cousinshelley | Fic in a Box Exchange Letter

I'm CousinShelley at AO3.

Please don't feel constrained by my prompts. I ramble about what I love and offer a lot of ideas mostly because it's fun for me. The ideas are there if you want one.

And if a fandom has fewer prompts and less rambling than some others, that doesn't mean I love or want it any less.

General Do Not Wants (DNWs)

Major character death, noncon, underage
Anything related to COVID19 or politics
Unrequested 1st-person POV except epistolary, 2nd-person POV that involves romance or sex, readerfic
AUs (setting, omegaverse, genderswap, etc.), including speculative elements like ghosts or sex pollen in non-speculative canons (canon divergence is fine)
Non-canon disabling or fatal illness or injury, self-harm, suicide
Bleak, hopeless endings
Original character or unrequested character POV, script format, unrequested dialogue-only, lapslock (but lowercase titles are fine)
Unrequested gender, asexuality and neurodivergence headcanons
Cruelty to animals or animal death
Unrequested infidelity and friend/partner betrayal
Focus on Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays, unrequested crossovers, crack fic
Focus on weddings/marriage/getting married (characters can be married, but don't make marriage a plot point), kidfic, pregnancy or birth of any kind, including eggs
BDSM, D/s and/or consent negotiations, sex toys, sexting, mommy/daddy kink
Generic dirty talk, porn film dialogue during/about sex, calling someone slut, whore or other names
Sexual pain and torture, hitting, suffocating, dehumanization, humiliation, including bad sex, ruined orgasms and mentions of a small or flaccid penis, age-regression/age play
Vomiting, coughing up anything, flatulence, body secretions or wastes (except sweat and blood), spitting, squirting and come play. (Come is fine, even a brief description, but please don’t focus on it.)

General Things I Like

Friendship, found families, loyalty, love, deep emotional connections, devotion, displays of affection and respect
Third person POV
Flirting, pining, sexual tension, getting together, mutual pining with a happy ending, unrequited love finally realized
Missing scenes and fix-its, as well as case-fic and plotty stories
Protectiveness and characters sacrificing their own comforts to help others, anything for you
Hurt/comfort, especially after a nightmare, tending wounds, caring for them when they're ill or injured, hovering after something traumatic and trying to take their mind off things
Tropes like only one bed and every other possible bedsharing scenario, fake couple/marriage leading to the inability to keep hiding feelings, undercover as gay that leads to feelings realization, forced proximity, and bonus if there’s peril
First kiss, first times, first realization of feelings, thank god you're alive/we're alive kisses and hugs
Humor, snark and banter, laughing and joking with each other
Happy or at the very least ambiguously hopeful endings

General NSFW Likes

I like stories with no sex, fade-to-black, or full-on smut, so write whatever level you prefer.
I do like at least as much if not more focus on the emotions as on what body part goes where or what position people are in.
Porn with feelings and emotional or romantic sex
Dubcon when requested
Desperate kisses and one or both partners overwhelmed with passion and feelings
Manhandling and displays of strength, up against the wall sex
Kneeling (any reason but especially for oral sex or to kiss knees or thighs or anything like that, grand)
Penetrative sex, oral sex, fingers, frottage, mutual masturbation or one watching the other
Naked and half-naked or one clothed and the other naked, basically any combo of clothed/not clothed
Necking, petting, face and neck and body stroking, kissing and/or sucking or licking pretty much anywhere
I really like up against the wall, taken from behind, and one riding the other, but any positions are fine
Thank god you're/we're alive sex
One character being suddenly so overcome with feeling and desire for the other they kiss them and initiate things out of the blue, like they can't wait another second, love those big music swell moments
Sex pollen scenarios in speculative canons, especially with one or both try to resist, thinking the other wouldn't want it (but they really do) and all the angst and feelings that go along with that
With appropriate pairings, like vampires, blood drinking and/or licking blood off the other’s mouth, face, neck, etc. can’t go wrong.

Our Flag Means Death

Izzy Hands/Evelyn Higgins

Fandom-specific DNW: References to or foreshadowing of Izzy's death.

I adore Evelyn and think she and Izzy would be fire together.

I don't care how you get them in the same place at the same time. You can set it long before the show or in some canon divergence during/after or hand-wave it away. It can be before or after Izzy's unicorn leg, I don't care. I just think an enemies-to-lovers story would be great with them disliking each other immediately and intensely and that turning into something hot, though I'd be happy with anything, whether it never gets beyond banter and flirting or evolves into more.

She would give zero fucks what he thinks, and I love that, and I think he eventually would too. Her being much taller than him also floats my boat, especially if he's comfortable with it or even enjoys it. (No short-man syndrome here, please.)

It would be nice to see Evelyn treated like a lady (or however she wants to be treated!) and for someone who feels something for Izzy to treat him like they care, even if they argue much of the time.

I'm okay with Izzy dealing with his pining for Ed a little bit, at least in the beginning, so there's no need to pretend that wasn't a thing (unless you want to, then it's fine). But if you do bring it up, please don't do much more that mention it or use it to compare to how he feels about Evelyn at the time to show that the current goings-on are much more positive or that he likes how he feels better, etc.

It doesn't have to have a happily ever after, but let it be a happy for now and maybe more later kind of thing, at least. Basically, even if he leaves at the end in an "until next time" scenario (which would be fine!), I wouldn't want him to have had great fun with Evelyn and then go back to pining for Ed.

Some prompts:

Ed disappeared in search of Stede at the end of S1 instead of breaking bad, so Izzy goes in search of him in Stede's town and meets Evelyn, or they run into each other at any point, even canon-divergent post-canon or pre-Stede, for some reason.
Izzy meets her because he's been tasked with kidnapping or killing her as some kind of old debt or favor. She's clearly been up to some shit and maybe has enemies. He ends up admiring her and turns on the person who wanted her dead. Protective Izzy is a good thing.
Murder as bonding! Izzy teaches her some sword moves to help her protect herself or just for fun. I also love the idea of them committing murder or otherwise getting up to mischief together. Maybe someone's threatening Evelyn and they take care of the problem.
Izzy is touch-starved and Evelyn fixes that for him. And/or he talks about Ed and she makes it pretty clear she knows he's got it bad but shows him that there are other options out there.
Good old hurt/comfort can never go wrong. Izzy is hurt and Evelyn takes care of him. Hurt Evelyn with Izzy as caretaker works for me too.
I'm all in for something where there's hand kissing, finger sucking, bandaging a hand, stroking a hand as things that really move and/or excite one or preferably both of them.
Kneeling for almost any reason, including Izzy removing/putting on her clothing/shoes or to perform oral sex would also be a treat. Izzy kneeling and hand/finger kissing/sucking would lay me out.
A regular old meet-cute, maybe they're out drinking, dining, dancing, whatever, where they get to know each other and realize they're both rascally bastards would be great too.

I just think a story with these two at the center would be amazing. Let them lose control with each other or never even get to a proper kiss as long as there's obvious sexual tension and attraction there. It'll be fun no matter what.

Late Night with the Devil

Jack Delroy
Jack Delroy & Carmichael Haig
Jack Delroy & Gus McConnell
Christou & Jack Delroy & Carmichael Haig
Jack Delroy/June Ross-Mitchell
Jack Delroy/June Ross-Mitchell & Lilly D'Abo
Jack Delroy/Madeleine Piper
WB: Any

DNW Exception: I'm waiving my major character death (except for Jack - please don't kill him) and bleak ending DNW for this fandom. Anyone but Jack is fair game, and things can end up as bad or worse than in canon.

This movie nailed the aesthetic, attitudes and some of the cheese of 70s talk shows, so I'd have loved it for that, but then it included things like Bohemian Grove and James Randi with a wink and different names and did such a good job of never quite letting you decide whether you knew exactly what was going on.

I'm really fascinated by the idea that Delroy made a devil's bargain for fame, because he clearly didn't get what he wanted. He'd be infamous as a murderer, sure, but if people at the Grove knew that their deals were likely to be twisted that way, there'd be a lot fewer deals being made. And it's a lot more interesting to me that the deal wasn't cruelly twisted into making him famous in a way he clearly didn't want but that something went wrong at some point. I feel like Jack might have been smart enough to ask specifically to be the top-rated nighttime talk show host and not just make some amorphous wish for "fame" that could be fulfilled by what happened.

There are a lot of ideas to explore here, from broad world-building topics to shippy and/or sexy things with June or Madeleine to canon divergences that change the ending and the characters' futures. I'm open to any of them. Pick any time or place. Older show segments, a fix-it or a different ending (it can still be bad), post-canon shows or events, backstory, expanding the show that's shown in the film, or something set at/focusing on the Grove. I'll enjoy pretty much anything.

Some prompts:

Why did the deal go so wrong? Did he fall short on his end of the bargain and end up punished for it rather than finally beating Carson legitimately and becoming the biggest talk show star? I'd love to see an exploration of how the whole thing progressed and why it ended the way it did.
I love the idea that when Jack made his deal, he didn't knowingly and willingly understand that the price would be his wife's life. I got the sense that he truly adored her, even though he took up with June pretty quickly (or maybe had been with her before Madeleine died). When did he understand what had happened? Did he try to get out of it before she died to save her? Did he never put it together? How long was he in denial? How much of the deal did he understand?
Maybe he made the deal knowing the stated price but not really believing it and just playing along because of the desire to hobnob with powerful star-making people, and then end up having to deal with the consequences and regret.
I can also see a great story coming out of him knowingly making the deal (even though my heart wants him to not have known it was real). If he knowingly traded his wife for fame, was it a marriage for appearances he wanted out of to be with June or just to be free, so he readily agreed? Did he expect it would be sudden and quick rather than her having to suffer so much? Was he offered a can't-say-no deal where he had to choose the lesser of two or more evils, and Madeleine dying that way was the best option?
What happened during the six months he stayed off the air? Was that something calculated as part of his rise to fame, was it mostly mourning, or something else?
I loved the nod to James Randi (of whom I've been a lifelong admirer) and his million-dollar challenge. I'd love anything exploring Haig's history on the show. Previous segments, behind-the-scenes stuff, or if you want to lean into Haig's hypocrisy at the end when he wanted to go to the Grove. It'd be fun to see Jack getting Haig invited and taking him there and being all kinds of conflicted about it, or not.
An alternate ending where nobody dies and Jack finally hits #1 in late night. Because of this he's expected to keep going to the Grove and the cost of continuing his fame has to be dealt with. Bringing others in, like maybe Haig, could be part of that. Does he know he paid for this with Madeleine's life at this point? Is he planning to reveal everything to an audience in some kind of revenge? Is he supposed to use his show to help demons find victims in his audience? Is Madeleine there where only he can see her, taunting him, encouraging him, making him miserable or making him want to burn everything down?
Was Jack used as part of another deal to kill Lilly and set right what went wrong when she escaped? Or maybe she does die on the show, but it's more an accident or self-defense, maybe she attacks Jack and it's not his fault, and that starts a path of demonic influence for his show that he tries to escape from.
I'd love to see how he and June met and how the whole idea of her bringing Lilly onto the show was hatched. Who orchestrated it, or was it a completely chance encounter? Was part of his bargain (knowingly or not) bringing her and the demon to his show, and after they met they just hit it off? Was she supposed to replace Madeleine and give demons access to both Jack and his audience? Any of their history would be great. I'd also like to see more of him and Madeleine before and after the Grove. Did she suspect that her illness had anything to do with it when she was alive?
The mass hypnosis angle and the trance-like states, especially Jack's at the end, leave room for so many possibilities. How much of the entire movie was real, and could some of it, including the ending, have been only an illusion to show Jack the many ways his life could go if he didn't play ball with the Grove elite? Another idea would be what happens afterward? Do the Grove elites and dark forces swoop in to make things disappear and keep Jack from suffering any consequences? How much of what he thinks happened does he discover was an illusion later, including deaths? An exorcism on the show where the demon's driven out of Lilly (maybe into someone else) without all the murder (or a little less of it) could be fun too.
Maybe he was offered the deal and turned it down, and all hell's breaking loose because of that? Maybe bringing Lilly on the show is some sort of mixed-up plan to make a deal with that demon for revenge against the people who hurt his wife (and maybe he doesn't firmly believe it's possible but he's desperate).
Anything drawing on the lore of the cult and their rituals and why getting rid of Lilly in this particular way would be great too. I love the idea of dark forces manipulating everything and all the machinations behind that, especially with Jack thinking he's doing all the decision-making and that it has nothing to do with (or little to do with) his trip to the Grove.
I'd love anything to do with any of the characters on the show too. I loved Gus, he seems like such a sweet guy who was genuinely concerned about the bad things happening. How did his and Jack's relationship develop over time and change after Jack's visit to the Grove? Christou being on the show before or encountering Jack outside it (at the Grove?) would be fun. Another show with Christou and Haig, or backstage discussions, maybe the three of them at a Hollywood party, or if Christou doesn't end up in the hospital and the show ends without all the death, what happens afterward? Christou doing something Haig can't debunk live on the air with Jack mediating could be fun too.

Riptide

Cody Allen/Nick Ryder
Cody Allen/Nick Ryder & Murray Bozinsky

Nick and Cody are constantly in each other's personal bubble in a way that would feel awkward to most people, even the closest of friends. The whole show is like they're lovers who just haven't figured that out yet. When one sits down the other practically sits in his lap, and neither of them bat an eye.

And of course they've been there for each other through thick and thin, took care of each other in Vietnam, live together, sleep in the same room and even work together. There's only one way for them to get closer, and if you want to go there I will be on board, but it's also great if you write them getting to shippy without sex.

I'd really rather avoid a bunch of angst about being gay or bi in the 80s and worries about HIV, but I do like when one is afraid to make it known because they worry about damaging the friendship, and the happiness when it's revealed that of course nothing could damage the friendship and they felt the same all along, yay!

I really love all the getting together scenarios, whether with just revelation of feelings or all the way to sexy times. Feel free to include Murray as a platonic third character. I do like him being able to see that they love each other before the guys do and either doing nothing or nudging them ever so slightly towards each other. Them having to rescue Boz is always a winner too, or him teaming with one of the guys to rescue the other.

A few prompts:

Peril and concern for each other, like one getting kidnapped for some reason and the other frantic to rescue them. And if the cops think the kidnapped one is dead but the other refuses to give up and accept that, I love that kind of stuff. One rescuing the other, doesn't matter which is which, is great.
Undercover as gay is a winner here. Maybe they have to pretend to be a couple for a case and it makes them realize some things. And if they're in a hotel or somewhere and, oh no, there's only one bed, all the better. Sex isn't necessary for me to enjoy the story even in a bedsharing situation, but if you want to write, I'll enjoy it!
Being mistaken as a couple by someone on the outside, a new person they're helping with a case, and that person explaining why they thought that could be good. Someone pointing out that straight heterosexual guys don't generally sit almost in each other's laps when there are several feet of space on either side of them might make them realize some things. PTSD nightmares and flashbacks that have the other person comforting them, particularly with bedsharing, is great. I like one dreaming of the other dying and waking up frantic to grab ahold of him to assure himself he's okay. Lots of touching, holding, grabbing, that kind of thing. They're very handsy with each other, so more of that!
One gets shot while they're on a case, and they can't get to help right away so the other has to take care of them until help comes. In any kind of danger situation, the whole "not him, take me instead" thing is fantastic both for the self-sacrifice of it but what it does to the other person. I like a lot of angst, as long as there's a happy ending. Also a fan of one being tortured to hurt the other in a hostage/kidnapping situation where they're trying to get information about something or just revenge, as long as the hurt one is rescued before it gets too bad.
For a lighter story, maybe the guys get invited to some conference and though they have the opportunity to date a couple gorgeous women, they prefer to hang out together instead. Feel free to have Murray there, maybe he drags them to something they're not looking forward to, and end up going off alone to do the same kinds of things they'd do on the Riptide, and start to realize what that means.
One getting jealous over the other is always great, as long as it ends up resolved with them together.

Starsky & Hutch

Ken Hutchinson/David Starsky
Ken Hutchinson/David Starsky & Huggy Bear Brown

I still love these two so much. They were each other's beginning and end, no matter how many blondes of the week the show tried to toss in there.

I will never get tired of reading the different ways they get together and manage their relationship. Hurt/comfort, undercover as gay/fake relationship, only one bed, basically all the tropes are great. As always, I'm equally happy to get sexytimes, G-rated fic or anything in between. Huggy and Dobey are always welcome, too.

A scene or story directly from one of the peril-of-the-week episodes for either guy would be great. One hurt, the other freaking out, rescuing, comforting and caring for him, that would be fantastic. Them dealing with trauma together and working things out. Lots of touching, teasing, joking around, anything canon-typical but with the tension cranked up to make it a definite / relationship, even if still at the level on the show or pining stage, would be super. This is such a good hurt/comfort fandom, too. I mean *gestures at it*.

Post-canon, a story showing Hutch taking care of Starsky after he's discharged from the hospital and helping him recuperate (or set after that), and that leading to a new aspect of their relationship, would also be great.

A few prompts:

I like S&H going undercover, and if they needed cops to play gay to get close to some kingpin or something, it'd be great if they realize feelings while pretending, but I also think it'd be great if only one goes undercover with the cop who's an expert on the person they're after, and it makes the other one jealous.
That prompt would work without them playing gay, too. One goes undercover with a female cop, and the other is crazy jealous. If the one not part of the couple is also undercover and around to witness the couple stuff, even better.
Any kind of expansion on what we saw on the show, like Starsky having to help Hutch through fighting his addiction after that episode is over, any kind of hurt/comfort and recuperation for either of them would be great.
In the episode where the woman they were both hot for was going to come between them, and she basically offered not to choose and for the three of them to be together, first I loved that they turned her down and walked away with their arms around each other. Maybe that makes them realize things? Or maybe they don't turn her down and give it a try, and find that they end up neglecting her in favor of each other anyway. She could point that out, even.
I'm a big fan of trauma causing nightmares that require help from a partner to get through, and these two have had their share of nightmare-inducing situations.
Being poisoned, being shot, being tortured and an intended sacrifice for a cult, ffs--write a post-ep story where the injured party has trouble sleeping, eating, or moving on and lots of comfort from the other.
In any kind of danger situation, the whole "not him, take me instead" thing is fantastic both for the self-sacrifice of it but what it does to the other person. I like a lot of angst, as long as there's a happy ending.
Also a fan of one being tortured to hurt the other in a hostage/kidnapping situation where they're trying to get information about something or just revenge, as long as the hurt one is rescued before it gets too bad. No permanent maiming or anything, just enough hurt to cause massive pain to the other party who's helpless to stop it.
On the lighter side, the staff at Huggy's bar thinks they're a couple, and S&H are surprised by them, and then it starts to make sense. Or they're somewhere meeting new people and someone mildly familiar with them introduces them as a couple, and they go with it to be polite but have to figure out why people think that and what it means.

Severance

Irving B./Burt G.
Irving Bailiff/Burt Goodman
Peter Kilmer/Mark Scout
Irving B. & Dylan G. & Helly R. & Mark S.
Irving Bailiff & Helena Eagan & Dylan George & Mark Scout
WB: Any

Fandom-specific DNW: References to Peter's death. You don't have to wrap it up with a happily-ever-after bow, but at worst, an ambiguous ending where we know what's coming later but it's fine for now. Or fix it and have him fully recover. Just don't kill him or make it clear that's coming.

I'm open to just about anything featuring the characters I chose or pure worldbuilding, Eagan history, Lumon operating procedures or lore, other Lumon organizations around the world, or anything along those lines. Pure friendship fic for the MDR group or the ships I chose, and even mentions of (or appearances of) Mark/Gemma and Mark/Helly, Dylan and his wife, and any of the other characters from the show appearing are all fine, with Devon, Milchick and Cobel being particular favorites. I enjoy all of it.

Prompts:

Irving & Helly & Dylan & Mark

I loved them starting to really trust and rely on each other. They were so individual in the beginning of the season, and by the end the body language and even how close they stood together was so different. Give me all the friendship feels and deepening bonds and affection. (I really like Helly/Mark too, so you can include their growing attraction if you want, but please don't make the ship the focus of the story.)

Any situation where they're working together would be great. Either post-S1 with them trying to fight their way back to be able to break free, or in some situation before the ending of S1, like one distracting Milchik while the others try to find files or information, or some plan that they're forming. Them scheming, planning and doing just about anything would be great.
I'd enjoy more of Dylan's conspiracy-theory-like bent on speculating what it's like outside, and more lore and legends the employees talk about. The O&D <> MDR massacre story and how it played out was great, so anything along those lines, whether it's something clearly perpuated by Lumon or some idea Dylan or any employee in MDR got into their head and spun into a tale.
Post-Lumon (and/or post-severance), do MDR meet? Do they know each other or start to remember things? Have they been integrated and see each other on purpose or accidentally, and what happens? It would be fun to see their different personalities interacting outside Lumon as a friends group, even if part or most of what keeps them together is trauma bonding. It would be fun to see that shift into true friendship, with their whole selves too.
One of the MDR employees isn't at his or her desk. What do the rest do? I made a similar suggestion for the pairings, with one thinking the other is in some kind of danger, so they go in search of them. I'd like to see that with MDR too. What do they do, and what are they worried has happened? From asking Milchik to looking for clues, that could be fun (and worrisome, if it's set post S-1 or when they were starting to plan). You can put the characters through hell while they're worried and looking for the person, just please let them find the person and it all be okay in the end (even if bad Lumon things are looming in the future).
Heck, just a day in the life at Lumon, in or out, would be great. Anything exploring things we didn't get to see!

Mark/Peter:

I would love to see flashes of Mark and Petey's friendship at Lumon, how they got so close and how they got closer than the show had them get. I'd love to see anything from secret pining to stolen moments at work to Petey and/or Mark remembering bits and pieces of those things while Peter is staying in Mark's basement.

Lots of possibilities while Petey's in Mark's basement. Did they have some kind of an affair when at Lumon? Did they want to? Does Petey remember the affair or the desire between them, or just flashes now and then? They could have had a thing before or not, but something's developing between them, and maybe that pushes against Mark's memory. Does he have dreams or flashes from his innie? Maybe Mark realizes he's trustworthy and not crazy and starts to question his beliefs about Lumon.
Pete tells Mark they were lovers, and Mark thinks Pete's out to scam him or something, so Peter slowly convinces him by showing him that he knows exactly how Mark like to be kissed and touched reveals he knows other non-sexual secrets and quirks he has.
Hurt/comfort can never go wrong. In caring for Peter, Mark starts to have feelings that seem oddly familiar and Peter reveals that they were lovers, or really anything that leads them to get together in this kind of a scenario. One of them comforts the other after he has to do the weird apology ritual or some other thing at Lumon.
Mark accidentally sees Peter masturbating at work and that starts something between them. Or vice versa and Pete catches him. Or any kind of situation where feelings or desire are revealed, even if it's innocent.
Pete is in a much better state than in the show and starts running into Mark on purpose and trying to attract his attention without Mark knowing he's from Lumon, and it works. He wants Mark, and he also wants to gain his trust so he can convince him to get away from the place.
Petey lives and finds Mark when his innie is at the book party and they have an emotional reunion.
Anything that plays into how touch-starved innies must feel, whether a scene of them at work or Peter trying to make Mark remember on the outside. It doesn't even have to be sexual (though sexual is fiiine, and could be something like Pete touching Mark's face, maybe like the first time they did anything together in the hopes it will break something loose, and it does. Or a first touch while at Lumon, the first time it was something beyond friendly pats and joking around.
One thinks the other is in some kind of danger at Lumon and tries to find and help them, or they team up to try to find information or help someone else.

Burt/Irving:

Any moments between Irving/Burt, from stolen moments at Lumon to somehow seeing each other outside it and being drawn to each other in some way would be great. Any canon divergence that keeps Burt there or gives one of them (or both) memories outside, or even Burt being drawn in to the scheme with the rest to figure out what's going on and what the outside is like would be great.

I'd love to see a continuation of the end of S1 and how that pans out when Irving gets his memory turned off. Is there some sense between them that they should know each other? Do they all figure out what's happened, or is just Irving who must realize, given all his research on Lumon? Does Irving have time to say anything before his outie takes over?
Burt doesn't retire, so what are their future moments alone at Lumon like? Or they have another moment alone before Burt retires. More of the kind of things we already got!
Their outies meet somehow and are drawn to each other, and maybe knowing each other that way causes some memories to start to bleed through.
One thinks the other is in some kind of danger at Lumon and tries to find and help them, or they team up to try to find information or help someone else.
I'm always down for chip malfunctions and shifting memories, and I love the idea that they'd be just as attracted to each other on the outside.
I like idea like Burt's husband being a bad guy and part of Lumon's weird experiments or a good guy trying to bring them down, so feel free to make him whatever you want to serve your story (if you want to include him, of course).
A happy ending for them would be great. At the very least, I want it to be a hopeful one that things might work out in the future, even if they're stil somewhat separated at the end.

World-building tags

I love the characters so much, but I chose the world-building tags because I also love the world in general and the freaky-deakyness of Lumon and its employees.

I would love just about anything delving into the history of Lumon or the Eagans. Build on something mentioned on the show or create a new myth or history.
Lumon's current policies and procedures like management training, departments we don't know about, weird and culty traditions like we've seen in the show, and anything that provides an explanation for the oddball stuff we already know about.
How they recruit and convince people to undergo severance, what the process is like from someone being contacted or expressing interest through to the actual severance, and how they might advertise or find people willing.
What happened to the first person severed? How many times has it really been done? Unsuccesful procedures and what happened.
Was Helena really the first Eagan to do it, or have there been others, particularly in the testing phase? Was she really a willing true believer, or is there some family secret or situation

Re-Animator

Daniel Cain/Herbert West
Daniel Cain/Megan Halsey/Herbert West

DNW Exception: I'm okay with major character death here as long as it's temporary and the character is alive again and somewhat normal (as in not a blood-drooling zombie) at the end.

I love that Herbert's a bit unhinged and gets more unhinged as the movies went, but Dan kept hanging in there with him. And I love how they're so physical with each other from the beginning, whether it’s leaning or a hand on the arm (or Herbert wrapping Dan in a blanket and touching his hand--!). Grabbing Dan's hand first when Dan's presenting him with the Bride. Love that kind of thing.

I firmly believe that Herbert doesn’t really care about people as much as he cares about defeating death and reaching his goals. He doesn’t care about individual people at all, except Dan. Dan’s the one living person Herbert does give a damn about, and that’s one of the things that makes their relationship so great, IMO.

Herbert's addiction to the reagent presents a lot of hurt/comfort possibilities. Trauma-induced nightmares are always a favorite too, especially when it involves the other character crawling into the bed with them for comfort afterward or trying to help them through it somehow.

It'd also be fascinating to see what would have happened if Megan hadn't died and it became three instead of two. Seeing how Megan and Herbert build to that, and how Dan reacts to them doing so, sounds like fun! I'm fine with it being a full throuple situation or a V-shaped relationship, whichever works for your story.

Some prompts:

Megan survives, and maybe her father doesn't end up ruined, so her relationship with Dan is poisoned by that (or it is, and they have to deal with that on top of everything else). How does it go from Dan/Megan to Dan/Megan/Herbert? That could be such a fun canon divergence. To me it seems like Megan disliked Herbert pretty quickly, while he was merely disinterested until her feelings were clear. What changes and how? How does Dan navigate everything? If it's not a V-shaped relationship, does he get jealous when Megan and Herbert finally seem to be getting along well or focusing on each other more than him?
In a sort-of crossover idea that doesn't include the other canon's characters, they end up in Pretorius' house after the events in "From Beyond." The house wasn't destroyed, and Herbert and Dan (or all three of them) end up going there after Peru or at some other point to set up a lab. Herbert's scientific curiosity leads him to make some repairs to the resonator to see what it does. He and Dan (or all three of them) have to deal with the effects just once or twice, or even over and over because Herbert thinks the pineal gland is the key to a truly successful reagentor something and he keeps turning it on. For research. Any situation where they turn it on and the creatures start to come through/some other weird thing happens so they have to fight their way to turn it off, more adventure than sex or vice versa, all good with me.
Potential re-agent side-effects Herbert has to deal with. Horniness is always a favorite, but I'm interested in how he and Dan would deal with other things too, like Herbert being able to see things other people can't, or really no longer needing sleep for days on end. Or temporary memory loss that Dan has to bring him back from. Temporary amnesia could be a lot of fun with either of them.
Dan's face when Herbert starts insulting Hill after they've just met is amazing. Honestly, it could be read as Bruce Abbott on the verge of smiling or laughing and ruining the take but managing to hang on in the end, but I like to see what passes over Dan's face while he and Herbert are staring at each other as an "oh no he's hot" moment. You can explore that as such a moment, or if not, show what he was thinking.
It's a similar thing when they're in class and Herbert's snapping pencils. Watching Dan watch him is such a delight. And when Meg's complaining about Herbert and Dan admits he's a little cracked with a strange look on his face, and you can hear the implied "but I don't mind" or even "but I like it so it's okay." I'll enjoy anything dealing with Dan coming to terms with his sudden interest in an arrogant, slightly cracked Herbert
I'm always down for one of them discovering he died and was brought back with (an obviously more refined) reagent and all the emotions and fallout from that.
A fix-it for the third film. Preferably a shorter time span than 13 years, maybe just a year or so, and Herbert gets out of prison, either through a technicality or an escape. He goes to find Dan, not for revenge or anything, but maybe for help (if he escaped) or just to get some answers about why he betrayed him. But it turns out Dan only turned state’s evidence to prevent the government or some other villain from killing Herbert or worse and he hasn’t been able to contact him. Maybe Dan breaks him out and explains, even. I even like the idea that he did it for Herbert's own good because he didn't know what else to do. As long as they get back together.
Carl Hill’s head got regenerated yet again and he bat-winged his way to Dan and hypnotized him to betray Herbert, and Dan’s been under his control for a few years while Herbert's been in prison, while Hill’s been trying to get him to reproduce the reagent or do his bidding while he’s working on it. I’m okay with it if he took other liberties with Dan too, giving Herbert even more reason to kill him again, but just controlling his mind and making him betray Herbert would be plenty. The aftermath of Dan getting free of that control and Herbert helping him through it would be amazing.
If you can think of some other reason for an unwilling betrayal, I’m sure that’d be great, too. I like the idea of Herbert’s alarm when he discovers that Dan didn’t want to betray him and has been in a prison of his own the whole time, even if it’s just one of guilt.
Any situation where Dan carries Herbert to bed because he’s collapsing with exhaustion, to a room where he can help him inject reagent, because he’s rescued him from someone or somewhere and he’s injured, because he’s been attacked by one of his creations. Any reason at all. I just love the caretaking.
The focus on their hands and hand-touching/clasping in the films sends me. I also really like the idea of Herbert’s hands being injured somehow (nothing that won’t heal) that could lead Dan to help him eat or get dressed. I think he’d handle his basic hygiene on his own even if it hurt, he’s clever enough, but helping him bathe wouldn’t be out of the question, or helping him work.
Herbert’s line about Dan thinking with his big head and not his little head stands out. He was so jealous of every woman who looked Dan’s way, but I’d like to see him and Dan both realize that as long as Dan’s thinking about him, Herbert’s fine with his little head doing some thinking. It can even be a revelation to Herbert, realizing how much he really does want Dan. Dan realizing that Herbert never touches anybody but him could be a result or the catalyst. Herbert doesn’t even like to shake people’s hands, wouldn’t even touch Dan the first time they met, then quickly couldn’t stop touching him every whipstitch. I love that.
If Herbert creates a new reagent, while trying to keep people from coming back crazed and wrong, and tests it on himself, and it turns out to serve as some kind of sex pollen, that would be a-okay. Especially if he’s really suffering and determined not to push himself on Dan, so Dan has to take charge to make sure he’s okay. Alternately, Dan can be the one accidentally dosed somehow, maybe a spill or something that absorbs through his skin, and Herbert has to take care of him. Sex pollen for any reason is a favorite trope.