Multifandom Tropefest 2018 Letter

[rudigersmooch]

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Dear Troper,

Thank you for being interested in one/more of my requests! I've been looking forward to this exchange since it was first announced on FFA, because I am a shameless lover and reader of a lot of tropes. I hope you have fun writing for me, and I hope you find this letter helpful; if you have any questions, feel free to ask through the mods, and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can!

Now: onto the letter!

0. General Preferences
1. Leverage
2. Person of Interest
3. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

0. General Preferences
I'm not going to lie, my DNW list is pretty extensive, but hopefully you find it manageable enough. Some of these are things that seem opt-in to me anyway and I've listed them just in case; if you don't see something on the DNW list, you can safely assume that I don't mind seeing it in fic.

DO NOT WANT

• unrequested crossovers/fusions/AUs


• non-canonical character death


• relationships other than the ones requested (I'm fine with canon ones being mentioned)


• unrequested poly ships or open relationships


• hurt without comfort


• dark!characters


• shovel talks


• character or ship bashing


• Dom/sub


• BDSM


• soulbonds (soulmates are fine, I just don't like permanent telepathic/empathic bonds of any kind)


• Hanahaki disease (unless requested)


• daddykink/mommykink/ageplay in general


• trans* or genderswapped characters


• sexualities other than heterosexual, gay/lesbian, or bisexual


• a social justice/current event focus of any kind (for example, no long discussions about the importance of consent/age of consent, no discussion of politics and the awfulness therein, etc.)


• rape/non-con


• loss of limbs or eyes/other permanent injuries


• scat


• infidelity


• breakup fic


• mpreg/fpreg (unless requested)


• non-canonical nicknames or endearments OR non-canonical use of first names

THINGS I ENJOY

• pining. There are very few situations where I don't want or like pining.


• everybody lives, or at least the people in the ship do.


• To expand on the above two points: For this particular exchange I'm looking for something more on the end of light-hearted, where the point is tropey fun and feelings. As an example: sex pollen for a pining sort of get together is A++, but sex pollen where the characters angst about not being in control of their bodies and everything is miserable is less appealing to me. This doesn't mean I won't read or like angst (I do!) but it's less what I'm interested in for the particular tropes I requested.


• a ship focus. The romantic ships for these fandoms don't need to be the central focus the entire time (I also like mission fic/case fic that has more of a pre-relationship feel) but I don't really like established relationships where ships get a one-line mention at the end. My favorite type of shipfic in general is first time/get together fic, but really, as long as the ship is noticeably there throughout the story, I'm fine.


• I do very much enjoy smut, but this isn't a requirement. If you'd like to write smut but want more details about my smut-likes, you can comment here/ask through the mods. In general, though, I don't have many smut-related squicks or DNWs, and fandom or pairing-specific preferences are in the fandom sections. Also in general: I prefer "cock" for penis, "cunt" for vagina, and "slit" for cloacas, but feel free to use whatever you think is best for the time period/narrating character/your own preference.


• characters who are competent in their respective roles, whether that's a sniper, farmer, werewolf, hunter, ice skater, vampire, whatever.


• characters experiencing same-sex attraction for the first time, especially if the character is over-40 and/or from a time period or setting where this is more plausible. I'm not much a fan of Only Gay For You, but I do like Didn't Realize I Was Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Until I Realized I Had Feelings For You.


• age differences leading to guilty "I shouldn't be attracted to this person" feelings from both parties, where applicable. I still don't care for power dynamics, but I am all about using an age gap as an excuse for pining/repression.


• mysteries and case fic. I know some people worry about writing mysteries because they think the villain is too obvious/not subtle enough, and I'm here to say that I don't care. I love mysteries whether I guess the ending along the way or not, and I adore case-of-the-week type canons to begin with.

There are a lot more things that belong on this likes list, but I'll probably just leave it at this for this exchange. And on another note: please don't be put off by the fandom-specific prompts, because I tend to get large ideas that I have difficulty narrowing down. They're more just examples of the type of things I'd like to see, and even short snippets along those lines would make me very happy.

Now: onto specific fandoms!

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1. Leverage

General things that should be mentioned: Leverage is my dearest comfort canon, and I did a rewatch recently and was reminded of how much I liked the potential hints of Maggie/Sterling! Maggie is one of my favorite characters in the show because she's one of those naturally kind but with an edge of steel type characters, and it makes her highly adaptable to the various schemes she gets dragged into during the course of the show. I also like how willing she seems to be about moving on and coming to terms with the tragedy in her life, and that too makes her an interesting character to me. Also, while Maggie is a genuinely good person, she obviously still likes Nate's new black king persona, which makes me think she could grow to be genuinely interested in Sterling (who is very similar, though even darker.) I think they're one of those pairings that definitely just needs the right circumstances to happen, and so most of the tropes I'm asking for are about those circumstances.

Canon pairings: I'm usually fine with canon pairings being mentioned/breaking up within the fic, and this canon is no exception! Both Maggie/Nate and Sterling/Olivia's mother still affect their lives throughout the canon, so have them come up or not as you see fit!

If you decide to write smut: Maggie's beautiful and elegant and the one I find more attractive of the two, and I'd love some cunnilingus no doubt. I'd also be interested in any first-time-kink scenario you fancy (maybe Maggie always wanted to try breathplay or bondage? Maybe Sterling is into blindfolds or watersports?) but if so, please avoid unflattering comparisons to Nate during/post-sex.

Tags and Prompts: The tags I requested for this pairing (and their corresponding prompts) are below. Please note that I don't have prompts for some of the more general tags (daemons, pining, etc.) because I think those tags could work with a lot of potential different stories!

• A/B/O (Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics)
  
  I love A/B/O a lot, and I'm interested in any dynamics you want to try! Omega!Maggie who is extra sad about losing Sam/her marriage because of her omega status and her attraction to Alpha!Sterling is kind of instinctive? Or they're both betas, and they're used to be being overlooked for that reason. Or one is a beta while the other is an alpha or omega, leading to insecurity-based questions of if they could even be attracted to one another. (You get the idea.)


• Accidental Marriage - Getting Drunk and Waking Up Married
  
  This is an extra fun trope for people who've been divorced in canon, because they've done the whole marriage thing before in the slow, "normal" way, and now WTF is with this sudden impulse Vegas wedding?!? They're supposed to be better than that/too old for that! (In their minds, anyway.) Plus, the idea of explaining this marriage to anyone is just...hilarious.


• Casual Sex leads to feelings OR Drunken Hook Up Leads to Feelings
  
  These tropes scratch the same itch for me for this pairing, but I liked it enough to request it twice, ha. This is something I could see as completely plausible for Maggie/Sterling, even though I don't have any specific prompts for these tags.


• External Souls - Daemons (His Dark Materials Style)
  
  I really love daemons-in-other-canons, and I find them very interesting in a shipfic context. What animals would Maggie and Sterling have, and how would they react to each other? I kind of like the idea of them having animals that absolutely should not get along or animals that are weirdly similar, because that's an interesting idea with two such different people.


• Fake Marriage - To Survive A Dangerous Situation
  
  "Marriage to avoid suspicion/being caught" is a classic for a reason, and I think it could really work here, if there was a scenario where either of them needed a cover story. "Maggie keeps getting dragged into Leverage schemes" is my favorite canon sub-plot and it could work here too, like maybe she's in another country helping them with something when things go south, and lookie there, is that Sterling? Better pretend to be Mrs. Sterling.


• Falsely Accused of a Crime
  
  Canon helpfully supplied us with "Maggie accused of theft/being thrown in prison" so let's try the reverse: Sterling is now accused of something he didn't do, and he needs the Leverage Team's help to get out of it. He knows perfectly well they wouldn't willingly help him, though, so he goes to Maggie first (since she might.)


• Fight to Survive - Post-Apocalyptic
  
  I don't know what it is about this tag, but the second I saw it I thought "odd couple trying to survive against a zombie hoard." Other apocalypse scenarios are also fine (and darker stories and character death are fine for this tag too) but I'm just so curious about it.


• Heists & Schemes - Accidental Interference Between Two Schemes
  
  I don't have any specific prompts for this tag, though let's be honest, this is one of the more canon-plausible tags. So, in a world where Maggie is helping Team Leverage in a more active way, she'll definitely run up against Sterling herself at some point. Whose scheme falters first?


• In Love with the Mark
  
  Sterling decides post-season 1 that the Leverage team will eventually ask Maggie for help again, and so he decides to get the drop on them by infiltrating her life first. It doesn't quite work out like he planned (maybe he already had feelings for her that he was in denial about?)


• Hurt/Comfort - Hurt Character Blabs Important Secret to Comforter
  
  I'm a fan of "hurt/drugged and trapped together" plots, and in this case, there's a perfect setup for it! The Zanzibar Marketplace Job could've just as easily had Sterling & Maggie end up together as Nate & Maggie, or it could've ended up with a much more serious injury than being tazed. Meanwhile, nobody would be immediately concerned if Sterling dropped off comms, and they weren't exactly watching Maggie at the time either, so that imprisonment could last longer too. (Just roll with it.)


• Only Person They Can Talk To
  
  This is interesting to me, because I could see it easily coming about pre-canon, when Maggie/Nate are grieving and Sterling is not really a great friend but that almost helps? Sterling doesn't seem like he has a confidant anyway (well, maybe his second-in-command in the early seasons) but Maggie especially could use someone to talk to once Nate starts shutting down from guilt. Unlikely friendship eventually evolving into more? Why not!


• Pre-Canon One Night Stand
  
  Yep. We already know Maggie found Sterling attractive, and people make terrible life decisions when they're upset. Note: I'm fine with infidelity in this case, especially because it makes the aftermath so interesting (Maggie feels guilty about it and Sterling apparently never mentions it to Nate, probably because he DID consider them friends at one point.) Alternately, it might happen immediately post-divorce, because Maggie is just trying to cope and Sterling is willing (why is he willing? You decide.)


• Rebound Relationship - Falling in Love
  
  Immediate post-divorce bad decision! It's perfect, and I don't have any other comments except to ask how Maggie handles meeting Sterling's daughter in this case. She was trying to have a rebound relationship to forget all the terrible in her life, and then Sterling turns out to have a kid of his own? Staying detached FAIL.


• Sex Pollen - Both Affected
  
  I think sex pollen can fit into any canon, and it's perfect for those ships that have something (Nate) in the way of the relationship happening in a more normal way. So, suspicious compound is released in the museum (or wherever both Sterling and Maggie happen to be) which leads to frantic sex. Oh no. (Oh yes.)


• Soulmarks - Change based on major life decisions
  
  Especially an interesting tag if Nate/Maggie were soulmates, and then their marks both changed after Sam's death. For Nate, it was because he was keeping the truth from her, and for Maggie, it's because she needed someone else; it would be even better, too, if they both immediately recognize Maggie's new mark as matching Sterling's, however that comes about. (Cue a lot of denial from both ends.)


• Starting a new life
  
  This seems like a Maggie-centric tag, which I'm fine with. A story where Maggie is trying to move on pre-canon and maybe start meeting new people, picking up new hobbies, going to therapy and trying to forget might be just what the doctor ordered. She seemed to have handled Sam's death better than Nate did, but Nate also left her alone when she probably needed him (Sam had only been dead two years as of the end of season 1, so they had to have been divorced pretty recently) and I'd like to see how she handled that.


• Sudden Realization - B Notices A is Hot
  
  In this case, I have a preference for Sterling as B and Maggie as A. He probably didn't think about it while Maggie/Nate was happening and then the realization hits at the worst possible time after that, which in this case means any situation where Nate is within range to punch him.


• Trapped together - snowed in
  
  I don't have any specific prompts for this tag, though I really love "trapped together and snowed in" plots. Maybe Maggie is evaluating some art (stolen art that Sterling is now investigating) is some remote location, and whoops, snowed in, what can you do?


• What Happened Last Night? - Woke Up in Bed Together
  
  This tag appeals to me in the same way the "woke up married" and "pre-canon one night stand" tags do, but I like that extra hint of complete denial. They can both tell they slept together even if they don't remember the details, but nope, didn't happen, who said anything about sleeping together? And then it comes up again in the future, either because the situation repeats itself or because someone mentions it accidentally.

Additional Tags of Interest: These are tags that I like but didn't request specifically, because a lot of them are related to the tags I did request and/or they're more character-based than situation-based tags and/or I ran out of room. They might help you choose between two ideas or steer you in the right direction if you're in doubt, though, so here they are:

• Adrenaline Fueled Make-out


• Beware the nice ones


• Captivity - Captured Together


• Competence Kink - Won Over by Supreme Skills


• Fake/Pretend Relationship - Turns Real


• Hurt/Comfort - Hurt Character Confesses Feelings for Comforting Character


• Imprisoned Together


• inconvenient attraction


• Kidfic - one character reveals that they have a child from a previous relationship


• Kidfic - Unexpected Baby Acquisition


• Marriage of Convenience - for protection


• On the Run - Together


• Secret Relationship - Discovered by others


• Secret Revealed - Hidden Talent


• Sex Pollen - Attracted to Wrong Person


• Smart is Sexy


• trapped behind enemy lines


• Undercover as a Couple


• Unplanned Pregnancy


• X with a Heart of Gold - Jerk with a Heart of Gold (which Sterling isn't, but I'd be interested in a story where he was)

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2. Person of Interest

General things that should be mentioned: I've mentioned this before in other letters, but my feelings on this show still stand: namely, that I am crazy in love with it and all its characters. Season 1 and 2 are my favorite (I just generally prefer case-of-the-week formats over longer arcs and always will) and the entire show left me with so many questions and fic ideas that I'm not sure where to even start. I love the characters and their interactions with each other, and I love how everyone is more than they seem when the situation calls for it. Reese is a whole lot kinder than he seems at first, while Finch is a whole lot darker, Fusco is a whole lot braver, Shaw is a whole lot more caring, etc. It's just so interesting to me that they all have these contradictory sides, and I like what the show did with them in the end, even if I didn't like their particular endings. As for Harold/John, I like it for the loyalty and the bonding, the slow building trust, the teasing/flirting/snarking dialogue, the secrets, the potential. It takes no effort at all for me to believe that they really do love each other, and although Person of Interest the show was never very big about letting people move on…well, I think they could, together, if they had the chance. I want a happy ending for them more than anything, honestly, but if that's not something you want to write, just a fic set pre-Samaritan would be dandy as well.

Canon pairings: I'm usually fine with canon pairings being mentioned/breaking up within the fic, but for this canon in particular, I'd really prefer you avoid any and all mentions of John/Iris (I find psychologist/ex-patient to be squicky and would rather not see it.) Also, when it comes to Harold/Grace: I consider that over within the context of the canon and so I largely ignore the last few minutes of the final episode, but you can incorporate it any way you like.

If you decide to write smut: I prefer bottom!John, but am pretty easy about other details (and, if you'd rather not write bottom!John, I'm fine with non-penetrative sex too.) I'm not particularly interested in painplay/bondage for this pairing, though, and (on a related note) I'm also not married to any given treatment of Harold's injury and its physical effects. I will happily handwave those particulars in the name of vigorous sex.

Tags and Prompts: The tags I requested for this pairing (and their corresponding prompts) are below. Please note that I don't have prompts for some of the more general tags (daemons, pining, etc.) because I think those tags could work with a lot of potential different stories!

• A/B/O - Larger Omega/Smaller Alpha
  
  I don't have any specific prompts for this (though you can see some of my other liked A/B/O tags in the Additional Tags of Interest section) but this is my favorite variation of A/B/O for this pairing. Alpha!Harold/Omega!John, whatever that means to you, is my jam!


• Amnesia - affected person doesn't remember meeting the other person
  
  Either Harold or John could be super interesting for this! If John is the one who is amnesiac, is he still mistrustful CIA John, or does it go back even further? If Harold is the one with amnesia...well, he's always been paranoid, so who exactly does he think John is, and does he even remember the Machine? How do they fix it (do they fix it?)


• Career Ending Injuries
  
  For Reese, mainly! The man gets shot a lot, so one day/one number, he gets injured badly and has to retire from being a badass in a suit. Finch still keeps him on as an employee/pays for all his medical treatment, which is just baffling for someone with John's low self-esteem (and he eventually realizes that Finch just loves him, because he does.)


• Certain Death Averted - Character is rescued before dying
  
  It's a fix-the-finale tag, because I refuse to believe Finch would just leave John to die on that roof. So, either Finch managed to make it over there in time to save him, or Fusco & Shaw come to the rescue, but somehow John survives his final sacrifice, and now nobody is sure what to do.


• Dating - Online Dating
  
  On the more light-hearted end of things: online dating when the Machine is right there and ready to interfere would be hilarious. It might be for a number (which makes the Machine's interference totally baffling until they realize She's trying to matchmake them) or maybe John is trying to pick up the normal parts of his life now that he's in a better place, but either way the result is John dating Harold.


• Everyone Thinks They're Together - they are pining
  
  It's a classic. I don't have any specific prompts for this (because I like all variations of it) but I love the pining plus the constant reminders that they're not what everyone thinks they are even though they desperately want to be. It's good, easy pain for me. :D


• Fake Marriage - As Part of a Job
  
  Maybe this is their Machine-approved Samaritan cover story or maybe it's because they're trying to cozy up to another gay married couple for number-reasons, but either way, a fake marriage is so easy to do! (Neither of them expected the feelings that came with, though. No one ever expects the feelings.)


• Falsely Accused of a Crime
  
  This could be so fun, especially if it's one of Finch's more-active identities that's being blamed! Maybe Will Ingram goes missing and everyone starts looking at Wren as the guilty party (while Finch is frantically trying to find Will) or maybe it's something more mundane, like an investigation by the IRS and John finds it endlessly funny.


• First Time - First Time with a Guy
  
  Self-explanatory, I think, though I have a preference for it being John who's never slept with another man before. I think John was mostly just in love with Jessica and then involved with Kira, but you can handle the sexuality crisis (or not) any way you like.


• Getting Together - Falling In Love While A Teaches B a New Skill
  
  This is such a sweet trope, and I really like the idea of Harold deciding to teach John some computer or art something and John going along with it, or John teaching Harold something to do with languages (body language?) or lockpicking or something. Even if the skill itself isn't that complicated, the idea that the other person cares enough to teach it is just...nice and warm and fuzzy for me.


• Hanahaki Disease - Resolved by reciprocated love
  
  In a world where this disease exists, it would be such delicious angst for these two! If Harold is the one affected and John notices, it would be easy for John to assume it's Harold pining for Grace (meanwhile, Harold has an uncomfortable realization because he knows that isn't the case.) If it's John who's affected, imagine how sneaky he'd be about pretending it wasn't a problem, complete with secret doctor visits and hidden petals, except the Machine (and Harold by extension) sees everything and wonders. GOOD STUFF.


• Long Lost/Secret Relatives
  
  In canon, John was adopted, which means there's a perfect opportunity for Ancestry.com to screw things up by bringing a secret cousin or half-sibling or something out of the woodwork. John, who thought he'd lost everything, is suddenly met with a stranger trying to connect; what on Earth would he do with this? And, for that matter, how does he explain his job/Finch?


• Matchmaking - Falling in Love with Matchmaker
  
  We know that Harold was completely on-board for matchmaking Bear and that John didn't sound weirded out at all at the idea of Finch finding him a date, so maybe Finch actually tries that at some point. Except John doesn't seem interested in any of those potential dates and Finch is deeply frustrated by how imperfect of matches they are anyway I wonder why, Finch and feelings obviously develop.


• Mentorship - Taking a New Mentee
  
  In a happy world, Finch and John come to the realization that they can't actually do this forever and might want to retire at some point, so they recruit someone to take their places, but especially John's place. Who do they select? How do they train them? Or maybe it's Shaw forcing them into retirement for their own good, in which case she's picking the candidate.


• Mission Sex - Mutual Pining OR Sex Pollen - While mutually pining OR Sharing a Bed - Mutual Pining
  
  No specific prompts here! I just love mutual pining, so I asked for...several variations of it. These are all things I enjoy a lot when they show up, so go wild.


• Pining - Character thinks they were rejected but other person misunderstood
  
  This one could go either way, but I like the idea of it being a simple miscommunication thing. Maybe Reese was proposing sex (he did invite Harold for a drink! Multiple times!) or maybe Harold was proposing a date (art! suits in Italy!) but neither is really used to that (primarily sexual interest vs primarily romantic interest) from their partners.


• Under the Influence - Drunken/High on Meds Confessions
  
  Another classic. Easiest thing in the world for Reese or Finch to be drunk/high on pain killers and have some real feelings emerge from under the nonsense. Just because of how it usually goes in canon, though, I'd be especially interested in the reverse (Finch as the drunk one or Reese as the one high on meds.)


• Voyeurism - Accidental
  
  That darn Machine! Finch was just trying to go about his business, and he really did not need to see John having some alone time or getting friendly with a one night stand. Cue pants feelings. (Alternately, John was just trying to check up on a Finch that had been more withdrawn than usual. He didn't mean to end up with all this knowledge about Finch's porn tastes.)

Additional Tags of Interest: These are tags that I like but didn't request specifically, because a lot of them are related to the tags I did request and/or they're more character-based than situation-based tags and/or I ran out of room. They might help you choose between two ideas or steer you in the right direction if you're in doubt, though, so here they are:

• A/B/O - Heat sex while mutually pining


• A/B/O - Mission fic


• A/B/O - Secret Alpha Hiding as a Beta


• Adrenaline Fueled Make-out


• Amnesia - afflicted person forgets coming to terms with their homosexuality/bisexuality


• Badass in Distress


• Beware the nice ones


• Captivity - Rescue from Captivity


• Casual Sex leads to feelings


• Everybody Lives Nobody Dies


• Meaningful Names - Self Chosen Names


• Missions Gone Wrong


• Smart is Sexy


• Soulmates - Can see through other person's eyes when intoxicated


• Sudden Realization - Oh No They're Hot


• Sudden Realization - Villain realized it first and acted to exploit pairing's affection


• Under the Influence - Roofied by Stranger - Rescued by Love Interest


• Under the Influence - Truth Serum


• Undercover as Bodyguard/Client


• You Are Better Than You Think You Are

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3. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

General things that should be mentioned: I missed the fandom when the show was airing in real time, but this pairing has been one of my favorites for years nevertheless. I greatly enjoy all their interactions (especially in the early seasons) and I find it interesting how much they clearly think about each other even when going about their regular days (Julian mentioning Garak to the ops crew like all the time, Garak quoting Shakespeare at Tain because Julian made him read it, etc.) They fit together just wonderfully as friends, which means I 100% want all the pining-friends-but-they-both-have-SECRETS-TOO fics Also: there is no such thing as too many post-canon-on-Cardassia fics, but if you don't feel like writing that, I would LOVE to see something set during the earlier seasons or during the Dominion War. Also, just in general: I love that Star Trek has so much potential for tropes. Go wild, really.

Canon pairings: I'm usually fine with canon pairings being mentioned/breaking up within the fic, and I actually rather like most of the Julian/other pairings in the show (including Julian/Ezri.) That said, I mostly pretend Garak/Ziyal didn't happen or that they were pretending to be a thing for some other reason that wasn't romantic (to make Julian & whoever Ziyal likes jealous? Sure.) You can handle that relationship anyway you want, though I'd prefer less focus on it.

If you decide to write smut: I vastly prefer bottom!Garak, but if you don't want to write that, non-penetrative sex is my preference! To that effect, I also really like xeno for this pairing, especially if Cardassians have cloacas/retractable penises or something, which makes the potential for oral sex a lot of fun.

Tags and Prompts: The tags I requested for this pairing (and their corresponding prompts) are below. Please note that I don't have prompts for some of the more general tags (daemons, pining, etc.) because I think those tags could work with a lot of potential different stories!

• Bodyswap - reveals pining is mutual
  
  DS9 had a sad lack of bodyswap, so let's rectify that with a classic. Somehow Julian and Garak switch places (or, if you prefer, Julian and Ziyal switch places, or Garak and Ezri switch places, or whatever) and the result is that they overhear/realize that the other person was keeping a secret from them. Maybe Garak-as-Julian is weird enough that Miles goes "oh God, you're not pining over Garak again, are you?" and it's that simple.


• Dating - Blind Date
  
  Not sure how this would come about, but I'd love to see it. Starfleet suddenly decides to try out new software that matches people on a compatibility level? Some nice passing-through customer of Garak's thinks Julian is such a nice young man and they're clearly perfect for each other? Julian's parents take a shine to Garak somehow and decide to pair them up? So many options, so many opportunities for them to go along with it and then go "wait, they meant YOU? Be still my heart."


• Drunken Hook Up Leads to Feelings
  
  A classic. Garak was totally down for hooking up the one time he was sauced in canon, so assuming better circumstances, maybe it actually happens? Several times? And then oh no feelings.


• Everyone Thinks They're Together - they are pining
  
  A little different angle on the blind date one, but having everyone assume they're together and so obviously they don't need to date other people would probably be deeply frustrating on many levels for both of them.


• Fairy Tale Curses - broken by true love's kiss
  
  We already had Rumpelstiltskin, so it's easy for me to believe that the station would get hit with another fairy tale-esque alien thing. The "curse" is up to you, and it can be anything from sleeping to transformation in nature.


• Fake/Pretend Relationship - Mutual Pining
  
  I don't have any specific prompts for this one. I love it in all its forms.


• Falsely Accused of a Crime
  
  This tag could go some great places. Either Garak is the one accused and Julian is the only one who believes he's not guilty (because Garak does a lot of things but wouldn't do THAT) or Julian is the one accused and everyone is in his corner but Garak knows it will take shady methods to find the real culprit. Good times to be had by all, in either case!


• First Time - Older Person Is a Virgin
  
  I don't have any specific prompts; I just like virgin!Garak.


• Getting Together - Falling In Love While A Teaches B a New Skill
  
  I continue to like this tag, and think you could go places with the "new skill" part of it. Maybe Julian is teaching Garak racquetball or something medical in nature, or Garak is teaching Julian about actual spy methods or maybe just something Cardassian. It could be very sweet regardless.


• Kidfic - one character adopts a war orphan
  
  I like kidfic and DS9 has a lot of orphans. In this case, I'd love to see Julian end up adopting a Cardassian orphan while on Cardassia, and the result is Garak getting hit with unexpected feelings for his "good friend."


• Love Potion/Spell - Other half of the pairing already immune due to feelings
  
  I chose this tag because either option is perfect! If Julian is the one who suddenly has the entire station in love with him, it would be totally easy for Garak to pretend that (whatever) obviously just doesn't affect Cardassians (until another Cardassian shows up on the station, anyway.) If Garak is the one who is suddenly the most appealing person on the station ever, then Julian would definitely pretend to be affected too, because he wouldn't want anyone to find out about his enhancements (and when he eventually realizes it's because of his feelings instead, that's almost worse.) Such fun!


• Marriage of Convenience - for protection
  
  This prompt would be perfect during the Dominion War, because Cardassians aren't stupid and surely they figure out that someone is breaking their codes. Trying to get Garak back into Cardassian custody goes wrong, though, because they can't just snatch a Federation-by-marriage citizen.


• Pining - Mutual Pining
  
  This is one of my standard tags (you may have already noticed how much I like pining) and I don't have any specific prompts. Pining is a color that goes with everything, really, and I just wanted you to have options. (Some of my favorite options are in the Additional Tags of Interest section, though.)


• Roommates - Pining
  
  Something happens that makes the promenade or the Starfleet officer quarters need fumigated or something, so it's "enforced roommates" time! At first it's awful because they have different temperature/lighting preferences, but then it's awful because pining.


• Shared Dreaming - Neither Dreamer Knows It's Happening
  
  This is one of the only situations where I like telepathy, and I find the potential for conflict and revealed secrets here to be so interesting. Even if neither of them dreams in a way that matches reality, Julian's secret enhancements and Garak's secret everythings are sure to pop up. Maybe one of them mentions it in a "I had a funny dream" way the next day, leading to them realizing what's happening somehow. (Explanation and tone-wise, I'm fine with anything from Romulan mind device to Betazoid feeling emotional again.)


• Sharing a Bed - Mutual Pining
  
  No specific prompts for this one, though I do love me some bed sharing.


• Soulmates - Herded by an Angry Goose
  
  This is Star Trek. There is definitely a species of alien that is a soulmate-finding goose, and now there's one on DS9, wreaking havoc.


• Sudden Realization - Oh No They're Hot - seeing after long separation
  
  Perfect getting-together-post-canon-on-Cardassia tag right here! Julian shows up to do something and then OH NO, how did he miss the fact that Garak is super attractive to him??? Maybe it's the Cardassian air getting to him. (I'm working off the idea that Garak already found Julian attractive, but you can reverse it if you like.)


• Trapped Together - Tight Spaces
  
  Garak is claustrophobic (thank you, canon, for giving me this!) and they get trapped somewhere. Julian has to calm him down, possibly with lots of soothing touching. Cuddling is always good (Garak doesn't strike me as a cuddler, but hey, when needs must.)


• Under the Influence - Revealing Feelings
  
  We've seen a drunk Garak but we haven't really seen a drunk Julian, but maybe that changes immediately post-canon, when the war is over and Julian is just trying to work some things out. He didn't mean to drunken comm dial Garak, except he did and maybe he wasn't that drunk.

Additional Tags of Interest: These are tags that I like but didn't request specifically, because a lot of them are related to the tags I did request and/or they're more character-based than situation-based tags and/or I ran out of room. They might help you choose between two ideas or steer you in the right direction if you're in doubt, though, so here they are:

• Bad Pick-Up Lines


• Can't Stop Thinking About It - B Discovers A Has a Huge Cock (where B is Garak and A is Bashir)


• Courting Rituals


• Crosscultural Relationship - Different Cultural Attitudes to Sex


• Fakeout Makeout


• Falling in love through the written word


• Fever Dreams


• Hurt/Comfort - Sleep Deprivation


• Imprisoned Together


• Long Lost/Secret Relatives - Brother (for Garak)


• Love Letters


• Music - Seduction Through Music


• Pining - Character thinks they were rejected but other person misunderstood


• Pining - While assuming they're in a relationship with someone else


• Pining - While trying to be Friends-with-Benefits


• Roommates - No Choice But to Be Roommates


• Secret Revealed - Competence


• Self-Sacrifice - of Reputation


• Under the Influence - Roofied by Stranger - Rescued by Love Interest (preference for roofied!Garak)


• Under the Influence - Truth Serum (preference for serumed!Garak)

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