Dear Chocolatier - 2020
Jan. 3rd, 2020 07:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
simplecoffeeHi there, wonderful Chocolatier! Thank you for sharing my fandoms and creating for me. <3
I am academicgangster on Tumblr, and simplecoffee on ao3.
So, the thing I love most in fanfic is taking canon character dynamics and just...making them More. Taking them further, exploring their natural progression, in either a gen or a shippy way. I've mentioned the character dynamics and ships I love under each fandom, along with some rambly thoughts and prompts - speaking of which, please feel free to please feel free to pick, choose, mix, match, play with any, all or even none of said prompts, if that's where the muse takes you. <3
I also love hurt/comfort with all my soul, so most of the prompts here will probably contain it to some degree.
I am a-okay with any kind of exploration of character dynamics - h/c, casefic, fluff fic, angst, missing scenes, outsider POV, outsider POV contrasted with canon characters' POV, getting together fic, you name it I love it. I'm also very much okay with or without smut - I like it, but please don't feel pressured to include it or not to include it. If you do feel inclined toward the lovin', I have a preference for a Mature rating over an Explicit rating, but I will likely enjoy whatever rating speaks to you. :D
General likes:
• Hurt/comfort of all stripes - sickfic, injuries, emotional h/c, all of it. (This is my favourite thing in all of fandom. Like, I absolutely live for it. ^^')
• Character studies, exploration of canon character dynamics, fallout of canon trauma
• PTSD, illness messing with a character's grip on reality, combat/mission injuries, scars, old injuries acting up, touch starvation, sensory deprivation / sensory overload, characters not believing they deserve comfort or being surprised to receive comfort, selective mutism, hurting characters choking up at moments when they really need to speak (eg. leader unable to tell their worried team they're fine, submissive unable to safeword), stoic characters breaking down when faced with comfort, subdrop, characters bonding over trauma, characters so used to going through hell alone that they can't wrap their heads around someone wanting to help
• carrying, cuddling, characters wrapping ill/injured characters in soft blankets/clothes/their own jackets (especially jackets that are too big for them!), sweater paws, keeping characters warm, aftercare, forehead kisses, hands and touch
• Earned trust and casual intimacy (characters who know each other well or get to know each other well, clothes sharing, characters only allowing touch from people they trust, etc)
• Pain, bittersweetness, sadness, exploring the darker side and implications of canon is great, but I really need some happiness/comfort and hope along with it!
Sexual likes:
D/s overtones. Femdom. Service subs. Subs With Issues. Praise kink (even without d/s). Hands, fingers, touch; touch starvation. Finger-sucking. Hair petting/brushing. Aftercare. Subdrop and recovery. Tenderness, especially if the person receiving it isn't expecting it, isn't used to it, and it breaks them just a little.
Marking - hickeys/bruising/bite marks; hiding the bruises under clothing. Heavy petting. Scar worship. Suit/uniform kink. Partners reverently undressing each other. Wrists bound or held down. Honour bondage. Careful sex / making out when one partner is hurt or ill and feverish (fever sex is, uh, a Thing of mine). Gentleness, affection, emphasis on touch and texture/physical sensation (clothing porn is so very welcome!). Or rough, desperate, life-affirming sex/making out.
(In certain fandoms, I like the sex rougher, and have some thoughts involving non- or dubcon. There are prompts for those scenarios under those fandoms.)
General DNWs:
• Mundane/depowered/setting change AUs
• Bleak, hopeless endings (as long as there's hope, bittersweet endings are more than fine!)
• Unrequested crossovers and fusions
• Any mention of Mission Impossible 2 canon
• Death of requested characters (even if they died in canon. Alan Hunley Is Alive That's My Story And I'm Sticking To It)
• Non-canonical character death
• Terminal illness
• Permanent injury (exceptions: Collateral, Oblivion, and Jack Ryan's canonical past injury in The Hunt for Red October)
• Gastrointestinal illness (nausea/vomiting is okay but not as a result of GI illness)
• Pregnancy, menstruation
• Infidelity
• For Oblivion, Jack 49/Jack 52
Sexual DNWs:
• Noncon or dubcon, except where noted
• humiliation as a kink, except where noted
• anal, dirty talk, spanking, ageplay, scat, watersports, rimming, emeto, A/B/O, d/s-verse, mommy/daddy kink
And now for some rambling about fandoms and character dynamics, lovely creator!
Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Ethan & or / Hunley
Ethan/Hunley & Luther, Ethan/Hunley & Jane
(Please ignore Hunley's death, and assume he recovers after Fallout! I need him to stay alive, I love him so much.)
I love Ethan and Hunley's dynamic a lot! Hunley spent a lot of time convinced Ethan was paranoid, delusional and dangerous, a broken agent who needed to be contained, but once he actually met him he did a complete turnaround into absolute adoration. He joined the IMF because of him! He tells him so in no uncertain terms in an impassioned speech at the airport in Fallout! And then they clutch at each other like lifelines when (they think) Hunley is dying, and I Cry.
I'm here for the field agent-handler dynamic, platonic or romantic, and for the deep trust-building there has to have been for that dynamic to succeed. How did they get to know each other in the wake of Rogue Nation? (Was Hunley already a little in love with Ethan by then?) How do they gain each other's trust, become affectionate with each other? Does Ethan's seniority in the IMF mean that Hunley, as the Secretary, is his handler - and would that make Hunley the person Ethan calls when a mission goes wrong? Hunley the one to see him at his most vulnerable, Hunley the one to hear please, sir, I'm sick and alone, bring me home? Hunley the one to lend him a jacket in the cold, all while maybe wishing he could wrap him up in his arms? If this is romantic, is Ethan pining in return, or does he just take a while to realize his feelings - and does he reveal said feelings while he's hurt? Is it Hunley, instead, who finally takes the leap and confesses his love while comforting him? Or does he keep quiet because he's worried that Ethan isn't well enough to deal with such a revelation? Do they have to huddle for warmth while trapped somewhere hostile, or share a bed for Reasons? Does Ethan have to protect Hunley in a field situation, while they still don't know each other that well, and then they learn to trust each other that way - or, instead, does it happen while they're in love and don't know it, or don't admit it? Does one of them watch the other sleep - and maybe witness a nightmare?
I'm also super interested in how the Ethan/Hunley dynamic interacts with Luther, or with Jane:
Ethan/Hunley & Luther
Ethan and Luther have a long-standing friendship and intimacy built over twenty years, and while Ethan clearly bears no grudges for the six months Hunley spent trying to chase him down, it's possible Luther would not forgive as easily. Luther refused to work with Hunley when the IMF was shut down in Rogue Nation, and Hunley would have to make a lot of effort to earn his trust, both as Secretary of the reinstated IMF and as Ethan's romantic partner. Perhaps Luther starts to soften toward him when they come home from a stressful mission and he sees how worried Hunley is about Ethan, how fond they are of each other. Perhaps Ethan's hurt or sick and Hunley calls Luther to ask how best to help him.
Ethan/Hunley & Jane
Jane and Ethan don't know each other as deeply as Luther and Ethan do, but Jane is very similar to Ethan in a lot of ways - she's deeply principled, a fantastic field agent, has suffered a great deal of trauma and pain, and is very used to going it alone with little to no support. She is younger and less experienced than Ethan, though, and tends to be hotheaded and fierce - much like him when he was younger, actually - and so it makes sense that canonically, Ethan is a bit of a mentor figure for her, and the only person she's allowed to see her vulnerable, to try and help her grieve for the loved ones she's lost. I don't think that Jane would have agreed to work for the CIA in Rogue Nation - I think she'd have resigned instead, like Luther did, and returned once the IMF was reinstated under Hunley's leadership - and I think she'd be skeptical of Hunley as the Secretary not only because she's loyal to Ethan, but also because his six months chasing Ethan make her doubt that Hunley cares enough about his field agents to ensure their safety. I'd love to see how she deals with that, what advice Ethan gives her if she asks him for support, and how Hunley shows her that he really does care - about the IMF, about saving the world, and about Ethan too.
Ethan & or / Luther
Ethan/Luther & Hunley, Ethan/Luther & Jane
How do I love Ethan and Luther's adoration for each other? Let me count the ways. ("What's up, baby?" "Hey, man.")
These two have known each other since MI: 1, and they've been so deeply fond of each other and loyal to each other ever since. Luther calls Ethan 'baby' twice! He's also the only one apart from Julia, Ethan's canon wife (now ex), who gets to see Ethan truly vulnerable and take care of him when he is; for everyone else in the team, Ethan does his best to be stoic and strong and not reveal much when he's a mess, but Luther's been around long enough to see right through him, and romantic or not, Ethan clearly loves him enough not to mind. I'm pretty sure Luther is the only one of the current team to have seen Ethan cry, and he's definitely the only one to have had Ethan literally cling to him like a lifeline. They get each other on a deep, instinctive, nonverbal level; if their love becomes romantic, it's certainly built on the years and years of platonic devotion that came before.
I'd love something exploring their friendship, their quiet intimacy, perhaps with the others noticing that Luther is the only one Ethan allows to really take care of him - that they are the two who know each other best, and support each other without having to say much about it. Luther comforting Ethan when he's hurt would be great, perhaps stitching him up when the mission's over, or perhaps talking him down from a flashback or fever dream while the rest of the team can only stand by unnerved at seeing their leader feeling that bad.
If the romantic route speaks to you, I'd love absolutely anything all the way from MI: 1 to the present. Perhaps Luther comforting Ethan when he's shaken and hurt and scared after MI: 1, or them getting to know each other on field missions together after MI:1 and before MI: III, or something exploring Luther pining for Ethan since before MI: III, shelving his feelings once Ethan married Julia, and then, after Ghost Protocol, realizing he still loves him and he maybe still has a chance. Or maybe they don't get together till after Ethan nearly drowns in Rogue Nation, or after they all nearly die in Fallout. How does Luther feel about their casual intimacy on missions, about the fact that they know each other better than anyone else in the IMF can even pretend to? Is there a level of bittersweetness to the sweet things they do - to Ethan wearing his coat, or falling asleep exhausted in his arms, or knowing how he likes his coffee, even after all these years?
Maybe Ethan gets a clue while he's recovering from a particularly traumatic mission, or maybe they spend some time on vacation together and get a mutual clue. Maybe, since Luther is the only one Ethan canonically trusts to hold him when it counts, he's called in to help when Ethan's injured or delirious and no one else can get through to him, and it leads to love confessions, as things do. Maybe, when Luther finally works up the courage to say his piece, it turns out Ethan's been wondering similar things, and can barely believe his luck.
I'm also fascinated by how the Ethan/Luther dynamic would interact with Hunley, or with Jane:
Ethan/Luther & Hunley
Luther refused point blank to work with the CIA under Hunley, and is fiercely protective of Ethan to the extent that I'm pretty sure if he and Ethan were together, once the IMF was reinstated he would find all the quiet, maliciously-compliant ways to make Hunley's life miserable in retribution for the six months he spent trying to chase Ethan down. Hunley would have to prove himself to him - and (from his obvious fondness for Ethan in Fallout) I think he'd be readily willing to do so - but what would it take to convince Luther he's genuinely sorry for what he did? How can he prove he really has their best interests at heart?
Ethan/Luther & Jane
Jane, being similar to Ethan, is a bit of a stoic, lone-wolf type, and has dealt with a lot of pain, and probably has some trouble being vulnerable. How does she deal with seeing the quiet intimacy and love that Ethan and Luther share? Do they give her hope for herself? Does she just bask in their mutual affection? Do they take care of her and the entire team while taking care of each other?
Ethan/Hunley/Luther
luther-i-want-to-kiss-your-boyfriend-on-the-mouth.jpg (...it's an incorrect quote from 30 Rock, sorry to disappoint)
Anyway, I love all three of these characters so much, and I love Ethan/Luther and Ethan/Hunley a lot - and I think the triad could work. We don't get to see Luther and Hunley interact much, and we know that Luther's fiercely protective of Ethan and therefore can't stand Hunley in Rogue Nation, but we do see in Fallout that Hunley deeply adores Ethan, which I think could have won Luther over to his side. Perhaps Luther and Ethan were already together before Rogue Nation, and Luther noticed Hunley pining after Ethan, eventually discussing it with Ethan and deciding to ask him to join them. Or perhaps they all had an awakening after nearly dying in Fallout. I'd love an exploration of how they could have got together, or an established relationship fic where they all look after each other when things go wrong, or Hunley and Luther joining forces to take care of Ethan when he's injured or protect him from intelligence community brass, or even just all of them mildly bickering about who gets to snuggle whom.
Ethan & or / Sidorov
okay so I love Sidorov and his arc so much, I love his grudging (later not so grudging) respect for Ethan, and I love how Ethan tried so hard not to have to hurt him but had to kick his ass anyway, and I love how that's all in a day's work for them both and there are zero hard feelings afterwards. Except possibly in another sense of 'hard feelings', if you know what I mean. 😏
So, I'd love to see what happens the next time they meet after Ghost Protocol. Is it off-duty? A coincidence? A date? Is it on a mission, when Sidorov is investigating suspicious activity and suddenly That Annoyingly Sunshine-Faced American shows up? Or maybe the annoyingly sunshine-faced American is not so sunshine-faced at the moment and Sidorov has to stop him being tortured by his (Sidorov's) own Russian colleagues? Do they run into each other at an airport, or a train station or other transit area, and Ethan is too sick or too badly hurt to be able to conceal it from a fellow agent like Sidorov? Does Ethan seek Sidorov out during the six months he spends on the run tracking the Syndicate in Rogue Nation? Do they swap spy stories, scar stories, love stories? Do they develop a strong and lasting friendship along the way? Do they fall in love along the way?
Ethan & the IMF Team, Ethan & Jane
Despite its persistently, defiantly sunny worldview - which is the thing about it that I love most - MI has a lot of darkness hovering beneath the surface, so I'd love to see some of that explored. Show me a mission gone wrong, where Ethan gets hurt or his cover gets blown or he has to try and sacrifice himself to buy time for the team to save the world. Show me Ethan and Jane holding each other in fear while they wait for a go sign. Show me Luther talking soothingly to Ethan over the radio to keep him conscious when he's hurt or sick and hovering on the verge of delirium. Show me what it looks like and how it feels when Ethan takes care of the rest of his team so much that it takes a toll on his own health. Show me Ethan bringing his team home to Hunley, exhausted and hurt, and Hunley making sure they're all okay before even thinking about the debrief. Show me all their nightmares when they're alone, and if the dreams are different when they're together.
Or, alternatively, lean into the sunshine! Show me the characters' love for each other in the everyday. Show me them knowing each other's orders at breakfast places after missions. Show me Ethan falling asleep on Luther's shoulder, wearing Jane's sweater, Benji's scarf and Brandt's sunglasses. Show me a careful cuddle pile after a mission where they thought they wouldn't make it out alive. Hell, show me Luther comforting Ethan while he's shaken and hurting and scared after the very first movie. Ethan comforting Jane over Hanaway, because he knows how much it hurts to lose loved ones. An off-mission day when someone hears Ethan's called in sick to HQ and the whole team shows up at his apartment to make sure he's okay. Luther, Benji, Brandt, Jane and Hunley joining forces to make sure their adorable dumbass field ops leader gets some goddamn rest.
Ethan/Max
God, I love the sparks between these two in MI: 1 so much, and I love how on seeing Ethan's face Max is immediately The Most Domme, and Ethan's Sub Instincts visibly kick in the moment he sees her, too. So my prompt for them is basically: Max Doms The Hell Out Of Ethan. Max as an experienced, gentle but authoritative domme, and Ethan as a much less experienced but very eager service sub, Max being able to tell that Ethan's traumatized, even if she doesn't know the specifics, and by domming him, essentially offering to help him feel safe for a few hours, complete with lots of praise.
Maybe Max takes Ethan out to dinner or the opera or something equally opulent and befitting her position in high society, and spoils him rotten for the night; what's Max's belongs to Max, and nobody gets to touch him but her. Especially if he's fresh from a mission and hurt or ill, but still all gentlemanly and suited up and so very eager to take her arm and be a Good Lil Service Sub for her. Maybe she'll keep him protectively close at her side all evening, gently clean blood off his injured face and hands with her handkerchief, make sure to let him know how very good he's being, and then bind his wrists or cover his eyes with his own necktie in the bedroom later.
...Or maybe they just fall into bed, and it just so happens that Max is completely in control, as Max is wont to be. And Max, good at being gentle but firm, can tell when a sub is hurting, or when they want to safeword but don't, or when they want to keep going but are too injured or sick to make it much further, and she breaks the scene to give Ethan the comfort he needs, even if she may never know what caused the hurt.
Art prompts!
• Ethan generally being Smol compared to most everyone else. (He's 5'7" to Hunley and Luther's 6', Jane's 5'10" plus heels, and Max's 5'11" plus heels! SMOL. He could fit nicely under their chins while hugging them, or have his head cradled against their shoulders. Or, if he were kissing them, he'd have to stand on tiptoe.)
(Ethan's also left-handed, a little detail I love)
• FOREHEAD KISSES. ALL THE FOREHEAD KISSES. Any requested character combination goes, as long as Ethan is involved. Anyone doing the kissing, and anyone being kissed.
• Hand kisses. Ethan kissing Hunley's hand, or Hunley kissing Ethan's. Ethan kissing Luther's hand, or Luther kissing Ethan's. Ethan kissing Max's hand while kneeling for her or dressed to the nines, or Max kissing Ethan's hand while tying him down.
• Collarbone kisses, through fabric or perhaps with the character's shirt unbuttoned but still on. Here too, I love Ethan as either receiver or giver.
• Just...kisses in general. Pls I am so soft for all these pairings
• Hunley awkwardly comforting Ethan when he's ill, like in the famous 30 Rock scene (gif of that scene, stills of it) - bonus for Hunley later also comforting Ethan properly, holding him snuggled against his shoulder or with his head in his lap, once they've got to know each other better.
• Ethan clutching a cough buddy bear to his chest after Fallout - he broke a few ribs at the end there, and it's going to hurt to breathe for a while. (I'll love you forever anyway, but I'll love you forever if Luther or Hunley are there comforting him too - though perhaps Hunley would need an IV or medical paraphernalia of his own after the film.)
• Ethan cradling Hunley's head in his lap while they're both injured and recovering after Fallout.
• Ethan hanging out with Luther or one of the others while wearing one of these truly terrible shirts.
• Hunley towering gently over Ethan while he kisses him, like Alec Baldwin is doing with Salma Hayek here (still, gif)
• Luther picking Ethan up for a hug, and Ethan clinging while hugging him back.
• Luther gently unbuttoning Ethan's shirt.
• Ethan hanging out with Luther or Hunley, being cute and domestic together, maybe having coffee, while wearing a shirt, sweater or jacket that clearly belongs to that person (because it's much too big for him).
• Ethan sleeping on a couch under Hunley's suit jacket, maybe with Hunley feeling his forehead.
• Ethan kneeling reverently at Max's feet, looking up at her (perhaps with her undoing his shirt, or perhaps with her tying him in shibari, or perhaps with his wrists bound behind him with his own tie).
• Luther, Hunley, Jane or Sidorov patching up a hurt Ethan.
• Ethan patching up a hurt Jane. (super bonus if they're both wearing suits!)
• Ethan wearing sunglasses and hiding his face against Luther, Hunley, Sidorov, Jane or Max's shoulder.
• Hunley or Luther bridal-carrying Ethan, who's sick or hurt.
• Ethan and Sidorov taking a selfie with a calico cat.
• Ethan and Jane getting mildly drunk together at a bar after a stressful mission.
Collateral (2004)
Vincent/Max, Vincent & Max
(This fandom is an exception to my humiliation DNW if you'd like Max to humiliate Vincent, but I'd prefer it to actually trigger/traumatize the humiliated character in addition to them getting off on it.)
God these characters are so fucked up. Vincent is a terrible person, and yet you kind of feel for him; Max is a sad bean who never asked to be caught up in any of this, and yet somehow finds it in himself to kick ass. Please tell me more about these messed up people, and/or about them getting it on in the most messed up ways. I'm a-okay with it either being during the film, or after the film in a universe where Vincent doesn't die.
Some thoughts and prompts:
• Vincent's a dick, to put it mildly, but there's an angle or two from which he's...really fucking tragic? When you start to see him coming undone, you really see him coming undone. We know a few things about him - that he's been passed around between foster homes and an abusive dad, and that he was military or a military contractor before he became a hitman. Tell me about those things, about the core of humanity he used to have, or maybe still has somewhere and that surfaces at inconvenient times like that moment of eye contact between him and Max at the nightclub.
• Vincent survives the MTA, somehow, and eventually finds to his utter dismay that he's grown a conscience of some kind. It's not like, the greatest conscience, and he's good at stamping it down, but it's there and he hates it. Maybe while healing up and having these revelations, he receives a bunch of flowers identical to the ones he bought Max's mother. (Maybe it even comes with a card for the Island Limo Company.)
• Vincent And Max Getting It On In All The Rough, Fucked Up Ways, during or after the film. Maybe one or both of them are drugged or drunk or high, maybe Vincent's sick or injured so badly he's hallucinating and isn't sure Max is real. Maybe they use banging each other as an excuse to talk out or fuck out their various issues, like Max's with his limo company and Vincent's with his father. Vincent is definitely a masochist; maybe he's surprisingly eager to please, and Max uses that to get revenge for everything Vincent put him through in the film. Maybe he does that by hurting him, or maybe he does it by getting him to confess to (or just talk about) all the times he's been vulnerable in the past. Maybe Vincent's time in the military comes up, in a kinky context or an angsty, bitter context, or both. Maybe they walk away weirdly healed...or maybe just bleeding and ripped apart.
I'd like whatever they do to be more or less consensual, if not necessarily safe or sane - they could be drunk, drugged or (as mentioned above) Vincent may be hallucinating and not entirely conscious. I don't want either of them to hold disproportionate power over the other - as Max established in the second half of the film, the leash very much goes both ways. (Also Vincent is weirdly fucking principled for a hitman and I could see him as being laughably obsessed with consent, so make of that what you will.)
Some additional Max/Vincent prompts (from my Consent Issues letter):
• I am here for delicious, delicious mutual dubcon. Vincent doesn't know what he sees in this sad, unambitious taxi driver; Max doesn't know why he's considering getting it on with a literal contract killer.
• One or the other of them says something about hating that they find the other attractive, and they somehow end up kissing.
• Vincent kisses Max to avoid being identified while the area they're in is being searched by cops, or someone mistakes the two of them as being in a relationship and the next thing they know they're keeping up the cover.
• Or Max grabs one of Vincent's guns but can't bring himself to shoot him, and Vincent takes advantage of Max's indecision and kisses him.
• Or Max grabs one of Vincent's guns and demands he kiss him, just to humiliate him, but it turns out Vincent's kinda getting off on it instead. And then Max realizes he's getting off on it too despite feeling terrible about getting off on it.
• Vincent pretends to be a dom, but the facade just...slowly erodes, and eventually Max dominates the fuck out of Vincent. There might be a whole lot of mutual biting and scratching.
• Max's main goal is still to utterly humiliate Vincent, so he forces Vincent to admit to past trauma / abuse he went through in foster homes / perhaps even suicide attempts.
• Vincent pretends this doesn't fuck him up, but fucks Max up in return by talking about his sad dreams for his limo company and how he's lying to his mom about it all.
• Max holds Vincent down, and holds a hand over his mouth when he talks too much.
And, finally, my Max/Vincent Consent Issues tag cloud; Vincent alone or Max/Vincent Darkest Night tag cloud
Art prompts!
• Vincent stitching up his own wounds alone, possibly not doing a great job of it. (Possibly drunk.)
• Max undressing Vincent, finding him littered with scars.
• Max and Vincent generally Making Out Roughly, perhaps with Vincent handcuffed to something, or perhaps with Max holding a knife to Vincent's throat.
• Vincent waking up in hospital to a bunch of flowers and a card from the Island Limo Company.
Crossover Fandom
Maverick Mitchell (Top Gun) / Jack Donaghy (30 Rock)
Jack Donaghy: horny, attractive, very stupid
Maverick Mitchell: horny, attractive, very stupid
That's it. That's the basis of this pairing. That and Jack canonically saying the following to Lemon in a sexy, awestruck whisper: "[thing] would be intensely erotic...like Steve McQueen on a motorcycle. He had a leather jacket." And, well, Maverick Mitchell has a motorcycle and a leather jacket. (And a pair of striking blue eyes, Steve McQueen style. Though Jack would never consider them more striking than his own.)
So yeah, basically these two would be a truly incredible combined level of Horny-Pretty-And-Stupid in the same room. I don't think they could possibly keep their hands off each other for more than like...six hours after they first meet. Tell me about that! Show me that! (Seriously, please show me that.) But also, there are some differences between them that could be intriguing, dynamic-wise - Jack is socially savvy and extremely manipulative (but is secretly super caring and soft), while Mav (though he is a bit self-centred) wears his big damn generous affectionate heart openly on his sleeve, and is given to taking everything in good faith and therefore vulnerable to manipulation. (Mav is also much more likely to punch things out instead of talking, a philosophy Jack only subscribes to when drunk.)
Here are some more specific prompts -
• Honestly, just tell me about these two absolute idiots seeing each other and immediately not being able to resist each other. Jack seeing this small, fighty, charming dude in a leather jacket and aviator sunglasses and immediately having An Crisis. Mav being weak for tall, strong dudes who could throw him into walls if he asked for it. One or both of them shooting their mouth off like the cocky bastards they are, or just both of them flirting outrageously in front of Lemon, Jonathan, and/or the TGS crew. One of them eventually shoving the other up against a wall in Jack's office, or getting hot and heavy on a couch.
• (These two both give off incredible amounts of Sub Energy with other people; since they're not d/s compatible they'd probably just lay off the power exchange dynamic altogether. Or...they might switch.)
• Jack manhandling Mav a bit, while also kind of worried he might break him because he's small, and apologizing when he bruises him by being a little too rough. Mav being kind of a masochist and very into the pain when things get rough.
• Jack dealing with everyone else's surprise at his being with a dude, Jack style (ie. shamelessly and with Business Strategy Advice Soundbites.)
• Jack TMI-ing about his and Mav's sexual trysts to Lemon, who is horrified but also fascinated, because Mav is attractive and does have a nice leather jacket but also Jack is her boss and does she really want to be thinking about him frenching a navy officer, c'mon.
• Mav being Jack's first male partner, and so being more experienced with dudes than Jack is, and being very chill about it while Jack hates that there's Something Jack Donaghy Doesn't Know. Bonus for Jack being delighted that they are A Twink and A Bear.
• Jack being cuddly as fuck and slightly ashamed of it, and being surprised that Mav is also cuddly as fuck, actually, and not ashamed of it.
• Jack is all about flaunting his """friendship'""' with a Navy officer for social cred. It's all fun and games until something triggers Mav into an unexpected nightmare or PTSD flashback of some sort (perhaps to Goose's death), while Jack happens to be there to see it. Jack has to deal with it, and with him being apologetic about it. Does he fail utterly at comforting him, or does he acquit himself surprisingly well? (Does he surprise himself by actually caring about Mav's wellbeing as a person, rather than just a hot dude to kiss, flaunt and have sex with?)
Art prompts!
• Jack and Mav kissing in an elevator (Mav would probably have to tiptoe)
• Jack with his hands on Mav's shoulders, under his leather jacket.
• Jack looking surprised and delighted (link to Jack's Surprised And Delighted Face) at Mav wearing his Navy dress whites
• Jack and Mav kissing on Mav's motorcycle.
• Jack taking off Mav's aviator sunglasses
• Jack Literally Carrying Mav In His Arms, leather jacket and all, Mav's legs wrapped around his waist, while they make out.
Oblivion (2013)
Jack/Jack
Jack/Vika
Jack & Vika
Jack/Jack/Vika
Jack/Vika/Vika
Julia/Jack 49
Jack 49 is a beautiful man who's had a lot of awful things happen to him. I imagine many other Jacks are equally lovely, and may have suffered just as much.
I love Vika as a character (Original Vika is such a lovely nerd!), but Vika 49 is not good to Jack 49; she canonically shuts him up by coercing him into sex, and by demanding that he kiss her, which he is clearly at least a little, possibly very, uncomfortable with. I really do think Jack 49 is fond of her and into her, but he's also been subject to emotional abuse from her for nearly five years, and that takes a toll.
Julia has so much pain and trauma to deal with, being transplanted in time, learning her husband is dead, so it's easy to see why she was so eager to convince Jack 49 that he is the same as Commander Harper, even though he really isn't.
Thoughts about relationships pre-or during canon:
• Jack 49/Vika 49: Vika (though it's clearly because she has issues of her own) is super controlling toward Jack. He can't tell her anything or talk to her about anything he does or finds or thinks about, because he knows she'll find something about it he 'shouldn't' be thinking or doing; he hides his book and his little forest getaway from her, no matter how badly he clearly wants her to share in them. When he tries, just a little, to get her to see his point of view, she panics and throws his flower away, and he looks so very miserable. In short, I don't think Vika really knows Jack at all - nor does she really know herself at all - and so their relationship ends up more or less inadvertently hurting him. I don't think Vika means to be cruel, but I think she kind of ends up being cruel sometimes anyway, and that's the dynamic I'd love to see explored between these two. Maybe Jack's sick or hurt, and Vika refuses to believe him when he tells her so, and insists on having rough sex anyway. Maybe they're having sex and she ignores him when he asks to stop, or ignores a safeword, and maybe that hurts him physically as well as violating his trust. Maybe she believes that for them to be an 'effective team', she needs to discipline him whenever he does something outside of routine. (Maybe he even liked that to begin with, as a roleplay of sorts, and later realized she didn't quite mean it as roleplay.) Maybe she gaslights him into believing he consented when he didn't. Maybe she's dismissive of his illness or pain or nightmares, but he lives for the few words of comfort she'll bother to give him because he knows it's the best he'll ever get.
(There are some Vika-noncons-Jack prompts in my Consent Issues letter, just in case you'd like to look.)
• Jack 49/Julia: There's genuine feeling between these two, genuine memories, but those memories aren't Jack's own, and so Jack 49 has to come to terms not only with the fact that he's never been loved but that, to Julia, he's a replacement goldfish. There's a reluctance to him when she drags him to bed, a possible feeling that he's being used, and yet he goes along with it for the sake of feeling loved for that one night - and then he gives everything up so everyone but him can live. What's going through Jack 49's head when he's letting Julia love him? Is he desperately drinking in her touch, knowing it was never meant for him? Is he in denial? Half overwhelmed and wanting to stop, but also wanting to go on because he needs to comfort her and keep her safe and happy? Is Julia a gentler domme than Vika, and does it hurt that he never got to receive such gentleness before? Does it hurt that that gentleness was meant for Commander Harper instead of him? What about Jack 52, after the film - does he go through similar things?
Thoughts about relationships post-canon:
• If Jack 49 takes your fancy to write about, I'd love to see him get a happy ending, not die at the end of the film, learn to live again, find his own identity away from people like Vika and Julia who constantly expect him to be someone he's not. I'd love him to come to terms with the fact that Vika 49 was abusive, that what he knew as love from her was not real love at all, that regardless of what her own trauma was it didn't excuse what she put him through, and to maybe recover a little from the pain he suffered at her hands. I'd adore it if 49 could manage to find love with another Jack somewhere.
• I'd love some worldbuilding and exploration of the differences between the various Jacks and Vikas. They probably have different opinions, musical tastes, personal styles - maybe they'd even begun to express them before the Tet came down; it's likely that in the years afterwards they became much more diverse. Maybe a few are permanently injured even, and have (had) to learn to live with and make accommodations for their levels of ability. Maybe some Jack/Jack pairs, Vika/Vika pairs, Jack/Jack/Vika or Jack/Vika/Vika triads find each other and try to rebuild, and take care of each other when they need it.
• I imagine some Vikas may not have been as abusive as Vika 49, but it's also possible there are other Vikas who were worse. Maybe some Jacks stayed with abusive Vikas until they couldn't take any more. Maybe - an exception to my pregnancy/kidfic DNW - maybe there's a Jack/abusive Vika couple who had a child after the Tet fell, and the child was what made Jack realize he had to save them and himself and leave her.
Art prompts!
• Jack 49 asleep in a field of bright red poppies, or asleep in a field of grass while holding a bright red poppy.
• Jack 49 walking with a cane, next to another Jack, who Loves Him
• One or more of the Jacks interacting with one of the drones as though it's a person (the film gives the drones a point of view and treats them as ambiguously sentient, and the Jack we spend most of the film with also treats them as such and often talks to them)
• Jack 49 resting his head on the shoulder of another Jack, who Loves Him
• A Jack with purple streaks in his hair, and his right arm in a sling, snuggling with a Vika who has short, choppy black hair and is dressed in black, and/or with another Jack who has a black cat and is wearing green.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Jack/Ramius, Jack/Mancuso
(It wasn't nominated, but I'd also really love Jack/Ramius/Mancuso!)
I love this version of Jack Ryan so much! I love that he's a strategic expert and knows which hunches to play, but he's not a field agent and knows exactly Fuck All about field operations! I also love his backstory, his lingering PTSD and likely chronic pain from the spinal injury that ended his career as a Marine, and how he ploughs on regardless of how Very Much He Does Not Want To Be Ploughing On.
I also love his instinctive mutual connection with Ramius - how they get each other without having to say much, if at all; how they both quote literature and poetry at the drop of a hat - and his initially rough but soon respectful dynamic with Mancuso: how Mancuso makes sure Jack's okay, warm and dry, and how he comes around to liking him when he realizes he was right. I also love the Ramius-Mancuso dynamic, and the dynamic among all three of them! While I'm not requesting Ramius/Mancuso for this particular exchange, I do love them a lot, and I would super love Ramius/Mancuso/Jack.
Some thoughts and prompts:
• Cold and damp are not great for old injuries and chronic pain, and Jack's had a rough few days. When the action is over and Jack stays on the Red October (and later at a CIA safe house) as Ramius' security detail/fanboy in residence, he tries his best to hide how much he's hurting, but Ramius and/or Mancuso see right through him, and take care of him as best he can with the Red October's medical supplies. (I'd love both Ramius and Mancuso instinctively working together to look after Jack!)
• Jack and Ramius getting to know each other after the film, going fishing, falling in love, reading to each other.
• Jack and Mancuso striking up an acquaintance outside of the mission, seeing each other surprisingly often, falling in love.
• Jack and Ramius, and perhaps Mancuso too, spending some time together in a CIA safe house before debrief, and getting to know each other.
• Ramius and/or Mancuso learning of Jack's back injury, perhaps through Admiral Greer, or perhaps when the weather's bad and Jack's in too much pain to be stoic.
• Ramius and/or Mancuso taking care of Jack with heating pads, medication and such, on days when his back bothers him more than usual.
• On a a cold and miserable day when Jack is hurting, Ramius coaxes him into a hot shower and cups his head against his shoulder while the warmth soaks into his back.
• Jack flings himself into the line of danger again, and gets hurt. Ramius and/or Mancuso are Protective and Furious with whoever let this happen. Jack is nerdy and tired and still worried about whatever problem he threw himself into the fray to solve, and just wants them to hold him, please.
• Future-fic featuring PRESIDENT RYAN and FIRST GENTLEMAN RAMIUS or FIRST GENTLEMAN MANCUSO. An openly queer, Idealistic Nerd president, who suffers chronic pain and perhaps has to use a wheelchair sometimes, and is also an absolute fucking badass who Knows What He's About. And is also a dork. A bear who's a dork. (Their public appearances piss off every single conservative just because they exist, so they basically just don't give a fuck any more and are almost always holding hands or like, kissing each other on the temple, and it's Good.)
Art prompts!
• Forehead kisses! All the forehead kisses. Ramius and/or Mancuso kissing Jack on the forehead.
• Kisses in general! Ramius or Mancuso gently kissing Jack.
• Ramius and/or Mancuso holding Jack's hand(s) on a plane.
• Jack wrapped in a blanket with Ramius and/or Mancuso snuggling him.
• happy, older bear!Jack in a wheelchair with a happy, older Ramius and/or Mancuso beside him - perhaps holding his hand or kissing him.
Thank you once again for creating for me! I hope you have fun with it 💛
I am academicgangster on Tumblr, and simplecoffee on ao3.
So, the thing I love most in fanfic is taking canon character dynamics and just...making them More. Taking them further, exploring their natural progression, in either a gen or a shippy way. I've mentioned the character dynamics and ships I love under each fandom, along with some rambly thoughts and prompts - speaking of which, please feel free to please feel free to pick, choose, mix, match, play with any, all or even none of said prompts, if that's where the muse takes you. <3
I also love hurt/comfort with all my soul, so most of the prompts here will probably contain it to some degree.
I am a-okay with any kind of exploration of character dynamics - h/c, casefic, fluff fic, angst, missing scenes, outsider POV, outsider POV contrasted with canon characters' POV, getting together fic, you name it I love it. I'm also very much okay with or without smut - I like it, but please don't feel pressured to include it or not to include it. If you do feel inclined toward the lovin', I have a preference for a Mature rating over an Explicit rating, but I will likely enjoy whatever rating speaks to you. :D
General likes:
• Hurt/comfort of all stripes - sickfic, injuries, emotional h/c, all of it. (This is my favourite thing in all of fandom. Like, I absolutely live for it. ^^')
• Character studies, exploration of canon character dynamics, fallout of canon trauma
• PTSD, illness messing with a character's grip on reality, combat/mission injuries, scars, old injuries acting up, touch starvation, sensory deprivation / sensory overload, characters not believing they deserve comfort or being surprised to receive comfort, selective mutism, hurting characters choking up at moments when they really need to speak (eg. leader unable to tell their worried team they're fine, submissive unable to safeword), stoic characters breaking down when faced with comfort, subdrop, characters bonding over trauma, characters so used to going through hell alone that they can't wrap their heads around someone wanting to help
• carrying, cuddling, characters wrapping ill/injured characters in soft blankets/clothes/their own jackets (especially jackets that are too big for them!), sweater paws, keeping characters warm, aftercare, forehead kisses, hands and touch
• Earned trust and casual intimacy (characters who know each other well or get to know each other well, clothes sharing, characters only allowing touch from people they trust, etc)
• Pain, bittersweetness, sadness, exploring the darker side and implications of canon is great, but I really need some happiness/comfort and hope along with it!
Sexual likes:
D/s overtones. Femdom. Service subs. Subs With Issues. Praise kink (even without d/s). Hands, fingers, touch; touch starvation. Finger-sucking. Hair petting/brushing. Aftercare. Subdrop and recovery. Tenderness, especially if the person receiving it isn't expecting it, isn't used to it, and it breaks them just a little.
Marking - hickeys/bruising/bite marks; hiding the bruises under clothing. Heavy petting. Scar worship. Suit/uniform kink. Partners reverently undressing each other. Wrists bound or held down. Honour bondage. Careful sex / making out when one partner is hurt or ill and feverish (fever sex is, uh, a Thing of mine). Gentleness, affection, emphasis on touch and texture/physical sensation (clothing porn is so very welcome!). Or rough, desperate, life-affirming sex/making out.
(In certain fandoms, I like the sex rougher, and have some thoughts involving non- or dubcon. There are prompts for those scenarios under those fandoms.)
General DNWs:
• Mundane/depowered/setting change AUs
• Bleak, hopeless endings (as long as there's hope, bittersweet endings are more than fine!)
• Unrequested crossovers and fusions
• Any mention of Mission Impossible 2 canon
• Death of requested characters (even if they died in canon. Alan Hunley Is Alive That's My Story And I'm Sticking To It)
• Non-canonical character death
• Terminal illness
• Permanent injury (exceptions: Collateral, Oblivion, and Jack Ryan's canonical past injury in The Hunt for Red October)
• Gastrointestinal illness (nausea/vomiting is okay but not as a result of GI illness)
• Pregnancy, menstruation
• Infidelity
• For Oblivion, Jack 49/Jack 52
Sexual DNWs:
• Noncon or dubcon, except where noted
• humiliation as a kink, except where noted
• anal, dirty talk, spanking, ageplay, scat, watersports, rimming, emeto, A/B/O, d/s-verse, mommy/daddy kink
And now for some rambling about fandoms and character dynamics, lovely creator!
Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Ethan & or / Hunley
Ethan/Hunley & Luther, Ethan/Hunley & Jane
(Please ignore Hunley's death, and assume he recovers after Fallout! I need him to stay alive, I love him so much.)
I love Ethan and Hunley's dynamic a lot! Hunley spent a lot of time convinced Ethan was paranoid, delusional and dangerous, a broken agent who needed to be contained, but once he actually met him he did a complete turnaround into absolute adoration. He joined the IMF because of him! He tells him so in no uncertain terms in an impassioned speech at the airport in Fallout! And then they clutch at each other like lifelines when (they think) Hunley is dying, and I Cry.
I'm here for the field agent-handler dynamic, platonic or romantic, and for the deep trust-building there has to have been for that dynamic to succeed. How did they get to know each other in the wake of Rogue Nation? (Was Hunley already a little in love with Ethan by then?) How do they gain each other's trust, become affectionate with each other? Does Ethan's seniority in the IMF mean that Hunley, as the Secretary, is his handler - and would that make Hunley the person Ethan calls when a mission goes wrong? Hunley the one to see him at his most vulnerable, Hunley the one to hear please, sir, I'm sick and alone, bring me home? Hunley the one to lend him a jacket in the cold, all while maybe wishing he could wrap him up in his arms? If this is romantic, is Ethan pining in return, or does he just take a while to realize his feelings - and does he reveal said feelings while he's hurt? Is it Hunley, instead, who finally takes the leap and confesses his love while comforting him? Or does he keep quiet because he's worried that Ethan isn't well enough to deal with such a revelation? Do they have to huddle for warmth while trapped somewhere hostile, or share a bed for Reasons? Does Ethan have to protect Hunley in a field situation, while they still don't know each other that well, and then they learn to trust each other that way - or, instead, does it happen while they're in love and don't know it, or don't admit it? Does one of them watch the other sleep - and maybe witness a nightmare?
I'm also super interested in how the Ethan/Hunley dynamic interacts with Luther, or with Jane:
Ethan/Hunley & Luther
Ethan and Luther have a long-standing friendship and intimacy built over twenty years, and while Ethan clearly bears no grudges for the six months Hunley spent trying to chase him down, it's possible Luther would not forgive as easily. Luther refused to work with Hunley when the IMF was shut down in Rogue Nation, and Hunley would have to make a lot of effort to earn his trust, both as Secretary of the reinstated IMF and as Ethan's romantic partner. Perhaps Luther starts to soften toward him when they come home from a stressful mission and he sees how worried Hunley is about Ethan, how fond they are of each other. Perhaps Ethan's hurt or sick and Hunley calls Luther to ask how best to help him.
Ethan/Hunley & Jane
Jane and Ethan don't know each other as deeply as Luther and Ethan do, but Jane is very similar to Ethan in a lot of ways - she's deeply principled, a fantastic field agent, has suffered a great deal of trauma and pain, and is very used to going it alone with little to no support. She is younger and less experienced than Ethan, though, and tends to be hotheaded and fierce - much like him when he was younger, actually - and so it makes sense that canonically, Ethan is a bit of a mentor figure for her, and the only person she's allowed to see her vulnerable, to try and help her grieve for the loved ones she's lost. I don't think that Jane would have agreed to work for the CIA in Rogue Nation - I think she'd have resigned instead, like Luther did, and returned once the IMF was reinstated under Hunley's leadership - and I think she'd be skeptical of Hunley as the Secretary not only because she's loyal to Ethan, but also because his six months chasing Ethan make her doubt that Hunley cares enough about his field agents to ensure their safety. I'd love to see how she deals with that, what advice Ethan gives her if she asks him for support, and how Hunley shows her that he really does care - about the IMF, about saving the world, and about Ethan too.
Ethan & or / Luther
Ethan/Luther & Hunley, Ethan/Luther & Jane
How do I love Ethan and Luther's adoration for each other? Let me count the ways. ("What's up, baby?" "Hey, man.")
These two have known each other since MI: 1, and they've been so deeply fond of each other and loyal to each other ever since. Luther calls Ethan 'baby' twice! He's also the only one apart from Julia, Ethan's canon wife (now ex), who gets to see Ethan truly vulnerable and take care of him when he is; for everyone else in the team, Ethan does his best to be stoic and strong and not reveal much when he's a mess, but Luther's been around long enough to see right through him, and romantic or not, Ethan clearly loves him enough not to mind. I'm pretty sure Luther is the only one of the current team to have seen Ethan cry, and he's definitely the only one to have had Ethan literally cling to him like a lifeline. They get each other on a deep, instinctive, nonverbal level; if their love becomes romantic, it's certainly built on the years and years of platonic devotion that came before.
I'd love something exploring their friendship, their quiet intimacy, perhaps with the others noticing that Luther is the only one Ethan allows to really take care of him - that they are the two who know each other best, and support each other without having to say much about it. Luther comforting Ethan when he's hurt would be great, perhaps stitching him up when the mission's over, or perhaps talking him down from a flashback or fever dream while the rest of the team can only stand by unnerved at seeing their leader feeling that bad.
If the romantic route speaks to you, I'd love absolutely anything all the way from MI: 1 to the present. Perhaps Luther comforting Ethan when he's shaken and hurt and scared after MI: 1, or them getting to know each other on field missions together after MI:1 and before MI: III, or something exploring Luther pining for Ethan since before MI: III, shelving his feelings once Ethan married Julia, and then, after Ghost Protocol, realizing he still loves him and he maybe still has a chance. Or maybe they don't get together till after Ethan nearly drowns in Rogue Nation, or after they all nearly die in Fallout. How does Luther feel about their casual intimacy on missions, about the fact that they know each other better than anyone else in the IMF can even pretend to? Is there a level of bittersweetness to the sweet things they do - to Ethan wearing his coat, or falling asleep exhausted in his arms, or knowing how he likes his coffee, even after all these years?
Maybe Ethan gets a clue while he's recovering from a particularly traumatic mission, or maybe they spend some time on vacation together and get a mutual clue. Maybe, since Luther is the only one Ethan canonically trusts to hold him when it counts, he's called in to help when Ethan's injured or delirious and no one else can get through to him, and it leads to love confessions, as things do. Maybe, when Luther finally works up the courage to say his piece, it turns out Ethan's been wondering similar things, and can barely believe his luck.
I'm also fascinated by how the Ethan/Luther dynamic would interact with Hunley, or with Jane:
Ethan/Luther & Hunley
Luther refused point blank to work with the CIA under Hunley, and is fiercely protective of Ethan to the extent that I'm pretty sure if he and Ethan were together, once the IMF was reinstated he would find all the quiet, maliciously-compliant ways to make Hunley's life miserable in retribution for the six months he spent trying to chase Ethan down. Hunley would have to prove himself to him - and (from his obvious fondness for Ethan in Fallout) I think he'd be readily willing to do so - but what would it take to convince Luther he's genuinely sorry for what he did? How can he prove he really has their best interests at heart?
Ethan/Luther & Jane
Jane, being similar to Ethan, is a bit of a stoic, lone-wolf type, and has dealt with a lot of pain, and probably has some trouble being vulnerable. How does she deal with seeing the quiet intimacy and love that Ethan and Luther share? Do they give her hope for herself? Does she just bask in their mutual affection? Do they take care of her and the entire team while taking care of each other?
Ethan/Hunley/Luther
luther-i-want-to-kiss-your-boyfriend-on-the-mouth.jpg (...it's an incorrect quote from 30 Rock, sorry to disappoint)
Anyway, I love all three of these characters so much, and I love Ethan/Luther and Ethan/Hunley a lot - and I think the triad could work. We don't get to see Luther and Hunley interact much, and we know that Luther's fiercely protective of Ethan and therefore can't stand Hunley in Rogue Nation, but we do see in Fallout that Hunley deeply adores Ethan, which I think could have won Luther over to his side. Perhaps Luther and Ethan were already together before Rogue Nation, and Luther noticed Hunley pining after Ethan, eventually discussing it with Ethan and deciding to ask him to join them. Or perhaps they all had an awakening after nearly dying in Fallout. I'd love an exploration of how they could have got together, or an established relationship fic where they all look after each other when things go wrong, or Hunley and Luther joining forces to take care of Ethan when he's injured or protect him from intelligence community brass, or even just all of them mildly bickering about who gets to snuggle whom.
Ethan & or / Sidorov
okay so I love Sidorov and his arc so much, I love his grudging (later not so grudging) respect for Ethan, and I love how Ethan tried so hard not to have to hurt him but had to kick his ass anyway, and I love how that's all in a day's work for them both and there are zero hard feelings afterwards. Except possibly in another sense of 'hard feelings', if you know what I mean. 😏
So, I'd love to see what happens the next time they meet after Ghost Protocol. Is it off-duty? A coincidence? A date? Is it on a mission, when Sidorov is investigating suspicious activity and suddenly That Annoyingly Sunshine-Faced American shows up? Or maybe the annoyingly sunshine-faced American is not so sunshine-faced at the moment and Sidorov has to stop him being tortured by his (Sidorov's) own Russian colleagues? Do they run into each other at an airport, or a train station or other transit area, and Ethan is too sick or too badly hurt to be able to conceal it from a fellow agent like Sidorov? Does Ethan seek Sidorov out during the six months he spends on the run tracking the Syndicate in Rogue Nation? Do they swap spy stories, scar stories, love stories? Do they develop a strong and lasting friendship along the way? Do they fall in love along the way?
Ethan & the IMF Team, Ethan & Jane
Despite its persistently, defiantly sunny worldview - which is the thing about it that I love most - MI has a lot of darkness hovering beneath the surface, so I'd love to see some of that explored. Show me a mission gone wrong, where Ethan gets hurt or his cover gets blown or he has to try and sacrifice himself to buy time for the team to save the world. Show me Ethan and Jane holding each other in fear while they wait for a go sign. Show me Luther talking soothingly to Ethan over the radio to keep him conscious when he's hurt or sick and hovering on the verge of delirium. Show me what it looks like and how it feels when Ethan takes care of the rest of his team so much that it takes a toll on his own health. Show me Ethan bringing his team home to Hunley, exhausted and hurt, and Hunley making sure they're all okay before even thinking about the debrief. Show me all their nightmares when they're alone, and if the dreams are different when they're together.
Or, alternatively, lean into the sunshine! Show me the characters' love for each other in the everyday. Show me them knowing each other's orders at breakfast places after missions. Show me Ethan falling asleep on Luther's shoulder, wearing Jane's sweater, Benji's scarf and Brandt's sunglasses. Show me a careful cuddle pile after a mission where they thought they wouldn't make it out alive. Hell, show me Luther comforting Ethan while he's shaken and hurting and scared after the very first movie. Ethan comforting Jane over Hanaway, because he knows how much it hurts to lose loved ones. An off-mission day when someone hears Ethan's called in sick to HQ and the whole team shows up at his apartment to make sure he's okay. Luther, Benji, Brandt, Jane and Hunley joining forces to make sure their adorable dumbass field ops leader gets some goddamn rest.
Ethan/Max
God, I love the sparks between these two in MI: 1 so much, and I love how on seeing Ethan's face Max is immediately The Most Domme, and Ethan's Sub Instincts visibly kick in the moment he sees her, too. So my prompt for them is basically: Max Doms The Hell Out Of Ethan. Max as an experienced, gentle but authoritative domme, and Ethan as a much less experienced but very eager service sub, Max being able to tell that Ethan's traumatized, even if she doesn't know the specifics, and by domming him, essentially offering to help him feel safe for a few hours, complete with lots of praise.
Maybe Max takes Ethan out to dinner or the opera or something equally opulent and befitting her position in high society, and spoils him rotten for the night; what's Max's belongs to Max, and nobody gets to touch him but her. Especially if he's fresh from a mission and hurt or ill, but still all gentlemanly and suited up and so very eager to take her arm and be a Good Lil Service Sub for her. Maybe she'll keep him protectively close at her side all evening, gently clean blood off his injured face and hands with her handkerchief, make sure to let him know how very good he's being, and then bind his wrists or cover his eyes with his own necktie in the bedroom later.
...Or maybe they just fall into bed, and it just so happens that Max is completely in control, as Max is wont to be. And Max, good at being gentle but firm, can tell when a sub is hurting, or when they want to safeword but don't, or when they want to keep going but are too injured or sick to make it much further, and she breaks the scene to give Ethan the comfort he needs, even if she may never know what caused the hurt.
Art prompts!
• Ethan generally being Smol compared to most everyone else. (He's 5'7" to Hunley and Luther's 6', Jane's 5'10" plus heels, and Max's 5'11" plus heels! SMOL. He could fit nicely under their chins while hugging them, or have his head cradled against their shoulders. Or, if he were kissing them, he'd have to stand on tiptoe.)
(Ethan's also left-handed, a little detail I love)
• FOREHEAD KISSES. ALL THE FOREHEAD KISSES. Any requested character combination goes, as long as Ethan is involved. Anyone doing the kissing, and anyone being kissed.
• Hand kisses. Ethan kissing Hunley's hand, or Hunley kissing Ethan's. Ethan kissing Luther's hand, or Luther kissing Ethan's. Ethan kissing Max's hand while kneeling for her or dressed to the nines, or Max kissing Ethan's hand while tying him down.
• Collarbone kisses, through fabric or perhaps with the character's shirt unbuttoned but still on. Here too, I love Ethan as either receiver or giver.
• Just...kisses in general. Pls I am so soft for all these pairings
• Hunley awkwardly comforting Ethan when he's ill, like in the famous 30 Rock scene (gif of that scene, stills of it) - bonus for Hunley later also comforting Ethan properly, holding him snuggled against his shoulder or with his head in his lap, once they've got to know each other better.
• Ethan clutching a cough buddy bear to his chest after Fallout - he broke a few ribs at the end there, and it's going to hurt to breathe for a while. (I'll love you forever anyway, but I'll love you forever if Luther or Hunley are there comforting him too - though perhaps Hunley would need an IV or medical paraphernalia of his own after the film.)
• Ethan cradling Hunley's head in his lap while they're both injured and recovering after Fallout.
• Ethan hanging out with Luther or one of the others while wearing one of these truly terrible shirts.
• Hunley towering gently over Ethan while he kisses him, like Alec Baldwin is doing with Salma Hayek here (still, gif)
• Luther picking Ethan up for a hug, and Ethan clinging while hugging him back.
• Luther gently unbuttoning Ethan's shirt.
• Ethan hanging out with Luther or Hunley, being cute and domestic together, maybe having coffee, while wearing a shirt, sweater or jacket that clearly belongs to that person (because it's much too big for him).
• Ethan sleeping on a couch under Hunley's suit jacket, maybe with Hunley feeling his forehead.
• Ethan kneeling reverently at Max's feet, looking up at her (perhaps with her undoing his shirt, or perhaps with her tying him in shibari, or perhaps with his wrists bound behind him with his own tie).
• Luther, Hunley, Jane or Sidorov patching up a hurt Ethan.
• Ethan patching up a hurt Jane. (super bonus if they're both wearing suits!)
• Ethan wearing sunglasses and hiding his face against Luther, Hunley, Sidorov, Jane or Max's shoulder.
• Hunley or Luther bridal-carrying Ethan, who's sick or hurt.
• Ethan and Sidorov taking a selfie with a calico cat.
• Ethan and Jane getting mildly drunk together at a bar after a stressful mission.
Collateral (2004)
Vincent/Max, Vincent & Max
(This fandom is an exception to my humiliation DNW if you'd like Max to humiliate Vincent, but I'd prefer it to actually trigger/traumatize the humiliated character in addition to them getting off on it.)
God these characters are so fucked up. Vincent is a terrible person, and yet you kind of feel for him; Max is a sad bean who never asked to be caught up in any of this, and yet somehow finds it in himself to kick ass. Please tell me more about these messed up people, and/or about them getting it on in the most messed up ways. I'm a-okay with it either being during the film, or after the film in a universe where Vincent doesn't die.
Some thoughts and prompts:
• Vincent's a dick, to put it mildly, but there's an angle or two from which he's...really fucking tragic? When you start to see him coming undone, you really see him coming undone. We know a few things about him - that he's been passed around between foster homes and an abusive dad, and that he was military or a military contractor before he became a hitman. Tell me about those things, about the core of humanity he used to have, or maybe still has somewhere and that surfaces at inconvenient times like that moment of eye contact between him and Max at the nightclub.
• Vincent survives the MTA, somehow, and eventually finds to his utter dismay that he's grown a conscience of some kind. It's not like, the greatest conscience, and he's good at stamping it down, but it's there and he hates it. Maybe while healing up and having these revelations, he receives a bunch of flowers identical to the ones he bought Max's mother. (Maybe it even comes with a card for the Island Limo Company.)
• Vincent And Max Getting It On In All The Rough, Fucked Up Ways, during or after the film. Maybe one or both of them are drugged or drunk or high, maybe Vincent's sick or injured so badly he's hallucinating and isn't sure Max is real. Maybe they use banging each other as an excuse to talk out or fuck out their various issues, like Max's with his limo company and Vincent's with his father. Vincent is definitely a masochist; maybe he's surprisingly eager to please, and Max uses that to get revenge for everything Vincent put him through in the film. Maybe he does that by hurting him, or maybe he does it by getting him to confess to (or just talk about) all the times he's been vulnerable in the past. Maybe Vincent's time in the military comes up, in a kinky context or an angsty, bitter context, or both. Maybe they walk away weirdly healed...or maybe just bleeding and ripped apart.
I'd like whatever they do to be more or less consensual, if not necessarily safe or sane - they could be drunk, drugged or (as mentioned above) Vincent may be hallucinating and not entirely conscious. I don't want either of them to hold disproportionate power over the other - as Max established in the second half of the film, the leash very much goes both ways. (Also Vincent is weirdly fucking principled for a hitman and I could see him as being laughably obsessed with consent, so make of that what you will.)
Some additional Max/Vincent prompts (from my Consent Issues letter):
• I am here for delicious, delicious mutual dubcon. Vincent doesn't know what he sees in this sad, unambitious taxi driver; Max doesn't know why he's considering getting it on with a literal contract killer.
• One or the other of them says something about hating that they find the other attractive, and they somehow end up kissing.
• Vincent kisses Max to avoid being identified while the area they're in is being searched by cops, or someone mistakes the two of them as being in a relationship and the next thing they know they're keeping up the cover.
• Or Max grabs one of Vincent's guns but can't bring himself to shoot him, and Vincent takes advantage of Max's indecision and kisses him.
• Or Max grabs one of Vincent's guns and demands he kiss him, just to humiliate him, but it turns out Vincent's kinda getting off on it instead. And then Max realizes he's getting off on it too despite feeling terrible about getting off on it.
• Vincent pretends to be a dom, but the facade just...slowly erodes, and eventually Max dominates the fuck out of Vincent. There might be a whole lot of mutual biting and scratching.
• Max's main goal is still to utterly humiliate Vincent, so he forces Vincent to admit to past trauma / abuse he went through in foster homes / perhaps even suicide attempts.
• Vincent pretends this doesn't fuck him up, but fucks Max up in return by talking about his sad dreams for his limo company and how he's lying to his mom about it all.
• Max holds Vincent down, and holds a hand over his mouth when he talks too much.
And, finally, my Max/Vincent Consent Issues tag cloud; Vincent alone or Max/Vincent Darkest Night tag cloud
Art prompts!
• Vincent stitching up his own wounds alone, possibly not doing a great job of it. (Possibly drunk.)
• Max undressing Vincent, finding him littered with scars.
• Max and Vincent generally Making Out Roughly, perhaps with Vincent handcuffed to something, or perhaps with Max holding a knife to Vincent's throat.
• Vincent waking up in hospital to a bunch of flowers and a card from the Island Limo Company.
Crossover Fandom
Maverick Mitchell (Top Gun) / Jack Donaghy (30 Rock)
Jack Donaghy: horny, attractive, very stupid
Maverick Mitchell: horny, attractive, very stupid
That's it. That's the basis of this pairing. That and Jack canonically saying the following to Lemon in a sexy, awestruck whisper: "[thing] would be intensely erotic...like Steve McQueen on a motorcycle. He had a leather jacket." And, well, Maverick Mitchell has a motorcycle and a leather jacket. (And a pair of striking blue eyes, Steve McQueen style. Though Jack would never consider them more striking than his own.)
So yeah, basically these two would be a truly incredible combined level of Horny-Pretty-And-Stupid in the same room. I don't think they could possibly keep their hands off each other for more than like...six hours after they first meet. Tell me about that! Show me that! (Seriously, please show me that.) But also, there are some differences between them that could be intriguing, dynamic-wise - Jack is socially savvy and extremely manipulative (but is secretly super caring and soft), while Mav (though he is a bit self-centred) wears his big damn generous affectionate heart openly on his sleeve, and is given to taking everything in good faith and therefore vulnerable to manipulation. (Mav is also much more likely to punch things out instead of talking, a philosophy Jack only subscribes to when drunk.)
Here are some more specific prompts -
• Honestly, just tell me about these two absolute idiots seeing each other and immediately not being able to resist each other. Jack seeing this small, fighty, charming dude in a leather jacket and aviator sunglasses and immediately having An Crisis. Mav being weak for tall, strong dudes who could throw him into walls if he asked for it. One or both of them shooting their mouth off like the cocky bastards they are, or just both of them flirting outrageously in front of Lemon, Jonathan, and/or the TGS crew. One of them eventually shoving the other up against a wall in Jack's office, or getting hot and heavy on a couch.
• (These two both give off incredible amounts of Sub Energy with other people; since they're not d/s compatible they'd probably just lay off the power exchange dynamic altogether. Or...they might switch.)
• Jack manhandling Mav a bit, while also kind of worried he might break him because he's small, and apologizing when he bruises him by being a little too rough. Mav being kind of a masochist and very into the pain when things get rough.
• Jack dealing with everyone else's surprise at his being with a dude, Jack style (ie. shamelessly and with Business Strategy Advice Soundbites.)
• Jack TMI-ing about his and Mav's sexual trysts to Lemon, who is horrified but also fascinated, because Mav is attractive and does have a nice leather jacket but also Jack is her boss and does she really want to be thinking about him frenching a navy officer, c'mon.
• Mav being Jack's first male partner, and so being more experienced with dudes than Jack is, and being very chill about it while Jack hates that there's Something Jack Donaghy Doesn't Know. Bonus for Jack being delighted that they are A Twink and A Bear.
• Jack being cuddly as fuck and slightly ashamed of it, and being surprised that Mav is also cuddly as fuck, actually, and not ashamed of it.
• Jack is all about flaunting his """friendship'""' with a Navy officer for social cred. It's all fun and games until something triggers Mav into an unexpected nightmare or PTSD flashback of some sort (perhaps to Goose's death), while Jack happens to be there to see it. Jack has to deal with it, and with him being apologetic about it. Does he fail utterly at comforting him, or does he acquit himself surprisingly well? (Does he surprise himself by actually caring about Mav's wellbeing as a person, rather than just a hot dude to kiss, flaunt and have sex with?)
Art prompts!
• Jack and Mav kissing in an elevator (Mav would probably have to tiptoe)
• Jack with his hands on Mav's shoulders, under his leather jacket.
• Jack looking surprised and delighted (link to Jack's Surprised And Delighted Face) at Mav wearing his Navy dress whites
• Jack and Mav kissing on Mav's motorcycle.
• Jack taking off Mav's aviator sunglasses
• Jack Literally Carrying Mav In His Arms, leather jacket and all, Mav's legs wrapped around his waist, while they make out.
Oblivion (2013)
Jack/Jack
Jack/Vika
Jack & Vika
Jack/Jack/Vika
Jack/Vika/Vika
Julia/Jack 49
Jack 49 is a beautiful man who's had a lot of awful things happen to him. I imagine many other Jacks are equally lovely, and may have suffered just as much.
I love Vika as a character (Original Vika is such a lovely nerd!), but Vika 49 is not good to Jack 49; she canonically shuts him up by coercing him into sex, and by demanding that he kiss her, which he is clearly at least a little, possibly very, uncomfortable with. I really do think Jack 49 is fond of her and into her, but he's also been subject to emotional abuse from her for nearly five years, and that takes a toll.
Julia has so much pain and trauma to deal with, being transplanted in time, learning her husband is dead, so it's easy to see why she was so eager to convince Jack 49 that he is the same as Commander Harper, even though he really isn't.
Thoughts about relationships pre-or during canon:
• Jack 49/Vika 49: Vika (though it's clearly because she has issues of her own) is super controlling toward Jack. He can't tell her anything or talk to her about anything he does or finds or thinks about, because he knows she'll find something about it he 'shouldn't' be thinking or doing; he hides his book and his little forest getaway from her, no matter how badly he clearly wants her to share in them. When he tries, just a little, to get her to see his point of view, she panics and throws his flower away, and he looks so very miserable. In short, I don't think Vika really knows Jack at all - nor does she really know herself at all - and so their relationship ends up more or less inadvertently hurting him. I don't think Vika means to be cruel, but I think she kind of ends up being cruel sometimes anyway, and that's the dynamic I'd love to see explored between these two. Maybe Jack's sick or hurt, and Vika refuses to believe him when he tells her so, and insists on having rough sex anyway. Maybe they're having sex and she ignores him when he asks to stop, or ignores a safeword, and maybe that hurts him physically as well as violating his trust. Maybe she believes that for them to be an 'effective team', she needs to discipline him whenever he does something outside of routine. (Maybe he even liked that to begin with, as a roleplay of sorts, and later realized she didn't quite mean it as roleplay.) Maybe she gaslights him into believing he consented when he didn't. Maybe she's dismissive of his illness or pain or nightmares, but he lives for the few words of comfort she'll bother to give him because he knows it's the best he'll ever get.
(There are some Vika-noncons-Jack prompts in my Consent Issues letter, just in case you'd like to look.)
• Jack 49/Julia: There's genuine feeling between these two, genuine memories, but those memories aren't Jack's own, and so Jack 49 has to come to terms not only with the fact that he's never been loved but that, to Julia, he's a replacement goldfish. There's a reluctance to him when she drags him to bed, a possible feeling that he's being used, and yet he goes along with it for the sake of feeling loved for that one night - and then he gives everything up so everyone but him can live. What's going through Jack 49's head when he's letting Julia love him? Is he desperately drinking in her touch, knowing it was never meant for him? Is he in denial? Half overwhelmed and wanting to stop, but also wanting to go on because he needs to comfort her and keep her safe and happy? Is Julia a gentler domme than Vika, and does it hurt that he never got to receive such gentleness before? Does it hurt that that gentleness was meant for Commander Harper instead of him? What about Jack 52, after the film - does he go through similar things?
Thoughts about relationships post-canon:
• If Jack 49 takes your fancy to write about, I'd love to see him get a happy ending, not die at the end of the film, learn to live again, find his own identity away from people like Vika and Julia who constantly expect him to be someone he's not. I'd love him to come to terms with the fact that Vika 49 was abusive, that what he knew as love from her was not real love at all, that regardless of what her own trauma was it didn't excuse what she put him through, and to maybe recover a little from the pain he suffered at her hands. I'd adore it if 49 could manage to find love with another Jack somewhere.
• I'd love some worldbuilding and exploration of the differences between the various Jacks and Vikas. They probably have different opinions, musical tastes, personal styles - maybe they'd even begun to express them before the Tet came down; it's likely that in the years afterwards they became much more diverse. Maybe a few are permanently injured even, and have (had) to learn to live with and make accommodations for their levels of ability. Maybe some Jack/Jack pairs, Vika/Vika pairs, Jack/Jack/Vika or Jack/Vika/Vika triads find each other and try to rebuild, and take care of each other when they need it.
• I imagine some Vikas may not have been as abusive as Vika 49, but it's also possible there are other Vikas who were worse. Maybe some Jacks stayed with abusive Vikas until they couldn't take any more. Maybe - an exception to my pregnancy/kidfic DNW - maybe there's a Jack/abusive Vika couple who had a child after the Tet fell, and the child was what made Jack realize he had to save them and himself and leave her.
Art prompts!
• Jack 49 asleep in a field of bright red poppies, or asleep in a field of grass while holding a bright red poppy.
• Jack 49 walking with a cane, next to another Jack, who Loves Him
• One or more of the Jacks interacting with one of the drones as though it's a person (the film gives the drones a point of view and treats them as ambiguously sentient, and the Jack we spend most of the film with also treats them as such and often talks to them)
• Jack 49 resting his head on the shoulder of another Jack, who Loves Him
• A Jack with purple streaks in his hair, and his right arm in a sling, snuggling with a Vika who has short, choppy black hair and is dressed in black, and/or with another Jack who has a black cat and is wearing green.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Jack/Ramius, Jack/Mancuso
(It wasn't nominated, but I'd also really love Jack/Ramius/Mancuso!)
I love this version of Jack Ryan so much! I love that he's a strategic expert and knows which hunches to play, but he's not a field agent and knows exactly Fuck All about field operations! I also love his backstory, his lingering PTSD and likely chronic pain from the spinal injury that ended his career as a Marine, and how he ploughs on regardless of how Very Much He Does Not Want To Be Ploughing On.
I also love his instinctive mutual connection with Ramius - how they get each other without having to say much, if at all; how they both quote literature and poetry at the drop of a hat - and his initially rough but soon respectful dynamic with Mancuso: how Mancuso makes sure Jack's okay, warm and dry, and how he comes around to liking him when he realizes he was right. I also love the Ramius-Mancuso dynamic, and the dynamic among all three of them! While I'm not requesting Ramius/Mancuso for this particular exchange, I do love them a lot, and I would super love Ramius/Mancuso/Jack.
Some thoughts and prompts:
• Cold and damp are not great for old injuries and chronic pain, and Jack's had a rough few days. When the action is over and Jack stays on the Red October (and later at a CIA safe house) as Ramius' security detail/fanboy in residence, he tries his best to hide how much he's hurting, but Ramius and/or Mancuso see right through him, and take care of him as best he can with the Red October's medical supplies. (I'd love both Ramius and Mancuso instinctively working together to look after Jack!)
• Jack and Ramius getting to know each other after the film, going fishing, falling in love, reading to each other.
• Jack and Mancuso striking up an acquaintance outside of the mission, seeing each other surprisingly often, falling in love.
• Jack and Ramius, and perhaps Mancuso too, spending some time together in a CIA safe house before debrief, and getting to know each other.
• Ramius and/or Mancuso learning of Jack's back injury, perhaps through Admiral Greer, or perhaps when the weather's bad and Jack's in too much pain to be stoic.
• Ramius and/or Mancuso taking care of Jack with heating pads, medication and such, on days when his back bothers him more than usual.
• On a a cold and miserable day when Jack is hurting, Ramius coaxes him into a hot shower and cups his head against his shoulder while the warmth soaks into his back.
• Jack flings himself into the line of danger again, and gets hurt. Ramius and/or Mancuso are Protective and Furious with whoever let this happen. Jack is nerdy and tired and still worried about whatever problem he threw himself into the fray to solve, and just wants them to hold him, please.
• Future-fic featuring PRESIDENT RYAN and FIRST GENTLEMAN RAMIUS or FIRST GENTLEMAN MANCUSO. An openly queer, Idealistic Nerd president, who suffers chronic pain and perhaps has to use a wheelchair sometimes, and is also an absolute fucking badass who Knows What He's About. And is also a dork. A bear who's a dork. (Their public appearances piss off every single conservative just because they exist, so they basically just don't give a fuck any more and are almost always holding hands or like, kissing each other on the temple, and it's Good.)
Art prompts!
• Forehead kisses! All the forehead kisses. Ramius and/or Mancuso kissing Jack on the forehead.
• Kisses in general! Ramius or Mancuso gently kissing Jack.
• Ramius and/or Mancuso holding Jack's hand(s) on a plane.
• Jack wrapped in a blanket with Ramius and/or Mancuso snuggling him.
• happy, older bear!Jack in a wheelchair with a happy, older Ramius and/or Mancuso beside him - perhaps holding his hand or kissing him.
Thank you once again for creating for me! I hope you have fun with it 💛
