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Worldbuilding Exchange 2025
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forsworn. I requested fic in four fandoms. I didn't request in-universe meta, because I want to see my blorbos (or possibly ships) experiencing/discovering/explaining the worldbuilding, but I'm fine with epistolary sections that they then react to. Treats are welcome!
I've listed lots of ideas and questions for each topic - possibly too many, lmao, so don't feel you need to consider all of them. Including just one is fine. But don't feel you need to stick to the ones I mentioned either! I'm sure there are loads of other interesting things to be explored with these topics, so if you have a totally different idea that you love - go with it! These topics all fascinate me, and if you have a passion to explore one specific bit then I want to see that passion.
Navigation: DNWs | General Likes | Hurt/Comfort Likes | Smut Likes
Don't Worry Darling: Alice, Bunny, Frank, Shelley
DNDHAT: Edgin | Simon | Xenk
Just My Luck: Ashley, Jake
Princess Diaries: Mia, Nicholas
DNWs:
General Likes:
Hurt/Comfort Likes:
Smut Likes:
Don't Worry Darling (2022)
Requested characters: Alice, Bunny, Frank, Shelley
This film dropped so many intriguing hints about Victory and the memory technology, but because the reveal comes so close to the end it never fully explains everything. I would love more detail about how you think these things work - whether your fic is fluffy, dark, tense, angsty, or smutty, set in Victory or outside it, I want to see these characters discovering or explaining or experiencing these concepts.
I picked these four because I think they have such interesting but very different experiences of Victory and everything it involves. Determined Alice, digging up the truth before escaping. Acerbic Bunny, choosing to live with ghosts. Disciplined Shelley, who may or may not be in the know. Charismatic Frank, who's in control of everything - until he isn't. Feel free to use them in any combo or solo. Shipwise, I'm interested in Alice/Bunny, Alice/Frank, Alice/Shelley, Bunny/Frank, Frank/Shelley, Frank/Jack, or Alice/Frank/Jack. Or any gen combo of these four. Background Alice/Jack, Bunny/Dean, etc is fine too.
This is a pretty fucked up canon, so feel free to delve into the dark and uncomfortable possibilities of these topics. Also fine with these characters cheating or breaking up, Frank nonconning Alice, or you including any of the canon deaths (onscreen or in the past) as long as it's not from the dying char's POV. (Shelley's POV of stabbing Frank, fine. Frank's POV of being stabbed, no thanks.) Canon divergence AUs (eg villain wins) are welcome as long as the worldbuilding would still be true in the canon universe.
Everyone's very keen to tell the wives how clever Frank is for creating Victory. Did he actually code it himself? What about building the hardware? And was there anybody else involved - maybe Shelley worked on it? And what about the memory alteration tech, how did that play into the process of Victory's creation? Maybe Dr Collins was responsible for the memory tech. But how did Frank draw him in? We know basically nothing about the creation of Victory, except that it's been going for 987 days. But were there failed versions of Victory before that?
Alice - After she escapes, maybe Alice goes to the police, trying to warn them about Victory, and through the resulting investigation she learns how Victory was originally made. Or maybe she thinks they won't believe her, that she murdered Jack in the real world, so she goes on the run - and pieces together Victory's backstory from news clips, internet chatter, or even a meeting with Shelley? Or maybe she learned something while still inside Victory, and it got erased. Maybe Frank gloatingly told her before wiping that moment from her mind. Or in an AU where she never escaped, maybe Frank tells her everything - and lets her remember, because it shows his power.
Bunny - Were Bunny and Dean early subscribers? Dean is on the senior advisory board. Has he always been close with Frank? Did Bunny and Dean know Frank back when he was still creating Victory? Maybe they got a special insight into the process. Or were early enough in joining the project to witness Frank smoothing out the problems. Maybe they helped by being "guinea pigs" for the project? They certainly have a lot of hero worship for Frank, but is that because they saw him create this glorious (horrifying) thing - or because he's lied to them about it? Maybe all new or prospective subscribers get a tour of Victory, and Frank showed them round and explained everything (or lied about it)... or maybe they only got a tour because Bunny was a willing wife. What happens if Frank lied, and Bunny discovers the truth, after thinking she's been an insider all this time? Does she only find out when Shelley takes over?
Frank - Frank is very happy to self-mythologise, and for other people to reinforce his mythology too. How much of his story is true? What was it actually like, back when he was creating Victory? Is he actually a genius who coded all (or most) of this complex project? Or was he involved, but has been taking credit for work mostly done by someone else? Maybe Shelley was his work partner (in addition to, or instead of, his romantic partner) and they created it together - before he erased her memory and took all the credit. Or maybe it suits her purposes to let Frank boast that he did it all. And how many teething problems did it have? Did Frank get frustrated with it? His manipulations in the film are mostly very calm and subtle, but I can imagine him having explosive anger too. And when/how/why did he code it as a 1950s place? You could write something set back when he was creating Victory, showing it first hand, or something set later as he reports the story to someone else - but maybe he's lying about it, and only Frank knows that.
Shelley - It's not clear if Shelley has been brainwashed or not, or how much she knows about Victory, what its real purpose is, and how it was made. She seems very happy to boost Frank's image - but is that because she saw him create it, or because he told her about it afterwards? (And did he lie to her about how much of it was him?) She claims the burlesque dancer at the Victory celebration was her gift to Frank - did she code that? Was she involved in Victory's coding? Maybe she was Frank's romantic partner, and they created it together. Does it suit her purposes to keep quiet about her involvement, or has Frank erased her memory of that? Maybe she wasn't his romantic partner at all, just his research partner, and he erased her memory to take credit - or because he'd "fallen in love" with her, and the easiest way to keep and control her was via the memory alteration. Maybe after she takes control of Victory, she sets the record straight - or does to Frank what he did to her, and erases him from its history. You could show me Shelley seeing Victory's creation, taking part in it, being told about it, telling someone else about it, and/or experiencing flashbacks to what really happened as she uncovers her true memories.
When Jack is looking at his subscriber page, there's an option labelled Appearance Enhancement: ON. And the software gives him an English accent instead of an American one. What else has Frank (or the other people involved in running Victory) chosen to enhance? Is this something they boast about, is it a selling point for potential new subscribers? Can they enhance anything they want, to any extent, or are there limits? Does it work better on some things than others? (And is it the enhancement of sensation that overwhelms people when they receive a fatal injury inside Victory, and that's what kills them in the real world?) Does Shelley make any changes to these enhancements when she takes over?
Maybe they've enhanced the sense of taste, so all drinks and meals inside Victory seem incredible. Does that mean that real food is underwhelming for Frank when he logs out to eat? What about after Alice escapes - is adjusting to normal food just another soul-wearying part of returning to real life? Does she miss Victory's food? As far as we know, neither Bunny nor Shelley logs out to eat real food. Is that because it's lost all appeal? When Shelley takes over, does she kick Bunny out (or Bunny chooses to leave) and now Bunny has to eat disappointing real food again? Some of the same questions could apply to the sense of smell too.
What about the sense of touch? Or pleasure? Do people get better orgasms inside Victory? If it can simulate pleasure with no physical interaction, it could easily go beyond reality. Does the coding mean it's impossible to get erectile dysfunction inside Victory? Do the men have reduced refractory periods, their minds able to orgasm again when their bodies couldn't? Maybe for realism's sake, and maintaining the illusion for the wives, that's not a thing... or not for everyone. Maybe Frank coded that as a special treat for himself. Does he take advantage of that with Shelley, or while cheating with Bunny, or with Alice - whether Alice is consenting, or his ability to just keep going is part of the horror when he forces himself on her? And if Victory can manipulate pleasure, could someone like Frank control it directly? Is there a metaphorical "orgasm button"? Can he make himself come whenever he wants - or do that to Shelley, making himself seem a good lover? Or even to Alice - even if she doesn't consent, even if they're not actually having sex, can he just make her come at a moment's notice? Is it a verbal command, or does he need a coded-in button, or is Frank so connected to Victory's coding he can do it with a thought? Maybe he can control it from outside Victory, and likes to watch Shelley's or Alice's real body when he presses the orgasm button.
Those empty eggs, the moving walls, the inaccurate mirrors, the crashing toy plane... Victory is clearly not a flawless simulation. But are the glitches caused by a problem with the software? Has Frank tried to fix them, or has he not bothered? Maybe he's tried and failed, and so wants to pretend they don't happen. Maybe there used to be more glitches, and he's fixed some of them.
Sometimes the glitches seem to be a reflection of Alice's faltering mental state. Most of them happen when she's alone, and only to her... But at the end of the film, those lights are exploding around her, and everyone can see that happening. And it seems like maybe she's actually causing that, even if she's not doing it on purpose. Is Frank so interested in Alice because she has a unique ability to influence Victory? (In a villain wins AU, would he use her to perfect Victory - making other wives' escape impossible?) Or are all the glitches she experiences due to a problem with the interaction between Victory's software, the neural connection hardware, and/or the effects of the memory alteration process? Nobody notices when Alice is seeing Margaret's reflection during the ballet lesson.
What other glitches have there been? Were there any big ones in the past, that Frank and/or Shelley had to fix, and then cover up? Is Bunny still lying to newcomers about them? If the memory alteration process causes them, does that mean Frank and Bunny (and possibly Shelley, if she hasn't been brainwashed) never experience them - even if they're happening to someone else right in front of them? How much do they have to gaslight people like Alice or Violet... How much has Frank gaslighted Shelley, if she's his prisoner?
Several times during the film, we see Victory experience a tremor - while Alice is cooking breakfast for Jack, while the wives are out shopping... The official explanation is that it's part of the work the men are doing, something to do with their research. Except there is no research, no work - so what are the tremors? Just a part of the storytelling, something that Frank coded in to keep up the illusion? (Or to suggest something ominous, and warn the wives away from headquarters, keeping them scared and under control.)
Are the tremors glitches that aren't meant to happen? Has Frank been trying to fix them? Did there used to be more than there are now, or are they increasingly common? The one in the shopping scene happens while the wives are discussing Margaret - is it a glitch caused by Alice thinking about Margaret too much? Or is this a warning to people like Bunny to shut the subject down? Are the tremors the Victory software struggling with the number of logged in users? Maybe the tremors are the effect of an update being applied to Victory, a physical sign when new locations or subscribers are added. But is the tremor a deliberate consequence of updates, or is it something they'd rather prevent but can't control?
This is a really small and niche topic compared to some of my requests, but I've been so curious about the tremors since I first saw the film - I'd love for you to create an explanation!
I'm so curious about how this works, how much control they have, what the tech's limits are, and what side effects it might cause. We see Alice being reset, regaining the memories of her old life, so they're clearly still in her brain somewhere. But how are Frank and his associates suppressing those memories, or injecting new ones? What is the actual process - hooked up to a neural interface machine like Victory's hardware, but which allows the direct insertion of new memories? Or do they induce a hypnotic static, and blast the women with repeated images until they take? Something else?
There only seem to be a few common backstories that are imprinted. Is this laziness, because coding an entire new one is difficult? Is it because they actually can't inject that much detail? Or certain details take better than others, and they've narrowed it down to the most effective ones? Is it easier to insert an entire new memory than to tweak a woman's existing feelings about her husband, because the real memories are more likely to surface?
Alice - Now that she's escaped, does she have two full sets of memories swirling around her head? Do they feel equally real? Were all of the glitches and weirdness she experienced in Victory side effects of the alteration process, or simply because it wasn't fully effective? What was the experience like for her, having her memories altered for the first time, or being reset and then rebrainwashed? We only see the reset, then she comes back "better"... Are there nasty side effects of remembering something that's been erased, when that remembering doesn't happen via a full reset? Does she experience that now she's escaped? Maybe she knew how to drive before Victory, then that was erased, and Jack started teaching her again - was that where her problems all started?
Alice/Frank - When Frank caught Alice fucking Jack in his bedroom, he shook his head and walked away. When Alice flashes back to that moment later, Frank holds a finger to his lips instead. Did he alter her memory of the event? Which one is real? What if it's neither? Is the truth that he watched longer, even joined in? At Alice's dinner party, Frank says "Just like I trusted you in my bedroom. Do you remember that?" What if he meant a different time, one she doesn't remember? Did they once have sex, and he erased her memory to keep her quiet? Maybe he's done it multiple times. It does seem like there's a frisson between Frank and Alice - but is her attraction to him natural, or did he put that into her mind? Maybe he's even nonconned her, knowing he'd be the only one to remember. What about a villain wins AU - does he claim Alice as his wife, give her a whole new set of memories about life with him? (And how long before she breaks through those memories too?) Or could he delve into her past, rewriting it so he was there - maybe he changes her memory of losing her virginity so she thinks she gave it to him? Maybe he likes to use the initial memory alteration process to have a little fun with (some of) the new wives before they go into Victory, and Alice was a victim of that?
Bunny - She kept her memories, but did Frank ever offer to make her forget that her children are dead? Or is the choice all or nothing, and they can't just delete one or two memories? And how does she feel interacting with the other wives, knowing they've had this process done to them? How does she feel watching her best friend Alice breaking down and being reset? What about Margaret? Does she feel guilty about keeping up the lie, or does she believe they're happier oblivious? And does Bunny ever worry that her memory could have been tampered with too - how would she know if they had? (Does she ever have a vulnerable moment and ask Frank, who charms and dismisses her? How desperate would she be to believe him? And is he lying to her?)
Frank - Frank might be a good character for showing some general stuff about use of the memory tech, or about how it was perfected, with it being used on OCs. Whether early in Victory's operation, or once they've got it all figured out. Or maybe when it was being created - did he invent it, as well as code Victory? Maybe it was invented by Dr Collins, and you want to show me how Frank heard about it, or convinced Dr Collins to come on board. But I also have some prompts involving Frank+Alice or Frank+Shelley. Or maybe he's used it on other people. Can the tech insert memories without altering a person's entire past? Is he secretly dropping positive things about himself into the minds of Victory's husbands, as well as the wives? Frank is happy to do terrible things to people, so there could be other terrible uses for memory alteration that he's found.
Shelley - It's not clear if Shelley is Frank's willing wife or not. Maybe she knows exactly what's happening, and is fully on board. She seems fine with lying to the other wives, but does she ever feel guilty? Do she and Bunny ever discuss it? Maybe Shelley didn't approve of Victory (or didn't even know about Victory) and Frank altered her memories and forced her to live as his wife there, just like Jack did with Alice. Maybe Shelley wasn't even Frank's romantic partner, just his research partner or someone he knew, and he kidnapped her and brainwashed her. (When we hear Dr Collins' assessment of Jack and Alice, he says "pre-existing relationship: yes"... which suggests sometimes the answer is no.) Maybe Shelley even invented the memory alteration tech, and then Frank betrayed her by using it on her. Is the scene where she's chopping a lemon and then stabs Frank the moment she breaks through the brainwashing and remembers it all? Or did she remember before then, and just choose that moment to act? How does she feel about what Frank did to her after she takes control of Victory? Even if she was his willing wife, and she was aware of everything, does she ever worry that he might have secretly altered her memory? (I doubt she'd ask him about it, but maybe she'd suspiciously watch him. Or try and find out after she takes control.) Or what about an AU where Shelley takes control of Victory, doesn't kill Frank, and warps his memory to suit her needs instead?
We know Bunny's children aren't real people plugged into Victory, because they're actually dead. And I think it's reasonable to assume all of the children are NPCs - just part of the 1950s fantasy. But who else is an NPC? The henchmen in red jumpsuits probably are. What about the shop assistants, the tram driver, the waiter at the pool? Maybe everyone with a job inside Victory (except Dr Collins), because why would they hire someone when they can just code it?
But what are the limits of the NPCs? How complex is their behaviour? Do some of them have more elaborate coding than others? How and when is that coding done, and by who? What happens when the NPCs aren't needed for the staging - do they go somewhere, or just disappear until the software reactivates them? What are their spawn conditions? Maybe workers like the tram driver appear on a schedule. But what about the red goons? They appeared immediately when Margaret killed herself, but not when Alice killed Jack, and they struggled to chase Alice at the end even though more kept appearing. Do they spawn based on certain triggers? Did Frank have to spawn them manually? Why couldn't they just spawn right next to Alice - does the coding prevent NPCs spawning where they can be seen, to preserve the illusion? And can that be overridden?
Alice - Now that Alice has escaped, does the unreality of Victory haunt her? Does she go through a mental list of all the people she met there and wonder who was real and who was an NPC? When she realises most of those people weren't real, does she have a crisis about questioning the reality of every person she meets in the real world? She seemed to be pretty close to Bunny's children. Is she horrified to know that they were ghosts? What about a villain wins AU, where Alice never escapes - and Frank claims her as his wife. Will he design NPC children for them? Taunt Alice about the idea? Get her to help with the process? Or maybe he erases her memory, creates children for them... and then she remembers, and realises they aren't real. How would Alice react?
Bunny - How closely do her children resemble the real kids? How were they coded? Did she sit down with Frank to talk about them? Hand over a stack of their scribbles? Let Frank use the memory alteration tech/Victory's neural connection/something to peer straight into her memories and construct them that way? And how does she feel about living with ghosts of her children? Do they really feel alive to her, can she not convince herself they're real, does she love them or resent them or ache over them, or all of these things sometimes? Do Frank's children creep her out because she knows they're not real, and that makes her own kids feel less real? Do her kids sometimes glitch or do things that shatter the illusion? How does interacting with other NPCs affect her ability to cling to the fantasy? Once Shelley takes over, does Bunny have to beg to be allowed to keep her children? Is she so harsh on Margaret for causing her son to disappear because she's terrified that the same thing could happen to her NPC kids?
Frank - Is he responsible for coding the children? Did he code the children he has with Shelley, and did he spend a lot of time making them just how he wanted? Or was he not bothered, and just let an automated system do it? What does he think of his kids? We don't see him interact with them at all. Are they just a part of the 1950s facade, and he basically ignores them? Do they deactivate when they're not needed for parties? Does he deactivate them on purpose sometimes? Or does Frank love the 1950s fantasy, and purposely designed two adoring children to hang on his every word and deed? Is he emotionally attached to them? (Is he emotionally attached to anyone?) What about what happened with Margaret - presumably her son disappeared because she tried to take him outside of Victory. But was it Frank's decision not to reactivate him?
Shelley - Is Shelley aware of the truth, or is she in the dark? Did she personally code in the burlesque dancer? What about her children - did she get to design them, or did Frank do that? If she was brainwashed like most wives, how does she deal with the realisation that the children she (presumably) loves never existed? Does she still love them, and want to cling to the fake life she has? Once she takes control of Victory, does she create an NPC version of Frank to keep up the illusion (or because she still loves him)... only this Frank is loyal and subservient to her? Maybe she's horrified by her fake children and everything Victory is, wakes up the women, and deactivates all the old NPCs as she rebuilds the world in her image - but maybe she makes an NPC Frank so she can berate him, or question him on why he was so obsessed with Alice? Would an NPC Frank even know the answer - would she have to code him from her memories, or would the system have records of his neural connection she could use to reconstruct him? And if she created an exact digital copy of Frank, could it achieve sentience and try to wrest back control?
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Requested characters: Edgin Darvis
Charming Edgin and the way he uses that charm to hide his trauma is so interesting to me. I love that he's a leader and a protector - and the fact that he's sometimes bad at it, or inconsiderate, and that he betrayed the Harpers, just makes him more delightfully complex. And I love that he uses knitting to show his affection to Kira. He's had some terrible things happen to him and he really doesn't seem to have dealt with that. And he also displays some ADHD traits, if you want to lean into that. (I'm fine with both ADHD and non-ADHD interpretations of Edgin.)
You're very welcome to include Holga in this! I love that she and Edgin have such a strong friendship, and that it survived them being in Revel's End together. But it's also fine to show me something that Holga isn't there for.
Revel's End seems like a really shitty place. Spending two years imprisoned there was probably pretty traumatic. I'm okay with you delving into that, with Edgin (and/or Holga) experiencing the threat of violence, actual violence, or the threat of noncon. But Edgin seems to have remained insistently chipper during it. How often did he try and cheer Holga up with a song? What about other prisoners? The guard Tobias didn't seem too happy about Edgin singing while chopping ice. And how much ice chopping did they have to do? What about other hard labour? What happened if (or when) they got sick?
It seems unlikely that housing male and female prisoners together is normal policy. When they first arrived, were Edgin and Holga put in different cells? What was that like? Did squishy Edgin have a bad time of it - especially as a former Harper? How did Edgin and Holga convince the guards to put them together? Was their vehement lack of attraction to each other enough? Maybe they had to put them together because Holga kept getting into fights with all her other cellmates. Or maybe Edgin and Holga were always in a cell together.
But what was their daily routine like? Holga loves her private potato time. Did they get potatoes every day? For every meal? Or were there other meals, and were they okay or not great? What about sleeping arrangements? It must be freezing there. Did Edgin and Holga share a bed for warmth? (Did Holga grump about it but secretly like it, and did Edgin make jokes about it to make it seem more normal?) By the time they escape, they're wearing lots of layers of rags. Did they have to trade for those, did they acquire them over time? How did Edgin get the wool for his knitting? Did he have to trade for it? How did he convince the guards to trust him with knitting needles? Did he know how to knit before Revel's End, or did he learn in there - because he was bored, because he met a prisoner who could teach him?
How did Edgin and Holga deal with the awkward and intimate parts of sharing a cell? They've got a pee bucket. What was their system for using it, and making sure nobody saw anything they didn't want to? (I don't consider this topic to hit my watersports DNW.) What about masturbating? Did they studiously ignore suspicious noises from the other one's bunk? Did Edgin just not jerk off for two years? (And did that cause him to have wet dreams, resulting in some awkward cleanup.)
You could also maybe do something that shows daily life in Revel's End via Edgin having a nightmare about it after they escape. Maybe he ends up talking to Holga, and they discuss their experiences. Or maybe Holga has a nightmare about it, and talks to Edgin. Or Edgin tells Xenk, Simon or Doric about it. (I'm happy for that to be in the context of Edgin/Xenk, Edgin/Simon or Edgin/Doric too.)
Edgin swearing the Harper oath (then rejecting it, betraying them, and his resulting hostility to Xenk's suggestions he should still be a Harper) is a pretty big part of his backstory, and there's lots to explore around it. According to his speech to the Absolution Council, the Harper oath is to "fight tyranny, defend the oppressed and ask nothing in return" - but is that literally the entire oath, or is there more to it? Was there a big long thing he had to memorise for the ceremony? Or maybe it is just those words. But I'd be interested in seeing some Edgin/Zia with her helping him prepare for it, or a proper version of the scene where he actually swears the oath. (As in the film it's just Edgin's voiceover on him touching the Harpers' seal, getting his pin, then hugging Zia. More details, please! How did they feel about it all?) And was that ceremony the only part of becoming a Harper? Because Zia was already pregnant then, so that seems pretty late in Edgin's backstory... Was he a Harper associate before then, happily working with full Harpers, and eager to be allowed to swear the oath himself? Are there multiple oaths or stages of oath? Or maybe you could do something about Edgin's growing resentment of the Harper oath, as he struggles to make money to care for Zia and Kira.
I'm also interested in the various things which suggest the Harper oath is magical, or magically binding in some way. Sofina needed Edgin to get her into Korinn's Keep - when he stroked the door, the Harper symbol lit up, and it unlocked. Was that because he was wearing his Harper's pin - or because the oath is magical, the lock is magical, and one can activate the other? If so, how many other things are enchanted to respond to the Harper oath? Which things like that did Edgin encounter during his time as a Harper? Or might he encounter while adventuring with the party?
Xenk also tells Edgin that "you may have forsworn your oath, but your oath hasn't forsworn you" - and that's how Xenk knew Edgin used to be a Harper. Which suggests that the oath imprints on a person in a way that's visible to Xenk. (Is that because Xenk is a paladin? Was touched by the Beckoning Death? Both? Just because of his general Xenkness?) Does Edgin meet anyone else who can see the oath on him? Does it cause problems during a quest, maybe while undercover? And if the oath is clinging on to him, what effects is that having on Edgin? If it's magic, is it magically influencing him at all? When Xenk makes Edgin touch the Harper's seal, he struggles to falsely swear. Was the seal tugging on the oath in him? Is the fact that he (tried to) break the oath dangerous for him? (Is that why Xenk's so keen for him to return to the Harpers?) Is the fact that it's visibly still on him mean he actually technically didn't break it? Or is it partially affected? What would happen if Edgin rejoined the Harpers - would he need to swear again, or would the old one still do? Maybe the Harpers would want him to do it for symbolic reasons, not realising the double magic binding him would have unexpected effects.
I'd love some Edgin/Zia for this, or some gen (with maybe background Edgin/Zia) during his time as a Harper, possibly involving OC Harpers, or something where he's travelling with the party. Gen interactions with Holga, Kira, Simon, or Doric would be welcome, but I'm also interested in Edgin/Xenk, Edgin/Simon, Edgin/Doric or Edgin/Forge. (Background Simon/Doric is fine too.) I'm also fine with you pulling from your knowledge of wider D&D lore, or the wiki, (as long as it doesn't contradict the film) but you're also free to make up whatever you need for your story!
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Requested characters: Simon Aumar
Simon is adorable. I love his combination of awkward, nervous sincerity with his sarcastic humour (and occasional sulkiness). For all his grumping about his magic struggles, he clearly has great power - it's just hard to control. And that's partly because of his self-confidence issues (sorcerers are a charisma class!) but also because sorcery is just like that. It's a natural gift that can't be learned in the way that wizardry can, and I find that really interesting in the context of Simon being from wizarding blood - and how that legacy affects his life.
Elminster Aumar is such a huge figure in D&D lore. He's legendary in a way even Xenk isn't - everyone would know his name. And that must be such a heavy thing for Simon to carry. Especially as he's a sorcerer, with innate but hard to control magic, when Elminster's a wizard who's studied and honed his powers to an incredible level - no wonder Simon has struggled with his confidence. I'm interested in how the general perception of the Aumar legacy affects the way Simon is treated, how the rest of the Aumar family's own perception of their legacy affects the way they treat Simon, and how all of those things impact Simon's own thoughts and beliefs about himself, his powers, and his place in the family.
I like the idea that the Aumar family is a pretty big family, lots of siblings and cousins and so on, and that while some of them have no magic, most of them do - and they're all wizards, except Simon. Do his relatives put a lot of pressure on him to measure up? Do they keep shoving wizarding books at him, which provide zero help to a sorcerer? Have some of Simon's relatives given up on him - is he viewed as a failure by the family? (And does that change at all now he's a Hero of Neverwinter?) And how does he feel about the way they treat him - does he feel loved but misunderstood, or does he feel like an outsider? ...But this is the worldbuilding exchange! Show me how you imagine the Aumars, how their legacy is viewed, and why Simon is the way he is. There are plenty of possibilities.
Feel free to invent OCs or involve the party as needed. Maybe you want to show me Simon's childhood, or a family reunion, with him interacting with his relatives. Maybe while adventuring with the party, they team up with someone who has a lot of opinions about Aumars - or he hears a whisper in the market, or a bard singing of their great deeds. Maybe Simon has a vulnerable chat with Doric, or Edgin, or Holga, talking about his past and his family. Maybe when Simon first joined the party, young Kira was awed by him being an Aumar. We know Xenk worked with Simon's uncle - was that uncle on the Aumar side? Does Xenk have a more nuanced opinion of the Aumar legacy as a result? Or maybe Xenk just knows what it's like to have stories attached to his name, which may or may not be exaggerated - but affect how people treat him, either way. Maybe the party bump into one of Simon's relatives, even end up doing a quest together, and they understand him much better afterwards. (But is that quest a positive or negative experience for Simon?)
If you know Elminster from other D&D canon (eg Baldur's Gate) and want to incorporate stories about things he actually did, I'm fine with that. Or you could browse the wiki and use snippets. But I'm very happy for you to just make up whatever you need about Elminster, other Aumars, what people know - or think they know - about the Aumars, and how their legacy is viewed. (My own knowledge of Elminster comes from the wiki, so I know who he is but I'm not attached to any of his lore.)
I'm happy for this to include Simon/Doric (and background Xenk/Edgin), or even Simon/Edgin or Simon/Xenk. Or gen, of course!
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Requested characters: Xenk Yendar
Despite his small amount of screentime, Xenk is such an interesting and richly developed character. He was altered forever by a magical trauma during his childhood, making him a visible target for prejudice everywhere he goes, but as an adult he's chosen to dedicate himself to goodness and justice and purity - to an extent far beyond what most people are willing to do. And as well as personal questions about how those two influences combine, there are magical questions too...
His long life means he's experienced so much, and no doubt seen many things change over the decades - treasured things becoming memory, new traditions springing up. Is the weight of all those contradictory experiences, and being a beloved/reviled exile so far from home, part of the reason he's so literal and struggles with social things? Or is it because he's autistic? (I'm fine with both autistic and non-autistic interpretations of Xenk!) He's just such a strongwilled character, with emotional vulnerabilities/trauma despite his physical prowess, and has to navigate being both a symbol of moral purity and moral corruption. I find him absolutely fascinating, especially in the context of these topics.
We have a reasonable idea of how the Beckoning Death affects those it claims: turning them into the undead, binding their will to Szass Tam, physically altering them with symbolic tattoos, causing them to lose their hair. But we don't know as much about what it means to be nearly touched by the Beckoning Death, the way Xenk was. Is he undead? Is he mortal? Somewhere in between? Dralas scornfully says Xenk is aging because he has mortal blood... But is that just Dralas being an undead zealot? Is Xenk partially undead? He's very long-lived: despite Dralas's insults, Xenk doesn't look like he's aged in 100 years. But maybe that's just the limitations of needing the same actor. Sometime between 100 years ago and 130-140 years ago, Xenk grew up... But did the Beckoning Death slow that too? Did poor Xenk get stuck as a teenager for 20 years? That might create some interesting situations as a fresh paladin or another paladin's squire, where he's mentally 22 but still looks 15. But maybe the slow aging only kicked in as an adult. (Is that why he grew a beard? So people would take him more seriously, lmao.)
Xenk clearly isn't fully undead, because he's aging, and because he hasn't lost his hair. But is he undead enough for that to interact with his paladin status, or other magic? His paladin senses mean he can smell Dralas and the other Thayan assassins. Does Xenk smell undead to himself? Or to other paladins? Is he so determined to do good, to be a paragon of virtue, because he's haunted by the fact his body and/or his soul have the taint of evil on them? Does he worry that he doesn't have a soul any more? Or that his soul is corrupted, or that he only has part of a soul left? We do see him cast a spell, making his daggersword glow. But are there spells he can't cast, because they're holy and something about him isn't? Or because the spell would negatively interact with his maybe-undead nature? Although I enjoy Xenk as a healer, I'm also interested by the idea that his curse prevents him from casting healing spells - or mean that healing (or being healed) is physically painful for him. But being Xenk, would excruciating pain stop him saving someone else's life? (He does use healing magic on himself in the tie-in comic, but you don't have to stick with that.) And what happens if other people cast spells on him, or near him? Would Turn Undead affect him? (And how horrified would he be if it did? Or relieved if it didn't?) What about other spells? Feel free to make up ones which don't exist in D&D lore!
From what we can see, the mark on his forehead is the only mark of Szass Tam that Xenk bears. But does he have others that we can't see? And is that mark just visual, or does it have an actual effect on him? Does Szass Tam have a low-level influence on Xenk, and that's why he fled as far from Thay as it's physically possible to go without crossing the ocean? Has Xenk been resisting that all this time? Maybe he can even hear Szass Tam whispering to him, the way Sofina can. Or Szass Tam has been using something like a Dream spell to try and convert him? Maybe Xenk has been free of Tam's influence all this time... until Tam suddenly figures out a way to pull on Xenk's curse? Maybe Xenk is worried that if, or when, he actually dies he'll become a mindless undead servant - and has taken steps to try and prevent that? And if he was stabbed with a Red Wizard's blade, would it have a different effect on him? Maybe instead of a quick death, a slow corruption that spreads through his body and tries to bend his will? And if he dies from it, he'd be raised to undeath? (But a slow corruption that gives enough time to find a cure! I'm okay with Xenk worrying about dying/worrying about becoming a corrupted undead, but please avoid my character death DNW here.)
I'm happy for this to involve OCs - such as other paladins (including a paladin mentor), or Harpers, or Red Wizards or independent necromancers - or characters like Dralas who could provide a contrast and questions about whether their nature applies to Xenk too. But I'd also love these things to come up in the context of Xenk travelling with the party. Maybe they're on a quest and they're dealing with undead, and that leads them to discover where Xenk is similar - or different. Maybe their quest involves paladins or clerics, and that shows Xenk's similarities/differences. Or they need to find and use a holy magical artifact - or stop someone else from using it - and its effect on Xenk is unexpected. Or he worries it will do something bad to him and it doesn't! Maybe Szass Tam or some other evil power starts (trying to) corrupt Xenk and they have to save him from it? Maybe they're exploring a forgotten library, and find a relevant book. Or discover one among the Harpers' books? Gen is fine, with any of the party or others, but I'd also like Xenk/Edgin, Xenk/Simon or Xenk/Doric. (Background Simon/Doric is fine too.)
The Sword Coast is about as far as you can get from Thay without crossing the ocean. The film takes place about 130 years after Szass Tam's coup, and we know Xenk has been hanging out there for at least 100 of those years. I'm really interested in how he's held onto his culture across that period, what opportunities he has to share it, and whether the passage of time has affected that.
Is he the only Thayan exile who fled that far, or is there a community of them - and has Xenk watched that culture being passed down, experienced differently as each generation gets further and further from the memory of Thay? Are people trying to keep their cuisine alive, sharing meals and recipes, keeping up the old traditions and celebrations, among their families and with outsiders? Or is the fear of necromancy such a stain that people are hiding their Thayan origins, even rejecting it, leaving Xenk as the sole visible free Thayan around?
Which flavours are common in Thayan cuisine? What about availability of ingredients? Are there herbs, spices and vegetables that are common in Thay, but are hard to grow in the Sword Coast, so Xenk can rarely find them or can't get hold of them at all? Does he have to substitute things to keep the same flavour and texture, and how close are the results? He was a child when he fled Thay, and already an orphan - how many recipes had he learned by then? Has anyone taught him others since? Are some of them just a memory he can never recreate? Or has he found a Thayan recipe book, and taught himself from that?
When does he get to share Thayan cuisine? I'd be interested in anything from young Xenk eating with other exiles, to meals with a paladin mentor, or other adventurers, or of course Edgin and co. Maybe a milestone celebration, after the Thayan exiles get established in the Sword Coast, and are starting to feel safe. Maybe Xenk cooking on the campfire, turning to Thayan recipes when the chore falls to him. Or he stops at a tavern, and the chef happens to be Thayan. Is sharing Thayan cuisine a way he bonds with Edgin and the gang, something that helps them feel closer to him? Does he cook Thayan meals as everyday food - or shyly ask to prepare something special as a celebration? Maybe his companions find a Thayan recipe book, and gift it to him. Maybe he's starting to open up to the party, and in a vulnerable moment laments to Doric that it just doesn't taste the same without this herb - but she happens to know one which is much closer than what he's been using? Maybe a telepathic link or some other spell means one of the party gets to experience Xenk's memories... and in the aftermath they help him recreate a meal he doesn't know the recipe for?
This could be something angsty, about Xenk feeling like he's the only free Thayan who remembers real Thayan food, or something bittersweet or even fluffy as he gets the opportunity to share his culture with new friends, and have them respect and enjoy it. Gen is fine, but I'd also like Xenk/Edgin, Xenk/Simon or Xenk/Doric. (Background Simon/Doric is fine too.)
The Sword Coast is about as far as you can get from Thay without crossing the ocean. The film takes place about 130 years after Szass Tam's coup, and we know Xenk has been hanging out there for at least 100 of those years. I'm really interested in how he's held onto his culture across that period, what opportunities he has to share it, and whether the passage of time has affected that.
Is he the only Thayan exile who fled that far, or is there a community of them - and has Xenk watched that culture being passed down, experienced differently as each generation gets further and further from the memory of Thay? Are people trying to keep their language alive, speaking it in their homes, bringing their children up with it? But each generation, the accent changes a little? Or is the fear of necromancy such a stain that people are hiding their Thayan origins, even rejecting it, leaving Xenk as the sole visible free Thayan around?
How often does Xenk get to speak Thayan with other people? We see him talking to Dralas in Thayan - is that the only time he gets to use it now? Has his mother tongue become just the language of his enemies? What about books? Being so far from Thay, books in Thayan might be a rarity - he'd probably cherish any he found. Maybe he's even written his own, or keeps a diary in Thayan, just to have some tangible form of the language.
If he starts adventuring with the party, do they get to hear him speak Thayan? Maybe full sentences, maybe muttering while he has a nightmare, maybe as he grows closer to them he starts using Thayan endearments? If he starts dating Edgin or one of the others, maybe they pick up his endearments too - or decide to learn the language. Maybe Xenk teaches them himself, and it turns into a bonding moment. Maybe Xenk explains Thayan grammar and it's horrendously/hilariously complicated. (Or easy to grasp!) Maybe Edgin or someone needs to go undercover, and they have to know some Thayan for it. Maybe they find a book while on a quest, and Xenk gives it to them to learn from that - or they find it, don't tell Xenk, and secretly start learning to surprise him? Maybe an accidental soulbond or some other spell ties Xenk to them, and now they can understand Thayan. Or they can't understand Thayan, but they can constantly hear Xenk thinking in Thayan - and maybe start to work out some words?
This could be something angsty, about Xenk feeling like he's the only free Thayan who speaks the language now, or something bittersweet or even fluffy as he gets the opportunity to share his culture with new friends, and have them respect and even learn it. Gen is fine, with any of the party or others, but I'd also like Xenk/Edgin, Xenk/Simon or Xenk/Doric. (Background Simon/Doric is fine too.)
Just My Luck (2006)
Requested characters: Ashley Albright, Jake Hardin
The idea that luck is a specific, identifiable force - and that luck can be moved from person to person - is such an interesting concept to me. I want to know anything and everything about how that works, why it works, when it doesn't work, and how far beyond its canon limits it can reach.
I picked both Ashley and Jake as characters and I'm very happy for your fic to be a post-canon shipfic, but you could also do a shippy missing scene, or a gen piece focusing on either one during or pre-canon. Jake&Katy would be great too - their relationship is adorable, and I'm sure their experiences provide a lot of space for luck worldbuilding. I just want more details about it!
As Jake and Katy are both unlucky, it seems like maybe luck runs in families. Is it genetic somehow? Something in the blood (or other bodily fluids) that transfers via the placenta? A vague aura thing that the baby absorbs? Would using a surrogate mean the baby inherits different luck, or none? Is luck fixed at conception? At birth? Maybe even later - first birthday, fifth birthday? It can't be eighteenth birthday because Katy is already unlucky but... Maybe a baby inherits the possibility of having luck, but whether it's good or bad is determined by whoever kisses them first? (So it transfers from parent to child anyway.) Or maybe, like giving a baby their first stuffed animal, someone unknowingly gives their luck to them? I'd prefer it not be true that "some families are cursed because an ancestor did something bad" but otherwise...
Meanwhile we don't see Ashley's family at all. Maybe they aren't lucky in the way she is? If so, how does someone spontaneously acquire luck? Ashley's not incompetent, but it doesn't seem like she earned good luck by working hard. And if it was based on being good, wouldn't Jake and Katy have good luck too? (But maybe there are multiple causes of having luck!) Maybe it's actually random. Or influenced by things a person can't control. Horoscopes get brought up at one point - maybe the day they're born determines whether someone has good luck or bad? (But what determines if someone has luck at all? Clearly not everyone does.) Or maybe it's the specific time: good luck for being born at exactly noon, bad luck for exactly midnight? Or maybe if two people are born at the exact same time, one will have good luck, one will have bad? Or maybe it's fixed by the place - born near a leyline? Something else significant?
The fact the fortune teller predicts the luck swap suggests there's some kind of predetermination, so maybe fate is also a thing that exists? And fate decides that some people need this luck to become the people they're meant to be? (But does it account for luck swapping?) Or maybe fate doesn't have any goal in mind, it's just an impersonal force that causes things to happen. Jake seems to think tossing salt is a bad idea, so maybe he's realised superstition doesn't affect luck - unless the very first superstition a child encounters affects it? There are so many possibilities for the system that controls the origins of luck! And there could be multiple ones interacting.
Ashley - She seems pretty oblivious to having good luck, but that doesn't mean she couldn't have met someone with knowledge about luck pre-canon. So maybe, like with the fortune teller, she ran into someone who knew something? Maybe a fellow (un)lucky person, and she just didn't kiss them. Maybe she just dismissed what they were saying, or didn't understand it without context? Or maybe she read a magazine article, or overheard someone talking, or... But if it happened post-canon, maybe she recognises the info and latches onto it - possibly thinking if she can understand why people are (un)lucky, she can fix their luck somehow?
Jake - He's got a very highly developed system for dealing with bad luck, but it doesn't seem like he's realised it's an actual, kinda magical thing that's happening to him. But like he helped Ashley after her meltdown, maybe he once saw someone else struggling with luck and jumped in to help them? And they had some clues about luck, but he didn't realise what they really meant - or they tried to give him some info, but bad luck meant he lost it? (Piece of paper blown away by wind, book ruined by rain, etc) Or maybe Katy, pre- or post-canon, has a school project that he's helping with, and that leads them to look into the origins of luck? We don't see many of their other family members... Maybe his parents or Katy's parents know more about luck, but they haven't (had the chance to) tell them more about it? Maybe he discovers something at Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or another family event.
Ashley/Jake - Once they get together, do they compare histories and realise where their luck came from? Now they know luck is a thing, maybe they want to figure out how to break bad luck, and start researching. Do they raid secondhand bookstores? Trawl the internet? Maybe Ashley's family is lucky after all, so when the Albrights and the Hardins meet at Ashley/Jake's wedding, they pick up some clues about luck? And if they decide to have kids, luck could be a big question there. Would the child be born lucky because Ashley was born lucky? Or would it be unlucky because Ashley is unlucky now? (Maybe Katy would want to give the good luck back to Ashley for a bit so the baby can be lucky too.) Do they do genetic testing and discover there's a luck gene? Or maybe the doctor or the nurse or another patient knows something about luck? You could do something with them worrying during pregnancy, or discovering the truth due to (events after) the birth.
All the luck transfers we see in the film are done via kissing, and swap the luck between people. How does it work? Are there other ways to transfer luck - if two people had sex without kissing, would that be intimate enough to cause it? Does it even need physical contact - would speaking a spell be enough to do it? Or writing some kind of contract? The people involved don't seem to need to know about luck swapping, or even consent to it, for it to happen successfully. Could someone steal someone else's luck? Is it possible to swap only half your luck, and keep half? Why does it actually happen? The fortune teller suggested that maybe Jake "needed it more" - does good luck want to help people? Or is something else causing the transfer? The fact that the tarot cards predicted the transfer before it happened suggests there's some predetermination - is fate also a force at work? Is it working with luck, against it, are they separate or entwined? And is luck one force, or are good luck and bad luck opposing forces?
And why does luck transfer only work between people who have such extreme luck? Most of the background characters seem to have middling luck: some good things happen, some bad, sometimes hard work pays off, sometimes it's randomised... but it's just life being realistic. But for people like Ashley and Jake, luck seems to be some external force that's directly and consistently influencing everything around them. They have actual Luck. And people without Luck aren't immune to its effects, but they don't seem to be candidates for transfer - Ashley's kissed a lot of people, but none of those kisses ever transferred her Luck to someone without luck. Do people with Luck have an internal reservoir of it, and people without luck just have nowhere for it to go? Or does it attach in some other way? Could someone opt into that system - or out of it?
Maybe it's possible to transfer luck to or from an object. Are there cursed objects out there, or lucky ones, and could a person swap their luck with that instead? Maybe a person with bad Luck could put it in an object, and opt out of having Luck, becoming a normal person - or maybe the process would leave a void, and invite something else to happen to them? Maybe there are objects with good Luck, and someone with bad Luck (or no Luck at all), could absorb it or swap with the object? And if objects like this exist: how are they made? Is this a secret but identified process? Has the knowledge been lost? Are they common (compared to the number of people with Luck) or super rare? Can Luck be created via creating an object, or can an object only ever be made as an empty reservoir, and every Luck inside an object had to come from a person? If an object just needs to be a reservoir, would any object work?
Maybe Ashley and/or Jake (and possibly Katy) meet someone else with Luck - does that other person know more than them, and explain some things, or are they clueless and need to be informed? Does one of our heroes swap Luck with them for some reason? Maybe Ashley and/or Jake find a book or a diary or something which explains Luck, or catalogues someone's experiments with it. Maybe they do experiments of their own. Maybe they find a Lucky object somewhere, like a Lucky penny on the street, or a Lucky antique in a shop. Or they (accidentally) make a Lucky object? There are so many ways one or both of them could learn about Luck!
The Princess Diaries (Movies)
Requested Characters: Mia, Nicholas
I'm absolutely in love with Genovia, and I want to know everything about it. We only really saw Genovia itself in the second film, but even in that short time it felt like such a vibrant and interesting place. Anything you can add which expands its lore and makes it feel like somewhere that really exists would be amazing. The topics I've requested are the ones I'm most curious about, some cultural, some political, and there are many things you could examine there - I've highlighted some angles that came to mind, but I picked these topics because there's such a breadth of things I'd like to know, so whichever bit you delve into I will be hungry for it.
I do OTP Mia/Nicholas, so I'd love the worldbuilding to be part of a shipfic. But if you only offered one of them, I will happily read a fic focusing on one of them solo, or some gen involving Mia&Clarisse, Mia&Joe, Mia&Lilly, Nicholas&Mabrey, Nicholas&Clarisse, etc. I love these characters and the world they inhabit, so I will eat up anything which explores it in more depth. Could be pre-canon, set during either film, or between them, or post-canon. You could make it funny and quirky, grounded and real, or serious and complicated... Whether you want to lightly touch on a few examples of the topic, or dive deep into one aspect and really lay out all the details, I'm happy at either end of the spectrum. Just feed my desire to spend a bit more time visiting this imaginary country.
I love the Christmas season so much, but we never see Genovia during that time. Every country in Europe has their own established Christmas traditions, from the solemn to the quirky, some of them similar but some of them unique. Genovia seems to be vaguely inspired by a combination of France, Italy, Britain, and various other countries, all blended together - you could give a Genovian twist to something that already exists, or create something entirely new.
Does Genovia celebrate any of the December feast days as a lead-up to Christmas Day, such as Niklaustag or St Lucy's day? Or commemorate an event from Genovian history that took place during December? Are there legendary figures such as Wenceslas that appear in carols and folksongs? And what else do they sing about, where and when - are there formal carol services that the monarch must attend? Do Genovians go carolling, do they wassail the pear orchards? What do Genovians call Santa/Father Christmas/St Nick, how do they picture him, and what traditions do they have associated with him - what are the Genovian twists on writing letters, leaving gifts for reindeer, or visiting Santa's grotto? Does he have a helper, the way some countries have Krampus or Knecht Ruprecht? Does Genovia open presents on December 24th or 25th? When are people expected to gather for a big meal with family, and are there other meetups during the season, big or small?
And what do they eat at those meals? What's the traditional Genovian centrepiece meat? (And what is vegetarian Mia going to eat instead?) Are there particular vegetables, like sprouts or potatoes, that have traditional recipes? Is there a traditional dessert, like Christmas puddings or trifle - and is it made from pears? What about cakes - do they have their own kind of fruitcake, like a Stollen or Panettone, a kind of Yule Log, or something else? A lot of places have gingerbread or spiced cakes, like peperkoek or Lebkuchen - is there a Genovian version, and do they make gingerbread men, gingerbread houses, gingerbread pear trees? Are these eaten as snacks, after dinner, or as breakfast foods? Only on one specific day? What about other finger foods, like sausage rolls? Traditional drinks, boozy or not, like mulled wine or eggnog or gløgg?
Are there any non-food traditions that take place during the meal, like pulling crackers? Games that people traditionally play with their families, like charades or board games or pass the pear? How do Genovians decorate for Christmas? Do their traditional ornaments come in a specific shape, and are they made of glass or wood or woven straw? As well as Christmas trees, some places bring in other plants like holly - what do Genovians associate with the season? (Is it branches from the pear tree, lmao.) Are there busy Christmas markets, or themed street lighting? Norway sends a fir tree to Trafalgar Square in London every year; Gävle in Sweden puts up a Yulegoat, which sometimes gets set on fire and sometimes gets eaten by birds. What is Genovia's unique thing? Is the monarch expected to broadcast a speech on Christmas Day, like in Spain and Britain? Is there a cartoon that gets shown on TV every year - and is it a beloved piece of whimsy like The Snowman or Wallace & Gromit, or some surreal wonky animation made in 1972 that has inexplicably become a staple?
Mia - What kinds of responsibilities does she have as queen - making a speech, or attending a service at the cathedral? Has she spent Christmas in Genovia before, and watched how Clarisse handles these events? Maybe she turns to Clarisse for some guidance and tutoring now, or maybe Joe steers her through it. Or maybe she gets to enjoy the cosier, private celebrations of a Genovian Christmas with them, before or after the second film.
Nicholas - He grew up in Genovia, so presumably all his Christmases were Genovian ones. What was it like celebrating with Mabrey? Maybe the guy was more tender with his nephew than he might appear. Was Christmas a time when he got to relax and enjoy the season, or did Mabrey keep pointing out all the traditions he'd have to uphold as king? And Nicholas is into cooking - does he know all the Genovian Christmas recipes, even the obscure ones? Has he inherited the family recipe book? And is he excited to share the results with Mabrey, or with the servants?
Mia/Nicholas - What's their first Christmas like as a couple, or their first Christmas after they get married? You could do something fluffy, with them enjoying some Genovian snacks in private, or Nicholas introducing Mia to the traditions he knows - or helping her prepare for some public event. Is kissing under the mistletoe a thing, or do Genovians kiss under something else, or is there a different tradition for sneaking a bit of intimacy? Do they get to play parlour games with Clarisse and Joe, or eat a big meal with them? Does Nicholas insist on cooking it himself? Maybe, if you want to add a bit of angst, he's trying to forget that it's his first Christmas without Mabrey - maybe Mia, Clarisse and Joe work hard to make him feel like he's part of a family, pulling him into all of the traditions, even the obscure ones. Do Mia and Nicholas support each other through the gruelling schedule of Christmas events the royals are expected to attend, then go back to the palace and cuddle on the sofa while scoffing Genovian gingerbread? What about when they have kids - do they messily bake a Genovian Christmas cake or cookies together? Is Mia thoroughly amused by Nicholas dressing up as St Nick, and fondly teases him, as he valiantly tries to convince their kids he's not just their dad wearing a silly beard?
There are a huge, huge number of things you could include here, and I definitely don't expect all of them, so I hope you're not overwhelmed by the size of this section. Whether you'd rather focus on the food or the social aspects or the royal responsibilities, I am down for any of it. And you can keep it secular, or have an undercurrent of religious belief. Just show me a little of how you imagine Mia and/or Nicholas celebrating a Genovian Christmas.
I love food and cooking as a trope, and between royal feasts and Nicholas being a gourmet cook, this fandom is perfect for it. You could cross this over with my request for Christmas traditions, with Genovian gingerbread or Christmas cake. Or my request for pear-themed traditions, with desserts involving pears. But also any other Genovian food! Elaborate dishes at royal events, hearty everyday food in private moments, moreish snacks, traditional recipes... Genovia seems to be vaguely inspired by a combination of France, Italy, Britain, and other bits of Europe, so feel free to mix up bits of real world recipes, or invent something entirely new. Soups, stews, pies, roasts, sauces, puddings, cookies, candies... Any kind of Genovian food! I want to see these characters learning about it, making it, eating it, enjoying it.
Mia - Being a vegetarian is going to affect Mia's experience of Genovian cuisine. In the first film, she's served a stuffed tomato when everyone else has a meat course. Is she keen to try vegetarian versions of traditional Genovian foods, replacing the meat with tofu or beans or whatever? Or is she happy to stick to the ones that are veggie anyway? Now that she's queen, are all royal banquets going to serve only vegetarian food? Do ambassadors and foreign dignitaries try to impress her with Genovian recipes? Maybe sharing Genovian food is a way Clarisse tries to educate Mia about this part of her cultural heritage - or becomes a way for them to bond. After growing up in America, does Mia have to adjust to Genovian flavours? Maybe after all those elaborate dishes, she finds herself craving fast food - until Joe provides her with some Genovian snacks, or sneakily drives her to a Genovian street food vendor. Maybe when Lilly comes to visit, Mia is keen to share her favourite Genovian meal with her. Are there a lot of weird pear-flavoured things to wade through? Are some of them unexpectedly delicious? What about foods that are traditionally served at birthdays, at Christmas, on Shrove Tuesday, at midsummer, on Genovian Independence Day, or any other festival or celebration? Why are they significant, and what are they like to eat?
Nicholas - It's canon that he's into cooking. Is it a point of pride that he can cook all of the traditional Genovian foods? Did he try to impress Mabrey with them as a child? Maybe Nicholas has an old family recipe book, and it's a treasured link to the parents he misses. Or maybe it's something he learned in school, and those were his favourite lessons. Or he learned from Mabrey's servants, too young to care about propriety. He has his own apron, and took it with him to the palace - is cooking how he relaxes? That cake he was finishing while talking with Clarisse in the kitchen, is that a Genovian speciality? Did they eat it together after that scene - and did she approve of it? What other things might he have made and shared with Clarisse, or Joe, or might he share in the future?
Mia/Nicholas - Obviously Nicholas cooking for Mia is a big thing for me here. She's only spent a few vacations in Genovia, so maybe he's keen to show her the breadth of Genovian cuisine, or introduce her to seasonal dishes eaten during festivals or celebrations. But as her consort, maybe he also helps her plan the courses for royal banquets, or summer garden parties, or their wedding reception. What are Genovians expected to eat? Do they have to adjust recipes for Mia's vegetarian diet? What's Mia's favourite Genovian meal, and which is Nicholas's? (When they thumb wrestled for secrets, he confessed he likes putting chocolate milk on cereal. Maybe his favourite Genovian food is kinda dorky, and he'll only eat it in private with her.) Or he wants to take her to the best restaurants around the capital for date night - if they can escape the paparazzi. Maybe when they have kids, getting messy and baking a Genovian childhood favourite in the palace kitchen, and sharing that cultural milestone as a family, is a treasured private moment for them?
I'm so fond of Genovia's cultural obsession with pears. You could cross this over with my request for Genovian cuisine: we've seen pear desserts and pear-flavoured popcorn. How else do they eat pears? But I love pears used as a symbol too. There's a deleted scene from the second film where Mia has to ceremonially pick the first ripe pear from the oldest pear tree in Genovia - and of course it goes wrong. How are pears, pear trees, pear blossoms, and images of pears woven into Genovian life? The traditions could be sensible or slightly bonkers, I just want you to expand on Genovia's culture a bit.
Mia - More traditions like the pear-picking, with Mia as a princess or as queen. Having to test a line of pears and declare which one is ripe, to prove she understands the country's most important product? Ceremonially juicing pears, but Mia gets splashed with it? Distributing pears to the needy on the last day of autumn? Presiding over the annual pear-juggling race at midsummer? Bobbing for pears at Halloween? Throwing a banquet where every dish is made from pears? Ceremonially closing a session of parliament by having a pear thrown at her by the prime minister? (It's fine, she's allowed an umbrella as a shield.) Or every year there's a masquerade ball, and the heir/monarch must dress as a pear tree (with real pears hanging off her!) to acknowledge the importance of pears to Genovia. Maybe she struggles through something difficult, maybe she watches Queen Clarisse serenely breeze through it, maybe she needs help from Clarisse or Joe - maybe when she's an established queen, she has fond thoughts about this particular event, even if it's slightly odd. Maybe she reads about an old tradition and decides to revive it.
Nicholas - He grew up in Genovia. Were there pear-themed events at school, like a harvest festival but specifically for pears? What about ones he would've celebrated at home, with Mabrey? Did he enjoy them, and was Mabrey kind or dismissive of Nicholas's childish enthusiasm? What about now Nicholas is an adult? Does he enjoy these traditions, taking a nationalistic pride in them despite their occasional silliness? Did he practise his role in some of them in preparation for becoming king? He's into cooking - does he like pears, or does he try to avoid all those pear-based Genovian recipes?
Mia/Nicholas - Is giving your partner a cluster of pear blossoms a way to declare your undying love? Is walking under the pear blossoms together a treasured romantic moment in springtime? Maybe Nicholas has to gently pluck all the petals out of Mia's hair and count them, and that's supposed to predict how many children they'll have. Maybe at a Genovian wedding reception, instead of cutting the cake together, the couple each take a bite of the same pear? Or their first anniversary gift is meant to be pear-themed? Anything about pears being part of how Genovians woo and love each other, whatever fluffy or sweet or silly thing you think would work.
Or you could do something where Nicholas has to explain, or guide Mia through a pear-themed tradition, as part of her role as queen. Like the pear-picking, but as simple or as ridiculously elaborate as you want. Planting a pear tree to symbolise the new year? Is chef Nicholas left trying to teach clumsy Mia how to carve art into a pear? Does she have to walk the full length of the cathedral with a pear balanced on her head on the first anniversary of her coronation, and he spends hours catching it every time it falls off as they practise? Maybe it's something easy, and he can just press close and whisper in her ear as she smiles her way through it. Maybe it's difficult, and they laugh and worry as Nicholas helps Mia figure it out. Maybe it's something silly and they can't stop giggling even as they fondly try to perform the tradition correctly. Maybe it's more sensible, and they get to genuinely enjoy the tradition together.
Or you could write a soft moment where Nicholas opens up and tells Mia about the traditions he took part in as a child - or she relates the time she tried as a teen, and it maybe went a bit wrong. Or both of them getting to share all the Genovian traditions with their children! Is a stuffed pear a Genovian baby's traditional first teddy bear? Are there pear cakes or pear jellies or pear desserts specially for kids' birthday parties? Do Genovian families celebrate spring with a song about pears, or with the children hunting hidden pears like easter eggs? Again, I love these characters, and I just want to see them existing in a place that feels specifically Genovian.
Mabrey is a viscount, von Troken is a baron, but some people are just called Lord... What's going on there? Is Lord a catch-all term for any noble? Is Lord actually a specific rank in Genovia? Or does Nicholas (and Lord Palimore and others mentioned) have another title like Duke, and Lord is just the less formal way to refer to people who hold it? Is Lord the highest rank of Genovian nobility, just below the royals? Does a viscount outrank a baron, or the reverse? Does Genovia have other titles we didn't encounter, like count or marquess or something unique, and where do they fit into the hierarchy? (There are real-world peerages you could base this on, but I'm also happy for you to make up whatever you want. Maybe Genovia is the total opposite of other countries, and visitors get hilariously confused.)
Are Genovian titles only passed to the eldest son, or can a daughter inherit? Are the titles tied to ancestral lands? Nicholas, Mabrey, and other nobles wear sashes, badges and/or pins at formal occasions - are these heraldic coats of arms, orders of chivalry, or a uniquely Genovian display of rank? Is the colour, size and placement of a ribbon specific to each rank? Are there courtesy titles, like Duke of Cornwall or Duke of Lancaster, which are used for specific people in the line of succession, or for the monarch themself?
It seems like certain titles grant membership of parliament. Is this all titles of a certain rank, but only some of others? Viscount usually isn't that high a rank, but Mabrey is an MP. Was he actually elected? Or is Genovia's nobility surprisingly small? Nicholas doesn't seem to be an MP - is that because he's too young, or doesn't have the right title? And does being a noble, or a certain rank or at all, mean it's a social expectation that they'll be invited to royal events?
Mia - When she first discovers she's the heir, the Genovian titles and their order of importance is one of the things she has to learn. Maybe Clarisse gently guides a confused Mia through it. Maybe Mia is struggling to memorise it all, and Joe helps by quizzing her as he drives her around. But the nobility is a very defined (and probably complicated) thing that weaves right through the royal life she's embracing, and that's going to influence a lot of her experiences.
Nicholas - Has there been a Lord Devereaux for centuries, or was the title created when King Chevalier's daughter married a Devereaux - what noble title did the Devereaux family hold before that? Maybe young Nicholas had to do a project on his family history at school. Or maybe Mabrey insisted he learn all about his glorious family line. Maybe Nicholas was suspicious of what Mabrey was telling him, and dug out some books to do his own research? Or he inherited the Devereaux family library, and one of the books in there was about their history. Or maybe a diary from an ancestor that he found where some of the entries talk about this topic. When he turned 18 or 21, was there a formal ceremony which confirmed his title? (Mia presumably wasn't there or she'd have recognised him.) Or was there any kind of formality associated with him inheriting the title as a 6 year old boy? Did Mabrey have to help him with it? Maybe Nicholas looks back at that and has some feelings about it.
Mia/Nicholas - Does Mia have the power to grant or revoke titles, or suggest that to parliament? When she gets engaged to Nicholas, does she (offer to) grant him a new title? Is she tempted to revoke Mabrey's title, due to him being a total shit? Is Nicholas conflicted about that, or glad that Mabrey won't be at any more royal events? Maybe at social events Nicholas helps Mia with remembering all the ranks and who this person is. Maybe they get engaged, and now they need to look up Devereaux history for some reason. Or Nicholas tells Mia about some part of his family's history, or his own experience of being a noble, as part of them growing closer? Maybe there's the question of what happens to his title if they have kids: will it be absorbed into the crown? Will the eldest child become monarch, and the second child become Lord/Lady Devereaux? Maybe the eldest child gets the crown, but the eldest son becomes Lord Devereaux, and their first child is a girl. Is this something they think about? Something the press writes articles on, forcing them to think about it? Something they try to modernise?
There are clearly some unusual things going on with the Genovian line of succession. Clarisse seems to have somehow gone from being queen consort to queen regnant. How does that happen? What part of Genovian law allows that? Did parliament have to confirm her succession, or was it automatic? Has it ever happened before, or was this the first time? Did King Rupert make her regent while he was still alive, and that allowed her to keep hold of the crown? Or were parliament just more keen to stick with Clarisse, a competent woman they're familiar with, than deal with the question of who inherited when none of her children could? (Was this a "fuck the von Trokens" moment, lmao.) Did she have to push to be named queen, or was it a duty she reluctantly accepted? Was her plan always to keep the crown only long enough to train up Mia?
From the second film, we know there are some weird restrictions on and traditions around becoming ruler of Genovia. When and why was the marriage law introduced? Did any previous princesses fall foul of it? How did things like shooting the flaming arrow start, and are there any other tests Mia had to face which we didn't see? Does a new monarch automatically succeed when the previous one dies, or are they not technically ruler until they're crowned/confirmed by parliament/something else?
Does Genovia have agnatic primogeniture (first born son is heir) or absolute primogeniture (first child of any gender)? Nobody knew Mia existed until she was outed, and then Nicholas turned up and people were sort of surprised by that too. Why does nobody seem to be keeping track of who's in line for succession? Does Genovia not have public records of marriages and births, which means the paparazzi can't hunt them down unless they declare themselves? Or is there not so much a line of succession as a vague group of people who could inherit, and it depends who's reached the age of majority/can best convince parliament to give them the crown/best convince the current monarch to name them successor? All the Genovians seem pretty keen to wheedle out of having to give the crown to the von Trokens. There's also Prince Jacques, who's a prince living in Genovia, but maybe not a prince of Genovia - nobody ever suggests making him king, is that just because he's a child? Or is he an exiled prince from another tiny country?
Mia - Maybe as part of Mia's princess lessons, Clarisse explains how she went from queen consort to queen regnant. Or Joe tells Mia about it. Or she finds some old newspaper articles, or something about it in a book? Maybe Mia and/or Lilly discover that the Genovian crown goes to male claimants before female ones, and get indignant about that. Maybe Mia is told or reads about how the Renaldis first became the Genovian royal family, 300 years ago. Were they the first monarchs of an independent Genovia, or just a new dynasty? Who did they inherit the crown from - were the Renaldis distant relatives of the previous ruler? Or did they win the crown via combat? Or were they invited to become royals by parliament?
Nicholas - He's the same age as Mia, so he would've been a teenager when Clarisse became queen regnant. Did he follow the story on the news, in the papers, picking up the gossip at school? What did he think about it all? Clarisse seems like a competent and popular queen, and Nicholas was respectful to her when they were chatting in the kitchen, so maybe he's always approved of her. But had Mabrey already convinced him he was going to be king someday? Maybe Mabrey ranted to him about it, believing Nicholas should be king, because Mia hadn't been revealed as the heir yet? Or as Nicholas wasn't yet 21, was Mabrey happy to bide his time, glad that the crown wasn't going to the von Trokens? And when the news about Princess Mia's existence broke, how did Nicholas feel? Was he disappointed, or relieved - or both? Maybe he had to endure a lot of rants about succession law from Mabrey after that. Or was succession something he learned about at school, even did a school project on? Did he have to keep his own status a secret, and what feelings did all of it give him? Maybe he had to research his ancestor King Chevalier, and found out how he became king, or who succeeded Chevalier - and why it wasn't Nicholas's ancestor. Or maybe this is something he and Clarisse chat about, while he's a rival or later. Or maybe Clarisse tells him about her own succession, or about King Rupert's?
Mia/Nicholas - Nicholas is technically still next in line to the throne. The need to have children and produce an heir must be on their minds. And probably on the press's mind too - do Mia and Nicholas have to read a newspaper article about it, and then discuss the topic? Maybe for some reason one or both of them do some research into past successions? Maybe during an interview, a reporter asks one of them about succession and they try to answer diplomatically. And then in private, Mia and Nicholas have a more honest chat together? If the law prioritises male claimants over female, do Mia and Nicholas campaign to get that changed once she gets pregnant (especially if they know it's a girl), or even before that? Mia was formally announced as an heir at a royal event. Is this tradition? Do they throw an event to confirm their eldest child as heir - and how old is the kid at the time? And if it's happening in Genovia instead of America, is there a more established form it follows? Or maybe they discuss Nicholas's memories of Clarisse becoming queen. Or about King Chevalier, and why the crown went to Mia's line instead of Nicholas's. Or the origins of the Renaldi dynasty itself. (Maybe they're jokingly wondering if their kids will take her name. Or possibly not so jokingly. Please don't have Nicholas get all toxic-masculinity about it though, even if he's a bit sad about the possibility the Devereaux name will disappear.)
I've listed lots of ideas and questions for each topic - possibly too many, lmao, so don't feel you need to consider all of them. Including just one is fine. But don't feel you need to stick to the ones I mentioned either! I'm sure there are loads of other interesting things to be explored with these topics, so if you have a totally different idea that you love - go with it! These topics all fascinate me, and if you have a passion to explore one specific bit then I want to see that passion.
Navigation: DNWs | General Likes | Hurt/Comfort Likes | Smut Likes
Don't Worry Darling: Alice, Bunny, Frank, Shelley
DNDHAT: Edgin | Simon | Xenk
Just My Luck: Ashley, Jake
Princess Diaries: Mia, Nicholas
DNWs:
- 1st or 2nd person POV (epistolary sections fine)
- Cheating
- Breakups
- Noncon
- Major character death
- Gore
- Vore
- Bestiality, sex while in animal form
- Scat, watersports, vomit in a sexual context (non-sexual vomiting is fine)
- Underage (18+ only)
- Canon characters explicitly depicted as aromantic or asexual
- For Don't Worry Darling: waiving DNWs for cheating and breakups; Frank nonconning Alice is fine; canon character deaths are fine as long as it's not their POV
- For DNDHAT: Edgin/Holga, Kira/anyone. Edgin and Holga separately masturbating in the same prison cell is fine; them using the pee bucket in the prison cell is fine.
- For Princess Diaries: Mia and Nicholas kissing while she's engaged to Andrew is fine, as is Mia/Andrew breaking up.
General Likes:
- Fluff. Domestic fluff. Hopeful spring vibes. Cosy autumn or winter vibes. Rainy evenings in. Lazy sunny mornings. Cooking together, eating together. The daily routines of travelling together longterm.
- Banter. Getting together. Established relationship. Found family. Characters showing affection in their own way. Groups amusing themselves with jokes and stories while spending every day together. Characters trusting in each other's skills. Competence kink.
- Cheek touches. Hand on the back of the neck. Hugs and cuddling. Cheek kisses. Forehead kisses. (Platonic versions welcome!)
- Holding hands. Kisses described in loving detail. Brushing fingers over lips.
- Angst with a happy ending. Hurt/comfort. Mutual pining. Repression and self-denial. Intense sense of duty or loyalty. Complicated family legacies. Self-esteem issues.
- Dreams and nightmares. Shared dreams. Prophetic dreams, dreams of future soulmate. Nightmares of past trauma.
- Truth spells. Telepathic bonds. Soulbonds, accidental or deliberate. Magical tattoos that show connections: soulmate marks, pistilverse, etc.
- Kidfic, of the canon character being de-aged type. Kidfic, of the having and caring for children type. Pregnancy, including mpreg. Pregnancy fluff: anticipating child, preparing, taking care of pregnant partner. Pregnancy angst: worrying about being a good parent, worrying about the birth (esp for mpreg). Pregnancy hurt/comfort: morning sickness, pampering partner.
- Forced proximity: stuck in a prison cell together, only one bed, trapped by a cave-in, hiding in a closet, handcuffed together, magic spell, etc.
- Sparring and combat tutoring. Character A defending character B with character B's weapon.
Hurt/Comfort Likes:
- Emotional hurt/comfort. Physical hurt/comfort. Whump. Mild hurt/comfort.
- Nightmares. Flashbacks. Crying. Staying with character B as they fall asleep.
- Impact bruises. Being manually choked. Twisted ankles.
- Stab wounds. Arrow wounds. Pulling the arrow out. Nosebleeds as fight injury. Grazes and abrasions.
- Magical torture, psychic torture, and other kinds of pain inflicted without harming the body.
- Bedside vigils. Holding injured character close. Carrying or supporting someone who can't walk. Character A catching character B as they collapse (even if character A isn't strong enough to hold them up and just helps slow their descent to the floor). Helping injured character undress, remove armour, etc.
- Seasickness. Morning sickness. "Oh no, that thing you just ate was poisoned." Vomiting in the context of hurt/comfort - the loss of control, the pain of throwing up, the vulnerability of being seen that way - whether due to nausea, induced by emetic, or induced by fingers (theirs or partner's). Not interested in the vomit itself, though fine to mention it looks/smells/tastes gross.
- Struggling through sex pollen/an omegaverse heat/etc without having sex, only giving non-sexual comfort for the symptoms.
- Premature ejaculation. Erectile dysfunction. Shame over sexual desires.
- The awkward vulnerability of comfort requiring a new level of intimacy.
- Stern/gruff characters making tiny gestures as a comforter and the comfortee understanding that significance. A comforter understanding when the comfortee only wants tiny gestures, and the comfortee being grateful for that understanding. People who are comfortable with each other giving and accepting large amounts of comfort.
- Stoic hurt characters refusing to break down. Stoic hurt characters letting it all out.
- I love both the hurt and comfort parts of the equation! Go heavy on one part and less on the other, or have an equal mix of both.
Smut Likes:
- Positions: Missionary, riding and other face-to-face positions, for eye contact and/or lots of kissing. But spooning pairs well with gentle sex, and oral fingering's probably more easily done from behind.
- Locations: In bed, in a chair, against a wall, on the floor... In the bedroom, in the living room, in an alley, in a forest, in a dungeon, on a ship, on the victorious battlefield... Basically anywhere? Yeah.
- Acts: Anal sex, including het anal. Vaginal sex. Loss of virginity. First time bottoming. Pegging. Strap-ons. Deepthroating. Oral fingering. Kissing during sex. Breastplay (fondling, gently squeezing, kissing). Nippleplay (pinching, kissing, licking).
- Moods: Gentle sex. Tender sex. Fluffy sex. Hurt/comfort sex. Sex with lots of feelings. Vulnerability and trust.
- BDSM: Dom/sub. Bondage. Pinned down. Kneeling. Collaring. Praise kink. Orgasm delay/edging. BDSM AUs.
- Dubcon: Sex pollen. Fuck or die. Sex caused by magic or to perform magic. Pining during dubcon. (Whether they admit their feelings during, after, or not at all.) Having to trust each other with the unexpected intimacy. Worrying about being so vulnerable but being kind to each other and coming out stronger on the other side.
- Size kink and stretching: Big cocks. Painful penetration. Lots of foreplay/prep, slow and gentle penetration so it isn't painful. Large object insertions. Sounding.
- Omegaverse: Alpha/Omega. Painfully big alpha dicks. Knotting. Sexy pheromones. Pheromones that communicate fear, or anger, or other emotions. Alpha pheromones that make the omega feel safe, or protected, or calm.
- An undercover situation requires them to fuck while being watched, but they successfully fake it - except the kisses, the touches, the proximity, and the "is it okay if I..." questions whispered right in each other's ears were all very real. And some of those moans didn't sound fake. Either they're so wound up they fuck for real once they're no longer being watched, or the feelings keep simmering until they boil over later.
Don't Worry Darling (2022)
Requested characters: Alice, Bunny, Frank, Shelley
This film dropped so many intriguing hints about Victory and the memory technology, but because the reveal comes so close to the end it never fully explains everything. I would love more detail about how you think these things work - whether your fic is fluffy, dark, tense, angsty, or smutty, set in Victory or outside it, I want to see these characters discovering or explaining or experiencing these concepts.
I picked these four because I think they have such interesting but very different experiences of Victory and everything it involves. Determined Alice, digging up the truth before escaping. Acerbic Bunny, choosing to live with ghosts. Disciplined Shelley, who may or may not be in the know. Charismatic Frank, who's in control of everything - until he isn't. Feel free to use them in any combo or solo. Shipwise, I'm interested in Alice/Bunny, Alice/Frank, Alice/Shelley, Bunny/Frank, Frank/Shelley, Frank/Jack, or Alice/Frank/Jack. Or any gen combo of these four. Background Alice/Jack, Bunny/Dean, etc is fine too.
This is a pretty fucked up canon, so feel free to delve into the dark and uncomfortable possibilities of these topics. Also fine with these characters cheating or breaking up, Frank nonconning Alice, or you including any of the canon deaths (onscreen or in the past) as long as it's not from the dying char's POV. (Shelley's POV of stabbing Frank, fine. Frank's POV of being stabbed, no thanks.) Canon divergence AUs (eg villain wins) are welcome as long as the worldbuilding would still be true in the canon universe.
Creation of Victory
Everyone's very keen to tell the wives how clever Frank is for creating Victory. Did he actually code it himself? What about building the hardware? And was there anybody else involved - maybe Shelley worked on it? And what about the memory alteration tech, how did that play into the process of Victory's creation? Maybe Dr Collins was responsible for the memory tech. But how did Frank draw him in? We know basically nothing about the creation of Victory, except that it's been going for 987 days. But were there failed versions of Victory before that?
Alice - After she escapes, maybe Alice goes to the police, trying to warn them about Victory, and through the resulting investigation she learns how Victory was originally made. Or maybe she thinks they won't believe her, that she murdered Jack in the real world, so she goes on the run - and pieces together Victory's backstory from news clips, internet chatter, or even a meeting with Shelley? Or maybe she learned something while still inside Victory, and it got erased. Maybe Frank gloatingly told her before wiping that moment from her mind. Or in an AU where she never escaped, maybe Frank tells her everything - and lets her remember, because it shows his power.
Bunny - Were Bunny and Dean early subscribers? Dean is on the senior advisory board. Has he always been close with Frank? Did Bunny and Dean know Frank back when he was still creating Victory? Maybe they got a special insight into the process. Or were early enough in joining the project to witness Frank smoothing out the problems. Maybe they helped by being "guinea pigs" for the project? They certainly have a lot of hero worship for Frank, but is that because they saw him create this glorious (horrifying) thing - or because he's lied to them about it? Maybe all new or prospective subscribers get a tour of Victory, and Frank showed them round and explained everything (or lied about it)... or maybe they only got a tour because Bunny was a willing wife. What happens if Frank lied, and Bunny discovers the truth, after thinking she's been an insider all this time? Does she only find out when Shelley takes over?
Frank - Frank is very happy to self-mythologise, and for other people to reinforce his mythology too. How much of his story is true? What was it actually like, back when he was creating Victory? Is he actually a genius who coded all (or most) of this complex project? Or was he involved, but has been taking credit for work mostly done by someone else? Maybe Shelley was his work partner (in addition to, or instead of, his romantic partner) and they created it together - before he erased her memory and took all the credit. Or maybe it suits her purposes to let Frank boast that he did it all. And how many teething problems did it have? Did Frank get frustrated with it? His manipulations in the film are mostly very calm and subtle, but I can imagine him having explosive anger too. And when/how/why did he code it as a 1950s place? You could write something set back when he was creating Victory, showing it first hand, or something set later as he reports the story to someone else - but maybe he's lying about it, and only Frank knows that.
Shelley - It's not clear if Shelley has been brainwashed or not, or how much she knows about Victory, what its real purpose is, and how it was made. She seems very happy to boost Frank's image - but is that because she saw him create it, or because he told her about it afterwards? (And did he lie to her about how much of it was him?) She claims the burlesque dancer at the Victory celebration was her gift to Frank - did she code that? Was she involved in Victory's coding? Maybe she was Frank's romantic partner, and they created it together. Does it suit her purposes to keep quiet about her involvement, or has Frank erased her memory of that? Maybe she wasn't his romantic partner at all, just his research partner, and he erased her memory to take credit - or because he'd "fallen in love" with her, and the easiest way to keep and control her was via the memory alteration. Maybe after she takes control of Victory, she sets the record straight - or does to Frank what he did to her, and erases him from its history. You could show me Shelley seeing Victory's creation, taking part in it, being told about it, telling someone else about it, and/or experiencing flashbacks to what really happened as she uncovers her true memories.
Enhancement Beyond Reality Inside Victory
When Jack is looking at his subscriber page, there's an option labelled Appearance Enhancement: ON. And the software gives him an English accent instead of an American one. What else has Frank (or the other people involved in running Victory) chosen to enhance? Is this something they boast about, is it a selling point for potential new subscribers? Can they enhance anything they want, to any extent, or are there limits? Does it work better on some things than others? (And is it the enhancement of sensation that overwhelms people when they receive a fatal injury inside Victory, and that's what kills them in the real world?) Does Shelley make any changes to these enhancements when she takes over?
Maybe they've enhanced the sense of taste, so all drinks and meals inside Victory seem incredible. Does that mean that real food is underwhelming for Frank when he logs out to eat? What about after Alice escapes - is adjusting to normal food just another soul-wearying part of returning to real life? Does she miss Victory's food? As far as we know, neither Bunny nor Shelley logs out to eat real food. Is that because it's lost all appeal? When Shelley takes over, does she kick Bunny out (or Bunny chooses to leave) and now Bunny has to eat disappointing real food again? Some of the same questions could apply to the sense of smell too.
What about the sense of touch? Or pleasure? Do people get better orgasms inside Victory? If it can simulate pleasure with no physical interaction, it could easily go beyond reality. Does the coding mean it's impossible to get erectile dysfunction inside Victory? Do the men have reduced refractory periods, their minds able to orgasm again when their bodies couldn't? Maybe for realism's sake, and maintaining the illusion for the wives, that's not a thing... or not for everyone. Maybe Frank coded that as a special treat for himself. Does he take advantage of that with Shelley, or while cheating with Bunny, or with Alice - whether Alice is consenting, or his ability to just keep going is part of the horror when he forces himself on her? And if Victory can manipulate pleasure, could someone like Frank control it directly? Is there a metaphorical "orgasm button"? Can he make himself come whenever he wants - or do that to Shelley, making himself seem a good lover? Or even to Alice - even if she doesn't consent, even if they're not actually having sex, can he just make her come at a moment's notice? Is it a verbal command, or does he need a coded-in button, or is Frank so connected to Victory's coding he can do it with a thought? Maybe he can control it from outside Victory, and likes to watch Shelley's or Alice's real body when he presses the orgasm button.
Glitches in Victory
Those empty eggs, the moving walls, the inaccurate mirrors, the crashing toy plane... Victory is clearly not a flawless simulation. But are the glitches caused by a problem with the software? Has Frank tried to fix them, or has he not bothered? Maybe he's tried and failed, and so wants to pretend they don't happen. Maybe there used to be more glitches, and he's fixed some of them.
Sometimes the glitches seem to be a reflection of Alice's faltering mental state. Most of them happen when she's alone, and only to her... But at the end of the film, those lights are exploding around her, and everyone can see that happening. And it seems like maybe she's actually causing that, even if she's not doing it on purpose. Is Frank so interested in Alice because she has a unique ability to influence Victory? (In a villain wins AU, would he use her to perfect Victory - making other wives' escape impossible?) Or are all the glitches she experiences due to a problem with the interaction between Victory's software, the neural connection hardware, and/or the effects of the memory alteration process? Nobody notices when Alice is seeing Margaret's reflection during the ballet lesson.
What other glitches have there been? Were there any big ones in the past, that Frank and/or Shelley had to fix, and then cover up? Is Bunny still lying to newcomers about them? If the memory alteration process causes them, does that mean Frank and Bunny (and possibly Shelley, if she hasn't been brainwashed) never experience them - even if they're happening to someone else right in front of them? How much do they have to gaslight people like Alice or Violet... How much has Frank gaslighted Shelley, if she's his prisoner?
Ground Tremors in Victory
Several times during the film, we see Victory experience a tremor - while Alice is cooking breakfast for Jack, while the wives are out shopping... The official explanation is that it's part of the work the men are doing, something to do with their research. Except there is no research, no work - so what are the tremors? Just a part of the storytelling, something that Frank coded in to keep up the illusion? (Or to suggest something ominous, and warn the wives away from headquarters, keeping them scared and under control.)
Are the tremors glitches that aren't meant to happen? Has Frank been trying to fix them? Did there used to be more than there are now, or are they increasingly common? The one in the shopping scene happens while the wives are discussing Margaret - is it a glitch caused by Alice thinking about Margaret too much? Or is this a warning to people like Bunny to shut the subject down? Are the tremors the Victory software struggling with the number of logged in users? Maybe the tremors are the effect of an update being applied to Victory, a physical sign when new locations or subscribers are added. But is the tremor a deliberate consequence of updates, or is it something they'd rather prevent but can't control?
This is a really small and niche topic compared to some of my requests, but I've been so curious about the tremors since I first saw the film - I'd love for you to create an explanation!
Memory Alteration
I'm so curious about how this works, how much control they have, what the tech's limits are, and what side effects it might cause. We see Alice being reset, regaining the memories of her old life, so they're clearly still in her brain somewhere. But how are Frank and his associates suppressing those memories, or injecting new ones? What is the actual process - hooked up to a neural interface machine like Victory's hardware, but which allows the direct insertion of new memories? Or do they induce a hypnotic static, and blast the women with repeated images until they take? Something else?
There only seem to be a few common backstories that are imprinted. Is this laziness, because coding an entire new one is difficult? Is it because they actually can't inject that much detail? Or certain details take better than others, and they've narrowed it down to the most effective ones? Is it easier to insert an entire new memory than to tweak a woman's existing feelings about her husband, because the real memories are more likely to surface?
Alice - Now that she's escaped, does she have two full sets of memories swirling around her head? Do they feel equally real? Were all of the glitches and weirdness she experienced in Victory side effects of the alteration process, or simply because it wasn't fully effective? What was the experience like for her, having her memories altered for the first time, or being reset and then rebrainwashed? We only see the reset, then she comes back "better"... Are there nasty side effects of remembering something that's been erased, when that remembering doesn't happen via a full reset? Does she experience that now she's escaped? Maybe she knew how to drive before Victory, then that was erased, and Jack started teaching her again - was that where her problems all started?
Alice/Frank - When Frank caught Alice fucking Jack in his bedroom, he shook his head and walked away. When Alice flashes back to that moment later, Frank holds a finger to his lips instead. Did he alter her memory of the event? Which one is real? What if it's neither? Is the truth that he watched longer, even joined in? At Alice's dinner party, Frank says "Just like I trusted you in my bedroom. Do you remember that?" What if he meant a different time, one she doesn't remember? Did they once have sex, and he erased her memory to keep her quiet? Maybe he's done it multiple times. It does seem like there's a frisson between Frank and Alice - but is her attraction to him natural, or did he put that into her mind? Maybe he's even nonconned her, knowing he'd be the only one to remember. What about a villain wins AU - does he claim Alice as his wife, give her a whole new set of memories about life with him? (And how long before she breaks through those memories too?) Or could he delve into her past, rewriting it so he was there - maybe he changes her memory of losing her virginity so she thinks she gave it to him? Maybe he likes to use the initial memory alteration process to have a little fun with (some of) the new wives before they go into Victory, and Alice was a victim of that?
Bunny - She kept her memories, but did Frank ever offer to make her forget that her children are dead? Or is the choice all or nothing, and they can't just delete one or two memories? And how does she feel interacting with the other wives, knowing they've had this process done to them? How does she feel watching her best friend Alice breaking down and being reset? What about Margaret? Does she feel guilty about keeping up the lie, or does she believe they're happier oblivious? And does Bunny ever worry that her memory could have been tampered with too - how would she know if they had? (Does she ever have a vulnerable moment and ask Frank, who charms and dismisses her? How desperate would she be to believe him? And is he lying to her?)
Frank - Frank might be a good character for showing some general stuff about use of the memory tech, or about how it was perfected, with it being used on OCs. Whether early in Victory's operation, or once they've got it all figured out. Or maybe when it was being created - did he invent it, as well as code Victory? Maybe it was invented by Dr Collins, and you want to show me how Frank heard about it, or convinced Dr Collins to come on board. But I also have some prompts involving Frank+Alice or Frank+Shelley. Or maybe he's used it on other people. Can the tech insert memories without altering a person's entire past? Is he secretly dropping positive things about himself into the minds of Victory's husbands, as well as the wives? Frank is happy to do terrible things to people, so there could be other terrible uses for memory alteration that he's found.
Shelley - It's not clear if Shelley is Frank's willing wife or not. Maybe she knows exactly what's happening, and is fully on board. She seems fine with lying to the other wives, but does she ever feel guilty? Do she and Bunny ever discuss it? Maybe Shelley didn't approve of Victory (or didn't even know about Victory) and Frank altered her memories and forced her to live as his wife there, just like Jack did with Alice. Maybe Shelley wasn't even Frank's romantic partner, just his research partner or someone he knew, and he kidnapped her and brainwashed her. (When we hear Dr Collins' assessment of Jack and Alice, he says "pre-existing relationship: yes"... which suggests sometimes the answer is no.) Maybe Shelley even invented the memory alteration tech, and then Frank betrayed her by using it on her. Is the scene where she's chopping a lemon and then stabs Frank the moment she breaks through the brainwashing and remembers it all? Or did she remember before then, and just choose that moment to act? How does she feel about what Frank did to her after she takes control of Victory? Even if she was his willing wife, and she was aware of everything, does she ever worry that he might have secretly altered her memory? (I doubt she'd ask him about it, but maybe she'd suspiciously watch him. Or try and find out after she takes control.) Or what about an AU where Shelley takes control of Victory, doesn't kill Frank, and warps his memory to suit her needs instead?
NPCs in Victory
We know Bunny's children aren't real people plugged into Victory, because they're actually dead. And I think it's reasonable to assume all of the children are NPCs - just part of the 1950s fantasy. But who else is an NPC? The henchmen in red jumpsuits probably are. What about the shop assistants, the tram driver, the waiter at the pool? Maybe everyone with a job inside Victory (except Dr Collins), because why would they hire someone when they can just code it?
But what are the limits of the NPCs? How complex is their behaviour? Do some of them have more elaborate coding than others? How and when is that coding done, and by who? What happens when the NPCs aren't needed for the staging - do they go somewhere, or just disappear until the software reactivates them? What are their spawn conditions? Maybe workers like the tram driver appear on a schedule. But what about the red goons? They appeared immediately when Margaret killed herself, but not when Alice killed Jack, and they struggled to chase Alice at the end even though more kept appearing. Do they spawn based on certain triggers? Did Frank have to spawn them manually? Why couldn't they just spawn right next to Alice - does the coding prevent NPCs spawning where they can be seen, to preserve the illusion? And can that be overridden?
Alice - Now that Alice has escaped, does the unreality of Victory haunt her? Does she go through a mental list of all the people she met there and wonder who was real and who was an NPC? When she realises most of those people weren't real, does she have a crisis about questioning the reality of every person she meets in the real world? She seemed to be pretty close to Bunny's children. Is she horrified to know that they were ghosts? What about a villain wins AU, where Alice never escapes - and Frank claims her as his wife. Will he design NPC children for them? Taunt Alice about the idea? Get her to help with the process? Or maybe he erases her memory, creates children for them... and then she remembers, and realises they aren't real. How would Alice react?
Bunny - How closely do her children resemble the real kids? How were they coded? Did she sit down with Frank to talk about them? Hand over a stack of their scribbles? Let Frank use the memory alteration tech/Victory's neural connection/something to peer straight into her memories and construct them that way? And how does she feel about living with ghosts of her children? Do they really feel alive to her, can she not convince herself they're real, does she love them or resent them or ache over them, or all of these things sometimes? Do Frank's children creep her out because she knows they're not real, and that makes her own kids feel less real? Do her kids sometimes glitch or do things that shatter the illusion? How does interacting with other NPCs affect her ability to cling to the fantasy? Once Shelley takes over, does Bunny have to beg to be allowed to keep her children? Is she so harsh on Margaret for causing her son to disappear because she's terrified that the same thing could happen to her NPC kids?
Frank - Is he responsible for coding the children? Did he code the children he has with Shelley, and did he spend a lot of time making them just how he wanted? Or was he not bothered, and just let an automated system do it? What does he think of his kids? We don't see him interact with them at all. Are they just a part of the 1950s facade, and he basically ignores them? Do they deactivate when they're not needed for parties? Does he deactivate them on purpose sometimes? Or does Frank love the 1950s fantasy, and purposely designed two adoring children to hang on his every word and deed? Is he emotionally attached to them? (Is he emotionally attached to anyone?) What about what happened with Margaret - presumably her son disappeared because she tried to take him outside of Victory. But was it Frank's decision not to reactivate him?
Shelley - Is Shelley aware of the truth, or is she in the dark? Did she personally code in the burlesque dancer? What about her children - did she get to design them, or did Frank do that? If she was brainwashed like most wives, how does she deal with the realisation that the children she (presumably) loves never existed? Does she still love them, and want to cling to the fake life she has? Once she takes control of Victory, does she create an NPC version of Frank to keep up the illusion (or because she still loves him)... only this Frank is loyal and subservient to her? Maybe she's horrified by her fake children and everything Victory is, wakes up the women, and deactivates all the old NPCs as she rebuilds the world in her image - but maybe she makes an NPC Frank so she can berate him, or question him on why he was so obsessed with Alice? Would an NPC Frank even know the answer - would she have to code him from her memories, or would the system have records of his neural connection she could use to reconstruct him? And if she created an exact digital copy of Frank, could it achieve sentience and try to wrest back control?
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Requested characters: Edgin Darvis
Charming Edgin and the way he uses that charm to hide his trauma is so interesting to me. I love that he's a leader and a protector - and the fact that he's sometimes bad at it, or inconsiderate, and that he betrayed the Harpers, just makes him more delightfully complex. And I love that he uses knitting to show his affection to Kira. He's had some terrible things happen to him and he really doesn't seem to have dealt with that. And he also displays some ADHD traits, if you want to lean into that. (I'm fine with both ADHD and non-ADHD interpretations of Edgin.)
Daily Life in Revel's End
You're very welcome to include Holga in this! I love that she and Edgin have such a strong friendship, and that it survived them being in Revel's End together. But it's also fine to show me something that Holga isn't there for.
Revel's End seems like a really shitty place. Spending two years imprisoned there was probably pretty traumatic. I'm okay with you delving into that, with Edgin (and/or Holga) experiencing the threat of violence, actual violence, or the threat of noncon. But Edgin seems to have remained insistently chipper during it. How often did he try and cheer Holga up with a song? What about other prisoners? The guard Tobias didn't seem too happy about Edgin singing while chopping ice. And how much ice chopping did they have to do? What about other hard labour? What happened if (or when) they got sick?
It seems unlikely that housing male and female prisoners together is normal policy. When they first arrived, were Edgin and Holga put in different cells? What was that like? Did squishy Edgin have a bad time of it - especially as a former Harper? How did Edgin and Holga convince the guards to put them together? Was their vehement lack of attraction to each other enough? Maybe they had to put them together because Holga kept getting into fights with all her other cellmates. Or maybe Edgin and Holga were always in a cell together.
But what was their daily routine like? Holga loves her private potato time. Did they get potatoes every day? For every meal? Or were there other meals, and were they okay or not great? What about sleeping arrangements? It must be freezing there. Did Edgin and Holga share a bed for warmth? (Did Holga grump about it but secretly like it, and did Edgin make jokes about it to make it seem more normal?) By the time they escape, they're wearing lots of layers of rags. Did they have to trade for those, did they acquire them over time? How did Edgin get the wool for his knitting? Did he have to trade for it? How did he convince the guards to trust him with knitting needles? Did he know how to knit before Revel's End, or did he learn in there - because he was bored, because he met a prisoner who could teach him?
How did Edgin and Holga deal with the awkward and intimate parts of sharing a cell? They've got a pee bucket. What was their system for using it, and making sure nobody saw anything they didn't want to? (I don't consider this topic to hit my watersports DNW.) What about masturbating? Did they studiously ignore suspicious noises from the other one's bunk? Did Edgin just not jerk off for two years? (And did that cause him to have wet dreams, resulting in some awkward cleanup.)
You could also maybe do something that shows daily life in Revel's End via Edgin having a nightmare about it after they escape. Maybe he ends up talking to Holga, and they discuss their experiences. Or maybe Holga has a nightmare about it, and talks to Edgin. Or Edgin tells Xenk, Simon or Doric about it. (I'm happy for that to be in the context of Edgin/Xenk, Edgin/Simon or Edgin/Doric too.)
Harper Oath
Edgin swearing the Harper oath (then rejecting it, betraying them, and his resulting hostility to Xenk's suggestions he should still be a Harper) is a pretty big part of his backstory, and there's lots to explore around it. According to his speech to the Absolution Council, the Harper oath is to "fight tyranny, defend the oppressed and ask nothing in return" - but is that literally the entire oath, or is there more to it? Was there a big long thing he had to memorise for the ceremony? Or maybe it is just those words. But I'd be interested in seeing some Edgin/Zia with her helping him prepare for it, or a proper version of the scene where he actually swears the oath. (As in the film it's just Edgin's voiceover on him touching the Harpers' seal, getting his pin, then hugging Zia. More details, please! How did they feel about it all?) And was that ceremony the only part of becoming a Harper? Because Zia was already pregnant then, so that seems pretty late in Edgin's backstory... Was he a Harper associate before then, happily working with full Harpers, and eager to be allowed to swear the oath himself? Are there multiple oaths or stages of oath? Or maybe you could do something about Edgin's growing resentment of the Harper oath, as he struggles to make money to care for Zia and Kira.
I'm also interested in the various things which suggest the Harper oath is magical, or magically binding in some way. Sofina needed Edgin to get her into Korinn's Keep - when he stroked the door, the Harper symbol lit up, and it unlocked. Was that because he was wearing his Harper's pin - or because the oath is magical, the lock is magical, and one can activate the other? If so, how many other things are enchanted to respond to the Harper oath? Which things like that did Edgin encounter during his time as a Harper? Or might he encounter while adventuring with the party?
Xenk also tells Edgin that "you may have forsworn your oath, but your oath hasn't forsworn you" - and that's how Xenk knew Edgin used to be a Harper. Which suggests that the oath imprints on a person in a way that's visible to Xenk. (Is that because Xenk is a paladin? Was touched by the Beckoning Death? Both? Just because of his general Xenkness?) Does Edgin meet anyone else who can see the oath on him? Does it cause problems during a quest, maybe while undercover? And if the oath is clinging on to him, what effects is that having on Edgin? If it's magic, is it magically influencing him at all? When Xenk makes Edgin touch the Harper's seal, he struggles to falsely swear. Was the seal tugging on the oath in him? Is the fact that he (tried to) break the oath dangerous for him? (Is that why Xenk's so keen for him to return to the Harpers?) Is the fact that it's visibly still on him mean he actually technically didn't break it? Or is it partially affected? What would happen if Edgin rejoined the Harpers - would he need to swear again, or would the old one still do? Maybe the Harpers would want him to do it for symbolic reasons, not realising the double magic binding him would have unexpected effects.
I'd love some Edgin/Zia for this, or some gen (with maybe background Edgin/Zia) during his time as a Harper, possibly involving OC Harpers, or something where he's travelling with the party. Gen interactions with Holga, Kira, Simon, or Doric would be welcome, but I'm also interested in Edgin/Xenk, Edgin/Simon, Edgin/Doric or Edgin/Forge. (Background Simon/Doric is fine too.) I'm also fine with you pulling from your knowledge of wider D&D lore, or the wiki, (as long as it doesn't contradict the film) but you're also free to make up whatever you need for your story!
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Requested characters: Simon Aumar
Simon is adorable. I love his combination of awkward, nervous sincerity with his sarcastic humour (and occasional sulkiness). For all his grumping about his magic struggles, he clearly has great power - it's just hard to control. And that's partly because of his self-confidence issues (sorcerers are a charisma class!) but also because sorcery is just like that. It's a natural gift that can't be learned in the way that wizardry can, and I find that really interesting in the context of Simon being from wizarding blood - and how that legacy affects his life.
Legacy of the Aumar Family
Elminster Aumar is such a huge figure in D&D lore. He's legendary in a way even Xenk isn't - everyone would know his name. And that must be such a heavy thing for Simon to carry. Especially as he's a sorcerer, with innate but hard to control magic, when Elminster's a wizard who's studied and honed his powers to an incredible level - no wonder Simon has struggled with his confidence. I'm interested in how the general perception of the Aumar legacy affects the way Simon is treated, how the rest of the Aumar family's own perception of their legacy affects the way they treat Simon, and how all of those things impact Simon's own thoughts and beliefs about himself, his powers, and his place in the family.
I like the idea that the Aumar family is a pretty big family, lots of siblings and cousins and so on, and that while some of them have no magic, most of them do - and they're all wizards, except Simon. Do his relatives put a lot of pressure on him to measure up? Do they keep shoving wizarding books at him, which provide zero help to a sorcerer? Have some of Simon's relatives given up on him - is he viewed as a failure by the family? (And does that change at all now he's a Hero of Neverwinter?) And how does he feel about the way they treat him - does he feel loved but misunderstood, or does he feel like an outsider? ...But this is the worldbuilding exchange! Show me how you imagine the Aumars, how their legacy is viewed, and why Simon is the way he is. There are plenty of possibilities.
Feel free to invent OCs or involve the party as needed. Maybe you want to show me Simon's childhood, or a family reunion, with him interacting with his relatives. Maybe while adventuring with the party, they team up with someone who has a lot of opinions about Aumars - or he hears a whisper in the market, or a bard singing of their great deeds. Maybe Simon has a vulnerable chat with Doric, or Edgin, or Holga, talking about his past and his family. Maybe when Simon first joined the party, young Kira was awed by him being an Aumar. We know Xenk worked with Simon's uncle - was that uncle on the Aumar side? Does Xenk have a more nuanced opinion of the Aumar legacy as a result? Or maybe Xenk just knows what it's like to have stories attached to his name, which may or may not be exaggerated - but affect how people treat him, either way. Maybe the party bump into one of Simon's relatives, even end up doing a quest together, and they understand him much better afterwards. (But is that quest a positive or negative experience for Simon?)
If you know Elminster from other D&D canon (eg Baldur's Gate) and want to incorporate stories about things he actually did, I'm fine with that. Or you could browse the wiki and use snippets. But I'm very happy for you to just make up whatever you need about Elminster, other Aumars, what people know - or think they know - about the Aumars, and how their legacy is viewed. (My own knowledge of Elminster comes from the wiki, so I know who he is but I'm not attached to any of his lore.)
I'm happy for this to include Simon/Doric (and background Xenk/Edgin), or even Simon/Edgin or Simon/Xenk. Or gen, of course!
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Requested characters: Xenk Yendar
Despite his small amount of screentime, Xenk is such an interesting and richly developed character. He was altered forever by a magical trauma during his childhood, making him a visible target for prejudice everywhere he goes, but as an adult he's chosen to dedicate himself to goodness and justice and purity - to an extent far beyond what most people are willing to do. And as well as personal questions about how those two influences combine, there are magical questions too...
His long life means he's experienced so much, and no doubt seen many things change over the decades - treasured things becoming memory, new traditions springing up. Is the weight of all those contradictory experiences, and being a beloved/reviled exile so far from home, part of the reason he's so literal and struggles with social things? Or is it because he's autistic? (I'm fine with both autistic and non-autistic interpretations of Xenk!) He's just such a strongwilled character, with emotional vulnerabilities/trauma despite his physical prowess, and has to navigate being both a symbol of moral purity and moral corruption. I find him absolutely fascinating, especially in the context of these topics.
Effects of the Beckoning Death
We have a reasonable idea of how the Beckoning Death affects those it claims: turning them into the undead, binding their will to Szass Tam, physically altering them with symbolic tattoos, causing them to lose their hair. But we don't know as much about what it means to be nearly touched by the Beckoning Death, the way Xenk was. Is he undead? Is he mortal? Somewhere in between? Dralas scornfully says Xenk is aging because he has mortal blood... But is that just Dralas being an undead zealot? Is Xenk partially undead? He's very long-lived: despite Dralas's insults, Xenk doesn't look like he's aged in 100 years. But maybe that's just the limitations of needing the same actor. Sometime between 100 years ago and 130-140 years ago, Xenk grew up... But did the Beckoning Death slow that too? Did poor Xenk get stuck as a teenager for 20 years? That might create some interesting situations as a fresh paladin or another paladin's squire, where he's mentally 22 but still looks 15. But maybe the slow aging only kicked in as an adult. (Is that why he grew a beard? So people would take him more seriously, lmao.)
Xenk clearly isn't fully undead, because he's aging, and because he hasn't lost his hair. But is he undead enough for that to interact with his paladin status, or other magic? His paladin senses mean he can smell Dralas and the other Thayan assassins. Does Xenk smell undead to himself? Or to other paladins? Is he so determined to do good, to be a paragon of virtue, because he's haunted by the fact his body and/or his soul have the taint of evil on them? Does he worry that he doesn't have a soul any more? Or that his soul is corrupted, or that he only has part of a soul left? We do see him cast a spell, making his daggersword glow. But are there spells he can't cast, because they're holy and something about him isn't? Or because the spell would negatively interact with his maybe-undead nature? Although I enjoy Xenk as a healer, I'm also interested by the idea that his curse prevents him from casting healing spells - or mean that healing (or being healed) is physically painful for him. But being Xenk, would excruciating pain stop him saving someone else's life? (He does use healing magic on himself in the tie-in comic, but you don't have to stick with that.) And what happens if other people cast spells on him, or near him? Would Turn Undead affect him? (And how horrified would he be if it did? Or relieved if it didn't?) What about other spells? Feel free to make up ones which don't exist in D&D lore!
From what we can see, the mark on his forehead is the only mark of Szass Tam that Xenk bears. But does he have others that we can't see? And is that mark just visual, or does it have an actual effect on him? Does Szass Tam have a low-level influence on Xenk, and that's why he fled as far from Thay as it's physically possible to go without crossing the ocean? Has Xenk been resisting that all this time? Maybe he can even hear Szass Tam whispering to him, the way Sofina can. Or Szass Tam has been using something like a Dream spell to try and convert him? Maybe Xenk has been free of Tam's influence all this time... until Tam suddenly figures out a way to pull on Xenk's curse? Maybe Xenk is worried that if, or when, he actually dies he'll become a mindless undead servant - and has taken steps to try and prevent that? And if he was stabbed with a Red Wizard's blade, would it have a different effect on him? Maybe instead of a quick death, a slow corruption that spreads through his body and tries to bend his will? And if he dies from it, he'd be raised to undeath? (But a slow corruption that gives enough time to find a cure! I'm okay with Xenk worrying about dying/worrying about becoming a corrupted undead, but please avoid my character death DNW here.)
I'm happy for this to involve OCs - such as other paladins (including a paladin mentor), or Harpers, or Red Wizards or independent necromancers - or characters like Dralas who could provide a contrast and questions about whether their nature applies to Xenk too. But I'd also love these things to come up in the context of Xenk travelling with the party. Maybe they're on a quest and they're dealing with undead, and that leads them to discover where Xenk is similar - or different. Maybe their quest involves paladins or clerics, and that shows Xenk's similarities/differences. Or they need to find and use a holy magical artifact - or stop someone else from using it - and its effect on Xenk is unexpected. Or he worries it will do something bad to him and it doesn't! Maybe Szass Tam or some other evil power starts (trying to) corrupt Xenk and they have to save him from it? Maybe they're exploring a forgotten library, and find a relevant book. Or discover one among the Harpers' books? Gen is fine, with any of the party or others, but I'd also like Xenk/Edgin, Xenk/Simon or Xenk/Doric. (Background Simon/Doric is fine too.)
Thayan Cuisine in the Sword Coast Area
The Sword Coast is about as far as you can get from Thay without crossing the ocean. The film takes place about 130 years after Szass Tam's coup, and we know Xenk has been hanging out there for at least 100 of those years. I'm really interested in how he's held onto his culture across that period, what opportunities he has to share it, and whether the passage of time has affected that.
Is he the only Thayan exile who fled that far, or is there a community of them - and has Xenk watched that culture being passed down, experienced differently as each generation gets further and further from the memory of Thay? Are people trying to keep their cuisine alive, sharing meals and recipes, keeping up the old traditions and celebrations, among their families and with outsiders? Or is the fear of necromancy such a stain that people are hiding their Thayan origins, even rejecting it, leaving Xenk as the sole visible free Thayan around?
Which flavours are common in Thayan cuisine? What about availability of ingredients? Are there herbs, spices and vegetables that are common in Thay, but are hard to grow in the Sword Coast, so Xenk can rarely find them or can't get hold of them at all? Does he have to substitute things to keep the same flavour and texture, and how close are the results? He was a child when he fled Thay, and already an orphan - how many recipes had he learned by then? Has anyone taught him others since? Are some of them just a memory he can never recreate? Or has he found a Thayan recipe book, and taught himself from that?
When does he get to share Thayan cuisine? I'd be interested in anything from young Xenk eating with other exiles, to meals with a paladin mentor, or other adventurers, or of course Edgin and co. Maybe a milestone celebration, after the Thayan exiles get established in the Sword Coast, and are starting to feel safe. Maybe Xenk cooking on the campfire, turning to Thayan recipes when the chore falls to him. Or he stops at a tavern, and the chef happens to be Thayan. Is sharing Thayan cuisine a way he bonds with Edgin and the gang, something that helps them feel closer to him? Does he cook Thayan meals as everyday food - or shyly ask to prepare something special as a celebration? Maybe his companions find a Thayan recipe book, and gift it to him. Maybe he's starting to open up to the party, and in a vulnerable moment laments to Doric that it just doesn't taste the same without this herb - but she happens to know one which is much closer than what he's been using? Maybe a telepathic link or some other spell means one of the party gets to experience Xenk's memories... and in the aftermath they help him recreate a meal he doesn't know the recipe for?
This could be something angsty, about Xenk feeling like he's the only free Thayan who remembers real Thayan food, or something bittersweet or even fluffy as he gets the opportunity to share his culture with new friends, and have them respect and enjoy it. Gen is fine, but I'd also like Xenk/Edgin, Xenk/Simon or Xenk/Doric. (Background Simon/Doric is fine too.)
Thayan Language in the Sword Coast Area
The Sword Coast is about as far as you can get from Thay without crossing the ocean. The film takes place about 130 years after Szass Tam's coup, and we know Xenk has been hanging out there for at least 100 of those years. I'm really interested in how he's held onto his culture across that period, what opportunities he has to share it, and whether the passage of time has affected that.
Is he the only Thayan exile who fled that far, or is there a community of them - and has Xenk watched that culture being passed down, experienced differently as each generation gets further and further from the memory of Thay? Are people trying to keep their language alive, speaking it in their homes, bringing their children up with it? But each generation, the accent changes a little? Or is the fear of necromancy such a stain that people are hiding their Thayan origins, even rejecting it, leaving Xenk as the sole visible free Thayan around?
How often does Xenk get to speak Thayan with other people? We see him talking to Dralas in Thayan - is that the only time he gets to use it now? Has his mother tongue become just the language of his enemies? What about books? Being so far from Thay, books in Thayan might be a rarity - he'd probably cherish any he found. Maybe he's even written his own, or keeps a diary in Thayan, just to have some tangible form of the language.
If he starts adventuring with the party, do they get to hear him speak Thayan? Maybe full sentences, maybe muttering while he has a nightmare, maybe as he grows closer to them he starts using Thayan endearments? If he starts dating Edgin or one of the others, maybe they pick up his endearments too - or decide to learn the language. Maybe Xenk teaches them himself, and it turns into a bonding moment. Maybe Xenk explains Thayan grammar and it's horrendously/hilariously complicated. (Or easy to grasp!) Maybe Edgin or someone needs to go undercover, and they have to know some Thayan for it. Maybe they find a book while on a quest, and Xenk gives it to them to learn from that - or they find it, don't tell Xenk, and secretly start learning to surprise him? Maybe an accidental soulbond or some other spell ties Xenk to them, and now they can understand Thayan. Or they can't understand Thayan, but they can constantly hear Xenk thinking in Thayan - and maybe start to work out some words?
This could be something angsty, about Xenk feeling like he's the only free Thayan who speaks the language now, or something bittersweet or even fluffy as he gets the opportunity to share his culture with new friends, and have them respect and even learn it. Gen is fine, with any of the party or others, but I'd also like Xenk/Edgin, Xenk/Simon or Xenk/Doric. (Background Simon/Doric is fine too.)
Just My Luck (2006)
Requested characters: Ashley Albright, Jake Hardin
The idea that luck is a specific, identifiable force - and that luck can be moved from person to person - is such an interesting concept to me. I want to know anything and everything about how that works, why it works, when it doesn't work, and how far beyond its canon limits it can reach.
I picked both Ashley and Jake as characters and I'm very happy for your fic to be a post-canon shipfic, but you could also do a shippy missing scene, or a gen piece focusing on either one during or pre-canon. Jake&Katy would be great too - their relationship is adorable, and I'm sure their experiences provide a lot of space for luck worldbuilding. I just want more details about it!
Causes of Being a Lucky or Unlucky Person
As Jake and Katy are both unlucky, it seems like maybe luck runs in families. Is it genetic somehow? Something in the blood (or other bodily fluids) that transfers via the placenta? A vague aura thing that the baby absorbs? Would using a surrogate mean the baby inherits different luck, or none? Is luck fixed at conception? At birth? Maybe even later - first birthday, fifth birthday? It can't be eighteenth birthday because Katy is already unlucky but... Maybe a baby inherits the possibility of having luck, but whether it's good or bad is determined by whoever kisses them first? (So it transfers from parent to child anyway.) Or maybe, like giving a baby their first stuffed animal, someone unknowingly gives their luck to them? I'd prefer it not be true that "some families are cursed because an ancestor did something bad" but otherwise...
Meanwhile we don't see Ashley's family at all. Maybe they aren't lucky in the way she is? If so, how does someone spontaneously acquire luck? Ashley's not incompetent, but it doesn't seem like she earned good luck by working hard. And if it was based on being good, wouldn't Jake and Katy have good luck too? (But maybe there are multiple causes of having luck!) Maybe it's actually random. Or influenced by things a person can't control. Horoscopes get brought up at one point - maybe the day they're born determines whether someone has good luck or bad? (But what determines if someone has luck at all? Clearly not everyone does.) Or maybe it's the specific time: good luck for being born at exactly noon, bad luck for exactly midnight? Or maybe if two people are born at the exact same time, one will have good luck, one will have bad? Or maybe it's fixed by the place - born near a leyline? Something else significant?
The fact the fortune teller predicts the luck swap suggests there's some kind of predetermination, so maybe fate is also a thing that exists? And fate decides that some people need this luck to become the people they're meant to be? (But does it account for luck swapping?) Or maybe fate doesn't have any goal in mind, it's just an impersonal force that causes things to happen. Jake seems to think tossing salt is a bad idea, so maybe he's realised superstition doesn't affect luck - unless the very first superstition a child encounters affects it? There are so many possibilities for the system that controls the origins of luck! And there could be multiple ones interacting.
Ashley - She seems pretty oblivious to having good luck, but that doesn't mean she couldn't have met someone with knowledge about luck pre-canon. So maybe, like with the fortune teller, she ran into someone who knew something? Maybe a fellow (un)lucky person, and she just didn't kiss them. Maybe she just dismissed what they were saying, or didn't understand it without context? Or maybe she read a magazine article, or overheard someone talking, or... But if it happened post-canon, maybe she recognises the info and latches onto it - possibly thinking if she can understand why people are (un)lucky, she can fix their luck somehow?
Jake - He's got a very highly developed system for dealing with bad luck, but it doesn't seem like he's realised it's an actual, kinda magical thing that's happening to him. But like he helped Ashley after her meltdown, maybe he once saw someone else struggling with luck and jumped in to help them? And they had some clues about luck, but he didn't realise what they really meant - or they tried to give him some info, but bad luck meant he lost it? (Piece of paper blown away by wind, book ruined by rain, etc) Or maybe Katy, pre- or post-canon, has a school project that he's helping with, and that leads them to look into the origins of luck? We don't see many of their other family members... Maybe his parents or Katy's parents know more about luck, but they haven't (had the chance to) tell them more about it? Maybe he discovers something at Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or another family event.
Ashley/Jake - Once they get together, do they compare histories and realise where their luck came from? Now they know luck is a thing, maybe they want to figure out how to break bad luck, and start researching. Do they raid secondhand bookstores? Trawl the internet? Maybe Ashley's family is lucky after all, so when the Albrights and the Hardins meet at Ashley/Jake's wedding, they pick up some clues about luck? And if they decide to have kids, luck could be a big question there. Would the child be born lucky because Ashley was born lucky? Or would it be unlucky because Ashley is unlucky now? (Maybe Katy would want to give the good luck back to Ashley for a bit so the baby can be lucky too.) Do they do genetic testing and discover there's a luck gene? Or maybe the doctor or the nurse or another patient knows something about luck? You could do something with them worrying during pregnancy, or discovering the truth due to (events after) the birth.
Luck Transfer
All the luck transfers we see in the film are done via kissing, and swap the luck between people. How does it work? Are there other ways to transfer luck - if two people had sex without kissing, would that be intimate enough to cause it? Does it even need physical contact - would speaking a spell be enough to do it? Or writing some kind of contract? The people involved don't seem to need to know about luck swapping, or even consent to it, for it to happen successfully. Could someone steal someone else's luck? Is it possible to swap only half your luck, and keep half? Why does it actually happen? The fortune teller suggested that maybe Jake "needed it more" - does good luck want to help people? Or is something else causing the transfer? The fact that the tarot cards predicted the transfer before it happened suggests there's some predetermination - is fate also a force at work? Is it working with luck, against it, are they separate or entwined? And is luck one force, or are good luck and bad luck opposing forces?
And why does luck transfer only work between people who have such extreme luck? Most of the background characters seem to have middling luck: some good things happen, some bad, sometimes hard work pays off, sometimes it's randomised... but it's just life being realistic. But for people like Ashley and Jake, luck seems to be some external force that's directly and consistently influencing everything around them. They have actual Luck. And people without Luck aren't immune to its effects, but they don't seem to be candidates for transfer - Ashley's kissed a lot of people, but none of those kisses ever transferred her Luck to someone without luck. Do people with Luck have an internal reservoir of it, and people without luck just have nowhere for it to go? Or does it attach in some other way? Could someone opt into that system - or out of it?
Maybe it's possible to transfer luck to or from an object. Are there cursed objects out there, or lucky ones, and could a person swap their luck with that instead? Maybe a person with bad Luck could put it in an object, and opt out of having Luck, becoming a normal person - or maybe the process would leave a void, and invite something else to happen to them? Maybe there are objects with good Luck, and someone with bad Luck (or no Luck at all), could absorb it or swap with the object? And if objects like this exist: how are they made? Is this a secret but identified process? Has the knowledge been lost? Are they common (compared to the number of people with Luck) or super rare? Can Luck be created via creating an object, or can an object only ever be made as an empty reservoir, and every Luck inside an object had to come from a person? If an object just needs to be a reservoir, would any object work?
Maybe Ashley and/or Jake (and possibly Katy) meet someone else with Luck - does that other person know more than them, and explain some things, or are they clueless and need to be informed? Does one of our heroes swap Luck with them for some reason? Maybe Ashley and/or Jake find a book or a diary or something which explains Luck, or catalogues someone's experiments with it. Maybe they do experiments of their own. Maybe they find a Lucky object somewhere, like a Lucky penny on the street, or a Lucky antique in a shop. Or they (accidentally) make a Lucky object? There are so many ways one or both of them could learn about Luck!
The Princess Diaries (Movies)
Requested Characters: Mia, Nicholas
I'm absolutely in love with Genovia, and I want to know everything about it. We only really saw Genovia itself in the second film, but even in that short time it felt like such a vibrant and interesting place. Anything you can add which expands its lore and makes it feel like somewhere that really exists would be amazing. The topics I've requested are the ones I'm most curious about, some cultural, some political, and there are many things you could examine there - I've highlighted some angles that came to mind, but I picked these topics because there's such a breadth of things I'd like to know, so whichever bit you delve into I will be hungry for it.
I do OTP Mia/Nicholas, so I'd love the worldbuilding to be part of a shipfic. But if you only offered one of them, I will happily read a fic focusing on one of them solo, or some gen involving Mia&Clarisse, Mia&Joe, Mia&Lilly, Nicholas&Mabrey, Nicholas&Clarisse, etc. I love these characters and the world they inhabit, so I will eat up anything which explores it in more depth. Could be pre-canon, set during either film, or between them, or post-canon. You could make it funny and quirky, grounded and real, or serious and complicated... Whether you want to lightly touch on a few examples of the topic, or dive deep into one aspect and really lay out all the details, I'm happy at either end of the spectrum. Just feed my desire to spend a bit more time visiting this imaginary country.
Genovian Christmas Traditions
I love the Christmas season so much, but we never see Genovia during that time. Every country in Europe has their own established Christmas traditions, from the solemn to the quirky, some of them similar but some of them unique. Genovia seems to be vaguely inspired by a combination of France, Italy, Britain, and various other countries, all blended together - you could give a Genovian twist to something that already exists, or create something entirely new.
Does Genovia celebrate any of the December feast days as a lead-up to Christmas Day, such as Niklaustag or St Lucy's day? Or commemorate an event from Genovian history that took place during December? Are there legendary figures such as Wenceslas that appear in carols and folksongs? And what else do they sing about, where and when - are there formal carol services that the monarch must attend? Do Genovians go carolling, do they wassail the pear orchards? What do Genovians call Santa/Father Christmas/St Nick, how do they picture him, and what traditions do they have associated with him - what are the Genovian twists on writing letters, leaving gifts for reindeer, or visiting Santa's grotto? Does he have a helper, the way some countries have Krampus or Knecht Ruprecht? Does Genovia open presents on December 24th or 25th? When are people expected to gather for a big meal with family, and are there other meetups during the season, big or small?
And what do they eat at those meals? What's the traditional Genovian centrepiece meat? (And what is vegetarian Mia going to eat instead?) Are there particular vegetables, like sprouts or potatoes, that have traditional recipes? Is there a traditional dessert, like Christmas puddings or trifle - and is it made from pears? What about cakes - do they have their own kind of fruitcake, like a Stollen or Panettone, a kind of Yule Log, or something else? A lot of places have gingerbread or spiced cakes, like peperkoek or Lebkuchen - is there a Genovian version, and do they make gingerbread men, gingerbread houses, gingerbread pear trees? Are these eaten as snacks, after dinner, or as breakfast foods? Only on one specific day? What about other finger foods, like sausage rolls? Traditional drinks, boozy or not, like mulled wine or eggnog or gløgg?
Are there any non-food traditions that take place during the meal, like pulling crackers? Games that people traditionally play with their families, like charades or board games or pass the pear? How do Genovians decorate for Christmas? Do their traditional ornaments come in a specific shape, and are they made of glass or wood or woven straw? As well as Christmas trees, some places bring in other plants like holly - what do Genovians associate with the season? (Is it branches from the pear tree, lmao.) Are there busy Christmas markets, or themed street lighting? Norway sends a fir tree to Trafalgar Square in London every year; Gävle in Sweden puts up a Yulegoat, which sometimes gets set on fire and sometimes gets eaten by birds. What is Genovia's unique thing? Is the monarch expected to broadcast a speech on Christmas Day, like in Spain and Britain? Is there a cartoon that gets shown on TV every year - and is it a beloved piece of whimsy like The Snowman or Wallace & Gromit, or some surreal wonky animation made in 1972 that has inexplicably become a staple?
Mia - What kinds of responsibilities does she have as queen - making a speech, or attending a service at the cathedral? Has she spent Christmas in Genovia before, and watched how Clarisse handles these events? Maybe she turns to Clarisse for some guidance and tutoring now, or maybe Joe steers her through it. Or maybe she gets to enjoy the cosier, private celebrations of a Genovian Christmas with them, before or after the second film.
Nicholas - He grew up in Genovia, so presumably all his Christmases were Genovian ones. What was it like celebrating with Mabrey? Maybe the guy was more tender with his nephew than he might appear. Was Christmas a time when he got to relax and enjoy the season, or did Mabrey keep pointing out all the traditions he'd have to uphold as king? And Nicholas is into cooking - does he know all the Genovian Christmas recipes, even the obscure ones? Has he inherited the family recipe book? And is he excited to share the results with Mabrey, or with the servants?
Mia/Nicholas - What's their first Christmas like as a couple, or their first Christmas after they get married? You could do something fluffy, with them enjoying some Genovian snacks in private, or Nicholas introducing Mia to the traditions he knows - or helping her prepare for some public event. Is kissing under the mistletoe a thing, or do Genovians kiss under something else, or is there a different tradition for sneaking a bit of intimacy? Do they get to play parlour games with Clarisse and Joe, or eat a big meal with them? Does Nicholas insist on cooking it himself? Maybe, if you want to add a bit of angst, he's trying to forget that it's his first Christmas without Mabrey - maybe Mia, Clarisse and Joe work hard to make him feel like he's part of a family, pulling him into all of the traditions, even the obscure ones. Do Mia and Nicholas support each other through the gruelling schedule of Christmas events the royals are expected to attend, then go back to the palace and cuddle on the sofa while scoffing Genovian gingerbread? What about when they have kids - do they messily bake a Genovian Christmas cake or cookies together? Is Mia thoroughly amused by Nicholas dressing up as St Nick, and fondly teases him, as he valiantly tries to convince their kids he's not just their dad wearing a silly beard?
There are a huge, huge number of things you could include here, and I definitely don't expect all of them, so I hope you're not overwhelmed by the size of this section. Whether you'd rather focus on the food or the social aspects or the royal responsibilities, I am down for any of it. And you can keep it secular, or have an undercurrent of religious belief. Just show me a little of how you imagine Mia and/or Nicholas celebrating a Genovian Christmas.
Genovian Cuisine
I love food and cooking as a trope, and between royal feasts and Nicholas being a gourmet cook, this fandom is perfect for it. You could cross this over with my request for Christmas traditions, with Genovian gingerbread or Christmas cake. Or my request for pear-themed traditions, with desserts involving pears. But also any other Genovian food! Elaborate dishes at royal events, hearty everyday food in private moments, moreish snacks, traditional recipes... Genovia seems to be vaguely inspired by a combination of France, Italy, Britain, and other bits of Europe, so feel free to mix up bits of real world recipes, or invent something entirely new. Soups, stews, pies, roasts, sauces, puddings, cookies, candies... Any kind of Genovian food! I want to see these characters learning about it, making it, eating it, enjoying it.
Mia - Being a vegetarian is going to affect Mia's experience of Genovian cuisine. In the first film, she's served a stuffed tomato when everyone else has a meat course. Is she keen to try vegetarian versions of traditional Genovian foods, replacing the meat with tofu or beans or whatever? Or is she happy to stick to the ones that are veggie anyway? Now that she's queen, are all royal banquets going to serve only vegetarian food? Do ambassadors and foreign dignitaries try to impress her with Genovian recipes? Maybe sharing Genovian food is a way Clarisse tries to educate Mia about this part of her cultural heritage - or becomes a way for them to bond. After growing up in America, does Mia have to adjust to Genovian flavours? Maybe after all those elaborate dishes, she finds herself craving fast food - until Joe provides her with some Genovian snacks, or sneakily drives her to a Genovian street food vendor. Maybe when Lilly comes to visit, Mia is keen to share her favourite Genovian meal with her. Are there a lot of weird pear-flavoured things to wade through? Are some of them unexpectedly delicious? What about foods that are traditionally served at birthdays, at Christmas, on Shrove Tuesday, at midsummer, on Genovian Independence Day, or any other festival or celebration? Why are they significant, and what are they like to eat?
Nicholas - It's canon that he's into cooking. Is it a point of pride that he can cook all of the traditional Genovian foods? Did he try to impress Mabrey with them as a child? Maybe Nicholas has an old family recipe book, and it's a treasured link to the parents he misses. Or maybe it's something he learned in school, and those were his favourite lessons. Or he learned from Mabrey's servants, too young to care about propriety. He has his own apron, and took it with him to the palace - is cooking how he relaxes? That cake he was finishing while talking with Clarisse in the kitchen, is that a Genovian speciality? Did they eat it together after that scene - and did she approve of it? What other things might he have made and shared with Clarisse, or Joe, or might he share in the future?
Mia/Nicholas - Obviously Nicholas cooking for Mia is a big thing for me here. She's only spent a few vacations in Genovia, so maybe he's keen to show her the breadth of Genovian cuisine, or introduce her to seasonal dishes eaten during festivals or celebrations. But as her consort, maybe he also helps her plan the courses for royal banquets, or summer garden parties, or their wedding reception. What are Genovians expected to eat? Do they have to adjust recipes for Mia's vegetarian diet? What's Mia's favourite Genovian meal, and which is Nicholas's? (When they thumb wrestled for secrets, he confessed he likes putting chocolate milk on cereal. Maybe his favourite Genovian food is kinda dorky, and he'll only eat it in private with her.) Or he wants to take her to the best restaurants around the capital for date night - if they can escape the paparazzi. Maybe when they have kids, getting messy and baking a Genovian childhood favourite in the palace kitchen, and sharing that cultural milestone as a family, is a treasured private moment for them?
Pear-Themed Genovian Traditions
I'm so fond of Genovia's cultural obsession with pears. You could cross this over with my request for Genovian cuisine: we've seen pear desserts and pear-flavoured popcorn. How else do they eat pears? But I love pears used as a symbol too. There's a deleted scene from the second film where Mia has to ceremonially pick the first ripe pear from the oldest pear tree in Genovia - and of course it goes wrong. How are pears, pear trees, pear blossoms, and images of pears woven into Genovian life? The traditions could be sensible or slightly bonkers, I just want you to expand on Genovia's culture a bit.
Mia - More traditions like the pear-picking, with Mia as a princess or as queen. Having to test a line of pears and declare which one is ripe, to prove she understands the country's most important product? Ceremonially juicing pears, but Mia gets splashed with it? Distributing pears to the needy on the last day of autumn? Presiding over the annual pear-juggling race at midsummer? Bobbing for pears at Halloween? Throwing a banquet where every dish is made from pears? Ceremonially closing a session of parliament by having a pear thrown at her by the prime minister? (It's fine, she's allowed an umbrella as a shield.) Or every year there's a masquerade ball, and the heir/monarch must dress as a pear tree (with real pears hanging off her!) to acknowledge the importance of pears to Genovia. Maybe she struggles through something difficult, maybe she watches Queen Clarisse serenely breeze through it, maybe she needs help from Clarisse or Joe - maybe when she's an established queen, she has fond thoughts about this particular event, even if it's slightly odd. Maybe she reads about an old tradition and decides to revive it.
Nicholas - He grew up in Genovia. Were there pear-themed events at school, like a harvest festival but specifically for pears? What about ones he would've celebrated at home, with Mabrey? Did he enjoy them, and was Mabrey kind or dismissive of Nicholas's childish enthusiasm? What about now Nicholas is an adult? Does he enjoy these traditions, taking a nationalistic pride in them despite their occasional silliness? Did he practise his role in some of them in preparation for becoming king? He's into cooking - does he like pears, or does he try to avoid all those pear-based Genovian recipes?
Mia/Nicholas - Is giving your partner a cluster of pear blossoms a way to declare your undying love? Is walking under the pear blossoms together a treasured romantic moment in springtime? Maybe Nicholas has to gently pluck all the petals out of Mia's hair and count them, and that's supposed to predict how many children they'll have. Maybe at a Genovian wedding reception, instead of cutting the cake together, the couple each take a bite of the same pear? Or their first anniversary gift is meant to be pear-themed? Anything about pears being part of how Genovians woo and love each other, whatever fluffy or sweet or silly thing you think would work.
Or you could do something where Nicholas has to explain, or guide Mia through a pear-themed tradition, as part of her role as queen. Like the pear-picking, but as simple or as ridiculously elaborate as you want. Planting a pear tree to symbolise the new year? Is chef Nicholas left trying to teach clumsy Mia how to carve art into a pear? Does she have to walk the full length of the cathedral with a pear balanced on her head on the first anniversary of her coronation, and he spends hours catching it every time it falls off as they practise? Maybe it's something easy, and he can just press close and whisper in her ear as she smiles her way through it. Maybe it's difficult, and they laugh and worry as Nicholas helps Mia figure it out. Maybe it's something silly and they can't stop giggling even as they fondly try to perform the tradition correctly. Maybe it's more sensible, and they get to genuinely enjoy the tradition together.
Or you could write a soft moment where Nicholas opens up and tells Mia about the traditions he took part in as a child - or she relates the time she tried as a teen, and it maybe went a bit wrong. Or both of them getting to share all the Genovian traditions with their children! Is a stuffed pear a Genovian baby's traditional first teddy bear? Are there pear cakes or pear jellies or pear desserts specially for kids' birthday parties? Do Genovian families celebrate spring with a song about pears, or with the children hunting hidden pears like easter eggs? Again, I love these characters, and I just want to see them existing in a place that feels specifically Genovian.
Ranks and Titles of the Genovian Nobility
Mabrey is a viscount, von Troken is a baron, but some people are just called Lord... What's going on there? Is Lord a catch-all term for any noble? Is Lord actually a specific rank in Genovia? Or does Nicholas (and Lord Palimore and others mentioned) have another title like Duke, and Lord is just the less formal way to refer to people who hold it? Is Lord the highest rank of Genovian nobility, just below the royals? Does a viscount outrank a baron, or the reverse? Does Genovia have other titles we didn't encounter, like count or marquess or something unique, and where do they fit into the hierarchy? (There are real-world peerages you could base this on, but I'm also happy for you to make up whatever you want. Maybe Genovia is the total opposite of other countries, and visitors get hilariously confused.)
Are Genovian titles only passed to the eldest son, or can a daughter inherit? Are the titles tied to ancestral lands? Nicholas, Mabrey, and other nobles wear sashes, badges and/or pins at formal occasions - are these heraldic coats of arms, orders of chivalry, or a uniquely Genovian display of rank? Is the colour, size and placement of a ribbon specific to each rank? Are there courtesy titles, like Duke of Cornwall or Duke of Lancaster, which are used for specific people in the line of succession, or for the monarch themself?
It seems like certain titles grant membership of parliament. Is this all titles of a certain rank, but only some of others? Viscount usually isn't that high a rank, but Mabrey is an MP. Was he actually elected? Or is Genovia's nobility surprisingly small? Nicholas doesn't seem to be an MP - is that because he's too young, or doesn't have the right title? And does being a noble, or a certain rank or at all, mean it's a social expectation that they'll be invited to royal events?
Mia - When she first discovers she's the heir, the Genovian titles and their order of importance is one of the things she has to learn. Maybe Clarisse gently guides a confused Mia through it. Maybe Mia is struggling to memorise it all, and Joe helps by quizzing her as he drives her around. But the nobility is a very defined (and probably complicated) thing that weaves right through the royal life she's embracing, and that's going to influence a lot of her experiences.
Nicholas - Has there been a Lord Devereaux for centuries, or was the title created when King Chevalier's daughter married a Devereaux - what noble title did the Devereaux family hold before that? Maybe young Nicholas had to do a project on his family history at school. Or maybe Mabrey insisted he learn all about his glorious family line. Maybe Nicholas was suspicious of what Mabrey was telling him, and dug out some books to do his own research? Or he inherited the Devereaux family library, and one of the books in there was about their history. Or maybe a diary from an ancestor that he found where some of the entries talk about this topic. When he turned 18 or 21, was there a formal ceremony which confirmed his title? (Mia presumably wasn't there or she'd have recognised him.) Or was there any kind of formality associated with him inheriting the title as a 6 year old boy? Did Mabrey have to help him with it? Maybe Nicholas looks back at that and has some feelings about it.
Mia/Nicholas - Does Mia have the power to grant or revoke titles, or suggest that to parliament? When she gets engaged to Nicholas, does she (offer to) grant him a new title? Is she tempted to revoke Mabrey's title, due to him being a total shit? Is Nicholas conflicted about that, or glad that Mabrey won't be at any more royal events? Maybe at social events Nicholas helps Mia with remembering all the ranks and who this person is. Maybe they get engaged, and now they need to look up Devereaux history for some reason. Or Nicholas tells Mia about some part of his family's history, or his own experience of being a noble, as part of them growing closer? Maybe there's the question of what happens to his title if they have kids: will it be absorbed into the crown? Will the eldest child become monarch, and the second child become Lord/Lady Devereaux? Maybe the eldest child gets the crown, but the eldest son becomes Lord Devereaux, and their first child is a girl. Is this something they think about? Something the press writes articles on, forcing them to think about it? Something they try to modernise?
Succession to the Genovian Crown
There are clearly some unusual things going on with the Genovian line of succession. Clarisse seems to have somehow gone from being queen consort to queen regnant. How does that happen? What part of Genovian law allows that? Did parliament have to confirm her succession, or was it automatic? Has it ever happened before, or was this the first time? Did King Rupert make her regent while he was still alive, and that allowed her to keep hold of the crown? Or were parliament just more keen to stick with Clarisse, a competent woman they're familiar with, than deal with the question of who inherited when none of her children could? (Was this a "fuck the von Trokens" moment, lmao.) Did she have to push to be named queen, or was it a duty she reluctantly accepted? Was her plan always to keep the crown only long enough to train up Mia?
From the second film, we know there are some weird restrictions on and traditions around becoming ruler of Genovia. When and why was the marriage law introduced? Did any previous princesses fall foul of it? How did things like shooting the flaming arrow start, and are there any other tests Mia had to face which we didn't see? Does a new monarch automatically succeed when the previous one dies, or are they not technically ruler until they're crowned/confirmed by parliament/something else?
Does Genovia have agnatic primogeniture (first born son is heir) or absolute primogeniture (first child of any gender)? Nobody knew Mia existed until she was outed, and then Nicholas turned up and people were sort of surprised by that too. Why does nobody seem to be keeping track of who's in line for succession? Does Genovia not have public records of marriages and births, which means the paparazzi can't hunt them down unless they declare themselves? Or is there not so much a line of succession as a vague group of people who could inherit, and it depends who's reached the age of majority/can best convince parliament to give them the crown/best convince the current monarch to name them successor? All the Genovians seem pretty keen to wheedle out of having to give the crown to the von Trokens. There's also Prince Jacques, who's a prince living in Genovia, but maybe not a prince of Genovia - nobody ever suggests making him king, is that just because he's a child? Or is he an exiled prince from another tiny country?
Mia - Maybe as part of Mia's princess lessons, Clarisse explains how she went from queen consort to queen regnant. Or Joe tells Mia about it. Or she finds some old newspaper articles, or something about it in a book? Maybe Mia and/or Lilly discover that the Genovian crown goes to male claimants before female ones, and get indignant about that. Maybe Mia is told or reads about how the Renaldis first became the Genovian royal family, 300 years ago. Were they the first monarchs of an independent Genovia, or just a new dynasty? Who did they inherit the crown from - were the Renaldis distant relatives of the previous ruler? Or did they win the crown via combat? Or were they invited to become royals by parliament?
Nicholas - He's the same age as Mia, so he would've been a teenager when Clarisse became queen regnant. Did he follow the story on the news, in the papers, picking up the gossip at school? What did he think about it all? Clarisse seems like a competent and popular queen, and Nicholas was respectful to her when they were chatting in the kitchen, so maybe he's always approved of her. But had Mabrey already convinced him he was going to be king someday? Maybe Mabrey ranted to him about it, believing Nicholas should be king, because Mia hadn't been revealed as the heir yet? Or as Nicholas wasn't yet 21, was Mabrey happy to bide his time, glad that the crown wasn't going to the von Trokens? And when the news about Princess Mia's existence broke, how did Nicholas feel? Was he disappointed, or relieved - or both? Maybe he had to endure a lot of rants about succession law from Mabrey after that. Or was succession something he learned about at school, even did a school project on? Did he have to keep his own status a secret, and what feelings did all of it give him? Maybe he had to research his ancestor King Chevalier, and found out how he became king, or who succeeded Chevalier - and why it wasn't Nicholas's ancestor. Or maybe this is something he and Clarisse chat about, while he's a rival or later. Or maybe Clarisse tells him about her own succession, or about King Rupert's?
Mia/Nicholas - Nicholas is technically still next in line to the throne. The need to have children and produce an heir must be on their minds. And probably on the press's mind too - do Mia and Nicholas have to read a newspaper article about it, and then discuss the topic? Maybe for some reason one or both of them do some research into past successions? Maybe during an interview, a reporter asks one of them about succession and they try to answer diplomatically. And then in private, Mia and Nicholas have a more honest chat together? If the law prioritises male claimants over female, do Mia and Nicholas campaign to get that changed once she gets pregnant (especially if they know it's a girl), or even before that? Mia was formally announced as an heir at a royal event. Is this tradition? Do they throw an event to confirm their eldest child as heir - and how old is the kid at the time? And if it's happening in Genovia instead of America, is there a more established form it follows? Or maybe they discuss Nicholas's memories of Clarisse becoming queen. Or about King Chevalier, and why the crown went to Mia's line instead of Nicholas's. Or the origins of the Renaldi dynasty itself. (Maybe they're jokingly wondering if their kids will take her name. Or possibly not so jokingly. Please don't have Nicholas get all toxic-masculinity about it though, even if he's a bit sad about the possibility the Devereaux name will disappear.)