Dear Extreme Deadline Writer
May. 29th, 2020 06:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redleaderfic*NOTE: Some of the characters requested in this letter are portrayed by performers implicated in one way or another in #SpeakingOut. I just wanted to say that if you're okay with writing it, I'm still okay with receiving it. Performer ≠ Character, at least to me. See you at reveals!*
Dear ExD Writer,
Hello and thank you for writing for me! I’m so excited. I’ve done this exchange every year and every year it’s been wonderful, and I can’t wait to see what you have planned. I know this letter is…kind of a lot, but I hope there’s something useful here! I’m good with fic of any rating, from fluff to explicit, go wild. Some sections are longer than others and some have extra prompts while others don’t, this has nothing to do with how much I want a pairing or a prompt! Some ships just get me wordier than others, I promise I have not asked for anything I would not be over the moon to receive.
(If I may cheat a smidge, I was not able to do Nonconathon this year and was very sad about it, but I had my letter written before I had to drop out and there’s a lot of ship overlap with ExD, so if you’re in the mood for some darker treating here you go: https://redleaderfic.dreamwidth.org/8072.html)
Likes: UST finally spilling over, first time/get together fics, unspoken feelings that stay unspoken but are blindingly obvious anyway, bedside vigils/general watching over someone, fraught handholding (especially combined with the bedside vigiling) angst and uncertainty leading into happy endings, sneaking around, sex pollen especially when it’s one-sided, bloodplay, knifeplay, clothes sharing, getting it on in the locker rooms after matches, dramatic rescues/sacrifices, pining, rope bondage, breathplay, road trips, significant gestures, missing scenes/episode tags, time travel, Groundhog Day loops, True Love Saves the Day, 5 Things fics, crossroad deals/deals with the devil, any and all kinds of supernatural nonsense, wrestling soulmates (and pairings where one knows he isn’t the other’s soulmate and is okay with it.)
DNW: A/B/O, formal D/s with a lot of negotiation, facesitting, bathroom related bodily fluids, masked wrestlers being unmasked. Kayfabe only. Please do not break up any canon couples, please either don’t bring up the canon SO at all or assume that it’s a hall pass situation that doesn’t need to be discussed. No Covid focus unless it's tropey fun with quarantine (ie OBVIOUSLY Sammy should move into Jericho's mansion, why risk flying?/Hiromu sending Daryl to check on stuck in England Will/frustrated quarantine phone sex = oh my yes, any sickfics dealing with actual Covid/angst about exposure = OH NO.)
AUs: Medieval/feudal AUs, superhero AUs, spy Aus. I love antagonistic soulmates, especially the wrestling soulmate specific version where the bond seems to be formed during great matches whether the two would really rather that happen or not.
I am both an enormous sap and a complete angst monster. The worse people are at communicating with words the more I like it.
AEW
Kenny Omega
Kenny’s been through a lot over the past year! I would love fic with him settling into AEW while dealing with being homesick for Japan and having to deal with a lot more responsibility than he’s ever had before. I ship him with everyone in the Elite aside from Cody, and with Kris as fish out of water FWB. I would also be really into gen fic with him and Riho; they’ve known each other for so long and I love their wrestlesibling relationship. (I am actually okay with her having a one-sided crush, especially if she’s a little exasperated by it and sensible enough to not only know nothing would come of it but to not actually want it to, and extra especially if it leads her to not having it with other people being careless with his heart.) I am an enormous sucker for Kenny being hurt and trying to hide it while his friends know he’s full of shit. I have Kenny/Kota prompts down in the Crossover section but obviously any of them apply here too, and I am especially down for Kenny getting dramatically injured and the Bucks or Hangman or Riho or whoever getting Kota on the phone all “I don’t care what happened between you two, you get your ass on a plane and over here now.”
Extra prompts: Anything Hangman/Kenny, especially post Double or Nothing (like having sex on that pool table.)
Hangman/Kenny sex on that sectional during that Dynamite.
Old West Hangman/Kenny AU
Kenny worrying that he and the Bucks aren’t as close as they were in the Bullet Club pressure cooker and Nick and Matt sexily proving him wrong
The Bullet Club Demon trying to get its claws back into him through nightmares, temptations, etc. It showing up looking like Cody at his most evil to show him his friends aren’t really friends, like Chase to guilt him about leaving New Japan, like the Bucks did then to convince him that he threw away a good thing and AEW will fall apart, like Kota taunting him that everyone’s better off without him, etc, etc, I love all that stuff.
Kris Statlander
I would love any fic dealing with Kris’ alieness – how she got to earth, does she sleep, does she explode in tentacles in the light of the full moon, all of that kind of stuff. The bits on BTE of her not knowing how stuff works are very charming and I would love more or that! I am also into her warpaint – what it means, how she feels applying it, what would it feel like if someone else applied it, etc. Just go all out on what being an alien means – do her senses work differently, can she see the future in dreams, if someone she loves is hurt does she know without being there, bring on the tropey xeno scifi. She’s a natural for accidental soulbonds.
Extra prompts: She accidentally crash landed on Earth before and met Luchasaurus back in his glory days, and it’s very weird for them both because that was millions of years ago for him and like last week for her.
Kris and Aerostar meeting up and talking about being wrestling aliens
Opening a dimensional portal and a curious Jungleboy and Marko following her through, to Luchasaurus’ frustration
She and Shida have been very cute! Maybe they accidentally get alien married and Shida has no idea
Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara
Jericho constantly praising Sammy’s sexiness is the BEST. I especially like them if despite the obvious thirst nothing has actually happened (maybe Jericho feels like going further would be inappropriate, or is worried about team unity, or thinks Sammy is just having fun flirting but doesn’t want it go further, or whatever) and Sammy is just losing his mind with frustration about it. I love Sammy being relentless about wanting Jericho and wanting him now, with Jericho being a little flattered about this hot young thing thirsting over him. If there’s daddy kink there I’d like it to be a little awkward, with Sammy being super into it and Jericho a little more, “Am I into this? I think…I think I AM?” about it, getting more into things as they go. Jericho’s spent a lot of his career being the hot young thing and him having to make that mental shift would be fun. But mostly I’m here for Sammy trying to seduce Jericho’s brains out.
Extra prompts: Sammy dressing himself up as the world’s sluttiest groupie and sneaking into Jericho’s bedroom to surprise him, and the two of them doing some rockstar/groupie roleplay (especially if they pretend Sammy is a stranger as part of the game, and Sammy is super satisfied with himself while Jericho has caught all kinds of feelings.)
Sanchez and Ortiz giving Sammy very bad advice on how to get Jericho into bed already, and placing bets on how long it will take
Sammy taking a scary bump while Jericho is on commentary and Jericho freaking out about it
Related to above, Sammy getting hurt and Jericho taking him home to his ridiculous rock star mansion to keep an eye on him, with Sammy taking full advantage of the 24/7 access
Jericho finds out that Sammy has a secret OnlyFans and slowly loses his mind over it
Pentagon Jr/Rey Fenix
I love how much Fenix loves throwing himself into his brother’s arms. My favorite dynamic with them is Fenix pining and pouring all that energy into his risk taking until things boil over. I’m very into Fenix convincing himself that there’s nothing wrong with it as long as they have the masks on and him being enraptured watching his brother become the charismatic monster he is as he suits and paints up. I love Fenix believing he has to push himself as hard as possible to match Penta while Penta believes nothing of the sort, and how ready Fenix is to finish the fights Penta starts. These two are made for adrenaline getting the better of them in the locker room after big wins.
Extra prompts: Fenix getting spitting mad about Penta getting demasked in a match (like the way Matt stole it that one time) and going overboard in retribution until Penta calms him down
Fenix getting guiltily turned on by wearing Penta’s mask while his brother sleeps
Fenix just getting super turned on watching Penta in general
Fenix getting awful visions of Penta’s fate in the Lucha Underground-verse and freaking out that the same will happen here
Penta getting hurt and Fenix working some stupid dark magic to save him
Orange Cassidy/Kris Statlander
I ship these two so, so hard. I love how they seem to get each other and have zero judgement for each other’s weirdness and would love any fic that goes into that connection. Kris learning about humans in a very hands-on way with him would be great, as would her feeling free to be a little more alien around him because he just does not care. I would also be very into some hurt/comfort for poor Orange, who’s been getting beat up by new jerks by the week.
Extra prompts: Orange getting catastrophically injured during a match and Kris accidently/instinctively saving him, with unforeseen results (soulbond, in trouble with alien agencies, Final Destination-esqe shenanigans, go for it.)
Orange getting jumped while alone and Kris feels it/senses it, with or without an alien-powered rescue
The adventures of Orange and Kris as they try to untangle the mysteries of ladder matches and other gimmick matches so neither of them are surprised again in the future (possibly with sexy results)
Orange’s cool abandoning him when he sleeps and Kris seeing his nightmares about whatever horrible thing has happened to him now, or her having the nightmares for him (intentionally or not)
Her messing up his hair, or getting extremely turned on about seeing him without his sunglasses, or him at seeing her in his glasses or jacket, or Kris painting him up like her (maybe it has healing properties, or the idea struck her and he’s sure, why not about it and they both get super into it.)
Kris trancing/astrally projecting instead of sleeping and accidentally pulling Orange with her
Lucha Underground
Dario Cueto
Matanza Cueto
Putting them together because their stories are so entwined! I would especially be into anything with the S5 we never got – Dario dealing with being resurrected into a world without his brother, whether there was any of Matanza’s soul left (would Dario really trust that it would be safe in that key?) Dario trying to bring his brother back, all of it. We know Dario would let the world burn if it would protect Matanza, so let’s do it. Aside from that, I would love anything with their childhoods, or that fun period where they were on the run with Black Lotus. I’m also a huge sucker for Dario getting hurt and Matanza losing his possessed mind over it. I’m very big into Matanza’s POV on things. And I would love just a day in the life of Dario running the Temple.
Extra prompts: Matanza haunting their miserable father
Similarly, Matanza haunting Dario, and Dario not knowing if he’s really there or if he’s going crazy
Child Matanza talking to the god Matanza
Resurrected Dario being imperiled and Matanza’s new host having issues with it because Matanza isn’t actually all gone.
Afterlife fic for them both
Drago/Aerostar
I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! I would genuinely be up for anything there. I’m especially into how they met/stories set pre-Temple and/or fic set when Drago has been captured by the Reptile Tribe and Aerostar is unraveling over it but seriously, anything – missing scenes during the best of five, post rescue cuteness, post cliffhanger fic, bring all of it. I like fic that plays with their human looking bodies not being their true forms and the two of them meeting out of sequence due to Aerostar’s time travel.
Extra prompts: Drago on Aerostar’s space ship
Anything with backstory on the Reptiles (which Aerostar knew about!)
Aerostar trying to protect Drago from the endgame he’s headed for with the God and Drago having none of it
Groundhog day fic with Aerostar trying to save Drago over and over again
Aerostar saving Drago by creating erasing himself in a time paradox, and Drago slowly realizing something’s terribly wrong.
Reptile Tribe Angst
Pentagon Jr/Prince Puma
These two were my hatesex OTP. I loved how their stories kept intersecting and mirroring each other, especially with all of their respective mentor angst. I would love their S2 connection spilling over into locker room sex, or Penta dreaming about Puma while he’s recovering from Matanza breaking his back or from Lotus’ joshi revenge squad breaking his arms (and them not being just dreams.) I would also be very, very into Vampiro forcing Puma to hurt Penta as a training test ("is it real?" "Maybe. Does it matter?") I love how they could never quite get away from each other. I am also VERY into Ricochet having escaped that universe and being forced to deal with that Pentagon again, but that’s down in Crossover. No extra prompts for these two, just give me hatesex, dream sex, uncomfortable at seeing the other hurt earlier so now we’re pretending this is hatesex, all of that.
Angelico/Son of Havoc/Ivelisse
And these were my OT3! I love the affection underneath all the bickering, even if a lot of the time they would rather that affection not be there. I’m very big into post match celebrations and Havoc and Ivelisse being fake mean to Angelico. I’m also very into getting the band back together fics, where extenuating circumstances lead to the three of them having to deal with each other again, especially if they’re meeting up outside the Temple. I love actual angel Angelico, especially because it would enrage Ivelisse to no end. I love Ivelisse being done with these two idiots but heaven help if anyone else touches them.
Extra prompts: Catrina’s dark magic/a grave consequences match/attempted divine possession interacts with Angelico’s nature in an unexpected way
Pentagon breaks Angelico’s arm during a match and the other two have to deal with Angelico now, especially if he took the break for one of them
Angelico calls Havoc for help after the Worldwide Underground breaks his leg, and Havoc calls Ivelisse because fuck if he knows what to do
Likewise, Angelico gets himself into trouble in the Temple offseason and Havoc and Ivelisse come riding to the rescue because only they get to mess with him
Wing kink and sex on the motorcycles
NJPW
Chase Owens
Chase! I love how loyal he is and how he latches onto even the dumbest ideas with both hands. He loves the Bullet Club and all of his brothers so, so much. Chase is my little black dress, I ship him with pretty much everyone in Bullet Club, with Kota, with Kenny. He goes with everything. I am very into fic where Chase gets hurt and Tama or whoever is in Bullet Club at the time loses their minds over it, and I would be very into AU fic where Cody decides to go after him for teaming with Kenny during his evil period with it leading to Bad Things. I would also love any fic exploring his Thing with Kota right now and what that is all about.
Extra Prompts: There was a match in Australia right before Chase teamed with Kenny and Kota at Honor Rising where TMDK beat on Chase for most of the match while the rest of Bullet Club watched on the apron fuming. It was kinda perfect. Basically I’d be really into a post match Bullet Club gangbang to make Chase feel better
POV on Chase from the other members of Bullet Club
Something bad happening to Chase while he’s exiled with the Elite and Tama having a guilt induced freakout
Early days with Bullet Club, especially that first Tag League with Kenny
Tanga sneaking behind Tama’s back to see Chase during the Exile
Chase being self-sacrificing to save Kenny, or Kota or Tama or to save Bullet Club itself, whatever needs doing.
Chase and Kota having bad idea proxy sex because they both miss Kenny (or are angry with him for leaving, or both!)
Hiromu Takahashi
My very favorite Hiromu ship is with Will (see below) but I’m also very into his dysfunctional thing with Despey with all the years back that goes, and would love the two of them getting destructive with their emotions by being around each other. I love Hiromu with the rest of LIJ, he has such great relationships with all the other members. I’m not shippy really about them but I LOVE him and Naito so much, how much they love and value each other. LIJ is just great and I would be very into any day in the life fic about them. I also really like the magical realism world Hiromu has created for himself with the Daryls and Naoru and how what he creates takes on a life of its own – him sending the cats to keep tabs on/be nosy about his faction mates while he’s injured would be great. I love the idea of Hiromu making magic with his art, even if/especially if he doesn’t realize he’s doing it at first.
No extra prompts, Hiromu’s just great.
Will Ospreay/Hiromu Takahashi
I love how much they love each other, how they’re as close to canon as you can get in NJPW without being the Golden Lovers. As we’ll get into in the Jay/Will section I am an enormous sucker for absolutely terrible things happening to Will Ospreay, whether it be a dramatic injury or his hero having a title loss induced nervous breakdown or Jay White taking over his faction and being the worst human being imaginable. I love fic where Hiromu is Will’s soft place to fall when awful things happen, or where Hiromu knows something’s wrong with Will but either can’t do anything because it’s when he’s injured or because Will’s pretending everything’s fine. I love Will crawling into Hiromu’s hotel room after bad days like the stray cat he is, and the two of them trying to keep things between them quiet but fooling no one. If there’s petplay involved, I’d prefer it informal and playful. I love how they seem to communicate exclusively in dramatic gestures and twitter teasing. They’re both special and they know it, and they’re special to each other.
Extra prompts: Anything with Hiromu on the outside looking in during Jay’s reign of terror
Will dreaming about Hiromu while Hiromu’s injured, only they’re not just dreams
Hiromu climbing the walls with boredom while he’s rehabbing and poking Will on social media to pass the time, only to slowly realize something’s up (Jay, Will’s injured and trying to hide it, etc. These two are made for epistolary fic.)
Will repeatedly showing up at Hiromu’s door drunk or bearing dinner or both, and Hiromu letting it go because Will will get around to saying what’s wrong eventually
Jay White/Will Ospreay
Jay is the worst person and I love it when he’s the worst to Will. This is a noncon ship for me; nice things can happen in the story for Will but not from Jay. I love Jay trying to invoke Droit du seigneur when he takes over Chaos, especially if he believes or just pretends to believe that Okada had been fucking Will when he was in charge so Jay should have his turn now. I like Jay taking all the little resentments he built up against Will while on excursion out on him now that he has power, especially if they’d been consensually hooking up then and Jay uses that knowledge against Will now. I’m big on Jay indulging in some knifeplay at Will’s expense. I’m also big on Jay playing mind games, drugging Will for fun and pretending nothing had happened, things like that. I’m equally good with Will/Jay happening in a story with another ship that rescues Will from the situation or straight up dark fic.
No extra prompts, just make Jay the worst. The worst!
Kazuchika Okada/Will Ospreay
I ship these two in a quiet mutual pining way, with Okada not acting on his feelings because he knows it wouldn’t be appropriate and Will having an enormous crush but not believing Okada could ever see him that way, and I would love to see what it would take for them to bridge that gap. Obviously Jay is a good impetus, Okada would lose it if anyone touched Will, but I’m also very up for less direct persuasion – Okada getting a glimpse of a future where things have gone badly and piecing together that not saying how he felt had somehow screwed everything up, or he keeps getting prophetic flashes of something terrible happening to Will and running out of time to stop it. (Also a very good Groundhog Day candidate!) Or maybe Balloon Okada is haunting now functional Okada, taunting him that he’s still running from his problems. Something more mundane is also great, like Will having to live with Okada for a while and the close quarters making things happen that probably shouldn’t (a little too much fun in Roppongi, maybe!) I would also love Okada trying to teach restless, can’t sit still Will Ospreay to fish and the two of them relentlessly pining at each other the whole time.
Jay White/David Finlay
If you can, go back and watch the match these two have when Jay comes back from excursion, especially the end – I’m after fic that feels like that. These two are my dysfunctional noncon/dubcon ship, where the two of them want things from each other that can’t be given and yet still can’t stay away from each other even for their own good. I love a Jay who took the wrong lesson from being a young lion watching Kenny turn on Kota and now believes that love is weakness that must be purged and a David Finlay that just wants his friend back, knows that won’t happen but can’t stop circling back anyway. I love the two of them falling into destructive patterns where Jay is awful to prove he can be and just as Finlay thinks he’s done with all this something – Jay pushing just the right button, Finlay seeing a sign that may or may not be there, Finlay just being too stubborn for his own good – that yanks him back. I love Jay using their past history against Finlay and winding up using it against himself too. I love Jay catching him unawares, Finlay going about his business and all of a sudden there’s Jay shoving him into a supply room with his knife at his throat, or Finlay finding himself at Jay’s hotel room door and not knowing why he’s doing this again. And I love the idea that Jay does all this with impunity because he knows Finlay will never go to the brass to complain or report it, that deep down there’s this terrible twisted trust between them because there’s no one who will ever know the other better.
Extra Prompts: Speaking of bad lessons from the Golden Lovers, Finlay believing that if he just holds out the way Kota did with Kenny things with Jay will turn around too, with Jay finding out and having all kinds of fun with it
Finlay catching Jay hurt or hiding an injury from Bullet Club and not able to stop himself from reaching out, all the while not knowing if Jay is playing him
Finlay knowing he’s in for a bad night when Jay loses but at the same time not locking his doors or changing his hotel room to make it harder for Jay to take it out on him
Jay making a bet with Finlay around Tag League, that every time Finlay takes a pin Jay gets to do what he wants with him for that night, but if FinJuice wins then Finlay gets him and what Finlay does when they do indeed win
Jay using Juice against Finlay, either through overt threats or taunting him about what Juice would think if he saw Finlay like this, or forcing Finlay to take/receiving calls from Juice while Jay is fucking him
Jay drugging Finlay to make him woozy and vulnerable the way he had been after that match
Stupid, risky knifeplay
Robbie Eagles/El Phantasmo
I called the ELP/Robbie/Will mess the Circle of Pining in another letter because nothing about it makes sense otherwise XD I love ELP being out of his mind over Robbie Eagles and only able to express it by being a complete asshole. I would love ELP sneaking spare room keycards into Robbie’s bag and Robbie finally taking ELP up on the offer after a weak moment. I’d love them being wrestling soulmates and hating every single second of it. I’m very into Robbie using ELP without meaning to – jealous and frustrated about Will maybe, or just having a bad day and letting himself take what ELP has on offer – and telling himself it’s just sex while knowing deep down that’s not true for them both. I am also an enormous sucker for ELP being hurt or in trouble and Robbie not being able to turn a blind eye to it because he’s just not that person. Really, any kind of hatesex that’s not really hatesex, because both of these two would be happier if there was really just hate there.
Extra prompts: Bullet Club Demon problems, ether it going after Robbie for leaving or ELP for driving him off and the two of them having to deal with that
ELP’s mouth getting him into trouble at an indie show where he and Robbie are both without faction backup, and Robbie stumbling over him getting his ass kicked by local heels (ELP getting drugged for nefarious purposes is good too! Anything that forces Robbie to rescue him and then have to deal with him.)
ELP stealing Will’s ring jacket while they’re both still in Bullet Club and the two of them have sex with ELP in Will’s jacket mock roleplaying as Will, which of course isn’t fraught for emotionally for either of them at all
Robbie seeing ELP get really hurt in a multi man/team match (ELP is shit talking Suzuki-gun currently, so that’s likely to happen!) and Robbie instinctively kicking back into Bullet Club brother mode to protect him for a second
Ring of Honor
Kenny Omega
Kota Ibushi
Thank you tag drift fairy! I would be very into an AU where Kenny never went to Japan and Kota came here instead. Did he not see that fateful match with Kota in this universe? Or did he and wasn’t able to got Japan for some other reason, and that regret eats at him? What’s ROH like in this universe? Or is this a universe where Kota is the one who sees Kenny wrestle first and he knows? I would love to see the Golden Lovers flipped that way, with Kota chasing Kenny. Or is this a Wrong universe? Maybe Kota makes a monkey’s paw wish that Kenny never came to Japan or even that AEW never existed that he didn’t mean, and now he has to fix it.
Marty Scurll/Flip Gordon
I love a Flip who is wildly in love with Marty and nowhere near emotionally fluent enough to realize it. He gave a lot of interviews a few months ago about how Marty had taken care of him when he blew out his knee and how when he’d dislocated his elbow Marty had talked him through the pain, it was very sweet and I would lo e that kind of fierce devotion in fic form. Flip was the last to join VE and he betrayed people to do it; he calls himself a mercenary but it’s pretty clear what his motivation was. I’d be very into fic with Flip just before he betrays Lifeblood, maybe watching Marty get knocked around and getting itchy feelings about it. I love “mercenaries” that are actually knights and Flip is hitting that note for me hard. And on Marty’s end I’d love him moving from the bitterness of being left to die in ROH by the rest of the Elite toward realizing how nice it is to build something of his own. When did he realize he wouldn’t rejoin them after all? Did Flip think he would leave? Anything with him building Villain Enterprises and knowing of course that Flip would join him even before Flip did would be great. These two have a long, comedically weird history, usually involving Marty having to look out for Flip so he wouldn’t wind up kicked out of foreign countries, and Flip getting to take care of him for a change would be lovely. Marty has a habit of dropping “my love” and “my boy” into general conversation and I would love Flip feeling weird about it without realizing why, and Marty gradually starting to do it on purpose instead of as a turn of phrase. I would also be all for the Elite trying to drag Marty back into the fold and Flip panicking because of course Marty will go, or them trying to recruit Flip knowing his contract is up soon and Marty being completely confident Flip won’t leave him. And because I am me I would be very up for fic where Marty gets really hurt, concussed, passes out backstage after a match, etc, and Flip goes into bedside vigil panic mode. I want to see how they get to that first kiss, and how Flip finally figures out that’s even what he wants. Also an excellent place for a Feudal Au, with sellsword Flip being brought into the service of his villainous upstart king.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Adam Cole
I always ask for this but I would love anything dealing with Adam’s death and resurrection – him in the afterlife, him ghosting around haunting people, I love all of that stuff. I would be very into Finn being the agent of his salvation and Adam owing him for it, or him trying to get through to Kyle or Bobby to get them to help him. I really love his relationship with Kyle especially, they’ve been either teaming or feuding for their entire adult lives and I would be very into a take on them when they were teaming, or Kyle being so in sync that he knows Adam’s around. Aside from Finn (or TUE) I really shipped Adam hard with Ricochet, they had some great adversarial chemistry, and Adam dragging himself to Aleister because he needs a favor would also be fun. Even aside from my love of resurrection trauma, Adam without the company of his adoring goons is a very different animal and I would love fic where he has to make due on his own or risk trusting someone else to help him.
Kenny Omega
In another gift from the drift fairy, I would love an AU where Kenny stuck it out in OVW and dragged himself out of developmental through sheer willpower and what his life looks like now. Or maybe one of those rumors that he was going to show up at a Rumble where true in this universe, or AJ saw the coup coming and booted him out instead, or Kota was convinced to sign after the CWC and Kenny chased him there. Anything with Kenny being in WWE and what on earth that is like, especially if someone knows this isn’t they way it should be. (Does Okada feel a disturbance in the force without his greatest rival? Is this a monkey’s paw wish from Tanahashi and things spiral?)
Dominik Dijakovic/Keith Lee
Ugh, I love these two so much. They have this great dynamic of having accidentally discovered this connection and not knowing what to do with it – sometimes they look at each other like they’re not sure if the other one is real, it’s so great. I always feel like Keith has a better handle on things than Dijakovic, who seems completely out to sea about what’s going on in his own head. These two are made for accidental soulbonds and wrestling soulmates. I would love missing scene fic after any of their matches, locker room sex or hurt/comfort where Dijakovic is too overwhelmed or distracted to talk himself out of what he’s feeling. I would also be enormously into fic where a villainous third party goes after Dijakovic to provoke a reaction from Keith, or Keith watching Dijakovic struggling or hurt in a match and trying to pretend he doesn’t care because he knows a little bit of weakness will lose him his title. Dijakovic has been flailing a little emotionally lately and I would be very into someone taking advantage of it.
Extra prompts: I love vampire!Damian and would be very for him getting his hooks into Dijakovic while he’s down
Dijakovic waking up in the hospital after a bad bump with Keith bedside, because he doesn’t really have any other friends (especially good if he’s woozy and afterwards talks himself into believing it never happened.)
Dijakovic hiding injuries (between his back and his knee he’s had a rough year!) and Keith knowing him too well to be fooled. Extra good if he realizes it during a match with Dijakovic and has to take advantage, with the guilt creeping up on him afterward
A triple threat where Damian or Adam or whoever works Dijakovic especially hard, laughing at Keith the whole time, and Keith kisses the life out of a very confused Dijakovic once it’s over and they’re in the back
Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish/Roddy Strong
Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish
I love how much they love Adam! I would really love anything the three/four of them picking Adam up after a rough night or making him feel better if he’s banged up. If you’re open to resurrection blues Adam I love Bobby and Kyle dealing with the immediate aftermath or Roddy coming along late and realizing oh damn, that really happened. I’d love to see what was in Roddy’s head right before he joined TUE – did Adam talk to him? When did he know? And I’d love the other guys initiating him into the group. I love that they’re all terrible to everyone except each other – bonding through being dicks to their enemies would be great.
Extra prompts: Adam having resurrection nightmares and being helped through it
The guys putting on a show for Bobby when he was laid up to lift his spirits
Running into the Bucks at the airport and Adam freaking out
It coming out that Kyle or Bobby had made a crossroads deal to save Adam way back when and now everyone’s scrambling to figure out what to do
Cesaro/Sheamus
I miss these two so much! You can do no wrong here, anything from them being antagonistic jerks to each other during the early series to them being the extremely cute team they become would be welcome. I always read Sheamus as realizing he was in trouble first (he tried pretty hard to be a face for Cesaro!) so bring on the pining, and an episode tag after they turn heel and Cesaro finally figures things out would be amazing. I loved how very into each other’s strength each seemed to be and some showing off would be great, as would Sheamus being super turned on at seeing Cesaro in the kilt or Cesaro feeling up Sheamus during photo shoots. Or if it’s set now, the two of them not quite knowing how to talk anymore, or Sheamus being jealous that Cesaro’s fallen into a new group while he’s alone. Or from Cesaro’s side, him trying to keep his eyes on the prize but Sheamus is right there. Just give me more of them!
Aleister Black/Velveteen Dream
I love how even though they’ve been on different brands they still haven’t quite let each other drift completely away – Dream’s earring, Aleister posting “I want to…Dream” on his insta during Survivor Series, etc. They’re made up of dramatic gestures and bad communication, which means they’re exactly my thing. I would love any kind of magical nonsense – dreamwalking to each other, Dream getting hurt while Aleister is far away watching and Aleister having to do some quick magic to save him, anything with them bridging that gap. I would also be very into anything with Dream’s earring – did Aleister give it to him or did he buy it himself? If it’s magic, does Dream know? And of course anything set around Aleister getting mugged by Johnny, I will never get tired of reading about Dream watching Aleister lying still on the pavement or sneaking into his hospital room or going to extreme, stupid lengths to save him.
Buddy Murphy/Mustafa Ali
These two always had such great chemistry. I would love anything with that chemistry boiling over into locker room hatesex, especially if Mustafa has no idea why this keeps happening. Buddy really had a hard time on 205, especially with the struggle to make weight every week – maybe Mustafa finds Buddy passed out and dehydrated from trying to cut weight, or Buddy takes a sketchy supplement that hits him like sex pollen. I would be really into Mustafa having some grudging admiration for how badly Buddy wanted it. For fic sent present day, I would be so into Buddy showing up at Mustafa’s door because his life has gotten really weird lately and even true believers need a break, or Mustafa has been watching what’s been going on and wants to show Buddy what a true light in the darkness looks like. (Or deep down Buddy knows Seth isn’t the real deal but can’t admit it, and Mustafa doesn’t force him to.) Also very into fic where Seth sends Buddy to try to recruit Mustafa and while Buddy knows that isn’t likely to work he tries anyway – maybe Mustafa tries to go along with it to see just how bad this is, or the two of them just know once they’re in the same room that recruitment isn’t Buddy’s really here for.
Crossovers
Pentagon Jr/Ricochet
Lucha Underground is definitely it’s own universe – Penta and Fenix aren’t brothers, Vampiro is kind of a Sith lord, the world is about it end in an Aztec god apocalypse – but at the same time Dream referenced Ricochet being Prince Puma so let’s roll with it. I would love a scenario where Puma’s mask was what let him access that universe and once he lost it he had to leave (not that he was all that broken up about it at that point!) but all the horrible stuff he went through there really happened. And then just as he is starting to get past it all and has almost convinced himself that it was all a very elaborate nightmare, LU Pentagon shows up at his door :D Fully lean into the apocalypse that was about to happen, I would love a Penta who is the opposite of cero miedo, who’s barely one step away from literal gods trying to kill him and forced to rely on the mercy of an enemy because he has nothing else. And of course Ricochet isn’t going to just allow Penta to get sacrificed to the gods, so he lets himself get dragged back into that madness. Maybe Penta has a stolen medallion that will let Ricochet go back, or Dario shows up with some more unwelcome memories. I miss LU so much and would love Ricochet and Penta falling back into old habits while trying to save the world. LU Penta watching AEW would also be hilarious.
Brodie Lee/The Fiend
I want Brodie running to this new life only to be haunted by Bray’s broken ghost. Please have the puppets show up to try to lure Brodie home and the Fiend appearing in mirrors, or rooms in his new minimalist house suddenly becoming the Funhouse. Brodie left the Wyatts and promptly started a whole new cult! There’s no way Bray/The Fiend wouldn’t see that as a sign. I would love to see Brodie trying to push all of that away but it keeps creeping back. Bring on some horror.
Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi
I want anything with these two having very complicated feelings about each other now that they’re separated again. I would love the two of them dreaming about each other (and of course they aren’t just dreams.) Kenny’s said he didn’t ask Kota to come to AEW because he knew Kota wanted to be IWGP champion – how does Kota feel about Kenny making that choice for him? Kenny was in Japan for WK, did they see each other or did Kenny stay away, not wanting to make a bad night worse (and did Kota go find him?) I love any and all soulmate tropes, bring on Kota feeling when Kenny is injured and Kenny talking Kota through the fever when he had the flu. I would also be very into the Bullet Club Demon trying to use Kenny to lure Kota in but it not working because Kota is thrilled that Kenny is finally away from it. I would also very much be into Kota being in the same city as Dynamite due to a NJPW US tour and Kenny knowing Kota’s there. I would also like Kota feeling like he’d failed so badly at WK and thrown up another barrier between them, and Kenny reassuring him. And again, because I am me I would love the two of them arguing or there being bitter feelings over Kenny leaving that don’t get resolved, and then Kenny gets himself very hurt in a match with Kota so far away.
Dear ExD Writer,
Hello and thank you for writing for me! I’m so excited. I’ve done this exchange every year and every year it’s been wonderful, and I can’t wait to see what you have planned. I know this letter is…kind of a lot, but I hope there’s something useful here! I’m good with fic of any rating, from fluff to explicit, go wild. Some sections are longer than others and some have extra prompts while others don’t, this has nothing to do with how much I want a pairing or a prompt! Some ships just get me wordier than others, I promise I have not asked for anything I would not be over the moon to receive.
(If I may cheat a smidge, I was not able to do Nonconathon this year and was very sad about it, but I had my letter written before I had to drop out and there’s a lot of ship overlap with ExD, so if you’re in the mood for some darker treating here you go: https://redleaderfic.dreamwidth.org/8072.html)
Likes: UST finally spilling over, first time/get together fics, unspoken feelings that stay unspoken but are blindingly obvious anyway, bedside vigils/general watching over someone, fraught handholding (especially combined with the bedside vigiling) angst and uncertainty leading into happy endings, sneaking around, sex pollen especially when it’s one-sided, bloodplay, knifeplay, clothes sharing, getting it on in the locker rooms after matches, dramatic rescues/sacrifices, pining, rope bondage, breathplay, road trips, significant gestures, missing scenes/episode tags, time travel, Groundhog Day loops, True Love Saves the Day, 5 Things fics, crossroad deals/deals with the devil, any and all kinds of supernatural nonsense, wrestling soulmates (and pairings where one knows he isn’t the other’s soulmate and is okay with it.)
DNW: A/B/O, formal D/s with a lot of negotiation, facesitting, bathroom related bodily fluids, masked wrestlers being unmasked. Kayfabe only. Please do not break up any canon couples, please either don’t bring up the canon SO at all or assume that it’s a hall pass situation that doesn’t need to be discussed. No Covid focus unless it's tropey fun with quarantine (ie OBVIOUSLY Sammy should move into Jericho's mansion, why risk flying?/Hiromu sending Daryl to check on stuck in England Will/frustrated quarantine phone sex = oh my yes, any sickfics dealing with actual Covid/angst about exposure = OH NO.)
AUs: Medieval/feudal AUs, superhero AUs, spy Aus. I love antagonistic soulmates, especially the wrestling soulmate specific version where the bond seems to be formed during great matches whether the two would really rather that happen or not.
I am both an enormous sap and a complete angst monster. The worse people are at communicating with words the more I like it.
AEW
Kenny Omega
Kenny’s been through a lot over the past year! I would love fic with him settling into AEW while dealing with being homesick for Japan and having to deal with a lot more responsibility than he’s ever had before. I ship him with everyone in the Elite aside from Cody, and with Kris as fish out of water FWB. I would also be really into gen fic with him and Riho; they’ve known each other for so long and I love their wrestlesibling relationship. (I am actually okay with her having a one-sided crush, especially if she’s a little exasperated by it and sensible enough to not only know nothing would come of it but to not actually want it to, and extra especially if it leads her to not having it with other people being careless with his heart.) I am an enormous sucker for Kenny being hurt and trying to hide it while his friends know he’s full of shit. I have Kenny/Kota prompts down in the Crossover section but obviously any of them apply here too, and I am especially down for Kenny getting dramatically injured and the Bucks or Hangman or Riho or whoever getting Kota on the phone all “I don’t care what happened between you two, you get your ass on a plane and over here now.”
Extra prompts: Anything Hangman/Kenny, especially post Double or Nothing (like having sex on that pool table.)
Hangman/Kenny sex on that sectional during that Dynamite.
Old West Hangman/Kenny AU
Kenny worrying that he and the Bucks aren’t as close as they were in the Bullet Club pressure cooker and Nick and Matt sexily proving him wrong
The Bullet Club Demon trying to get its claws back into him through nightmares, temptations, etc. It showing up looking like Cody at his most evil to show him his friends aren’t really friends, like Chase to guilt him about leaving New Japan, like the Bucks did then to convince him that he threw away a good thing and AEW will fall apart, like Kota taunting him that everyone’s better off without him, etc, etc, I love all that stuff.
Kris Statlander
I would love any fic dealing with Kris’ alieness – how she got to earth, does she sleep, does she explode in tentacles in the light of the full moon, all of that kind of stuff. The bits on BTE of her not knowing how stuff works are very charming and I would love more or that! I am also into her warpaint – what it means, how she feels applying it, what would it feel like if someone else applied it, etc. Just go all out on what being an alien means – do her senses work differently, can she see the future in dreams, if someone she loves is hurt does she know without being there, bring on the tropey xeno scifi. She’s a natural for accidental soulbonds.
Extra prompts: She accidentally crash landed on Earth before and met Luchasaurus back in his glory days, and it’s very weird for them both because that was millions of years ago for him and like last week for her.
Kris and Aerostar meeting up and talking about being wrestling aliens
Opening a dimensional portal and a curious Jungleboy and Marko following her through, to Luchasaurus’ frustration
She and Shida have been very cute! Maybe they accidentally get alien married and Shida has no idea
Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara
Jericho constantly praising Sammy’s sexiness is the BEST. I especially like them if despite the obvious thirst nothing has actually happened (maybe Jericho feels like going further would be inappropriate, or is worried about team unity, or thinks Sammy is just having fun flirting but doesn’t want it go further, or whatever) and Sammy is just losing his mind with frustration about it. I love Sammy being relentless about wanting Jericho and wanting him now, with Jericho being a little flattered about this hot young thing thirsting over him. If there’s daddy kink there I’d like it to be a little awkward, with Sammy being super into it and Jericho a little more, “Am I into this? I think…I think I AM?” about it, getting more into things as they go. Jericho’s spent a lot of his career being the hot young thing and him having to make that mental shift would be fun. But mostly I’m here for Sammy trying to seduce Jericho’s brains out.
Extra prompts: Sammy dressing himself up as the world’s sluttiest groupie and sneaking into Jericho’s bedroom to surprise him, and the two of them doing some rockstar/groupie roleplay (especially if they pretend Sammy is a stranger as part of the game, and Sammy is super satisfied with himself while Jericho has caught all kinds of feelings.)
Sanchez and Ortiz giving Sammy very bad advice on how to get Jericho into bed already, and placing bets on how long it will take
Sammy taking a scary bump while Jericho is on commentary and Jericho freaking out about it
Related to above, Sammy getting hurt and Jericho taking him home to his ridiculous rock star mansion to keep an eye on him, with Sammy taking full advantage of the 24/7 access
Jericho finds out that Sammy has a secret OnlyFans and slowly loses his mind over it
Pentagon Jr/Rey Fenix
I love how much Fenix loves throwing himself into his brother’s arms. My favorite dynamic with them is Fenix pining and pouring all that energy into his risk taking until things boil over. I’m very into Fenix convincing himself that there’s nothing wrong with it as long as they have the masks on and him being enraptured watching his brother become the charismatic monster he is as he suits and paints up. I love Fenix believing he has to push himself as hard as possible to match Penta while Penta believes nothing of the sort, and how ready Fenix is to finish the fights Penta starts. These two are made for adrenaline getting the better of them in the locker room after big wins.
Extra prompts: Fenix getting spitting mad about Penta getting demasked in a match (like the way Matt stole it that one time) and going overboard in retribution until Penta calms him down
Fenix getting guiltily turned on by wearing Penta’s mask while his brother sleeps
Fenix just getting super turned on watching Penta in general
Fenix getting awful visions of Penta’s fate in the Lucha Underground-verse and freaking out that the same will happen here
Penta getting hurt and Fenix working some stupid dark magic to save him
Orange Cassidy/Kris Statlander
I ship these two so, so hard. I love how they seem to get each other and have zero judgement for each other’s weirdness and would love any fic that goes into that connection. Kris learning about humans in a very hands-on way with him would be great, as would her feeling free to be a little more alien around him because he just does not care. I would also be very into some hurt/comfort for poor Orange, who’s been getting beat up by new jerks by the week.
Extra prompts: Orange getting catastrophically injured during a match and Kris accidently/instinctively saving him, with unforeseen results (soulbond, in trouble with alien agencies, Final Destination-esqe shenanigans, go for it.)
Orange getting jumped while alone and Kris feels it/senses it, with or without an alien-powered rescue
The adventures of Orange and Kris as they try to untangle the mysteries of ladder matches and other gimmick matches so neither of them are surprised again in the future (possibly with sexy results)
Orange’s cool abandoning him when he sleeps and Kris seeing his nightmares about whatever horrible thing has happened to him now, or her having the nightmares for him (intentionally or not)
Her messing up his hair, or getting extremely turned on about seeing him without his sunglasses, or him at seeing her in his glasses or jacket, or Kris painting him up like her (maybe it has healing properties, or the idea struck her and he’s sure, why not about it and they both get super into it.)
Kris trancing/astrally projecting instead of sleeping and accidentally pulling Orange with her
Lucha Underground
Dario Cueto
Matanza Cueto
Putting them together because their stories are so entwined! I would especially be into anything with the S5 we never got – Dario dealing with being resurrected into a world without his brother, whether there was any of Matanza’s soul left (would Dario really trust that it would be safe in that key?) Dario trying to bring his brother back, all of it. We know Dario would let the world burn if it would protect Matanza, so let’s do it. Aside from that, I would love anything with their childhoods, or that fun period where they were on the run with Black Lotus. I’m also a huge sucker for Dario getting hurt and Matanza losing his possessed mind over it. I’m very big into Matanza’s POV on things. And I would love just a day in the life of Dario running the Temple.
Extra prompts: Matanza haunting their miserable father
Similarly, Matanza haunting Dario, and Dario not knowing if he’s really there or if he’s going crazy
Child Matanza talking to the god Matanza
Resurrected Dario being imperiled and Matanza’s new host having issues with it because Matanza isn’t actually all gone.
Afterlife fic for them both
Drago/Aerostar
I LOVE THEM SO MUCH! I would genuinely be up for anything there. I’m especially into how they met/stories set pre-Temple and/or fic set when Drago has been captured by the Reptile Tribe and Aerostar is unraveling over it but seriously, anything – missing scenes during the best of five, post rescue cuteness, post cliffhanger fic, bring all of it. I like fic that plays with their human looking bodies not being their true forms and the two of them meeting out of sequence due to Aerostar’s time travel.
Extra prompts: Drago on Aerostar’s space ship
Anything with backstory on the Reptiles (which Aerostar knew about!)
Aerostar trying to protect Drago from the endgame he’s headed for with the God and Drago having none of it
Groundhog day fic with Aerostar trying to save Drago over and over again
Aerostar saving Drago by creating erasing himself in a time paradox, and Drago slowly realizing something’s terribly wrong.
Reptile Tribe Angst
Pentagon Jr/Prince Puma
These two were my hatesex OTP. I loved how their stories kept intersecting and mirroring each other, especially with all of their respective mentor angst. I would love their S2 connection spilling over into locker room sex, or Penta dreaming about Puma while he’s recovering from Matanza breaking his back or from Lotus’ joshi revenge squad breaking his arms (and them not being just dreams.) I would also be very, very into Vampiro forcing Puma to hurt Penta as a training test ("is it real?" "Maybe. Does it matter?") I love how they could never quite get away from each other. I am also VERY into Ricochet having escaped that universe and being forced to deal with that Pentagon again, but that’s down in Crossover. No extra prompts for these two, just give me hatesex, dream sex, uncomfortable at seeing the other hurt earlier so now we’re pretending this is hatesex, all of that.
Angelico/Son of Havoc/Ivelisse
And these were my OT3! I love the affection underneath all the bickering, even if a lot of the time they would rather that affection not be there. I’m very big into post match celebrations and Havoc and Ivelisse being fake mean to Angelico. I’m also very into getting the band back together fics, where extenuating circumstances lead to the three of them having to deal with each other again, especially if they’re meeting up outside the Temple. I love actual angel Angelico, especially because it would enrage Ivelisse to no end. I love Ivelisse being done with these two idiots but heaven help if anyone else touches them.
Extra prompts: Catrina’s dark magic/a grave consequences match/attempted divine possession interacts with Angelico’s nature in an unexpected way
Pentagon breaks Angelico’s arm during a match and the other two have to deal with Angelico now, especially if he took the break for one of them
Angelico calls Havoc for help after the Worldwide Underground breaks his leg, and Havoc calls Ivelisse because fuck if he knows what to do
Likewise, Angelico gets himself into trouble in the Temple offseason and Havoc and Ivelisse come riding to the rescue because only they get to mess with him
Wing kink and sex on the motorcycles
NJPW
Chase Owens
Chase! I love how loyal he is and how he latches onto even the dumbest ideas with both hands. He loves the Bullet Club and all of his brothers so, so much. Chase is my little black dress, I ship him with pretty much everyone in Bullet Club, with Kota, with Kenny. He goes with everything. I am very into fic where Chase gets hurt and Tama or whoever is in Bullet Club at the time loses their minds over it, and I would be very into AU fic where Cody decides to go after him for teaming with Kenny during his evil period with it leading to Bad Things. I would also love any fic exploring his Thing with Kota right now and what that is all about.
Extra Prompts: There was a match in Australia right before Chase teamed with Kenny and Kota at Honor Rising where TMDK beat on Chase for most of the match while the rest of Bullet Club watched on the apron fuming. It was kinda perfect. Basically I’d be really into a post match Bullet Club gangbang to make Chase feel better
POV on Chase from the other members of Bullet Club
Something bad happening to Chase while he’s exiled with the Elite and Tama having a guilt induced freakout
Early days with Bullet Club, especially that first Tag League with Kenny
Tanga sneaking behind Tama’s back to see Chase during the Exile
Chase being self-sacrificing to save Kenny, or Kota or Tama or to save Bullet Club itself, whatever needs doing.
Chase and Kota having bad idea proxy sex because they both miss Kenny (or are angry with him for leaving, or both!)
Hiromu Takahashi
My very favorite Hiromu ship is with Will (see below) but I’m also very into his dysfunctional thing with Despey with all the years back that goes, and would love the two of them getting destructive with their emotions by being around each other. I love Hiromu with the rest of LIJ, he has such great relationships with all the other members. I’m not shippy really about them but I LOVE him and Naito so much, how much they love and value each other. LIJ is just great and I would be very into any day in the life fic about them. I also really like the magical realism world Hiromu has created for himself with the Daryls and Naoru and how what he creates takes on a life of its own – him sending the cats to keep tabs on/be nosy about his faction mates while he’s injured would be great. I love the idea of Hiromu making magic with his art, even if/especially if he doesn’t realize he’s doing it at first.
No extra prompts, Hiromu’s just great.
Will Ospreay/Hiromu Takahashi
I love how much they love each other, how they’re as close to canon as you can get in NJPW without being the Golden Lovers. As we’ll get into in the Jay/Will section I am an enormous sucker for absolutely terrible things happening to Will Ospreay, whether it be a dramatic injury or his hero having a title loss induced nervous breakdown or Jay White taking over his faction and being the worst human being imaginable. I love fic where Hiromu is Will’s soft place to fall when awful things happen, or where Hiromu knows something’s wrong with Will but either can’t do anything because it’s when he’s injured or because Will’s pretending everything’s fine. I love Will crawling into Hiromu’s hotel room after bad days like the stray cat he is, and the two of them trying to keep things between them quiet but fooling no one. If there’s petplay involved, I’d prefer it informal and playful. I love how they seem to communicate exclusively in dramatic gestures and twitter teasing. They’re both special and they know it, and they’re special to each other.
Extra prompts: Anything with Hiromu on the outside looking in during Jay’s reign of terror
Will dreaming about Hiromu while Hiromu’s injured, only they’re not just dreams
Hiromu climbing the walls with boredom while he’s rehabbing and poking Will on social media to pass the time, only to slowly realize something’s up (Jay, Will’s injured and trying to hide it, etc. These two are made for epistolary fic.)
Will repeatedly showing up at Hiromu’s door drunk or bearing dinner or both, and Hiromu letting it go because Will will get around to saying what’s wrong eventually
Jay White/Will Ospreay
Jay is the worst person and I love it when he’s the worst to Will. This is a noncon ship for me; nice things can happen in the story for Will but not from Jay. I love Jay trying to invoke Droit du seigneur when he takes over Chaos, especially if he believes or just pretends to believe that Okada had been fucking Will when he was in charge so Jay should have his turn now. I like Jay taking all the little resentments he built up against Will while on excursion out on him now that he has power, especially if they’d been consensually hooking up then and Jay uses that knowledge against Will now. I’m big on Jay indulging in some knifeplay at Will’s expense. I’m also big on Jay playing mind games, drugging Will for fun and pretending nothing had happened, things like that. I’m equally good with Will/Jay happening in a story with another ship that rescues Will from the situation or straight up dark fic.
No extra prompts, just make Jay the worst. The worst!
Kazuchika Okada/Will Ospreay
I ship these two in a quiet mutual pining way, with Okada not acting on his feelings because he knows it wouldn’t be appropriate and Will having an enormous crush but not believing Okada could ever see him that way, and I would love to see what it would take for them to bridge that gap. Obviously Jay is a good impetus, Okada would lose it if anyone touched Will, but I’m also very up for less direct persuasion – Okada getting a glimpse of a future where things have gone badly and piecing together that not saying how he felt had somehow screwed everything up, or he keeps getting prophetic flashes of something terrible happening to Will and running out of time to stop it. (Also a very good Groundhog Day candidate!) Or maybe Balloon Okada is haunting now functional Okada, taunting him that he’s still running from his problems. Something more mundane is also great, like Will having to live with Okada for a while and the close quarters making things happen that probably shouldn’t (a little too much fun in Roppongi, maybe!) I would also love Okada trying to teach restless, can’t sit still Will Ospreay to fish and the two of them relentlessly pining at each other the whole time.
Jay White/David Finlay
If you can, go back and watch the match these two have when Jay comes back from excursion, especially the end – I’m after fic that feels like that. These two are my dysfunctional noncon/dubcon ship, where the two of them want things from each other that can’t be given and yet still can’t stay away from each other even for their own good. I love a Jay who took the wrong lesson from being a young lion watching Kenny turn on Kota and now believes that love is weakness that must be purged and a David Finlay that just wants his friend back, knows that won’t happen but can’t stop circling back anyway. I love the two of them falling into destructive patterns where Jay is awful to prove he can be and just as Finlay thinks he’s done with all this something – Jay pushing just the right button, Finlay seeing a sign that may or may not be there, Finlay just being too stubborn for his own good – that yanks him back. I love Jay using their past history against Finlay and winding up using it against himself too. I love Jay catching him unawares, Finlay going about his business and all of a sudden there’s Jay shoving him into a supply room with his knife at his throat, or Finlay finding himself at Jay’s hotel room door and not knowing why he’s doing this again. And I love the idea that Jay does all this with impunity because he knows Finlay will never go to the brass to complain or report it, that deep down there’s this terrible twisted trust between them because there’s no one who will ever know the other better.
Extra Prompts: Speaking of bad lessons from the Golden Lovers, Finlay believing that if he just holds out the way Kota did with Kenny things with Jay will turn around too, with Jay finding out and having all kinds of fun with it
Finlay catching Jay hurt or hiding an injury from Bullet Club and not able to stop himself from reaching out, all the while not knowing if Jay is playing him
Finlay knowing he’s in for a bad night when Jay loses but at the same time not locking his doors or changing his hotel room to make it harder for Jay to take it out on him
Jay making a bet with Finlay around Tag League, that every time Finlay takes a pin Jay gets to do what he wants with him for that night, but if FinJuice wins then Finlay gets him and what Finlay does when they do indeed win
Jay using Juice against Finlay, either through overt threats or taunting him about what Juice would think if he saw Finlay like this, or forcing Finlay to take/receiving calls from Juice while Jay is fucking him
Jay drugging Finlay to make him woozy and vulnerable the way he had been after that match
Stupid, risky knifeplay
Robbie Eagles/El Phantasmo
I called the ELP/Robbie/Will mess the Circle of Pining in another letter because nothing about it makes sense otherwise XD I love ELP being out of his mind over Robbie Eagles and only able to express it by being a complete asshole. I would love ELP sneaking spare room keycards into Robbie’s bag and Robbie finally taking ELP up on the offer after a weak moment. I’d love them being wrestling soulmates and hating every single second of it. I’m very into Robbie using ELP without meaning to – jealous and frustrated about Will maybe, or just having a bad day and letting himself take what ELP has on offer – and telling himself it’s just sex while knowing deep down that’s not true for them both. I am also an enormous sucker for ELP being hurt or in trouble and Robbie not being able to turn a blind eye to it because he’s just not that person. Really, any kind of hatesex that’s not really hatesex, because both of these two would be happier if there was really just hate there.
Extra prompts: Bullet Club Demon problems, ether it going after Robbie for leaving or ELP for driving him off and the two of them having to deal with that
ELP’s mouth getting him into trouble at an indie show where he and Robbie are both without faction backup, and Robbie stumbling over him getting his ass kicked by local heels (ELP getting drugged for nefarious purposes is good too! Anything that forces Robbie to rescue him and then have to deal with him.)
ELP stealing Will’s ring jacket while they’re both still in Bullet Club and the two of them have sex with ELP in Will’s jacket mock roleplaying as Will, which of course isn’t fraught for emotionally for either of them at all
Robbie seeing ELP get really hurt in a multi man/team match (ELP is shit talking Suzuki-gun currently, so that’s likely to happen!) and Robbie instinctively kicking back into Bullet Club brother mode to protect him for a second
Ring of Honor
Kenny Omega
Kota Ibushi
Thank you tag drift fairy! I would be very into an AU where Kenny never went to Japan and Kota came here instead. Did he not see that fateful match with Kota in this universe? Or did he and wasn’t able to got Japan for some other reason, and that regret eats at him? What’s ROH like in this universe? Or is this a universe where Kota is the one who sees Kenny wrestle first and he knows? I would love to see the Golden Lovers flipped that way, with Kota chasing Kenny. Or is this a Wrong universe? Maybe Kota makes a monkey’s paw wish that Kenny never came to Japan or even that AEW never existed that he didn’t mean, and now he has to fix it.
Marty Scurll/Flip Gordon
I love a Flip who is wildly in love with Marty and nowhere near emotionally fluent enough to realize it. He gave a lot of interviews a few months ago about how Marty had taken care of him when he blew out his knee and how when he’d dislocated his elbow Marty had talked him through the pain, it was very sweet and I would lo e that kind of fierce devotion in fic form. Flip was the last to join VE and he betrayed people to do it; he calls himself a mercenary but it’s pretty clear what his motivation was. I’d be very into fic with Flip just before he betrays Lifeblood, maybe watching Marty get knocked around and getting itchy feelings about it. I love “mercenaries” that are actually knights and Flip is hitting that note for me hard. And on Marty’s end I’d love him moving from the bitterness of being left to die in ROH by the rest of the Elite toward realizing how nice it is to build something of his own. When did he realize he wouldn’t rejoin them after all? Did Flip think he would leave? Anything with him building Villain Enterprises and knowing of course that Flip would join him even before Flip did would be great. These two have a long, comedically weird history, usually involving Marty having to look out for Flip so he wouldn’t wind up kicked out of foreign countries, and Flip getting to take care of him for a change would be lovely. Marty has a habit of dropping “my love” and “my boy” into general conversation and I would love Flip feeling weird about it without realizing why, and Marty gradually starting to do it on purpose instead of as a turn of phrase. I would also be all for the Elite trying to drag Marty back into the fold and Flip panicking because of course Marty will go, or them trying to recruit Flip knowing his contract is up soon and Marty being completely confident Flip won’t leave him. And because I am me I would be very up for fic where Marty gets really hurt, concussed, passes out backstage after a match, etc, and Flip goes into bedside vigil panic mode. I want to see how they get to that first kiss, and how Flip finally figures out that’s even what he wants. Also an excellent place for a Feudal Au, with sellsword Flip being brought into the service of his villainous upstart king.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Adam Cole
I always ask for this but I would love anything dealing with Adam’s death and resurrection – him in the afterlife, him ghosting around haunting people, I love all of that stuff. I would be very into Finn being the agent of his salvation and Adam owing him for it, or him trying to get through to Kyle or Bobby to get them to help him. I really love his relationship with Kyle especially, they’ve been either teaming or feuding for their entire adult lives and I would be very into a take on them when they were teaming, or Kyle being so in sync that he knows Adam’s around. Aside from Finn (or TUE) I really shipped Adam hard with Ricochet, they had some great adversarial chemistry, and Adam dragging himself to Aleister because he needs a favor would also be fun. Even aside from my love of resurrection trauma, Adam without the company of his adoring goons is a very different animal and I would love fic where he has to make due on his own or risk trusting someone else to help him.
Kenny Omega
In another gift from the drift fairy, I would love an AU where Kenny stuck it out in OVW and dragged himself out of developmental through sheer willpower and what his life looks like now. Or maybe one of those rumors that he was going to show up at a Rumble where true in this universe, or AJ saw the coup coming and booted him out instead, or Kota was convinced to sign after the CWC and Kenny chased him there. Anything with Kenny being in WWE and what on earth that is like, especially if someone knows this isn’t they way it should be. (Does Okada feel a disturbance in the force without his greatest rival? Is this a monkey’s paw wish from Tanahashi and things spiral?)
Dominik Dijakovic/Keith Lee
Ugh, I love these two so much. They have this great dynamic of having accidentally discovered this connection and not knowing what to do with it – sometimes they look at each other like they’re not sure if the other one is real, it’s so great. I always feel like Keith has a better handle on things than Dijakovic, who seems completely out to sea about what’s going on in his own head. These two are made for accidental soulbonds and wrestling soulmates. I would love missing scene fic after any of their matches, locker room sex or hurt/comfort where Dijakovic is too overwhelmed or distracted to talk himself out of what he’s feeling. I would also be enormously into fic where a villainous third party goes after Dijakovic to provoke a reaction from Keith, or Keith watching Dijakovic struggling or hurt in a match and trying to pretend he doesn’t care because he knows a little bit of weakness will lose him his title. Dijakovic has been flailing a little emotionally lately and I would be very into someone taking advantage of it.
Extra prompts: I love vampire!Damian and would be very for him getting his hooks into Dijakovic while he’s down
Dijakovic waking up in the hospital after a bad bump with Keith bedside, because he doesn’t really have any other friends (especially good if he’s woozy and afterwards talks himself into believing it never happened.)
Dijakovic hiding injuries (between his back and his knee he’s had a rough year!) and Keith knowing him too well to be fooled. Extra good if he realizes it during a match with Dijakovic and has to take advantage, with the guilt creeping up on him afterward
A triple threat where Damian or Adam or whoever works Dijakovic especially hard, laughing at Keith the whole time, and Keith kisses the life out of a very confused Dijakovic once it’s over and they’re in the back
Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish/Roddy Strong
Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish
I love how much they love Adam! I would really love anything the three/four of them picking Adam up after a rough night or making him feel better if he’s banged up. If you’re open to resurrection blues Adam I love Bobby and Kyle dealing with the immediate aftermath or Roddy coming along late and realizing oh damn, that really happened. I’d love to see what was in Roddy’s head right before he joined TUE – did Adam talk to him? When did he know? And I’d love the other guys initiating him into the group. I love that they’re all terrible to everyone except each other – bonding through being dicks to their enemies would be great.
Extra prompts: Adam having resurrection nightmares and being helped through it
The guys putting on a show for Bobby when he was laid up to lift his spirits
Running into the Bucks at the airport and Adam freaking out
It coming out that Kyle or Bobby had made a crossroads deal to save Adam way back when and now everyone’s scrambling to figure out what to do
Cesaro/Sheamus
I miss these two so much! You can do no wrong here, anything from them being antagonistic jerks to each other during the early series to them being the extremely cute team they become would be welcome. I always read Sheamus as realizing he was in trouble first (he tried pretty hard to be a face for Cesaro!) so bring on the pining, and an episode tag after they turn heel and Cesaro finally figures things out would be amazing. I loved how very into each other’s strength each seemed to be and some showing off would be great, as would Sheamus being super turned on at seeing Cesaro in the kilt or Cesaro feeling up Sheamus during photo shoots. Or if it’s set now, the two of them not quite knowing how to talk anymore, or Sheamus being jealous that Cesaro’s fallen into a new group while he’s alone. Or from Cesaro’s side, him trying to keep his eyes on the prize but Sheamus is right there. Just give me more of them!
Aleister Black/Velveteen Dream
I love how even though they’ve been on different brands they still haven’t quite let each other drift completely away – Dream’s earring, Aleister posting “I want to…Dream” on his insta during Survivor Series, etc. They’re made up of dramatic gestures and bad communication, which means they’re exactly my thing. I would love any kind of magical nonsense – dreamwalking to each other, Dream getting hurt while Aleister is far away watching and Aleister having to do some quick magic to save him, anything with them bridging that gap. I would also be very into anything with Dream’s earring – did Aleister give it to him or did he buy it himself? If it’s magic, does Dream know? And of course anything set around Aleister getting mugged by Johnny, I will never get tired of reading about Dream watching Aleister lying still on the pavement or sneaking into his hospital room or going to extreme, stupid lengths to save him.
Buddy Murphy/Mustafa Ali
These two always had such great chemistry. I would love anything with that chemistry boiling over into locker room hatesex, especially if Mustafa has no idea why this keeps happening. Buddy really had a hard time on 205, especially with the struggle to make weight every week – maybe Mustafa finds Buddy passed out and dehydrated from trying to cut weight, or Buddy takes a sketchy supplement that hits him like sex pollen. I would be really into Mustafa having some grudging admiration for how badly Buddy wanted it. For fic sent present day, I would be so into Buddy showing up at Mustafa’s door because his life has gotten really weird lately and even true believers need a break, or Mustafa has been watching what’s been going on and wants to show Buddy what a true light in the darkness looks like. (Or deep down Buddy knows Seth isn’t the real deal but can’t admit it, and Mustafa doesn’t force him to.) Also very into fic where Seth sends Buddy to try to recruit Mustafa and while Buddy knows that isn’t likely to work he tries anyway – maybe Mustafa tries to go along with it to see just how bad this is, or the two of them just know once they’re in the same room that recruitment isn’t Buddy’s really here for.
Crossovers
Pentagon Jr/Ricochet
Lucha Underground is definitely it’s own universe – Penta and Fenix aren’t brothers, Vampiro is kind of a Sith lord, the world is about it end in an Aztec god apocalypse – but at the same time Dream referenced Ricochet being Prince Puma so let’s roll with it. I would love a scenario where Puma’s mask was what let him access that universe and once he lost it he had to leave (not that he was all that broken up about it at that point!) but all the horrible stuff he went through there really happened. And then just as he is starting to get past it all and has almost convinced himself that it was all a very elaborate nightmare, LU Pentagon shows up at his door :D Fully lean into the apocalypse that was about to happen, I would love a Penta who is the opposite of cero miedo, who’s barely one step away from literal gods trying to kill him and forced to rely on the mercy of an enemy because he has nothing else. And of course Ricochet isn’t going to just allow Penta to get sacrificed to the gods, so he lets himself get dragged back into that madness. Maybe Penta has a stolen medallion that will let Ricochet go back, or Dario shows up with some more unwelcome memories. I miss LU so much and would love Ricochet and Penta falling back into old habits while trying to save the world. LU Penta watching AEW would also be hilarious.
Brodie Lee/The Fiend
I want Brodie running to this new life only to be haunted by Bray’s broken ghost. Please have the puppets show up to try to lure Brodie home and the Fiend appearing in mirrors, or rooms in his new minimalist house suddenly becoming the Funhouse. Brodie left the Wyatts and promptly started a whole new cult! There’s no way Bray/The Fiend wouldn’t see that as a sign. I would love to see Brodie trying to push all of that away but it keeps creeping back. Bring on some horror.
Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi
I want anything with these two having very complicated feelings about each other now that they’re separated again. I would love the two of them dreaming about each other (and of course they aren’t just dreams.) Kenny’s said he didn’t ask Kota to come to AEW because he knew Kota wanted to be IWGP champion – how does Kota feel about Kenny making that choice for him? Kenny was in Japan for WK, did they see each other or did Kenny stay away, not wanting to make a bad night worse (and did Kota go find him?) I love any and all soulmate tropes, bring on Kota feeling when Kenny is injured and Kenny talking Kota through the fever when he had the flu. I would also be very into the Bullet Club Demon trying to use Kenny to lure Kota in but it not working because Kota is thrilled that Kenny is finally away from it. I would also very much be into Kota being in the same city as Dynamite due to a NJPW US tour and Kenny knowing Kota’s there. I would also like Kota feeling like he’d failed so badly at WK and thrown up another barrier between them, and Kenny reassuring him. And again, because I am me I would love the two of them arguing or there being bitter feelings over Kenny leaving that don’t get resolved, and then Kenny gets himself very hurt in a match with Kota so far away.
