Dear Trick or Treat Author '24

[robberbaroness]

Trick-or-treat! I’m very excited that you offered to write for my fandoms, and I can’t wait to see the results!

General likes: Fairy tales, gothic literature, film noir, revenge tragedies, bodice rippers, melodrama, dark comedy, heroine/villain/hero love triangles, heroine/villain dynamics, rescue romance, mythology, maledom (non and dubcon are fine), bdsm, bondage, character studies, what-if AUs, genre swapping AUs, vampires, folklore, knight and lady dynamics, epistolary fic,  interactive fiction.   

General DNWs: Gruesome mutilations described in detail, comeplay, ABO, scat or watersports, pushing away female characters, fetish universes, character bashing, fully mundane AUs for fantastical settings, unrequested identity headcanons, harm to cute animals

The Prisoner

Number Six

I’ve made multiple friends watch this and they always love it, so I hope you do too! What’s our favorite prisoner going through that’s spookier than usual? Something comically ineffective, something diabolical in its cruelty, or even something distracting enough to help him turn the tables? I love the “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with me!” episodes, so a take on that, whether light or dark, would be awesome. Art can draw on the bizarre looks of the Village, or even be something silly with Six seeing Rover or whatever dressed up for Halloween- or really, anything that you think would look good.

Fallout New Vegas

Female Courier

Female Courie/Craig Boone

Female Courier/Robert House

My favorite video game player character, and my favorite video game ships! I love Courier/Boone as two people doing revenge-based therapy, and I love Courier/House as a noir dame and her sugar daddy saving the wasteland through ruthless practicality. I would like a Good Karma Courier, but her loyalties can be to the NCR, House or herself. (For the Courier/House ship, of course, it should be House.) She can battle monsters or a gang of raiders who style themselves after monsters, or you can even show her through the eyes of the Legion as becoming their own boogeyman with her own mythology. For art, you can do something noir, western or scifi themed, as befits the wonderful genre mashup that is New Vegas.

Grim Prairie Tales

Morrison

So, what’s the deal with Morrison? He seems like a lot more than a bounty hunter. Is he death? Is he the devil? Is he a mystical gunslinger making his way towards the Dark Tower or something like it? I’d love for you to give him a nice spooky backstory, whether he turns out to be a good guy or a bad guy. Whether Trick or Treat, horror-inspired art would be welcome, showing him in the moonlight or by the fireside looking eerie, or having mysterious, possibly even bloody, encounters.

Spinning Silver

Miryem Mandelstam

Miryem Mandelstam/The Staryk Lord

This ship fits so perfectly into either Trick or Treat, I had to request it! You could do something creepy where you play up the Staryk Lord as a demon lover or the kind of fae who abducts beautiful women (though if it’s an AU, please keep Miryem Jewish.) For something softer, give us a glimpse of the marriage as they grow in fondness and get to know each other. What does it feel like to genuinely fall in love as or with an inhuman being?

For art, the style of ornate folk art on the book cover is always beautiful, but you could also focus on illustrating one of the scenes above. Either way, it would be very nice to see them together!

Parks and Recreation

Leslie Knope

Ron Swanson

April Ludgate

Leslie Knope & Ron Swanson

Andy Dwyer & April Ludgate & Ben Wyatt

Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt

I really like the idea of Pawnee, which already has a running joke that all the local history is horrifying, being a full on quirky haunted town, like Gravity falls for a treat or Twin Peaks for a trick. Is part of the Parks and Rec department’s job doing something about all the monsters haunting the greenery? Is April really a witch? Has one singular demon called TAMMY been stalking Ron throughout his life? Does his love of Twin Peaks end up training Ben on how to deal with all this? I would rather none of the “good guys” die, but you can treat any of the non-mains as canon fodder if you want to. For art, something emphasizing the creepy fields or parks at night, invoking prairie horror, could be amazing.

John the Balladeer

John the Balladeer

These stories are so much fun, I would love a mini one for this challenge! You can set it in the time and place that Manly Wade Wellman wrote, or put it in the modern day- does John use his soundcloud to battle tiktok witches? Pulling things from local folklore is always encouraged! For art, Weird Tales style pulp cover art could be gorgeous, or a funny little comic about him encountering a monster of something would be adorable.

Red Eye

Lisa Reisert/Jackson Rippner

This was THE movie for awful villain/heroine ships! Sexual tension turns dangerous, and danger turns into sexual tension. I was extremely happy and also creeped out when he said “I may have to steal you!” My DNW for this movie is dwelling on the fate of the politician and his family- even if this is a version where Jackson wins, I don’t need the details. Or maybe Lisa still saves them, but Jackson tries to keep her rather than kill her for it? Or could she make some kind of bargain where she offers herself to her infatuated foe in exchange for their or her father’s life? The story can end with either Jackson or Lisa winning, or ambiguously, I’m fine with whatever. I didn’t request Treats because I couldn’t see a way to make it work with the situation, but I’d be happy to see some surprisingly tender feelings. As for art, I’m always happy to get a good look at Cillian Murphy’s eyes…

Devil is Fine

Narrator

The concept for this album (and band) was a plantation where the enslaved turned to the devil instead of Jesus for salvation and sang spirituals to him. That’s a pretty kick-ass story right there. Is the devil truly a being of evil, or just misunderstood, or somewhere in between? What aid does he give, and what comes of that aid? It’s the perfect setup for folk horror, brutal or triumphant or both. The music video wasn't nominated, but feel free to pull any imagery from it you like! For art, again you can draw from the video, but I'd also love to see just what the devil described in this song looks like.

DCAU

Helena Bertinelli /Vic Sage

I love these two so much, the misfits of the superhero world. (“Your children are going to watch Rorschach get laid,” the DCAU said, “and there’s nothing you can do about it!”) You can do them fighting against horror-themed villains like Scarecrow or Doctor Destiny, or I would LOVE to see them in Gotham by Gaslight or another gothic Victorian AU. For art, you can do something in the style of the show, inspired by your favorite comic art, or penny dreadful style line art.

Clark Kent/Lois Lane/Bruce Wayne

When I watched the crossover episode of Batman and Superman the Animated Series, I was really struck by everyone’s chemistry together. Bruce and Lois dated and genuinely seemed into each other, and of course Bruce and Clark were destined to be BFFs. Could they all make this work? I’d like to see! You can set this anywhere in the timeline, starting out or established, but I’d love to see that chemistry again! And for art, if you want to do your favorite comic style or something inspired by it, that would make me happy!

MST3K

Crow T. Robot

Emily Connor

Joel Robinson

Max

Synthia

TV's Frank

Pick a horror movie and force the cast to watch it! Or tell me about a host segment that gets unexpectedly spooky! I don't want tricks to go too dark here, but they can certainly be freaky and unsettling. I love all the eras, so any of them are fine. There weren't any relationships nominated, but I would definitely enjoy seeing friendship between the bots and the humans. For art, something cartoony would make a lot of sense, but if you have a better idea, run wild with it!