ill.
Feel free to include other characters like Number One or Spock (I'd love a fic where Ash teams up with them or others to help/save Pike). I'd also be okay with Ash being the one to be hurt instead of - or as well as - Pike (maybe as a result of saving him?), as long as it's still less horrific than canon.
ALL: Travelling through alternate universes to get home
ALL: Travelling through multiple alternate universes
Maybe the shuttle in "Light and Shadows" transports them through universes rather than time? Or a mission together goes wildly wrong? I'd prefer they end up back in their original universe by the end, but I really like the idea of characters travelling through a bunch of alternate universes and seeing what's the same and what's different.
ALL: Dimension travel to a universe where the characters are in a relationship*
ALL: Time travel to a future where the characters are in a relationship*
I'd love to see one or both of them (at the "friendship" stage or the "pining" stage or even the "never considered you like that before" stage) transported (physically or mentally) to a universe/future where they're in a relationship, and seeing how they deal with it and how it changes them. I'd especially love a fic where Pike is transported to a post-injury future where he's somewhat recovered and gets to see that, yeah, he's going to go through something terrible but it doesn't mean that's the end of his story, but any kind of dimension/time travel would be great.
Fandom specific DNWs: References to Pike's fate in TOS (or his knowledge of same) unless you're writing a fix-it, the Star Trek future being sexist/homophobic/racist/ableist, Pike/Vina as anything more than a brief mention.
Fandom specific note: I haven't had a chance to see Strange New Worlds yet (it only became available in my country a couple of weeks ago), and while I hope to have watched it by reveals (and don't mind references/spoilers/etc), I'd prefer nothing that focuses on events/characters from that series.
Star Trek Discovery (Gabrielle Burnham)
ALL: Dimension hopping to find a timeline that isn't doomed, ALL: Dimension travel, ALL: Dimension travel to a significantly diverged timeline, ALL: Going back in time to fix the future, ALL: Time-travel to fix an apocalyptic future, ALL: Travel between alternate timelines
We only see the final timeline where Control is defeated, so I'd love to see some of the other timelines where things don't go according to plan. What it was like for Gabrielle, doing the same thing over and over, interacting with different versions of the same people, and how she grows and learns and adjusts and keeps trying to get it right. I don't really have any specific prompts for this, I just like the idea of seeing all those alternate universes; what changes and what stays the same.
Thanks again!