Chocolate Box 2021 letter
Jan. 2nd, 2021 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
verecundaDear Chocolatier,
Hi! Thank you for your offering to write me one of my rare pairs. :D This letter contains a rundown of my general likes and DNWs, as well as some potential prompts for each. If you find something here to inspire you, that’s great! But at the same time, please don’t feel restricted to what’s here. If you have ideas of your own, or if you want to take one of my prompts in a slightly different direction, I’d love to see that too! Above all, have fun!
I can be found on AO3 as![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p2.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Verecunda.
All requests are for fanfiction. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via the mods.
Likes:
• Fic of any rating.
• Most genres: humour, angst, fluff, darkfic, hurt/comfort, slice-of-life, character pieces, plotty pieces. I like happy endings as well as a good tragedy, or even a bittersweet ending.
• I’ve got a special fondness for things that fill in characters’ backstories, “missing scenes” from canon, and alternate POVs on canon events. Post-canon settings are always good, of course, as are canon divergence AUs and 5+1 fics.
• Worldbuilding detail. I always want to know more about the worlds these characters inhabit.
• Intelligent characters being intelligent and competent.
• Characters with tough/stoic/snarky exteriors having to confront and/or show their vulnerabilities.
• Pairings and friendships that cross cultural/class/professional lines, and how they navigate the conflicts that arise.
• Odd couples. I love opposites that attract: characters who seem so different but who end up complementing each other perfectly. (This can be either romantic or platonic.)
• Banter! I love witty characters who have a good back-and-forth.
• First times: first kiss, first confession of love, first time having sex, etc.
• Established relationships are also good.
• I’m weak for all those moments of quiet intimacy: heart-to-heart talks, kisses on cheeks, foreheads, noses, etc., hand-holding, light touches, face-stroking, hair-stroking, cuddles, resting heads on shoulders or chests, etc.
• Smut is great, but by no means obligatory.
• Pining!! I live for good old-fashioned, hopeless pining, especially if it’s mutual and all parties are in silent agonies, equally convinced it can never be. UST and unrequited love also hurt so good.
• I’m always here for the ones in love being the last to know. Outsider POVs on oblivious ships are always fun!
• Apart from my requested characters, I'm quite happy with other canon characters making an appearance.
• Most of my fandoms are in historical settings. I love history, so if you want to nerd out on the background details, awesome!! But this is definitely not obligatory. First and foremost, I’m here for the characters.
DNW:
• First or second POV (unless that’s the POV of the original canon).
• Modern/mundane/coffee-shop AUs.
• Soulmate AUs.
• A/B/O.
• Unrequested non-canon ships. (Appearances by/references to canon pairings are fine.)
• Unrequested trans headcanons.
• Smut/kink specific: watersports, scat, rimming, underage, mpreg, tentacles.
• Most of my fandoms have historical settings, and historical mores being what they were, I’m fine with references to characters being married or having sex in their early teens, but would prefer no explicit sexual content involving any characters under 16.
• I don’t mind dub-con/non-con in a kink context, but I don’t want rape/sexual abuse/prostitution as plot devices for tragic character backstory, unless it’s already canon. Even then, I’d prefer not to dwell on it.
The Girl in Lovers Lane (1960)
Pairing:Big Stupid Bix Dugan/Danny Winslow
This is such an odd little movie, with just enough curiosity value to make it one of my favourite episodes of MST3K. The dynamic between well-to-do teenage runaway Danny and longtime drifter Bix certainly gives Joel and the ’bots plenty of mileage (“Once again, Bix has saved Danny from a heterosexual experience!”) but even without their running commentary, I can’t help but find their relationship kinda fascinating. Bix’ arc involves him finally finding somewhere to stay put and call home, which is eventually fulfilled - not by his ill-starred romance with the pretty waitress Carrie (who gets killed off in one of the most infuriatingly bleak and pointless arcs ever committed to celluloid) - but by going back to live with Danny and his parents. Really!
With that in mind, I’d really like to see anything about what happens to them after the events of the film, growing closer after they go back home together. I like “learning to love again” stories, so I’d definitely be up for something about Bix healing from his grief over Carrie and accepting what he has with Danny. And what do Danny’s parents make of Bix? (Since the film is from 1960, feel free to bring in as much - or as little - of period attitudes towards same-sex relationships as you like.) Do they stay with his parents, or do they eventually get their own place?
Then again, the Carrie storyline is such a bloody downer, I can understand if you’d like to bypass it entirely. So, what about a reimagining of the events of the film where the romance is between Bix and Danny instead? Anything set in their shared hotel room - where does all that forced proximity lead? After sharing their angsty backstories with each other, do they find themselves becoming more vulnerable and clingy with each other than expected? Is it jealousy, as well as protectiveness, that makes Bix go to the brothel to get Danny away from Sadie - and what happens when he gets him back to the hotel?
This pairing also has a fairly impressive potential for h/c. We see Bix tending to Danny after their fight in the alley, so what about Danny returning the favour? Does Bix also need some TLC after the fight - or maybe towards the end, after he’s set on by the mob at the end? The more worldly-wise Bix obviously feels bound to protect the more sheltered Danny, but anything where Danny ends up having to take care of Bix - and Bix realising that there’s someone who wants to care for him - would be fab!
Other things: I’d also enjoy anything that explores the difference in class and background between the two. Bix also has a lot of baggage left over from his abusive father, and feels he can only be a bad influence on innocent people like Danny and Carrie, so if that’s the kind of angst that appeals to you, go for it!
The film can be watched here, but I also highly recommend the MST3K version. You can follow the story and characters perfectly well, and it’s just plain more entertaining!
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Pairing: Hercules/Hylas
I love this film so much: a sheer, good fun adventure, with all those awesome Harryhausen monsters! (You can watch it on Youtube here.) Meanwhile, Hercules and Hylas have always been my favourite human characters, and I love their friendship. (I went to a screening at the Glasgow Film Theatre a couple of years ago, attended by John Cairney (Hylas), and hearing him talking about what good friends he and Nigel Green (Hercules) were on set just warmed my heart. <3) Hylas is such a wee sassmaster, and there’s something really lovely about Hercules. I love how he isn’t even a bit annoyed when Hylas bests him at the discus-throwing, but is immediately like “THIS IS MY NEW TINY BFF AND I LOVE HIM.” And his decision to leave the Argo to keep searching for Hylas is very poignant.
This is definitely a pairing where I’d love more banter. Maybe something about them getting to know each other better - right after the tournament, during the preparations for the voyage, or even in the early stages of the voyage itself - sharing a rowing-bench or standing watch together - before they reach the Isle of Bronze.
I’d also love any other brain vs. brawn scenario for them. Maybe Hylas has other novel ways of doing things that Hercules normally achieves with sheer brute strength, and Hercules is impressed with every single one of them. If you fancy writing sexytiems for them, I’d love to see Hylas topping!
What about a Hylas Lives! AU, where he somehow manages to avoid or survive Talos falling on top of him. Or do Zeus and Hera decide to resurrect him just for the sheer hell of it? Either way, an AU where Hercules finds him alive on the island, after all. Maybe he’s injured and Hercules has to nurse him back to health! *___* What happens to them after that? Do they go on to have other adventures by themselves, or do they somehow join up with the Argonauts again?
Then again, if you’d rather stick to canon, a straightforward angsty piece about Hercules finding proof that Hylas is dead after all and mourning him would definitely tug my heartstrings in the right way!
Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
Pairing: Alan Breck Stewart/David Balfour
The novel was published in 1886, so various ebook options are available for free on Gutenberg.
One of my all-time favourite books, and one of my all-time favourite literary double acts. I love their back-and-forth, and their strong mutual loyalty and respect, despite the vast cultural and political differences between them, David’s stark Protestant Hanoverianism vs. Alan’s flamboyant Catholic Jacobitism. Also the shippy potential is incredible: They both sleep under Alan’s coat!! Also: “Whereupon he gave me both of his [hands], saying surely I had cast a spell upon him, for he could forgive me anything.” I mean!!!
Any missing scenes from their trek across the Highlands would be fab: battling midges, dodging redcoats, and snarking at each other all the way. Perhaps some snuggling for warmth during a particularly dreich night in the heather turns into something else entirely? Or something with Alan fussing over David while he’s ill in Balquhidder. Their making-up after the quarrel is so hilarious and sweet at the same time, and I’d love to know what sort of heart-to-heart talks they had as soon as Davie was feeling up to it again! On a similar note, are they able to take a more private leave-taking of each other at the House of Shaws, the night before they part at Corstorphine Hill?
One post-canon scenario I’d love to see is Alan sneaking back to Scotland to visit David at the House of Shaws, with Davie being like “YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT” (while being secretly pretty touched). Maybe Alan meets Mr. Campbell, the minister, and has to grit his teeth and be polite to him for Davie’s sake! Maybe David goes across to visit Alan in France? Or even an AU where they both have to escape to France, after all? The sequel, Catriona, also has Alan coming to stay with Davie in his student digs in Leyden - a situation that seems rife with possibilities! (Oh no, my poky lodgings have only one bed, what do??)
Speaking of Catriona, I like it fine, but if you’re not fond of it, or haven’t read it, feel free to ignore its existence completely.
Outcast - Rosemary Sutcliff
Pairing: Beric/Lucilla
I love the friendship between these two so much; it’s one of the few bright spots in all of poor Beric’s (mis)adventures. I love how Lucilla actually sees Beric as a human being, unlike the rest of her family, and how Beric values her friendship. And how, even after Beric escapes, Lucilla still finds ways to help him, giving him an alibi, etc. Anything that captures that mutual loyalty would be lovely!
This is a pairing where I can imagine a lot of pining: first love, shy looks, lots of emotional intimacy, etc. But it’s pining touched by danger, because Glaucus would surely make trouble if he realised there were feelings between them. The respectable lady/slave divide is also pretty insurmountable, so there could be stolen moments with plenty of angst, with Lucilla not wanting to make Beric feel pressured into being with her, or wanting to get him into trouble with her family, and Beric not wanting to compromise Lucilla’s reputation and screw up her marriage prospects. Give me all the pining and noble, hopeless self-denial!
I absolutely love the setting of the garden of the old temple of Pan Sylvanus, so anything set there would be gorgeous! Maybe it’s the one place they know they can go without being spied on?
Do they ever meet again in the future, perhaps with Lucilla conveniently divorced/widowed? Maybe she comes to Britain to visit him - or, if Beric does join the Eagles, his service takes him back to Rome, where they find themselves reunited. One bit I really like in the book is when they talk about marriage customs among the British tribes, so maybe if they meet again in Britain, Beric has the opportunity to put some of them into practice. Anything exploring the cultural themes of the story would be great, in fact.
Re: Valarius, I’d ask that you don’t make him an abusive jerk or anything. He seems like a good guy, and Beric and Lucilla both think well of him. An amicable divorce, an open marriage, or a gentle release are all perfectly fine options where he’s concerned.
Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (TV)
Pairing: Frank Hathaway/Luella Shakespeare
(As of writing this letter (2 Jan.) series 1-3 are still available on BBC iplayer for 24 days - 1 month. I’m not sure where else it can be streamed.)
This show is such a hidden-away gem - so chill and cosy and good-natured, I love the Stratford setting, and spotting all the Shakespeare references is great fun. Above all, I love Frank and Lu. I’m always weak for double acts - and ships - that throw together the grumpy one and the sunshine one. They’ve already gone undercover as a couple more than once in canon, and I’m always up for more of that trope. How about a case where they find themselves getting more into their roles than they bargained for? Or a stake-out that ends up getting cosier than usual?
Or what about Frank opening up a bit to Lu about his past? Maybe she lets on what Marlowe told her in the series 2 finale, prompting him to confide in her more about it. Also in ep. 3.3 we also learn that he has been married - the one and only time canon has even hinted at such a thing! So what’s the story there? Is he divorced, separated, widowed, and does it have any bearing on why he is… the way he is?
There’s also some angsty potential in the fact that Frank is well aware that Lu has been hurt in the past - after all, they first met when she hired him to investigate her con-man fiancé. Is Lu wary of romance after that, and is Frank wary of muscling his way in? (Imagine Frank trying to be the sensitive male!) Does Lu’s mum ever show up to stick her oar in?
Apart from that, this is a pairing that has lots of potential for casefic, if that’s what catches your fancy, or domesticity. How about UST in the office? Does Sebastian get fed up with all the obvious (or oblivious!) pining going on and decide, in the pursuit of a quiet life, to kick off some suitably whacky Much Ado-esque scheme to bring them into a mountain of affection, the one with the other?
One other thing I love is how often we see the characters eating, so anything centred around food would be lovely, whether that’s a candlelit dinner, or just sharing a bag of chips in the car. And of course, gratuitous Shakespeare references are always good!
Hi! Thank you for your offering to write me one of my rare pairs. :D This letter contains a rundown of my general likes and DNWs, as well as some potential prompts for each. If you find something here to inspire you, that’s great! But at the same time, please don’t feel restricted to what’s here. If you have ideas of your own, or if you want to take one of my prompts in a slightly different direction, I’d love to see that too! Above all, have fun!
I can be found on AO3 as
All requests are for fanfiction. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via the mods.
Likes:
• Fic of any rating.
• Most genres: humour, angst, fluff, darkfic, hurt/comfort, slice-of-life, character pieces, plotty pieces. I like happy endings as well as a good tragedy, or even a bittersweet ending.
• I’ve got a special fondness for things that fill in characters’ backstories, “missing scenes” from canon, and alternate POVs on canon events. Post-canon settings are always good, of course, as are canon divergence AUs and 5+1 fics.
• Worldbuilding detail. I always want to know more about the worlds these characters inhabit.
• Intelligent characters being intelligent and competent.
• Characters with tough/stoic/snarky exteriors having to confront and/or show their vulnerabilities.
• Pairings and friendships that cross cultural/class/professional lines, and how they navigate the conflicts that arise.
• Odd couples. I love opposites that attract: characters who seem so different but who end up complementing each other perfectly. (This can be either romantic or platonic.)
• Banter! I love witty characters who have a good back-and-forth.
• First times: first kiss, first confession of love, first time having sex, etc.
• Established relationships are also good.
• I’m weak for all those moments of quiet intimacy: heart-to-heart talks, kisses on cheeks, foreheads, noses, etc., hand-holding, light touches, face-stroking, hair-stroking, cuddles, resting heads on shoulders or chests, etc.
• Smut is great, but by no means obligatory.
• Pining!! I live for good old-fashioned, hopeless pining, especially if it’s mutual and all parties are in silent agonies, equally convinced it can never be. UST and unrequited love also hurt so good.
• I’m always here for the ones in love being the last to know. Outsider POVs on oblivious ships are always fun!
• Apart from my requested characters, I'm quite happy with other canon characters making an appearance.
• Most of my fandoms are in historical settings. I love history, so if you want to nerd out on the background details, awesome!! But this is definitely not obligatory. First and foremost, I’m here for the characters.
DNW:
• First or second POV (unless that’s the POV of the original canon).
• Modern/mundane/coffee-shop AUs.
• Soulmate AUs.
• A/B/O.
• Unrequested non-canon ships. (Appearances by/references to canon pairings are fine.)
• Unrequested trans headcanons.
• Smut/kink specific: watersports, scat, rimming, underage, mpreg, tentacles.
• Most of my fandoms have historical settings, and historical mores being what they were, I’m fine with references to characters being married or having sex in their early teens, but would prefer no explicit sexual content involving any characters under 16.
• I don’t mind dub-con/non-con in a kink context, but I don’t want rape/sexual abuse/prostitution as plot devices for tragic character backstory, unless it’s already canon. Even then, I’d prefer not to dwell on it.
The Girl in Lovers Lane (1960)
Pairing:
This is such an odd little movie, with just enough curiosity value to make it one of my favourite episodes of MST3K. The dynamic between well-to-do teenage runaway Danny and longtime drifter Bix certainly gives Joel and the ’bots plenty of mileage (“Once again, Bix has saved Danny from a heterosexual experience!”) but even without their running commentary, I can’t help but find their relationship kinda fascinating. Bix’ arc involves him finally finding somewhere to stay put and call home, which is eventually fulfilled - not by his ill-starred romance with the pretty waitress Carrie (who gets killed off in one of the most infuriatingly bleak and pointless arcs ever committed to celluloid) - but by going back to live with Danny and his parents. Really!
With that in mind, I’d really like to see anything about what happens to them after the events of the film, growing closer after they go back home together. I like “learning to love again” stories, so I’d definitely be up for something about Bix healing from his grief over Carrie and accepting what he has with Danny. And what do Danny’s parents make of Bix? (Since the film is from 1960, feel free to bring in as much - or as little - of period attitudes towards same-sex relationships as you like.) Do they stay with his parents, or do they eventually get their own place?
Then again, the Carrie storyline is such a bloody downer, I can understand if you’d like to bypass it entirely. So, what about a reimagining of the events of the film where the romance is between Bix and Danny instead? Anything set in their shared hotel room - where does all that forced proximity lead? After sharing their angsty backstories with each other, do they find themselves becoming more vulnerable and clingy with each other than expected? Is it jealousy, as well as protectiveness, that makes Bix go to the brothel to get Danny away from Sadie - and what happens when he gets him back to the hotel?
This pairing also has a fairly impressive potential for h/c. We see Bix tending to Danny after their fight in the alley, so what about Danny returning the favour? Does Bix also need some TLC after the fight - or maybe towards the end, after he’s set on by the mob at the end? The more worldly-wise Bix obviously feels bound to protect the more sheltered Danny, but anything where Danny ends up having to take care of Bix - and Bix realising that there’s someone who wants to care for him - would be fab!
Other things: I’d also enjoy anything that explores the difference in class and background between the two. Bix also has a lot of baggage left over from his abusive father, and feels he can only be a bad influence on innocent people like Danny and Carrie, so if that’s the kind of angst that appeals to you, go for it!
The film can be watched here, but I also highly recommend the MST3K version. You can follow the story and characters perfectly well, and it’s just plain more entertaining!
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Pairing: Hercules/Hylas
I love this film so much: a sheer, good fun adventure, with all those awesome Harryhausen monsters! (You can watch it on Youtube here.) Meanwhile, Hercules and Hylas have always been my favourite human characters, and I love their friendship. (I went to a screening at the Glasgow Film Theatre a couple of years ago, attended by John Cairney (Hylas), and hearing him talking about what good friends he and Nigel Green (Hercules) were on set just warmed my heart. <3) Hylas is such a wee sassmaster, and there’s something really lovely about Hercules. I love how he isn’t even a bit annoyed when Hylas bests him at the discus-throwing, but is immediately like “THIS IS MY NEW TINY BFF AND I LOVE HIM.” And his decision to leave the Argo to keep searching for Hylas is very poignant.
This is definitely a pairing where I’d love more banter. Maybe something about them getting to know each other better - right after the tournament, during the preparations for the voyage, or even in the early stages of the voyage itself - sharing a rowing-bench or standing watch together - before they reach the Isle of Bronze.
I’d also love any other brain vs. brawn scenario for them. Maybe Hylas has other novel ways of doing things that Hercules normally achieves with sheer brute strength, and Hercules is impressed with every single one of them. If you fancy writing sexytiems for them, I’d love to see Hylas topping!
What about a Hylas Lives! AU, where he somehow manages to avoid or survive Talos falling on top of him. Or do Zeus and Hera decide to resurrect him just for the sheer hell of it? Either way, an AU where Hercules finds him alive on the island, after all. Maybe he’s injured and Hercules has to nurse him back to health! *___* What happens to them after that? Do they go on to have other adventures by themselves, or do they somehow join up with the Argonauts again?
Then again, if you’d rather stick to canon, a straightforward angsty piece about Hercules finding proof that Hylas is dead after all and mourning him would definitely tug my heartstrings in the right way!
Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
Pairing: Alan Breck Stewart/David Balfour
The novel was published in 1886, so various ebook options are available for free on Gutenberg.
One of my all-time favourite books, and one of my all-time favourite literary double acts. I love their back-and-forth, and their strong mutual loyalty and respect, despite the vast cultural and political differences between them, David’s stark Protestant Hanoverianism vs. Alan’s flamboyant Catholic Jacobitism. Also the shippy potential is incredible: They both sleep under Alan’s coat!! Also: “Whereupon he gave me both of his [hands], saying surely I had cast a spell upon him, for he could forgive me anything.” I mean!!!
Any missing scenes from their trek across the Highlands would be fab: battling midges, dodging redcoats, and snarking at each other all the way. Perhaps some snuggling for warmth during a particularly dreich night in the heather turns into something else entirely? Or something with Alan fussing over David while he’s ill in Balquhidder. Their making-up after the quarrel is so hilarious and sweet at the same time, and I’d love to know what sort of heart-to-heart talks they had as soon as Davie was feeling up to it again! On a similar note, are they able to take a more private leave-taking of each other at the House of Shaws, the night before they part at Corstorphine Hill?
One post-canon scenario I’d love to see is Alan sneaking back to Scotland to visit David at the House of Shaws, with Davie being like “YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT” (while being secretly pretty touched). Maybe Alan meets Mr. Campbell, the minister, and has to grit his teeth and be polite to him for Davie’s sake! Maybe David goes across to visit Alan in France? Or even an AU where they both have to escape to France, after all? The sequel, Catriona, also has Alan coming to stay with Davie in his student digs in Leyden - a situation that seems rife with possibilities! (Oh no, my poky lodgings have only one bed, what do??)
Speaking of Catriona, I like it fine, but if you’re not fond of it, or haven’t read it, feel free to ignore its existence completely.
Outcast - Rosemary Sutcliff
Pairing: Beric/Lucilla
I love the friendship between these two so much; it’s one of the few bright spots in all of poor Beric’s (mis)adventures. I love how Lucilla actually sees Beric as a human being, unlike the rest of her family, and how Beric values her friendship. And how, even after Beric escapes, Lucilla still finds ways to help him, giving him an alibi, etc. Anything that captures that mutual loyalty would be lovely!
This is a pairing where I can imagine a lot of pining: first love, shy looks, lots of emotional intimacy, etc. But it’s pining touched by danger, because Glaucus would surely make trouble if he realised there were feelings between them. The respectable lady/slave divide is also pretty insurmountable, so there could be stolen moments with plenty of angst, with Lucilla not wanting to make Beric feel pressured into being with her, or wanting to get him into trouble with her family, and Beric not wanting to compromise Lucilla’s reputation and screw up her marriage prospects. Give me all the pining and noble, hopeless self-denial!
I absolutely love the setting of the garden of the old temple of Pan Sylvanus, so anything set there would be gorgeous! Maybe it’s the one place they know they can go without being spied on?
Do they ever meet again in the future, perhaps with Lucilla conveniently divorced/widowed? Maybe she comes to Britain to visit him - or, if Beric does join the Eagles, his service takes him back to Rome, where they find themselves reunited. One bit I really like in the book is when they talk about marriage customs among the British tribes, so maybe if they meet again in Britain, Beric has the opportunity to put some of them into practice. Anything exploring the cultural themes of the story would be great, in fact.
Re: Valarius, I’d ask that you don’t make him an abusive jerk or anything. He seems like a good guy, and Beric and Lucilla both think well of him. An amicable divorce, an open marriage, or a gentle release are all perfectly fine options where he’s concerned.
Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (TV)
Pairing: Frank Hathaway/Luella Shakespeare
(As of writing this letter (2 Jan.) series 1-3 are still available on BBC iplayer for 24 days - 1 month. I’m not sure where else it can be streamed.)
This show is such a hidden-away gem - so chill and cosy and good-natured, I love the Stratford setting, and spotting all the Shakespeare references is great fun. Above all, I love Frank and Lu. I’m always weak for double acts - and ships - that throw together the grumpy one and the sunshine one. They’ve already gone undercover as a couple more than once in canon, and I’m always up for more of that trope. How about a case where they find themselves getting more into their roles than they bargained for? Or a stake-out that ends up getting cosier than usual?
Or what about Frank opening up a bit to Lu about his past? Maybe she lets on what Marlowe told her in the series 2 finale, prompting him to confide in her more about it. Also in ep. 3.3 we also learn that he has been married - the one and only time canon has even hinted at such a thing! So what’s the story there? Is he divorced, separated, widowed, and does it have any bearing on why he is… the way he is?
There’s also some angsty potential in the fact that Frank is well aware that Lu has been hurt in the past - after all, they first met when she hired him to investigate her con-man fiancé. Is Lu wary of romance after that, and is Frank wary of muscling his way in? (Imagine Frank trying to be the sensitive male!) Does Lu’s mum ever show up to stick her oar in?
Apart from that, this is a pairing that has lots of potential for casefic, if that’s what catches your fancy, or domesticity. How about UST in the office? Does Sebastian get fed up with all the obvious (or oblivious!) pining going on and decide, in the pursuit of a quiet life, to kick off some suitably whacky Much Ado-esque scheme to bring them into a mountain of affection, the one with the other?
One other thing I love is how often we see the characters eating, so anything centred around food would be lovely, whether that’s a candlelit dinner, or just sharing a bag of chips in the car. And of course, gratuitous Shakespeare references are always good!
