Lev / m_madeleine

Dear writer, welcome to my letter! You can also find me on AO3 as m_madeleine. I'm really excited that you're writing for me. Pining is probably my favorite trope ever, so I hope this long long letter will be helpful to you :D

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General Likes & Smut Likes
DNWs

Emma (2020) (Emma Woodhouse/George Knightley)
Wings (1927) (David Armstrong/Jack Powell)
Top Gun (1986) (Ice/Slider, Ice/Slider/Maverick)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) (Harry/Perry, Harmony/Harry/Perry)

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General Likes

• Any rating and length! I like long meaty casefic and getting together fic and drawn out porn, but I also love shorter stories, snapshots that explore just one moment in time, like a first kiss or a painful realization, etc.
• Pining (duh). Bring the angst!
• Angst, generally! Sadness, unhappiness, jealousy, anger, all great! Just heed the grimdark ending DNW
• UST. Characters noticing appealing things about each other, maybe at inopportune times, being unsure about the other person feeling the same or not and keeping themselves from acting on their attraction, or feeling mutual attraction that scares them for some reason, etc.
• Any AUs mentioned in the fandom sections, usually canon divergence AUs and magic/supernatural AUs that build on the existing setting
• Hurt/Comfort. Characters worrying for each other when injured, rescuing each other, trying their best to comfort even if they or their partner aren't good with feelings, etc
• Tropes! Huddling for warmth, locked in together, encounters with sex pollen or tentacle monsters
• Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers (to Friends)
• Canon-specific imagery, setting details and description

Smut likes

• Anywhere from consensual to dub con. Feel free to make it conflicted and complicated
• Vaginal sex, anal sex, anal play, object insertion, fingering
• Oral of any kind, including rimming
• Multiple orgams (only for characters with vaginas)
• Frottage
• Barebacking, comeplay, facials
• Choking, facefucking, double penetration of the “two in one hole” kind
• Rough sex: throwing each other around, good old fashioned wall-slamming, bruising, marking, physical altercations getting sexy, holding each other down, hair pulling
• But also making out, lazy frottage, taking the time to explore various body parts, slow and gentle -- or slow and forceful
• Meaningful touches, not necessarily only of traditionally erogenous zones
• Characters feeling overwhelmed/overstimulated
• Informal D/S overtones and elements
• Tentacle porn & sex pollen

DNWs

• Permanent character death of requested characters
• Underage, focus on age gap between characters
• Torture, graphic violence, gore
• Body modifications, body horror
• Pregnancy (mentions of background characters being pregnant is okay!)
• De-aging, kid fic
• Unrequested AUs, including A/B/O
• Bleak, hopeless endings. Angstyness is okay, but please resolve it positively
• Sickfic in general and references to COVID-19 (and the lockdown/quarantine-like situations) in particular. Unwellness as a result of (non-graphic) injuries is fine
• Rule 63/genderswap
• Non-canon pet names/nicknames
• Epithets (such as “the other man” or “the brunette”)
• Smut DNWs:
• Anal tearing and generally sex-related injuries
• Kink and safeword negotiations, dirty talk
• Daddy/mommy kink
• Scat, emetophilia, watersports
• Sounding
• Orgasm denial
• Fandom specific DNWs for Emma:
• Romani people (or any other ethnic or religious minorities) as source of magic
• D/S elements with Knightley as the dom
• Any character death, even of background characters


• AUs (especially in historical canons and historical AUs) where homophobia doesn’t exist. You don’t have to go in on the angst, but I’d prefer no gay marriage being possible in periods where it historically wasn’t, for example. Some characters are obviously more ready to break taboos than others, so ymmv, but please keep societal context in mind


• Focus on a character’s childhood or family life, unless it’s already a focus of canon. If you’re unsure, I’d say the rule of thumb is to keep close to the extent of the canon. For example, if it’s a canon where no one ever talks about their parents, I’d prefer it at a minimum in fic too. If the canon does have some mentions of their parents and what they were like, etc, I’m fine with references to it, but I’d prefer it to not become an important part of the story.


• Non-canon backstory for characters. AUs obviously require some world building, but “flashbacks to Maverick’s daemon settling” or “Ice was born on this and that space colony before he became a space pilot“ is different to me than “Perry is an ex-cop” or “Slider’s mom was abusive”. This one’s a bit wishy-washy, I realize, so please don’t stress over it too much. Generally, unless explicitly requested, I’m more interested in the characters’ here and now, whether for AUs or canon verse, and I hope my prompts reflect that

For the last, wordier DNWs, I hope the examples were helpful. If there’s something particular you’re worried about, feel free to ask through the mods!

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Emma (2020)

Emma Woodhouse/George Knightley (both pining, George Knightley pining)
Eventually requited


I loved how much pining this adaptation gave us -- and yet I still want more! Emma and Knightley were both so taken aback by their feelings, and especially Knightley’s longing was stronger than ever (The ball scene! Knightley running all the way to Emma’s house! His frustrated undressing! Ahhh!) I loved how Knightley takes Emma very seriously and this adaptation has really shown me how his criticism of her is born out of love. I like that Emma can be genuinely beastly sometimes, but also believes in doing good by people, and they have a great friendship.

I don’t have buff-level regency knowledge, so don’t worry about getting every detail right, but I do appreciate the setting and totally welcome setting exploration and details if you’re so inclined. I’d be very happy with angst, but also with light humor, which I really enjoyed about this movie’s tone. Feel free to extend some canon scenes, add more introspection or missing scenes, I really felt like the pining went by too quickly :( But I’d also be really excited for any of the AU freeforms below. No need to do a lot of world building on regency magic if you don’t want to, I’m perfectly happy with it coming out of nowhere.

To elaborate on the underage and age gap DNW: General references to Emma and Knightley having known each other for a long time are a-okay, but Knightley explicitly remembering Emma being a child is not at all my thing, as well as lingering descriptions of one being older or younger than the other, I liked that the movie didn’t emphasize it at all. Fandom specific porn likes: You don’t have to go porny at all here, I really enjoy all the pre-marriage courtship rituals. If you do, I’d prefer it a bit gentler for this canon than my general porn likes up above, though still totally passionate :)

Canon-verse freeforms (can be mixed with any AU obviously!)

• Mixed Signals Confuses Characters On Whether Feelings Are Requited
• Tries to Confess but Keeps Getting Interrupted by Circumstances
• epistolary pining
• Character A Pines For Character B Not Realizing It's Requited
• Character A pines for close friend who is unaware
• Character apologizes for pining
• Character A pining silently so Character B won't feel guilty for not returning their affections
• A pining because they think B is pining for someone else
• Character A has never been in love before and so doesn't immediately recognize the feeling
• Character silently pines for someone due to fear of ruining their existing relationship
• Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them
• Guilt over enjoying friendly hugs/physical closeness too much
• Obviously hugs would be off-limits, but I’d love more dancing! Or a H/C scenario where some socially frowned-upon touching might have to occur

AU freeforms

• Love spell/potion prompts feelings reveal
• Character(s) cannot express their feelings due to magic and/or curse
• Character A pines for spouse in marriage of convenience
• Maybe a marriage between Emma and Knightley was thought prudent earlier, for whichever reason!

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Wings (1927)

David/Jack (David pining)
Eventually requited


This movie was a revelation! I love war narratives and pilots and tragic gay feels and this had it all! Jack’s brash emotionality and David’s quietness make for such a great contrast (I loved their fight scene). Their development from enemies to friends is adorable and I appreciate the humorous elements, but I also love the angst and the drama. Feel free to lean into the emotional fraughtness of the war setting.

I’m always super into dynamics of homosocial spaces in general. I’d prefer something during their Air Force days (or after) over something back at their hometown, but feel free to flash back to it! I’m not particularly invested in their love triangle with the girl back home, so I don’t mind if you ignore it, though feel free to mine it for angst! I would absolutely love basic training shenanigans, or anything set during their deployment. Pining in their shared tent, in communal bathroom facilities (sneaking peaks maybe?), in Paris during leave, at the front, in the air, etc.

I’m mainly here for David fix-it, tbh! Even if your idea is more focused on the basic training part of the movie, I would like some assurance that David survives, please! Maybe there’s a bit of a medical miracle during his death scene….or maybe Jack flew out behind enemy lines to find him or just recognized him in the plane, wherever you want to canon-diverge there. Maybe David did actually get taken as a POW instead. Or maybe Jack’s the one who got shot down, if you wanna roleswap! I requested a couple of freeforms that might fit this. David might’ve been less of a hotshot about chasing down the plane and everything might’ve been less dramatic. Or maybe they both got shot down together and have to figure out a way back together! Scenes back at their hometown post-war also welcome.

If you wanna go for something AU-y, I nominated a psychic link freeform, because drift-compatibility-like AUs are my THING for pilot canons. No freeforms for that, but I also love daemon AUs/His Dark Materials fusions, so feel free! Any kind of magical fusion AU (except soulmate AUs) that adds onto the historical setting is welcome.

General freeforms

• Character pines for their rescuer
• Revealed Feelings While Mortally Injured/No Hope but Whoops! They Were Rescued Now It's Awkward
• pining character finally makes a move after they almost died
• Pining character is too sick/hurt to hide their pining any more
• Character will follow the object of their pining into danger or towards certain death
• Character pines for someone who thinks nothing of undressing casually in front of them
• Pined-for character reveals feelings to pining character while not quite lucid (hurt/drunk/etc.)
• Pining while dealing with internalized homophobia
• Character A fears revealing feelings for Character B due to laws/rules
• Roommates while pining
• Pining while huddled together for warmth
• Pining while trapped together
• Pining while stranded in the wilderness
• Psychic link reveals pining is mutual

Freeforms for roleswap AU:

• Character pines for the person they're rescuing
• Character A pines for Character B who is presumed dead
• A dies before B can confess their feelings; B time travels back to fix everything
• Pined-for character reveals feelings to pining character while not quite lucid (hurt/drunk/etc.)

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Top Gun (1986)

Excuse me copying over some of this from my LTR letter, my Top Gun likes are perennial :D I do have some pining-specific thought as well though.

Generally, I’m a huge fan of gay happening in unwelcoming spaces! Secrecy & taboo and internalized homophobia is my jam! You don’t have to make it grimdark, but I love me some angst and complicated feels. I also really enjoy everyone’s macho posturing and the homosocial jock-y dynamics. Anxiety about and issues with stuff like Don’t Ask Don’t Tell are absolutely fine (I like angst!), but I’d prefer to keep it “unofficial”, so no actual confrontations of the characters with their superiors about it, etc.

No matter the ship, if your tastes run towards the AU-y, for this fandom I’m into telepathy or drift compatibility (Pacific Rim fusion) (especially the OT3 version where there’s angst over who gets to bond with him); daemon AU//His Dark Materials fusion, and space pilots, i.e. sci-fi AU; whether in a completely futuristic setting like Star Trek, or something a little grittier and more space race-y.

Slider/Ice (Slider pining)
Eventually requited

I’m all about the loyalty kink and henchman dynamics here. Slider’s a mouthy dick, but I think Ice has him absolutely whipped, and Slider knows that, though he may not like it. I’m here for all the fraught-ness that comes with it. Ice and Slider are so comfortable with each other in the movie, but Slider is also so, hmmm, protective of him, so territorial :D Whether he’s been quietly stewing in those feelings for quite some time, or maybe he only realizes recently, I can see Slider putting his feelings in the backseat of their professional relationship. Slider also doesn’t seem like someone who’d be good with vulnerability, so it’d be interesting to see him pushed to reveal his feelings either out of frustration, or through third-party involvement, and he’d probably feel quite humiliated either way.

I can see Ice as having totally taken Slider for granted and not really considered anything like that at all, or maybe he’s been quietly carrying a torch for him for a while, but didn’t expect him to be okay with the gay -- and I can totally see Slider having a lot of hang-ups about masculinity, so feel free to milk that :D

Freeforms

• Trying to Ignore Feelings While Forced to Work in Close Quarters With Person of Their Affection
• Pining while in a Friends With Benefits arrangement
• Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it
• Character B figures out that Character A has been pining for them for years
• Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them
• Character A fears revealing feelings for Character B due to laws/rules
• Character pines for someone who thinks nothing of undressing casually in front of them
• forced to fuck or die with the object of their affections
• Sex pollen while pining
• pining after years of friendship
• Pining while dealing with internalized homophobia
• Pining character's feelings are discovered by a third party
• Roommates while pining

Slider/Ice/Mav (Slider pining, Mav pining)
Eventually requited

I’ll be mostly expressing my interests for this ship via the freeforms below (I’ve indicated which character I see as A, B or C), since I both have fairly specific prompt ideas but am also open to various interpretations re: the general dynamics. Generally, I definitely see this as potentially complicated and fraught and jealousy-fueled, at least initially, but definitely also welcoming them finding an arrangement that does work for everybody. Definitely here for both hatesex and enthusiastic sex, even if there’s probably still some macho posturing and ego stuff going on.

My Slider/Ice thoughts go for this too, so feel free to check just above. Ice and Slider have known each other for a long time, so they could already be a thing, or Slider’s been pining for years, or maybe Slider only figured out his feelings once Mav came along! I love the Ice/Mav rivalry dynamic, but also the potential for a real understanding (opposites to attract!) and I gotta admit, I really enjoy how much Slider dislikes Mav, so lots of potential for interesting things happening here :D

General freeforms

• grudgingly pining for someone you should hate
• A pines for B while thinking B hates them
• channelling pining into violence
• Character A fears revealing feelings for Character B due to laws/rules
• Trying to Ignore Feelings While Forced to Work in Close Quarters With Person of Their Affection
• Sex pollen while pining

Specific OT3 freeforms (No character preferences other than Maverick or Slider being the one(s) pining)

• A Pining for B also Starts Pining for B's Partner C
• pining for character in a relationship leads to OT3
• A only realizes feelings for B when B starts dating someone else
• A matchmakes B and C while pining for them both

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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

My favourite larger-than-life noir spoof about good people in a bad world <3 The perfect mix of edgy humor and heartbreaking earnestness. I kind of see all three of them belonging together, whether I ship them as an OT3 or not. Harry’s got the good heart and hidden badass potential, Perry’s so cool and yet so much kinder than he lets on, and Harmony is so clever and weird and lovable and they’re a great team. More on character likes in the ship-specific sections!

Please feel free to go for post-canon, or canon divergence, or missing scenes, or anything else you can think of. I always appreciate magic AUs (and I maintain that this canon is already on its way to magical realism). Casefic is also great and I love all the tropes that fit it so well: undercover as couple, stuck in closet/tight space together, rescuing each other, hurt/comfort.

I also have a whole bunch of canon divergence AUs and roleswap AUs and ideas over at my Limited Theatrical Release letter, but since this is specifically a pining exchange, I won’t pad this letter with those. Feel free to head over and get some inspiration, but I’m also more than happy if you just pick one of the freeform tags and go to town on the longing and pining and angsting, that’s what they're there for after all!


Harry pining for Perry
Eventually requited

I love that Harry believes in love and wants to save everybody and see the good in people, despite his pretty rough life up to this point. Watching him coming to respect Perry (and the other way round!) over the course of the movie is great. I like the idea of Harry quietly eating his homophobia and figuring out his sexuality. Whether Harry spends a long time agonizing about his feelings, or is the type who blurts it all out as soon as it enters his brain, I’m into it either way! I’d love to see Perry totally blindsided by Harry’s feelings, because he’s someone who’d really have to be forced into vulnerability and I really enjoy seeing it. On the other hand, maybe he knows, but isn’t taking it very seriously and Harry has to really work on convincing him otherwise! I also think Harry’s the one more likely to try and make Perry jealous (please not with Harmony though).

Freeforms

• Character B knows A is pining but pretends to be oblivious
• Character A incorrectly assumes that Character B knows that A is pining for them
• Character A pining because Character B already rejected them
• trying to make object of affection jealous while mutually pining
• Trying to Ignore Feelings While Forced to Work in Close Quarters With Person of Their Affection
• Tries to Confess but Isn't Believed
• Roommates while pining
• Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it
• Bad Guys Force Pining Character A To Do It With Oblivious Character B
• Undercover as a Couple While Pining

Perry pining for Harry
Eventually requited

Perry is way more caring about Harry than he lets on and I love it <3 but I can totally see Perry hung up on Harry’s early “blargh” attitude to the gay thing and doesn’t feel like his feelings would be welcome. I also see Perry as someone who doesn’t really have a lot of close friends and I think Harry fills something in his life he was missing before, so maybe he genuinely would prefer his friendship with Harry to not blow up over it. He would probably have no trouble shoving down his feelings normally, so I’d love to see outside circumstances forcing him to admit to it, or just Harry figuring him out. Harry’s reaction could go a lot of ways! Relieved that his own secret feelings actually are requited? Kinda nervous? Needing a while to get with the program? Worried about fucking up yet another thing? You decide!

Freeforms

• A has lots of casual sex to try to get over pining for B
• Character A has never been in love before and so doesn't immediately recognize the feeling
• Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them
• Pining A thinks about B while having sex with others
• Character A is too proud to recognise they're pining for B
• A only realizes feelings for B when B starts dating someone else
• Trying to Ignore Feelings While Forced to Work in Close Quarters With Person of Their Affection
• Roommates while pining
• Bad Guys Force Pining Character A To Do It With Oblivious Character B
• Undercover as a Couple While Pining

Harmony/Perry/Harry (Harmony pining, Perry&Harmony pining, all pining)
Eventually requited

I love these three together whether I ship them or not <3 Having talked about Harry/Perry dynamics up above quite a bit already, I’m just gonna expand on my Harmony feels here.

Harry/Harmony is kind of a no-brainer for me. They have this long history, come from the same place in the past and I like them as friends -- but I also think they’re soulmates in a strange way, beyond just Harry hanging onto his old high school crush. I imagine they were friends in school for a reason, with their weird sense of humor, always taking the long way round to solutions. Still, plenty of opportunity for pining here! Maybe Harry’s actually hesitant to bring up any potential relationship again post-canon, maybe Harmony is (though I would prefer if you didn’t focus on the whole Chook Chutney thing). Maybe either of them are hesitant because Harry’s already with Perry.

As for Perry/Harmony, well, they’re from the same place now. I think being long-suffering hardened LA folks makes them understand each other on another level (also in how they feel about Harry!). Harmony’s pretty relaxed about dispensing affection and Perry’s really been nothing but kind to her. It’d be really neat if some mushy feels happened there too, though I think they’re also both bad at feelings, so it might be difficult to get them on one page about it :D I’m fine with Harmony/Perry being non-sexually/semi-platonically requited only, I get the squick potential and I won’t box you in, but I am also cool with unexpected sexuality stuff going on, so don’t feel restricted! What I don’t think is that any of this would make Perry not gay, in any way that matters to him anyway, so I’m not interested in sexual identity navelgazing, as far as specific terminology goes.

I don't have many freeforms for this ship specifically, because these were the ones that jumped out at me (and also I...didn't have much space, whoops) but I have several OT3 scenarios in my LTR letter, so feel free to check those out for more inspiration.

Freeforms

• A (Harmony) and B (Perry) commiserate about their mutual pining for C (Harry)
• A (Harmony) pining for B (Perry) whose sexuality doesn’t match A’s gender
• Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them (No character preferences!)
• A B and C are each convinced the other two are about to get into a relationship
• pining for character in a relationship leads to OT3 (no character preferences!)

Have fun creating, I am looking forward to reading your fic! :)